1. Is there any hope of reviving interest for MotU inside Mattel?

Yes, a number of people at Mattel still feel strongly about Masters. But we are not actively working on or focused on it right now.

2. Is Mattel actively seeking a DVD distributor for the Mike Young
Productions MotU series?

Most definitely. We still have high hopes for a release of the new Masters cartoon on DVD.

3. What, if anything, can you tell us about the MotU movie being
directed by John Woo?

Unfortunately, there's nothing to report on this at this time. Sorry.

4. If such a movie became a reality, would Mattel look at reviving
action figures and/or other merchandise? Would new figures be the
existing line or a completely new direction?

Absolutely. We would develop a full program of toys and licensing behind any new entertainment venture for Masters.

5. Are the action figures on hiatus or cancelled?

It depends on if you consider "on hiatus" to be the same as "cancelled."
For us, it is on hiatus until something else happens in the future for Masters.
It's difficult to say if the new line is cancelled because a new entertainment avenue for Masters (such as a new movie) may allow for the return of the 2001 toy line and/or cartoon in some fashion. So we don't like to rule anything out.

6. Mattel reps have mentioned the possibilities of selling directly
to fans via a collector's club, what, if anything, could be done by
the fans to make this a reality?
Monetary investments? Sponsors? Please, we want to know.

Different departments at Mattel handle different duties for a brand.
The combination of investments and sponsorship behind a Masters specific Collector's Club is something that would require multiple departments, as well as company resources. It would be a significant event.
So, I'm afraid we couldn't provide any answers on this. Sorry.

7. Many fans would still like to know "what would have been". Can you
release any photos, sketches, designs, or plans that were in the
works but did not see the light of day?

There was a script that was created for episode 40 of the new Masters cartoon. **He-man.org note: An earlier interview with Mattel Entertainment's Ian Richter also revealed this might be a DVD extra if a DVD release of the new cartoon ever happened.**
This was for the first episode of season 3. But since ratings never reached the mark needed to keep the show going, it never saw the light of day.
We had high hopes season 3 would happen, hence the multiple open ended plot lines at the end of Season 2.
In terms of photos, sketches, designs and plans, there is nothing we can reveal to the public. Most of what you'd see has already been revealed by the Four Horsemen with their new 6" statue line, though.

8. The toy line continued internationally for a while and seemed to
do fairly well. Is Mattel looking at continuing the line
internationally because of this? What about the cartoon series for
the rest of the world?

We don't have any plans to continue these internationally in the immediate future.
If anything happens, it would be reviewed for a worldwide release which includes the US.
The new toy line did very well in certain countries, but those sales were not strong enough to pay for the development of more cartoon episodes.

9. Is Mattel still offering MotU as a brand for licensing to other
companies (for merchandise such as books, apparel, etc)?

Currently only to NECA for the Four Horsemen's busts and statues.

10. Does Mattel agree with fans that the over-abundance of He-Man and
Skeletor versions and variants caused the demise of the line? Batman
and Harry Potter appearing to struggle in the marketplace also
supports the bad case ratio theory.

Variants were never a problem in terms of sales.
Only some case mixes were an issue, primarily Smash Blade He-Man and Spin Blade Skeletor.
Through various reliable means, we found out too far into the release of the Masters line that there was more Collector appeal than Child appeal.
But our business is a Child appeal business, and sales from this demographic were required to keep the brand strong as Collectors only make up a portion of toy sales in mass retail accounts.
Batman is currently having no struggles. And we feel that collectors can now agree that we now do a good job managing case mixes (see Justice League).

11. Does Mattel plan on using the hype surrounding the
highly-anticipated "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" classic
cartoon series from Filmation to launch any other MotU merchandise?

We have no plans for this. Sorry.

12. Any plans for the commemorative series? And how well did the perform?

There are no more plans for the Commemorative line.

13. Will the success of the Four Horsemen/NECA 6" statue line have
any baring on Mattel's future plans for the brand?

No, it will have no baring. Not without Entertainment to help reach a wider audience.

14. Is it possible to get a finale to the 200X cartoon series for a
direct to DVD release?

There are no plans for this. Sorry.

15. We had already heard of Mattel's plans for a Snake Mountain play
set and a Windrader vehicle. How far did those plans progress?

Snake Mountain did not get far past discussion.
Wind Raider made it all the way to model. No photos of the model are available.

16. Would Mattel consider making the MYP series Bible available to fans?

We'll look into it, but we can make no guarantees at this time. If the new series comes to DVD, this might be a possibility.

17. Can you tell us any answers to mysteries left hanging in the new
cartoon? Were Randor and Keldor related? Who really was Teela's father? etc

We have no plans to reveal this, as we still have hopes for the future of this brand and we don't want to risk revealing any potential story lines.

18. Retailers (specificly Toys 'R' Us and Wal-Mart) explicitly stated
that MotU product they had ordered was not provided by Mattel during
2003. Toys 'R' Us representatives even sited this as a reason for
dropping the line. Could you explain what happened?

This isn't true.
As a whole, the brand did not sell enough to be of significant interest to retail accounts.
We can't speak for individual stores, where Masters may have had more success than others.
It all goes back to the retail account as a whole and how they ordered the product from us.

19. Mattel stated at the 2003 summer Conventions that above retailers
were supportive of the Snakemen branch of the toy line, and yet many
did not receive/stock them. Why?

Please see the previous answer about how retailers ordered product.
In the spring of that year, retailers were supportive of the release of these toys seen at the convention. But then when sales figures were analyzed that summer from previous assortments, retail accounts no longer supported the release of those figures.

20. After the over abundance of Smash/Spin blade He-Mans and
Skeletors, what took Mattel so long to correct the problem?

It takes time for these kinds of problems to be fixed.
When we fix assortments, we still have to wait for retailers to sell through previously ordered assortments.
We also adjusted ratios for new upcoming assortments, but still had to wade through the preorder, production, shipment and then sales cycle that had already taken place for the next wave.
It takes about a year from the time ratios are fixed until you see the fix widespread in retail outlets.
This is why the assortments later on were better ratios.

21. if Mattel is not interested in producing any more MotU action
figures, why not allow NECA and the Four Horsemen to do so for the
collector's market that Mattel has little or no interest in? Fans
are privy to the knowledge that NECA was even willing to leave the
packaging devoid of their company name and present it as a Mattel
toy, which seems extremely beneficial to Mattel.

NECA has been great to work with. The license they currently hold is what we ended up agreeing on.

22. If Mattel has no more interest in continuing toys for the MotU
brand, why not have loosened the restrictions on the MotU comic to
keep the brand alive in another capacity?

We still had plans for cartoon entertainment for the brand. In order to preserve those plans, we did not want to move forward with other plans in other entertainment areas.

23. Many fans report potential customers were never aware of the new
MotU revamp. Is Mattel aware that advertising for this line was less
than effective? Do they plan to address this with other lines in future?

We had a significant budget for advertisement which was utilized to the fullest.
But it goes beyond advertising. It had more to do with ratings of the cartoon show and how that reflected on toy sales.

24. What, if anything, has Mattel learned from this experience?

Never develop a case-heavy Smash Blade Batman or Spin Blade Superman. ;-)