Kind Of Amusing, Kind Of Worrisome Anecdote RE: Matty's Final Hoverboard Product...

[zodak74]

If you poke around Aintitcoolnews, you can find an article where the producer of Back To The Future has made a statement regarding his disappointment in Mattel's final Hoverboard product.
So when someone who was once pimping the pre-order is now embarrassed by the final product... how worried should we be about the final Castle Grayskull playset?

[MOTU_Maniac]

Oh wow. That's not good news , but I'm not worried about Castle Grayskull. I think it will be epic!

[markatisu]

I don't really think one applies to the other, we know what the 4H are capable of in regards to things MOTU. We have the Wind Raider as evidence they know what they are doing, and we have seen the Battle Ram prototype. I am not worried in the least about CG

The Hoverboard is more along the lines of the GB Props, its apples and oranges completely

[GeologyMule]

I think the biggest disappointment with the hover board is that it didn't hover.

[Shredder]

If you poke around Aintitcoolnews, you can find an article where the producer of Back To The Future has made a statement regarding his disappointment in Mattel's final Hoverboard product.
So when someone who was once pimping the pre-order is now embarrassed by the final product... how worried should we be about the final Castle Grayskull playset?

arn't those guys kind of known for spreading un truths? I seem to remember for some reason they have a bit of a reputation

[MegaGearMax]

This news is on Bleedingcool.com too. Uh oh...

[markatisu]

Well with all due respect he is also not taking the production run into account, if this was mass retail it would probably be about $65-70. The fact its online only it suffers from the same thing all small production pieces run which is why its $120

In this case the price has little to do with the quality in comparison to other items that are sold at retail or collectibles/niche stores (like Statues and Props).

Given we don't know the production run, but I would argue if it was high enough for mass retail it would be at mass retail and solicited in places like PREVIEWS

This is not saying he is wrong, but the argument he is making about the quality is a bit iffy when you put the context of costs and production.

I find it more amusing he is complaining about the board but has no problem putting his approval on the crappy Diamond mini-mate BTTF products which are even more expensive for what they are.

[King Tycho]

I don't see what this has to do with Grayskull. The HB is a prop replica, and he is upset with it for looking too "toyish" Grayskull IS a toy, so it SHOULD look toyish. There is absolutely no relationship.

[jegoing]

Let's not make excuses for Mattel. Bob Gale met with Mattel Design. This project failed, because Mattel reduced the budget and EGOS were involved. The Decal is sub par, Mattel could have used Lenticular Material. Sommers Plastics at sommers.com has the honeycomb pattern, Mattel could have requested it be made in a Pink Color. Mattel can ignore the regular fans, but Bob Gale just gave them a cup of black Coffee with no sugar.

[zodak74]

I don't see what this has to do with Grayskull. The HB is a prop replica, and he is upset with it for looking too "toyish" Grayskull IS a toy, so it SHOULD look toyish. There is absolutely no relationship.

The relationship I see is people's expectations for what a pre-order item will be based on information presented to them before ordering vs. the reality of what the finished product actually turns out like once in hand.

[PPC]

This has got to be a major PR embarrassment for Toyguru and a well deserved one at that. I hope it is a wake call for him and the others at Mattel. They've been able to get away with this sort of thing with MOTUC for the longest time, but when they are working with someone else's material they will be held accountable by those creators.

If this denouncement doesn't teach Scott a lesson, nothing will.

[diosoth]

Mattel isn't Jazwares, they have no excuse to act like they're a small company with a small budget. Monster High is making them enough money to retire on 5 times over,, they can afford to spend some money on a project. Same as they can afford to spend money to include stands with the dolls, cutting them is no excuse when they're all but necessary. They wanna cut something? Cut those brushes we have 50 of already, and those pets that are never in the webisodes.

If the co-producer of BTTF says this hoverboard is a disappointment, how many people will be buying it?

[jegoing]

Mattel invited Bob Gale Co-Creator/Writer of BTTF AND Special Effects Supervisor Michael Lantieri. They were shown measuring the real props. The Magnets are over sized and incorrect, the hoverboard decal is a inaccurate bubble deign made up by Mattel, and finally the "furry" foot strap is a simple felt like material. Funny thing is Sommers has the Lenticular and Fur. Mattel Corporate Politics.

[midor]

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2012/12/...he-hoverboard/

[Dynamo of Eternia]

Yeah, I was reading about this earlier. Not cool. I preprdered one, and this is disapointing.

But more so than upsetting random fans, they have managed to disapoint someone in Hollywood... some strongly tied to the BTTF brand... and someone that they REALLY should have made it a point not to disapoint.

This thread should be retitled, "Bob Gale got Matty'd!"

[markatisu]

The relationship I see is people's expectations for what a pre-order item will be based on information presented to them before ordering vs. the reality of what the finished product actually turns out like once in hand.

Dude that is an issue for every preorder based on something unseen ever through the history of time. I guarantee you 110% there will be people displeased with CG, that is how things go.

A lot of people have completely unreal expectations, Mattel will never be able to please everyone.

MOTUC and a Prop are not the same thing though, if you could show me that the Windraider failed to live up to its expectation or that the Battle Ram prototype they made looked nothing like what we would expect a MOTUC version I would be more inclined to understand the correlation.

[Rhanen]

I'm concerned. That Hoverboard could have put the spot on Mattel for quality replica items beyond regular collectors and they have played cheap.
A bad PR storm is in their forecast I just hope their care enough for future reference. This is much more big than reverse shoulders on a "small lien like MOTUC" is.

[Shredder]

as a regular fan, I don't think it looks that bad, but the sound effects are pure crap. 'sampled from sound track' my ass...

[Phil.Pastel]

People are selling upgrade kits on Ebay.