FROM THE DESK OF BRIAN VOLK-WEISS, CEO AND FOUNDER OF THE NACELLE COMPANY
It is with great displeasure that I make this statement in response to Mattel, a company that I’ve supported, worked with and admired for many years. On the afternoon of July 1, 2022, I received a legal notice from Mattel, threatening The Nacelle Company with a lawsuit because they believe that our upcoming action figure release of Robo Force’s Maxx Steele infringes on their intellectual property regarding their Max Steel line from 1999. As the Robo Force line, including its main protagonist, Maxx Steele, was created in 1984 by the Ideal Toy Company (Nacelle acquisition story in Deadline), this claim of The Nacelle Company stealing Intellectual Property from Mattel is clearly false. We’ve listed some additional details that we deem to be applicable.
**Mattel accuses Nacelle of “changing the spelling” from “Max Steel” to “Maxx Steele,” although Robo Force is a 38 year old IP and Mattel’s version of “Max Steel” is 23 years old.
**Mattel incorrectly attributes the scale of the original Maxx Steele figure as 2 feet tall (99.9% of the original figures were 6 inches) and that Nacelle intentionally decided to scale ours down to directly mimic Mattel’s “Max Steel” action figure line.
**Mattel incorrectly claims that their own IP, “Max Steel”, is a robot (which it is not), and that Nacelle intentionally “copied” their aesthetic, including “futuristic weapons and attachments,” although the original Maxx Steele clearly came with 3 attachments that are ‘futuristic weapons’.
**Despite Mattel’s direct working relationship on multiple Nacelle collaborations, and their continued request that Nacelle produce a Toys That Made Us Hot Wheels episode, Mattel chose not to contact Nacelle over this matter in a more amicable manner.
**Mattel stated that they will take Nacelle to court if we don’t change the name.
My company and I will not stand for the baseless and lazily researched legal threat from Mattel, and plan to see them in court regarding this matter if they decide to push the issue further.
To our fans and other collectors, we thank you for your continued support and we ask that you please support us in this matter by sharing this story.
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Sincerely,
The Nacelle Company Founder and CEO,
Brian Volk-Weiss