Toyguru Mattycollector.com MOTUC News Thread October 2011

[Hosed Ovor]

I hope we at least get Sweet Bee and Ram Man, I won't shed a tear for Goat Man

I'm starting to detect there isn't a lot of love for Goat Man. As one of the six examples mentioned by TG surely 5,000 fans want the figure produced.

You must all be new around here because the names he used I have been seeing huge numbers of people make request for ((more than your 271)) years. Support TWIYWIPIATOW.

Who are these characters? The criteria established by Mattel is 5,000 fans. I would love to know the 30 "extremely fan demanded" Filmation characters that 5,000 fans want. I'll even send the lucky fan who can tell me, two free boxes of Grayskull stands.

[SCB]

A discussion between 5 posters isn't the most accurate way to measure Goat Man's demand.

[Hosed Ovor]

A discussion between 5 posters is the most accurate way to measure Goat Man's demand.

Goat Man is just happy five people are talking about him.

[mick4metal]

I will not stand for this Goat-Man bashing any longer!!! You spiteful people that want a geriatric smurfette with a Seigfried and Roy tiger over a cool man goat. MOTUC needs more goat. That is the missing link. More goat lets start a Facebook petition we can beat 250. It's good to see that Scott has Goat-Man on his mind. Good indeed.

[bamf1980]

we can beat 250.

Maybe (though doubtful). But do you think you can hit 333? Cuz that's what we're currently at.

Illumina for life!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/156251727799742/

[Darkspecter]

Oh my. That pretty much sums up my feelings on the back and forths.

Anyway, I just wanted to say I would like Goat-Man and have nothing against him. To me, he looks like the Devil...and that must mean he's pretty bad ass. I know Busta Toons famously hates Goat-Man though.

As for Illumina and her cat...say you don't car for Illumina...well...you also get her white cat! That white cat is the same as Catra's Magicat from the Golden Books (except saddle) and VERY similar looking to Gleedil's cat (Filmation). That episode is actually on qubo right now (VERY excited qubo is working for me again. ). As for Illumina, repaint her neck and pop Catra's head on her and have winter attire Catra...or Teela's head and have winter attire Teela, etc.

Making Illumina and cat = not much tooling being used, which saves up tooling money so we can get things LIKE Ram-Man...not INSTEAD of Ram-Man. That's how I see it. So...a vote for Illumina is a vote for Ram-Man, pretty much.

[TheFallen]

Illumina has 333 fans

Illumina w/ Cat would have to be an SDCC exclusive so that means the $25 price point

333 fans x $25 = a guarenteed $8325 for Mattel

[Hosed Ovor]

Illumina has 333 fans

Illumina w/ Cat would have to be an SDCC exclusive so that means the $25 price point

333 fans x $25 = a guarenteed $8325 for Mattel

A $25 price point would mean the Cringer body instead of Battle Cat. Personally I hope they never re-use the Cringer body for anything other than a McDonald's exclusive.

[SCB]

Illumina has 333 fans

Illumina w/ Cat would have to be an SDCC exclusive so that means the $25 price point

333 fans x $25 = a guarenteed $8325 for Mattel

They'll be rich.

[Berserker79]

I think, TG done a good job with MOTUC, but he gets paid for it!

I also think, that some answers are not the best way to communicate with customers.

If I would do that in my job, my boss would already fired me!

[MegaGearMax]

"Barely there" vintage Zodac to the "actually done stuff" 200x Zodak?

Yes. That's the major criticism toward vintage Zodac--he was barely represented. MYP Zodak fixed that problem by making him a good guy and the major enemy of King Hsss.

[Met-Hild]

As for Illumina, repaint her neck and pop Catra's head on her and have winter attire Catra...or Teela's head and have winter attire Teela, etc.

Ice Teela? Hey, stop making me want two of Illumina!

[Skystalker]

I disagree. But then I have insight into some of this that you might not. I don't conjure the hints I've made all along out of thin air.

But then, on second thought, how does anything I've said in that post relate to reading too much into Scott's relationship with the Org?

I'm talking about his brand-management style, his acerbic tone when talking directly to customers, and the fact that the Org's members were, and continue to be vital to the success of the MOTUC toy line.

I'll definitely agree that Mattel sometimes underestimates the importance of He-man.org to the overall success of the MOTU brand. I don't think that is necessarily Scott's fault, but I could be wrong. I think we sometimes have too high of an expectation of Mattel precisely because its employees have been so willing to interact with us. That gets some people thinking that as fans we have more say in the line than we actually do.

At the end of the day we can proclaim our importance, which I do not deny, but Mattel can do whatever they want with the brand, including refusing to make Illumina. Scott is constrained by higher-ups who seem afraid of their own shadow when it comes to MOTU. And I have no doubt that Matty is upset at the Green Lantern line, although to be fair, that is not really Scott's fault. If WB is going to make an unpopular film with questionable designs and mandate that a toyline tie directly into the movie, there is not much Scott can do if the movie flops (for the record, I haven't seen the movie, but that appears to be the consensus).

And... I think this community is way too sensitive at times (not talking about you BCR Duke ). Case in point are the so-called "Cherry Pickers" who are apparently feeling alienated. Now, if I were not a subscriber, I'd be a bit upset too if Matty were raising prices. But Matty, in fact, should have had prices higher for non-subscribers from the get go, just like a magazine sub. But the company is not out to get "selective buyers." Scott is trying to make a comprehensive line and, no doubt, preserve ownership of certain trademarks, etc., which means that they have to make many figures that some people will not want. Charging more for day of sale is not a ploy to destroy cherry pickers but to maintain the profitability of the line and the longevity of the brand and its trademarks. If Matty believes giving subscribers a benefit of lower prices is the best the way to do it, and if research proves it, which it no doubt does, then that is the way they should go. The response that Matty cannot cater its selling practices to each fan's preferences is a bit snarky at times (have you seen how often it has recently appeared?), but it is nonetheless true. Mattel has to look out for all its characters and not just cater to those who thought the line ended with the release of Ram Man in 1983.

Just my two cents...

[oICEMANo]

There seem to be too many facebook Illumina pages now...

[Tallstar]

Key difference is Vikor, Demo-Man and Gy-Gor were done in-house by Mattel employees, while Illumina was done outside of Mattel. They were also done over 30 years ago. Age and the fact they originiated in-house probably makes them more endearing to Mattel.

While I can see where Mattel would have an affinity for in-house characters, I personally think members of this community are totally in the right to be making the comparisons and questioning the situation, because the fact is that Mattel has created exceptions to this presumed rule, as is the case with the special program for MOTU's 30th anniversary. If that was their stance, then they should have made it clear from the get-go and been consistent. Simple as that.

There have been times in the past where I've defended Mattel when it wasn't really popular to do so, but the tide has now shifted and I have to call it like I see it...

I think fans sometimes give Mattel too much power and entitlement, and this is a big reason why they now feel comfortable enough to occasionally speak to us like a parent scolding their children, instead of the customers that we are.

Over the years, I've noticed that some folks keep saying (or making it seem like) Mattel doesn't owe the fans anything. I 100% disagree with that notion. As I said in another thread, Mattel included us from the start of the line and the employees have an obligation to uphold the image of the company they're working for. They're the ones who consistently ask for our input and make numerous statements along the lines of: 'if fans ask for it, we'll make it'. They also said that everyone at Mattel feels like the line belongs to the fans.

Those are the facts straight from the horse's mouth.

Moreover, while I don't have a problem with seeing characters such as The Mighty Spector, Illumina, Draego-Man etc. in this line, it kind of leaves a bad taste in my mouth when the contributions of the creators of those characters are held above everyone else on these forums.

I mean, I always thought Illumina was deserving of a figure for simple fact that she's a legitimate fan-demanded character. Nothing more, nothing less. Same goes with the toy-based Star Sisters. They were the most demanded, and there was only the one campaign on the forums, therefore it was only fair to make those versions.

However, after reading many of the comments on these forums, I'm beginning to think that I should try to cash in too, which is why I brought up the Christina Aguilera thing earlier.

So someone please let me know when it's my turn to cash in my 'contribution chips'.

I'll take my payment in the form of Mattel making toy-based Star Sisters to honor the top vote.

[Thrawn29]

MYP Zodak fixed that problem by making him a good guy and the major enemy of King Hsss.

MYP Zodak wasn't a good guy. He released King Hsss for personal revenge and all the death's the snake men were responsible for were his fault. King Hsss made it into the inner sanctum of Grayskull where the Power of Grayskull was actually kept and almost became omnipotent. He nearly killed the Sorceress, and released Serpos who almost devoured the power of the elders, again, nearly making King Hsss omnipotent and dooming the entire universe to darkness and savagery under the rule of the snake men.

All because Zodak wanted to murder King Hsss for killing his brother.

MYP Zodak was selfish and evil and came closer to wiping out the Power of Grayskull than Skeletor did. Twice.

[Met-Hild]

MYP Zodak was selfish and evil and came closer to wiping out the Power of Grayskull than Skeletor did. Twice.

Zodak was selfish and short-sighted but calling him evil is a bit much. In a world painted in blacks and whites, he's a shade of grey. You might as well call Filmation Zodac evil for giving Skeletor a chance at becoming omnipotent with the Star Seed, and for letting it tempt He-Man with corruption.

[Heli88]

Scott is trying to make a comprehensive line and, no doubt, preserve ownership of certain trademarks, etc., which means that they have to make many figures that some people will not want.

Yeah, like Illumina.

I mean Goat Man.

I'm not the first person to point out that the reason the subscription exists is so that Mattel can have guaranteed sales of whatever character they choose, without having to worry about whether it's a popular character or a concept that's never even been seen by the general public. Which just makes the demands placed on Illumina seem all the more petty.

Honestly, all it would take is just switching to the standard "____ is available to us, but I can't comment on unreleased figures/but isn't currently being developed/etc." but, for whatever reason, this particular character is always singled out, and it makes no sense.

[Teacher of Madness]

Two things.

First, I only know who Illumina is because of threads on here complaining about how Scott "doesn't want" Illumina to be made. I imagine there are more than a few people like me in that regard. Maybe she was a cool idea to add to the 200X stuff, I don't really know.

I'm not a huge fan from what I've since learned, she looks like a pretty generic D&D character to me. The difference between her and Vikor in that regard is that Vikor at least has some pretty deep history in MOTU (at least in the history of the line's formation to begin with).

So if they made her she would probably be a back of the shelfer for me. I never want to fight against characters that people want made, but I'd pretty much rather every option from the 80's toy line, unmade concepts from that era, box and poster characters, filmation characters, and even some more of the NA and 200x cartoon characters come out before Illumina does.

Second, you could probably make a facebook support page for almost anything and get 5,000 people to "like" it.

[Thrawn29]

Zodak was selfish and short-sighted but calling him evil is a bit much. In a world painted in blacks and whites, he's a shade of grey.

Not really. Zodak as a cosmic enforcer in MYP. He was never neutral like Zodac. He worked with the elders as evidenced by fighting the snakemen with them, and as evidenced by him coming to the sorceress' aid at the end of Council of Evil. He helped her protect Castle Grayskull and the power of the elders from Skeletor.

Zodak was tasked with a duty to perform. He shirks that when King Hsss was involved. He intentionally let King Hsss out so he could murder him. King Hsss had already been imprisoned by the Elders with the aid of Zodak.

Zodak had murderous intentions and was responsible for the needless death of lots of Eternians.

Those were evil acts and motivations though Zodak himself might not have been Skeletor or Hordak.

Between King Hsss nearly wiping out the Elder's power twice (once in the Rise of the Snakemen story arc and once by him freeing Serpos) all because of Zodak, one wonders why the Elders punished Marzo and turned him into a little deformed creature at the end of the Council of Evil story arc, but then didn't retaliate in kind against Zodak.

Zodak with a K was a badly written character in MYP in my opinion. The worst written motu character I've ever seen as a matter of fact.

You might as well call Filmation Zodac evil for giving Skeletor a chance at becoming omnipotent with the Star Seed, and for letting it tempt He-Man with corruption.

Zodac put the Star Seed as risk in order to test He-Man. He-Man was given access to the greatest power in the universe so it made sense that they wanted to test his worthiness.

Zodac even makes it clear it was a test. So how much of a risk was there of Skeletor actually getting the Star Seed is interesting but questionable.

However the comparison between Filmation Zodac and MYP Zodak is flawed in my opinion since they had different duties. Zodak in MYP was all over the place. It was just terrible writing in my opinion. He was turned in to a God Mode Mary Sue. Worst part of that show in my opinion. I love his classics figure though.

I'd rather not get this thread off topic, so if you want to continue this discussion I'd be fine doing so by pm or in another thread if you wish Met-Hild.

[EldestSon]

goat man??

There seem to be too many facebook Illumina pages now...

and not one goat man page. where's the justice?

[JonWes]

I support Goat Man! He is awesome!

[markatisu]

Illumina has 333 fans

Illumina w/ Cat would have to be an SDCC exclusive so that means the $25 price point

333 fans x $25 = a guarenteed $8325 for Mattel

That does not even begin to cover costs just fyi

[Scorpia]

I know Busta Toons famously hates Goat-Man though.

He's not the only one...

[MegaGearMax]

MYP Zodak wasn't a good guy. He released King Hsss for personal revenge and all the death's the snake men were responsible for were his fault. King Hsss made it into the inner sanctum of Grayskull where the Power of Grayskull was actually kept and almost became omnipotent. He nearly killed the Sorceress, and released Serpos who almost devoured the power of the elders, again, nearly making King Hsss omnipotent and dooming the entire universe to darkness and savagery under the rule of the snake men.

All because Zodak wanted to murder King Hsss for killing his brother.

MYP Zodak was selfish and evil and came closer to wiping out the Power of Grayskull than Skeletor did. Twice.

Zodak was an anti-hero, but he's allied with the good guys from his first appearance to his last.

Freeing King Hsss to kill him and all the craziness that happened was a selfish action, but afterward is when Zodak became an ally of the Masters, helping the Sorceress shield Grayskull from the Council of Evil and taking on King Hsss during the Serpos rampage.