MOTUC Q&A's From Around the Net (10/26/2012)

[hadley]

TG knew to stay away from using the much criticized Clawful, Grizzlor, Roboto, Buzz-Off and Sy-Klone heads as examples.

People didn't like Sy-Klone? I know he pretty much lost all of his 200X Samurai influences, but he is one of my favorite Classics. Different strokes... some figs are perfect as straight remakes of the vintage (He-Man, Skeletor, Sy-Klone), some aren't (Buzz-Off and Clawful). But accounting for different strokes for different folks, I really wish they would do a 200X accessory and heads pack.

[Dr Kain]

Really? So this hair style:



is the same as this:

[hadley]

Actually... yeah. Other than the fact that Classic's hair is covering his ears, it looks exactly the same. It's even swept in the same direction.

[Donimo]

Really? So this hair style:

http://drh2.img.digitalriver.com/DRH...image4_opt.jpg

is the same as this:

http://old.he-man.org/cartoon/motu/e...20-moral-b.jpg

Yes....yes it is.

[geooco]

Some confusion here. From Great Rebellion's questions:

"Jason.Lee.718 asks: Speaking of the snakemen, easy guess we may get these in different colors but I wonder about seeing something like a Coral snake pattern or diamondback with the snakemen troops and speaking of the coral snake, there is a non venomous version and the idea of a this one being made into a hero would be a neat twist. It sees the destruction done and has no stomach for it so vows to stop his brethern.

Matty:We'd love to do new versions of Snake Warriors in time. Nothing to announce right now however."

and then from Hordak.de's...

"1. After the fast sell-out of the Snakemen 2-pack could you imagine going back into production on this set and just change the colour scheme of the two figures? This would make an awesome out-of-sub item to help get some more tooling dollars in and would surely sell well, just don't produce as many as the first set!

Definitely not. We tried going back into production and doing second runs and the only figure that came even close to selling well was He-Man. While there are many fans online asking for this, the reality of it is the actual customer base is just not there. A few people asking over and over online does not wind up actualizing into sales that justify production."

Looking at this, I'd guess that whoever answered didn't read the second question very closely.The asker asked if they would re-release the Snake Man two pack in a new color scheme, but the answer seems to be a no towards a straight re-release of the pack in the original colors.

Toy Guru, if you're reading this, I would buy at least two more two-packs of whatever colors you rerelease the Snake Men in. I want a ginormous colorful Snake Men army!

[cbomb23]

People didn't like Sy-Klone? I know he pretty much lost all of his 200X Samurai influences, but he is one of my favorite Classics. Different strokes... some figs are perfect as straight remakes of the vintage (He-Man, Skeletor, Sy-Klone), some aren't (Buzz-Off and Clawful). But accounting for different strokes for different folks, I really wish they would do a 200X accessory and heads pack.

I find Sy-Klone to be one of the most boring vintage clones, his blue He-man face with a helmet really needed an upgrade IMO.

[MegaGearMax]

Really? So this hair style:

http://drh2.img.digitalriver.com/DRH...image4_opt.jpg

is the same as this:

http://old.he-man.org/cartoon/motu/e...20-moral-b.jpg

There's really no real change between vintage and 200X human heads using He-Man, Man-At-Arms or most human characters as an example. The exceptions are different hair (Teela's long ponytail, Rio-Blast's shorter hair and Clamp Champ's crew cut) or an entirely different face (Queen Marlena).

On the other hand, the non-humans are greatly different in some cases.

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I find Sy-Klone to be one of the most boring vintage clones, his blue He-man face with a helmet really needed an upgrade IMO.

MYP made Sy-Klone into one of my favorite characters. 200X really spiced him up with his Anwat Gar helmet and extra rings iconography on his shoulders and back.

[Dr Kain]

Yes....yes it is.

No it isn't. The hair style on teh Classics is round on top and covers the sides of his head, including his ears. The 2002 one has a more natural look, it is not round on the top, it does not cover his ears, and it is not long on the sides.

As for the Snake-Man stuff, meh, Mattel really does not know what one is doing from the other. It's no wonder why they and Digital River get along so well.

[jzachery]

Would it really kill Mattel to come out with one more alternate He-Man head?

[Uki]

I'm really looking forward to Terry's Pre-transformation Sychor drawing!

I'm both nervous and excited about the ToyFair surprise...

[Nianotreve]

Some confusion here. From Great Rebellion's questions:

"Jason.Lee.718 asks: Speaking of the snakemen, easy guess we may get these in different colors but I wonder about seeing something like a Coral snake pattern or diamondback with the snakemen troops and speaking of the coral snake, there is a non venomous version and the idea of a this one being made into a hero would be a neat twist. It sees the destruction done and has no stomach for it so vows to stop his brethern.

Matty:We'd love to do new versions of Snake Warriors in time. Nothing to announce right now however."

and then from Hordak.de's...

"1. After the fast sell-out of the Snakemen 2-pack could you imagine going back into production on this set and just change the colour scheme of the two figures? This would make an awesome out-of-sub item to help get some more tooling dollars in and would surely sell well, just don't produce as many as the first set!

Definitely not. We tried going back into production and doing second runs and the only figure that came even close to selling well was He-Man. While there are many fans online asking for this, the reality of it is the actual customer base is just not there. A few people asking over and over online does not wind up actualizing into sales that justify production."

Looking at this, I'd guess that whoever answered didn't read the second question very closely.The asker asked if they would re-release the Snake Man two pack in a new color scheme, but the answer seems to be a no towards a straight re-release of the pack in the original colors.

Toy Guru, if you're reading this, I would buy at least two more two-packs of whatever colors you rerelease the Snake Men in. I want a ginormous colorful Snake Men army!

Yeah, i too am hoping this secondone was someone not reading properly, I got 6 packs of the first snakes, i want multiples of other colours, in fact I will buy twice as many green ones!

[shadowfall1976]

Actually... yeah. Other than the fact that Classic's hair is covering his ears, it looks exactly the same. It's even swept in the same direction.

The Classics hair is Vintage hair with a few minor tweaks to be more hanging down on the sides than curled around. I don't see it as 200X hair, the 200X figure was more sharply styled than flowing, just looking at pics shows the differences. And since Classics is more Vintage based, He-Man doesn't look like he's just begun a heavy roid rage, because the 200X figures really turned me off from collecting a modern He-Man line until Classics came out.

[elkkthunder]

mine are up
http://www.elkkthunderstoyroom.com/2...-for-1026.html

[Straight Edge]

Looking at this, I'd guess that whoever answered didn't read the second question very closely.The asker asked if they would re-release the Snake Man two pack in a new color scheme, but the answer seems to be a no towards a straight re-release of the pack in the original colors.

Correct, and after all this time you' think the fans would know better than to ask two questions at once. "Go back into production" means just turning on the machines, which means a rerelease. That's out of the question, and that's the question Mattel answered.

If Mattel is changing the colors of the snake men in the pack, that's not going back into production. That's a brand new item and all the development work that a new item/SKU requires. Just because we're not asking for new tooling, new heads, or a different package, fans have a hard time understading that Scott can't just cross out "Yellow" on the production sheets and scribble in green, and tell them to turn the machines back on. That's not how it works. We've been told that a number of times over the years. In order to choose, test, and approve even a new color scheme on a pre-existing figure requires an entire separate development SKU.

So Mattel answered that queston correctly. No, they will not go back into production. But they could conceivably offer more Snakemen warriors down the line, as a brand new item, however there is no guarantee they will as 2014 is still being developed.

[RocketPunch]

Kastor’s Korner: Is there time for Octavia’s tentacles to be designed to be bendy? We’re grateful she won’t feature the foam materials from Snout Spout, but we have seen a better-designed bendy material utilized for King Hssss and Monster High’s Meowlody (and on Plastic Man from DC) that seems like it would work perfectly for Octavia.

Mattel: There is time, but due to fans overwhelmingly not liking this feature on Snout Spout we won’t be repeating it.

Ugh...

I know many other have said this already, but it needs to be repeated until Mattel gets it -- Most fans loved the bendy trunk, they only hated that it broke.

[Power Sword]

Looking at this, I'd guess that whoever answered didn't read the second question very closely.The asker asked if they would re-release the Snake Man two pack in a new color scheme, but the answer seems to be a no towards a straight re-release of the pack in the original colors.

I think the "definitely not" answer was in regard to the second question asking to sell the snakes "out-of-sub." Matty isn't getting enough "Day Of" sales for the figures so they won't think about selling a repainted Snake Men 2-Pack out-of-sub. I'd like to have 2 repainted Snake Men 2-Packs. One pack with a green snake & a brown snake, one set with a blue snake & a purple snake. Even though I'm not a huge fan of the Snake Men, I like army builders & having a bunch of snakes around would be cool.

I like snakes.

[MintCondition]

Really? So this hair style:

http://drh2.img.digitalriver.com/DRH...image4_opt.jpg

is the same as this:

http://old.he-man.org/cartoon/motu/e...20-moral-b.jpg

Um, yeah that's totally the same hairstyle. Only the 200X He-Man's hair is more blocky, due to the style the cartoon was drawn in.

- - - Updated - - -

No it isn't. The hair style on teh Classics is round on top and covers the sides of his head, including his ears. The 2002 one has a more natural look, it is not round on the top, it does not cover his ears, and it is not long on the sides.

As for the Snake-Man stuff, meh, Mattel really does not know what one is doing from the other. It's no wonder why they and Digital River get along so well.

Exactly, the 200X hair is just more blocky. That was the style the show was done in. If you're suggesting Mattel just recast the 200X He-Man figure's head, but make it bigger for Classics, then you're dreaming. The entire point of Masters of the Universe Classics is to have everything be made in a unified style. No matter what the variant, He-Man's face will be the same. His hair might change, such as with the upcoming New Adventures He-Man, but the proportions and style will be the same. As for the standard He-Man head, Mattel tried to make it the best version they could. Sort of an amalgam of the vintage toy and 200X. The hair isn't completely the vintage toy's and while we're at it neither is the face. But yes, the hair style of 200X He-Man is the same as Classics, only more blocky and angular.

The Classics hair is Vintage hair with a few minor tweaks to be more hanging down on the sides than curled around. I don't see it as 200X hair, the 200X figure was more sharply styled than flowing, just looking at pics shows the differences. And since Classics is more Vintage based, He-Man doesn't look like he's just begun a heavy roid rage, because the 200X figures really turned me off from collecting a modern He-Man line until Classics came out.

Again, that was just the style the cartoon was done in. Take that, translate it into classics, and it becomes a more realistic, rounded on top hairstyle. You won't see a He-Man variant with blocky angular hair. Not in Classics.

[MegaGearMax]

Um, yeah that's totally the same hairstyle. Only the 200X He-Man's hair is more blocky, due to the style the cartoon was drawn in.

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Exactly, the 200X hair is just more blocky. That was the style the show was done in. If you're suggesting Mattel just recast the 200X He-Man figure's head, but make it bigger for Classics, then you're dreaming. The entire point of Masters of the Universe Classics is to have everything be made in a unified style. No matter what the variant, He-Man's face will be the same. His hair might change, such as with the upcoming New Adventures He-Man, but the proportions and style will be the same. As for the standard He-Man head, Mattel tried to make it the best version they could. Sort of an amalgam of the vintage toy and 200X. The hair isn't completely the vintage toy's and while we're at it neither is the face. But yes, the hair style of 200X He-Man is the same as Classics, only more blocky and angular.

Again, that was just the style the cartoon was done in. Take that, translate it into classics, and it becomes a more realistic, rounded on top hairstyle. You won't see a He-Man variant with blocky angular hair. Not in Classics.

You mention the anime angles on the top, but what about the ears actually being visible in the 200X version? The hair IS different, albeit, not a big difference.

[DJ Force]

Question:
As a buying incentive, could you include a free Sky Tree with purchase of Granamyr?
Mattel:
Hahaha

[iron_pride]

Question:
As a buying incentive, could you include a free Sky Tree with purchase of Granamyr?
Mattel:
Hahaha

I actually asked a question sililar to this when they first announced Granamyr, but it didn't get selected. I didn't figure they would, but it would have been cool...surely Mattel has a tree toy somewhere in their lines that could have sufficed.

[Stygian360]

I find Sy-Klone to be one of the most boring vintage clones, his blue He-man face with a helmet really needed an upgrade IMO.

Glad to see another collector who was entirely underwhelmed by Sy-Klone. Granted, I was never a huge fan of the vintage toy, but I did feel he deserved better than what he got via MOTUC. Don't ask me exactly what more he'd need in order to be perfect, but what he did get via the remake wasn't enough IMHO. Perhaps a new head would have done the trick.

[iron_pride]

Glad to see another collector who was entirely underwhelmed by Sy-Klone. Granted, I was never a huge fan of the vintage toy, but I did feel he deserved better than what he got via MOTUC. Don't ask me exactly what more he'd need in order to be perfect, but what he did get via the remake wasn't enough IMHO. Perhaps a new head would have done the trick.

I agree. Sy-Klone was somewhat lackluster compared to the 200x offering. I think it was the head as you mentioned. Too bad we couldn't have received a second head with the classics version. Maybe someday.....

[shadowfall1976]

I agree. Sy-Klone was somewhat lackluster compared to the 200x offering. I think it was the head as you mentioned. Too bad we couldn't have received a second head with the classics version. Maybe someday.....

I bought Sy-Klone only because I had him as a kid, which is predominately what my collection consists of, plus all the others I happen to like. Other than for nostalgia, and memories, I wouldn't have bothered with Sy-Klone....

Leech & Buzz-Off are on that list, but I have been putting them off, because I am just not that fond of them, but eventually I will get them. But there are 3 left that I still need them to make (aside from what's already slated to come in 2013) and I will be happy, Dragstor, Mantenna & Two-Bad....the first two I had as a kid, and Two-Bad I just picked up for a buck, and I really like him, bring him on in Classics now.

Again, that was just the style the cartoon was done in. Take that, translate it into classics, and it becomes a more realistic, rounded on top hairstyle. You won't see a He-Man variant with blocky angular hair. Not in Classics.

That hairstyle in 200X then was loosely based on the Vintage hair, as was the He-Man in Classics....almost all of the curls are the same....the cartoon was based on the original toy, as was the Classics.

[Balthus Dire]

Was that Octavia answer posted before the separate answer in the Octavia thread or after?

[Daniel Lynch]

I'm way late this week, but mine are posted!