Answers to WTFWTK 2.25!

[customcrazy]

In regards to the Webstor answer: I try to be a laid back guy and not take offense easily. I know sometimes people don't choose their words as carefully as they mean to, and especially in making a post online the tone can get misconstrued.

That said, as a business owner I also know how carefully to pick my words with my customers. Perhaps a better way to answer would have been to say "sorry guys that I didn't pick my words more carefully. I certainly didn't mean to mislead, but I can see how that was misunderstood and I'll be more careful in the future."

Easy, nice, courteous and professional. Stating "good expample of you guys jumping to conclusions" is a pretty rude answer even if we were jumping to a ridiculous conclusion, which we weren't.

I for one don't think he meant to sound that way, but when your speaking to your audience you have to edit yourself. Hard not to feel a sense that he was irritated coming through.

[Emiliano]

Arthur,
I agree on may thing but let me point out a couple of things where I don't agree:

it's definitely inexcusable that they don't want to give Mekaneck an extendible neck and BA He-Man a hollow chest with rotating cylinder so they can re use existing parts.

I think the work "inexcusable" is exagerated.
Mind you, I'd like to have action figures too, but to achive them, you need, first of all all new toolings for the bodies.
Then, new toolings for all the internal mechanims and engineering to make them working.
All this is simply not within Mattel's budget for this line.
I have my own criticims about MOTUC sometime, but I see the economics involved.

If a figure like Teela lasted over three days that's a good indication that sales are dropping.

Actually is quite the opposite!
Teela and Webstor are the first figures in the subscription program: it was a given they would have lasted longer as many fans don't have to rush anymore to the site to get them.
And Teela lasted half the time Webstor lasted!
Sure Teela is probably more popular, she has two heads, but that gives no indication the sales are dropping!

Again, I see your points, I just wanted to give more info about those specific topics

[Arthur]

I can see your point too but I wish to point out that I am not talking about mechanisms. For example, the water spitting mechanism on Khan or the twist his waist-extend his neck on Mekaneck. A simple non mechanical rotating cylinder (I mean no springs involved) would have been easy to do and they could have used it for two, if not three figures, if they released the much wanted Battle Armor Man-At-Arms too. Likewise an upper torso that allowed for non mechanical extending neck capabilities for Mekaneck and Rattlor wouldn't have been that difficult, I think. They did sculpt a separate torso for Beastman/Zodac/Stratos. They used it for three figures and those alone, when the production numbers were not as high as they are now, so I believe they could have sculpted a new upper torso for the BA figures and another one for Rattlor/Mekaneck. That would add a lot of value to the figure. And this is just one example of what I mean when I say that the line is getting cheaper. Beastman or Faker have much better paint jobs than Webstor or Zodak. I am really sure that you will agree on this, as you are an expert in this field. Of course feel free to correct me if I am wrong here.

As for the production numbers Mattel will not disclose any information on those so it's really hard to tell. I hope you are right but the feeling I am getting is that people are getting bored with some of the latter figures and that the interest in these figures, while still high, is not the same as it was initially, especially if ones checks out eBay.

All I am saying is that things are getting worse, not better (in my opinion, of course) and that we fans and Mattel should work TOGETHER (not against each other) to reverse this trend.

[LANTERN-RO]

All this is simply not within Mattel's budget for this line.
I have my own criticims about MOTUC sometime, but I see the economics involved.

I don't want to see the economics involved, just because this is not an "economic toy line", it's $20 dolars a figure, even if it is a repaint; for gods sake! Maybe they should start charging less for a repaint, lets say $15 and a bit more for a figure that needs extra "engineering" to make it work! I can not belive that almost 30 years later they can do no better than the '80s line! Motuc should be better than the '80s line!!!!! Imagine when we get to moskitor! Maybe they will just include some ketchup to put over the figure, just to avoid the engineering to make it work "as i remember..."

[Teela-Na]

I think Mekaneck could easily be given an extendable neck without the need for his waist to twist like the old figure or needing an alternative head. His neck could simply be made like a telescopic radio aerial like so:



The telescopic bit could retract into a cavity in the middle of his chest where the neck hole would be, and could be pulled out to extend his neck as needed.

[motu77]

Overall not a bad round of answers. I wish the gold sword was coming with She-Ra though.

I don't really take offense to the Webstor answers. He gave an answer that people didn't want to hear and they got upset. So what if he works for a big business? He still human and I'm sure he gets tired of the constant whining that goes on here. Remember he's just one person at Mattel and it's not like he can wave a magic wand and cure all the ills that are with MOTUC. Still it seems like everyone puts all the blame on him when things go wrong. The fact that he still comes here to answer questions is amazing.

[Emiliano]

I don't want to see the economics involved, just because this is not an "economic toy line", it's $20 dolars a figure, even if it is a repaint; for gods sake! Maybe they should start charging less for a repaint, lets say $15 and a bit more for a figure that needs extra "engineering" to make it work! I can not belive that almost 30 years later they can do no better than the '80s line! Motuc should be better than the '80s line!!!!!

You may not want to see the economics involved, but they are still there
The cost depends on the fact that this figures are produced in very low numbers.
30 years later, they are a niche line sold only online. It just can't be compared with a line that was selling millions of pieces worldwide back in the 80s.
The numbers are jut not there

[King Kahn]

see, i am VERY happy we are not getting extending necks and spitting heads and spinning chests.

i alwasy HATED mekanek as a kid since he could never look at the people he was doing battle with.

battle armor HM and skeletor, well there armor could malfunction and stick

what is the BA MAA Arthur talked about? was he orignally slated to have a battle armor version? i had never heard of this.

either way action features are always annoying if they interrupt and screw up articulation.

[LANTERN-RO]

You may not want to see the economics involved, but they are still there
The cost depends on the fact that this figures are produced in very low numbers.
30 years later, they are a niche line sold only online. It just can't be compared with a line that was selling millions of pieces worldwide back in the 80s.
The numbers are jut not there

I beg to disagree with you, 30 years later I have more $$$$ to spend than yesterday, when I was 6 and had to beg to my parents to get my toys!!! I would gladly pay $25 for a functional webstor, and less than twenty for a repaint! Thats the economics involved, a more complicated figure should be more expensive and a less complicated one should be cheaper. It's not an economical problem, its just marketing, and they are making huge mistakes, and they are just handling this in a very irrespectfull way. They are gettin cheap on us, because they take us customers for granted.

I think Mekaneck could easily be given an extendable neck without the need for his waist to twist like the old figure or needing an alternative head. His neck could simply be made like a telescopic radio aerial like so:

The telescopic bit could retract into a cavity in the middle of his chest where the neck hole would be, and could be pulled out to extend his neck as needed.

I Totally agree with you. Hope they were MORE open and take this in consideration. Its a brillant sugestion, and I always belived that mecaneck should have a telescopic neck.

[Dark Sorceress]

love the news about mek!
but a telescopic neck would be cool

[He-Fan]

Chris here...

A decent round of questions here, except for the dreadful Webstor answer, and once again thanks to everyone for getting these set up and answered!

Honestly, I dont usually post about this kind of thing, but the Webstor response made me feel pretty insulted as well.
None of us here were "jumping to our own conclusions" about how Webstor's backpack would work.
Previous posters have already covered that enough, I dont need to reiterate.
But really, the response doesn't even make sense. At all. English leaving a lot to be desired is the least of that response's worries.
Seriously, what in God's name does "works as you remember" even mean, other than "works as we remember"?
And by "disappointed when those conclusions are not met", did the writer (assumed to be Toyguru) mean that our expectations were not met?
Because, and not to seem all high brow here, it's not really a conclusion that would be met, or not.
It's more of a, you know, expectation that we'd apparently have from drawing a conclusion.
But yeah, it's our bad, sorry Mattel.

I'm up in arms about it enough that I'd like to email or PM Toyguru about it, if I thought it'd make a difference, or that he'd respond.
It's just kind of disappointing to me, as such a huge fan of this line, to feel that our entire fanbase was just insulted like that.

Yep, I pretty much agree with everything you just said there.

I imagine it must be hard for Toyguru, the guy designated to deal with all of us fans who are so passionate about MOTU. I know from my own experiences of running a music club that sometimes the complaints you get are seemingly endless and people expect you to be able to wave a magic wand and fix everything - so, to be honest, the amount of negative press Mattel gets over here, it must somedays be very disheartening for Toyguru to have to wade through it all. That post read to me as some of his frustration with that leaking out.

That said - he is being paid to do it! And, I would say that Mattel are the creators of most of their own problems, by these days being (if I'm honest) one of the most well-intentioned but incompetent toy companies in the history of the industry. EVERYTHING Mattel touch is badly-handled, and whilst I think they've improved things a lot recently, this misleading wording in their advertising, coupled with Toyguru's bad phrasing and tone in his answer here, is another example of Mattel handling something badly.

Just realized something else I don't think anyone has touched...

After getting fired up over She-Ra's sword, did it occur to anyone that "capes will be plastic" extends to She-Ra as well? This is one design decision I'm not sure I'm comfortable with... how well will the figure stand with a partial cape made of plastic? I hope it's a thinner plastic...

I'm actually really pleased that She-Ra's cape will be plastic rather than cloth, just because I think it will make her fit in better with the other figures, and also finally take POP away from its overtly "girly" origins that have turned so many MOTU fans off of it despite the brilliance of the Filmation cartoon!

Take care...

[Teela-Na]

I Totally agree with you. Hope they were MORE open and take this in consideration. Its a brillant sugestion, and I always belived that mecaneck should have a telescopic neck.

He would probably lose any ab articulation to allow the telescopic feature to fit inside his chest, but that would be a small price to pay to retain that extending neck feature. Telescopic things aren't difficult at all. You even get pens like that which retract to the length of a normal pen but extend like an aerial to something much longer. It would be so easy to make Mekaneck like this. He doesn't even have to extend that far, just as long as he extends by pulling the top of his head to draw out the telescopic neck.

[Staff Of Ka]

I Just want my Teela!

[Uncle Montork]

I Just want my Teela!

According to Mattel, you already have her. You can remember Teela. There. Now you have her.

(I'm waiting for my Teelas too....)

[RocketPunch]

I think Mekaneck could easily be given an extendable neck without the need for his waist to twist like the old figure or needing an alternative head. His neck could simply be made like a telescopic radio aerial like so:

The telescopic bit could retract into a cavity in the middle of his chest where the neck hole would be, and could be pulled out to extend his neck as needed.

I have an Inspector Gadget figure with an extending neck that works exactly that. Great idea.

[Sledge Hammer!]

If they don't want fans "jumping to their own conclusions" and then "being disappointed when those conclusions are not met" perhaps Mattel should stop using such blatantly misleading phrases in their own print advertising sheets, just for starters...

In general I find that fans are far more annoyed by being lied to or blatantly misled than they are about the choices that have to be made in regards to this line for whatever reason. And if Matty would just man up, state the facts plainly, and stand by their decisions and the honest reasons for them, then there would be a lot less chance of anyone jumping to any sort of false conclusions. Sure, some fans are going to be vocal and unhappy about certain choices, but that's just the nature of the beast, and lying about those choices and spin doctoring answers isn't going to make things any better, or make that go away. In fact in the long run all it does is make fans more resentful and mistrustful of anything that Matty has to say on pretty much any subject. You can only cry wolf so many times before reality comes along and bites you in the a$$ for it, after all.

[Spectror]

1. Fneh: May we have more information on the upcoming accessory pack? eg: release date, cost, etc. Also, we know that the first accessory pack will not have any new sculpted parts. But if it is successful would you consider adding new sculpted accessories in a second pack?

At this time, THE ACCESSORY PACKS ARE DESIGNED AS A NON TOOL’D ITEM. We do not yet have release dates or details on what will be included. Right now we are putting all of our tooling into the new figures. If the pack does well, we may look at allocating some tooling for future packs.

Comment: no efforts from Mattel, no tooling and no sculpted parts for an adult collectors item ? OK : I’ll pass happily and save my money for something else !

4. RocketPunch: Why does Webstor's Fast Pack not work like the classic figure when we were originally told that it would?

We have been very clear that NO FIGURES IN MOTUC WILL HAVE “ACTION FEATURES.” Webstor’s pack “works like you remember” just as Mek-a-neck’s neck will work “as you remember.” When we get to Mek, we will include an alternate head with a stretched neck, but not a twist waist that raises the head. THIS IS A GOOD EXAMPLE OF FANS JUMPING TO THEIR OWN CONCLUSIONS AND BEING DISAPPOINTED WHEN THOSE CONCLUSIONS ARE NOT MET.

Comment: I guess we’ll have to launch our own thread of fury regarding “Mattel’s classic answers”, if it goes on like this ! ONCE AGAIN, MATTEL PUTS THE BLAME ON US FANS !!! That’s a total SCANDAL ! Do they plan to have more business by INSULTING their customers, now ? If Mattel had been clearer on what they meant from the start and had given us some examples, I guess there wouldn’t have been any fan “jumping to his/her own conclusions”, right ?

But anyway… NOW, we know FOR SURE that Kobra Khan won’t spit his “venom”, that Tung Lashor won’t have a moving tongue etc. Can we still hope Clawful’s claw will be able to “snap”, or that Whiplash’s tail will be able to “whip” his opponents ? I highly doubt it.

This doesn’t sound “classic” at all to me… The 1980’s toys were able to have these action features, the 200X toys too. Here, we have an adult collectors line, for Heaven’s sake, and the possibilities, availability and sometimes even the quality (sloppy paint jobs, soft accessories, scaly paint etc.) seem to be even less than the toys ! Not to mention the horrible customer service.

I wonder how many persons might drop the line because of this…

10. Vorgon: In the mini-comics and Filmation cartoon, Kobra Kahn was an Evil Warrior. But in 200X he was allied with the Snakemen. When we get to Kobra Kahn in MOTUC, will he be an Evil Warrior or a Snakemen?

You’ll just have to wait and see!

Comment: hmm… It seems that there’s a lot of mystery around the Snakemen, in this line! I’m really curious to see how awesome the Snakemen will look, and what their story will be. Could it be that Kobra Khan is the figure through which the Snakemen will be introduced to us ?

Right now we are putting all of our tooling into the new figures

Ha ! I had missed THAT one !

They "put all their tooling in the new figures" !? REALLY ?

ONCE MORE, MATTEL, TOYGURU OR WHOEVER IT IS CONTRADICT THEMSELVES AGAIN (OR LIE BLATANTLY, IF YOU PREFER), SINCE WE WERE TOLD THAT MOST OF THE 2010 FIGURES WOULD "USE SHARED TOOLING" !!!

This means that the more unique figures (like Leech, Ram Man or Rattlor, for instance) won’t be produced in 2010.

This also means that Mattel putting “all their tooling” in the new figures is nothing but a bad joke, provided you consider very little tooling as “all the tooling” Mattel is able to provide !

Now, I’d like to tell you all about something I’ve been pondering for some time…

Question : in the 200X line, when was the line brutally disrupted ?
Answer : when most of the more unique and more expensive characters to produce had to be released (Clawful, Tung Lashor, Grizzlor, Hordak, Mosquitor, Mantenna, Snout Spout, Rio Blast…).

AND… we can now see that Mattel tries to use as little new unique parts as possible through the “shared tooling” system.

COULD IT BE THAT 2010 WOULD BE MOTUC'S LAST YEAR, ANS COULD IT BE THAT MATTEL’S PLAN IS TO BRUTALLY DISRUPT THE LINE BEFORE THE MORE TOOLED AND UNIQUE CHARACTERS (AND SO, MORE EXPENSIVE TO PRODUCE) SEE THE LIGHT OF THE DAY, JUST LIKE IT HAPPENED WITH THE 200X LINE ?

Just some food for thought… and a question to ask Mattel.

[dark knight]

like we know that the classics will not have any action feature, i just hope extendar will come extended and that he come taller than the other ones!
i will miss mosquitor blood too and if rio blast will come like the staction i think i will not buy it, cmonnnn i dont think should be hard to make a really good rio blast!!!!

[Teela-Na]

like we know that the classics will not have any action feature, i just hope extendar will come extended and that he come taller than the other ones!
i will miss mosquitor blood too and if rio blast will come like the staction i think i will not buy it, cmonnnn i dont think should be hard to make a really good rio blast!!!!

But the Tri-Klops figure DID come with its action feature of a revolving visor. That's his schtick. It didn't interfere with articulation or require some waist twist or lever to make it work. Giving Mekaneck a telescopic neck like I suggested above wouldn't interfere with articulation either, except for an ab crunch, but then even Teela doesn't have that. You wouldn't need a lever or a waist twist gimmick, because you could just pull his head out the same way you'd pull a radio aerial out. It doesn't even have to be that long. It would be just twice the length of the bit that fits into his body. He would still be able to turn his head too because those telescopic aerials can be twisted and rotated.

[Tallstar]

Giving Mekaneck a telescopic neck like I suggested above wouldn't interfere with articulation either, except for an ab crunch, but then even Teela doesn't have that. You wouldn't need a lever or a waist twist gimmick, because you could just pull his head out the same way you'd pull a radio aerial out. It doesn't even have to be that long. It would be just twice the length of the bit that fits into his body. He would still be able to turn his head too because those telescopic aerials can be twisted and rotated.

I actually like this idea but moreso for a character like Tallstar, mainly because the extensions on her prototype figure don't have any type of detailing on them to update. They're just sort of plain collapsible rings like those heavy duty plastic straws, so I think an aerial would be really cool on her. Mekaneck has a design on his.

[Teela-Na]

I actually like this idea but moreso for a character like Tallstar, mainly because the extensions on her prototype figure don't have any type of detailing on them to update. They're just sort of plain collapsible rings like those heavy duty plastic straws, so I think an aerial would be really cool on her. Mekaneck has a design on his.

But you could easily put a design onto Mekaneck's telescopic neck. It doesn't have to be made out of metal like these telescopic aerials. It can be made out of plastic using the same principle, and have the design either embossed, moulded, painted or decaled onto it. No problem there.

[Emiliano]

But you could easily put a design onto Mekaneck's telescopic neck. It doesn't have to be made out of metal like these telescopic aerials. It can be made out of plastic using the same principle, and have the design either embossed, moulded, painted or decaled onto it. No problem there.

The only problem there is that it still require a new tooling for the chest.
And that's where Mattel can't/spend the money right now.
1 extra mold for Mekaneck head? In budget.
2 Extra mold for Mekaneck head and torso? Out of budget.
That's probably how it is.

[Arthur]

But if the neck isn't that long they could sculpt a new upper torso and fit it there. They could also design it in such a way to use it even for Rattlor or Extendar. I don't honestly think that would be out of budget. We're paying $20 per figure. Mattel should try to make the new figures innovative and interesting to attract new collectors. That's why the original line was successful and lasted for so many years. Production has trebled since the initial run of MOTUC figures. I don't believe it's out of budget. I think it's just a way to cheap out on the figures to save on costs. While that may lead to a greater profit on a short term basis, I think in the long run it will be a very bad move as it will make the figures more boring, the line more repetitive and collectors will turn away from it.

[Emiliano]

But if the neck isn't that long they could sculpt a new upper torso and fit it there. They could also design it in such a way to use it even for Rattlor or Extendar. I don't honestly think that would be out of budget. We're paying $20 per figure. Mattel should try to make the new figures innovative and interesting to attract new collectors. That's why the original line was successful and lasted for so many years. Production has trebled since the initial run of MOTUC figures. I don't believe it's out of budget. I think it's just a way to cheap out on the figures to save on costs. While that may lead to a greater profit on a short term basis, I think in the long run it will be a very bad move as it will make the figures more boring, the line more repetitive and collectors will turn away from it.

Is not that I don't agree in general, but it's still about budget, you chose to believe me or not.
This line is not sold to hundreds of thousands of people, but only to a few thousands of collectors.
They brand manager get a budget for the year and it's up to them to decide how to spend it. That means: how many new toolings during the new year, what kind of paint application, etc.
So, yes a new torso may be out of budget. I'm not trying to defend Mattel, just giving you some insight on how toys are produced.
Let's say the 2010 budget allows for x new toolings. Overall, aside of the allocated money for new heads, weapons and accessory, let's say there is money for 1 new torso. So, you're the brand manager and you ahve to decide if you want to spend them on a torso for Mekaneck (that still adds extra toolings for the extendable parts) or for the Buzz-Off/Whiplash body?
That's the kind of decisions they have to take.

Now, let's take a look at what they budget for 2009 allowed: in total it allowed for 3 totally unique sculpts: human, beast and female.
All the rest were just variations on these 3 unique toolings.
Of coure the success of the line probably convinced Mattel to invest a bigger budget for 2010, but we don't know how bigger.
For sure not less then 2009, but then unique sculpts more likely can't be reused for other character, making them more risky to produce.
From Mattel's point of view is still better to invest on a lot of extra parts that can be used to cutomize the basic existing toolings the best way possible than on single unique toolings that will be used only once.

That said, you're probably right abotu Mekaneck/Extandar (Extendar could use an extra armor), not so much about Rattlor, that has a different body/anatomy.

[Jii Dee]

If mattel are really so stingy that they won't give us an extendable neck..then how about the next best thing..a 2nd head that is on a long articulated neck so we can bend it and get it into 200x crazy right angles etc that pops onto the ball joint on the neck. If we don't get one i'd be tempted to just kitbash one myself. Infact it wouldn't even need to be a second head. just have a ball joint at the top end and pop the existing head onto that.