MOTUC Castle Grayskull Discussion Thread w/ Feb 26, 2013 Q&A

[xBBestx]

Castle Grayskull is the bonus figure for April.

Where did you get your info, I heard it was the sub bonus for 2012.

[Alexx]

When he's talking about not breaking up Grayskull, I believe he's talking about the castle itself. Accessories to the castle - like the weapon rack - are something else.

[Muscle of Grayskul]

Where did you get your info, I heard it was the sub bonus for 2012.

I'm curious about april 2011 as well. Also where did you hear it was the 2012 sub bonus?

[Uki]

When he's talking about not breaking up Grayskull, I believe he's talking about the castle itself. Accessories to the castle - like the weapon rack - are something else.

As usual, Alexx is spot in with how I see it: Likely, the castle will be whole, but fairly bare-bones, with items suc as the throne, turret/cannon, training device, and weapons rak sold sepreately in the diorama/environment SKU. That works for me and will make the playset itself more affordable!

[Swanmarsh]

Given that I bought 3 200x Castle Grayskulls and had them mailed to me in Australia (silver sword version, gold sword version 2.0 and the exclusive packed with He-Man and Skeletor) I guess I would actually be happy to part with US$200 for an awesome, appropriately scaled Castle Grayskull.

And unlike 200x where I bought 2 versions where the only change was the sword colour, I think Matty could re-release MOTUC Grayskull in the following versions:
- vintage Castle Grayskull
- Preternia shining silver Castle Grayskull (as per the MYP cartoon - which I only saw last night btw).

What an awesome way to help distinguish our displays between current era and Preternia.

[MintCondition]

I wonder if anyone has tried to build a castle around the NECA door statue.

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b9...U/100_1469.jpg

Man, although I don't love the design, the Toy Fair MOTU entrance would make one HUGE "playset" for MOTUC figures.

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b9...425x425Q85.jpg

Sadly I think that giant Castle Grayskull display would have to be that big to truly be in scale with the MOTUC figures. At least going off of the 200X cartoon, the castle was HUGE and the front door/drawbridge was friggin' huge as well.

Sadly they will never ever make one that big. But it would be fun as hell, that's for sure.

Please be sure to remove image tags when replying with a quote, thanks!

[Neal1972]

I'm going to be in the huge minority here, but the thought of a playset doesn't really appeal to me.
Figures, beasts and vehicles? Hell yes.
A playset? Not really.

[RockinHard]

Lot of new answers. The highlight for me is that Castle Grayskull, according to TG, would cost between $200-$300. Wow.

[JVS3]

200 to 300?!? Holy guacamole!
Guess we can rule that one off for a while.

[zodak74]

I'm down for a big money Castle Grayskull... you KNOW it's going to come out sooo bad-ass!!! And still cheaper than trying to get a classic mint-in-box one off ebay... LOL!

[RockinHard]

As much as I want a Castle Grayskull, $300 would be tough to stomach.

[zodak74]

To me, it's the type of thing I'd only end up ever buying one of, and I doubt we'd see a lot of playsets anyways... maybe a Snake Mountain, but I doubt we'll get a Royal Palace, the Eternia towers... in other words, there probably wouldn't be 2-3 $300 price point playsets coming out per year. If we're lucky 2 or 3 for the entire toy line. So thinking of it like that, yeah- I could drop that much on a well-done playset.

[Sandman]

In the MOTUC line, $200 sounds like a low number.

A monthly figure is $20.

Would a MOTUC Castle Grayskull have ten times or more the tooling than a monthly figure? Yep.

Would any of the CG moulds be useable for another product? Probably not.

[bcrduke]

HA! Guys, PLEASE don't fall for this.

That's TG and Mattel trying to gauge who much more they can gouge us suckers. If you say "well, shucks, I guess $200 isn't bad," then that's what it will be.

No way in the world would enough people pay that much for Grayskull and have it still be worth Mattel's time.

And I'm sorry but they could sell it for $100, and still make a nice profit. I am sick to death of Mattel constantly crying poor house. It's just ridiculous. They are making a truck load of profit on these figures at $20, and the QC has decreased (which means MORE profit). Remember, At NY Toy Fair, TG said that this line was paying for itself "five times over," and the customer base has since grown.
They could sell all the inside pieces separately.

The Weapons Rack
The Throne, Flag, and ladder
The laser canon & the pugilist trainer

Even the robot/suit of armor

Size does not immediately indicate huge expense.

Of course to make a reasonable profit, they'd have to sell it for $100-$125, but $200-300?!?!?!

Fiddlesticks and horse-pucky!!!

[Tallstar]

I think it would still sell out at that price.

[RockinHard]

I think it would still sell out at that price.

You have to admit: $300 would make it tough, no?

HA! Guys, PLEASE don't fall for this.

That's TG and Mattel trying to gauge who much more they can gouge us suckers. If you say "well, shucks, I guess $200 isn't bad," then that's what it will be.

No way in the world would enough people pay that much for Grayskull and have it still be worth Mattel's time.

And I'm sorry but they could sell it for $100, and still make a nice profit. I am sick to death of Mattel constantly crying poor house. It's just ridiculous. They are making a truck load of profit on these figures at $20, and the QC has decreased (which means MORE profit). Remember, At NY Toy Fair, TG said that this line was paying for itself "five times over," and the customer base has since grown.
They could sell all the inside pieces separately.

The Weapons Rack
The Throne, Flag, and ladder
The laser canon & the pugilist trainer

Even the robot/suit of armor

Size does not immediately indicate huge expense.

Of course to make a reasonable profit, they'd have to sell it for $100-$125, but $200-300?!?!?!

Fiddlesticks and horse-pucky!!!

I agree with you for the most part. I can MAYBE see $200, even though that would clearly be a huge profit. But $300? That's price-gouging.

[bcrduke]

I can't agree, Tally. Not in this economy.

Plus, you do realize that TG and co. are going to be looking at the reaction to see how everyone would react.

He NEVER reveals things unless there is value in revealing them.

In other words, he didn't just drop that piece of info for the heck of it. He wants to see how high a price he can set without killing the idea.

Really, everyone, please don't say that you think $200-300 is ok. It's just going to drive the price up.

RockinHard, if it does end up being $200, then it better be frigging AMAZING. If they DARE cut corners or maintain shoddy QC with this item, it could seriously damage their already tenuous relationship with customers.

[RockinHard]

I can't agree, Tally. Not in this economy.

RockinHard, if it does end up being $200, then it better be frigging AMAZING. If they DARE cut corners or maintain shoddy QC with this item, it could seriously damage their already tenuous relationship with customers.

I agree. It would have to be breathtakingly immaculate.

[Sandman]

I don't think it's gonna happen, tho. Not in this economy, not with the shoddy view the Mattel brass seems to have of MOTU. They'd have to gamble a large wad of cash and even if people WOULD buy it the question is how much would Mattel be willing to gamble people would.

Also, considering past products, they would probably end up using some low-grade, fragile plastic and such to keep cost down while pushing the profit margins up.

So yeah, I think the only way we'd see CG would be if the line ended or MOTU went to retail again.

[Staff Of Ka]

Id buy the Grayskull instantly, I paid $800 (AU) for my Sideshow Jabba & Throne. and I have two JATH Fashions here that I paid $500 (US) for...Each.

My collections are my Passion. I know not everyone would welcome a high price item, Maybe Matty could create an installment plan!


ka

[Tallstar]

You have to admit: $300 would make it tough, no?

Don't get me wrong; it's a lot of money and I can see where many folks would be put off...but I personally think I could rationalize it ("hey, I paid $100 for the art book") and then put it out of my mind. hehe

I can't agree, Tally. Not in this economy.

Plus, you do realize that TG and co. are going to be looking at the reaction to see how everyone would react.

He NEVER reveals things unless there is value in revealing them.

I dunno. Not that I'm an expert or anything, but $200-$300 seems about right because I know Toyguru gave an estimated price before on 2002 style figures, as well as adding the extra articulation on Tytus. I don't remember the exact amount but I'm pretty sure it was $100 or more on those.

[Angel-T]

This is only one half of a customised Castle Grayskull shell that the guy on fwoosh was selling for £100.00 a pop, I assume a second side would cost a further £100.00



Castle Grayskull was always going to be expensive, but there is no way I could stomach more that $175-200 top wack. Considering the number of castles Mattel would be producing I'm sure they would be able to get the price down to around $150 -175.00. Personally I would say that's a fair price for such a big item not even thinking about about the shipping costs. International customes are gonna be stung so bad when & if it happens.

[VictoryLiger]

I wouldn't pay a penny over $150, and it would have to be amazing to get me to do that. For $200-$300, I have the original and the 200x and would pass it up.

[RockinHard]

A good way to handle it would be to split it up, perhaps. Sell the front first, then an attachment.

[Tallstar]

A good way to handle it would be to split it up, perhaps. Sell the front first, then an attachment.

Awhile back I remember TG saying if they did Castle Grayskull they wouldn't split it up. I got the impression they were unwilling to do it any other way.