Im sorry, I have to rant.Legends related.

The WWF look of red and black is far more memorable, it doesn't matter if they were more successful in the NWA. You gotta remember who is going to buy these figures? The average board member here is around 13- 30... Most of us grew up watching LOD in WWF in the 90's. We want that look. Sure my Dad thinks the NWA look is the best, but guess what? he isn't going to spend his money on it.

Okay I think some of you are missing the point here.

It doesn't matter what era we consider Hawk & Animal to have had the most success, as a NWA fan of course I love the Road Warriors Mad Max black shoulder pads/silver spikes look, but as a fan of the team I also know the majority of Road Warrior merchandise depicts their red/black attire - from Hasbro to Japan right back to Jakks, DVDs, T-shirts, almost all Road Warrior paraphernalia.

So you made the Road Warriors in black - great job MDT. So what are you doing with the shoulder pads, boots, and head sculpt molds in your Chinese factories? Are they gathering dust? I know I'm over-simplifying the process, but it seems to me that red paint apps to those pieces mentioned would create instant profits for you guys. Why invest in the tooling if you're not planning to re-release more versions and make back your costs?

LOD red/black, LOD blue, SummerSlam '92 gold vac-metal shoulder pads, even 200X LOD with white shoulder pads - a whole set of face paint applications (at least for Animal), hell with the amount of opportunities you guys have with those molds it's almost a crime to not make money.

The Popularity of the Road Warriors is on par with the likes of Macho Man and Ultimate Warrior with multiple attire opportunities for marketable TOYS. And if you don't think so, well kind sir, you obviously don't know what the Road Warrior Pop is.

Exactly!!!!
They pulled the plug on something that had nearly endless possibilities. Harlem Heat hasn't had a figure since mid 90's. With that, there are so many worthy WCW tag teams to go with that series. Kronik, Barbarian and Meng, Young Bloods..... Come on Mattel.... Realize your Legends line has the potential to knock off that garbage FlexForce.

at $30 a pack, with a better formula like above, Im sure they would fly off shelves. Once again, the first 2-4 series need to be huge hitters. Series one could look like this:
LOD- Red/Black..... simple re-paints.
HBK vs Razor Ramon with IC Title and Ladder
Hart Foundation..... RSC Bret repaint w/ Anvil matching with WWF Tag Team Titles.

3 out of 3 figures would be re-paints. There for this set would profit from not having to tool 6 figures, but 3.
Hart Foundation is a huge want across the board, But having a retail set that comes with belts, will boost sales, Same with the HBK-Razor set. Toss in the ladder, for those who love accessories and you have a solid set. I don't need to explain LOD's sales.

Now that I know Mattel is really reading this thread I want to throw something out there.

First of all, to address MTD's question. I think it's an age thing. When I got to know LOD, they were in WWF in the red and black gear. Every piece of merchandise I ever saw with them at that time featured them in the red and black gear. Now you guys have about 20 years on me. So the NWA style LOD wasn't before your time. I'm not complaining at all that we got NWA style LOD. In fact, I wish they were easier to find because I want multiples.

Next, I have a theory on why the Legends line struggled a bit. Jakks made their mark on the Legends market with RA style figures. I remember those being priced at about the same price you guys are charging for Basic figures, maybe a bit cheaper. Would you ever consider relaunching the Legends in Basic style with only 1 or 2 iconic accessories with each figure. For example, with LOD you could release them with the shoulder pads, but the gauntlets aren't needed. I appreciate that we got gauntlets, but if you need to cut costs I don't think people would mind losing those. Maybe you guys charge $12 or $13 per figure. I'm just thinking that if you could find a cheaper way to get Legends out, people might buy more. In my opinion, right now I am looking more for getting different characters, instead of how fantastically detailed they are. Then you could put out Elite style Legends like you are doing right now on Mattycollector.com. All in all, I guess what you are currently doing as far as mixing legends into Basic sets is essentially what I am talking about.

Agreed, in addition to what you said the 2 pack series could of had the feuds (or battle packs as they call them now) as well as tag teams.

The classic rivarly/feuds would of gotten them a higher price point with two figures and a way for people to purchase a 2nd figure if they only wanted one of the two. Good way to increase sales of less popular guys; pairing them with a big name.

For example: SS 90 Rick Rude (figure they made) but paired with Warrior,
polka dot Dusty (same fig made) but with WM6 Macho King. etc

who peed in you bowl of cereal dude?

Mattel Design Team replied with a "serious question" a page or so ago. So they have to be reading something in this thread to provoke a question.

I don't know if they're reading the rest of this thread (although it would be in their best interest to do so) but if we can get their ear for a second then they might realize how silly their "serious question" is when you consider the cost of new tooling vs repainting. The opportunity costs of not re-using a mold specifically created for certain figures like LOD must be significant. Which other WWE Mattel figure can come with those shoulder pads, boots, or gauntlets? Why, WHY are we waiting this long to receive a slew of LOD repaints, yet we get bogged down with Randy Ortons and his different coloured briefs.

ugh.

i wouldnt buy LOD as basics personally, but if they came in elite it would me a first day pre-order

speaking of no tooling repaints, camo sarge with the army helmet that came with the tribute to the troops ring would sell as a flashback very well i imagine