Answers to WTFWTK 2.7!

[Lay Ze-Man]

Right, but what about unannounced figures?

What about ideas for what to include with a particular figure we haven't seen yet?

[Haephestus]

Bummer about Faker being the "March" release.

I'd (incorrectly) thought the convention exclusives would be "bonus" figures on top of the 12 figures to be released each year (bringing the total to 14 figures).

Also, mildly concerned about Mattel's unwillingness to discuss the specifics of the line for at least the first 12 months. I'd thought the first 12 months were pretty much guaranteed (unless sales were absolutely dismal). Still, they're obviously thinking ahead (since they mention POP in the second year), so no need to man the lifeboats just yet.

Excellent news about one or two chicks in the first 12 months and that they will feature new sculpts. I'm hoping for Teela and Evil-Lynn, but am bracing myself for the fact that Mattel may try to "surprise" us with some different character choices.

[npbaity]

Bummer about Faker being the "March" release.

I'd (incorrectly) thought the convention exclusives would be "bonus" figures on top of the 12 figures to be released each year (bringing the total to 14 figures).

I had thought the same thing as well and I'm rather disappointed to find out otherwise. If the pattern holds, then I guess the SDCC Figure will also be the August/September Figure as well.

Oh well, I'll take whatever I can get as quickly as I can get it. Hurry up and get here December and 2009!

Long Live MOTU!!!!
Now and Forever!!!!

[Angel-T]

I wonder if the Sorceress will be one of the Women? I just hope we get Evil Lyn soon! Good answers Toyguru!

[Adam_Portugal]

I wonder if the Sorceress will be one of the Women? I just hope we get Evil Lyn soon! Good answers Toyguru!

Well, Teela and She-Ra are More strong characteres, so I think the perfect 2 female figures for 2009 are..

Evil-Lyn and Sorceress

Teela, She-Ra and Frosta/Queen Marlena in 2010, with other POP females, I hope!

I realy want the FEMALES!!!

I thought Faker would be an extra release. what's the point in making it as an exclusive comic convention and March figure?
Doesn't make any sense. They are really hesitating, and afraid about the sells. I'm sure every figure will sell soooooooooo well. any way, let's hope for the best.. I just can't believe I'll have to wait to 2010 to see any She-Ra friend, like Bow, Glimmer or Angella..

I hope they soon realize that they can release 2 figures per month! when they actually see the good sells of the first figures!

[Tallstar]

I wonder if the Sorceress will be one of the Women? I just hope we get Evil Lyn soon! Good answers Toyguru!

For some reason I think they'll save her for 2010 or later.

[DisneyBoy]

Although the style guide might on the surface appear to open the door to additional characters who were not made as toys in the 1980s, there are just too many legal restrictions at this moment to rock the boat like this. Much like our answer last time about being hesitant to do 1987 movie deco’d figures, for the POP line we will be sticking to just figures that were made in the 1980s. (or had prototypes made like the Tall Sisters).

and

New Adventures and POP figures will show up more in year two once we are up and running.

So basically..."Hey look everyone! A line for the fans, ALL the fans! EVERYONE will be happy with characters from ALL the He-Man shows, including She-Ra! Who we'll only get to LATER ON, once the line has proven that nothing will kill it! Meaning, if you don't like He-Man as much, too bad! Buy the toys, and you *MIGHT* get to see She-Ra characters! And...what's that? You think the Mattel figures weren't so great the first time around? Well, Too bad! You'll be getting them again anyways! And you'll like it! Cause if you don't, we'll bury She-Ra under a building and you'll never see her again, ever, in any form! "



SIGH

[Angel-T]

I am gutted that we will not see She-Ra untill 2010 if at all. She is my most wanted character. But at least Mattel have been straight up about it. We don't have to build ourselves up every few months hoping that she is coming. I did hope that Adora might be considerd as a con exclusive but after that last statement by Mattel I am not going to hold my breath. I do wish Mattel would do something for the NA & POP fans a bit sooner, but it seems they have their plans firmly set and heels deeply embeded in the ground as far as NA & POP are concerned.

[Lay Ze-Man]

Yeah, I know it can be viewed as threatening for PoP fans (buy, or else!), but it's true, really the fastest way to get to those characters (of which the principal ones I think ALL MotU fans want to get to!) is for everyone to buy as many MOTUC figures as we can afford.

Better sales = more tooling dollars = more figures more consistently, and more rapidly.

And before you say that it's just rehashing the same old characters again and again, well remember that it's already been revealed that we're getting a totally NEW character in 2009.

It won't be PoP or NA apparently, but it could be something really cool like He-Ro or Queen Marlena.
So yeah, while the first year will be predominantly the core MotU cast (and is that really surprising?) I hope that sales are strong enough to maybe give us the extra bump of an extra figure per month every now and again.

Because the sooner we "finish off" from He-Man and Tri-Klops to Man-At-Arms and Trap-Jaw, the sooner we can get to the cool secondary and unreleased characters, hopefully hitting your favorite character (or mine!) ASAP.

But with its own look, MOTUC doesn't really fit in with any existing MotU line, and IMO it just wouldn't be a MotU toy line without certain core characters. But that's only going to be 12-14 characters anyway, whereas IMO you're not getting to the true core MotU cast without getting into the 25-30 range.

So if they're already dipping into PoP or NA by figure 15 or so, that in and of itself is somewhat "risky" by how few figures are being released in this line.

[SKELEPIMP]

Wooohoo!

Looking forward to that MOTU page at Matty Collector!


.

[lanmandagoran]

Not that the statement that they want to see first how the announced figures will sell changes my purchasing habits regarding this line ( I will buy one of each - two in case of a figure with a strong second head sculpt available), but now I am worried

If these figures do not sell well, Mattel may yet again pull the plug on MOTU.

The crazy thing for me is that they are not testing the waters with mixed product, let's say, first two figures classic MOTU, next one POP, right after NA and then Powers of Greyskull and finally MOTU200X.
They might ax the line if classic MOTU struggles, without testing how all the others might have done.....

[Drewsky]

Bummer about Faker being the "March" release.

I'd (incorrectly) thought the convention exclusives would be "bonus" figures on top of the 12 figures to be released each year (bringing the total to 14 figures).

I was thinking that too. Are they changing everything on us now? First the "possible" different head on Faker when they said every figure would share the same parts as in the original. And now they use a comic-con figure as a monthly figure.

Either something's up, or I'm jumping to conclusions.

Drewsky...

[evenflow]

Are we still supposed to be getting 2 never before made characters in the first year?

[BCI Guy]

The crazy thing for me is that they are not testing the waters with mixed product, let's say, first two figures classic MOTU, next one POP, right after NA and then Powers of Greyskull and finally MOTU200X.
They might ax the line if classic MOTU struggles, without testing how all the others might have done.....

I think it makes all the sens ein the world to focus on Classic MOTU initially.

The only data I have to go on is DVD sales, and they tell me that Classic MOTU is the most popular product. More people are spending more money on 80s He-Man than 2002, She-Ra or NA.

So if they are looking for the biggest possible first numbers to prove the line a success, it looks like Classic is absolutely the way to go.

[JonWes]

I have to agree, as much as I might like it to be a good mix right from the get-go, that concentrating on Classic MOTU makes sense. That's not to say I wouldn't like Count Marzo, Optikk or She-Ra sooner than later, just that I understand why that probably won't happen.

[Toyguru]

Hey gang,

Just to keep the info going. Originally, Faker was NOT the March figure. The reason we needed to bump him to March was because Mer-Man was running a bit late. So the choice was either have Stratos and Faker in Feb and not have a March figure, or just bump Faker to March to make sure we have a figure each month.

With that in mind, we hope fans will understand.

You will be able to get Faker first at NYCC (if all goes to plan) and he will show up on Matty.com a few weeks later. We are doing everything we can to keep the figures coming at one per month, but the toy process is very fickle and lots of little things can throw the schedule off.

We are also looking into the possibility of multiple figure per month toward the end of 2009, but again, like anything beyond 1 basic figure, this will depend on sales. If the figure take off, we'd love to take this to the limit!

More updates on MattyCollector.com coming soon!

Toy Guru

[Darkspecter]

Teela and Green Goddess . . . sounds about right!

That's exactly what I thought! Teela + Teela repaint = less $$$ for Mattel. Anyhoo, one thing Green Goddess NEEDS is the Sorceress' white staff, but all black (she has it in the mini-comic and it is in fact, the same staff that came with the Sorceress toy).

Anyhoo...I was most anticipating these answers out of all the question threads. The answers were both exciting and disapointing.

Exciting:
- ALL figures have removeable heads.
- Commemorative line (unreleased 80's figures, etc.) is a possibility and has been discussed internally!
- New female sculpts!
- Four Horsemen sculpts
- Possibly 2 women in year 1!

Disappointing/Scary:
- MAY re-use DCUC parts...TERRIFYING news (female parts)
- No PoP or NA until year 2!!!!!
- No extra rooted PoP heads. It sounds like further down the line, they MAY be able to do a head boxset or something if the line is profitable enough though...and since ALL figures will have removeable heads, it is a real possibility!
- Staying away from designs they own (PoP, 80's He-Man movie characters, female Horde Wraith/Witch) out of legal fear...

All in all, a good Q&A this month. Very informative!

[Patreek]

lol @ the Tall Sisters.

I think its clear that you and the star sisters are one in the same. lol

[Tallstar]

I think its clear that you and the star sisters are one in the same. lol

I'm hoping that was an accidental reveal of who we're getting in year 2... LOL

[Ivan]

I would LOVE to see LEGO MOTU!!!

[Eamon]

I wonder will the female characters of MOTUC be like that new Giganta figure they got on Mattycollector.com?

[Angel-T]

Personally I hope not, I don't like that sculpt very much!

[Baena]

That's exactly what I thought! Teela + Teela repaint = less $$$ for Mattel. Anyhoo, one thing Green Goddess NEEDS is the Sorceress' white staff, but all black (she has it in the mini-comic and it is in fact, the same staff that came with the Sorceress toy).

Um, I disagree. I don't think it's the same falcon motif staff Sorceress has.
It's on this page here.

She is holding a staff, but it looks more like a horned animal skull staff to me more than a falcon staff. Plus it's so small and a silouette at that, it's really hard to say.

Now, that said would I be opposed to a falcon staff? Not really, but I don't think it's the best choice. Just doesn't seem to fit for me. But that's me, anyone is free to their opinions on this.


...


What?! You all knew I'd have something to say about that didn't you?

[MegaGearMax]

Although the style guide might on the surface appear to open the door to additional characters who were not made as toys in the 1980s, there are just too many legal restrictions at this moment to rock the boat like this. Much like our answer last time about being hesitant to do 1987 movie deco’d figures, for the POP line we will be sticking to just figures that were made in the 1980s. (or had prototypes made like the Tall Sisters).

and

New Adventures and POP figures will show up more in year two once we are up and running.

So basically..."Hey look everyone! A line for the fans, ALL the fans! EVERYONE will be happy with characters from ALL the He-Man shows, including She-Ra! Who we'll only get to LATER ON, once the line has proven that nothing will kill it! Meaning, if you don't like He-Man as much, too bad! Buy the toys, and you *MIGHT* get to see She-Ra characters! And...what's that? You think the Mattel figures weren't so great the first time around? Well, Too bad! You'll be getting them again anyways! And you'll like it! Cause if you don't, we'll bury She-Ra under a building and you'll never see her again, ever, in any form! "

SIGH

I hear you. They advertise the crap out of all the other eras being included only to have straight vintage characters dominate the first year's roster. I thought it would be mostly vintage, but not totally vintage. While I can understand why they did this, it flies in the face of what they were advertising. If you are only a straight fan of NA or a POP fan, you might as well sleep on MOTUC and come back in 2010. Mattel might as well do all vintage MOTU era characters period and see if anyone wants POP, NA or 200X characters afterward.

I guess they assume the target MOTUC audience will buy every character to come out. 200X, NA, POP fans will have to buy vintage MOTUC figures until 200X, NA, POP come out...IF MOTUC makes it that long.

[Lay Ze-Man]

So . . . no one else wondering about the confusion on question #1?