Should Mattel have polls before they decide to switch things on figures?

[Canada-Man]

Should Mattel have polls before they make decisions like switching forearms on a figure? I mean we are the fans who are buying the figures so decisions like that should be made by us!

What do you think?

[THINKOR]

Agreed. What puzzles me is not only how this whole "forearm fiasco" could have been avoided had they simply asked fans, but also it appears that 4H were not asked either. Why?

[nuno]

Swapping an already sculpted forearm piece is such a dumb and wrong idea that it should not even be considered to be in a poll.

They should make polls about color, engeneering, but never a poll about artistic interpretation and leave that to the 4 Hoursemen.

[Dark Sorceress]

they fix all the poll's they have had so they will do what they want anyway

[mjw41]

Should Mattel have polls before they make decisions like switching forearms on a figure? I mean we are the fans who are buying the figures so decisions like that should be made by us!

What do you think?

No not so much as the descisions should be made by us, but to be fair at least get our input on it so that they will know if the outcry would be positive or negative. It's not so hard to just make a post saying "hey guys design was thinking of trying this on this figure, would you at all be interested in this? YES or NO?" Thats polite and it also shows some respect to those who paid for a subscription a year in advance because Day of sale buyers can say yes i'm buying that figure or no i'm passing on it, but sub holders already paid for it.

Swapping an already sculpted forearm piece is such a dumb and wrong idea that it should not even be considered to be in a poll.

They should make polls about color, engeneering, but never a poll about artistic interpretation and leave that to the 4 Hoursemen.

I agree 100% How many times have we heard Scott say we leave those decisions choices up to the Horsemen on the figures look.
Then Design goes and pulls this crap making Scotts Horsemen comment not true at all. Designs only job is to take the horsemens sculpt and turn it into a working action figure so that it can go into production.

Yes changes like sorceress wings need to be made because they found if left the way the horsemen sculpted her, on the drop test the wings broke off the arms, but never just swap out a figures arm parts because you think it's creative and cool looking, I mean come on the Horsemen weren't even consulted on this.

[Uki]

I'm not sure I trust the fan community more than Mattel most times, but I agree that any odd choice like that of Stinkor's arms could benefit from a quick poll.

I certainly don't want "us" taking over design though.

[Hosed Ovor]

I don't think polls would be helpful. The reversed shoulders, deteriorating trunk, and cracked torso would still have occurred. What Mattel needs to do is hire a competent in-house designer.

[slackrguy]

I'm not sure I trust the fan community more than Mattel most times, but I agree that any odd choice like that of Stinkor's arms could benefit from a quick poll.

I certainly don't want "us" taking over design though.

Well said, Uki. This is my stance on the OP's question also.

[scott metzger]

I'm not sure I trust the fan community more than Mattel most times, but I agree that any odd choice like that of Stinkor's arms could benefit from a quick poll.
I certainly don't want "us" taking over design though.

In fairness, the fan community has been right about major issues probably more than Mattel (I'm looking at you, Smash Blade He-Man, Infinite Heroes, etc, etc). Mattel's decisions are so consistently bad in the last decade that some of us actually do as good a job as the folks being paid there when it comes to what will work and what will not. There's this belief that just because we're fans and Mattel's folks are big businessmen that we have nothing to offer and our words should be ignored. That hasn't proven to be the case many times over the last several years. Fans aren't always right, either, but neither is Mattel. Sage advice is sage advice no matter the source.

As for the poll, why? I don't believe the switch was deliberate at all, so how do you do a poll on it? "Do you want us to continue to randomly switch parts on our figures with no rhyme or reason?"

The solution is to follow the Horsemen's lead on aesthetic issues as much as possible, minimize the design team's input to the more technical areas they are supposed to deal with, and wake up whoever is supposed to be keeping an eye the QC for the line, because I can hear the snoring from here...

[MegaGearMax]

I'm not sure I trust the fan community more than Mattel most times, but I agree that any odd choice like that of Stinkor's arms could benefit from a quick poll.

I certainly don't want "us" taking over design though.

Since we are the customers, we're going to have a better sense of what we'd want over Mattel's designers. Some of us have better sense too, as shown with the whole Stinkor reverse forearm debacle or Sorceress' wings.

But this thread might be assuming that Stinkor's reversed arms weren't a mistake!

[Berserker79]

If they want to change deco or swap parts, it's better to ask the community.

Best current examples are Stinkor & Snake Mountain Stands...

[Canada-Man]

I think having polls would at least hold them accountable for mistakes like stinkors forearms. Then they can't fall back on the "design wanted to change things" excuse. I just feel that if we are buying these figures maybe out of the ordinary changes should be polled. Like maybe have a poll to decide if ram man gets two legs or the vintage attached legs. Things like that may benefit if it is a majority decision.

Just my 2 cents

[Replikor]

Should Mattel have polls before they make decisions like switching forearms on a figure? I mean we are the fans who are buying the figures so decisions like that should be made by us!

What do you think?

I agree 100%!!! It should be our call via majority vote.