Just when I thought the last bit of news for this would be the inevitable approval or cancellation, Matty surprised me with an announcement that they'll be extending the pre-order to August 31. Seriously, Mattel?

On the bright side, this beats just outright canceling it due to lack of interest (presumably due to a combination of pairing and cost). MattyCollector STILL hasn't released a target number but they've at least revealed that they've received half of the necessary pre-orders to move forward (if said target isn't met, I'm wondering if they'll offer pre-orders at an even higher rate).

The continued lack of transparency is annoying although (unless Mattel is screwing with us again) it does seem like project might not go through. MattyCollector really runs these promotions in the most frustrating ways possible half the time where you can never be sure what's actually going to happen. As for the extension itself, the official statement is as follows:

"Some of you may wonder why we are able to extend this made to order sale when we are not able to extend the subscription period. The difference is that the pre-order figures are not tied to a specific production date. As soon as we reach the required target we can go ahead and start production. The subscription sales are on a set delivery timeline that cannot be changed."

I honestly don't feel that the tactic will do any good, unless they're expecting the desperate to shore up orders or online retailers to nab additional quantities. At any rate, if you haven't placed a pre-order and still plan on it you have yet another chance.

[ Pre-order at MattyCollector ]