Answers to WTFWTK 2.30!

[Mr. Shokoti]

MVC was doing He-Man comics for CrossGen...Image! Real comic book companies...fan pitch indeed. It just blows the mind.

Also, if they were just lowly fans unable to write a MOTU story, why did Mattel hire them in the first place? I also feel MOTUC is sorta stealing what Val & Emiliano were doing with their comics; including bits of mythology from previous MOTU eras in either the storyline or as little easter eggs for longtime fans.

[MOTUfan]

It does not stop Scott from posting at the MattyCollector forums. If he really wants to clarify anything he can pop here on for 2min it would take.

Like I said before this is just another instance in a long line of the same thing, he has been condescending at various points for at least the last 3 months.

Which imho is fine if that is where he wants to take things, however being the main fan site for the property he could use this thing called tact. It is one thing to not want to have anything to do with MVC work or this site in general. You dont have to be an ass about it, why even answer the question if you are going to get the names wrong (no excuse for that, C and P are very far apart keyboard wise) and how exactly do you spin positively "fan pitch"?

Also another point all of the fans that have had orders cancelled etc and have had to run through countless circles to get answers, when Scott is Mattel's voice here and chooses to ignore how many threads on problems with Mattycollector?? Same instance.

[MegaGearMax]

The reason why I'm calling stagnation, is because Mattel seems to fight itself and its fans every step of the way. Every other line that still survives from the 80's continues to thrive correctly (TV, comic, movie, and video game presence), except Mattel's MOTU.

HamStrining (as someone here called it) the only comic company that was handling MOTU is stagnation. We don't really know the reason why the MYP (which was VERY successful) toon was stopped (Mattel is once again tight-lipped about it), but the fact that is stopped is another example of stagnation.

It just doesn't make sense why they would even bother with the line, if they are only gonna half-@$$ with it.

Ah...I see what you mean. Mattel shoots themselves in the foot when they have something good going.

[Darkspecter]

If that's true that maybe the reason they won't touch Emiliano and there might be some bad blood because of that. Maybe?

The following post is why Mattel/Toyguru should not harbour any bad-blood between Val, Emiliano and the .org. Also, why using the "Emiliano works for Hasbro" excuse has no legs (if it's ever going to be referenced by Mattel, Toyguru or anyone else). There should be NO bias when it comes to any of the aforementioned people:

I think everyone is aware of Emiliano’s vast contributions to Mattel. For those who are not, I'm addressing a lot of them here. The main reason he became an artist is because of his love of MOTU and his dream was to work on a MOTU comic. A lot of this info is in the documentaries on the DVDs. His first major foray into MOTU was his online fan-comic “Homecoming” which was about He-Man and Skeletor returning from the future and finding Eternia is shambles. It’s a brilliant comic and an excellent read for those who haven’t seen it!

If I recall correctly, this comic was shown to Mattel and is a big reason why Val and Emiliano got the MOTU licence to make the comics for MVC.

When Mattel stopped making action figures for the 200X line, the FourHorsemen created 200X-styled staction figures and Emiliano did the packaging art and Val did the colours!

Both Val and Emiliao have been huge supporters of MOTU in every aspect, and have paid LOTS of money to keep the .org alive, which in turn, has kept MOTU alive.

It’s common knowledge that Emiliano has made a bunch of MOTUC concept-art for figures. The most noteable ones are Adora and Hordak. The concepts he worked on with the FourHorsemen were on display at the AFX booth at SDCC 2008. Later at a bar, Emiliano revealed to fans that he and Val had been pitching designs and a willingness to even work for free to Scott for over a year, just with the intention to help and not dictate anything to Mattel. But for some reason Scott shot Val and Emiliano down, even after the FourHorsemen saw the value in these guys and included them in the pitch.

Toyguru is really the only person who could answer the “why” for this. They are using old artworks on the packaging. If this was done as a cost-saving method in the beginning, I do understand this…but someone had to draw the brick packaging, the figure background, scroll for the bios and Castle Grayskull packaging/playset…

So…Toyguru or Mattel should not harbour any ill-feelings towards Val, Emiliano or He-Man.org the site. These individuals have done a great service for Mattel by giving them all this FREE exposure to a major brand that was essentially dead. They worked with Mattel on some exceptional products, haven’t bad-mouthed them and would work with Mattel again!

It’s quite obvious Emiliano loves MOTU and wants to continue working on it. I mean, he still posts some concepts. If he didn’t absolutely love this line and the characters he would not do this.

At any rate, Emiliano is a freelance artist. For those who are unfamiliar with the term, it means you don’t have a steady job. You pick up work along the way, contracted for even just a day sometimes. Some freelance journalists are only hired to cover one event.

So…Emiliano obviously had to find a job because money is needed to pay the bills. The MOTUC concept art is part of his portfolio, because they are amazing! After Hasbro saw his portfolio, they picked him up…because Emiliano is not only an amazing artist, he is a MAJOR toy fan.

Since Emiliano is a freelance artist, Mattel could call him up this minute and hire him on. He could work for every major toy company at the same time. He just has to sign non-disclosure agreements, which I’m sure he’s done in the past. No info-sharing, just amazing talent for all!

If Mattel did call Emiliano up, I’m sure he would work for them again. It’s his passion!

I hope everyone reads this in full. It may be a long post, but I think it's very important and informative.

[scott metzger]

There has been a sometimes none-too-subtle dismissive tone in TG's responses when things about the comics, or sometimes even this site, come up. It's not something particularly new for Mattel, in general; I've commented many times over the years on the outright shabby treatment this site has gotten in general, and Val and company in particular. Did the foremost MOTU site on the web get to break the scoop on the new MOTU line in 2002? Nope. Was it treated like a valuable part of the whole push for the new line? Nope. When the line ended, did Val get a thank you for his support of the property for the years it lay dormant? No, we all got the infamous, "goodbye, good luck and good riddance" press release saying we didn't support the line well enough.

I'd hoped things would be different with TG; he seemed, at first, like one of the fans. But in more recent posts, the aforementioned tone seems more prevalent, and in this case, downright blatant.

We've seen all sorts of things from previous incarnations of MOTU and the 2002 version. We got a script with the DVDs of what would have been the next, unproduced episode of the series. We've seen stuff on aborted attempts like "He-Ro, Son of He-Man." But we've never gotten to see virtually anything from the comic book plans that were aborted, like they are some state secret we can never be privy to. I don't know all the details of what happened behind the scenes, but I do have to wonder why. Even if I can't see the actual comics, I'd like to at least have an idea what we missed out on.

I can't imagine why Mattel or TG would have something against Val, Emiliano or this site; they've done as much as anyone, heck, more than practically anyone I can think of, to keep MOTU alive all these years. But I'm definitely getting those kind of vibes here, and it's troublesome.

[dagodfather]

It doesnt matter how insulting Mattel can be, as long as they keep making MOTU, we will all keep on buying.

[Toymaker]

I'm not going to re-iterate what other people have said here, but it seems stupid not to release Illumina and her cat! Both of them can use existing bucks, so wouldn't need a great deal of tooling, and there is a demand for them!

[Darkspecter]

No, we all got the infamous, "goodbye, good luck and good riddance" press release saying we didn't support the line well enough.

I remember that. That was very upsetting and disheartening. Definitely a knife through the heart kind of moment. I know it still stings for many today. This is a wound that has not yet healed.

[Whiplash7]

We may allude to them in bios, but these stories are too difficult for new fans to access (i.e. out of print) and simply do not fit with the current franchise direction.

Well I'm a 'new fan' in many ways. While I played with motu toys in it's early days, I never went near the franchise again, or collecting, until last year. Anything I want to know that I can't find out is provided right on this site, and forum. Most of the time you don't even have to ask.
What does them being 'out of print' have to do with anything, anyway? How many new/previously unmade characters have been made, or will be made? Plenty. Sounds like they just don't want to use it because they don't like it. Whatever.
The "fan pitch" thing is funny. By the same token you could argue that everything the 4H do is a "fan pitch".

Could anything be more complex then Wun-Dar? Yet he’s been worked in. In fact - in MOTUC, the best place one can be is in a place where your willing to let go of what you thought you knew and enjoy the ride because things are being added, omitted and changed from the mythos. Something like adding the character of Illumina is certainly NOT going to be what makes following the MOTUC story complicated...we crossed that bridge a long time ago

Zodac/Zodak is another good example. Two very different incarnations of the same character. They sorted that out easily enough.

[Rhanen]

All of the answers have been quite disappointed; but answer number 5 tried to mask in the most unpolitely way a "we don't want not so popular character" answer.

It is indeed very irrespectful to Val and Emiliano whose wrongly entitled "fan pitch" has keeping MOTU world alive and they are in part responsible that now MOTUC is available and a great success. Alas, even from their humble "fan" position they have done much more than many business creative people there at Mattel that now are collecting the profits.

PS: I agree with everything that PaTrIcKfOgArTy, scott metzger & MegaGearMax have said among others as well.

[Brian Ozone]

The MVC Comics were golden. It was the first comic I had bought in years.

To say that its old or out of date is ridiculous.

What are you afraid of better writing and storylines not from Mattel itself. Not for nuthing but the The comics that the boys on the ORG put together for your company SCott was probably the best continued story based on a a concept 20 years old.

Once again, if they let (MVC) them roll out with their own ideas and let MOTU breath alittle they would have made alot of money. Its so funny they hold MOTU so close to home but they dont let it grow. MVC tried its best to help expand but now its akick in the face for everything they did.

I mean the guys who were MVC pretty much run this site they are fans TRUE FANS and this is the crap that they get for thier hard work, thier dedication and continued devotion to the ORG, Mattel and MOTU in general.

Why would Mattel or Matty want to distance themselves with the ORG.

I really feel for you guys that are MVC, the devoted fans here that had to see this.

Im not happy.

[RocketPunch]

It doesnt matter how insulting Mattel can be, as long as they keep making MOTU, we will all keep on buying.

But apparently we won't be buying Illumina or any other MVCreations characters, since Toyguru seems to think they don't deserve to be in this line (but someone like Wun-Dar does).

[Kevenn]

Well, one thing that I gather from this debacle is that the line must be doing EXTREMELY well. Since at the beginning, Scott was all about courting the fans, telling us that he was a fan too (seriously ), and now that the bucks are rolling in, he obviously feels comfortable showing his true corporate colors, and feels there's enough "immunity" in the line that he doesn't have to placate the "great unwashed."

It didn't work for the success of the 200x line either. As a fan who loves this property and is grateful for all the hard work Val & Emiliano have done on behalf of the fans, I find Scott's statement to be infuriating. It not only disrespects them, but all of us on the .Org.

[Darkspecter]

The one part of tragic-irony I forgot to mention was the fact that MVC basically took all of MOTU's history and combined it into an excellent, comprehensive story for adults. It's the first MOTU vision that tried to tie in the past, present and future...as well as trying to make the MOTU Encyclopedias so fans could have ALL the MOTU info they ever wanted!

MOTUC is now trying to do the same thing (with the new inclusion of NA and PoP. Something I'm positive Mattel wouldn't let MVC do as Mattel got upset about them using ScareGlow...).

Doesn't this give anyone else a major WHAT?! moment?

Mattel is picking and choosing info from all eras to include in these bios. They don't have to keep EVERYTHING from MVC, but it most definitely should not be skipped over, diminished in value or talked down. These full-sized comics are as much a part of the mythos of MOTU as the original mini-comics are.

[markatisu]

It didn't work for the success of the 200x line either. As a fan who loves this property and is grateful for all the hard work Val & Emiliano have done on behalf of the fans, I find Scott's statement to be infuriating. It not only disrespects them, but all of us on the .Org.

(applause), those are my feelings exactly.

I figured when we started getting 2 figs a month, beasts, and now things like a Superman 2 pack that Mattel of old was back.

I was naive to think we could just have a MOTU line that was like Barbie or Hot Wheels with 1 figure a month and a special one every so often.

I bet if MOTUC starts to fail it will be 100% our fault as well, same old same old

[Brian Ozone]

You know whats so funny that I thougt of. Im a fan and you know how easy it was for mew to get the DC comics that are even older then the Star comics that I found all east too I might add.

That answer is too ridiculous.

If anyone has trouble finding the MVC comics I know a few Comic Book Websites that have them for reasonable prices too.

If Mattel needs a copy ive give you my own. I have everything they made.

[markatisu]

MOTUC is now trying to do the same thing (with the new inclusion of NA and PoP. Something I'm positive Mattel wouldn't let MVC do as Mattel got upset about them using ScareGlow...).

Doesn't this give anyone else a major WHAT?! moment?

Mattel is picking and choosing info from all eras to include in these bios. They don't have to keep EVERYTHING from MVC, but it most definitely should not be skipped over, diminished in value or talked down. These full-sized comics are as much a part of the mythos of MOTU as the original mini-comics are.

You are not the only one.

[Eterniandreams]

In all fairness, TG is not calling the MVC Comics a fan pitch.
TG says Illuminas BACKSTORY was based on a fanpitch!!!!!
Since Illumina was never "fleshed out" in the comic, she is nothing more than a teaser image.

I would like to have her though and the complicated backstory comment is a bit silly.

[Darkspecter]

I bet if MOTUC starts to fail it will be 100% our fault as well, same old same old

I'm very scared of this too. That's why I liked it best when there was 1 figure or so a month. Like the formula we had last year. It's getting too much, things are selling too fast, and in the end it's going to make the line suffer.

Fans will quit collecting altogether because of the 27 minute sell-outs, some items may not sell because of so many items being on sale at a time so Mattel will deem the as a "failure" like Zodak and Green Goddess were "failures."

It's all just getting a bit scary. I didn't want to say anything, but it is starting to seem like the 200X Mattel is coming back. I liked the attitudes and direction this line started out with.

In all fairness, TG is not calling the MVC Comics a fan pitch.
TG says Illuminas BACKSTORY was based on a fanpitch!!!!!
Since Illumina was never "fleshed out" in the comic, she is nothing more than a teaser image.

I would like to have her though and the complicated backstory comment is a bit silly.

But people should REALLY READ better!

To be fair, here's a summary of what happened with Illumina (if I recall correctly):

- Val and Emiliano pitched the Illumina comic and Mattel allowed it, hence the Illumina teaser.
- Then Mattel nixed it last minute, so they had to remove her completely from the comic and fans were VERY confused.

So...no part of Illumina is a fan-pitch. Mattel okay-ed it and then changed their minds. I think that's how it went down.

[Adora]

You know I read all of this, sitting here to try and formulate a proper response to Mattel and Toyguru, but what has been said so far has pretty much covered it. And too think Toyguru started out here as a normal poster, one of us, what made him change into such a spiteful person. This whole 'fan pitch' nonsense just makes Toyguru look foolish, and makes Mattel seem even worse. Honestly this is not the way to handle a fan base. And if Mattel seriously knew what was in their best interests they would offer some form of apology. I don't see this line lasting much past this year with these type of people in charge, what with this past months of problems with Mattel on my end and so many others, and I still have gotten no confirmation that anything was indeed fixed past that call. I really do not know if I want to give Mattel my business anymore honestly on any front. This one remark to the fan base, to Val and Emiliano, whom I have known for years, and are friends, is just unforgivable.

Mattel has, over the years, not given Val, Emiliano and the other folks at MVCreations their due, in my eyes, and, as in this case, actually seems intent on deriding their contribution to the MOTU mythos. Me, I usually found the comics stories as enjoyable if not moreso than the toon (especially since He-Man actually had a personality in the comics), and I'm a bit ticked that Mattel still seems intent on belittling the folks who gave us some great comics.

Sorry for the venting, but this answer really rubs me the wrong way.

I'd hoped things would be different with TG; he seemed, at first, like one of the fans. But in more recent posts, the aforementioned tone seems more prevalent, and in this case, downright blatant.

I can't imagine why Mattel or TG would have something against Val, Emiliano or this site; they've done as much as anyone, heck, more than practically anyone I can think of, to keep MOTU alive all these years. But I'm definitely getting those kind of vibes here, and it's troublesome.

These sum up my feelings as well. Not much else I can add.

[the_ultimate_evil]

hmm mattel butter us up and then slap us in the face so what else is new

[Mike Bock]

I find completely ridiculous to get rid of characters and storylines from the MVC comics. They had come up with a great way to explain everything and tie everything together.
I don't understand why those characters and storylines have to be scrapped while others don't.

This toyline is supposed to be for fans and the fans know these storylines. We are not children we want complex storylines ( and they were not hard to follow at all) we don't want kiddie stuff anymore, we are all adults.

Another thing that I don't understand is why they call it a fan pitch. They are fans.. yes! but they were hired by Mattel so that turned them into Mattel employees and what they wrote became canon just because of that fact.

Having fans working legally for a franchise is the best thing that could happen to a property.

[jhoward]

There are two sides to every story.

[Capt_Piett]

Hm. For a round of WTFWTK, there wasn't much in the way of information there....

But this.... "Although Illumina does appear on a few panels in the MVP comic series, her larger backstory was part of a fan pitch that was ultimately deemed too complicated for publication.

We are including the “Icons of Evil” series in MOTUC storyline but the other MVP comics and characters will not be included as toys."

Seems COMPLETELY contradictory to me. How can they say they'll use the Icons of Evil material as the basis of backstory for character like Trap-Jaw, but then turn around and say they can't/won't use characters like Illumina because the backstory would too complicated?

Make something up that's less complicated, for crying out loud! It's not like they didn't make up back stories for some of the other characters that have come out so far....

And as has been pointed all, ALL the source material for the mini-comics and the MVP are out of print and not easily accesible unless you happen to find someone with the back issues in stock somewhere. So therefore, NONE of it is easily accesible to new fans of the toy line. So that answer makes less sense than listening to Sarah Palin try to talk foreign affairs....

[markatisu]

In all fairness, TG is not calling the MVC Comics a fan pitch.

Well if we are going by symantics he did not call MVC anything, he botched the name completely