1.) If the DC vs. MOTU packs sell well at Toys ‘R Us, would Mattel consider introducing more MOTUC product at retail?
At this point, at least in 2010, the MOTUC vs. DCUC two-packs will be the only way to find MOTU at retail.
2.) Given the immediate success of a larger MOTU item like Battle Cat, is there any possibility we might see some Mattycollector-exclusive larger items for DCUC, such as vehicles or large rotocast figures a la Tytus? (more…)
I get a nice break from the hell of ordering from Mattycollector this month, but for those of you who don’t, use this thread to document your experience.
Don’t forget that aside from the flocked ears/unflocked ears Moss Man, there’s also the Stratos reissue, DCUC 12 boxed set, and Movie Masters business suit Scarecrow.
I’m guessing that aside from the inevitable sell-out, the ordering process will be very smooth this month, with minimal screen-of-death.
I don’t have the best history with Battle Cat.
When I was six years old, my cousin (who was also my childhood best friend) received a Battle Cat for his birthday. I didn’t have one yet, and being a selfish little brat, apparently, I sulked through the whole party about it. My parents learned their lesson, and the following Christmas my cousin and I both opened Battle Rams courtesy of our respective aunts and uncles.
To be fair, I had no problems getting the 200X Battle Cat, though I don’t recall whether I bought him at a store or online.
But we all know what happened last month.
I loved the original Battle Cat toy. I think even then, part of me knew it didn’t quite fit with the rest of He-Man–that it was a re-use of some other toy, and its immobile body was odd compared to the human figures. On the other hand, the colors were eye-catching–the stuff of psychedelic 1960s sword-and-planet fantasy–and the mask gave the figure a ferocious look.
I didn’t like the 200X Battle Cat* very much, mostly because of the armor. The new mask lacked the distinctive bird-of-prey look of the vintage version, the little paw-covers fell off all the time, and the mounted guns were ludicrous. I think even the hardest-dying of diehard 200X fans have to admit MOTUC Battle Cat has it all over his 200X counterpart. (more…)
PGPoA art director MechaShiva whipped (ha!) up this spud-tacular rendition of a MOTUC-ized Mr. Potato Head for PGPoA Power Pal PrfktTear. Totally tuberoid, dude. I’ll stop now.
Most of us thought the MOTUC weapons pack was going to be $15, but apparently it’s $12. I bet those $3 make a huge difference to the wafflers. I smell another sell-out.
They’ve also added a page for Evil-lyn and pushed the sale back to April 19.
Mattel unveiled She-Ra’s packaging on their Facebook page yesterday.
Here’s the bio:
Channeling the combined Power of the Universe and the Wisdom of the Elders of Eternia, Adora transforms into She-Ra, the most powerful woman in the Universe. Her strength comes not from brute force but from sheer will and her cunning magical powers and healing abilities. She also has the power to communicate telepathically with animals. As both She-Ra and Adora, she helped lead the Great Rebellion of Etheria against the Horde invaders. Later, when Hordak found an escape to Eternia, she followed him along with several of her friends and allies. Once there, the Princess of Power joined forces with her now-renegade Masters of the Universe, who without King Randor, had become outcasts in their own land, fighting against Hordak’s new tyranny!
Wow. That’s a lot more history than I think we’ve seen revealed in any of these bios–renegade Masters? No King Randor? Hordak ruling Eternia? It sounds like they’re borrowing from the Horsemen’s original concept for the 200X storyline, where Skeletor had the Power Sword and the heroes were in exile, fighting a desperate rebellion.
Hollywood Heroes posted this great scoop on the He-Man.org forums–the prototype card back for Eldor. I’d kill for an Eldor in MOTUC (all fantasy realms need a bearded old wizard), so I hope this helps inspire Mattel to get around to him.
As some of you know I represent many former Mattel engineers and designers. We recently found this while cleaning out a storage room inside one of the client’s homes.
Here’s what the text on the back of the card says:
The Book of Living Spells contains the ultimate secrets of Preternia – the Secrets of Transformation. Thus, whenever Eldor opens it, he can uncover all the secrets of the past, present and future Eternia – AND CHANGE IT! For nothing on Preternia stays the same – as you will soon see!
As someone in the He-Man.org thread pointed out, this could be an amusing way to explain all the different MOTU canons…I sincerely do hope we get an Eldor in MOTUC.
Scott Neitlich, a.k.a. ToyGuru, has been pretty chatty over on the Mattycollector forums lately. Here are a few tidbits:
Responding to a question about the card art for Wun-Dar and Trap Jaw, and whether we might see a re-release of the minicomics:
The Wun-Dar art was new, the Trap Jaw art came from a vintage source.
We are looking into way to re-release the old mini comics, but not as pack-ins with the figures. Stay tuned.
If it turns out to be a trade paperback edition of 5,000 copies sold only at SDCC, I will not rest until I have made Mattel dread the name “Poe Ghostal.”
Mattel has provided an update on the Mattycollector.com release schedule for the next few months.
Toy Fans,
We do our best to plan when products will be released, but sometimes the production and delivery gods have other ideas. We’ve been doing a bit of the release date shuffle lately and thought it would be helpful to print our complete schedule through June:
March
MOTU Classics: Stratos (re-issue)
MOTU Classics: Moss Man – Flocked Ears
MOTU Classics: Moss Man – Unflocked Ears
(Club Eterniaâ„¢ monthly figure)
DCUC Wave 12 Boxed Set (Darkseid)
The Dark Knight Scarecrow
April
MOTU Classics: Wun-Darâ„¢ & Map of Eternia
(Club Eterniaâ„¢ subscribers only – items not available for sale)
MOTU Classics: Hordakâ„¢ (re-issue)
MOTU Classics: Evil-Lyn (Club Eterniaâ„¢ monthly figure)
MOTU Ultimate Battle Ground Weapons Pak
Ghostbustersâ„¢ 12″ Peter Venkmanâ„¢
The Dark Knight Batman (Night Vision)
May
MOTC Classics: Mer-Man (re-issue)
MOTU “Oversized”: Tytusâ„¢
MOTU Classics: Optikkâ„¢ (Club Eterniaâ„¢ monthly figure)
Ghostbustersâ„¢ 6″ Walter Peckâ„¢ (with containment unit)
The Dark Knight: Two-FaceJune
MOTU Classics: Faker (re-issue)
MOTU Classics: She-Raâ„¢ (Club Eterniaâ„¢ monthly figure)
DCU JLU Lobo
Ghostbustersâ„¢ 6″ Peter Venkmanâ„¢ with SlimerAs always, these dates are subject to change, but we’ll let you know as soon as we know if anything changes.
Happy collecting!
—Matty
The only news here is the April Hordak reissue and the June Faker reissue. I imagine the latter is the more exciting reveal for many people.
