Mattel - New for 2023

[andrewsaurus rex]

It reminds me a lot of the Playmates Star Trek line of the 1990's which was a cash cow turned failure due to poor management.

Personally, I think the oversaturation and declining interest in the franchise is what killed the Star Trek hotline.

Perhaps, but many have pointed to numerous bonehead moves by Playmates. including, but not limited to: making the Star Trek First Contact figures in a completely different scale than the other ST figures Playmates had been making up to that point. the three  '1701' exclusive figures which were of subjects VERY desirable to own by collectors but made in minute quantities, such that the after market prices sky rocketed in just a few months after their release, culminating with Tapestry Picard reaching $1000, Playmates realizing they had goofed with the exclusives re-released them in a 3 pack which pulled the rug out from under all the collectors who had paid a small fortune in after market prices......those are just 3 of the highlights of a series of poor decisions.  Collector frustration had been building prior to that, but those 3 doozies cemented the end of the line for Playmates.

Contrast that to Hasbro's Star Wars line, which began in 1995 and is still going strong, with less subject matter to draw from than the Star Trek franchise has to offer.

Interestingly, Playmates is rebooting this line this year, releasing a bunch of new figures along with some of the old ones....all in the same 4.75 inch scale and style as before.  Figures from all the new series, including the animated shows will be included.   Not sure this is a great idea but we'll see.  Most collectors dumped their Playmates collections long ago and probably won't be too interested in starting all over again.  That plus the fact that, while the figures were quite good for their day, they will look pretty poor against modern action figure quality.  Not sure if the nostalgic factor will be enough for this line to succeed.  Will be interesting to watch...

[Stegotyranno420]

The postasuchus is one of their best.
This is just ew, disgusting.  I dont think I've ever said that of a figurine.

[GojiraGuy1954]

It looks like they slapped a V. rex head on a modified Siamosaurus body. I feel the Postosuchus did a much better job at resembling its namesake, albeit an outdated 90's interpretation (which works fine with most of the JP styled stuff all things considered). Another pass for me.

Edit: Removed duplicate image since @Flaffy posted it too.

I'll add it to the OP soon enough, as well as the Regaliceratops and Orkoraptor. I'm guessing those two will be medium size electronic figures.

Are there images of those yet

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Nice detail but it's pretty meh. I don't care for the fins they insist on sticking on everything. I've honestly maybe only heard of this species..and I've heard of an Orkoraptor..immediatly thought He-Man..

[Gwangi]

The reason I don't like the Mattel Postasuchus is because it looks like a knockoff of the far superior Safari Postosuchus, one of my all time favorite figures, and a cheap knockoff is all I ever see when I look at it. I'm happy to announce that I won't have either Mattel pseudosuchian in my collection.

[MLMjp]

The "epic damage" sub line is anything but epic.

[Carnoking]

I don't say this lightly but that is Hasbro level bad.

[Flaffy]

Welp Mattel, we've had a good run...

[Pliosaurking]

I'm all for rauisuchuians, but there is no way I'm getting that Prestosuchus, it's an abomination.
And epic is not the word I'd use for that Dilophosaurus...

[Gwangi]

That's one of the worst figures that Mattel has produced thus far. A new low.

[GiganotosaurusFan]

Everybody! Let's announce Hasbro's big return! Except they're under the new name Mattel!

On a serious note, this dilo feels really bulky and bad. Even toe claws and hands don't have paint on them.

[JimoAi]

What a waste of plastic for the both the prestosuchus and the dilo. Mattel ain't trying and they don't need to to succeed considering alot of ppl will still buy the low effort designs they put out

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

What a waste of plastic for the both the prestosuchus and the dilo. Mattel ain't trying and they don't need to to succeed considering alot of ppl will still buy the low effort designs they put out

A lot of kids will. This dilo, it makes noise and light up and kids will love the " one that spit all over the bad guy " . As a older collector I just think I have the best already from the Amber and Hammond Collections and I'm good with that.


I saw Collect Jurassic removed their 2023 checklist, hopefully it's being updated.

[Giganotosaurus]

I have to be honest, I really like the Prestosuchus's appearance. Looks like a fearsome one. I'll be picking one up for sure. Target exclusive, right?

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

I have to be honest, I really like the Prestosuchus's appearance. Looks like a fearsome one. I'll be picking one up for sure. Target exclusive, right?

Not sure if it is or not.

[PrimevalRaptor]

Yeah that Prestosuchus...does not beat the Postosuchus, it does have a certain B-movie monster charme for what it's worth and the coloration is not bad but that's not a must-have for sure (though maybe a "it'd grow on me in person"). They do really love those spines/fins, huh?

That Dilo is rough for sure, never been a fan of electronic toys anyway but at this point we will have Hasbro 2 in a year or so huh

[GojiraGuy1954]

What a waste of plastic for the both the prestosuchus and the dilo. Mattel ain't trying and they don't need to to succeed considering alot of ppl will still buy the low effort designs they put out

We went from 2018 toyline of the year to this

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Vote with your wallet. Just don't buy it. I'm getting a little burned out so I have liquidated a lot of mine and skipped quite a few recently.

I'm also reminded this is dino-damage range is a walmart branch of the toyline and is as likely to be canceled as released. Just like they did with the extreme damage Spino re-release. Walmart also expects a lot of bang for the very buck they spend on something.

[Eatmycar]

They definitely make too many animals.

Oh well. I'll vote with my wallet on a lot of the main line this year. Hammond still mostly is home runs. The massive... attack? Strikers? Whatever? Isn't awful either. The smaller figures are definitely take it or leave it.

I will say, though, the problem isn't Mattel or Hasbro. It's Universal Studios. The same thing happens all the time with Jurassic. Cost cutting, lower standards.

And yet the license holder, Universal, does fuck all to fix it. They absolutely refuse to make their licensees accountable until the product just blows up (Hasbro '15), or isn't printing money fast enough (Jurassic World Primal Ops).

Y'all remember the chronicle collectibles breakout Rex that looked like a poppy seed bagel?

And yet Uni didn't push back or anything against that. And here we are again with mediocre figures. Universal cheapens the brand and doesn't care.

And miss me with that "Hasbro would've done better" nonsense. Hasbro cheapened out as much as they could to the point they had bullet hole screws on the side. Sure, their Croc Master crocodile is gorgeous, but that's their own IP. They're not going to cheapen GI Joe. Jurassic is the IP the owners don't care about, it doesn't matter.

And the same might happen here. It also doesn't help that mattel keeps putting massive, shelf-warming sauropods out every year and super colossal which eat the budget thanks to tooling and paint costs.

[CityRaptor]

Just a reminder: This is the most recent licensed Tyrannosaurus Rex by Hasbro:

This piece of junk costs nearly 50 dollars...or 70 Euros if you are in Europe. Look at it and despair!