What if they were smaller?

[Prince Adam's Dad]

I was reading the other thread about mis-steps the line had made, and a couple of posters mentioned the size of the toys. That got me thinking.

Of course, nobody could have seen the heights the line would reach ahead of time. I'm sure that back in 2008, the current size made perfect sense. It is striking, and stands out on any toy shelf. Its size lends itself to easier engineering for more articulation. And really, it's not like there is a good reason to make it smaller, right?

{4 years later}

Wow. These beautiful figures take up a LOT of space. And scale makes things like giants, beasts, vehicles, and playsets either cost prohibitive or huge. And $29 a figure was a lot more palatable when it was only one a month.

If you could go back in time, would you want the figures to be just a little smaller? Maybe closer to the original He-Man figure scale? Sure, you lose something in terms of how they look on a shelf. However, there could have been a lot of benefits, knowing then what we know now.

1. Price point. Ideally, less plastic would mean less cost to the consumer.

2. Display space. It's starting to run a little thin, isn't it?

3. Vehicles/playsets. A smaller Greyskull or Snake Mountain would be a lot likelier to be made.


So there it is. Pros? Cons? What do you guys think? Would you prefer a smaller scale?

[Eternian Poet]

Emphatically "no".

I love the scale they're at.

[Darkspecter]

I always wished MOTUC was the same height of DCUC. Those two packs also would have made more sense that way and allowed for cool "cross overs" in collections and everything.

[guitargod694]

Yeah, you make valid points and I can see the benefits to a slightly smaller scale.
I'm running out of space, too.

But... I still can't say yes to it. I like them the way they are.
I do wish the new Thundercats Classics were a bit smaller, though (ie: MotUC size)

[Prince Adam's Dad]

Oh, I can definitely see that, GG. On the figures' own merits, the current scale works incredibly well.

And honestly, Classic Thundercats Lion-O factored into this (slightly). I finally found one this weekend, and he kinds towers over ol' He-Man. Kinda disappointing.

[Brad2dbone]

You're right about all of the benefits of a smaller scale, but I still wouldn't go back and change it if I could. I love them at the current scale. However, if there was ever a new cartoon, I wouldn't mind 4" figures sculpted to match the cartoon style.

[AnnnaMot]

Emphatically "no".

I love the scale they're at.

same here , i would not buy it if it was smaller

[Rassilon]

Honestly no I always wanted my figures a little bigger and to have move movement so... NOW I got them but I do see the benefits of what your saying though.

[krosfyah]

NO thanks to a smaller scale the striking factor really makes me love these things. the 3 3/4 marvel figures don't wow me. if they were the same scale as DCUC it would still be a bit underwhelming. i think the scale is perfect.

[Ealo]

i'd take smaller but only if it meant we get playsets and vehicles and that'd have to be guaranteed and not just a higher chance of getting them.

[fireball13z]

I like the current size, but if they had started out at 5" scale like the MOTU of the 80s I would have been ok

[Telkan2]

I certainly wouldn't want a change at this point in the line, however I wouldn't have minded them being slightly smaller from the get-go (i.e., the size of the vintage or 200X line--NOT anything smaller than 5" or so).

[Prahvus]

I like the current scale for MOTUC figures.

The ONLY fear I have about it, is that we might not get giants, playsets or some creatures in scale (ex. : Eternia Castle, Gigantisaur... We already noticed that Tytus and Megator are MUCH smaller than their 80's counterparts, for instance).

P.S. : if the figures were smaller, we probably would get super deformed figures, anyway. Look at the MOTU Rumblers shown at SDCC, for example.

[fireball13z]

I like the current scale for MOTUC figures.

The ONLY fear I have about it, is that we might not get giants, playsets or some creatures in scale (ex. : Eternia Castle, Gigantisaur... We already noticed that Tytus and Megator are MUCH smaller than their 80's counterparts, for instance).

eh i know some people complain about the size of mega and tytus, but they are fine for me

[Oz-Scott]

Emphatically "no".

I love the scale they're at.

This!!

[Prahvus]

eh i know some people complain about the size of mega and tytus, but they are fine for me

Maybe it's because you don't own or have never seen in person the rare (and alas expensive) vintage Tytus and Megator and can't really tell the difference, but let me tell you this : these figures at least were called GIANTS for a reason !

[fireball13z]

Maybe it's because you don't own or have never seen in person the rare (and alas expensive) vintage Tytus and Megator and can't really tell the difference, but let me tell you this : these figures at least were called GIANTS for a reason !

I understand they are much smaller than the classic, I am not blind. my point is they are twice the size of the reg motuc figures and that is fine for me.

[SCB]

NO NO NO.

The size and chunkiness of the figures is what was missing from the 200x line. This is exactly what I wanted back then.

[kenobi96]

I would buy them smaller, like the current Marvel Universe size figures, but ONLY if they were excellent quality, highly detailed (like the 200x stactions) figures, give us GIANTS Tytus and Megator (like the size of the Marvel Universe Galactus and Sentinel), make playsets and vehicles and sell them in stores!

[TrimmTrabb]

I've always said that they're about an inch too big.
I really don't understand this push to get standard action figures closer and closer to 8". I prefer the old MOTU size.
It would be cool if they actually were 6" tall. That way, when you crouch them down a bit, they would be pretty much exactly in scale with the 80's figures. It wouldn't take away from the width or chunkiness, just the height.
Although, that probably wouldn't make much difference, in terms of cost.

[DC_WARLORD]

I wish they were in the 30" scale, and each figure was 200 bucks a piece. That way, my collection would be super rare and worth big bucks! Then, I would laugh and mock everybody who collects regular size action figures!!

[Jamps]

I like the 6" scale, they look good, and the vintage Lion-O towers over the vintage He-man too...

[phantom1592]

The only thing I would have prefered was for them to be JUST a HAIR smaller...

Basically the size of the original vintage figures. Then the vehicles we already have would have been PERFECT.

[Jean]

It wouldn't have bothered me if they were smaller. I was actually hoping they would have been closer to their vintage size so that they could interact with the vintage toys until we got a better Battle Cat, Grayskull, etc...

That's the one thing I like about G.I. Joe figures, they've remained pretty consistent in size throughout the years and you can grab your vintage Duke and put him in a modern vehicle and he fits in there.

No such luck with He-Man who has had different sizes throughout all his incarnations.

[kup]

A smaller scale would have been the best way to go in hindsight but starting with the smaller scale now, would be horrible. Your display would look like this awkward mis-match with toys that look like belong in different lines together.

It would be the same 'Scale mismatch Syndrome' that Transformers collectors have been suffering from for years only that it's more tolerable with robots than 'people'.