WTFWTK 2.65 - Ask your questions here!

[JVS3]

Rules for What The Fans Want To Know:

• Each user is limited to 1 question per Q&A.
• Posts that repeat questions from other Q&As or from earlier in this thread, or posts that contain multiple questions, will be deleted and the offending user will no longer be permitted to participate in that particular Q&A. So check to see if your question has been asked and help everyone out!
  Be sure to check the posts in this thread before you, as well as previous Q&A sessions!
• This is for question submission only; not discussion. Please save that for discussion threads, and Q&A answer threads.
• We will start a new Q&A thread when it is time for more questions, approximately every 2 weeks. So please don't start new Q&A threads.

The figures that can be produced are figures that were in the original MOTU, POP and NA lines, as well as in the mini-comics for these lines.
Characters that appeared in the 2002 MYP cartoon are also fair game.
Filmation characters are off limits!
Who will be produced will remain to be seen.

We will pick up to 5 questions we feel might get answers at that time. Please do not take offense to your question not being asked.
Also, we also edit questions to make them more concise, to be more specific, etc. Please take no offense to this either, as it's only meant to help.
It's nothing personal.

***Important note: Mattel has limited the questions to 5 from each site who submits Q&As.

Previous WTFWTK sessions (questions and Mattel answers):
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.6
2.7
2.8
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2.10
2.11
2.12
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2.22
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2.25
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2.27
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2.58
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2.60
2.61
2.62
2.63

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This past round of questions were selected by Nikki.
Thanks to that fan for their help!!!

The questions that were asked in the previous Q&A & will be answered in a couple weeks as follows (please do not repeat them, or questions from previous Q&As):

1. grenadaspice:
Why the choice of making Shadow Weaver the 2012 club exclusive when it was originally said that the club figure would never be an "important" figure in the MOTU universe, hence previous figs such as Wun-Dar and Preternia Disguise He-Man?

2. zodak74:
It is quite exciting to see the multi-pack slot being used for something other than Army Builder sets. Now that we have Filmation figures coming up, would Mattel consider offering us Shokoti & Lord Masque as a two-pack subscription slot? Or perhaps something like Madame Razz, Broom & a Twigget or two as a multi-pack set? With so many Filmation characters, this would be a great way to get more out there in a shorter amount of time!

3. Staff Of Ka:
Were Marlenas cartoon eyes a homage to the Filmation rights? And will we get a MOTUC painted version of her eyes at some point?

4. Niki:
The Filmation designs were more simple and symetrical so they could be used for different scenes and maybe to mirror them for other scenes. Will the Four Horsemen break that up a bit and give the characters more details and personal touches?

5. TheFallen:
I am a big fan of the bios but there are plenty of fans that feel strongly against them. Some fans offer suggestions or comments of certain changes to story lines all the time. Has fan input, comments and suggestions changed the bios in any way or is the story still the same story you started 3 years ago?

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So ask those questions!

[bigsexy_j]

Toyguru,

Back in January you started a couple threads asking fans how/what Mattel can do to communicate with fans. During these discussions you came out and said that there would be a classic style version of the 200x Keldor swords coming. So far we have been shown what to expect up until March 2012, and still no signs of the swords. I thought that maybe they would be a secret accessory put out. But in the August 15 sessions of Q&A's that was shot down (www.hordak.de) when asked if there would be any and the answer was no.

I'm hoping these are still planned, and weren't just a diversion tactic. When/are the 200x Keldor swords coming?

Thank you

J

[The.Idea.of.Evil]

You recently stated that all of the bios have been written (as of Stratus' release) so that any future releases wouldn't come off as "made up as they've come along."

Does this mean that you have every figure and their accessory(ies) planed out as well with no wiggle room to change them? It's understood that you could change a figures actual release day, and maybe paint scheme, but if the bios are set and are dependent on one another to complete an overall story does this mean that fans will no longer have the slight chance of getting a specific accessory added to a character because it won't fit/would change the bio's storyline?

[Scorpia]

Would you consider releasing a Catra variant (however she looks) with royal blue hair so heads can be swapped to make the perfect, identical Filmation Catra? (obviously with the indentations so the Filmation mask can fit on the new head!)

[Prahvus]

After King Hssss and Bow suffered from a crotch piece that limits their legs movements, it seems Icarius got the same treatment (and I feel it could be the same for many NA figures)... Yet, you told us several months ago you "would pass this on to the design team".

So, my question is : will we see more MOTUC figures getting that kind of infamous "impairing crotch" in the future ?

[zodak74]

Everybody now knows that the 2012 subs are lower in sales than previous years, and that as a result Mattel is "scaling back" on SKUs and that sort of thing. As a result, I am wondering if, since Mattel has been "going big" on the new additional SKUs (items like the giants, Gygor, Swift Wind, Windraider, and especially Granamyr!), if the focus might instead be shifted to smaller sized offerings. With Filmation rights, there are a TON of smaller characters and creatures that could be produced... will Mattel take a shot at producing characters like Madame Razz, Imp, Kowl, Loo-Kee, Dree-Elle, etc. as either multi-packs or single-carded, cheaper than $20 price point offerings? It would be a welcome balance to things like the upcoming $80 Granamyr and the $40 giants!

[Fabulous]

Will Battle Ground Evil-Lyn have a hard plastic left hand unlike Catra?

[lorde trooper]

The wind raider has some beautiful box art, going forward with more vechiles for MOC collectors can we please have a window box with a flap (with the box art on it) over the top so moc collectors can also display the vechile aswell.

Or was the purpose of no window as the vechile may not been assembled so therefore pointless. If vechiles are pre-assembled moc collectors would love to have both options for display purposes.

[Shecky]

During the last year or so when someone asked about a particular figure that wasn't confirmed, you would usually say that you couldn't comment on anything past "King Hssss" or "TP He-Man" for now, for example. Why then would you make the recent comments on Castle Grayskull, when as recently as last month during the SDCC you mentioned that it wasn't in the cards anytime soon?

[Neil]

Given the recent talk about our diminishing chance of seeing a MOTUC Castle Grayskull any time soon, I was wondering if you had considered offering Castle Grayskull in the same way as the Club Infinite Earths subscription?

You could reveal your general plans for the castle (a mock-up, a drawing, or even a verbal description) and then launch a "Grayskull Sub". Have a big red thermometer on the front of Mattycollector; if enough people sign up then it goes into production. If there aren't enough takers then it doesn't happen.

Then if it goes forward you could charge us $30 per month January-October for the Castle, and ship it out to us in December.

Sounds like a simple and risk-free way to do it to me. You could do the same thing with all the giant playsets every year until the end of the line.

[Beastmaster]

Is Mattel actively pursuing the 1987 Movie rights, like with Filmation, or is this something Mattel is not (anymore) interested in?

[facet]

Toyguru, you recently said you will not be making Filmation varients of any characters, only characters in the "Classics" style. Now in regards to Characters whose filmation model was so drastically different they look nothing like their toy versions, do they warrent a varient taken up by one of the quaterly slots, done in a classicizied version of their filmation model. To be more specific, The Characters that fall into this category are Tung Lashor, Clawful, and Multibot.

[Crusader]

Is there a possibility that a small part of Granamyr's production run could be painted green instead of red ? Maybe at a slightly higher price point and using a pre-order / thermometer system as recently suggested for Castle Grayskull ?

[jdscissorhands]

The Star Sisters 3-pack seem to have triggered some cristicism (expensive item/ obscure characters....) and many fans attributed the lower 2012 subs selling to its reveal at SDCC. Does it mean that further 2 or 3-packs are doomed or is there still hope for us fans to see more of those in the next few months? A Comet Warrior 3-pack would rock...

[bskcase]

Any chance we can get that sweet Wind Raider art from the package in a jpeg? I so want that for my Wallpaper.

[ian_highful]

Now that you have the rights to the television series, can we expect a New Adventures Teela variant from the way she looked in the episode Once Upon a Time? Perhaps with a bio that explains her sudden hair color change?

[Shokoti's Slave]

Have you a particular process in how you plan to decide which Filmation characters you'll be making and when?

[grenadaspice]

Hi Toyguru, you have mentioned that with the addition of Filmation characters added to the line, it will kind of bump figures off the road map to where the line was going with bios and time frame of figures' release. With the tentative plan being 2-3 Filmation characters per year (if the line goes past 2012...), have you considered knocking off 2-3 of the quarterly A-list variants in favor of filling in the new Filmation characters? I think most fans prefer original characters over variants of existing characters and by doing this, you pretty much keep the road map intact. Also, I figure since you can't talk about anyone after Thunder Punch He-Man means there's no one planned/sculpted at the time being, so if you guys wanted to, you can implement the Filmation characters into the the quarterly figure spots in time for the rest of 2012.

[vadersfist]

If we can't get a Castle Greyskull is their any chance for Attack trakk or other vehicles? Could their possible be maybe even smaller playsets like the 1 pixel dan did a review on which was the ooze small playset that I can't remember the name of right off hand. Also,.... if we don't get many more other vehicles would the line just continue releasing just figures and possible weapsons packs and other 12" figures as well or would Mattel look into other possible ideas along with the figures like cardbacks that are collectable like star wars did with C5?

[suckator]

Will Draego-Man have reversed shoulders like King Hiss?

[Lipster]

I know you can't give exact numbers but when you get to horde troopers are the production numbers going to be significantly higher than the palace guards? I bought 2 sets of palace guards and would like to be able to snag 3 or 4 sets of troopers. I know others feel the same way. Also thanks for the perfect Fisto and Kahn, the second heads and 200x elements are perfect.