Answers to WTFWTK 2.7!

[MegaGearMax]

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

They'll let us know how well the line is doing. Chances are they'll come out and ask for our input on future projects within MOTUC (200X, Vehicles, animals, playsets, etc.) when they get some sales numbers.

[DisneyBoy]

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.

EXACTLY

[Super He-Man]

7. When will we see the first MOTUC sculpts of characters from New Adventures, Princess of Power, and the 2002 MOTU universe?
We definitely have characters from these lines in mind but we won’t be revealing further MOTUC until early 2009 once we judge sales on the first few figures. So the answer is sooner than later. The first year of product however will focus on the original MOTU line. New Adventures and POP figures will show up more in year two once we are up and running.

I'm confused as to why people are reading this as there will be no New Adventures or POP in the first year. To say you are focusing on something does not mean you are doing it 100%. It only means that it is your primary, not sole, goal.

Also, "more in year two" means exactly that. If we get 1 in year one and 2 in year 2, then we are getting "more in year two".

[Tallstar]

I'm confused as to why people are reading this as there will be no New Adventures or POP in the first year. To say you are focusing on something does not mean you are doing it 100%. It only means that it is your primary, not sole, goal.

Also, "more in year two" means exactly that. If we get 1 in year one and 2 in year 2, then we are getting "more in year two".

I hope you're right.

[Eric]

Glad to hear they're sticking with the Four Horsemen for the time being, though an answer like, "We will retain the Horsemen's services for any and all figures in MOTUC" would have been ideal. I think it's important they remain involved with MOTU.

As for having to wait till 2010 for non-80s stuff, I think it's expected. If an era isn't as popular, you just have to accept the fact it's not going to get the same treatment as the '80s era.

I love 200X, and I wanted more 200X figures and stactions before I wanted another revamp of MOTU. But I understand that the '80s stuff is the driving force behind all of this, so I'll wait my turn with NA and PoP and enjoy what comes along in between.

[Mern-Ra]

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

Dang, dude. I was glad to see that SIGH at the end cuz you need to take a breath. It's just not Mattel's fault that MOTU is more popular than POP or NA. They have to do what will keep the line going the longest so they CAN get to figures that won't sell quite as much as others.

And I don't know if you're a fan of The Horde, but remember, they're MOTU so maybe we'll see some of them in the first year. But I do hear ya and am happy that MOTU is my favorite incarnation of this property, and I do feel that She-Ra could do very well for this line in the first year, especially if they did a He-Man & She-Ra two pack.

[Lord Anubis]

So wait.........

The line is FOR the fans, yet the Fan's cant pick wich figures we want? Id rather get He-Ro before Faker, will that happen.... maybe in 2011? Nice. The 1 figure a month thing is still kinda stupid, and keeping me away from buying these. I lose intrest fast, Id rather spend the coin and get 2 a month to build em up.

Their bassically saying "buy alot, or we're canning this...." Well we bought the hell outta the 200x line and we got canned, so why would I drop lets see a few hundred bucks for uncertanty again?

ugh I dunno. These answers are just the same junk we got for the 200X questions (im not blaming toy guru, hes cool, its just the legal stuff), just this all seems too cramped. I want to believe Mattel will do us right, I wanna!

[Defendery]

So wait.........

The line is FOR the fans, yet the Fan's cant pick wich figures we want? Id rather get He-Ro before Faker, will that happen.... maybe in 2011? Nice. The 1 figure a month thing is still kinda stupid, and keeping me away from buying these. I lose intrest fast, Id rather spend the coin and get 2 a month to build em up.

Their bassically saying "buy alot, or we're canning this...." Well we bought the hell outta the 200x line and we got canned, so why would I drop lets see a few hundred bucks for uncertanty again?

ugh I dunno. These answers are just the same junk we got for the 200X questions (im not blaming toy guru, hes cool, its just the legal stuff), just this all seems too cramped. I want to believe Mattel will do us right, I wanna!

Yes because it would be so easy for us to come together and agree upon what figures should be first. Dude, be happy they are trying to give us a new MOTU line at all. And of course they are saying "buy alot", they want it to successful. Don't you? The more successful it is the more characters will be made and in time we will all see a lot of cool figures we want to see. The core figues have to be first to appeal to as broad a base as possible. Members of this site will not be able to support the line alone. Relax, appreciate the new sculpts, "buy alot" and see what time brings.
I for one am glad to see the sincerity and effort being put into the planning for the line. Hopefully this will lead to it being much more successful than the 200X line. I too want to see some characters outside the main bunch, but I have no problem buying the core figures. Would a collection not look kind of odd without them? And from what we have seen they look very good, why not buy them. None of us can complain one bit about how this all turns out if we don't support it from the get go. That is the bottom line and there is no getting around it.

[MegaGearMax]

Yes because it would be so easy for us to come together and agree upon what figures should be first. Dude, be happy they are trying to give us a new MOTU line at all. And of course they are saying "buy alot", they want it to successful. Don't you? The more successful it is the more characters will be made and in time we will all see a lot of cool figures we want to see. The core figues have to be first to appeal to as broad a base as possible. Members of this site will not be able to support the line alone. Relax, appreciate the new sculpts, "buy alot" and see what time brings.
I for one am glad to see the sincerity and effort being put into the planning for the line. Hopefully this will lead to it being much more successful than the 200X line. I too want to see some characters outside the main bunch, but I have no problem buying the core figures. Would a collection not look kind of odd without them? And from what we have seen they look very good, why not buy them. None of us can complain one bit about how this all turns out if we don't support it from the get go. That is the bottom line and there is no getting around it.

But that means buying figures that you don't want in order to get the figures that you do want. If you're a hardcore NA fan, you can either not support MOTUC until they make NA figures OR you can waste money on figures you don't want and support MOTUC on a "maybe, if the line does well". You'd be tossing away money on a slim hope that the line does well enough that it justifies making what you want. The other choice is not supporting MOTUC until they start making what you want. If that idea gets popular, the only folks collecting will be the "I'll buy everything folks". And how many of the fans collecting now will buy "everything"?

It's super easy for the vintage fans. They're getting the 8 back from jump. Straight vintage for a year. Imagine if MOTUC started off with NA first? Imagine if you had to buy POP before you ever saw regular MOTU characters?

"Either buy a whole bunch of **** you don't want or He-Man dies!"

[DisneyBoy]

Imagine if you had to buy POP before you ever saw regular MOTU characters?

Would it be in poor taste to say "I have a dream"....?


No, I'm just foolin'. What I really want is what they advertised. A mixed line. How cool would this be for the first few months of the line?

Jan - He-Man
Feb - Hordak
March - She-Ra
April - Skellie
May - Sorceress
June - Flogg (Had to look up an NA character, cause I don't know them well)
July - Man-At-Arms
August - Catra
Sept - Lizard Man
October - Shadow Weaver
November - Beast Man
December - He-Ro

A line up like THAT would be in keeping with their original description of this line. What they SHOULD have said from the outset is:

"We're making a new line of He-Man toys based entirely off the originals. They'll look almost exactly the same, but have slightly more articulation and stand a little taller. We'd like at some point to do NA and She-Ra characters, but we're starting with the original MOTU figures and going from there".

I wouldn't have been his resentful if they'd just called a spade a spade, you know?

[Lay Ze-Man]

What they SHOULD have said from the outset is:

"We're making a new line of He-Man toys based entirely off the originals. They'll look almost exactly the same, but have slightly more articulation and stand a little taller. We'd like at some point to do NA and She-Ra characters, but we're starting with the original MOTU figures and going from there".

I wouldn't have been his resentful if they'd just called a spade a spade, you know?

What is so hard to understand about this line needing to PROVE it has an audience?

It's also been said repeatedly that to bring us new figures, the business model needs to START with reused parts until they see that the line is profitable enough to invest in new tooling.

Easily half of your list can't be made without extensive new parts, and Shadow Weaver can't be made at ALL, which has also been made clear.

It's not anyone's fault that the core Classic MotU characters are the most popular of the entire brand.
That's just how it is.

I agree with Defendery's post 100%.

[Lord Anubis]

Yes because it would be so easy for us to come together and agree upon what figures should be first. Dude, be happy they are trying to give us a new MOTU line at all. And of course they are saying "buy alot", they want it to successful. Don't you? The more successful it is the more characters will be made and in time we will all see a lot of cool figures we want to see. The core figues have to be first to appeal to as broad a base as possible. Members of this site will not be able to support the line alone. Relax, appreciate the new sculpts, "buy alot" and see what time brings.
I for one am glad to see the sincerity and effort being put into the planning for the line. Hopefully this will lead to it being much more successful than the 200X line. I too want to see some characters outside the main bunch, but I have no problem buying the core figures. Would a collection not look kind of odd without them? And from what we have seen they look very good, why not buy them. None of us can complain one bit about how this all turns out if we don't support it from the get go. That is the bottom line and there is no getting around it.

Ya dude I want the line to do good, but maybe its just that oh I dunno.... I just bought these figures in 2001 for the commemorative and again in 2003!!!

Did they finish ANY of those lines? Nope.

Did we get anything NEW out of those lines (like king grayskull, he-ro, eldor, something random)? Nope.

As a act of good faith for blowing our hard earned money for the "buy em up kids! We'll continue if you buy!!!" we should be able to at least vote in wich figures we want.

Mattel CANT be serious about keeping the fan base by saying "We cant comment" and "If the line does good"...... weve been screwed 3 times in the last few years. Commemortives, 200X and Stactions (by that I say cause they didnt move. Still it was nice, but a cheep shot).

I'll buy He-Man, Skeletor, Faker and Hordak.... but I'll be getting em off ebay in a few years if the line continues, Id rather test the waters first.

[Darkspecter]

I understand the heavy re-use of parts and molds in the beginning to save a lot of money, since it's just starting up and needs to prove profitable...BUT...I've said it before and I'll say it again, the line SHOULD have started with He-Man as figure #1 and She-Ra as figure #2 to truly show this is a UNITED, all encompasing line. It would have been very reminiscent of the Power Hour in the 80's. The third figure could have been an NA character that could have re-used a lot of parts.

If they did this, it would put to rest all the fears that we may possibly never see a PoP or NA character in this line if it happens to end prematurely.

After these figures they could have done the 8-back characters and get back to NA and PoP in year 2. Everyone's happy.

[MegaGearMax]

What is so hard to understand about this line needing to PROVE it has an audience?

It's also been said repeatedly that to bring us new figures, the business model needs to START with reused parts until they see that the line is profitable enough to invest in new tooling.

Easily half of your list can't be made without extensive new parts, and Shadow Weaver can't be made at ALL, which has also been made clear.

It's not anyone's fault that the core Classic MotU characters are the most popular of the entire brand.
That's just how it is.

I agree with Defendery's post 100%.

MOTUC was advertising NA and POP from the jump as one of the eras it was supposed to be celebrating. MOTUC wasn't supposed to be straight vintage He-Man. Now they've pushed representation of those eras back a year. They should have said they'd eventually get to the NA and POP eras instead of getting everyone's hopes up. People were expecting Mattel to have a bit more of an equalized release schedule. Before, they advertised that they'd have POP and NA coming out as well as the normal MOTU figures. Now those figures are "overbudget"?
Why advertise them? Did something change?

Perhaps Mattel got cold feet when they read the posts of fans claiming to buy only She-Ra. Maybe they changed their minds when they saw how little support NA is getting from the fans. Stuff seems to change all the time with this line...release dates, the "Classic" packaging, paypal, online only, removable heads and armor...why not change their minds about POP and NA too?

[Defendery]

Ya dude I want the line to do good, but maybe its just that oh I dunno.... I just bought these figures in 2001 for the commemorative and again in 2003!!!

Did they finish ANY of those lines? Nope.

Did we get anything NEW out of those lines (like king grayskull, he-ro, eldor, something random)? Nope.

As a act of good faith for blowing our hard earned money for the "buy em up kids! We'll continue if you buy!!!" we should be able to at least vote in wich figures we want.

Mattel CANT be serious about keeping the fan base by saying "We cant comment" and "If the line does good"...... weve been screwed 3 times in the last few years. Commemortives, 200X and Stactions (by that I say cause they didnt move. Still it was nice, but a cheep shot).

I'll buy He-Man, Skeletor, Faker and Hordak.... but I'll be getting em off ebay in a few years if the line continues, Id rather test the waters first.

Do you really feel like buying the 200X figures and stactions were a waste of cash? I was bummed when the stactions died because they are in my mind the ultimate incarnation of MOTU. That being said I certainly don't feel that because they did not make more that the ones I have are not just as good as they were the day I bought them.
I did not like all of the 200X figures and we got a lot of repaint action, but still they offered great sculpt variation for many of the characters and were a very cool updated version of what we all loved as kids. Most of the customization seen on this site revolves around these figures. They and the cartoon seemed to do a pretty good job of rekindling MOTU. I wish the cartoon and line would have continued, but I would not call the whole deal being screwed.
I won't address the business issues because they are what they are, but I seriously want to know if all you see when you look at your more recent MOTU collections is wasted money. I could not collect at all if that was how it was for me.

[Uncle Montork]

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.

The name of the line is MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE classics, not "Princess of Power" classics or "New Adventures" classics. MOTU is going to be the focal point and majority of the line. You should be happy POP and NA are included at all.

[MegaGearMax]

The name of the line is MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE classics, not "Princess of Power" classics or "New Adventures" classics. MOTU is going to be the focal point and majority of the line. You should be happy POP and NA are included at all.

Damn...must be nice to be part of the winning majority. The way that sounded...brrrrrrrr. "MOTUC is for vintage fans ONLY! If you don't like it, go somewhere else!"

NA and POP fans might as well forget about MOTUC, for all that...

[hhhelmsley]

A lot of great news. No POP nor NA until year two, that was the only down point for me, a big one.

[motu77]

More good answers, I really like the direction Mattel is taking the line.

[Lay Ze-Man]

MOTUC wasn't supposed to be straight vintage He-Man.

Oh yeah, King Grayskull is totally vintage.

And in 2009 we're supposed to see at least one never-before-made character.
So there's at least two for you (to only 7 or so of the Classic characters) so really it's not a bad ratio so far.

Look, if you can name a character from NA or PoP that will sell better than Beast Man or Stratos and can be made from the parts we've seen so far, I'd love to hear it.

[Eric]

I understand the disappointment, but to give the other side of the argument, I have to say that I wouldn't care if they didn't make a single PoP or NA character in MOTUC.

[MegaGearMax]

Oh yeah, King Grayskull is totally vintage.

And in 2009 we're supposed to see at least one never-before-made character.
So there's at least two for you (to only 7 or so of the Classic characters) so really it's not a bad ratio so far.

That KG is 80's He-Man powered up. It's not the original 200X version, it's as if he had a figure in the eighties. That rocks for the vintage fans, but I think the 200X fans see downgraded characters. All of the 200X introduced characters will be like this. What do you think the point of the 200X thread is?

Look, if you can name a character from NA or PoP that will sell better than Beast Man or Stratos and can be made from the parts we've seen so far, I'd love to hear it.

Isn't MOTUC supposed to be one big happy family of MOTU titles? This just feeds into elitist attitudes from fans of the original era. I'm not denying that vintage is popular, but NA and POP characters prove that MOTUC isn't just the old characters who are wearing loincloths or furry boots. See, 200X isn't in the budget. Now NA and POP isn't in the budget either, and they were advertised. 200X fans are already alienated from MOTUC, now I guess NA and POP fans are in the same boat until 2010.

[Uncle Montork]

Look, all I'm saying is a lot of people here are just gonna shove MOTUC away because POP and NA aren't front-and-center. They were never to BE front-and-center to begin with. Mattel said only they would be "covered" or "Included". They never said in what capacity or what ratio to regular MOTU when this line was first announced. It seems everyone just assumed all 3 lines would get equal time, and now that they're not, they feel betrayed. What I don't get is why they feel betrayed because so far, Mattel is including them, and that's ALL they said up front.

Now, had Mattel said "Yes, POP and NA will be featured as much as MOTU in this line!" or something to that degree, and now we hear this, that's one thing, and I'd agree with you, but Mattel NEVER said such a thing.

[AlessandraF]

I'm very very disappointed with the answer about the PoP Styleguide.
I'd loved to see a Filmation Style for those figures, but I understand that is impossible at the moment.
However I would have at least expected a sort of mix of elements from the toys and the cartoon.
For example, like in the postacard from the exclusive SOTS DVD, or the 2005 She-Ra figure.
That was already the way to go, (of course in MOTUC style now), Mattel already did it!
I fail at understanding why they can't use the same approach this time, considering that most of the fans claim for this!

Just to be sure that Toyguru read this, I would like to post these links:

http://www.he-man.org/forums/boards/...d.php?t=159267

AND

http://www.he-man.org/forums/boards/...d.php?t=164248

[MegaGearMax]

Look, all I'm saying is a lot of people here are just gonna shove MOTUC away because POP and NA aren't front-and-center. They were never to BE front-and-center to begin with. Mattel said only they would be "covered" or "Included". They never said in what capacity or what ratio to regular MOTU when this line was first announced. It seems everyone just assumed all 3 lines would get equal time, and now that they're not, they feel betrayed. What I don't get is why they feel betrayed because so far, Mattel is including them, and that's ALL they said up front.

Now, had Mattel said "Yes, POP and NA will be featured as much as MOTU in this line!" or something to that degree, and now we hear this, that's one thing, and I'd agree with you, but Mattel NEVER said such a thing.

No, they never said it would have equal time, but I thought that POP and NA would have long since seen some representation long before 2010. Of course MOTU would have the lion's share of the year, since they have the most characters compared to the 20 some characters from both NA and POP. But they couldn't spare like 4 months, two for each era?

They didn't have to be front and center, just included. I figured that we wouldn't see any NA and POP immediately. I thought that we might see them later on during the year. The trouble is it just seems like a snub, despite all the pimping out and advertising that NA and POP are included in the line too.

I think Mattel saw all of the negative backlash against other eras of MOTU and changed their minds.

She-Ra might as well be a convention exclusive since so many folks don't want POP.