Origins: General News

[Lasastard]

I noticed this board is missing a general discussion thread for Origins, so here we go.

[Orko's Magic Hat]

So it looks like the forthcoming waves are:-

Mini Comic Trap Jaw
Anti Eternia He-Man
Clawful
Horde Trooper

Whiplash
King Randor
Mantenna
200X Skeletor (I hope this is Disco Skeletor)

[Lasastard]

That wave really gets me excited! Whiplash was a childhood favorite, and I never had a Randor. Clawful is a must have of course, and Mantenna..well, Mantenna I could live without. But nice to see they are doing more Horde characters. Makes me hopeful for a Leech!

[Fanbase0000]

As a kid in the 1980s I had Whiplash, Clawful, and Mantenna. I can't wait to get all 3. I never owned the Horde Troopers or King Randor as a kid but I will add them to my Origins collection. My current plan is to buy 6 retail Horde Troopers to go along with the 2 colored ones in the Power Con exclusives 4-pack.

[Lich Leech]

I'm looking forward to Whiplash and King Randor a lot, hopefully they don't mess with their designs too much.

[Zenshift]

Soooooo excited for Whiplash. Hope his tail turns out okay.

[merman78]

Was the possibility of a new Battle Ram in the origins line ever mentioned? I sure hope so....that was one of the only vehicles I actually had as a kid.

[Drunken Fist]

Hopefully we'll get a Battle Ram in 2022! With how reuse-happy Mattel is, I'm sure the idea of reusing the already-released Sky Sled is very appealing. The Battle Ram and Talon Fighter are my favorite MOTU vehicles, so I really hope we get both before the line begins to wind down!

[Stygian360]

Scott "Toy Guru" is back at it again with a new video talking about lines going to clearance. In this video he specifically calls out Origins going on clearance recently as a sign the entire line is in danger. Seeing Origins He-man & Skeletor on clearance recently (since those are typically the only Origins figures that stick around) does give me pause though, as this is typically a sign that the entire line is done. Someone in his comments section mentioned that this was only He-man & Skeletor though and that they have their own SKU (which I believe is the case), but he responded that they all answer back to the same line SKU.

This makes me wonder why Mattel keeps saying Origins is doing really well for them when the line appears to be all but dead at Walmart. Target is continuing to plug along decently w/Origins, but they get in new waves so seldom they might as well not exist at all. In fact the only thing Target seems to continually refresh is Masterverse and with that only wave 1. How long before Target follows Walmart's playbook and starts to clearance out all He-man product, Origins & otherwise? I see Origins & Masterverse product sitting with only the latest Origins deluxe waves getting snatched up. The odd thing though, Mattel keeps showing us future waves of Masterverse and Origins, but if no major retailer will be carrying their product... how are they going to be selling it?

Scott has been stating the obvious and I've backed him up much as I'm loathe to, that He-man product just isn't catching on with kids. I'm grabbing whatever hits pegs or online but I'm counting the days until the brand gets shuttered again pending a new movie. The disconnect though is why Mattel keeps telling us the brand is doing really well when reality doesn't seem to align.

[Lich Leech]

Hopefully we'll get a Battle Ram in 2022! With how reuse-happy Mattel is, I'm sure the idea of reusing the already-released Sky Sled is very appealing. The Battle Ram and Talon Fighter are my favorite MOTU vehicles, so I really hope we get both before the line begins to wind down!

I'm hoping they will redo the Sky Sled on a full Battle Ram release so that it better matches the vintage toy, but that's probably wishful thinking.

- - - Updated - - -

Scott "Toy Guru" is back at it again with a new video talking about lines going to clearance. In this video he specifically calls out Origins going on clearance recently as a sign the entire line is in danger. Seeing Origins He-man & Skeletor on clearance recently (since those are typically the only Origins figures that stick around) does give me pause though, as this is typically a sign that the entire line is done. Someone in his comments section mentioned that this was only He-man & Skeletor though and that they have their own SKU (which I believe is the case), but he responded that they all answer back to the same line SKU.

This makes me wonder why Mattel keeps saying Origins is doing really well for them when the line appears to be all but dead at Walmart. Target is continuing to plug along decently w/Origins, but they get in new waves so seldom they might as well not exist at all. In fact the only thing Target seems to continually refresh is Masterverse and with that only wave 1. How long before Target follows Walmart's playbook and starts to clearance out all He-man product, Origins & otherwise? I see Origins & Masterverse product sitting with only the latest Origins deluxe waves getting snatched up. The odd thing though, Mattel keeps showing us future waves of Masterverse and Origins, but if no major retailer will be carrying their product... how are they going to be selling it?

Scott has been stating the obvious and I've backed him up much as I'm loathe to, that He-man product just isn't catching on with kids. I'm grabbing whatever hits pegs or online but I'm counting the days until the brand gets shuttered again pending a new movie. The disconnect though is why Mattel keeps telling us the brand is doing really well when reality doesn't seem to align.

Everything that isn't evergreen disappears off the shelf within hours, so I don't think the Origins line is in danger (Masterverse seems to stick around longer). If He-Man/Skeletor (Origins) are on clearance, I hope that means that the new 2.0 versions (with vintage heads and full swords) are going to be in stores soon.

[anytimepally]

This makes me wonder why Mattel keeps saying Origins is doing really well for them when the line appears to be all but dead at Walmart.

Perhaps that's true for the Walmarts you visit but is not true everywhere. My Walmart got in several cases (at least 5) of Wave 5 just last week.

[Stygian360]

My Walmart got in several cases (at least 5) of Wave 5 just last week.

Mine did as well and they've all disappeared likely into the hands of collectors, so not sure it's an apples/apples comparison in saying that He-man & Skeletor going to clearance means the entire line is sinking, but it bears thoughtful consideration that only the new stuff sells (again to collectors). I'm just reading the tea leaves and seeing that all of the He-man lines attempting to co-exist in a market where children aren't snarfling up product on par with Beyblades or Fortnite is not a good sign. Sure collectors are buying up cases of Origins when the new stuff drops, but kids aren't buying up He-man & Skeletor which are the intro figures for the line. I guess what I'm saying is, this line can't survive at big box based on collector buyers alone. Kids need to care and I'm just not seeing that. Maybe you are in your area, but from what I've been hearing since the line first dropped in March of this year, the intro characters are collecting dust.

Perhaps I'm wrong and Mattel doesn't care if kids buy Origins and Masterverse, but I'd think eventually they have to start buying or both lines are going to be online only because big box won't carry them. If they don't eventually do business at the level of Transformers, Hot Wheels and Barbie it will all goes away. That's just reality.

[cminc]

Perhaps that's true for the Walmarts you visit but is not true everywhere. My Walmart got in several cases (at least 5) of Wave 5 just last week.

I'm not sure the toyguru faithful are interested in any kind of reality apart from the one scott pulls for clicks, dude.

According to scott, who isnt even in the industry anymore, every toyline that finds itself in the clearance aisle is doomed. DOOMED!

So, we'll just have to get along as collectors with no more transformers, marvel legends, star wars black series lightning collection, wwe elites and basics, no turtles, neca OR motu anything. Its all over cuz scott said, guys. It must be true.

Of course, he also said mattel having motu stock in their own stores was bad for the line. He then went on to say that them having no stock on shelves at all was worse.

[Durendal]

Scott "Toy Guru" is back at it again with a new video talking about lines going to clearance. In this video he specifically calls out Origins going on clearance recently as a sign the entire line is in danger. Seeing Origins He-man & Skeletor on clearance recently (since those are typically the only Origins figures that stick around) does give me pause though, as this is typically a sign that the entire line is done. Someone in his comments section mentioned that this was only He-man & Skeletor though and that they have their own SKU (which I believe is the case), but he responded that they all answer back to the same line SKU.

This makes me wonder why Mattel keeps saying Origins is doing really well for them when the line appears to be all but dead at Walmart. Target is continuing to plug along decently w/Origins, but they get in new waves so seldom they might as well not exist at all. In fact the only thing Target seems to continually refresh is Masterverse and with that only wave 1. How long before Target follows Walmart's playbook and starts to clearance out all He-man product, Origins & otherwise? I see Origins & Masterverse product sitting with only the latest Origins deluxe waves getting snatched up. The odd thing though, Mattel keeps showing us future waves of Masterverse and Origins, but if no major retailer will be carrying their product... how are they going to be selling it?

Scott has been stating the obvious and I've backed him up much as I'm loathe to, that He-man product just isn't catching on with kids. I'm grabbing whatever hits pegs or online but I'm counting the days until the brand gets shuttered again pending a new movie. The disconnect though is why Mattel keeps telling us the brand is doing really well when reality doesn't seem to align.

You put way too much stock into what Scott says. He's irrelevant.

[anytimepally]

If they don't eventually do business at the level of Transformers, Hot Wheels and Barbie it will all goes away. That's just reality.

Hot Wheels and Barbie are terrible comparisons for MOTU. They are the dominant properties in their fields. And yet, at least for Hot Wheels (I am unfamiliar with Barbie competitors), both Target and Walmart carry competitor brands that sell significantly less.

[Orko's Magic Hat]

Doesn't most stuff get clearanced these days? I've seen Star Wars, Marvel Legends and Transformers clearanced all the time, not to mention a whole load of McFarlans DC line.

Yet new product always pops up.

[Brasco]

My local Walmart moved all He-man and Skelly’s to clearance last week. If they’re evergreen why would they do that?

[yeahthatsme1973]

Scott has been stating the obvious and I've backed him up much as I'm loathe to, that He-man product just isn't catching on with kids. I'm grabbing whatever hits pegs or online but I'm counting the days until the brand gets shuttered again pending a new movie. The disconnect though is why Mattel keeps telling us the brand is doing really well when reality doesn't seem to align.

Scott said about MOTUC: ALL LINES MUST END. Remember that? It had all kinds of doom and gloom feel at the time. But then it didn’t end.

He will keep saying the Origins line is ending until one day it does and then tell everyone he told you so. THE SIGNS WERE THERE IF YOU HAD ONLY LISTENED. His doomsday talk probably gets him the most amount of clicks on his vids.

[zodak74]

OMG can someone please just give ToyGuru a new full time job so he doesn't have the free time to make these garbage hot take videos. Coming to the forums and seeing what his latest videos are going on about when I'm trying to avoid his "the line is ending, MOTU is dying, Mattel doesn't know what they're doing/worst employers EVAH" drivel is a bummer. For the love of Orko, just leave him on Youtube and stop dragging his nonsense in here

[depp76]

OMG can someone please just give ToyGuru a new full time job so he doesn't have the free time to make these garbage hot take videos. Coming to the forums and seeing what his latest videos are going on about when I'm trying to avoid his "the line is ending, MOTU is dying, Mattel doesn't know what they're doing/worst employers EVAH" drivel is a bummer. For the love of Orko, just leave him on Youtube and stop dragging his nonsense in here

THIS.

[classic]

i dont think theres a single toy line that doesnt hit clearance.
marvel legends is hugely successful and popular yet i buy figures ALL THE TIME for 50% off. its actually the only way i collecte legends at all.
mcfarlane dc stuff is always on clearance and yet they keep making more and more.
look at star wars, i know that line has tons of issues, but getting canceled isnt one of them. those figures constantly hit discount retail chains and get clearanced at like 70% off.

[Smitty.81]

https://toynewsi.com/241-40419

Some new images of Clawful, Anti-Eternia He-Man and as I posted before the Horde Trooper.

Sent from my SM-G981U using Tapatalk

[jibernish]

Mine did as well and they've all disappeared likely into the hands of collectors, so not sure it's an apples/apples comparison in saying that He-man & Skeletor going to clearance means the entire line is sinking, but it bears thoughtful consideration that only the new stuff sells (again to collectors). I'm just reading the tea leaves and seeing that all of the He-man lines attempting to co-exist in a market where children aren't snarfling up product on par with Beyblades or Fortnite is not a good sign. Sure collectors are buying up cases of Origins when the new stuff drops, but kids aren't buying up He-man & Skeletor which are the intro figures for the line. I guess what I'm saying is, this line can't survive at big box based on collector buyers alone. Kids need to care and I'm just not seeing that. Maybe you are in your area, but from what I've been hearing since the line first dropped in March of this year, the intro characters are collecting dust.

Perhaps I'm wrong and Mattel doesn't care if kids buy Origins and Masterverse, but I'd think eventually they have to start buying or both lines are going to be online only because big box won't carry them. If they don't eventually do business at the level of Transformers, Hot Wheels and Barbie it will all goes away. That's just reality.

I know Scott says this over and over, but I'm starting to doubt him. There are tons of collector only lines out there, and so 1. Toy Companies do care about us or else why would they make these things? 2. There are plenty of other toy lines aimed at kids that are shelf warming too. So I think the numbers needed to justify a line being sold at big box have been exaggerated.

But in any case, I don't care if they are big box so much as I just want to get them. If that means online only, so be it.

[Stygian360]

Doesn't most stuff get clearanced these days? I've seen Star Wars, Marvel Legends and Transformers clearanced all the time, not to mention a whole load of McFarlans DC line.

Yet new product always pops up.

Certain line SKU's, yes, but not the entirety of the available product they have for a given slice of time for that property. For instance; Star Wars may clearance off Constable Zuvio from Black Series, but that would be product from one movie and one iteration and doesn't necessarily mean all Black Series are being axed going forward. Origins doesn't quite function this way as it's more of a general release 'retro' style figure and isn't part of a movie or TV show. If that line fails to attract kids you would have a harder time slicing off Origins from the rest of the MOTUC product on shelf. Case in point, I'm seeing at my local Walmart not only Origins figures going to clearance but brand new CGI He-man and the Masters of the Universe figures. I'm sure my store is an anomaly, but it seems like a wide sweeping 'paint brush' is being used because to big box He-man is He-man. The only outlier appears to be Masterverse, which is not going to Clearance as far as I've seen. Perhaps this is because the line is too new and hasn't had nearly a full year like Origins to sink or swim, or because as some have theorized Origins and the host of other MOTUC product were merely placeholders for the eventual plan of installing Masterverse permanently, but who knows.

Folks, I get that you all don't want anyone to listen to him. I can't argue that he definitely thrives on stirring the pot by using trigger phrases and topics, but sometimes even a broken clock is right 2x a day. I personally love Origins, CGI Netflix He-man and Masterverse... heck I even like the Mega construx MOTU... but you've got your head deep into the sand if you can't see something isn't healthy about Origins. I want more product, I do, but it doesn't seem long for this world. OK, nuff said.

[jibernish]

You were heralding the end of Origins many months ago. Since then the following have been announced:

Buzz-Off
Stratos
Sorceress
Jitsu
Horde Trooper
Clawful
AE He-Man
Sun-Man
FF He-Man
TC Skeletor
Stridor


And the following are rumored (the rumors have been true so far with other waves):
Skeletor, 200x
Mantenna
Pighead
Whiplash
Digitino
Trap Jaw
King Randor

And Mattel themselves said they have no plans on ending the line any time soon (though I know you can't necessarily hold them to that).

I'm not saying you are wrong, it could end tomorrow. But we do not know what is going to happen. You can't go by what Walmart does because each store can do their own thing. Some Walmarts were clearancing Castle Grayskull many months ago, before other stores ever got any. And now Targets are getting them in. My Walmart hasn't gotten ANY of the CGI figures in, yet some are clearancing them out. Whatever happens at any particular Walmart or Target is garbage data.

I will agree with you, something isn't healthy. But I personally don't think you can attribute it to any thing in particular. There are issues with manufacturing, shipping, and distribution (retail). The problem might not be with sales, it could be with those other 3 areas. It's all a mess and you can't judge what is or isn't on the peg at any particular store or clump of stores and predict the future.