Toyguru Not Following 2016 Roadmap Anymore: Planning Only 80's Figures for 2014

[KUZEH]

Unemployed Skeletor is back...

[Irian]

We have 48 characters left and 12 slots.

Who lives and who dies.

Pretty easy:

1. Rokkon
2. Stondar
3. Extendar
4. Clamp Champ
5. Two Bad
6. Ninjor
7. Blade
8. Saurod
9. Mantenna
10. Horde Trooper
11. Dragstor
12. Tung Lashor

[Prince Adam's Dad]

I fully agree with the sentiment of calming down. But I don't think TG is the one panicking here. Someone asked if he'd re-arrange the lineup for 2013 if sales were low. Scott said that wasn't possible, but if sales were low in 2014, he'd consider doing it then. Everyone else extrapolated that the line was being shut down.

Probably because "going out with a bang" isn't exactly a phrase associated with a long, healthy life...

[DetectiveFork]

I fully agree with the sentiment of calming down. But I don't think TG is the one panicking here. Someone asked if he'd re-arrange the lineup for 2013 if sales were low. Scott said that wasn't possible, but if sales were low in 2014, he'd consider doing it then. Everyone else extrapolated that the line was being shut down.

Yeah, to be fair, Toyguru has bosses he answers to and they're likely the ones applying the pressure on him to drive up sub sales. OR, maybe he's doing it himself because he knows that pressure WILL come. It doesn't change the fact that it's still horrible PR.

[phantom1592]

New characters aren't horrible, but we've had more of a focus on the new King He-Man Era than we've had for New Adventures. People are only willing to endure so many new characters being rammed down their throats before they wash their hands of it. How many POP fans have decided not to sub this year because of the lack of POP at SDCC? Mattel's choices make fans wary. In 2010, fans had an idea of whom to expect. Nowadays we get characters whom we've never seen before and have to pay for them, making the decision to cherry pick much easier.

I'm torn on that concept...On one hand, I always HATED the NA 'concept'. He-man with pants and a lightsaber in space? Not cool....

Son of He-man at least FEELS like a legitimate continuation of the mythos... as opposed to NA's abandoning Grayskull, Eternia, and everything else MOTU...

However I REALLY hate ANY 'future' story that deals with beloved characters dying getting replaced and retiring.... sooooo I think SoH vs NA is a lose/lose there...

I WILL say that if we're talking TOYS.... they should focus on the ESTABLISHED ones first... Bios? Probably SoH was a better story.

Are you serious?? Subscribers, POP, NA, and 200x fans are "to blame" if the toyline ends prematurely? Get out of here. What a foolish thing to say.

Most of that was joking

However, If 'Cherry pickers' are responsible... then so is everyone else involved in the line. We've had 5 years where Cherrypickers helped sell out in minutes. Guilt trips for not spending hundreds of dollars for things you don't want is uncalled for.

Fact is MOTU, PoP, NA, 200X etc. etc. has WAY too many factions and way too many interests to every lump everyone into an 'all in, subscribe or die' bucket.

[Morningstar]

3 words:

Thanks Digital River

[Sabretooth]

It's a no win situation - this statement makes me more sad than happy. The end seems near....

I agree. I love this line because it includes everything. It is a huge plus. A change like this seems like rough action without thinking twice!
Looked at the forums here - the Fighting Foe man are the most expensive thing in the year and are totally unknown. Does not seem like a good idea. One way to solve this might be to make them SDCC exclusive for 2013. This would keep the line-up of 2013 and make the 75 $ slot available for something more worth the 75 $ - like Battle Ram or other vehicle. Looking at Granamyr for 80 $, For 75 $ you can get even a Fright Fighter, maybe? I think a small change like this would have larger impact.

[Mern-Ra]

Ok deep breath, there is a lot of craziness going on.

Mattel needs to calm the Despondos down. Look, 2013 subs have been on sale for a week. 1 week.

Again: 1 WEEK

They have until 8-6.

Again 8-6. That is 17 days away.

Why in the frak is there this sudden panic of "OMG buy a SUB!!!" and "I'm abandoning the roadmap, get to a lifeboat!!!"

I don't know who the 8 year old kid in management that lacks patience is, but calm the heck down, there is still time. This goes back to the whole "The Wind raider was a failure because of a 3 day sellout" non logic.

Calm down. Seriously.

Perfectly put!

[Tribal Spaceman]

According to MattyCollector.com:

By the Power of Grayskull™, we’ve got Masters of the Universe® Classics! All your favorite characters from the worlds of He-Man® and She-Ra™ come to life as highly-detailed, fully-articulated action figures.

Mattel really need to stick to this description.

If we are looking to wind down the line after 2014, or at least try and get through as many figures as possible before then, priority needs to be given to all the "favorite" characters, regardless of which corner of the MOTU universe they hail from.

The major "A-list" players from the Great Rebellion, Evil Horde, Galactic Protectors and Space Mutants need to come first. The main "cast" of the He-Man saga, if you will.

There aren't that many characters left from the Heroic Warriors, Evil Warriors and Snakemen, most of which are C-list at best, so I think their inclusion should be minimal. Don't get me wrong, I love Extendar, Ninjor and characters like that as much as the next person, but it would be wrong to release those ahead of such major players as Glimmer, Flogg, Sea Hawk, Madame Razz, and Hydron to name but a few.

Think of it as a movie series, like Star Wars. Imagine if you had figures of Mon Mothma, Sio Bibble and Sha'ak Ti, but no Princess Leia, Han Solo or Wicket. Your collection would look unfinished. At least if we get the major characters there is still a chance that the others would be made, maybe in quarterly two-packs, or something.

[Irian]

Too sad we do not have Roast Gooble around at the moment to calm us all down

[Jean]

Such a shame that 2014 will only be vintage characters. I've been enjoying the concept stuff way more than seeing some vintage characters for the 3rd time again.

[Barezz]

Yeah, the Filmation rights almost turned out to be a waste. At least we got Shadow Weaver out of it.

Poor Jetlag didn't get used at all.

- - - Updated - - -



New characters aren't horrible, but we've had more of a focus on the new King He-Man Era than we've had for New Adventures. People are only willing to endure so many new characters being rammed down their throats before they wash their hands of it. How many POP fans have decided not to sub this year because of the lack of POP at SDCC? Mattel's choices make fans wary. In 2010, fans had an idea of whom to expect. Nowadays we get characters whom we've never seen before and have to pay for them, making the decision to cherry pick much easier.

Well, to be fair, I think a lot of NA characters might appear to be "new characters". While I liked NA, let's be honest here, the toys did not fit in well with vintage MOTU and the cartoon had little to no elements from the original. I think it would be easy to change a few names and tweak a few things and make NA a unique, non He-man property. PoP benefits from the Filmation cartoon giving it a more tangible tie to He-man. Also I think a lot of kids who may have played with He-man had started getting out of toys by that point.

Bottom line, I think that a lot of people may not see much of a difference between NA and King He-man characters in terms of "belonging". I think they can both bring something cool into the line.

[shadowfall1976]

This is really really bad news.
At least now no one can say Mattel killed the line
The fans are killing the line now
Thanks.....

Not exactly sure that this is true....Mattel is certainly the biggest party to blame, followed by the DR mess, and then the figures price exceeding the value to collect them, is mostly what is to blame....you can't blame fans who can't afford more than they already buy, or can afford to buy.

Take heart that it was the fans that killed the line. It really sad and tragic, but the writing is on the wall. Too bad, Cherry Pickers are not going to get Ram-man. You know Matty is going to cut you guys off first.

I will get my Ram-Man, don't know what you're thinking about....There are far more places than Matty to get MOTUC....even if you have to pay a little more....for some of us, Ram-Man is just one of the last remaining figures we need, and can skip trying to get anyone else for the time being, just to get him....

Dude, mine are in boxes

Imagine at the end of Motuc mattel will start with the Minimasters following the same roadmap as it started in 2008.
We have to start all over

Yes, but they'd be (at least I would think they'd be) cheaper to buy, but then again Mattel seems to think everything they make and sell as an online exclusive is "high end"....not really.

It is not fair to say they put out characters no one wanted. Every single figure released SOMEONE wanted but not every fan. It is impossible to please 100% of thr people 100% of the time.

It is a combination of Mattel and fans that are ruining the line. Mattel drew a line in the sand and a lot of fans took a combative stance which is NOT helpful. Today has been a really sad day thinking about MOTUC dying. No good at all.

Star Sisters? Not really a heavily demanded bunch of figures, and to be a 3 pack on top of it all, then for subscribers to have them advanced 3 months and be told....instead of $20, you now have to pay $60 in January....

But there are far more figures that were much less demanded just like them....plus, even though it was for a separate sub, 3 of the 30th figures didn't even need to be made, now suddenly they are a major part of the story? Come on....

The fans are not to blame for this, just because a few die hard fans can't support the line themselves which is what I have been saying, like they thought they could....now you see how much every fan and collector was needed to keep MOTUC alive, even pickers....the fans are not to blame, Mattel is to blame for thinking everyone who collected the line would just bow down and pay whatever they thought they should pay, and that everyone should sub up of get the **** off the train....Then for not just **** canning DR and starting fresh instead of constantly making promises they couldn't or didn't intend to keep until it was way too late for fans to care anymore.

I just love the mentality of the few that say that pickers killed the line....it's so damn funny, because for one, those are among the few that thought their group has many more members than there actually was, not everyone who bought, or buys a sub is so cocky to believe that they are the be all end all of the line, well we'll see in a few more weeks, but you're the ones who are not enough to keep the line going, not us. Mattel said they didn't need us, and Scott was among the cocky ones who said this, now look, and even if there are enough subs for 2013....don't count on anything but better management and decent prices to fix anything for 2014, and we all know that won't happen.....

The DR for the stupidity factor.....

I have been a Sub holder. But you're spot on here. Cherry pickers have put up with as much, if not more BS than Subscribers.

Yes Pickers have had to not only fight for the figures they want, but put up with the minority (die hard be all end all, nobody but us should be allowed toys....) telling us to go away, when we have just as much right to spend our money as we see fit, or are able to do, as they spend their money....not many were trying to tell people who bought subs they were stupid for doing so, but all of that minority was always telling pickers they are not worthy of the line....even though the friggin line started off for pickers and any fan who could fight the site DOS.

[Berserker79]

Hear this fellow He-Fans, this is my promise:

If Toyguru makes it official, that we`ll get the remaining vintage characters at the end of 2014, I (as a diehard cherry picker without any subs in all the last years) will suscribe!!!

Now that`s what I call an awesome motivation, I need to buy a sub!

[Dark Sorceress]

3 words:

Thanks Digital River

i would add 3 more

thanks toy guru

[Mern-Ra]

Good God...the only thing I'm sad about here is that some board members are blaming other board members for this 'news'. Toy lines come and go, everyone, and this one wasn't gonna last forever either.

[NastyNate]

WOW. So now fans are happy the line is "ending" just so they can get the "BIG GUNS" in 2014. yikes....

[damo-man]

Ok...maybe Mattel wouldn't have to worry about "cherry-pickers" if they would just release figures that people want.

This line survives due to nostalgia. Putting out guys like Cy-Chop, The Fighting Foe Men, and King He-Man aren't pulling on the nostalgia heartstrings. Cy-Chop gets a pass because it's from a trial 30th anniversary line.

Think about it..
If the subscription figures only included:
1. Figures that previously had toys made of them.
2. Highly demanded Filmation Characters
3. Highly demanded Comic Characters

Then, if you want to do the concept figures or "new" figures...sell them separate of the subscription.

Pushing out a $75 pack of vehicle pilots that were only shown in box art for a Monogram plastic model (not even in the toyline) seems ridiculous...no matter how well they turned out. You can't expect that everybody will want that.

I think this is ridiculous too... i believe that figures like Vykron, Demo Man, Vikor, Spector, Sir Laser Lot and many more lame characters IMO are turning people off the line.

[Shadow-Ra]

I'm sorry to the Vintage supporters for saying this. I'm a POP fan

But this is OUR line too! It's not just about Vintage MOTU. We've supported this line too since 2008, not just you.

We deserve to get our figures as well as you do.

you have over 3/4 of your figures, we barely have 1/5.

I love ALL figures, MOTU, POP, NA, 200X etc ...

But why should we support YOUR wants, when we don't get it back in return. A lot of you very much have the mentality of

"We'll get what we want and screw the rest of you"

don't forget, if it wasn't for us too, you wouldn't have an almost complete collection. It's time to give something back

So for my final year if it is to be 2014. I want:

Jan - Scorpia
Feb - Hydron
Mar - Mantenna
Apr - Angella
May - Two-Bad
Jun - Mermista
July - Flogg
August - PeekaBlue
September - Dragstor
October - Castaspella
November - Lodar
December - Double Trouble

Sub Exclusive - Madame Razz/Broom/Kowl

Multipacks

Horde Troopers
Shokoti/Lord Masque

i haven't listed Octavia or Glimmer as there is still spots left this year that we don't know about, it might be them.

[Draego-Man]

i would add 3 more

thanks toy guru

Yep. When I line ends prematurely the responsibility rests almost entirely on the Brand Manager as a result of mismanagement.

Exhibit A: Quality control

Exhibit B: Poor customer relations

Exhibit C: Huge spike in price in one year, rather than spread out across several

Exhibit D: Lack of marketing presence

Exhibit E: A series of lame figures many people didn't want

Exhibit F: Major issues with Digital River

The writing has been on the wall for a LONG time, and somehow Mattel allowed TG to continue to hold the reins. It blows my mind!

[Mern-Ra]

And to echo what someone else said, I just don't know how this 'plan' could work long term cuz the 2014 and 2015 subs will surely sell great, but then they'll have NO idea what kind of sales to expect for 2016...so how the heck do they plan from there?

[phnx75]

I will get my Ram-Man, don't know what you're thinking about....There are far more places than Matty to get MOTUC....even if you have to pay a little more....for some of us, Ram-Man is just one of the last remaining figures we need, and can skip trying to get anyone else for the time being, just to get him....

How exactly are you going to get Ram Man if he doesn't even get produced? Its a prototype that is not yet in production. If the 2013 subs fail and the line ends, then Mattel will most likely not produce the 2013 prototypes from SDCC. They did it in the 200X line. Don't delude yourself into thinking it won't happen again.

[Replikor]

Lets not forget that a lot of folks have (potentially) $90 to spend on Vykron on Monday---so they might be waiting until their next paycheck to buy the sub....

...another good point! As this is actually EXACTLY what I am planning to do myself.

[Inhibitor]

I knew this was going to change things up for next year, but wow. What a turn of events on the heels of SDCC!

Take heart that it was the fans that killed the line. It really sad and tragic, but the writing is on the wall. Too bad, Cherry Pickers are not going to get Ram-man. You know Matty is going to cut you guys off first.

Not sure what else we as fans could have done. We can't force Mattel into success.

Sallah

Note to Toyguru: "Cherry Pickers" are actually PAYING CUSTOMERS! What's the primary difference between "Cherry Pickers" and "Completists"? "Cherry Pickers" haven't been sold on the idea of purchasing a sub. What's your solution? To demand cult-level obedience. If we're all paying customers here, how come you're finding ways to keep us from buying your products?

Not the customer's fault, not the fan's fault.

BTW, a big shout out to the POP and NA fans who supported this line! I do feel awful about the prospect of you guys/gals not getting what you've been hanging around for (and paying to see) all this time.

As for 2014 being the catch all for remaining vintage (does he also mean POP/NA?), it's not possible to promise that. I don't see Horde Troopers, Multi-Bot, Mantenna, and Two-Bad in the same year let alone all remaining POP and NA.

I don't know who the 8 year old kid in management that lacks patience is, but calm the heck down, there is still time. This goes back to the whole "The Wind raider was a failure because of a 3 day sellout" non logic.

Calm down. Seriously.

If management reacted so strongly to the slower selling Wind Raider, I can guarantee you their reaction will be the same only greater in terms of magnitude regarding the entire sub.

[Rodster6]

I think scaling back to just characters that had toys before and filmation characters would be the best option. I think the biggest turn off of the sub has been the filler figures. People may have sucked up the price rise more if they were not worried about getting stuck with expensive three packs and obscure or all new characters.
I admire that TG tried to expand the line with new characters and concept figures etc but he over estimated the demand for those kinds of figures and that has caused more damage than anything to the line, hindering momentum and excitment by buyers and fans.

I really think a NA Mutants or Filmation three pack would have been more popular than the star sisters or fighting foe men. Rather than new figures no one really cares about, why not some movie figures finally!?