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Q&A with the Voltron Team from Mattel

Comments

18 comments posted
true to the classic show

"We wanted to create a Voltron that was as true to the classic show as possible, while bringing something new and never before seen to the table."

So... going by the way the toy's head and chest look, I guess they based it on the moments when Voltron was most badly drawn? Good lord, they've made a toy that's poorly animated.

recognizer's picture
Posted by recognizer on 24 August, 2011 - 16:28
Do the people at Mattel

Do the people at Mattel purposefully give Matty that snarky ballbuster attitude? "Beneficial to the fans" in what way?

Again,I say to those of you on the fence about this,do your research,maybe buy a 6 inch DC or MOTU figure,THEN decide.

BTW Atom I just followed you on twitter,I'm rxchrisg.

kidnicky's picture
Posted by kidnicky on 24 August, 2011 - 16:28
I like how they're using the

I like how they're using the key for everything like that Key Force Van I reviewed.

VF5SS's picture
Posted by VF5SS on 24 August, 2011 - 16:33
You didn't have to use the

You didn't have to use the key for most of the stuff on the Key Force Van either. Clearly this is a thinly veiled attempt at a Key Force revival.

VF5SS's picture
Posted by VF5SS on 24 August, 2011 - 16:45
I'd be in on that.

I'd be in on that.

kidnicky's picture
Posted by kidnicky on 24 August, 2011 - 16:47
Well,yeah,it would be dumb

Well,yeah,it would be dumb not to cover it,but let's not pretend there won't be a few backwards shoulders,because there absolutely will be. Will these pilot figures be any better than the DC Crisis 3 3/4 figures? Of course not,.

kidnicky's picture
Posted by kidnicky on 24 August, 2011 - 16:45
well...

This post, helped educate me on the figure, design, and attributes...which is what a CDX is made for. I may not want the thing (no die-cast...yeah saves me $$) but was very interesting and informative.
Nice job!

AJProDie-Cast's picture
Posted by AJProDie-Cast on 24 August, 2011 - 16:49
Thank for the interview

Thanks for the interview and thanks for that huge picture :) Again, I'm glad I got the subscription.

One of the questions I would have liked to have answered is why there were not small pilots scaled to Voltron made to fit in the lion heads while still giving us these cool 3 3/4 pilots.

I would have loved to have a correctly scaled pilots with a detailed cockpits in each lion head and regular ratchet joints on the lions over "one touch" transformation.

If it was for the fans, I don't remember anyone asking me about design choices. Actually up until Comic Con no one had any idea what Voltron would look like.

SDFcommander's picture
Posted by SDFcommander on 24 August, 2011 - 18:40
This info would have sold more subs

This year Matty's complaining about how many subs they sold ad nauseum.

I would have bought this sub hands-down if I had this info...
...when I could have bought one.

Instead of blaming the customers for not buying, why not just *tell them exactly* what they're in for?

This looks really great, and the last few Infinite Heroes figures (which the figures here are based on) were pretty good toys. I didn't feel good about giving them a sub without knowing what I'm getting though. (Matty is good at using marketing to con people into panicking and the attitude of "give me a blank check or you'll miss out" sell, and I won't be fooled.)

So yeah, I guess I'm gonna be fighting for these on sale day every month :(

The Big R's picture
Posted by The Big R on 24 August, 2011 - 18:45
CLICKY JOINTS.

CLICKY JOINTS.

Jmann's picture
Posted by Jmann on 24 August, 2011 - 18:49
I kind of like that idea of

I kind of like that idea of the smaller scale pilots and detailed cockpit that sdfcommander mentioned while STILL offering the 3 3/4" figures. i dont need to have these figures fit into lions if they are out of scale, that would be more suited for a 6 year old. I cringe when they show them sitting in the lions body with a huge flap door showing. Collector-wise that was a bad choice. Smaller pilots would have made this PERFECT. That whole one-touch thing is corny...I'm sure I WILL get tired hitting the chest emblem. Other than that it is a 23" Voltron with pilot figures. awesome. I gave up on getting the perfect piloted Voltron. At least in this lifetime, but one never knows, Voltron has managed to keep going all these years.

great work on keeping us updated Atom, cant wait for more of your updates!

chachipower's picture
Posted by chachipower on 25 August, 2011 - 10:34
Confused attitude by the designers

On the one hand you have "toy" features like the auto-transform and the cockpits sized for the 3-3/4" figures. On the other hand, you have "enthusiast collector" features like the poseability and, well, the fact that this exists at all. It seems like they're confused about who they actually want this to be *for*. What's the use of putting in features that will just annoy the target market? The big spenders will be satisfying their nostalgia just by purchasing this thing; there's no need for toy fanservice.

I do sense a bit of pravda in the response to the "why a broken-up club-only release plan" question. Like the guy was reading directly off a list of talking points.

RobotBastard's picture
Posted by RobotBastard on 25 August, 2011 - 11:18
What's weird about it is they

What's weird about it is they do the exact opposite for MOTU. For example,Syclone. The original figure had a spinning gimmick and they left it out on the new toy,yet actually sculpted in the dial you used to activate the feature on the original toy. Similarly,on the He-Man and Skeletor "battle damage" armor figures,the old toys have like an inner barrel that spins when another figure's sword (or your finger) hits it,revealing a "dented" chestplate. (BTW this feature was included on a free Starscream I got at Burger King) On the new figures,you snap off the mint chestplate and swap it with a seperate piece to get the battle worn look. Supposedly this is to keep the gimmick from infringing on the look/posability of the toy,and since they're "adult collectibles" it's not like you're going to be playing with the gimmicks anyway,right?
Well now here's Voltron and the lions have huge compartments to hold out of scale pilots,and "one touch transformations" that require you to touch the lion 3 or 4 times then stick a key up it's ass,and a sword that comes in several pieces,and god knows what else. I just don't get it.

I am excited to see what they do for the new Voltron Force toys. I wonder if they'll attempt to make every lion able to become the head like on the show.

kidnicky's picture
Posted by kidnicky on 26 August, 2011 - 17:21
This by no means supporting

This by no means supporting or discounting Mattel, but working at a huge manufacture in the USA, different teams are formed to put out a product with usually includes Marketing, Research and Development and manufacturing. If 5 teams are formed to introduce 5 new products, the 5 different teams are unaware what each other is doing and accordingly produce different types of projects with different criteria.

I do have a good friend that works for Mattel, I could bring it up and see what he has to say about it but of what I have already can surmise they have a compartmentalized development teams that work independent from each other. They are also extremely private company, even from other employees and especially the public. That's their business model and that is what works for them for 50+ years. So be it!

LF

Showapop's picture
Posted by Showapop on 1 September, 2011 - 17:36
Little worried about the poseability in the arms....

It doesnt look like the red and green lions can swirvel the forearms. If that is the case then Voltron will be prevented from doing these 3 poses.

I really hope mattel can make as much improvements as possible as I signed up for the subscribtion at the last minute. I could care less about the 1 touch transformations or even the pilots(even though they are nice), i just hope it has a good amount of poseability as well as very durable and sturdy.

guyver's picture
Posted by guyver on 25 August, 2011 - 16:46
Giant Clicky Robot Goodness

I bought the subscription for this thing with very little info to go on other than some photos and the hilarious anal-probing video, so this Q&A really gives me a lot more confidence in what I just committed to. The backwards feet don't bother me as much knowing why they're like that. Knowing that every joint will be clicky, and that Voltron can sit and do the splits (I like my robots to be able to sit do the splits, so sue me) really makes me happy.

eriku's picture
Posted by eriku on 25 August, 2011 - 22:31