Toyguru Mattycollector.com MOTUC News Thread January 2013

[MegaGearMax]

Welcome to the Toyguru Mattycollector.com MOTUC news thread for January 2013!

Toyguru's Recent Posts on Mattycollector.com's Forum

Like last year, instead of posting EVERY little thing in it's own post, I'll gather them ALL the relevant MOTUC Ask Matty postings here. Keep checking for updates! The old threads are ancient history and won't be updated anymore. This is the new spot until next month.

As always, I'll put the most recent news up first, while the old news is down the bottom.

Toyguru Mattycollector.com MOTUC news thread I
Toyguru Mattycollector.com MOTUC news thread II
Toyguru Mattycollector.com MOTUC news thread September 2010
Toyguru Mattycollector.com MOTUC news thread October 2010
Toyguru Mattycollector.com MOTUC news thread November 2010
Toyguru Mattycollector.com MOTUC news thread December 2010
Toyguru Mattycollector.com MOTUC news thread January 2011
Toyguru Mattycollector.com MOTUC news thread February 2011
Toyguru Mattycollector.com MOTUC news thread March 2011
Toyguru Mattycollector.com MOTUC news thread April 2011
Toyguru Mattycollector.com MOTUC news thread May 2011
Toyguru Mattycollector.com MOTUC news thread July 2011
Toyguru Mattycollector.com MOTUC news thread August 2011
Toyguru Mattycollector.com MOTUC news thread September 2011
Toyguru Mattycollector.com MOTUC news thread October 2011
Toyguru Mattycollector.com MOTUC news thread December 2011
Toyguru Mattycollector.com MOTUC news thread January 2012
Toyguru Mattycollector.com MOTUC News Thread February 2012
Toyguru Mattycollector.com MOTUC News Thread March 2012
Toyguru Mattycollector.com MOTUC News Thread April 2012
Toyguru Mattycollector.com MOTUC News Thread May 2012
Toyguru Mattycollector.com MOTUC News Thread June 2012
Toyguru Mattycollector.com MOTUC News Thread July 2012
Toyguru Mattycollector.com MOTUC News Thread August 2012
Toyguru Mattycollector.com MOTUC News Thread September 2012
Toyguru Mattycollector.com MOTUC Mini-Comic Q&A Thread 2012 (SPOILERS)
Toyguru Mattycollector.com MOTUC News Thread October 2012
Toyguru Mattycollector.com MOTUC News Thread November 2012
Toyguru Mattycollector.com MOTUC News Thread December 2012
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NEW STUFF!!!

I will not shop at 2/15 sale because shipping cost

For the first time since over a year I will not shop anything during 2/15 sale because of the extreme increase of the shipping cost for international shipping!
When I ordered 2 figures in the past: 2x$25=$50 plus $9,95 shipping = $59,95
Now they are 2x$27=$54 plus $21,70 shipping = $75,70!!

At least 25% increase for only 2 figures! I think, this will kill the toyline! International Fans like me can not afford this anymore!

Totally hear you.

Alas shipping costs are not something we can control. I am actively looking into any and all options but at the end of the day, there isn't much way to cost reduce shipping.

Part of participating in (and "collecting") a very low quota high end collector line is accpeting that it is only available online and there are costs to this such as paying for shipping. We are WAY under the quota to ever put any of our Matty.com lines at retail. So really it comes down to "accepting" the fact that to continue to get new MOTUC figures every month, paying online prices which include shipping is just part of the over all collecting experience.

I've always said we will try to make these figures as long as their are fans buying and that one day it will cost more to make (and ship) these figures then fans are willing to pay. I hope we are not there yet, but if we are, it's been a fun run!

We can affect things like character choice (which if we get a 2014 line we will do our best to only focus on the vintage line and main animated figs) but affecting shipping or the cost of prodcution are not factors we have much control over. It costs what it costs and hopefully we have enough customers willing to pay for more figures. If not, we'll wrap things up for Classiocs in 2013 and look forwards the future for something different and maybe less expensive to make and ship.

FREE IDEA 4 MATTEL 4 MOTUC Figure

I just wanted to share this custom I made "all using existing Classics figure parts", as alot of ppl have stated here on the org...

200X/MYP toon Custom MOTUC - The General

...that they would really like to see this figure made. So I wanted to hop over here and share it an give this idea to you free of charge.

This is THE absolute lowest tool figure you could ask for to help balance the budget for figure tooling to justify a high cost tool figure.

I GIVE THIS IDEA FREE TO MATTEL ASKING [NOTHING] IN RETURN!

MYP/200X "The General" Rattlor "cartoon shot"



"Classics" Translation "Minus existing already tooled Rattlor Armor"



...the build parts are as follows.
================================================== ==
Head - Snake men 2pak head "with the horns removed from eyebrows" [simple edit for existing head model]

Rattlor - Upper body, abs + back, clip on tail sections, and Feet
[not pictured] Existing/unused Rattlor MYP armor & neck extension but in cartoon colors

Draegoman - Full arms, Full legs "except feet"

[optional item] King Hisss Snake staff in possibly tan brown colors

..thats it.

I hope you guys could use this as a traveling con item to help get more high tool figures out and help balance the tooling budget more. An it would work as a popular traveling con repaint like others.

Thanks for all the Classics so far guys.
Keep up the great work!

A very cool idea but no plans for another Rattlor at this time.

C2e2

I was wondering if Matty was coming to this con with the con exclusive strobo?

No, we will not be at C2E2 this year.

Day-of figure production number question

Do you alter the day-of production number of a character due to era that character is from or the popularity of said character? For example, do you generally make more of a Vintage Era MOTU character than a New Adventures character or does the production number go up and down due to that character's popularity? Or is it the same across the board for day-of sales, no matter what the character?

It changes character by character

How's Castle Grayskull looking so far?

Hey TG, I know this might be shown during ToyFair, but, how is it looking so far? How far are the 4H on the sculpt?

Cannot wait to see this!!

I haven't seen it myself but we hope to have it at NYTF if it is ready to show!

Have You Confirmed Re-Opening the Grayskull Preorder?

Scott, thanks for your work!

Can you confirm whether or not you are going to reopen the Castle Grayskull preorder for a few days come Toy Fair.

It is something we are still looking into. If it does happen we can confirm the price will go up.

When is ...

When is the customer service going to get better?
They can't even talk to the accounting department. Why would someone think that this is a good idea?
The brand and MOTUC is falling apart because the lack of Customer Service.

A new US based team has been in place and are resolving all issues as soon as humanly possible!

Mini-comic issue 3 question

hello! Since Gwildor, Queen Angella, MultiBot, Rokkon and Spinerella do not appear in comic #3 should we not get our hopes up for seeing them in MOTUC? Hope not since I'd really like to get them in the line. And does this mean they died before the battle ever happened? Thank you for taking the time to answer questions.

An appearance (or non appearance) of any character has zero to do with including (or not including them) in the Classics toy line. The characters that appeared in the mini comic were in there because they appeared in that part of the MOTUC cannon story not because they are or are not in the toy line. It is always possible future bios or mini comics could include more characters.

??RAM MAN SALE PRICE??

What is the price for Ram Man for those who are subscribers and those who are not? Thanks!

30.00 for sub holders, 33.00 for day of.

Poly bags for figures

Well, Toyguru, here we are again. Just my 2 cents. If you try this method to reduce cost I will not be a subscriber and my 2 subs a year will be gone. There ARE ways to reduce cost. It's SHIPPING. I don't care what your excuses are, b ut the shipping is horrible.

As far as packaging, I did read one idea I would be ok with. Package them like the original line. NO plastic insert or bands. That is fine. Anything else changed and I'm out. Just my 2 cents.

At this point there are no plans to change the packaging. Reducing the packaging would not be enough to get these figures to a 20.00 price point. It is kinda of a one for all, all for one deal. If you want a 20.00 figure it would involve cutting everywhere, package, figure, deco, accessories. We aren't going to just cut the packaging. That would not get us to a less expensive price.

Re: Your Recent Poll

After bring a fairly rabid collector, I stopped buying MOTUC figures during 2012. Regarding the recent poll as to why some of us have stopped collecting MOTUC, here's your answer...At the age of 36 it feels a bit stupid to log on at noon on the 15th every month, battle the white screen of death, and often times have the figure "sell out" before I can buy it...All so I can have the honor of giving you $30 for something that is not worth $30. I put up with that for a good while, but after missing out on many favorite characters I am just completely done with this line. I wouldn't log on at noon on the 15th at this point if the figures were free. I'd suspect that most of your long gone fans are gone for the same reason. You want a reason...We're tired of begging and competing for overpriced figures.

And I wish the alternative, selling these figures at mass retail was possible, but the customer base just isn't high enough. There is always a give and take to running a collector line of what one needs to "give up" or what the "total cost" is, including shipping and online buying. In this case, buying online is part of the total experience cost to getting these figures to fans at this time.

Castle Grayskull Toyfair reveal - potential for feedback/changes?

Assuming some early work on Castle Grayskull is ready in time to be shown at Toyfair, I'm sure fans will have a lot of feedback. My question is, how much possibility is there for this feedback to potentially be implemented into the final design?

Obviously you can't please everyone and there are many cost/manufacturing limitations. But if an idea is expressed at Toyfair, is well received by Mattel and the Four Horsemen and is possible from a cost/manufacturing point, is it actually possible we might see it implemented into the final design?

At this point it is still up in the air if the Castle will be ready to show at NYTF. If it is, there likely won't be time for sculpt changes.

SDCC Reveals

I know I'm a little ahead hear but over the past couple of years MattyCollector has had it's SDCC reveals run the final week of April on G4's Attack of the Show; however last week Attack of the Show aired it's final episode. Has there been any thought over how the reveals will be handled?

We'll have to wait and see. Right now our focus is on NYTF.

Not enough demand? Really?

I know, i know you have said before that you have no interest in producing older figs because there is not enough interest. This weekend on ebay i bid on a couple of auctions. 1 for fisto and the other for the sorecess, each went for over $100 each. It seems like to me that there are tons of interest for these figs as well as others but you keep closing your ears. Why don't you start a pre order plan for just 1 older fig and see if there is enough interest for mattel to make money on it. If it cost more to make, just charge more. Say $45 with shipping, what do you have to lose?

There is high demand from a small group of people.The internet tends to make this group feel louder than numerious. But after two years of producing reissue we have found that this small group is not enough to trnaslate into actual customers to support the minimum production quota to go back into production.

It appears fans want more POP

How do I vote on the 2013 NYTF Figure?

There is no NYTF 2013 "figure". We are revealing new figures at collector night. I think you may be mixed up with a fan poll run on He-Man.org on "the most requested character fans want".

RECENT STUFF!!!

Toy Guru.....*sniff*......

....are you the one who wrote Fang Mans bio?

If so you've made me really sad. Poor Fang Man, waiting for a master who will never return..... *sniff*

Many writers contribute to the bios. This one in particular was not mine.

Why not fix the shipping?

Toy Guru, Why don't Mattel just get on the ball and have their customers pay a realistic shipping cost on their figures?

Let me help you out here. Just like your a manager in your business, I'm a manager in mine. My business happens to be 18 years in Transportation with the biggest company in the world of shipping. Your shipping costs are not in line with what it costs to ship a package. I know this because I have first hand knowledge of what a company like Mattel should be pay to ship their product. So where ever your getting your rates from, you really need to investigate what's going on.

Unless of course, Mattel is also getting a kick-back on shipping cost...which would unfortunately make your company look ridiculously bad and would end this fan's brand loyalty forever.

Shipping is not a profit center at all for Mattycollector. In fact, for the last few years we were losing money on it.

I can tell you we 100% hear that it is the shipping costs that are turing off fans, not the current prices of the figs. I am actively working with DR, the Digital Group and management to see if any options are available. It is hard to find reductions on shipping as this is what it costs to physically send figures out.

When you have collector lines that are two low quota for retailers, online distribution (with that extra addition of shipping charges) becomes part the collecting process.

But with that said, we are going to explore any and all options. It doesn't mean we are guaranteeing lower shipping costs, but I will continue to look into any options as a priority.

Help with Granamyr tail - how to keep it on tips

Just received my Granamyr today and I cannot get the tail on - there are no obvious cracks or breakages and am wondering from what I have read on other sites whether using a hair dryer would help? Im not quite sure what people have been doing to fix this and I dont actually own a hair dryer (but can get hold of one) or maybe use some glue - can anyone give me some tips or advice?

I am reluctant to call customer services as will cost a fortune from England as would sending it back to the US (particular as I selected international shipping) and just paid UK customs and Parcelforce delivery charges on top of cost.

You do not need to pay for return shipping on defective product.

Castle Grayskull Higher Shipping Update

Back in October 2012, several of us pre-ordered Castle Grayskull right away on the first day that pre-orders opened. However, we were charged a higher shipping amount. We were informed that within a few weeks all customers who were charged the high shipping would be contacted by Mattycollector/Digital River to have that order corrected and have the shipping adjusted.

I have not yet been contacted by Digital River/Mattycollector to take care of this. I'm afraid that this issue will slip through the cracks if it's not brought up again WAY ahead of time so DR has plenty of time to fix it.

What is the status of getting these pre-orders corrected?

I would suggest following up and posting on the online orders forum. That is the forum for shipping or charge issue that DR monitors.

Teela reissue

Is the a small possibility for a reissue of regular Teela?

Nope.

Hello! Is this new Product a Cause for Concern?

Cursed Nerf Guns! First "Flipshot", now THIS!



Yes, if did a Strongarm figure we would need to use a different name. It is clearly not available.

Please reissue TEELA!!!!!

Hello i was wondering if u will be reissuing Teela anytime soon. It seems she goes for quite a bit on other websites and not only would I appriciate a reissue of this figure but your company stands to make quite a bit of sales as i know a lot of newbies to the line still need her! Ecspecially after the great unrest weapons pack that included the original accessories for the vintage teela figure i know a lot of people want two of her one vintage look and one classics look. Please reissue this figure as it would be a great blessing to thos of us that still need her in the collection bc whats MOTU without Teela!?

I totally here you. I know there is demand for more Teela, but in the end, we know from experience this demand is not enough to hit our min production quota. It is a very vocal demand, and the very nature of the internet and forums only makes that demand feel louder. But after reissuing 2 years+ worth of figures, the actual number of customers it is not high enough to go back into production on a figure outside of He-Man and maybe Skeletor.

What is up with shipping charges for 2013?!?!

Shipping costs doubled/tripled from December??

I love this line, love it, but what is happening??
Figure prices have increased by over 20%
AND and shipping more than doubles overnight??

Scott, help us out here.
$90 to get 2 DOS figures to my house - wow, just wow.
I don't know if I can afford this.

Really sad MOTUC fan.

We were actually losing money on shipping the past two years. Shipping prices are current with actual current costs to ship.

King He-Man Release Date

First off, thanks for all the great figures on tap so far this year. It looks to be an incredible variety coming into the collection!

I know Ram-Man has been pushed to February. We keep seeing comments about he & Jitsu arriving next month. But no mention is being made of King He-Man. When can we subscribers expect a royal visit? Will he arrive next month or in March?

Thanks again, and can't wait to see what you knock our socks off with at NYTF next month!

We'll have updates on shipping schedule for Feb - Sept at NYTF Collector night on Feb 10th.

Refusal to answer shipping questions? Really?

Scott, I'm going to quote you here:

Sorry, but I this forum is for brand and product questions. I can't address CS issues on shipping as I just don't have access to this info and everyone's specific issues that affect shipping like where you live and what method you used.

This is an unacceptable response. You are the brand manager, and thus it is your job to look into these very issues. It is all too easy for you to wash your hands of this, but make a trip over to the ORG and you'll see that people are VERY upset about the jacked up shipping charges.

As consumers of this product we are owed an explanation, particularly if you actually expect us to continue buying the brand. A little good will goes a long way, so how about trying to step out of your "this isn't in my job description" mentality, do a favor for all of us and go and find some answers as to why Mattel is now engaging in what appears to everyone as an exercise in price gouging with regards to shipping.

People have been collecting this line for 4 years now, which has kept you in a job, so I think you could stand to step up to the plate just this once and not hide behind empty rhetoric about the purpose of this forum or your role in the company. You are out direct line to the company, and let's just say your relationship with the fans has been strained over the years, so now would be a good time to extend an olive branch and save a little face.

We want answers Scott and the ball is in your court. Thanks.

Yes, but I simply can not answer shipping questions because there are too many specific issues with individual orders such as shipping method, your location and what you ordered. This is why we have a CS team. It is their job to help with this. I can continue to shed light on brand and product questions but I am simply not in a place to answer shipping questions on this forum.

Is there any mistake on shipping calculations?

Is there any mistake on shipping calculations? 30 usd for 3 standard motuc figures, isnt that to much?

Please clarify this asap.
Last year I payed 9.95 for shipping one or two figures, when I was charged 13.75 for netossa I thought to my self... Well ok, Scott did say that shipping charges would increase also, so that's ok... Not a big deal... But seing that value repeated for any figure bought?

I had to quit the extras I was planing to get and I'm sure 2014 wont happen now if this is not a mistake!

Ask any buyer...

Please clarify this and resolve the shipping astronomic costs.

As noted on Facebook:

Club Eternia & Infinite Earths Subscribers,

We've heard some of you are confused about the order confirmation for your January shipments and we can understand why! To help clarify, first, here's how the initial signup and payment works: When you sign up for your subscription during the open enrollment in July/August, your credit card is charged for the membership fee, which pays for the club exclusive figure.
When the first club figure ships in January, you are charged only for that January figure and tax/shipping/handling.

Now here's where it gets tricky. When your January subscription was shipped, we sent a SHIPMENT CONFIRMATION. The Total shown on this confirmation includes both the original membership fee (which you paid last summer) and the cost of the January figure, plus tax/shipping/handling. The membership fee and the figure/tax/shipping/handling are both included because they're technically all part of the same original order placed last summer. So even though the membership fee isn't shown as a separate line item, the amount is included in the total on the confirmation (we're working to rectify this for next year).

In the box with your shipment is an INVOICE. This invoice shows the actual amount you were charged for January - the first figure and the tax/shipping/handling (your bank statement will also reflect this amount).
You were not actually charged again for the membership fee. Please note this only happens in January. From February through December, your order confirmations and invoices will all match. And when it's time for the club-exclusive figure to ship, you'll only be charged tax/shipping/handling
- the figure itself was already covered by the membership fee you paid last summer. Hope that helps!

Still Nothing On Granamyr Exchange

It would be great if I could get some help from Matty on exchanging my broken Granamyr. Three posts and 4 weeks of dealing with DR and I'm no closer to sending him back for a new one.

CS is working to replace any damaged product. It will be there. Sorry there has been a delay.

You life, and our lives would be so much easier....

....if you could convince Mattel to get rid of the most worthless company in existence today....Digital River. In all honesty, what has to happen for someone to actually listen to us? How many times to they have to completely screw one of your customers over before anything is done? And you have made multiple...MULTIPLE promises about improved customer service, and they ALWAYS just make you look foolish and uninformed. The same problems since the beginning are still there, and NOTHING is being done about it. Why?

Please let us know your specific problem or issue and we'd love to help.

Fisto/Teela/Whiplash/Sorceress BACK INTO PRODUCTION?

If shipping/tax/base price of figures has increased, can we at least get fan demanded figures such as Fisto/Teela/Whiplash/Sorceress/Scareglow etc?

I think past fan demanded characters such as those are more likely to bring more subscribers/customers in depite the increases rather than a lot of stuff on the MOTU essentials order page.

I think if a rotation of past releases is done on the essentials page MORE OFTEN (keeping he-man and skeletor on there always ofcourse)....this would increase moving more of your past merchandise.

A lot of secondary market sellers I know at trade shows have actually decided to decrease their orders because between the rising costs here at matty and auctions sites...such increases have slowed their sales to the point where it has become too expensive for even those secondary market buyers to buy motu.

Bringing past fan demanded characters back into production and making new characters that existed in the original line like Two Bad, Ninjor, Extendar and Rio Blast (packed in with Stridor?) would definitely help the line.

Alas we tried doing second runs of almost two years of figures and not a single figure outside of He-Man performed well. We have a minimum quota we need to go into production and their just is not enough of a customer base to support second runs. We did try.

Brand and Product questions guys!

MOTU Fans,

I try to get on this board as much as possible, but I need to remind everyone this forum is for questions about the brand or product. I can not answer questions about shipping or charges. You need to contact customer service to do so. Honestly, I don't like having to write, "I can't answer shipping questions, please call CS." over and over. I hate giving canned answers.

It is not because I don't want to answer, it is that I don't have this info readily available. CS does. So to help streamline this forum and keep it to questions I actually have info for, please do not use this forum to ask questions intended for CS reps. I'm only going to redirect you there anyway.

At this point going forward if I don't answer your shipping/charge question it is not to be rude, but simply because your answer will be:

"Sorry I don't have information on shipping or charges. Please just call Customer Serivce".

Thanks for everyone's help to streamline this. Should make information easier to get out there!

Color details on Snake Face's snakes

Its hard to tell by the pics I've seen so I'm wonderin will there be any color detailing on SF's snakes like yellow eyes or white fangs? Or will they just be plain red?

Excellent question. This is the type of question this forum is for.

The answer is no, there is no deco. They are molded red plastic.

Netossa black spot or qc issue

Since you opened 10 figures and none had the proper black spot paint deco, does that not alarm you about how many quality control issues seem to be happening lately? These things are happening more frequently and some are seemingly being passed of as design choices.

Not in the least. I found out it is a hand applied deco so anything from a full wash to a "black spot" is intended. I was incorrect in my original comments.

As for QC issues in general, we will replace any defective figure. So this isn't really any issue at all since you will get a corrected figure if anything is wrong. All figures are assembled and painted by hand. Their will always be some level of QC and some level of variance in how paint is applied. Just part of being part of this line. This is why we replace any defective product.

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OLD STUFF!!!

Lizard man shared parts

First of all thank you very much for your quick and straight answer on my first question about lizard man.

Now my new question is...
Couldn't lizard man share at least some parts with saurod?

Maybe the tail and torso (partially hidden on saurod by the armor anyway)....
I dont know if could be possible to share more but at least those 2 parts seam possible to me in my very limited knowledge...

Do you thing it could be done properly this way? Does this help?

Maybe, but since we don't have a Saurod figure we don't have those parts. I honestly don't know if the toros would work. I'd leave that to the Horsemen. But either way, even with minimal shared parts Lizard Man is a lot more tooling vs. most other Filmation characters.

I was incorrect on the deco on Netossa's cape

MOTU fans,

I went back to design today and asked about the fans who have inquired over the "black spot" on Netossa's cape on her back. It turns out I was wrong and this is an intentional deco. It is a black overspray used to add shading to the cape. It is hand applied and on some figs it may be more spread out, on others it may be more concentrated (and hence looks like a dot). But to be clear, this is a deliberate deco. It is part of the shading of her cape and not an error. I updated my answer on the ask Matty thread

Sorry for any confusion!

TG

Lizard man

Is Lizard man a must do character for you in the classics line?

He is a character we really want to get to but is additionally challenging due to him being a 100% tool. not off the table, but a little more difficult to get to.

Granamyr Customer Service Stock

Unfortunately, I received a damaged Granamyr.

I would like to return him to get a replacement. However, DR is notorious for just issuing a refund instead of sending replacement figures in exchange.

Can you verify whether or not there is sufficient Customer Service stock still available for exchanges for defective product? I'm a bit nervous that there won't be any left.

There is plenty of stock for replacements. We were sure to keep extra just in case.

Toyguru: re Snake Face

Toyguru - If you're not in the loop regarding paint changes, then why did you say this back in September?:

Originally Posted by Toyguru on September 24, 2012 08:17
"The only change I know of is the body snakes are green, not red, just like the vintage fig."

Because at that time I thought we were going with green. But it turns out the design group and Horsemen went with the red paintmaster (the one from the display case, remember, both a green and red paintmaster was made) to make the figure pop more, match the face snakes, and to plus up the deco from the vintage figure, much as the snakes in the back of the head are green and a separate piece, not just part of the helmet and left undeco'd. Classics is all about upgrading figures in every way. Red felt like more of an upgrade, especially when you look at it with the face snakes.

New price update

Maybe I´ve missed some info mail?
Why do you have raised the prices again since the last update from 2012?

WE covered this quite a lot at SDCC and Power Con last year. Essentially it is to compensate for the higher cost to produce the figures. We held off on price increases as long as we could. But even if you look at retail, 3 3/4"figures that cost 6.99 in 2008 (when Classics started) go for about 11.99. 6" figures at retail back in 2008 went for about 8.99 and now they are between 16.99 and 19.99. Production costs have gone up in the last few years, combine that with additional premium costs for producing figures at such a low quota (compared to retail lines) and that is the current pricing.

Okay, but how about.....?

Just saw the My Subscriptions page, and it is simple, but it looks like it will do the job.

However, it does not list the pre-order for Castle Grayskull there. Many people voiced concern about the pre-order, and how to change card info for the castle if the need arose (expired card, number replaced, etc.) and I will be no different, since the card I use will expire before the castle is released.

So, will the castle be listed eventually, or are we S.O.L.?

Yes, the Castle will be listed. I'll pass this comment along and see if we can get the pagers to also note this so everyone's mind is at ease!

Red snakes! Green snakes?

I've seen a few people pointing out that Snakeface's vintage figure had green snakes coming out of his stomach/ab area. The 4H chose red snakes on the classics figure, which is fine by me, but also, I'm a sucker for fun options!

Are the Snakeface ab snakes eligible to be included as a repaint in a weapon pak? It would be great to have a choice between green and red!

And while we're on the subject, I'm still keeping hope alive for Spector's green whip.

I suppose anything is possible, but no plans for this right now.

Director's Commentary

It has been a while since we've seen any new entries in the Director's Commentary section of the Mattycollector.com forums.

Can we expect an new blog there soon-ish/when-ish?

Yeah. I'm way behind. I've been busy with a few other projects including prep for NYTF Collector night. I an trying to get back to them as soon as I can!

"We followed their paintmaster exactly"... since when?

I am looking at a Frosta figure right now. Her colors are nothing like the paint master. Your design team even admitted to using "cool gray" for white. That's just one of many examples I can cite. The colors are often muted and nowhere near as vibrant as the prototypes. Evil Lyn's eyes and lips are not like the prototype. Shadow Weaver was darkened. She-Ra's gold looks almost bronzed. Moss Man was completely re-colored from his prototype.

I understand the desire to follow the Four Horsemen's paintmaster, but why deflect blame when your design department makes well-documented edits constantly? Regardless of how well the Four Horsemen's colors should be followed, does your own Mattel Design not have the sense to say "the snakes on the armor are green, actually, on the vintage toy"? Are you not ultimately responsible for these decisions? You have an opportunity to have fans say "hey he heard us" and you messed up royally with Frosta and Netossa already. Colors are just as much about the character as the sculpt. Is it that tough for the largest toy company in the world with the "biggest fans" on the property to ask the vendor for green torso snakes instead of red? This is one of the few times Design CAN step in. :-)

And not for nothing, the snakes' colors were addressed as far back as
Power Con and it was stated "you were aware of the issue"

Both the Horsemen and the design team work together throughout the process refining figures. Shadow Weaver is a great example. The original paintmaster the Horsemen made was looking way too pink in production so Terry changed the color to a richer purple and added a wash. This is their job. To make the figures work as toys. What the Horsemen produce are non articulated statues made of resin and other materials as a prototype. When you change a figure into an articulated toy made of plastic, colors that worked in a prototype often don't work in a toy. That is Ruben and his design team's job. And they work hand and hand with the Horsemen to come up with the end result.

Not every choice will work for every fan, but that is all part of the creative process.

Hope that helps.

Why were Snake Face's prototype colours changed?

Toyguru: You claim that "All colors were designed by the Four Horsemen. We followed their paintmaster exactly."

Then how do you explain this?:



Those chest snakes were supposed to be green.

There were two paintmasters created. The one with green snakes was in the slide, the one with red snakes was in the case. I discuss why red was chosen and cover this more here:Snake Face chest snakes

Snake Face chest snakes

A lot of folks are asking about Snake Face's armor and his chest snakes so I wanted to clarify. I wasn't even clear myself on all choices so I went to the design team to get info.

The armor is not any thicker vs. other Classic figures with chest armor like Thunderpunch-He-Man, Stinkor, Mer-Man etc... As for the red color on the chests. Two paint masters were created, one with green, one with red (the green one was shown on the slide at SDCC, the red one was in the case). In the end, design team chose to go with the red one because A: it visually made the figure pop more and matched the snakes in the face and B: One of the fundamental ideas for Classics is to produce the vintage figures with today's standards in deco and articulation. Much as we actually painted deco on He-Man's wrist bands in Classics (vs. the vintage figure had flesh color wrist bands) the design team at Mattel and Horsemen want the Classic figure to reflect the colors the vintage line might have used had it been produced "today". It is the same reason the snakes coming out of the back of his head are now green and not just painted black on the helmet like the vintage figures. A Classics fig is an upgrade, ideally in every way!

While not every choice will appease every fan, I hope this at least adds some insight and clarifies some question. The goal is to make the best looking figure possible and sometimes that means upgrading/changing deco or articulation or detail from the vintage line (which was a little minimal in many ways)

TG

Snake Face Flawed

We haven't received our figures yet obviously, but judging by TG's latest video of this figure it appears to be flawed in two ways:

1) The armor looks way too big for the figure, and it seems like Snake Face can't lower his arms beside his body.

2) The chest snakes are the wrong color. They are supposed to be green, not red.

Care to explain? *waits for it*

"These were design choices"

*groan*

Could we get a "we messed up, sorry" response for once?

The armor needed to allow for the plug in chest snakes to work. But honestly, it doesn't look any "thicker" than any other armor like Fisto or Thunderpunch He-Man has. I think when you see the figure in person you'll be pleased.

All colors were designed by the Four Horsemen. We followed their paintmaster exactly.

Granamyr

I will be moving this week and I need to get the shipping address changed for my Granamyr which hasn't shipped yet (although I ordered within the first few minutes he was available to purchase). I contacted costumer service via email and then I called in. The representative informed me that he could only change my address for my upcoming 2013 MOTUC sub but not for Granamyr. This can't make sense to anyone does it?! When I asked him why it couldn't be changed he said Mattel is very strict about changing orders and my only option would be to buy another and to let the next one get returned after they attempt to deliver it so that I could then get refunded since he can't cancel the current order either. Please tell me I am not alone in thinking that this isn't a correct response to the situation!

Can anyone help me? I just need to change a shipping address on an item that hasn't shipped out yet. I realize nothing can be done directly from this forum but if someone could point me in the right direction to get this taken care of, I would greatly appreciate it!

Just contact CS and they can help you out!

Granamyr not shipped, card expiring

My order of Granamyr, Procrustus & Mosquitor has not shipped yet and my card expires tomorrow. So do I lose my order now? Scott had said they wanted all orders shipped by the 31st. If I can't change my order, what do I do? I can't reorder because Mosquitor is sold out. Please Matty, I'm not angry, just trying to get my order straightened out. Thanks for any help.

Just contact customer service and they will help you out.

explanation?

Can we atleast get an explanation as to why the shipping for subscription orders and early access orders can't be combined?

It just is not logistically possible right now.

Castle Greyskull QC question

I am very worries about the QC issues we've been having, especially with Castle Greyskull coming out in a few months. I ordered one the very same day the orders went up, but I'm worried. It is costing me over $350 with shipping , so if I get an incomplete castle, or broken items, etc, there is no way I would be able to send it back to you at my own cost to get it replaced. What assurances can you give the fans regarding this? I don't want this thing turning into another BTTF Hoverboard, Granamyr, King Hiss, Robotto fiasco. It's been happening a lot of late, and people are really getting fed up. I'll be buying a sub, my very first sub, for 2014, but I have to say, all these problems are making me doubt my decision.

I also got my Black Friday figures today. I ordered an extra Panthor to keep MIB, but the box window is full of paint on the inside and one of the flaps is ripped. I can't display this, since it just looks horrible.

Like with any Matty item, if any item is defective it will be replaced. So this shouldn't be an issue!

When Will The DHL Delivery Option Be Available?

When Will The DHL Delivery Option Be Available?

Always working on new delivery options. No news right now.

Addicted

You guys got me again. I'm angry as **** about not being able to combine early access items with subscription items and even though I know it's just a way to scam us for more money, nobody will even humor us with a BS explanation. In fact, most of the hard hitting topics in this forum just get looked over with no replies. Granamyr and other figures are breaking left and right or being made wrong like Frosta, shipments are being held back because figures aren't available. Well, to show my frustration and anger I pre-ordered the outrageously over priced Castle Grayskull today. How stupid am I?

I think you are brilliant and will love your castle!

Timeline question - up note

Do Vykron and OO-lar fight the good fight at the same time?
Was there a He-man during The Great Wars?
What is Skeletors appox. age during the filmation series? (from keldors birth)

I know sometimes your able to shed light on random details. I'll keep reading for those you can't, don't worry about that.

Insert coin. Pull lever.

Keep reading the bios!

Extension

I know that our lovely castle pre-order ends tomorrow. I was wondering, with the new taxes taking effect, the **** 2% break being removed and the Obama Care taxes about to kick in, can you guys extend the pre-order to the end of January or even February?

I've ordered one already, but I've been considering a second one, however I want to wait until I have a handle on what my pay is going to be like, and I'm sure I'm not the only one concerned and may be waiting.

Just a thought.

The first presale is now closed. We may look into reopening the presale after we reveal the sculpt but the price will go up and you won't be able to vote in the box art contest or get the poster.

Correct me if I'm wrong, please

Netossa is going to be $25 for sub holders and Ram Man is going to be $30 for sub holders, is that correct?

Is there a road map for the next few months? It would be nice to have so I can prepare for the sale dates and to ensure the i have the enough funds available. Thanks for your time.

Yes. And we are getting a roadmap of upcoming releases on a dedicate page up ASAP.

Strobo's pants...

There is a Strobo testshot on Ebay that uses the Sy-Klone pants vs the Icarius pants on the prototype that fit him better concerning his comic appearance.

Can you please clarify which version we will get? Thanks and please go on with the director's comments soon

He has the Icarius shorts. But bare legs.

Snakeface test shot

A Snakeface test shot has appeared online. In the pictures it appears that the 'armour' on the torso is oversized and makes it look like armour. I know it's a test shot, but has this been addressed? The same type of thing happened with Spikor, where the amour comes out much larger in production then on the 4H prototype.

I just posted a video of the final fig. Check it out!

Granamyr Shipping...Praise!?!?

Yep,I am actually posting in this forum to say thank you and give you the credit you deserve for upgrading my shipping on Granamyr to UPS 2nd day free of charge. It was totally unexpected and greatly appreciated. I knew going in to the sale I would have to wait a while and had no problem doing so, but this is greatly appreciated. I think alot of times you guys get a bad rap from a very vocal minority of people and i think you should also get a little feedback and praise when you step up and do something like this.

I haven't had many QC concerns at all, but on the one occasion I did have a problem I was given a replacement figure in about a week. I had to call and swap my credit card over for the upcoming sub as well and it could not have been easier and the person that helped me did a fantastic job.

I may scratch my head sometimes with some things that Mattel does, but I honestly feel like you guys genuinely want to please your fan base and do everything you can to do so. So thanks again for the updated shipping speed and I can't wait for an awesome 2013!

You are most welcome!

Another Snake Face test shot question

The Snake Face test shots appears to have the standart male body instead of the scaly Whiplash body like the prototype had. Is there a change going on or is it just the test shot with wrong parts?

The final fig has the scaley body.

A 2013 MOTUC Sub Question

Hi. I just wanted to confirm something.

I ordered all my MOTUC, Watchmen, and DCIE subs the day they went up. Then I ended up adding later, an extra DCIE and MOTUC sub (on a seperate order a week later)

Now I know when Januarys merchandise ships, these two orders will ship seperate. Come February, will they all automaticaly ship together like they did in 2012 when you purchased subs on seperate orders?

Yes, they should ship together in the second month. If they do not contact CS to adjust.

Did you get more CG's ???

So today was the last day to pre-order CG.

Did you get a lot more orders after the 1st dead line ???
or were there only a few extra that got ordered only ??

don't want numbers of course,maybe just a percentage,( like we got 10% or 30%more..type of thing) !!!!

Thank you and keep up the great work

We actually got a ton more between both deadlines. Way more than we expected.

[Clawful Ofit]

Wait, wait, wait...

First off, I'm fine with the black spot as I'll never take the cape off, but didn't Toy Guru recently say he opened 10 of them and none had the spot. Something smells awfully Mer-Man-y around here.

update

I see now he said he updated his answer, but still either the 10 samples were wrong, he didn't open them, or he did and lied. I really do like TG & appreciate what he has done for the line, but I gotta say I'm put off by this. Thing is I really am fine with it being there, I know many won't be, but I don't care about it. It's just this situation I'm not liking.

[He-Dad]

Disappointed bout the red vs. green snakes on Snake Face....but I'll live. Still think green looked better. Also I think it's funny that people tell him they've contacted CS on issues and are having troubles getting it resolved only to be told "contact CS"......they just said they did!

[wundarwarrior]

The Netossa answer cracks me up. The guy running the show was actually wrong while reviewers and fans figured out the spot before him.

I Don't get why people get so worked up over color variations on figures. Personally I like seeing differences in the figures. If I wanted the vintage figure, I'd buy the vintage figure. To me this line should be more about updates and less about direct translations.

[Darkspecter]

I love how a giant black circle in the middle of the cape = shading.

[He-Dad]

I love how a giant black circle in the middle of the cape = shading.

I love that it was hand painted so size and shape may vary.....how would you like to be that guy. Here ya go, paint a black blob on this nice blue cape. Don't worry...it's shading. The fans will love it!

[MegaGearMax]

I love how a giant black circle in the middle of the cape = shading.

It's the shadow where her hair is over the cape when it's on her back.

[Beast-Man]

I love that it was hand painted so size and shape may vary.....how would you like to be that guy. Here ya go, paint a black blob on this nice blue cape. Don't worry...it's shading. The fans will love it!

LOL

[JonWes]

Guys, please remember (per the rules) to respect other board members and not make accusations about them. You can still get your point across without that. Let's keep things civil.

Thanks so much!

[Darkspecter]

I love that it was hand painted so size and shape may vary.....how would you like to be that guy. Here ya go, paint a black blob on this nice blue cape. Don't worry...it's shading. The fans will love it!

It's the shadow where her hair is over the cape when it's on her back.

Oh, okay. That makes sense. I still think it's a really poor choice though, especially because of how adamant Toyguru was that her cape WAS her second "accessory." I mean, when you use it as an accessory (a net, which, let's be honest, doesn't really function as a net like the 80's one could)...you see a big black circle. Maybe it hypnotizes her victims?

[JonWes]

Looking at SCB's pics, it looks MUCH better than the black spot on some of the review samples. It looks much more like a more subtle shadow. I still think it's a weird touch.

[iron_pride]

Looking at SCB's pics, it looks MUCH better than the black spot on some of the review samples. It looks much more like a more subtle shadow. I still think it's a weird touch.

I don't have mine yet, but at least before seeing it I agree, kind of weird and seems like a waste of time for someone(s) to hand paint that on there......

[Starshine]

I thought the whole point of early access was to let your subscription figures and non-sub figures ship together... when did this change?
~RK

[cbomb23]

The Netossa answer cracks me up. The guy running the show was actually wrong while reviewers and fans figured out the spot before him.

I Don't get why people get so worked up over color variations on figures. Personally I like seeing differences in the figures. If I wanted the vintage figure, I'd buy the vintage figure. To me this line should be more about updates and less about direct translations.

Exactly! I don't need anymore vintage clones, give me the awesome updates that we've been getting with most of this line!

I thought the whole point of early access was to let your subscription figures and non-sub figures ship together... when did this change?
~RK

Nope the whole point of early access was another perk for subscribers, they had "hoped" to be able to combine those orders and as of yet this is not possible Early Access practically does me no good if I want any extras on the day of sale as now I would end up with 3 seperate orders instead of 2 like this year or ultimately shipping it all together to save those shipping dollars.

[King Tamusk]

Wait, wait, wait...

First off, I'm fine with the black spot as I'll never take the cape off, but didn't Toy Guru recently say he opened 10 of them and none had the spot. Something smells awfully Mer-Man-y around here.

update

I see now he said he updated his answer, but still either the 10 samples were wrong, he didn't open them, or he did and lied. I really do like TG & appreciate what he has done for the line, but I gotta say I'm put off by this. Thing is I really am fine with it being there, I know many won't be, but I don't care about it. It's just this situation I'm not liking.

That's what I was thinking...what happened to the ten he opened?

Hey Scott, can you mail me one of those ten, please? I'd like my Netossa to be spot free! I'm being totally serious, Scott.

[Mern-Ra]

My question is WHY the shading, especially if it's covered by her hair? I mean, at this point they've drilled it into us pretty good how expensive every paint app is, so why do one on a part that's almost never seen? And if it's for people who want to display it as her weapon since that's her only one, then why is it just in the middle? Why isn't it like every other wash they've done, most all of which look great, where it covers the entire item it's on?

[Haephestus]

A black dot to create a shadow which would be created naturally by Netossa's hair when worn as a cape is another interesting "design" choice from Mattel.

Especially, as so many others have pointed out, given that the cape is also meant to function as a weapon and therefore the black dot has little purpose when the cape is not worn as a cape.

[nato]

Sorry, but I don't buy that the Netossa black spot on the cape was deliberate. Where is that spot shading on the rest of the capes? It's in an unnecessary spot for shading. And if it was deliberate, like Stinkor's forearms, then somebody needs to look for a new career, because the design choices like that really ruin the visual appeal of a figure. It's like my two year old took a black marker and started coloring on her cape a few seconds before I could catch him and take it away. It's awful.

[RyDell]

As far as Snake Face is concerned, I think they made the right choice. There is too much green and those chest snakes get lost. Being red, they do pop and correlate with the face snakes... So I agree with 4H and Mattel on this, I think it was a great call. However packing in a set of green snakes as well so the customer could choose for himself... that would have been ideal. I will wait until I get Netossa before I have an opinion on the dreaded black spot. In person it might be a really cool shading effect... or it might look dumb. It's too hard to tell from computer pics.

[Nemisythe]

As far as Snake Face is concerned, I think they made the right choice. There is too much green and those chest snakes get lost. Being red, they do pop and correlate with the face snakes... So I agree with 4H and Mattel on this, I think it was a great call. However packing in a set of green snakes as well so the customer could choose for himself... that would have been ideal. I will wait until I get Netossa before I have an opinion on the dreaded black spot. In person it might be a really cool shading effect... or it might look dumb. It's too hard to tell from computer pics.

I am on the side of agreeing with this 100% The red creates some separation in the figure and helps give some balance to the figure having the red snakes on the head. If you look at the pic provided in this thread the ones on the chest seem to get lost in the photo / figure. They can always get packed in a weapons pack later on.... or maybe in a Stoned Variant Figure????

[MegaGearMax]

Sorry, but I don't buy that the Netossa black spot on the cape was deliberate. Where is that spot shading on the rest of the capes? It's in an unnecessary spot for shading. And if it was deliberate, like Stinkor's forearms, then somebody needs to look for a new career, because the design choices like that really ruin the visual appeal of a figure. It's like my two year old took a black marker and started coloring on her cape a few seconds before I could catch him and take it away. It's awful.

Other capes had shading too, but it's not consistent. Battleground Evil-Lyn, Scare Glow, King Grayskull and King Randor.

The shading is supposed to be the natural shadow that her hair makes against her cape when it's on. The shading is only an issue when you take the cape off. Then it's a black spot in the middle of the net.

[Frightmare]

Hey MegaGear, how come you didn't list all of January's questions? Just wondering because I really enjoy when you do this....makes it so much easier!

[sirsniffy]

has anyone removed the paint from Netossa's cape? If it's Black underneath, that would explain the black spot. The cape was probably all black plastic, then held in place by some clamp then sprayed blue. I'm sure someone will chip away at the cape one day.

Not really a big deal for me, as it's covered by the hair mostly. I plan on painting mine anyway.

[PPC]

And if it was deliberate, like Stinkor's forearms, then somebody needs to look for a new career, because the design choices like that really ruin the visual appeal of a figure. It's like my two year old took a black marker and started coloring on her cape a few seconds before I could catch him and take it away. It's awful.

I agree. With some of the choices that have been made in the past year, you have to wonder if the design team is playing with a full deck

[MegaGearMax]

Hey MegaGear, how come you didn't list all of January's questions? Just wondering because I really enjoy when you do this....makes it so much easier!

I'll add them ALL over time. I'm in and out occasionally and there were alot of questions answered. TG must have answered 80 questions that day from four brands.