WTFWTK 2.73 - 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.

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
2.9
2.10
2.11
2.12
2.13
2.14
2.15
2.16
2.17
2.18
2.19
2.20
2.21
2.22
2.23
2.24
2.25
2.26
2.27
2.28
2.29
2.30
2.31
2.32
2.33
2.34
2.35
2.36
2.37
2.38
2.39
2.40
2.41
2.42
2.43
2.44
2.45
2.46
2.47
2.48
2.49
2.50
2.51
2.52
2.53
2.54
2.55
2.56
2.57
2.58
2.59
2.60
2.61
2.62
2.63
2.64
2.65
2.66
2.67
2.68
2.69
2.70
2.71

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This past round of questions were selected by Jon-O & masterenglish.
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. sailoruranus: Customer service has always been bad but the last few months it seems like Digital River has completely stopped responding to emails and phone calls. What are fans supposed to do when they receive a defective figure and have gone for weeks without a response from Digital River?

2. slackrguy: I really enjoyed the Mad Matty Mondays in 2011 and the excitement of not knowing what I was going to get. With the 2012 subscriptions down, are those Mad Matty Mondays gone for good or just less probable?

3. carafa: Will there will be a female character among the six 30th anniversary characters?

4. Jean: 2011 and 2012 has finally given us some brand new art for our beloved franchise. However most of it, if not all appears to be digital art. Has Mattel considered having someone create some brand new art with more traditional methods?

5. Fabulous: If and when you get to Dragon Blaster Skeletor, will he have a tasseled loincloth (like the cardback) or the furry loincloth (like the vintage toy)? Some fans have proposed a removable tasseled loincloth much like Fisto's new belt.

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So ask those questions!

[Darkspecter]

The female pelvis piece that was created for the "female buck 2.0" (females with the twist waist), has a problem. The crotch is too long and the holes where the hips are attached were drilled too low. This is causing the females' legs to look like they are broken (like when G.I. Joes elastics break) and giving their underwear a droopy, elongated "granny panties" look. A lot of people are unhappy about this, especially because it will effect nearly ALL future female characters. The Battleground Teela pelvis is designed correctly, but does not attach to the new female buck. Can a new pelvis please be created to fix this problem?

Pics:

* the blue "measurement" lines were to make sure I had the bodies lined up and sized correctly.





The G.I. Joe leg problem, below. Tallstar's legs REALLY look like that to me:

[He-Boy]

Simple question: what needed to have happened for the Wind Raider to be considered more successful?

[Tundra_Torque]

How has the recent change in shipping schedules for the first half of 2012 affected the line-up for the second half of 2012?

[hlinhk128]

If the C&C program carried over to MOTUC, would you have been able to make Tytus and Megator taller and more articulated?

[slackrguy]

Hi.

Will the new saddle being introduced with the Griffin have a deeper indent for non-standard length loin cloths (i.e. King Greyskull, Hordak, Moss-Man, etc..)?

Thanks.

[The.Idea.of.Evil]

Every time there's an unpopular design choice with a monthly release, fans are given the excuse that they are always a 4 Horsemen decision (whether it's the paint scheme, using an older tool instead of a newer one, etc etc)

This trend of blaming the decision making on an untouchable entity and Mattel's repeated duplicate responses have existed since the line first began, and there are no signs of them ending. Why then won't Mattel allow fans to communicate with the 4 Horsemen directly? Why can't fans express their ideas and hopes for the line to the decision makers directly so that the figures can be 100% fan approved without having an underlying feeling that no one with any decision making power is listening to them? Using the reasons for licensing and other copyright concerns as a means to tell fans that they can't know what future figures are coming can only take it's course for so long, and there's no reason why fans shouldn't be able to compile a recognized list of what they want and what they expect from Mattel for figures that will inevitably be made, whether the fans know which ones specifically are coming sooner or later.

To further this request, the standard reply of "Mattel is always paying attention to forums for fan wants" clearly isn't bringing a majority of the buyers a lot of promise as tools and paint applications and overall design schemes still are panned and maligned by them with every release. Help us help you!

Thanks

[Skystalker]

In a recent dialogue about the Wind Raider, you indicated that sales of the product were just okay. Why not make one of the quarterly beast slots each year a vehicle slot? We've had a $60 price point beast slot with the Star Sisters, so why not do something similar for a vehicle? If you are concerned about sub sales, why not run a poll of current subscribers to see if we would be interested in one vehicle a year in one of the quarterly slots?

[krosfyah]

If as believed Granamyr is slated for a November/December release, can I ask WHY? I know toy manufacturers and retailers like to push big ticket items at Christmas but most MOTUC collectors buy this line for themselves not for gifts and such an expensive item just isn't feasible for such a money tight season. Why not plan big releases for times of the year when there is less financial burden? or a the least announce the release date (with a disclaimer that it's subject to change) well in advance so people can budget and save for it.

[Sword-of-Grayskull]

Many of us with 2011 subscriptions don't even have shipping notices for our December orders, while many day-of-sale purchasers have already gotten their orders. Why is Mattel no longer fulfilling its promise that was used to sell subscriptions that our orders would go out first, and why are we not being compensated in some way for this false advertising?

[zodak74]

The Star Sisters turned out to be a great set, albeit one that is rather overpriced. For the cost, many fans feel each Sister should have gotten one additional accessory. You could say Glory Bird was Starla's, and the extension pieces were Tallstar's... but that clearly leaves Jewelstar without any extra pieces and/or weapons to justify that high price tag. In the future, especially if Mattel go this route for a Rock People three-pack, can Mattel consider throwing us a few more weapons to make the pack worth the while? When you look at the Guards two-pack, there is a lot of bang for your buck with that set- not to mention single-carded releases of Trap-Jaw, Man-At-Arms, Battleground Evil-Lyn, etc. have a lot of weapons and/or display options.

[lovelikewinter]

With day of sales stock dwindling, is it fair to say that cherry pickers do not have a place in the line? Is it really going to be a case of subscribe or die?

[TheFallen]

With MOTUC moving forward, the Subscription is going to be the lifeblood of the line as Day-Of-Sales lower. For the 2013 Club Eternia subscription can we finally get an All-Inclusive subscription that does include every single MOTUC item for the year?

[masterenglish]

Not sure if this has been asked, but many fans have been concerned about the new, super tight MOTUC white mailer boxes being way too snug and damaging the packaging for MOC collectors. Is this new mailer a permanent change, or can the MOC fans hope to see their figures shipped in the prior, non damaging white mailer boxes?

[markatisu]

With the 2012 sub being as large as it is and subscriptions always remaining the life blood and baseline for the lines health, would you guys consider a smaller 2013 lineup? Maybe scaling back to look more like 2010 and less like 2012.

This would have nothing to do with not loving the toys, but a lot of us feel that a smaller lineup would be better for everyone to manage financially and for design/qc to make sure that we are not tapped out too early

[MegaGearMax]

Why didn't Mattel continue the MOTUC advertisements in the remaining toy magazines such as Lee's Toy Review or Tomart's Price Guide? Or advertise MOTUC in Justice League, Aquaman or Green Lantern, all books penned by Geoff Johns. Toyfare might have went under, but there were still options.

[Master Of Eternia]

Hi all,

I've seen the conversations around the fact that Matty considered the success of the Wind Raider to be 'okay'. I wonder if it can be considered that given this vehicle was pushed out to December, which resulted in it being sold basically a week before Christmas. Given this was a pricier product being a vehicle perhaps this much sought after collectible would have a better than 'okay' result if it hadn't been sold so close to Christmas. I understand that Matty is trying to spread out the costs given production time tables and everything else to consider, however I propose that maybe Matty needs to allow the Wind Raider a 'second chance' by having another sale date in the first half of this year (hopefully even by Spring) so that Matty can more accurately assess the success of this vehicle. I believe there are a lot of fans out there myself included (but missed the sale for other reasons) would have liked to purchase this inaugural vehicle, but Christmas would have been a hard time of year to pony up.

What do you think? I know I certainly was looking to get a couple of Wind Raiders myself but now it seems I'm going to be relegated to the inflated second market......quite honestly I just can't seem to bring myself to pay the high prices I'm seeing out there.....seems a shame I have to go with out along with a lot of other fans

[cyberv]

Several people have noted difficulties related to the splitting of the bill for the Star Sisters. The most noted is several failed or non-existant authorization requests for the $40 remainder, followed by the cancellation of the 2012 Eternia sub. You subsequently sent out an e-mail link so those who had lost their subs could get them back on track. Still...

What caused this issue, and what steps are being taken to prevent a possible reoccurance in the future, should another item require a "splitting" of the bill? Or will you simply not be "splitting" costs again in the future, in light of the recent difficulties?

[CicconeSC]

There is an obvious notice of the bolts used for the wings on the current Sorceress. Emiliano and others have came up with different ways to possibly make a correction to the wings. My Idea is something similar to Emiliano's idea and sketches, and shadow weaver's setup.

For instance you could have the wings connected internally from the backside of the figure's torso before the torso is glued together. Basically the connection would need to be a bit longer so that all the wings can be outside of the torso but connected throught the back of the figure (under big feather to the bold inside) or even have the coming out the back of her back, since she turns into a bird would make sense for her wings to be attached to her. Then have a small peg inserted in the bicep (i.e. Shadow Weaver) and then if the wings don't lift together for some reason, you could use an attachment. Basically a clip shaped as a feather hooking each wing segment together (would be unnoticeable if done correctly). You could even use the exisiting wing segments and cut out a feather from each segment and design a feather that connects to the feather below it, allowing no shoulder bolts (because they would be internal in the torso) and a seamless wing expansion because no one would notice the feather being used to connect the wing segment below each other or even just users to open them manually still with the wings bolt inside the torso.

Here is a basic concept not the best looking description. I think you get the point though.

Slide1.JPG

Is there a chance for improvement for a variant of the Sorceress down the line or even another release of the current Sorceress taking into consideration some of the ideas fans have come up with to have no bolts showing on the figure from outside, or other ways to operate the wings without the shoulder bolts?

[FAKER II]

The 200x line ended abruptly and left many collectors bitter. MOTUC isn’t ending anytime soon, but when it does end, do you have an exit tragedy to end on a more positive note? For example, letting collectors vote on some of the remaining figures might ease that suffering a bit. That would give us the chance to all be a part of its close rather than just feeling like we had the rug pulled out from under us.

[Eternian Poet]

do you have an exit tragedy to end on a more positive note?

[Jyrki]

There is various colored the Power Swords with MotU figures. I can understand He-Man, Adam, Skeletor and Faker has own colored sword. But Why this so many colored Power Swords overall? Will this explained in bios?

[mjw41]

We were told if you bought more than one sub they will ship together to save on shipping cost no matter if they were purchased together or separate as long as the same payment info, Name & address were used.
Why is it Digital River is now setting up multiple unsubmitted orders in subscribers order history and each item has it's own order number? I was told by a Digital River rep in the USA that yes the subs may ship together and arrive at your home together but the items won't be in the same box and each subs items will be charged their own shipping costs. What is going on?

[Mattlor]

With figures being moved around and delayed.. and then having their costs split over a few weeks.. such as Demo man and the two split payments of the Starsisters all being charged in the same month over a short period of time.. are you aware that with certain Visa Companies this causes security concerns and may disrupt subscription renewals?

[VaultsofGrayskull]

What is the timescale for making the important changes to the Matty Collector site (profile & payment settings) and solving the customer service problems which so many fans have reported?