Toyguru Mattycollector.com MOTUC News Thread May 2012

[Slave2Evil_Lyn]

That drives me mad too, but the same thing is repeated in nearly every toy line these days. The bulk of the slots are taken up by variants of the main character with the unique ones getting shortpacked. This comes from sales data, apparently. Though of course that leads to pegs and pegs full of Iron Man variants from Iron Man 2 years after the movie was released. Spider-man is the saddest story of the bunch though. He almost always has a line of some sort but the've never really gotten into his rich rogue's gallery. Instead it's stupid variants. And then they just release the same few villains over and over (Venom, Doc Ock and Green Goblin, usually.)

That's why I don't mind (and actually quite enjoy the variants in this line) as they are a VERY small percentage of it.

I'm not a big Spiderman fan but I have noticed how his toy lines do suffer from variant overload. Shame, there are so many characters from which to draw.

**Penny Dreadful rips the "Boys Club" sign off the treehouse door, crumples it up, and casually saunters in**



Perfectly stated. Why does it matter if characters are male or female? They are all players in the story and potential figures in the toyline. I don't get the mentality of "oh those figures are for boys and those are for girls." Pffff! That's dinosaur thinking.

As for POP, it's awesome and it's absolutely part of the MOTU lore.

Hey, everyone has different tastes and that's totally cool. Some people don't like POP, some don't like Filmation, some don't like MYP, etc. That's fine. But, don't dismiss something out of hand just because you might have negative feelings about it from childhood. IMO, it's good to be open-minded about different areas of the mythos and of the various toylines. Exploring those possibilities enriches and expands one's own fandom a lot.

Also, I always hear "MOTU was a boys toyline." That's surely how it was marketed, but Roger Sweet mentioned in his book that almost half of the MOTU fans were little girls (and I'm sure the cartoon helped in this regard as well). I'm not sure how many of us are buying the toys in comparison to the guys, but I know there are several of us ladies who collect MOTUC.

**Penny Dreadful tosses the crumpled-up "Boyzz Club" sign at one of the "Boys Cllubb" members, yawns, and saunters out**

I like how you think, toys are toys.

[scott metzger]

The whole "boys toys are for boys" notion is like a dinosaur that doesn't know it's extinct. And it became extinct with a little known toy line called Power Rangers. Yep, all the way back in the 90's, a "boys" property crossed the aisles and Bandai was selling figures hand over fist to both genders, because the show had two main female characters and appealed to both boys and girls. The action figures were selling to both sexes, and, ironically, when Bandai tried to tap the "girls" market with fashion dolls, it was a failure. The girls wanted the figures.

Time and again we've seen the stereotypes broken. I recall a time when "The Batman" ranked second among girls on Satruday morning in ratings, beating out all but one of the shows aimed directly at girls. And look at the screen time and growing number of females on Young Justice (and I might add that it was Captain Atom who was the major pegwarmer of the second wave, not the female Canary figure).

The world has changed (perhaps not enough, but it's getting there), but the toy industry still has its head stuck in the Ward Cleaver, "Leave it to Beaver" era as far as it's marketing goes. And there is no reason whatsoever for such arcane ideas to find their way into a line aimed at adults, most of whom should be past the fear of cooties...

[RockinHard]

I am DEEPLY offended by this thread. And I'm not going to take it anymore! If this does not stop, I'm not buying a sub! You see this? I'm not buying a sub if this type of talk does not cease! Somebody needs to step in or else!!!!!

[Telkan2]

**Penny Dreadful rips the "Boys Club" sign off the treehouse door, crumples it up, and casually saunters in**



Perfectly stated. Why does it matter if characters are male or female? They are all players in the story and potential figures in the toyline. I don't get the mentality of "oh those figures are for boys and those are for girls." Pffff! That's dinosaur thinking.

As for POP, it's awesome and it's absolutely part of the MOTU lore.

Hey, everyone has different tastes and that's totally cool. Some people don't like POP, some don't like Filmation, some don't like MYP, etc. That's fine. But, don't dismiss something out of hand just because you might have negative feelings about it from childhood. IMO, it's good to be open-minded about different areas of the mythos and of the various toylines. Exploring those possibilities enriches and expands one's own fandom a lot.

Also, I always hear "MOTU was a boys toyline." That's surely how it was marketed, but Roger Sweet mentioned in his book that almost half of the MOTU fans were little girls (and I'm sure the cartoon helped in this regard as well). I'm not sure how many of us are buying the toys in comparison to the guys, but I know there are several of us ladies who collect MOTUC.

**Penny Dreadful tosses the crumpled-up "Boyzz Club" sign at one of the "Boys Cllubb" members, yawns, and saunters out**

Best post I've seen in eons! Brava, my friend!

I am DEEPLY offended by this thread. And I'm not going to take it anymore! If this does not stop, I'm not buying a sub! You see this? I'm not buying a sub if this type of talk does not cease! Somebody needs to step in or else!!!!!

It's your money to buy or not buy as you see fit, though I honestly see no reason for you to be offended. I think, considering some of the unnecessary comments that have been made from all sides, it's remained remarkably civil around here. I'm curious, what is it that's so offending--a bunch of people expressing their distaste for the status quo in gendered toy marketing, or the fact that many are critiquing the necessarily exclusionary notion of a boys club mentality that's been stated as preferential elsewhere in the thread?

[LostIt2Bostik]

sausage fest.jpg Just say NO to the boys' club sausage fest mentality.

[Barnster]

**Penny Dreadful tosses the crumpled-up "Boyzz Club" sign at one of the "Boys Cllubb" members, yawns, and saunters out**

Pure gold.

My whole collection would be worth nothing without the women.

[Staff Of Ka]

I am DEEPLY offended by this thread. And I'm not going to take it anymore! If this does not stop, I'm not buying a sub! You see this? I'm not buying a sub if this type of talk does not cease! Somebody needs to step in or else!!!!!

Thats up to you, but If they reveal some long overdue POP figures at SDCC I have 4 friends who want them and have been waiting for POP representation ...so theres 4 Subs...it will all even out.

Heres hoping for Spinnerella


(hello shoe...this is other foot! hows you!)

[LostIt2Bostik]

Staff of Ka, I honestly don't know why people don't just use the 'ignore' feature if they don't like something posted on here.

[MegaGearMax]

I am DEEPLY offended by this thread. And I'm not going to take it anymore! If this does not stop, I'm not buying a sub! You see this? I'm not buying a sub if this type of talk does not cease! Somebody needs to step in or else!!!!!

If they show Ram Man, you'll be back.

[Slave2Evil_Lyn]

The whole "boys toys are for boys" notion is like a dinosaur that doesn't know it's extinct. And it became extinct with a little known toy line called Power Rangers. Yep, all the way back in the 90's, a "boys" property crossed the aisles and Bandai was selling figures hand over fist to both genders, because the show had two main female characters and appealed to both boys and girls. The action figures were selling to both sexes, and, ironically, when Bandai tried to tap the "girls" market with fashion dolls, it was a failure. The girls wanted the figures.

Time and again we've seen the stereotypes broken. I recall a time when "The Batman" ranked second among girls on Satruday morning in ratings, beating out all but one of the shows aimed directly at girls. And look at the screen time and growing number of females on Young Justice (and I might add that it was Captain Atom who was the major pegwarmer of the second wave, not the female Canary figure).

The world has changed (perhaps not enough, but it's getting there), but the toy industry still has its head stuck in the Ward Cleaver, "Leave it to Beaver" era as far as it's marketing goes. And there is no reason whatsoever for such arcane ideas to find their way into a line aimed at adults, most of whom should be past the fear of cooties...

Well said sir!

Toy companies must likely only bring in boys as test subjects for line they are aiming at boys. That paired with what is most likely a very small group/sampling that they are not really seeing things how they are in the real world.

[Eternian Poet]

Where are the intersexed characters?

Hmm?

[Staff Of Ka]

Yes thankfully the world has moved on from the days of a handful of Leias in Vintage SW...and its better for it!

[jibernish]

Someone should ask about Snout Spout's defective trunk. Will they ignore the question completely or deny it's defective?

It was asked and Mattel declared that SS was not defective.

Here is the quote:

4. bskcase: Since it is clear that Snout Spout was defective, can we have a re-release of the figure with a solid plastic snout down the line? I think we are owed that.

He was not defective. Toys do sometimes break after being played with or posed. If you have a broken toy you can have it replaced by calling customer service for a non broken one.

Here's the thread (a short but angry one):

http://www.he-man.org/forums/boards/...to-WTFWTK-2-79!

[RockinHard]

If they show Ram Man, you'll be back.

Who's Ram Man? I want Plundor. IF they don't give me Plundor, they are clearly against rabbits over at Mattel!

- - - Updated - - -

Where are the intersexed characters?

Hmm?

Give me intersexed characters or GIVE ME DEATH!!

[slackrguy]

I am DEEPLY offended by this thread. And I'm not going to take it anymore! If this does not stop, I'm not buying a sub! You see this? I'm not buying a sub if this type of talk does not cease! Somebody needs to step in or else!!!!!

I know, right?

Clearly we all just need to take a step back and recognize that since Earth-based racial classification doesn't apply to Eternia/Etheria/Tri-Solar System/Despondos OBVIOUSLY Earth-based gender/sex classification wouldn't apply either. We can gather from the bios that reproduction is accomplished by cloning.

There are no male or female MOTUC figures, they're all lacking sex classification. There is no male to female ratio in the line, we've received 100% of whatever Eternia/Etheria/Tri-Solar System/Despondos term applies.

Thank you for your time.

 

[Zodach]

The whole "boys toys are for boys" notion is like a dinosaur that doesn't know it's extinct.

Don't you guys think these toy companies do some market research to see who is actually interested in buying their toys? If there were so many girls just waiting to buy action figures, don't you think we would have seen a shift in marketing by now? I don't doubt that there are girls who play with toys marketed towards boys and vice versa, but I think that is the exception rather than the rule. I can't believe that these top toy companies would disregard an opportunity to increase their sales revenue if the demand was really there for more cross-gender toy lines.

And there is no reason whatsoever for such arcane ideas to find their way into a line aimed at adults, most of whom should be past the fear of cooties...

MOTUC is a line that is driven by nostalgia for properties that were based on those arcane ideas. MOTU was a boys toy line and POP was a girls toy line. Does that mean that girls didn't play with MOTU and boys didn't play with POP - absolutely not. But again, I think that was the exception rather than the rule.

Nobody here is in fear of cooties or saying they don't want female figures. You guys are really misinterpreting my point of view. Never did I say this was exclusively a boys club, but I think most adult collectors of action figure lines, MOTUC included, are male. I think you see that here on He-man.org, other online collector communities, and especially at convention panels for action figure lines. And I think that collector community skews in favor of vintage MOTU characters. There is definitely strong representation from other factions such as POP and a large segment of the collector base that wants everything under MOTUC, but we know what the bread and butter of this line is.

Thats up to you, but If they reveal some long overdue POP figures at SDCC I have 4 friends who want them and have been waiting for POP representation ...so theres 4 Subs...it will all even out.

So your friends who have been waiting for only POP figures would buy a subscription where maybe 25-30% of the figures would be POP at best?

[Benedict Judas Hel]

**Penny Dreadful tosses the crumpled-up "Boyzz Club" sign at one of the "Boys Cllubb" members, yawns, and saunters out**

[VaultsofGrayskull]

Don't you guys think these toy companies do some market research to see who is actually interested in buying their toys? If there were so many girls just waiting to buy action figures, don't you think we would have seen a shift in marketing by now? I don't doubt that there are girls who play with toys marketed towards boys and vice versa, but I think that is the exception rather than the rule. I can't believe that these top toy companies would disregard an opportunity to increase their sales revenue if the demand was really there for more cross-gender toy lines.

Absolutely right. They don't do it simply to conform to stereotypes. Now with children there might be an argument for saying that socialisation influences what children like, but personally I think the argument would be fairly weak.

MOTUC is a line that is driven by nostalgia for properties that were based on those arcane ideas. MOTU was a boys toy line and POP was a girls toy line. Does that mean that girls didn't play with MOTU and boys didn't play with POP - absolutely not. But again, I think that was the exception rather than the rule.

Right again. We should also remember that as adults we are looking at these figures from a different perspective now compared to then. Back in the 80s we were kids; now we're adult collectors (I think 'big kids' would actually be a better description). We have old loyalties, but the counter is the view that all of the Classics are part of the same line; they were separate lines before. The boys versus girls thing doesn't really apply so deeply now we're collectors. But that doesn't mean that youngsters don't still enjoy boys' toys or girls' toys.

I think you see that here on He-man.org, other online collector communities, and especially at convention panels for action figure lines. And I think that collector community skews in favor of vintage MOTU characters. There is definitely strong representation from other factions such as POP and a large segment of the collector base that wants everything under MOTUC, but we know what the bread and butter of this line is.

The proportions are plain to see. It's still great to have a diverse fan base though and we do have that.

Isn't it obvious why POP followed MOTU? Hurrah for the differences between girls and boys!

[MegaGearMax]

The whole "boys toys are for boys" notion is like a dinosaur that doesn't know it's extinct. And it became extinct with a little known toy line called Power Rangers. Yep, all the way back in the 90's, a "boys" property crossed the aisles and Bandai was selling figures hand over fist to both genders, because the show had two main female characters and appealed to both boys and girls. The action figures were selling to both sexes, and, ironically, when Bandai tried to tap the "girls" market with fashion dolls, it was a failure. The girls wanted the figures.

Time and again we've seen the stereotypes broken. I recall a time when "The Batman" ranked second among girls on Satruday morning in ratings, beating out all but one of the shows aimed directly at girls. And look at the screen time and growing number of females on Young Justice (and I might add that it was Captain Atom who was the major pegwarmer of the second wave, not the female Canary figure).

The world has changed (perhaps not enough, but it's getting there), but the toy industry still has its head stuck in the Ward Cleaver, "Leave it to Beaver" era as far as it's marketing goes. And there is no reason whatsoever for such arcane ideas to find their way into a line aimed at adults, most of whom should be past the fear of cooties...

Not quite, as shown with DC Universe Classics. Power Girl, Big Barda and Wonder Woman were serious pegwarmers in their day. Some Walmarts STILL have Power Girl figures that they can't get rid of. Nowadays, companies compensate for female characters by shortpacking them or else they'll sit there.

[RockinHard]

Don't you guys think these toy companies do some market research to see who is actually interested in buying their toys? If there were so many girls just waiting to buy action figures, don't you think we would have seen a shift in marketing by now? I don't doubt that there are girls who play with toys marketed towards boys and vice versa, but I think that is the exception rather than the rule. I can't believe that these top toy companies would disregard an opportunity to increase their sales revenue if the demand was really there for more cross-gender toy lines.




MOTUC is a line that is driven by nostalgia for properties that were based on those arcane ideas. MOTU was a boys toy line and POP was a girls toy line. Does that mean that girls didn't play with MOTU and boys didn't play with POP - absolutely not. But again, I think that was the exception rather than the rule.

Nobody here is in fear of cooties or saying they don't want female figures. You guys are really misinterpreting my point of view. Never did I say this was exclusively a boys club, but I think most adult collectors of action figure lines, MOTUC included, are male. I think you see that here on He-man.org, other online collector communities, and especially at convention panels for action figure lines. And I think that collector community skews in favor of vintage MOTU characters. There is definitely strong representation from other factions such as POP and a large segment of the collector base that wants everything under MOTUC, but we know what the bread and butter of this line is.





So your friends who have been waiting for only POP figures would buy a subscription where maybe 25-30% of the figures would be POP at best?

Bravo! Post of the day! Post of the month! Post of the season! Post of the year! Post of the decade! Post of the millenia! Post of the best of the best! Hoorah! Yay!

How dare you be logical!

[Telkan2]

Don't you guys think these toy companies do some market research to see who is actually interested in buying their toys? If there were so many girls just waiting to buy action figures, don't you think we would have seen a shift in marketing by now? I don't doubt that there are girls who play with toys marketed towards boys and vice versa, but I think that is the exception rather than the rule. I can't believe that these top toy companies would disregard an opportunity to increase their sales revenue if the demand was really there for more cross-gender toy lines.

I think you're putting far too much faith in Mattel's ability to properly conduct and analyze said market research. Let's not forget that we're talking about a company that effectively killed the 200X line by repeating the mistakes of the vintage line (not to mention their inability to read their target audience's wants in regards to BG Evil-Lyn's costume and the re-usage of a certain smelly evil warrior's gloves). They have demonstrated almost zero clue about what their audience really wants. If they did, the aforementioned lines wouldn't have ended because of variant over-saturation (because the term 'saturation' alone does not adequately describe how many Jungle-Attack He-Man and Samurai Armor MAAs were littering the shelves). Furthermore, I do think there has been a change in the toy aisles--hence the increasing prominence of female DC, Marvel, G.I. Joe and even wrestling figures mentioned elsewhere in this thread.

MOTU was a boys toy line and POP was a girls toy line. Does that mean that girls didn't play with MOTU and boys didn't play with POP - absolutely not. But again, I think that was the exception rather than the rule.

And without hard numbers to support such a statement, it holds no more water than my saying that boys who only played with MOTU figures and girls who only played with POP figures are in the minority. We don't actually have the data to bolster either of these claims, so it's purely speculative. That may have been your experience, which is totally valid; but it's been my experience that there are at least as many of us who acknowledge that we played with both lines (even if it was under the table, so to speak) or were allowed to have one or two actual She-Ra figures (but no others) thrown in the mix.

Nobody here is in fear of cooties or saying they don't want female figures. You guys are really misinterpreting my point of view. Never did I say this was exclusively a boys club, but I think most adult collectors of action figure lines, MOTUC included, are male. I think you see that here on He-man.org, other online collector communities, and especially at convention panels for action figure lines. And I think that collector community skews in favor of vintage MOTU characters. There is definitely strong representation from other factions such as POP and a large segment of the collector base that wants everything under MOTUC, but we know what the bread and butter of this line is.

I certainly think that a very vocal segment of this community skewers in favor of the vintage MOTU characters only, but I don't think that segment is all that much greater than any other in terms of significance. As the line progresses, there (thankfully) seems to be a growing trend amongst previous vintage-only collectors who have opened their eyes to the value of the wider line, decreasing the 'bread and butteryness' you mentioned. Ultimately, however, the success of the line depends on people buying the bulk of the product--which, as billed by Mattel, encompasses all areas of the MOTU mythos, not just recreations of the the vintage era products. Logic dictates that those of us who are willing to buy beyond the vintage MOTU figures should hold more sway, because we are the ones willing to funnel more money into Mattel's coffers. (Now, if only they'd wake up and realize this before it's too late!)

And as far as your words being misinterpreted, I think the credit for that can be laid (in large part) at the feet of that very vocal segment I mentioned earlier. Because of the constant disrespect and snarky commentary hurled at us oh-so-often by a very select few, many of us have become quick to get defensive when people pull out the MOTU=boys' line/POP=girls' line ********. We're tired of constantly beating our heads against the wall here by trying to justify for the umpteenth time to certain people (not aimed at you) our interests and that our money goes toward perpetuating this line just as much, if not more so (by virtue of willingness to buy more diverse products) than the vintage-only fans. It becomes very tiresome very quickly, which leads tempers to flare quickly.

[Count Marzo]

[Darkspecter]

Not quite, as shown with DC Universe Classics. Power Girl, Big Barda and Wonder Woman were serious pegwarmers in their day. Some Walmarts STILL have Power Girl figures that they can't get rid of. Nowadays, companies compensate for female characters by shortpacking them or else they'll sit there.

I find that EXTREMELY hard to believe about Wonder Woman. I never saw her in stores in Canada or US at the time. The cheapest one on eBay at the moment is $29 and this guy who starts his auctions at $0.99 or something, just sold one for $50 loose. LOOSE! I had to get mine from BigBadToystore a few years ago. Same with Power Girl. Big Barda I got from eBay. I think the only ladies from DCUC I've ever seen in-store were the Supergirl figures. I mean, besides this one comic book store. They had 5 of every figure from the Donna Troy/Cheetah wave.

[Zodach]

I think you're putting far too much faith in Mattel's ability to properly conduct and analyze said market research.

This isn't just Mattel I'm talking about. Nearly every toy company that puts product on retail shelves today operates in similar fashion. Yes they make mistakes and they don't always deliver what customers want but there is a reason they are making millions of dollars and retailers continue to buy their products. I believe that as collectors we think that what we want is what they should be making, but we are a smaller segment of the toy industry overall.

[kolobosrexx]

...On the subject of female characters in this line, I actually wish that ONE of the 30th Anniversary figures had been a NEW FEMALE EVIL WARRIOR for Skeletor's forces! The Horde certainly has adaquate female representation already, but there are endless intersting possibilities around the idea of a new female flunky for Skeletor! One perhaps, that wasn't a "magic-user", but maybe a strong, physically forceful female villain that could hold her own among the rest of Skeletor's brutes & tacticians! Too bad we won't ever see that...