Answers to WTFWTK 2.50!

[JVS3]

Mattel has once again provided answers to your questions.
Thanks again to them for taking the time to answer these!
Check out their answers to your Round 50 questions!

This round of questions were selected by TheFallen,
and proofed against old Q&As by Uncle Montork.
Thanks to them for their help!

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1. TheFallen:
We all know that MOTUC is an avatar of the imagination but what is the story behind the chain connected to Vikor's wrist? Obviously, it is on there because of the original drawing but has a story been developed as to why it is actually there?

We imagine the chains are left over from a recent adventure. Perhaps a breakout from a dungeon or being captured temporarily by the Fighting Foe Men!

2. Mr. Shokoti:
Has there ever been any disagreements among those responsible for the MOTUC bios in regards to which previous canon should be used or what the "real name" should be? For instance, was everyone on board for using Teela's mini-comic origin rather than her MYP origin or something else entirely? Was everyone in agreement for Mer-Man & Evil-Lyn's "real names" (I love both of them no matter what anyone else says)? Did you ever have to persuade someone to come to your side or vice versa?

It answer this question it may be helpful to look at the larger “bio writing” project. Before the bios were written, the team set a series of specific goals and guidelines. For example, primarily we wanted to use the bios to justify the greatest number of figures possible. This is why both Zodac and Zodak were written as two separate characters, it helped justify creating and thus selling two figures. We also new fans wanted figures based on prototype art, the “Wonder Bread He-Man” and mini comic characters. Additionally we had more specific goals such as giving Orko a more important role since his “comedy relief” was only needed in an animated series and not in an adult aimed toy line.

Having these ground rules in place helped avoid any conflicts like the ones you mentioned.

As far as the real names or which Teela origin to use, there was some back and forth on a few concepts, but for the most part the team was in complete agreement.

Hope that helps!

3. oICEMANo:
With the inclusion of Vikor and the mention of Fighting Foe Men, could the "Valley of Gnarl" era create an opportunity for Mattel to produce some never-before-seen / brand new characters? Perhaps new characters could be created by the Four Horsemen. Or maybe Mattel could turn some more early concept art into new figures who belong to the FFM faction or who are allies of Vikor.

We have thought about adding in some all new characters, but if we did so it would take a special event or release. Our goal is to finish the vintage lines as soon as possible and every completely new character takes a spot away from a vintage character release. (and yes we know adding 200X characters “hinders” finishing the vintage lins, but we know there are fans of these guys too and Classics is about this era as well, at least as far as character selection goes)

We could potentially get to all new creations, but again it would take a very special event for us to do this.

4. kagamigod:
You mentioned on a recent Gooble Dinner chat that we may very well see a Pre-Eternia map. Will we likely see a Primus or Denebria map as well?

Perhaps in time. We do want to keep the maps going each year and there are many worlds to explore!

5. RockVivien:
According to an interview of Steven Grant "The 'Nameless One' had something to do with Keldor becoming Skeletor. I think he was their version of Emperor Palpatine, the great evil behind everything else. As with everyone else, there was no more backstory."
So within a time paradox, Keldor was supposed to have a role in POG.
In addition to Eldor and He-ro, does Mattel have any records saying if a Keldor toy and a Nameless One toy were intended to be released in the POG line?

While it may be possible additional figures beyond He-Ro and Eldor were planned for the line in 1987, there are no records indicating an expansion was in the works (likely due to the fact that even the first two figures never made it to retail!).

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And, have fun discussing Mattel's answers to your Round 50 questions!

[bcrduke]

I'm going to go out on perhaps not such an insubstantial limb and bet that we see a Fighting Foe Men multipack for SDCC as part of the MOTU 30th Anniversary.

They said "special event" twice. I may be reading into that comment, but if they'd meant a movie year would be necessary for new characters, they would have said so (as they have with a potential Castle Grayskull playset). This "special event" would have to be something like the 30th anniversary.

[flitzi]

I'm going to go out on perhaps not such an insubstantial limb and bet that we see a Fighting Foe Men multipack for SDCC as part of the MOTU 30th Anniversary.

They said "special event" twice. I may be reading into that comment, but if they'd meant a movie year would be necessary for new characters, they would have said so (as they have with a potential Castle Grayskull playset). This "special event" would have to be something like the 30th anniversary.

I couldn´t agree more. And I really hope we´re right on this one!

[Tallstar]

About the chain on Vikor's wrist - I always thought they were taking a page from Conan the Barbarian.

Anyhow, I have a feeling they're gonna go all out for MOTU's 30th.

[Swanmarsh]

Hope you're right bcrduke! If so, I'm really hoping the Fighting Foe Men are actually the pilots off the Monogram kit packs. I'd much rather new characters actually represent concept/poster characters we've seen for years rather than 100% new figure ideas.

The Talon Fighter in particular was a left over technology from an earlier age so it is theoretically possible the FFM helped create it or stole it back in Preternian days.

And in regard to the answer to Q1, I really hope we get that dungeon diorama one day with a chain link still connected to the wall that will allow to clip onto the chains on Vikor's wrists, thus trapping him at the mercy of the FFM.

[TheFallen]

Great questions this month. Congratulations to the guy who picked them. I've heard he is a hit with the ladies.

In all seriousness, I think there is a big plan with the Fighting Foe Men. They tend to be mentioning them a lot recently.

I hope bcrduke is right with his guess for SDCC but I would prefer Modulok or Multibot as the SDCC figure. The 30th Anniversary is all year long so it shouldn't just be at SDCC

[Grayskull's Heir]

Our goal is to finish the vintage lines as soon as possible

I don't get it. I though the goal was to keep the line going at least until 2016, with all the major characters being spaced out over the years as much as possible, so that people would still buy the subscription?
Have sales been declining so much that they need to "finish" the vintage line ASAP?
This is one of the most frightening things Matty has ever said...

[TheFallen]

I saw that and actually looked at it as a positive. I think the plan for Mattel has changed because so many people seem to be interested in the new characters now that they will push the vintage lines first and then try and continue with new characters/200x until the interest dies down

At least, that is what I hope

[Grayskull's Heir]

I hope you are right. I would hate to see the line die in, say, 2015, without having all the vintage figures...

[TheFallen]

The Mattel Plan = Push the vintage lines first. As soon as those fans are complete and think they are done, reveal the Filmation license

[PIMPS ADAM]

The Mattel Plan = Push the vintage lines first. As soon as those fans are complete and think they are done, reveal the Filmation license

Just like you said. In that order.

[JVS3]

I seriously doubt Mattel would spend a lot of money on the Filmation license just to sit on it.
Unless they bought the rights back permanently, licenses have a time limit.
So they'd want to start making their money back on that asap.

[Kevenn]

I'm with BCR Duke on the FFM. They've already said they had big plans for MOTU's 30th anniversary next year, and now all this "special event" stuff. I'm pretty sure we'll see the Fighting Foe Men at Comic Con this year.

[bcrduke]

I'm with BCR Duke on the FFM. They've already said they had big plans for MOTU's 30th anniversary next year, and now all this "special event" stuff. I'm pretty sure we'll see the Fighting Foe Men at Comic Con this year.

Hmm, I hadn't thought about the 30th being next year (time flies).

I strongly believe that Multi-bot and/or Modulok will be an sdcc exclusive next year. Their names were both TM'd this year. They require a larger budget for tooling, yet TG has said they would not be released in the Beast/Multi-pack slot. So in order for Matty to remain within it's budget, the SDCC exclusive is the only way to bring these two out, short of creating an entirely new SKU.

But it IS the 30th anniversary. More than one exclusive wouldn't be unreasonable . I mean, we had two this year. They could do something as simple as figures of the other two concept sketches that appear with Vikor in the art book. One is Demo-Man. The other is a Beast Man concept. They could use that "Choloh" character name that the real
Beast Man references in one of the MOTU DC comics as a name for him.

[Reboot]

I don't get it. I though the goal was to keep the line going at least until 2016, with all the major characters being spaced out over the years as much as possible, so that people would still buy the subscription?
Have sales been declining so much that they need to "finish" the vintage line ASAP?
This is one of the most frightening things Matty has ever said...

You forget just how many figures there were in the vintage lines (especially including PoP & NA, as
Mattel do - look at these threads: http://www.he-man.org/forums/boards/...otuc+checklist ). Even if they escewed MYP & concept figures from now on (which that very answer said *they're not going to do*), they wouldn't be done before 2016!

I seriously doubt Mattel would spend a lot of money on the Filmation license just to sit on it.
Unless they bought the rights back permanently, licenses have a time limit.
So they'd want to start making their money back on that asap.

I doubt MotUC would be a big factor in *buying* the Filmation rights anyway! That'd be all about, as Scott Metzger occasionally points out, control.

As for a licence... would that actually be worth it, monetarily, to Mattel at any point before the A & B listers they *can* do start to run dry? Holding back on doing a deal might be the intelligent thing to do from their POV, even if Classic Media were willing.

[Eamon]

oICEMANo's question was the best!

I would love a Valley of Knarl faction. It would only need 6 figures. Vikor, female character and another character like a creature. And then 3 bad guys Fighting Foe Men.
It could be released as two triple packs or one large set one hit! No new parts except for heads and armour.

[Mr. Shokoti]

Great questions this month. Congratulations to the guy who picked them. I've heard he is a hit with the ladies.

Considering mine was one of the questions he picked, I'd have to agree.

[JVS3]

As for a licence... would that actually be worth it, monetarily, to Mattel at any point before the A & B listers they *can* do start to run dry? Holding back on doing a deal might be the intelligent thing to do from their POV, even if Classic Media were willing.

Could be!

I was told back in 2001 that Mattel had a 10 year license to reuse the Filmation characters. Which is why I was always puzzled why MOTUC didn't start out with Filmation characters, as I thought that license would have still been valid. But, who knows. I don't work there, so I don't know the details of that license.

If they did another 10 year license, they could tap it in all sorts of ways!
BUT, I was also told it was really expensive.
So, unless they plan to do the movie, or a new cartoon, odds are they aren't gonna do it.

Who knows. Maybe they'll license rights to certain characters for shorter periods of time?
Heck, Classic Media's bound to be hungry to make money on MOTU and POP any way they can, as long as it's worth their while. And Mattel's the company who could do that.
As I've said before, there's always a work-around if you look for it!

But instead (and I said this in the unaired Episode 030 RGD) it's like Legal and upper management never seem to run out of ink for their "NO" stamp.

Maybe we'll get lucky and Scott will forge an elite group of Guardians of Grayskull fans, and we'll march up to those scary upper management offices and demand some stuff!

[Scorpia]

The Mattel Plan = Push the vintage lines first. As soon as those fans are complete and think they are done, reveal the Filmation license

I can't decide whether this makes really good or really bad business sense. On the one hand, MOTUC can still release in-demand characters up until the classic-figure well runs dry and then use the Filmation rights to boost post-figure sales...

...on the other hand, aside from Shadow Weaver, none of the Filmation characters currently fall into that universally-demanded category. They're either quite obscure, fan favourites or higher-tier B-list characters like Sea Hawk, Madame Razz and Scorpia (all of whom divide the community).

I personally think they need to work out a way to sprinkle Filmation characters into the line ASAP, like they seem to be doing with 200x characters like Marzo, Carnivus and the Faceless One.

But as to what their business plan actually looks like...your guess is as good as mine!

[Mr. Shokoti]

Hmm, I hadn't thought about the 30th being next year (time flies).

While fans have different opinions as to when Masters Of The Universe's 30th Anniversary truly is, ToyGuru said in a thread of mine that is is in 2012 and not 2011...

http://www.he-man.org/forums/boards/...ht=anniversary

[JVS3]

Yep, it would be 2012 for the 30th.

[Kevenn]

Yep, it would be 2012 for the 30th.

Wonderful! Then they can do Modulok & Multi-bot for SDCC this year, and after that, then do Fighting Foe Men. WIN!

[Reboot]

I was told back in 2001 that Mattel had a 10 year license to reuse the Filmation characters. Which is why I was always puzzled why MOTUC didn't start out with Filmation characters, as I thought that license would have still been valid. But, who knows. I don't work there, so I don't know the details of that license.

If they did another 10 year license, they could tap it in all sorts of ways!
BUT, I was also told it was really expensive.

Well, that leads to three lines of thought:
1) Marzo & Evilseed were redesigned from a blank sheet of paper for MYP, in contrast to most of their other [non-Filmation-specific] reinventions. Did that licence include the likenesses or just the character names? In the latter case, it's arguable whether it would be worth using.
2) Regardless of (1), the rights to the Filmation library have changed hands, what, twice(?) in that time, including at least one of the companies going bust. Did the licence survive those changes of control?
3) Even if would have survived those changes of control; if the licence was indeed "really expensive", did Mattel just let it lapse or otherwise end it when the 200X line ended (meaning the cartoon/main retail line, not the "stactions"), rather than continuing to pay such high licence fees on a property they were no longer actively exploiting?

Any one of those could have meant it was either unavailable or not worth using for the nostalgia-based MotUC line.

[JVS3]

Yeah, it's completely unknown. I'd love to see the license, because there's no telling what kind of specifics were on there.

[Bulkhide]

Good questions, good answers. Rock on!