Updated: Limited Edition MOTU ART BOOK at SDCC - Official Discussion

[Staff Of Ka]

The Book looks stunning, but Im happy to see if the re-print surfaces! I also just decided to stay in bed on the day He-ro hits Matty (@ 2.30am AU time) because its pointless me even trying to get Him on that day, the Red screen of Death and mattys hideous Smug face will be up all day!
Ill wait for Ebad the next week, and see how I do!

Cheers AJ

(ps my partner just read the thread, and he isnt a MOTU fan, but he summed it up perfectly by saying its a **** you to people for not living in San diego!)

[Heidi]

Now I am super-annoyed at Mattel aswell. Really, distributing something like 100 copies of that book through he-man.org would have been the proper thing to do IMO. If I had the back-bone, I'd start boycotting MOTUC toyline. But I don't. So self-loathing, here I come.

And I can totally understand why some people are steeming over this. This is something that many fans have been dreaming about for years or decades and now it is put out as an exclusive in SDCC? It just feels like a corporate slap in the face. Also it is kinda hard atleast for me to understand the motives for why they are doing it this way. Most of the MOTU-fans are unable to reach the convention, so who is their target audience with this book?

But, this book will go to the long list of things that I wish for a birthday or a christmas present.

Heidi

[hhhelmsley]

Yeah, even if I'm biased for obvious reasons, this sounds like a logical move.

Make it an exclusive on Matty or with us on He-Man.org maybe.
This book is for the fans.
Not generic fans. This books is for people that have loved He-Man since 1982 and loved MOTU ever since (I'm not forgetting who came in later, it just sounds better to say it that way )
Yeah, people like me, Eamon, Val, and many many others woderful members of this great community.
People for which MOTU is not just an hobby or a passion but a permanent part of their life.

This book should be a tribute not only to the art of the creators, but also to this loyal group of people around the world the keep up He-Man success and memories.
Most of these people are here.

It just sounds like a no-brainer.

Mind, you, I'm not attacking Mattel, or Toyguru or any of the people attached to the project.
I'm sure they did everything possible and they had to do compromises.
But I also understand fans not privy of all the legalities and I feels thats a point where the communications with Mattel has a company fails.

Sometime Toyguru has to give certain answers because that's what the company allows him to do.
I think the problem is that Mattel, while making big steps ahead, still isn't truly able to communicate with adult collectors and uses the same corporate speking they use with parents.

But that's kinda OT.
If there was nothing else possible, fine, let's make 1000 copies.
But the fans want them. Give them straight to the fans here or on Mattycollector.

Awesome!!!

[wolfsfang]

I have never ever liked the idea of exclusives because it really is like those of us who can't make it to these cons for whatever reason, be it money, work, family or the fact we live in another country, it is like we are being punished. All our long years of being loyal fans and we get kicks in the teeth like this with Mattel dangling something in front of us that most of us have been waiting for ages for and being told

"Ha you can't have it because you didn't come to SDCC"

I say enough with exclusives as they just create bad blood between those who couldn't get them and those who could and feel the need to flaunt this fact

[JKM]

What the fans expected:

- Hardcover
- 200 pages
- available at Amazon (worldwide)

What Mattel offers:

- Softcover
- 53 pages
- only 1000 available at SDCC (and eBay)

Disappointing.

[hhhelmsley]

$50 for a 53-page, soft cover book??? Is that numbered foil stamp solid gold or something?

I think a piece of the original Power Sowrd.

[A.J]

Isnt time for the org to get a deal with Mattel and open up a list like they did last year in order to get some SDCC exclusive to us THE real he/she-fans?

Oh, and ENOUGH with exclusives this year Mattel!

[Mosquitor87]

Oh I've wanted something like this for a very long time. What really ticks me off is, they are only making 1000 copies.

[Mike Bock]

This is something so AWESOME that it hurts! I really want one. This is so freaking cool. How am I gonna get one!?

[tenno]

You know, I believe that Mattel will see some of this annoyance and make the book available in a different version. It doesn't suit anyone to only have 1000 available ever. Everyone gets paid more if more are available, and such a small limitation only turns more fans away.
So, Mattel, right after your little SDCC exclusive, give the rest of us some hope here!

[TheFallen]

I am hoping people are so annoyed about the availability of this exclusive that they wash their hands with MOTUC for the next couple of months so I have no problem getting the next few releases on Matty Collector

[enlightenedbray]

I think it's disgusting how Mattel, the creators of Masters of the Universe, have been so limited to what they can and can't do.

[jhoward]

I know this is going to sound sarcastic.. and it is actually.
I enjoy a lot the fact that I can log in many online shops every two months, and order the nlatest volume in this series of beautiful Transformers books: Transformers Generations and get them delivered to me from Japan, with no stress at all.
All official, full of toys, production art, catalog scans, interviews, etc.

Really not a fair comparison, though. 1) MOTU's fanbase doesn't even begin to rival Transformers. 2) Transformers stayed in the public eye for years while MOTU faded into the background and 3) This is still coming from Japan, not the US, where things like that are generally more common. Hasbro themselves have certainly never released a Transformers artbook.

Apples and oranges.

[Angel-T]

I got to say I really feel Mattel have let us all down here. Many of us have been faithfully supporting MOTUC & crying out for something like this. For Mattel to release this book as a SDCC exclusive at only 1000 units feels like another slap in the face, all in the same week as the killer blow for many 2K fans. I will try to get it on ebay but it's very unlikely I will be successful. I have to say "bad form Mattel"!!!! Is our money not good enough TG? Even giving a token offer of 100 books for the org to sell to fans through some kind of raffle system (your name comes out of the hat and you have the chance to buy one deal) would have eased the anamosiety many fans are now feeling.

Whats next... a nice price increase for figures and shipping in the Fall? The one thing Mattel seems to know how to do perfectly is annoy the heck out of the fan base! I feel very disheartned with the whole sorry business. I have had a guts full of Mattel and their current attitude. Thank god for the 4H but for how much longer can their presence keep evening the scales up. Matty & TG at the moment are looking and smelling like the old Mattel, that never listened to fans & didn't really care what the fan base thought.

You better have some bloody good figures waiting to debu at SDCC to make up for the ill will you have been fostering from the fan base (IMO) over the last week. Much more blatent disregard of the hardcore fan base will start to lose you customers soon (IMO).

[Lay Ze-Man]

Well, if Mattel Legal doesn't see fit to sort things out to be able to get these in the hands of ALL of the fans that want one, it's their loss.

What could be thousands of extra dollars in the MotU coffers just went *poof!*
What could be thousands of happy MotU fans across the globe just went *Booo!!!*

And totally agreed that half should've been reserved for the .org or Matty.com.
That is a no brainer, indeed.
Hmm, maybe another "legal" snafu?

I'll just look forward to enjoying the hi res scans of the entire book shortly after SDCC in the comfort of my own home, for FREE.

[Bulkhide]

Really not a fair comparison, though. 1) MOTU's fanbase doesn't even begin to rival Transformers. 2) Transformers stayed in the public eye for years while MOTU faded into the background and 3) This is still coming from Japan, not the US, where things like that are generally more common. Hasbro themselves have certainly never released a Transformers artbook.

Apples and oranges.

You are exactly right about TF's being more in the limelight and not ever really faded. And TF's have a much, much larger fanbase than MOTU, but that doesn't mean it's a better quality fanbase.

But you are wrong, Hasbro released a Sketchbook last year with art from the Cybertron, Classics, Animated, and Universe toylines.
Here is a link to said Artbook: http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/p...il&picture=out

[KingRandor82]

Y'know, while I do want one, I'm not going ga-ga over it like everyone else. Why, you ask? I already have a piece in my collection that I consider absolutely priceless, and it didn't cost me a cent: original scans of the MOTU retail catalog shown to buyers at Toy Fair, sent to me back about 10 years ago by Mattel.

These scans are the most valuable piece to me in my collection...and they didn't cost me a cent.

Yeah, I want the concept art, but it just won't top this for me.

I want He-Ro more, too. And Eldor.

[carlo]

Okay, I've been getting PMs about getting a book for someone here.
It's not going to happen.

I'm gonna feel lucky to even get one for myself, and I'm not standing in line twice for it.

IF I get an extra while I'm there, it will be at my discression as to who I'd give/sell it to.

Please do not PM me about it. The answer will be no.

I don't mean to be rude, just being realistic.

Again, I really hope I can just get one for myself, I won't be there until Friday.
I like many of you have long awaited something like this, I love the fact that they're doing it. I'm sure it'll sell out, and we can all hope for a second, larger printing at some point.

wow.. how rude

[wallbie]

If it's day one and you're in line, don't be surprised you don't get one when you're 167th place in line. I'm guessing per line means per day. This is going to be really tough to get. Guess I'm really out on this one. I just finally got a King Grayskull and now this comes around. I'm like some of you, I hope I get to see the complete contents of this thing in my life time.

[adol]

Only 1000? And a convention exclusive? Who thought this would be a good idea? I sure hope there is a reprint.

[GrtEternal]

I don't care how much it is, I'm still getting it one way or another! On this, I command!

[MyBroGotAllMyFigs]

they only said that there will be 1000 numbered copies(collector items), not that only 1000 copies are going to be made

Read again: "For a variety of legal reasons we were restricted to only create this book if we kept it as a limited edition."

It can ONLY be printed as a limited collector's item. That was 1000 copies max. It can't be anything else than that. It can't be mass-market print. It had to be made as a limited edition only, or not be made at all.

[onthoofder]

It's the way this new Mattel sells things...it makes a huge buzz about it by making it RARE.

Think about it...we're getting up in arms about a BOOK. Were we ever like this about Val and Emiliano's comics? Roger Sweet's book? Probably not. We could get them at our leisure so it wasn't as imperative. But nowadays??

Since it's limited to 1000, this book has your undivided attention. The marketing strategy works. 1000 guaranteed sales due to how rare the book is sure to be. We'll probably see eBay listings soon.

Resellers and other collectors buying these things puts pressure on people to buy this thing NOW. It worked for making DC Universe Classics and MOTUC successes. (Imagine WWE next year...)

I don't think it's the 1000 that draws the attention, a book like this is just awesome since the box-art of the vintage toys has been one of the most marvelous pieces in the motu world.

To me this is more exiting than He-ro ... and yet I 'm doomed to go pay hard cash for one on evil-bay....

a big letdown, eventhough it's just a book.... it's one I' ve been waiting for a long time

[Mr. Shokoti]

What the fans expected:

- Hardcover
- 200 pages
- available at Amazon (worldwide)

What Mattel offers:

- Softcover
- 53 pages
- only 1000 available at SDCC (and eBay)

Disappointing.

True dat!!!

[Bulkhide]

I assume Toyguru's been reading all this (or at least skimming). How do you percieve it?
Will it have any impact on future books?
Does it show what most fans really want outside toys?
Or is this just another case of fans not being satisfied?