Post SDCC Fwoosh Interview

[MegaGearMax]

Remember that post SDCC 3 part interview last year that name dropped all of those 200X characters like Carnivus and Dactys? Well, they did it again! Mattel Brand Manager Scott “Toy Guru” Neitlich and Lead Designer Bill Benecke have returned for another interview!

http://thefwoosh.com/2010/08/comic-con-conversation-mattels-scott-neitlich-and-bill-benecke-part-1#more-10468

More MOTUC coming up in part II!

[Darkspecter]

Toyguru, you have to post a picture of the bronze Lt. Spector!

[JonWes]

Very cool! Interesting during the bit about Bow where they say they used a lot of NA parts on him... now, I don't want to read too much into that, as they could just have planned to use the same parts for NA He-man... but the way it was said almost made me wonder if NA He-man was coming soon. I think it'd be cool if he was the second quarter variant figure.

[Lioncourt]

Maybe I've missed something...it is easy to do with how much gets passed over on the main page nowadays, but what is the She-Ra commemorative thing all about?

I was thinking that, with the DVD release, they were re-issuing the She-Ra we got back in June, but this interview makes it sound like something else.

[Lay Ze-Man]

Cool interview, I guess.
Good to hear more from Bill Benecke.

But to be honest, I'm kind of tired of hearing stuff like "We will see where it all goes, that is the cool thing about Masters – the direction and how far we can push it is totally up to the fan support."

I know it's just a company line PR type thing.
But it kind of irks me since it could be inferred that fans haven't supported certain things, which is like

I mean, what MOTUC release has not had fan support?

[Shecky]

If memory serves, there were a few of those that were raffled off at the Con to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of She-Ra. That's all they were for, I believe.

Regards,
Victor P.

Maybe I've missed something...it is easy to do with how much gets passed over on the main page nowadays, but what is the She-Ra commemorative thing all about?

I was thinking that, with the DVD release, they were re-issuing the She-Ra we got back in June, but this interview makes it sound like something else.

[KingRandor82]

Cool interview, I guess.
Good to hear more from Bill Benecke.

But to be honest, I'm kind of tired of hearing stuff like "We will see where it all goes, that is the cool thing about Masters – the direction and how far we can push it is totally up to the fan support."

I know it's just a company line PR type thing.
But it kind of irks me since it could be inferred that fans haven't supported certain things, which is like

I mean, what MOTUC release has not had fan support?

Maybe the numbers are good, but don't justify--at least for now--anything further than what's already in the works.

Selling around 15,000 units of an action figure doesn't exactly scream "OK, TIME TO ROLL OUT A NEW ANIMATED SERIES!"

Sorry to break it to ya, chief.

[Lay Ze-Man]

Maybe the numbers are good, but don't justify--at least for now--anything further than what's already in the works.

Selling around 15,000 units of an action figure doesn't exactly scream "OK, TIME TO ROLL OUT A NEW ANIMATED SERIES!"

Sorry to break it to ya, chief.

Well, considering how quickly everything sells out, maybe Mattel should make more than "15,000".

I know MOTUC isn't going to be the immediate gateway to a new toon.
But making adequate supply for the obviously unmet demand might get us more beasts and vehicles quicker.

Or, heaven forbid, something like, y'know, a bunch of extra accessories and more bonus heads for the figures.

[Kevenn]

Wait, so "Yeah, there’s also some other parts of him that we did reuse from New Adventures parts." But this is before they later assured in a Q&A they had no plans for NA He-Man right now?

The language "reuse from" tends to indicate that the NA He-Man came first and were reused for Bow, not sculpted for Bow with the intent to reuse later for NA He-Man when they get to him.

[Reboot]

Wait, so "Yeah, there’s also some other parts of him that we did reuse from New Adventures parts." But this is before they later assured in a Q&A they had no plans for NA He-Man right now?

They routinely hedge, deny and outright lie about unannounced characters in Q&As. It's why ASKING about them is so outright pointless.

[Darkspecter]

Wait, so "Yeah, there’s also some other parts of him that we did reuse from New Adventures parts." But this is before they later assured in a Q&A they had no plans for NA He-Man right now?

The language "reuse from" tends to indicate that the NA He-Man came first and were reused for Bow, not sculpted for Bow with the intent to reuse later for NA He-Man when they get to him.

Yeah, to me it sounds like they made NA He-Man first or were going to make him first but said "why not Bow?"

I also say READ this article to everyone who doesn't think this Bow figure is NA He-Man with a few different pieces.

[Muscle of Grayskul]

Yeah, to me it sounds like they made NA He-Man first or were going to make him first but said "why not Bow?"

I also say READ this article to everyone who doesn't think this Bow figure is NA He-Man with a few different pieces.

I agree, I was thinking it really wouldn't take all that much to make a custom NA He-Man usin Bow as the base but then told myself whats the point, by the time I get around to attempting it we'll probably have one anyway, I mean look at him, a few parts swapped and bam its NA He-man, it should be a pretty easy cost effective redeco to give us a NA He-man by the end of 2011. A new head sculpt is really all they need

[Lay Ze-Man]

I also say READ this article to everyone who doesn't think this Bow figure is NA He-Man with a few different pieces.

I think most people get that. But what's the big deal?
To me it's like saying Stratos is Beast Man with a few different pieces.
That's kinda the M.O. of the line.

[kagamigod]

I wun-dar if they are going to keep the pants, bracers and boots the same blue/gold color or change them up for NA He-Man.

[Darkspecter]

I think most people get that. But what's the big deal?
To me it's like saying Stratos is Beast Man with a few different pieces.
That's kinda the M.O. of the line.

It's a problem when the things that make the characters unique in the 80's figures, become re-used parts. Here's my comparison:

80's Bow and NA He-Man were as different as 80's He-Man and Skeletor.

MOTUC Bow and NA He-Man are as different as He-Man and Wun-Dar.

[Uki]

Good little read; thanks!

[JonWes]

Part Two is up!
http://thefwoosh.com/2010/09/comic-c...benecke-part-2

Choice snippets:
"I think fans will be very, will be very excited about how it works. It’s not what a lot of fans are thinking, like he possesses Skeletor and that Keldor’s not really evil."

Hmmmm....

"I can tell you yeah, Frosta is definitely, she’s a top one, definitely will be one of the sooner Princess of Power figures. I will tell you that."

Yay! I hope so!

Other stuff - Yay Bill for getting those gears moving on Roboto! And in the right color!

[Darkspecter]

I'm totally confused now. 3 PoP characters, maybe 2 if something has to change in the year and 1 is in the first half. Well, that obviously means Nov or Dec 2011 is PoP (like Adora was originally supposed to be in 2009).

There are FOUR women total for 2011 (2 have to be PoP taking into account this new info).

The other two are probably Queen Marlena and the Sorceress. There aren't a whole lot of women outside PoP. I'll be blindsided if we don't get those two...or a 200X Evil-Lyn.

Catra and Sweet Bee are trademarked. No Frosta...but they said she would be one of the "sooner" PoP figures we get. Weird.

Anyway I say we get:

- Catra
- Queen Marlena
- 200X Evil-Lyn or 80's styled Sorceress
- Sweet Bee

In that order.

[flitzi]

Sooo... They spent tooling money on 5 molds for Robotos gears? Yeah. What a great way to spend money instead of adding more accessories...
Actually... strike that emoticon. Make it this:

[Lay Ze-Man]

It's a problem when the things that make the characters unique in the 80's figures, become re-used parts.

But Bow didn't have a vintage MotU figure.
And if he had, it would've been made up of a bunch of reused parts.

[Tallstar]

I'm totally confused now. 3 PoP characters, maybe 2 if something has to change in the year and 1 is in the first half. Well, that obviously means Nov or Dec 2011 is PoP (like Adora was originally supposed to be in 2009).

There are FOUR women total for 2011 (2 have to be PoP taking into account this new info).

Unless something changes with the schedule in the third and/or fourth quarter, it sounds like only 1 out of the 4 females will be from POP. That's the current plan.

Disappointing.

[Caesar]

Unless something changes with the schedule in the third and/or fourth quarter, it sounds like only 1 out of the 4 females will be from POP. That's the current plan.

Disappointing.

I don't believe Catra is PoP anymore. (Sweet Bee) maybe hoping for Castaspella or Frosta and then Marlena and probably a She-ra variant.

[Darkspecter]

Sooo... They spent tooling money on 5 molds for Robotos gears? Yeah. What a great way to spend money instead of adding more accessories...
Actually... strike that emoticon. Make it this:

To be honest, I'm REALLY happy Bill Benecke fought for this...and for She-Ra to have the sword and shield jewels. Both toys would NOT have been the same without them.

If Roboto just had the big "one piece gear" that didn't move, I'm sure everyone would be disappointed. I just hope they fought for a new female buck!

But Bow didn't have a vintage MotU figure.
And if he had, it would've been made up of a bunch of reused parts.

Not necessarily. The later MOTU figures don't really share parts at all. He would have been in that wave.

Unless something changes with the schedule in the third and/or fourth quarter, it sounds like only 1 out of the 4 females will be from POP. That's the current plan.

Disappointing.

That's kind of what I mean. One PoP is somewhere from April to June (She-Ra was June this year), and one PoP is *tentatively* November or December (like how Adora was December, but got pushed to January). So, two women PoP. If the last one drops off, only 3 women in 2011 (1 being PoP).

However, these are only minimums. Here's what TG said:

SN: And there are at least two, counting Bow, Princess of Power characters. There might be another, there might be more, but cause sometimes they get changed around.

I bolded the important parts.

There's probably only 4 (not including the ToysRUs vs packs), but I hope his teasing there may be more actually comes to fruition.

[Ealo]

i think demo-man is the victim and keldor somehow magically consumes him - that'd be a twist.

the roboto gears, it really was for the best!

as for the females... i'm guessing they are trying not to give too much away - it'd be a head spin though if we get both marlena and sorceress this year... not that it matters, because every PoP has an awesome design/character... i could take 4 female pop in one year no problem.

[Tallstar]

I bolded the important parts.

There's probably only 4 (not including the ToysRUs vs packs), but I hope his teasing there may be more actually comes to fruition.

But the at least two part is including Bow.

It doesn't even sound like another POP female is likely in the third or fourth quarter. To me, this reads that the schedule is for 3 MOTU females and 1 POP female, unless something gets switched out in the second half of the year.