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NYTF 2010: Mattel - Masters of the Universe

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13 comments posted
I had the eyeball guy (my

I had the eyeball guy (my only He-man figure). He was from the late 80's revamp line where they made it into a space show.

VZMK2's picture
Posted by VZMK2 on 18 February, 2010 - 14:15
I love MOTU and wish I could

I love MOTU and wish I could collect it, but it seems really odd to me to market it along with DC characters. Ironic also that I'd never even heard of Tytus until the other day and there he is being re-released.

"You can't sell it until you get it from him, but you gotta sell it to pay him to get it to sell it".
---Jerilock, talking about me trying to raise the money I need to pay for the toys I already bought....

NekroDave's picture
Posted by NekroDave on 18 February, 2010 - 14:47
The connection between MOTU

The connection between MOTU and Superman, tenuous as it might be, is that the first appearance of MOTU in comics was in an issue of DC Comics Presents, which was a series that teamed Superman up with a different guest star every issue, and Superman would team up with He-Man to fight Skeletor for some reason or other I don't recall (I have that issue somewhere...). Later, MOTU would get their own mini-series, but I suspect sales weren't too great since DC didn't do any more issues, although IIRC, MOTU would soon end up as a series from Star Comics (Marvel's line of children's comics). Much later, new MOTU comics came out from some indy publishers.

turk
--
The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.--Bertrand Russell

turk96's picture
Posted by turk96 on 21 February, 2010 - 15:55
Whoa, Titus is coming back?

Whoa, Titus is coming back? He was an Italian exclusive. Too bad that he's not at all interesting compared to Megator, his evil counterpart. Too badder that Megator wasn't ultimately too interesting, either.

Monkey man is respectable, but Optik! A new Optik! Shit yes, I will be hungry for the funny robot eyeball man.

jacksauce's picture
Posted by jacksauce on 18 February, 2010 - 15:06
Yes- Titus

I have a very large MOTU collection mainly all vintage stuff. I do have some of the re-imagined new toys as well. Those new sculpts were done by some guys in my hometown- Muncie Indiana. I have the Italian only release of the other giant- Megator. I would never drop $2,000 for an original Tytus- so this re-vamp version looks like a GREAT alternative to the super rare original.

Grandzinga....

Grandzinga's picture
Posted by Grandzinga on 18 February, 2010 - 15:10
A Lex Luthor/Skeletor combo

A Lex Luthor/Skeletor combo pack? I don't really see the relation, but my love of supervillains prevents me from complaining.

ZA's picture
Posted by ZA on 18 February, 2010 - 19:41
I'd love to be excited about

I'd love to be excited about this,since MOTU were some of my favorite figures as a kid,
but this line is really just a way for Mattel to show how much disdain they have for their fans.

For those who don't know,here's the deal. Mattel leaks pictures of these awesome sculpts for months,then each month,1 character goes on sale a certain day at twelve noon. By one PM that character is sold out. They do not restock them. The figures cost 28 dollars apiece (six inch action figures!) and often times have QC issues.

---------------------------------------------
A master of mind control who hides inside a Ford Pickup

kidnicky's picture
Posted by kidnicky on 18 February, 2010 - 21:34
EXACTLY

So glad you brought this up.

At $28 a piece these are way too much money for what you get.

They are cool, but most of the hype and interest seems to be only because they are "rare" and tough to get outside the US.

It seems like this line is just so they can guarantee that MOTU makes money until they re-release these figures at retail in a few years. The last MOTU at retail was not such a money maker after the 1st year.

The Big R's picture
Posted by The Big R on 19 February, 2010 - 10:42
Aw, it's not that bad! I've

Aw, it's not that bad! I've been with this line from the start and I don't have any QC issues. It seems like a lot because the people that are happy with what they get don't speak up, so the ones with QC issues are the only ones people see.

I agree with how friggin' hard they are to get, though once again, I haven't had any problems. As for the price: when you consider how limited they are (which, by now, due to the popularity, they shouldn't be this limited) and then take into consideration the price of toys constantly going up...well, for specialty figures, that's not a bad price! The problems come in with EVERYTHING else Matty does to screw the fan over. You get a subscription, but you have to buy the bonus figure separate, making two separate shipping charges.

Hm...am I for these or against them? I guess I'm trying to say that, since I was with it from the start, it's easy to continue. I just don't know how these business practices are still bringing in new fans.

Alexx's picture
Posted by Alexx on 19 February, 2010 - 10:55
When you begin to thing

When you begin to thing about it, four of these MOTU figures are the same price as a Soul Of Chogokin figure.

Just by making a few thousand more of He-Man and Skeletor, and by offering them constantly on matty.com, MOTU could not only be more popular (if there's more people buying into the 2 main characters, more fans buying the rest?) but far more profitable.

I just remember that Mattel cried and cried about how MOTU wasn't popular, wouldn't make them money, and how no one wanted Marvel Legends type, classic styled MOTU. The 2nd biggest toy manufacturer on earth then cried about how they couldn't make money on new figures.

The profit margin on these figures is insane, and I think it's a little crazy to spend so much money on these toys. There's no way there isn't a 200%+ profit margin on these toys or Mattel would never even make them in the 1st place.

If I was a MOTUC collector, I would be super pissed about the DC Vs. MOTU sets, because back when all of these figures originally came out Mattel cried about how they couldn't reissue them, and now look. And those sets are basically 100% instant cash for Mattel. They could be $7.99 each set and sell horribly, and Mattel would still make a nice profit.

If these were $9.99, then this wouldn't be an issue. But they're "limited edition" so that gives them the "right" to charge a lot more. I am always suspicious about a "limited" or "limited edition" product without stated production numbers. Tell me how many there are so I can judge how much to pay.

Again, remember that four MOTUC figures cost the same as a Soul Of Chogokin toy. And that's only if you bought them online at retail price, otherwise it's a lot more. For the price of two MOTUC figures, you can buy a nice minty loose set of complete main characters from the original 80's MOTU figure line. When 2-3 figures new at retail cost way more than nice vintage originals, then it's a little crazy...

The Big R's picture
Posted by The Big R on 21 February, 2010 - 14:01
MOLAR!!!

holy crap molar from robot chicken, hell yeah!

jzorn's picture
Posted by jzorn on 20 February, 2010 - 11:56
MOLAR?!? I didn't even

MOLAR?!? I didn't even notice until you pointed it out. That's cool. Won't buy one, but still cool.

seraph2011's picture
Posted by seraph2011 on 21 February, 2010 - 16:52
The problem with the whole

The problem with the whole limited thing is that it only drives sales towards scalpers and people who want 'limited things' instead of 'MoTU figures'. After the 2000 line tanked, I can understand why Mattel approached this second line more cautiously, specifically aiming it towards the adult collector market that appreciated the first relaunch. I'm inclined to assume that a mass-market line would do even worse today... and that more of the current line sales are due to flippers than you'd like to think. Releasing edition numbers would only make it worse, but it does seem like more could be made for each release. Then again, playing it safe has, so far, caused the line to be a major collector hit that sells out every release and must be doing quite well for Mattel at its current level. Right now, no company wants to be stuck with any lingering product if they can avoid it.

http://prometheusrising.wordpress.com

Prometheum5's picture
Posted by Prometheum5 on 21 February, 2010 - 16:53