What's up with Rocket Red?

[Hyperion]

Well written and reasonable.

"I'm sorry, but I can't see your question." will be the response.

[ThrillHo]

They never see the dick jokes coming.

All they have to do is turn a light on.... which first requires getting out of the handcuffs.

[Burn]

I just want to archive this work of brilliance here, just in case it gets deleted from the Matty boards.

phineas curmudgeon
Matty Member
   
   Posted July 24, 2012 07:50 PM
I’m sorry but I believe this entire issue of not having been able to decline the Rocket Red figure on the terms of not being able to ‘opt out’ of any individual offering, is not only wrong in this particular instance because of its lack of appeal being entirely the fault of Mattel, but from an ethical standpoint, it is also evasive, irresponsible and downright rude to the collecting community. Worse, is this conversation even needing to be addressed at all because no one at Mattel wants to admit to having made an error in judgment concerning the figures inappropriate execution.

I do understand the concept that if you’re in for a penny, you’re in for a pound, and that the sub is a venue that is a year long commitment, but what about that same commitment that your company should have to the fan base as far as making things that are accurate representations of the characters that the sub was solicited upon?
As a company, you essentially asked for the blind trust of the collecting community in the initial solicitations of the first year’s subscription drive and as far as character selection largely being at your whim despite the expectations expressed by many beforehand, I can’t say that I see too much of a problem with that aspect so far. I’d even say that despite my personally having had some drawbacks with the first few offerings that have reached my door already, that I’m not displeased with whom it is that’s being offered.
That was however a lot of trust to be placed in your hands from the collecting community and it was largely due to the fan base’s desire to see more of the DC Universe product that we had hopes for.

Now I can be content in the foreknowledge that things aren’t what they used to be and that dedicated sculpts are not something that can be expected in the sub due to cost issues, but I also do not feel that that means that the ‘consumer bar of expectation’, need be lowered or quashed in the sense of us being gratified by - what can be done successfully. There is still quite a bit that can be done with what is available that requires minimal tooling and that can still provide a diverse selection of characters for the fan base and I have been a proponent of this very notion in many a conversation even to the point of suggesting multiple ideas. You see…I do have faith.

BUT…in this instance, you have abused both my faith and a great deal of the collecting community’s by rendering something that we were willing to appreciate, so very inappropriately, that it was sullied by not just one but multiple aesthetic blunders on your part that made this particular offering very difficult to enjoy no matter how hard we tried. Worse, is that we are often put in the position of already having to rationalize shortcomings and find the silver lining in offerings that have been tarnished for whatever reason – the size of Atrocitus being a good example, and this is a testament to our willingness to at least attempt to enjoy these things – things that are usually no less expensive should they be inferior in some way.
Now I would say that that very aspect – that willingness to just accept whatever is put in front of us without even the mention of being displeased with it, needs to be brought to the company’s attention, but I know that it is already. It’s not possible for it not to be and that’s because of this attitude displayed for this very figure.

What upsets me even more though, is the blatant disregard for the fan base that trusted you. Is it really that we’re such pushovers that as a company, you won’t even speak to your shortcomings concerning this problem and worse yet, just expect everyone to just put up with something that is inexplicably incongruent with the other offerings from a service that is supposed to be a continuance of something preexisting and therefore already established in the sense of what we should come to expect from it – including its scale?

In the context of finance, it is always put to the fan base that Matty did not see the numbers that they had hoped for and that this is the reason that something did not progress beyond a certain point. Basically, the failure of anything that we wanted is often callously put on us. So, it’s obviously no secret that it’s always about money.
But in all honesty, does this overwhelming lack of appeal for this particular figure, seem like anything less than your poor judgment carrying all the way through to the point of making a colossally mass-produced mistake and then you simply wanting to just transfer your losses to the fan base that trusted you?

Soak this in for a moment.

People expressed their dislike of this figure’s size long before it was sent out.
It isn’t even the version that most fans wanted, BUT they were willing to put up with it anyway, so long as it was properly cohesive.
It’s a character that is suited in armor and yet, you chose a base body that has veins all over it.
You also chose a base body that was much too large and that can’t even be substantiated by any preexisting artwork.
Can you see the problem here?
You were trusted and you made a mistake – a multi-layered mistake, which made it nearly impossible to rationalize this character in a collection of which your subscription service has already inferred itself to a set scale.
In doing so, you wasted one of the fan’s large slots from their very first year’s service.
You also charged each of them $30.00 AND shipping and handling for an item that they didn’t even want.
Do you see the morally reprehensible aspect to this one particular thing of which you will not own up to?

And again, on the many layers of how this smacks of being wrong on so many levels, would it not have been wiser to have made this figure; a character that is a soldier in a corps of many others like himself – something that you should know if you do indeed know your subject matter…
The proper normal size but offered in a 2pk to warrant the exorbitant price tag of a larger scaled character instead?
From the standpoint of cost alone, this would’ve allowed for half the amount of packaging.
It would’ve been something that the fans not only would have wanted but that they might have even bought more of, just for the sake of adding more of them to their corps.
And it all could’ve been done with the same trim work scaled down for a preexisting 6” body that would’ve needed no additional tooling for the other figure accompanying it.

Basically, you could’ve looked like heroes.
You could’ve pleased the fans by just doing this properly.
You could’ve been much smarter with your finances.
You could’ve even created the potential to make even more money with this one thing.
And you could’ve done it all with very little of the same work.

Instead though, you’ve alienated the fans.
Charged them for your mistake - and it definitely is a mistake and yours alone.
And have foolishly squandered the fan base’s budget. The budget or ‘the numbers’, always being part of your company’s constant mantra for doing or not doing any and everything. Money or the lack thereof, is your perpetual excuse for why things cannot be done and yet, the fans not only see you make a terrible mistake, but now, pass the buck so that it comes from their wallets instead.

And yet, the brazen term of ‘opting out’ or ‘not being able to opt out of any one particular offering’, being used against the consumer in a situation when they have to sit there and take it, no matter the ineptitude or lack of culpability on Mattel’s part, not only doesn’t bring about any shame but apparently can’t even warrant an apology from Mattel for their deplorable behavior.

I am thoroughly disgusted with the way in which Mattel has handled this one particular offering. It was most certainly unfair and is not a matter of any line being blurred. The New DC or the new direction of DC comics is not the scapegoat. There is nothing to substantiate the reasoning behind the this multi-flawed offering and yet, you shamelessly took the fan base’s money on the simple basis that you could get away with it no matter how poorly you crafted it and despite how many ways in which you compromised us.
Worse, is that you knew beforehand that this was wrong; because it was expressed by multitudes of people how dissatisfied they were.

Mattel is flat out wrong this time and you have made a mistake at our expense that you have no business charging anyone for.

[urbanmyth]

Love that post Burn!

While I know the idea of opting out of the figure is rediculous, I totally agree with every thing else the guy said and how he said it.  I felt taken advantage of as a blind subscriber with this figure. (and yes, I know we've been through all of this before)

[ToyOtter]

I think it's pretty obvious what happened with Rocket Red:

They had Wave 21 ready to go when the Nu happened, and Rocket Red was their BAF.

He was already tooled. Mattel above all else is going to try and use your money to salvage what was cancelled, so it was probably a forgone conclusion that he was part of the sub well before we saw him.

Heck, Scott might have only sold in the sub in the first place to management by promising to work in the cancelled figures that had already cost development money. Which is why we're still getting Larfleeze, etc. next year even though there has been enough outcry to normally squash that shit. (Yes, I know, he has his fans).

Bottom line, Scott is probably a bigger hero than people think because he most likely only had a handful of slots open to plan for and used those to get out Rita/Tin/Platinum/Lead Ralph/etc. I'm sure Poison Ivy and Black Mask were slated for Batman Legacy if not DCUC.

[Doc]

Has there been an official response- acknowledgment of scale error or defense of it?

[Daniel Lynch]

More passing the blame than defense. I tried to use my Ask Mattel to suss out why RR was such a travesty.

First, back in March:

DCClassics.Com Asks: At NYTF, nearly everything for the DCIE subscription looked fantastic. The character choices were great and the figures looked sharp on display. That said, we’re somewhat puzzled by Rocket Red. Since Mattel opted to use the short-lived Geoff John/Ivan Reis version of Rocket Red, he should’ve received a standard size figure. Instead he’s been given an incorrect 8″ oversized slot. Is this an oversight that subscribers are just going to have to live with?

He is the correct scale as advised by our licensor partners.

Vault's girlfriend made this out of that answer:



I tried again a month later:

In last month’s Q&A, Mattel stated that the incorrectly scaled Rocket Red figure was approved by DC, but we’re not sure how that relates to why he can’t be fixed before release. Is Rocket Red being out of scale an error that Club IE Subscribers are just being asked to accept?

He is final and we can’t make changes at this point.

So, yeah. DC's fault and then too late. That's all I got.

Julius has said that DC pushed for Rocket Red to be made and I assume that DC pushed the John-version over the Classic one.

I figure RR just fell into the "Boomerang trap", they planned for him as an oversized figure based on classic look, and then DC insisted they go with what we got, Mattel was either uninterested or unwilling to swap it around.

[JerseyManiac!]

What do you mean the "Johns version".....not the one from Brightest Day right?  If they had made that one, I would have been thrilled!  But its not even close to what we got......explain yourself Noisy! 

[JSayonara]

It's the version from Green Lantern.

It was during the storyline where Hal was being hunted down during One Year Later.





As you can see, they're not nine foot tall.

[Daniel Lynch]

What do you mean the "Johns version".....not the one from Brightest Day right?  If they had made that one, I would have been thrilled!  But its not even close to what we got......explain yourself Noisy! 

This is the Johns/Reis Rocket Red armor that debuted in Hal's book shortly after he returned. It lasted through 10 or so Johns appearances and then got changed again shortly there after.

[urbanmyth]

I think it's pretty obvious what happened with Rocket Red:

They had Wave 21 ready to go when the Nu happened, and Rocket Red was their BAF.

He was already tooled. Mattel above all else is going to try and use your money to salvage what was cancelled, so it was probably a forgone conclusion that he was part of the sub well before we saw him.

Heck, Scott might have only sold in the sub in the first place to management by promising to work in the cancelled figures that had already cost development money. Which is why we're still getting Larfleeze, etc. next year even though there has been enough outcry to normally squash that shit. (Yes, I know, he has his fans).

Bottom line, Scott is probably a bigger hero than people think because he most likely only had a handful of slots open to plan for and used those to get out Rita/Tin/Platinum/Lead Ralph/etc. I'm sure Poison Ivy and Black Mask were slated for Batman Legacy if not DCUC.

While I know you're right, just a tiny bit of honesty out of Scott would go a long way.  When a guy tries to be your peer and then lies at every turn, it just turns me off way more than him being a suit and just doing "business".

[Doghouse Reilly]

While I know you're right, just a tiny bit of honesty out of Scott would go a long way.  When a guy tries to be your peer and then lies at every turn, it just turns me off way more than him being a suit and just doing "business".

I'd imagine he's doing a bit of office politics/tightrope walking. Someone, either at Mattel or DC, caused a miscommunication. Based on what little's been said, I'd imagine it was on DC's end, and Scott can't or won't name names without alienating someone who will make renegotiation hell the next time the license is up.

Anyway, the best thing to have done would have been for Mattel to make Rocket Red returnable for a refund, much like other "defective" products like Stay-Puft and the Green Goddess. Acknowledging RR as defective due to scale wasn't going to happen since that puts heat on whoever made the call to do this version at this size, though.

Stupid office politics...

[ThrillHo]

So DC Editorial picked a version of the figure that no one wanted to see... wait isn't it like that for the rest of the DCNU?

[Doc]

Ok, so other than the omic with the ginormous Rocker Red gravesite statue, he's never been huge.

Or as huge as someone's ego...

 

[leonardsean]

So DC Editorial picked a version of the figure that no one wanted to see... wait isn't it like that for the rest of the DCNU?

Shades of DC Direct. Somewhere Georg Brewer is laughing his ass off.

--Sean

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