MOTUC Q&A's From Around the Net (2/1/2013)

[MegaGearMax]

MOTULA.org

Have you considered including in the Classics line, in future figure releases or in future Weapons Paks either way, the gadgets that appeared in the '87 movie, such as Evil-Lyn's "cronovisor", Blade's laser whip, interrogations necklace or the little orb that Sorceress gives to Julie?

We sort of did that with the red whip in the first weapon pack.

Have you identified a problem with the plastic material used in Granamyr? Similar to the frailness problem that The Goddess had.

The number of reports and actual returns on Granamyr was incredibly low. There was some human error but we will replace any figures with incorrect assembly or breakage. The internet has a way of making a small number of errors seem much larger than the issue really is with a relatively low number of customers posting over and over very loudly. In no way do we mean to downplay that their was some QC with Granmayr, but based on the number of returns/exchanges and individual unique forum posters noting issues, the % of Granamyr’s with any QC was actually extremely low.

I'd like to know, why Skeletor decides to go to Primus or Denebria? Did he know about the mutant's existence so he decided to search for them? Or joining them is something he improvises. His idea is to return to Eternia and fight He-Man again? Or he lost all the interest in Eternia and decides to face Horde Prime in battle.

As revealed in Mini Comic # 3, he absorbed Hordak's essence and in doing so also had his memories. Learning of the might of the Horde Empire, Skeletor decided to leave Eternia for larger conquests. How he convinced the Mutants to joins his side is also coming together in the bios if you read carefully!

Is there any chance for reusing Granamyr's parts for a future Tyrantisaurus Rex release?

Anything is possible but no plans right now.

It has been stated before that the only chance of getting a Castle Grayskull Classics, was only if a movie were made. Can we accept the castle as a HUGE yes?

Actually, the projects are not linked. It was the success of the Hoverboard that allowed us to tackle Castle Grayskull.

Hordak.de

1. When you revealed NA He-Man Toy Guru told us he MAY come with his armor and helmeted second head, but that still had to be figured out. Can you give us an update on his accessories?

We hope to have some news on the final figure at NYTF in Feb.

2. Can you tell us when Strobo will be available?

He will be available for regional conventions in Q2 2013. Anyone running a regional show can contact Mattycollector to arrange to purchase figures in bulk (but not at discount mind you). We will also bring Strobo outseles to Power Con and ideally NYCC in 2013. But that is not locked in yet.

3. Giving teaser pictures to Pixel Dan before revealing Mosquitor was really great! We all know that Geldor is coming, can you imagine giving little teaser pictures to Dan again?

It is always possible. Mosquitor was a little special since Dan was routing for him for so long!

4. Will Skeletor re-appear or is he gone for good now?

We do have more stock but this is the last of it! We are moving it to Digital River now to put back on sale.

5. The son of Skeletor- did Evil-LYn get pregnant before Keldor was transformed or after he became Skeletor?

Well we are not going to reveal that here in the letter column! Keep reading the bios and mini comics!

Preternia.com

Q: Are there any plans to include a helmet for NA He-Man? If not is that something that might go into the new weapons pak for 2013?

A: We’ll let you know an update on this figure at NYTF!

Q: You mentioned you got a sizable addition to the Castle Grayskull orders leaving it open for an additional month, could something like this be done with the sub for 2014?

A: No, the sub has to close in early Aug to lock in quotas for the full year.

Q: The Watchmen packaging had me thinking … ever consider doing a commemorative set with stuff like He-Man, Skeletor, etc in boxes the same style as the Watchmen stuff you are putting out, maybe casing them in Rudy Obrero art? Might be a good way to get through some evergreen stuff and give collectors another way to display those figures.

A: It certainly would be cool but right now we are putting our limited resources into getting out as many new 6″ figures as possible vs. finding ways to repackage older ones.

Q: Is Strobo’s gun going to be in the new weapons pak?

A: No news to report at this time.

Q: How do we expect He-Man to fight ALL these Snake Men you have been putting out? Is Snake Armor on the horizon?

A: He would be a great addition to the line, but no plans to announce right now.

Kastor’s Korner

Kastor’s Korner: Design recently revealed using a PMS cool gray to color characters using white like She-Ra, Captain Cold, Teela, Adora, Zodac, Adam, Frosta, etc. With the obvious fan backlash, in the interest of following the Horsemen’s paint master, can the use of PMS cool gray please (and finally) be discontinued in favor of white?

Mattel: One of the issues with white is that bright white tends to look unfinished on plastic product. When translating the Horsemen sculpts to an articulated toy, the design team often needs to make choices and one of these is to use an off white to stand in for bright white. In the end this is a design choice and made on a figure by figure basis. We will certainly pass your comments along!

Kastor’s Korner: Since the 2014-15 MOTUC plan will focus on making the line feel complete, do certain sub-sets take priority over others? For example, is releasing the rest of the Horde considered more important than releasing the Snake Men… or finishing Princess of Power more important than rounding out New Adventures?

Mattel: The only faction that may fall short by 2015 is finishing all of the vintage New Adventures secondary characters. Everyone else, including major animated figures will be the focus. Not guaranteed, but we will make that the focus if we get a 2014 line. And it doesn’t mean 2015 is the end of MOTUC. We can always round up MIA New Adventures figures in 2016 and beyond.

Kastor’s Korner: Have there been discussions about flight stands for Swift Wind or the Griffin? They both only have flared “flying” wings and standing that way is a bit odd without them flying.

Mattel: It is something we look into but nothing to announce right now.

Elkkthunderstoyroom.com

Do you have any overview over other licensed MOTU products, ie the Funko products?

Yes. Mattel has approval rights over licensed product.

What causes Ram Man to be delayed? Will sales be moved this year if all stock is not available at sale date?

Yes, we will move sales if stock is not available in full to avoid larger issues. Ram Man is still shipping in the first quarter. He is a quarterly figure that while we thought we might sell him in Jan, it turns out Feb. worked better and is still in the first quarter of the year. So he is on time

Is the Club subscription & Early Access pages working as hoped? Are these final or should we see more changes?

We will constantly be making upgrades whenever we can to improve things.

Greatrebellion.org

DO4M asks: Since Tufos came out the left field as a surprise Avion Leader after Stratos dies, can we get some more info on him?

Matty:Well we are not going to reveal that here in the letter column! Keep reading the bios and mini comics!

Arthur asks: We are so thrilled about getting Castle Grayskull!!! Can you give us a little insight about the way this unexpected experiment came to be? Maybe, if you can't share details, tell us who we have to thank for this amazing opportunity (Scott, Ruben, the Horsemen, someone else...)?

Matty: Basically after we did the presale of the Hoverboard we established a selling model to presell items without having to sculpt or design the item in full. This allowed us to lock in needed customers to justify the resources to tackle large items like the Castle.

Jason Lee asks: We got Grayskull and Snake Mountain stands. Any chance we could see Crystal Castle and Fright Zone stands down the road?

Matty: At this point very unlikely. We are putting all of our resources into the figures at this point.

rock.vivien.5 asks: This is not a question but a request for improvement about the Mattycollector.com website. The login form, the "Main Help" and the "my Subscriptions" links should clearly appearing on the main page (index) of Mattycollector.com. It's never easy to get there from my Human Computer Interaction point of view :-) In order to get what info I want, I have to go on the specific page of a random product (One click) , then I have to click on Order History (two clicks), then I have to log in (three clicks), there I have ton click on "Back to Main Help Page" located far away on the bottom of the page (because I got a loooot of orders) (four clicks) and finally on "My subscription page" or "My profile" (5 clicks)... It's 5 clicks and it's a bit to much in my humble opinion. Why not add a "Login" link and redirecting to the "Main Help Page" directly on the main page of Mattycollector.com ? Thanks a lot and keep up the good job!

Matty: We will certainly pass this along.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The sites listed below are the sites who want to participate in the Q&A round-up in these threads and on the He-Man.org homepage news entry.
Be sure to check out their sites! There's a lot there to see in addition to the Q&As.

http://www.planeteternia.de/
http://www.kastorskorner.com/
http://www.facebook.com/hordak.de
http://www.maitresdelunivers.org/
http://www.infinitehollywood.com/
http://www.he-man.de/
ElkkThunders Toy Room
MOTUClassics.com
MOTULA.org
http://www.preternia.com
www.mintconditioncustom.com/
greatrebellion.org
toyhypeusa.com
musclor.org

All other sites haven't gotten back to us yet about participating, or have asked not to be included which we completely understand and respect.
So, please do not post the actual questions and answers from any site not listed above.
But you are welcome to post a direct link to their Q&A, and discuss the info here in this thread.

Thanks!

[The All American]

Good news about the line for 2014 and 2015. I think many of us could live without New Adventures secondary characters, if the line ends. Obviously, the more the merrier, but we definitely need to see the vintage MOTU and POP lines sured up first!

[Tundra_Torque]

Good news about the line for 2014 and 2015. I think many of us could live without New Adventures secondary characters, if the line ends. Obviously, the more the merrier, but we definitely need to see the vintage MOTU and POP lines sured up first!

I thought that this answer was promising, too. TG says nothing is guaranteed - but we knew that with 2013 too - but it sounds hopeful. Bring on the rest of the Horde!

[motu77]

I thought that this answer was promising, too. TG says nothing is guaranteed - but we knew that with 2013 too - but it sounds hopeful. Bring on the rest of the Horde!

I like this answer too. I love NA but I would rather see the rest of the POP, Vintage and Filmation figures released first.

[shadowfall1976]

Mattel: One of the issues with white is that bright white tends to look unfinished on plastic product. When translating the Horsemen sculpts to an articulated toy, the design team often needs to make choices and one of these is to use an off white to stand in for bright white. In the end this is a design choice and made on a figure by figure basis. We will certainly pass your comments along!

Why don't you let us decide what looks unfinished or not, instead of the team with that crap ass track record since Ruben took over?

[Mr_Yuck]

As revealed in Mini Comic # 3, he absorbed Hordak's essence and in doing so also had his memories. Learning of the might of the Horde Empire, Skeletor decided to leave Eternia for larger conquests.

Ugh. I hate this as part of the bios. Hordak is not an essence to be absorbed. He's the freaking Ruthless Leader of the Horde!!! Instead, I'd like to think that after suffering defeat during the Ultimate Battleground, Skeletor realized in order to seize Grayskull he needs an armada to overpower the combined forces of the Heroic warriors and the Rebellion. Vowing to take control of the Horde, Skeletor leaves Eternia in the hopes of usurping control of the Horde to then return and take Castle Grayskull for himself.

[MegaGearMax]

Not surprisingly, New Adventures is always coming up last.

[swind15]

Sounds like the Great Rebellion will eventually all materialize on my wall.

[Orko's Magic Hat]

Good news that all the major characters will be out by end of 2015 if it continues. I'm a fan of NA but unfortunately it is the least popular. Hopefully we get the major players out of NA though - Hydron, Flog, Mara, Crita - maybe Darius and Tuskador too.

[Brian Ozone]

I hope this line goes strong for years to come.

[Niki]

YEAH for Princess of Powers, sounds promising.

NOT HAPPY about New Adventures secondary characters....whoever those are? Are those characters who came in the second wave or characters who have no JETLAG origin or no real background stories?

[Shecky]

I assume he's referring to guys like Kayo, Vizar, & Spinwit. I remember Spinwit had one centric episode, but I don't recall Kayo or Vizar really showing up until the end of the series. Who knows though, I'd love to have these guys as figures nonetheless .

Regards,
Victor P.

[Tundra_Torque]

It is sad that NA always gets the short end of the stick. I could do without Vizar, Kayo, and Nocturnal, but there are so many others that have good designs or are intriguing characters. I keep hoping for Master Sebrian, Crita, and Spinwit.

[orbles]

I am glad for the more up beat answers. TG has to realize that he is like a coach. You don't go into half time, down by 14 points and talk about how there is always next year...if we all still have a job. LOL. He needs to always promote the line and talking positively. Maybe he got some coaching from his boss. Or, just saw how his down beat tone was affecting the morale of the fans. Anyways, great to hear that things could be done by 2015. We really need to keep this line alive. I want to see a "full" collection on display in my toy room. If they can get as many of the interesting NA characters as they can, then I will be satisfied. I still cant believe we do not have the leader of the Mutants yet. Isn't he the only faction leader we are missing?

[Crusader]

The only faction that may fall short by 2015 is finishing all of the vintage New Adventures secondary characters. Everyone else, including major animated figures will be the focus.

Good news!!! No more worrying about getting hit by NA characters. The subscription is safe again

[Niki]

I am glad for the more up beat answers. TG has to realize that he is like a coach. You don't go into half time, down by 14 points and talk about how there is always next year...if we all still have a job. LOL. He needs to always promote the line and talking positively. Maybe he got some coaching from his boss. Or, just saw how his down beat tone was affecting the morale of the fans. Anyways, great to hear that things could be done by 2015. We really need to keep this line alive. I want to see a "full" collection on display in my toy room. If they can get as many of the interesting NA characters as they can, then I will be satisfied. I still cant believe we do not have the leader of the Mutants yet. Isn't he the only faction leader we are missing?

NOPE!

Glimmer is the Leader of the Rebellion, even if Adora is titled as leader in the Great Rebellion in MOTUC.

[King Tamusk]

Kastor’s Korner: Design recently revealed using a PMS cool gray to color characters using white like She-Ra, Captain Cold, Teela, Adora, Zodac, Adam, Frosta, etc. With the obvious fan backlash, in the interest of following the Horsemen’s paint master, can the use of PMS cool gray please (and finally) be discontinued in favor of white?

Mattel: One of the issues with white is that bright white tends to look unfinished on plastic product. When translating the Horsemen sculpts to an articulated toy, the design team often needs to make choices and one of these is to use an off white to stand in for bright white. In the end this is a design choice and made on a figure by figure basis. We will certainly pass your comments along!

Bubble Power She-Ra didn't look "unfinished".

[Count Marzo]

Why is Mattel racist towards white plastic?

[csc0709]

NOPE!

Glimmer is the Leader of the Rebellion, even if Adora is titled as leader in the Great Rebellion in MOTUC.

I strongly disagree with this. She was temporarily a leader in "Secret of the Sword" while her mother, Queen Angella, was prisoner of Hunga. Once Angella came back, the leadership went back to her, the Queen of Brightmoon. Adora became the sole leader of the Great Rebellion after joining the rebellion. At least that is how it was on the cartoon.

[bamf1980]

Whatever they did with She-Ra 2.0/BP She-Ra, that's what I want in MOTUC when a figure needs to be white!

[MegaGearMax]

YEAH for Princess of Powers, sounds promising.

NOT HAPPY about New Adventures secondary characters....whoever those are? Are those characters who came in the second wave or characters who have no JETLAG origin or no real background stories?

POP is easier to do. 13 characters left, 2 of them are small scale characters (Loo-Kee and Kowl).

I assume he's referring to guys like Kayo, Vizar, & Spinwit. I remember Spinwit had one centric episode, but I don't recall Kayo or Vizar really showing up until the end of the series. Who knows though, I'd love to have these guys as figures nonetheless .

Those are the bottom of the list characters from NA. Since the Galactic Protector human characters aren't as appealing and some of them weren't focused upon in Jetlag, characters like Kayo, Nocturna and Vizarr might not make the line, if it dies before 2015.

- - - Updated - - -

Good news!!! No more worrying about getting hit by NA characters. The subscription is safe again

The secondary NA characters might not be coming, but you'll still have to worry about the major ones such as Flogg, Hydron and Jetlag cartoon characters such as Crita. I hope TG considers Sagitar as a major NA character.

NOPE!

Glimmer is the Leader of the Rebellion, even if Adora is titled as leader in the Great Rebellion in MOTUC.

I thought it was Angella. Glimmer seemed to relinquish leadership once her mom came back and Adora joined.

[Scorpia]

Bubble Power She-Ra didn't look "unfinished".

Agreed. I'd love someone to challenge them on this issue because BP She-Ra looks infinitely better than She-Ra 1.0. And Frosta seems more grey than any of the other characters - is it definitely the same colour?

[Haephestus]

"Mattel: The only faction that may fall short by 2015 is finishing all of the vintage New Adventures secondary characters. Everyone else, including major animated figures will be the focus. Not guaranteed, but we will make that the focus if we get a 2014 line. And it doesn’t mean 2015 is the end of MOTUC. We can always round up MIA New Adventures figures in 2016 and beyond."

Wow. I can't even imagine that by the end of 2015 I could have all of the following in my collection: Glimmer, Angella, Mermista, Double Trouble, Peekablue, Castaspella, Sweet Bee, Flutterina, Spinnerella, Perfuma, Entrapta, Sea Hawk, Kowl, Lookee, Madame Razz and Broom, Mantenna, Horde Troopers, Scorpia and Vultak. That would be incredible. Absolutely incredible!

[Barezz]

My understanding is that Glimmer was the original leader of the Great Rebellion. I think the GR formed up after Bright Moon's fall. When Adora joined, Glimmer stepped down as leader, passing it to Adora, and resumed her place as Princess of Bright Moon.

With her training and knowledge, Adora was much better suited to the roll.

[Skystalker]

My only question is, is there a sure list of secondary NA characters? I don't really know much about NA, but I do want them all in my collection. I would think primary characters not yet released would include Hydron, Flogg, Master Sebrian, Crita, Drissi, Darius, and maybe Sagitar. I hope we get Artilla for sure as well (if the design is good), as well as Nocturna (I like the color scheme) and Tuskador. I want the Space Mutants as well, though the guy with the antlers is not my favorite. Anyway, I do hope they ALL get made in time!