MOTUC Director's Commentary #7:Dear Legal, it is "Zodac" not "Zodiac". This is not a

[kylun flac]

maybe a extra zodak unhelmeted head can be packed with a zeelar figure. zodaks brother in the myp.

[EtherianChronicles]

African Americans on Eternia? That was an ignorant remark.

I know what he meant when he said it, but I also knew if I were him I would have just omitted the comment as it could be taken a lot of other ways, as well. That said, I have heard him say far more offensive things - as you said, this one was just ignorant to make, more so than offensive.

Someone once browbeat me on these forums for describing Jitsu and Ninjor as "Asian," as in "There's no Asia in Eternia!"

To this day I still find it offensive that MYP actually had to "designate" a "token" black character in order to appear racially diverse. Create new characters with dark skin and features, but don't retool a 20-year old character and paint him black just to look socially progressive.

It's been happening since the 80's - MOTU didn't see it really, but PoP did (Neotessa). At that time, the American children they were selling this stuff to were predominantly Caucasian. This was the period when the forced diversity came into being, as remember the early 80's was only 20 years or so from separate white and "colored" public bathrooms, water fountains, etc.

The Sunbow shows were rather into this as well, in fact I know one story editor/writer for one of the shows that has said that it was also reversed - they could *not* make a non-Caucasian villain. They were adding a new character to a show and nothing about it was dictated by the toy company (aside from the name, of course - as usual, selected for trademark purposes), so the writer wrote a black villain. This was vetoed, but the notes that came back said they could be international - just had to be English or Australian. So it was ok to vilify other white people, but not anyone who was not of the same color.

It's so interesting how that fact now seems more controversial than anything else, as reverse racism is just as recognized today as the plain-old kind.

Cool post. Still could have done without the defensive bits...

It's like he's made a list of every time he was criticized or made a poor decision he got caught in and is checking them off one by one as he goes through the posts. I think I'm going to start a new game - instead of "guess the generic response" ("These discussions simply have not taken place...") I think I'm going to make a list of all the mess-ups and predict which ones he will spin in each entry.

[BCreviews4628]

Interesting Read Scott, thanks!

Now days I prefer Zodak to Zodac, but when I was a kid, Zodac was a pretty big deal in my cannon. He was actually the first He-Man, kinda like King Grayskull. Know idea why I saw him that way.

[Orko's Magic Hat]

Another good entry.

I'm a big fan of Zodac and the vintage toy was one of my first figures and was a favourite. I really hope we get the chair and Zodak head.

Also, I would love to get more enforcers.

[MrRoboto]

Cool read. Hope you do get around (soon!) to include a second head and chair for Zodac!

[mick4metal]

Why the **** would anyone want Zeelahr? The guy had 5 seconds of air time to only be eaten by Hiss. He obviously was a wuss and deserved it. You already have the figure because he looks almost the same as Zodak. It would be a waste to make this guy.

Now you want to know who you can pack the extra Zodak head with and who would be the perfect choice: strobo!!!!!

[jerec350]

If they make an action figure for Zeelahr (Zodak's brother), they could easily package the extra head with him. I think that would be the best figure to include the head with. For people who don't have Zodak (or have only one and don't want to switch heads), they could just buy two Zeelahr figures and put the extra head on the other Zeelahr body. Packaging a bald Zodak head with Zeelahr would certainly increase sales for that figure.

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...9CKDKG16bWlwaZ

This was going to be my suggestion as well. They have to do Zeelahr eventually so I say pack the unhelmeted Zodak head with him. Zodac/Zodak's chair could easily be a bonus item much like the Grayskull Weapons Rack. I prefer the MYP Zodak chair though as it just looked cooler.

If this were to happen I would most certainly purchase an extra Zodak to place the extra head on and then 2 chairs to display both Zodac/Zodak sitting in them.

[MegaGearMax]

Why the **** would anyone want Zeelahr? The guy had 5 seconds of air time to only be eaten by Hiss. He obviously was a wuss and deserved it. You already have the figure because he looks almost the same as Zodak. It would be a waste to make this guy.

Don't underestimate the power of a head selling a figure. Look at Demo-Man.

[FACETIOUS]LOL!!! That would be an interesting strategy! Sell the least desired figures with heads or accessories the fans really want. Wanna sell Rotar? Pack in Clawful's 200X head. Don't think Butthead will move on his own? Teela's blonde head would make a great addition! People don't want to buy Flutterina? Include Buzz-Off's 200X head.[/FACETIOUS]

[NastyNate]

Another great read. A helmetless Zodak head would make the figure SOOOOO MUCH BETTER. Please get to this asap TG, the fanbase would love it!!!!

[mightybuck]

Why the **** would anyone want Zeelahr? The guy had 5 seconds of air time to only be eaten by Hiss. He obviously was a wuss and deserved it. You already have the figure because he looks almost the same as Zodak. It would be a waste to make this guy.

Now you want to know who you can pack the extra Zodak head with and who would be the perfect choice: strobo!!!!!

i don't know, a lot of people (myself included) want the alien cosmic enforcer and he didn't get any air time!

i'm not disagreeing with you though. i definitely want the alien and strobo more than a zeelahr (maybe it's because they weren't conceived specifically to get eaten). i'm just look at it from as many POVs as i can.

[synthalus]

Not complaining, but wasn't Mer-Man released before Zodac in the classics line? I wonder why Scott didn't post about him first. Maybe he'll be next...

Yeah your right.
Mer-Man was released at April 15th, 2009 and had a 2nd shipment at April 29th, 2009.
Zodac was released a month later at May 15th, 2009.
Anyway, maybe we'll see it later or maybe there wasn't much to write about Mer-Man.

I love these MOTUC Director's Commentaries!!!
Thank you Scott, keep it up!

[The Mound]

The things that some of y'all find offense at makes me laugh. Look again at this sentence in the blog:

In an effort to diversify the cast, the show’s creators wanted to add an African American (on Eternia?) character.

Toyguru's parenthetical statement, "on Eternia?", was added not to say that there should not be people with darker shades of skin on Eternia. It was rather taking the PC phraseology "African American" and showing that the concept of "African Americans" on Eternia is kinda silly. Again, not that there is anything wrong with this shade of skin (we always have Clamp Champ, after all), but rather that, other than the Queen, as far as we know there are no Earth folk, Africans, Americans, or anything else, on Eternia, much less Americans who come from African ancestry.

It would make more sense to be offended at the original creators who did not include this kind of diversity from the beginning, thus creating the perceived need to add a "token black person" with Clamp Champ and then in the 200X series Zodak.

And before my comment is misinterpreted, I use the quotes around "token black person" to indicate not that this is my perspective (I think that there should have been greater diversity from early on), but rather that this is the reason I believe they have after the fact gone to the effort to add a couple random characters but not really made it a regular part of the Eternian culture.

[Kevenn]

Oh, and wasn't the stripe on Zodac's helmet gray, and not white - so it matched the rest of his helmet? I know the picture I used for reference in painting my TRU Zodac had a gray center ridge of his helmet that matched the gray on the other areas of his helmet. It actually looks much better with the gray ridge painted.

[JonWes]

Toyguru's parenthetical statement, "on Eternia?", was added not to say that there should not be people with darker shades of skin on Eternia. It was rather taking the PC phraseology "African American" and showing that the concept of "African Americans" on Eternia is kinda silly.

This is how I interpreted it as well. So, I was a bit confused people would find it offensive. If anything, he seemed to be implying that he realized it doesn't work with Eternia. I suppose he might not have known how else to phrase it because, as you say, African American is usually the most accepted term - even when it's perhaps not precisely accurate or preferred by those that it is being used to describe. He could have said "black" or "person of color" or "brown" but all of these can be controversial as well. So maybe he thought this was the safest course of action?

[DarrkKnight]

Can anyone tell me where to find the other 6 commentaries prior to this one? I found this one very interesting and would like to read the others but can not find it in a search.

[SCB]

Can anyone tell me where to find the other 6 commentaries prior to this one? I found this one very interesting and would like to read the others but can not find it in a search.

The fwoosh has compiled them in one thread here for easy reading.

http://www.thefwoosh.com/forum/viewt...?f=131&t=76043

[The Mound]

This is how I interpreted it as well. So, I was a bit confused people would find it offensive. If anything, he seemed to be implying that he realized it doesn't work with Eternia. I suppose he might not have known how else to phrase it because, as you say, African American is usually the most accepted term - even when it's perhaps not precisely accurate or preferred by those that it is being used to describe. He could have said "black" or "person of color" or "brown" but all of these can be controversial as well. So maybe he thought this was the safest course of action?

Exactly! It's like a few people are going out of their way to purposefully find fault with things. I thought that the way he worded it was the best way that he could and still convey what he was trying to convey. I'm all for criticism when it is appropriate, but throw the guy a bone here.

[SCB]

I believe Rob Base coined African Eternian before anyone else on his last appearance on Roast Gooble

[cayman shen]

Yup, I interpreted it the way The Mound did. How else could you possibly interpret it? That TG doesn't think there should be black people in MOTU? That's insane. Of course he wouldn't say that. People need to give TG some friggin slack.

[Tuukka]

Don't underestimate the power of a head selling a figure. Look at Demo-Man...

I think that isn't a valid point anymore. Yes he sold out, but after a few months he's already on sale and he still isn't sold out!

[Jon14]

Exactly! It's like a few people are going out of their way to purposefully find fault with things. I thought that the way he worded it was the best way that he could and still convey what he was trying to convey. I'm all for criticism when it is appropriate, but throw the guy a bone here.

Toy Guru's remark in parenthesis (on Eternia?) in reference to there needing to be a "African American" in the line-up to diversify WAS cynical and totally unnecessary. I've heard that same argument before on this site. It's an ignorant remark because it misses the point completely. There needed to be a perceived sense of diversity. No one was wondering if there was an Africa on Eternia. And it also ignores the possiblity of darker skinned people living closer to the equator would indeed exist on another planet that is similar to Earth. And we all can agree that Eternia is VERY similar to Earth (i.e. Marlena). I preferred to have Hawkman in the animated Justice League, but I understood their reason for going with Hawk Girl. I wanted Hal Jordan for Green Lantern, but I understood why they went with John Stewart. Now I realize DC just used existing characters, rather than changing the complexion of an existing character, however that was not Guru's thrust. It revolved around the absurdity that African American's, who are earthlings, would be on Eternia. I didn't want Zodac to have darker skin, and I'm a fair-skined black man. But that was because it wouldn't look like the original toy. I wouldn't have wanted his armor to be the color teal either for the same reason. But my reason for arguing against teal would not be "Teal? Really? Is there teal on Eternia? Isn't that like only a part of Earth's color palette?"

[JonWes]

Toy Guru's remark in parenthesis (on Eternia?) in reference to there needing to be a "African American" in the line-up to diversify WAS cynical and totally unnecessary. I've heard that same argument before on this site. It's an ignorant remark because it misses the point completely. There needed to be a perceived sense of diversity. No one was wondering if there was a Africa on Eternia. And it also ignores the possiblity of darker skinned people living closer to the equator would indeed exist on another planet that is similar to Earth. And we all can agree that Eternia is VERY similar to Earth (i.e. Marlena). I preferred to have Hawkman in Justice League, but I understood their reason for going with Hawk Girl. I wanted Hal Jordan for Green Lantern, but I understood why they went with John Stewart. Now I realize DC just used existing characters, rather than changing the complexion of an existing character, however that was not Guru's thrust. It revolved around the absurdity that African American's, who are earthlings, would be on Eternia. I didn't want Zodac to have darker skin, and I'm a fair-skined black man. But that was because it wouldn't look like the original toy. I wouldn't have wanted his armor to be the color teal either for the same reason. But my reason for arguing against teal would not be "Teal? Really? Is there teal on Eternia? Isn't that like only a part of the Earth's color palette?"

I think you might be confused about how we are interpreting it versus how you are. I say this because I didn't understand what you were saying at first.

You seem to have read it (if I'm understanding correctly) and thought he was saying the equivalent of: "An African-American on Eternia? Why would you need one of those?"
Where as I (and others, it seems) read it as: "An African-American on Eternia? That's not really an accurate description, is it?"

Am I making sense? He wasn't talking about the presence of African-Americans on Eternia, but rather using that term to describe someone of color where there is neither an Africa nor an America.

I mean, none of us can read TG's mind so I can only go off of what he has written and interpret.

[cayman shen]

Toy Guru's remark in parenthesis (on Eternia?) in reference to there needing to be a "African American" in the line-up to diversify WAS cynical and totally unnecessary. I've heard that same argument before on this site. It's an ignorant remark because it misses the point completely. There needed to be a perceived sense of diversity. No one was wondering if there was a Africa on Eternia. And it also ignores the possiblity of darker skinned people living closer to the equator would indeed exist on another planet that is similar to Earth. And we all can agree that Eternia is VERY similar to Earth (i.e. Marlena). I preferred to have Hawkman in the animated Justice League, but I understood their reason for going with Hawk Girl. I wanted Hal Jordan for Green Lantern, but I understood why they went with John Stewart. Now I realize DC just used existing characters, rather than changing the complexion of an existing character, however that was not Guru's thrust. It revolved around the absurdity that African American's, who are earthlings, would be on Eternia. I didn't want Zodac to have darker skin, and I'm a fair-skined black man. But that was because it wouldn't look like the original toy. I wouldn't have wanted his armor to be the color teal either for the same reason. But my reason for arguing against teal would not be "Teal? Really? Is there teal on Eternia? Isn't that like only a part of Earth's color palette?"

No, dude, he was wrestling with the PC language. We're supposed to say "African-American," but there's no Africa or America on Eternia. Get it? "Africa? America? On Eternia?"

[MegaGearMax]

I think that isn't a valid point anymore. Yes he sold out, but after a few months he's already on sale and he still isn't sold out!

I mean that for some fans, the Alcala Skeletor head was more valued than the actual figure it came with.

[Dynamo of Eternia]

I think you might be confused about how we are interpreting it versus how you are. I say this because I didn't understand what you were saying at first.

You seem to have read it (if I'm understanding correctly) and thought he was saying the equivalent of: "An African-American on Eternia? Why would you need one of those?"
Where as I (and others, it seems) read it as: "An African-American on Eternia? That's not really an accurate description, is it?"

Am I making sense? He wasn't talking about the presence of African-Americans on Eternia, but rather using that term to describe someone of color where there is neither an Africa nor an America.

I mean, none of us can read TG's mind so I can only go off of what he has written and interpret.

That's how I interpreted it as well. And I think he (and/or the hosts) have said in past episodes of Roast Good Dinner. It's not that it's absurd to think that other races of varying types, including people who are darker in their skin color, would exist on Eternia. It's just that many races are often named after their geographical location/origin here on Earth, and those same locations simply don't exist on Eternia. So it becomes a problem of trying to describe an Eternian person's race using terms that are common and familiar to us that simply wouldn't exist on Eternia.

Frankly it's the only logical way to interpret what he said, short of going out of one's way to look for something to take issue with in his statement.