The Fwoosh: Interview With Mattel Part 2 (September 7, 2009) LONG

[Tallstar]

...

F: Well, online is the only place that you can get your hands on another little line, Masters.

SN: Yes! Masters, the little toy line that could!

F: It has been a year now since we last spoke about them at SDCC and it was still a few months away from He-Man releasing, can you give us a little postmortem about the the first year or so? Success?

SN: The line has been doing really well.

F: Sell outs seem indicative of that. With the buying online, the last couple of months with Hordak and Man-At-Arms, those figures have only lasted about an hour-

SN: Yeah, they have been going fast month after month, but they will all be back. He-Man will be back in November and then throughout 2010 you will see a lot of the sold out figures will be reissued with slight packaging changes.

F: So the changes will be in the packaging?

SN: Yep, just a slight package change. We think people will like it though.

F: Have you had good reaction to the subscription so far?

SN: Definitely. That is why we are continuing it under the new title of Club Eternia, with an exclusive bonus figure that comes only with the subscription. Wun-Dar!

F: And his loaf of bread!

SN: I don’t know why there is a loaf of bread… [laughs] but we are really excited about that. There is a massive map of Eternia that is also coming in poster size that we’ll mail out with Wun-Dar.

F: So the subscription will include Wun-Dar, the map and the regular monthly figures, but not the bonus figures?

SN: No, figures like Battle Armor He-Man will not be included in the subscription.

F: But they will go on sale at the same time as the monthly figures?

SN: Yes. So in January, Adora, Battle Armor He-Man and I think Beastman will all go on sale at the same time.

F: What was the big push for you guys to Adora her before She-Ra?

SN: I think part of it was that there has never been an Adora figure, so we wanted to do that. Also, if you do She-Ra first, that might take away some of the excitement for Adora, which is a really great figure.

F: So does that mean that She-Ra is pushed out now?

SN: She-Ra will come out in 2010. We promised that so we are going to deliver on it.

F: Does that mean we can also expect to see Princess of Power figures coming down the pipe as well?

SN: Are you kidding? Peek-a-Blue, Mermista, Frosta, Sweet Bee, even Bow done by the Horsemen? We want to do them all and we will get to them in time. Masters of the Universe Classics from day one were always meant to be about everything.

F: So, there were some people that were confused about some of the early comments about 200x, but now with Zodak...

SN: Yeah, let me clear that up. The prime example is Zodak, that is what we mean by a 200x figure. Or King Grayskull. It is a 200x character done in the Classics style. All of the figures will be in the Classics style, but Zodak is a great example of how we took the look from 200x and used the boots and loin cloth from He-Ro to blend him into the Classics style. But there are also some original characters from 200x- characters like Pravus, Carnivus, Lord Dactus that we will get to in time too in a Classics style.

Let’s use Chief Carnivus as an example, again, not that we are doing him immediately- if we did him, he would not be done in the 200x style.

F: So without the distinct style and hard angles?

SN: Right. We would do him as if he had a figure in the 1980s, so he might get the Beast Man body with a lion head and the furry shorts. Like Hordak had furry shorts in the original line, but not in the 200x designs, but he’s back to the shorts in the Classics line, so that is how we would approach an original character like Chief Carnivus, as if he had a figure in the original ‘80s line.

F: So, at the panel you said that Teela was going to have a secret accessory, much like Man-At-Arms and Tri-Klops. I did notice that Zoar was flying around in the display case downstairs…

SN: [laughs] Yeah! There have actually been a couple in there if you have noticed, each day we have changed them.

F: So, is it too soon to ask about Jitsu?

SN: [laughs] It’s never too soon to ask about Jitsu! He is an awesome guy! You know, Fisto, Jitsu, Clawful- they are all cool!

F (VB): Spikor is a big one for me, especially since he has not had anything since the 1980s.

SN: Yeah, Scareglow was another one like that, that is why we wanted to do him so early on.

F: Yeah! What’s the story behind his accessory with the key? Is that the key of Grayskull?

SN: That was something that we asked the Horsemen specifically to make sure that every figure had at least two accessories or an alternate head.

So with Scareglow, originally he only came with his Scythe of Doom so we asked the Horsemen to come up with a new accessory. I was expecting them to do a power burst or energy ball, but they came up with this Grayskull key holder chained to him. They had a whole story as to why it was there, and we LOVED it. We worked it into the bio and you will see it soon. There is definitely a really cool reason for that.

F: Wow, sounds like another success of your continuing partnership with them. We all know that they deliver awesome figures, but are there other intangibles that they deliver on that the fans might not be aware of?

SN: Oh yes. From what we originally request from the Horsemen, they are notorious for doing so much more. Sometimes we have to cut out extra accessories that don’t get tooled, but they surprise us all the time. For instance, we did not ask for the ring that comes with Tri-Klops, that was just something they did, so we knew when we saw it that we had to include it!

They are obviously huge fans of the lines, just like we are and in the same way though, sometimes we surprise them. Sometimes we will take some figures that they have done and add more paint deco....

[midor]

Thank you Tallstar.

This was an interesting read.

[keithfuchs]

Nice interview! And confirmation that Beast Man is coming back in January!

[Analog Jote]

Also, confirmation that She-Ra is coming 2010! Pretty cool news.

[Arthur]

The big news is Beastman comes back in January. No KG yet though

[JakeofEternia]

Very cool Q&A, thanks for posting. Looks like it was conducted at Toy Fair, but does have a few goods bit of previously unreleased info. Thanks!

[Khror]

Great!
Thanks to share.

The best infos IMO are :

She-Ra will come out in 2010. We promised that so we are going to deliver on it.

But there are also some original characters from 200x- characters like Pravus, Carnivus, Lord Dactus that we will get to in time too in a Classics style

[neno]

Awesome. I'm most excited about She-Ra's 2010 release, Beast Man's reissue in January, and to know that other POP girls (like Sweet Bee) are in plan too.

Thanks!

[Arthur]

WAIT!! What does "EVEN Bow" mean? Bow and Glimmer are the core characters of POP just like Teela and MAA are for MOTU. I want Bow immediately after She-Ra I hope they stop making stupid characters like Moss Man or Fisto and they release BOW and GLIMMER!!

[Neutro]

You know, Fisto, Jitsu, Clawful- they are all cool!

Is this a hint of what's to come in 2010?? Hmmmm....

[dedset13]

WAIT!! What does "EVEN Bow" mean? Bow and Glimmer are the core characters of POP just like Teela and MAA are for MOTU. I want Bow immediately after She-Ra I hope they stop making stupid characters like Moss Man or Fisto and they release BOW and GLIMMER!!

I can agree with you, on wanting some POP characters released right now, but Moss Man and Fisto are hardly stupid characters. They are both 100 times more popular than Bow or Glimmer.

[RockinHard]

I can agree with you, on wanting some POP characters released right now, but Moss Man and Fisto are hardly stupid characters. They are both 100 times more popular than Bow or Glimmer.

What he said.

Is this a hint of what's to come in 2010?? Hmmmm....

I wonder that, too. I also wonder if the Spikor comment was a hint as well. I also think ToyGuru once said he really wanted a Spikor figure.

[Mike Bock]

Great set of questions and I loved the answers. I am glad they talked about myp characters. It's always nice to hear stuff about obscure characters.
Glad to hear about the POP news. I want my She-Ra now please.

[artodron]

"She-Ra will come out in 2010. We promised that so we are going to deliver on it."
"Peek-a-Blue, Mermista, Frosta, Sweet Bee, even Bow done by the Horsemen"
"characters like Pravus, Carnivus, Lord Dactus"
"Fisto, Jitsu, Clawful-""Spikor is a big one for me"

This is news I like to hear,with names I like to hear. While She-ra is the only one confirmed. I like to hear that the are "up" for figures.

[Tallstar]

This is news I like to hear,with names I like to hear. While She-ra is the only one confirmed. I like to hear that the are "up" for figures.

Same here. Peekablue seems to be a popular 'name' to throw out there. I know one of the Four Horsemen mentioned her in ToyFare as well.

[DavidSummers]

Thanks for the post Tallstar!

A good read and exciting info!

[Mike Bock]

Wouldn't it be awesome to have a Pravhus figure next year? I loved that character's design.
But to be honest if I had to pick the first MYP character in MOTUC it would be Count Marzo.

[neno]

I would love a Count Marzo figure. But why is he considered a MYP character? He first appeared in Filmation.

[Mike Bock]

I would love a Count Marzo figure. But why is he considered a MYP character? He first appeared in Filmation.

But he was drastically changed. Only the name is the same if you compare both of them.

[neno]

That is so true, but then again many chracters are changed in MYP toon. (Sorceress, Marlena, Whiplash, Evilseed ...)

[Evil_Horde]

Thanks for the post!

[RockinHard]

The gaps in 2010 are narrowing since Jan-March have been confirmed and that one slot will be a NA character and She-Ra will ocupy another. That leaves only 7 slots. I'm willing to bet two slots will belong to a Snakesmen and an Evil Horde member as well.

[Mike Bock]

That is so true, but then again many chracters are changed in MYP toon. (Sorceress, Marlena, Whiplash, Evilseed ...)

True but with the exception of Evil Seed most of the other characters stayded the same. The Sorceress' look did change but her role and background are all the same. Unlike Marzo and Evil seed.
I also consider Evilseed a MYP character cause he is totally different form the Filmation one which I love.

[RockinHard]

True but with the exception of Evil Seed most of the other characters stayded the same. The Sorceress' look did change but her role and background are all the same. Unlike Marzo and Evil seed.
I also consider Evilseed a MYP character cause he is totally different form the Filmation one which I love.

It would be cool to see a Filmation Evilseed. I hope they get the rights to Filmation for Goodness' sake! If for no other reason than to make palace guards and Skeletor's Robot Knights.

[Mike Bock]

It would be cool to see a Filmation Evilseed. I hope they get the rights to Filmation for Goodness' sake! If for no other reason than to make palace guards and Skeletor's Robot Knights.

You bet man!
We can get palace guards in MOTUC though since they showed up in MYP.