TG Blog #2 He-Man!

[WDWFreak53]

To be fair... I blame the fans for messing THAT up. I remember a LOT of people screaming for the 'All in' subscriptions in order to save on shipping... Considering the way the 12 figures turned to 16 turned into 4 beasts and two or three packs and every other thing... I really wish THAT was a change they never listened to.

Well, there were two reasons for the fans screaming for the All-in sub. The first was the RSOD and subscribers (who, for the most part, are completionists) still had to deal with the RSOD every 3rd month. Secondly it was to save on shipping. Subscribers were paying MORE for their complete sets than day-of buyers.

If Matty can find some way to combine subscriptions with day-of purchases...and still have the WSOD at bay...then I think most would be ok with going back to the 12 monthly figures.

[oICEMANo]

And dumping DR is probably the first step towards this.

[grenadaspice]

That was a great read and I'm thankful for TG for putting out these blogs. The one thing that confuses me is the while talk of how the line went from being initially 3 2-packs to an ongoing line with monthly releases & The choice of characters in the 2 pack, as events seem out of order or contradict each other. For one, wasn't the whole outline of what MOTU Classics stated as being a a toyline of all things MOTU done in classic form as monthly releases at SDCC 2008? I mean, they had the whole slide show and everything. He also talks about how one of the 2 packs was gonna be Man-At-Arms vs Zodac because Mer Man would require more tooling. Yet, we saw KG, He-Man, Beast Man, Zodac, and Mer Man at SDCC 2008. We saw Mer Man before Skeletor & Stratos, and even Man-At-Arms, who was the July figure. They make it sound like the success of KG allowed to go the monthly route with the line, but they told us they were taking that path. Am I missing something here?

[RocketPunch]

Toyguru contradicts himself all the time. In that Dec 2009 quote that Tallstar reposted earlier in this thread, Scott said that the 3rd pack was going to be Mer-Man & Zodac, not Man-At-Arms & Zodac.

Given the monthly release order of the figures, i'm inclined to believe his earlier statement is the correct one.

[scott metzger]

To be fair, it seems TG is going completely by memory on some of these points, so even I'm willing to cut him some slack for fudging things he perhaps didn't put down in writing somewhere.

[fball13z]

To be fair, it seems TG is going completely by memory on some of these points, so even I'm willing to cut him some slack for fudging things he perhaps didn't put down in writing somewhere.

yeah good point, after 80+ figures and 3+ years Im sure this stuff starts getting mixed up

[Skystalker]

yeah good point, after 80+ figures and 3+ years Im sure this stuff starts getting mixed up

Now don't go taking the route of being reasonable...

[snakeeyes0217]

Because this was an online toy line, management did not see why we needed full color packaging...
This made me scratch my head.. Could they be THAT out of touch?!

Yes. These execs are used to dealing with mass-market consumer toys. And in that world, 90% of the purchasers discard the packaging immediately. So to management, packaging is often viewed as a necessary evil. For a "collector" market, packaging is far more important. And in their defense, package IS an expensive part of each figure from the design, to testing, materials, assembly, and extra shipping because it increases the size of the shipping case.

In fact, as an "opener" myself, I would rather have them spend the money that they're spending on packaging to A) Reduce the price [yes, will never happen] or B) spend that money on better figures; parts, deco, or extra accessories.

[fball13z]

Now don't go taking the route of being reasonable...

Oh dont you know I am a hated Mattel Apologist? lol

[Emiliano]

m guessing that he nixed 2nd heads (only on certain characters) to keep costs down, increase profilts, and make himself look good.

In all honestly, I still think nobody ever nixed 200x head or second heads. It was just a budget thing on a few characters already heavy on tooling, and the whole "no more 200x head" was just a bad spin over a very simple issue.

I really want to see the proposed red packaging from the Horsemen (and others...)!!

I don't think Mattel will ever let us show that. Not for a long time at least, like the pitch for Gygor, Shadow Beasts and all that suff that come together in the presentation I put together for the 4H in SD.
What is interesting though, is that the pitch we did for the red and blue packaging (me with the 4H and other 2 people I cna't mention right now), came after the pacakging was already done, so there is now way they passed on that in favor of what we got. What we got was already in place. We pitched for a new packaging for the second year of the line, not for the first.
I never heard that they couldn't do the explodoing rocks too, their packaging guy told us it was just a matter of having spent lot of money on KG packaging art, and so they decided to reuse that for the regular figures.

[Skystalker]

In all honestly, I still think nobody ever nixed 200x head or second heads. It was just a budget thing on a few characters already heavy on tooling, and the whole "no more 200x head" was just a bad spin over a very simple issue.

That actually makes a lot of sense. I guess my only question would be as to why they would feel the need to spin it at all.

[MegaGearMax]

That actually makes a lot of sense. I guess my only question would be as to why they would feel the need to spin it at all.

Maybe he miscalculated doing that in the same way he thought Snake Man-At-Arms was a great idea. I can't wait for that particular blog entry that explains what the hell was he thinking?

[Marvelous0ne]

Maybe he miscalculated doing that in the same way he thought Snake Man-At-Arms was a great idea. I can't wait for that particular blog entry that explains what the hell was he thinking?

No he didn't miscalculate anything! If people knew that if Snake Man At Arms was coming with a normal head. Who would buy the original when he was reissued? Watch, the original will be reissued around the release of SMAA. This way they can get more money out of the lack of a 2nd head in the packaging! That's the key, MONEY! That's Logistics, Baby! Besides, look how quickly he sold out when he was up for that Black Friday sale! That was just after it was made known about the no 2nd head!

[MegaGearMax]

No he didn't miscalculate anything! If people knew that if Snake Man At Arms was coming with a normal head. Who would buy the original when he was reissued? Watch, the original will be reissued around the release of SMAA. This way they can get more money out of the lack of a 2nd head in the packaging! That's the key, MONEY! That's Logistics, Baby! Besides, look how quickly he sold out when he was up for that Black Friday sale! That was just after it was made known about the no 2nd head!

The fact that they planned Snake Man-At-Arms without his arm cannon or unhelmeted head --two items that were asked for since day one -- versus a Snake Man head and the Serpent's Ring, two items that weren't, is seen as a miscalculation by some fans.

[fball13z]

The fact that they planned Snake Man-At-Arms without his arm cannon or unhelmeted head --two items that were asked for since day one -- versus a Snake Man head and the Serpent's Ring, two items that weren't, is seen as a miscalculation by some fans.

As one of the normal Matty Apologists, I agree 1,000,000%!!!

I have been on these boards for a decade and never have I seen 1 person ask for SMAA.

As for the ring, its a great item.......for 200X King Hsss

[phantom1592]

As one of the normal Matty Apologists, I agree 1,000,000%!!!

I have been on these boards for a decade and never have I seen 1 person ask for SMAA.

I have.

In fact in a couple of the 'which varient do you want' threads, there used to be posts for Snake Teela and even Snake Mekanek... Someone even said that Snake Teela was a varient they couldn't WAIT for to help boost the snake faction AND give them a female...

I have NOT however seen anyone say that since SMAA was announced though

Hopefully he'll be the last of the pointless varients...

[Marvelous0ne]

The fact that they planned Snake Man-At-Arms without his arm cannon or unhelmeted head --two items that were asked for since day one -- versus a Snake Man head and the Serpent's Ring, two items that weren't, is seen as a miscalculation by some fans.

But the issue still is that they knew that what fans wanted to see. but don't care! The issue is that if the figure came with said accessories. It would still take away from the people buying the reissue. Thus taking profits away from Matty! You will not be forced to buy the original to get the original head! They knew what they were doing! Why make one figure that satisfies the consumer, but costs more money. When you can get them to buy 2 and cost less money to make!

[Sabretooth]

Maybe he miscalculated doing that in the same way he thought Snake Man-At-Arms was a great idea. I can't wait for that particular blog entry that explains what the hell was he thinking?

Well ... I think Snake Man-At-Arms was a great idea as I like the figure and the MYP story with MAA becoming a snakeman as well.
And I am very happy about the serpent-ring. Speaking for myself - I hope to see Snake Teela and Mekaneck too. But I agree that more accesories would not hurt.
I will be happy to see Snake-Armor Skeletor and Snake-Crush Skeletor too (maybe reuse of Sssqeeze parts). Wish to see more of the snake-theme in MOTUC.

[MOTU_Maniac]

I am LOVING ToyGuru's blogs and seeing the backstory of the figures!

[Skystalker]

But the issue still is that they knew that what fans wanted to see. but don't care! The issue is that if the figure came with said accessories. It would still take away from the people buying the reissue. Thus taking profits away from Matty! You will not be forced to buy the original to get the original head! They knew what they were doing! Why make one figure that satisfies the consumer, but costs more money. When you can get them to buy 2 and cost less money to make!

It's not really a matter of them not caring about what the fans want. With few exceptions, this line is one of the most fan-directed lines I have ever seen. The problem with SMAA is that he is a cheap variant, not made to get us to buy a reissue of the original, but to save money on tooling. I like variants, and I don't hate SMAA, but he definitely should have been planned to come with an unhelmeted head and an arm cannon as well. Had that been done, he would today be far more beloved!

[EagleOne]

I, for one, am enjoying the blog posts. Its nice to get a glimpse of the things that were happening behind the scenes from Scott's perspective. And it's something new He-man related to enjoy.
I realize that some of the details are a bit muddled, but I don't remember everything that I was doing in the fall of 2008 so I can see where that would come. Sheesh, I don't remember everything that I was doing last week.

[JVS3]

My memory isnt' so sharp when recalling stuff from that long ago either.
I just try to preface everything by saying it's either my own account and/or things may be slightly off, etc.

[scott metzger]

It's not really a matter of them not caring about what the fans want. With few exceptions, this line is one of the most fan-directed lines I have ever seen. The problem with SMAA is that he is a cheap variant, not made to get us to buy a reissue of the original, but to save money on tooling.

But that's where the theory about wanting to sell the re-issues actually makes MORE sense. It would have been cheaper to ditch the ring and re-release the regular head whose tooling already existed. Problem is, that would reduce the demand for any original MAA re-release, as folks wouldn't need an extra Duncan head had it been included with Snake MAA. It's very much like releasing the new She-Ra without a Filmation head, and coincidentally releasing the original in a TRU two pack just beforehand.

It's the exact same tactic they openly use in the Ghostbusters line to push the cheap re-do's of the Busters; you want a PKE meter, you buy Egon in a lab coat, because no one else will come with that accessory. There's no logical reason to believe they aren't doing the exact same thing here.