(Click for a much larger version)
Many fans have lamented the lack of a sword holster on Prince Adam’s back. It seemed odd to me that the Horsemen wouldn’t include the holster, so I asked them about it and they sent me this image of the paint-master. As you can see, the holster was there. The Horsemen say it must have been removed during production; they don’t know why.
This does seem to contradict this statement by Toyguru, but to be VERY clear, I have no idea what the story is or whether Toyguru ever saw this prototype pic. The facts as we know them are that Horsemen did sculpt the holster, and it was evidently removed during production–whether by factory error or as a choice by Mattel, I don’t know.
NoisyDvL5
Nice.
"Wouldja believe it fell off during shipping?"
Good work, Poe! The 4H are indeed innocent. LOL
Crazy
Well played, Mr. Ghostal. Well played.
Mysterious Stranger
*sniff-sniff* Smells like … conspiracy!!!
That should get the boys on the .org going today. heh heh heh
JediCreeper
this is getting odd… so now the left hand isn't talking to the right hand… or something like that.
*sigh* remember the days before the intertubes? how did we get by without knowing we were constantly being screwed over by someone?
Paul
How is that Prince Adam standing up without aid?
Snarf! Snarf!
I see people making anti-mattel anti-tg mini comics with the <del> <del>Toyguru</del> Lt. Spector fig…
I expect "The Holster was an 'anime hyperdetail' and that style is retired." answer.
Shawn
Nice work Poe. next time you get a chance to speak to the 4 H, can you ask them why there wasn't a 2nd helmet-less head sculpt for Zodak. that still bothers me to this day.
Damien
Not really surprising that it was, in fact, Mattel that removed the holster. Probably a cut-cutting measure since Adam was 'just an accessory.'
Whatev. It sucks for those that wanted it, but I honestly couldn't care less since not only will my Adam not even -have- a power sword, but MOST of my figures keep their weapons in-hand anyway.
Too-Man-E-Faces
*facepalm*
Darkspecter
This is SEVERELY upsetting. >:(
Why did this happen? Adora got hers and it's one tool, not two. :S
RageTreb
Ultimately this was one of four things:
– Toy Guru/Mattel lied
– Toy Guru/Mattel doesn't care
– Toy Guru was misinformed
– Toy Guru misspoke
ANY of these reasons ultimately means all the info we get from him could be suspect. Should we be paranoid of everything he tells us? Of course not. But I can't help feeling like this shows only a small portion of a much bigger problem.
By the way, personally I don't give two shits if Adam has a holster or not. It's the fact that we were provided with such blatantly false information that's the problem. It was literally the opposite from the truth, there's no gray area here.
americanhyena
@Shawn:
I'm 99% sure at some point Toyguru said that bonus variant figures would usually be able to afford tooling for either a new head OR a new accessory but not both. If you look at the bonus figures (Goddess, Grayskull, Zodak, Battle Armor He-Man and Battle Armor Skeletor) they all have new weapons or new armor but the same heads. Only Keldor got both a new accessory and new head (and there was a precedent for his acid vial).
PAT
That's what I call investigation ! Really well done !
Replicant
They'll probably include it in a rerelease! Or not.
Cade
I like when mattel tells us something, and then the horsemen show us otherwise.
Marvelous0ne
I guess the sword holder fell into the catagory of 200X inspired and since Matty hates it. They nixed it! Being one who always defending them. I am getting tired of their stupid actions.
Mysterious Stranger
Odds are this is either a factory F-up or a cost-cutting decision made in the initial stages of development. I'd like to believe its the former but its most likely the latter.
Poe – is it too late to add this to the questions for September 1st?
Dlia
whwhaht what? Toyguru lie? Surely you jest!
No, but seriously the guy does get a bit too involved with the fans. He's been going nonstop on the Ask Matty forum answering as many questions as possible to the best of his ability.
Sometimes I think the stress of managing so many lines together seems to get to him. Remember Maniac Mike was originally supposed to take over the DCUC line and then suddenly left Mattel a few weeks after the announcement was made.
Thrawn
I owe the Horseman an apology. Way to go guys. I'm sorry for doubting you.
Now Mattel needs to get me my damn holster along with my Keldor swords.
Scott
Hey, that was my question! I'm famous!
Ok, maybe not…
Barbecue17
Not being funny: That sheath actually very closely resembles the 200x version of Adam, but surely such a minor detail as that would not really be nixed for "anime hyper detail" reasons, would it? It seems like a detail that is just an extension of the original design, but who knows? I'd hate to lose cool little details like this.
Supermanjunkie78
@ Toyguru – BURN!!!!
MacGyver
If we assume that TG's answer was correct based on the the facts that were known to him at that time. Then I could see this as a "upper management" decision and the UM would not feel the need to tell 4horsemen,Toy Guru and the rest of the MOTU team of thier decision. Because the UM's decisions are always correct never are they wrong……….except when it goes against what the fans,the 4horsemen, and maybe Toy Guru.
Mohamad
This must be "The Management's" doing..
Poe
I want to reiterate: I am NOT attempting to call anyone's integrity into question. (And yes, I even went back and edited the post a bit so it came off less harsh. Call it getting carried away with a scoop.) For all we know right now, this could have been a factory error.
I respect Toyguru and I think he does all he can for us fans. I just wanted to set the record straight regarding the Horsemen having sculpted the holster originally.
Mose
The holster must of not cost-out in the end so they had to cut it. Doesn’t bother me much but I can see people getting annoyed by this.
At this point I find it best to taking everything Toyguru and Mattel say with a grain of salt, that way if they say something different down the line I won’t be surprised. Also is it me or did the Mattel higher-ups try to throw the Horsemen under the bus.
@ Paul: I guess him standing up must have been too expensive so they removed that feature in the final product.
@ Poe: I second Mysterious Stranger’s question.
Mose
@Barbecue17:
I guess it all depends on how the higher-ups wiew it.
PrfktTear
Well, this certainly absolves the Four Horsemen, but I’m sure it will direct more ire towards TG and Mattel. Personally I don’t really care whether or not he has a holster. I guess it would have been nice to have it there, but usually if I don’t have the weapons placed in-hand, they’re in my weapons/accessories bin.
Mysterious Stranger
@Poe: So are we too late to add this to the Sept. 1 Q&A? I think this is something that needs to be cleared up once and for all, regardless of who is at fault. The idle speculation will only further "fan-rage" and tarnish Toyguru and Mattel's image even further.
FakeEyes22
I'm glad the 4H didn't miss that detail. It actually makes it a bit worse because it smells like meddling for costs or F ups which are not acceptable for a line that is paraded as a premium.
As a 4H error, I thought it was an obvious goof, but easily forgiven since everything else is so solid. Now I'm irritated.
I don't envy Toyguru lately. As a toy fan, he's got his dream job, but he has to contend with corporate concerns. He can't just say F off to his bosses or make the company look bad. It really seems like things are reaching a boiling point in the fan to Matty relationship.
RM
Good work, Poe!
Very interesting info to have.
Totally sucks that the factory figure was lacking the holster.
Poe
I actually missed the September 1st deadline this time around, so I didn't even get in the questions you asked in my last "Any questions for Mattel?" post. Mattel is very strict with those deadlines. Those questions will be answered for September 15th (if I'm not blacklisted after this, that is 😉 ).
So I couldn't get Mysterious Stranger's question answered until October 1st at the earliest. Someone did ask about it on the Ask Matty forums.
I still think this could be an honest mistake somewhere down the line.
AJ
Frack you Mattel!
If the 4H had not included the holster for whatever reason (potential re-use of the best perhaps), then that was understandable since they are the Masters of the MOTU-universe.
BUT since it appears to have disappeared due to the machinations of Mattel, then that is very annoying and disheartening.
FakeEyes22
By the way, good work Poe!
At this time of great frustration with this line, I think that this is more valuable than a Q n A this time around anyway. I hope this info spreads around and you get credited.
PrfktTear
On 08.19.2010 19.12 FakeEyes22 said:
Exactly, for better or for worse, this is a relationship. We need them to produce our
crackand they need us to buy it. Its a two way street so there definitely needs to be some give and take here & there from both sides. Personally I don't see what the big deal is about the back holster. Would it have been nice? Yes, but it certainly isn't something to go rallying the troops for. How about something important like the QC issues with the loose ankles?Thrawn
PrfkTear wrote:
Right now, I have an Adam with a loose ankle and no sword holster.
I could have had an Adam with a loose ankle and a sword holster.
I prefer the latter, that's all.
You're right that this isn't the most important issue right now, but it's one of those little things that irked me. How many times in Filmation have we seen Adam reach behind his back for his sword?
What can I say? It bugs me.
I wouldn't be surprised if this gives them an excuse to reissue him single carded now.
Harlan Rosen
Killer scoop, Poe.
Between this and the 200X Grizzlor face that will not be, we're starting to build up an archive of "what could've been" when it comes to this line.
dayraven
the issue is not that adam himself needed the back frog (which, for the record, he does indeed need) it's that they dicked the fans dropping a cool 30 bucks a month for these toys out of an accessory that can not be logiced out as "didn't cost out." yes, a new head takes exclusive sculpting and a variety of paint aps, but a back strap of that magnitude would represent a fraction of a cent per figure to produce. w/ a "limited production run" like that which mattel insists on using for motuc, this literally could have represented a bank-breaking investment. the half sword is more expensive to produce, and in the scheme of things, less necessary. it COULD have been a factory error, or it could have been but one more slap to the face of the consumers who are paying quite the premium for a line which so far has only just started to justify it's cost.
the floppy ankles thing is indeed another issue. making an ankle peg of the proper diameter or the hole of a consistant diameter should be a given… at this price point, QC issues should be one off, not a consistant problem. and again, not to belabor the point, but as they've increased the production run now three times (that they've admitted to) but the price point has remained the same, i'm less inclined to forgive mistakes or obvious screw-overs (like the millenium heads) as mattel's profit margin on the line increases.
Leonardo T Dragon
If it's down to a cost issue, I'd have much rather had the back holster/sheath and lost the extra head. Yes, the smirking head is supposedly more Prince Adam than the standard He-Man head but I mostly bought this set for Orko anyway.
As someone who was fortunate enough to visit the 4HM studios back when they were working on the 200x line, I can safely say that I KNEW this couldn't have been an omission on their part. Those guys know MoTU forwards and backwards and work to capture every exacting detail. (You should have seen the two-up wall– the original scale of Beast Man and the Clawful we never got was just AWESOME.)
RM
http://www.he-man.org/forums/boards/showthread.php?p=2518670#post2518670
Thrawn
He sold out, why don't you have plans?
If? You'd love to? Somebody screwed up and this needs to be fixed on the future release.
There are too many ifs and maybes in that response to my liking.
I respect Toyguru for giving us a truthful answer, mistakes happen that's fine. But there doesn't seem to be a very big impetus to correct the mistake though. Maybe that's only my interpretation though.
RM
@Thrawn: They don't have plans to RETOOL adult Adam. Which is entirely different from re-releasing.
Heck, they'd have to re-release He-Ro before Adam anyway, and seeing as that hasn't happened, then we can safely assume that an Orko (with Adam) release is a year or two away anyhow.
Besides, TG does say "I know this is a miss but I’m sure one day we can get around to correcting it, just no plans to announce right now."
Which is safe speak for "We'll fix it on the 2nd go, but we don't know when exactly that will be…"
thrawn
RM wrote:
My point was that he sold out and turned a profit. They should have immediate plans to correct the issue for re-release. There was a lot of weak phrasing in that statement.