1.) Now that the subscription seems to have become the primary business model for MOTUC (as opposed to the monthly sales), would you consider offering a second 2010 subscription for the latter half of the year? I suspect many fans who wavered the first time might jump at the chance now.
The 2010 subscription was a one shot deal. We’ll be selling the 2011 Club Eternia subscription over July and August in 2010. Act fast!
2.) MOTUC Portal asks: Where did the classic Trap Jaw art featured on the bio of the MOTUC packaging come from? (more…)
It’s finally here! The big day fans have been waiting for since Trap Jaw and Battle Cat were first announced. Remember, there’s still just an hour and fifty-nine minutes to participate in my Get the Sell Out contest.
Last year I reviewed two of Spy Monkey Creations’ custom weapons, the Master Blade of the Empyrean and the Witching Blade of Ruination. Both were designed for use with Masters of the Universe Classics and other fantasy-themed lines. Now SMC is back with another weapon, the Blade of the Demon King! (more…)
It would be impossible and way too much work for me to cover all the awesome stuff coming out of this year’s Toy Fair. The awesomeness seems to be hearkening back to the good old days of the early 2000s…anyway, instead of trying to list everything, I’m just going to hit the highlights of the stuff I’m excited about. But feel free to use this as the catch-all Toy Fair discussion thread.
Masters of the Universe Classics
Of course we start here. We’ve had hints and suggestions of all the stuff that was revealed, but frankly, I was never really 100% sure we were going to see Tytus or, even more insane, Gy-Gor–who looks much better than I’d imagined he would as a Gorilla Grodd repaint. Anyway, the reveals were:
All right, this one’s easy enough. Go through the sales list for Mattycollector next Tuesday and list your guesses for when each MOTU item will sell out. Here are the rules:
Guess the date, hour, and minute each MOTU will sell out (Battle Cat, Trap-Jaw, Man-At-Arms, and the display stands). You can also say “no sell out” if you think it won’t sell out in less than a week.
In the unlikely event of a tie, the winner will be determined by a random drawing.
No entries after 11:59am EDT on February 16 will be considered.
Contest will end a.) on February 23; b.) whenever the last item sells out, or c.) as soon as someone has an unbeatable preponderance of accurate guesses–whichever comes first.
The specific sell-out times will be determined by me, using whatever means I decide to use. If you don’t like it, don’t enter the contest.
At least 10 people have to enter for me to pick a winner–otherwise it’s too easy.
Power Pals are eligible this time, because I’m feeling generous. Only Ghostal family members are excluded.
Winner gets a $25 Amazon gift certificate. Good luck!
In other news I was totally not paying attention to, this month’s ToyFare features the announcement of a two-pack of MOTUC He-Man and DCUC Superman, which will be available exclusively at Toys ‘R Us. Thanks to Newton Gimmick for the scoop. (more…)
You overwhelmingly asked for the ears of Moss Man to be unflocked and we listened… we stopped production of the flocked ear version, made a change, and Moss Man™ will forevermore have unflocked ears. Now, all 2010 Club Eternia™ subscribers will automatically get the version with unflocked ears as their March figure!
But because we produced a small quantity of flocked ears before making what’s called a “running change,” we will sell both the flocked-ear and unflocked-ear versions as separate items on March 15th. That means there will be two separate product pages, one with flocked ears and one with unflocked ears, so you’ll need to be careful that you order the one you want. Again, there’s just a small quantity of the flocked-ear version available, and we’re expecting them to go quickly.
Other than the flocking, the figures are identical. Both versions will have an evergreen fresh scent and an alternative 2002-inspired head designed by the Four Horsemen. Your chance at both happens right here at MattyCollector.com at 12:00 noon Eastern/9:00 am Pacific!
—Matty
I’m sure there will be those who complain–for some reason–but I have to admit, this is pretty cool of Mattel.
It’s time for the fourth and final round of Eternian A-Z, or in this case, A-T. Funny that Zodac only made the first poster, while Prince Adam–an action figure of the hero’s mild-mannered alter ego–appears on all four of them. His popularity is definitely a credit to cartoon creators. That, or little boys really wanted a figure of a guy in purple tights and a maroon vest.
This was another promotional poster by William George, released in the final days of Masters of the Universe, probably sometime in 1987. It’s sad that some of the line’s best toys were released months after its doom had been sealed at retail. The big focus here was on the “Powers of Grayskull” concept, which added dinosaurs and avuncular intrigue and all sorts of neat stuff to the He-Man legend.
If you missed the previous posters, here they are:
Almost as long as there have been action figures, there have been variations of action figure characters. But it was Star Wars–with its Tatooine Luke, Dagobah Luke, Luke in X-Wing Outfit, Bespin Luke, Jedi Luke etc.–that proved kids and collectors were willing to buy the same character over and over again. Unfortunately, while the various Lukes made perfect sense, toy companies decided to create completely ridiculous variations of main characters in hopes that kids would still bite. This tendency would reach its nadir in the mid-1990s with the rise of Arctic Batman and so forth, but it still happens today.
But sometimes there’s an exception that proves the rule. Even I can’t deny Battle Armor He-Man had one of the coolest gimmicks ever seen.
It was functional, the designs looked great, and the result was a He-Man figure many kids preferred over the standard version. Mattel even imported the feature into their other famous boys’ brand, Hot Wheels.
When the time came to introduce Battle Armor He-Man (BAHM) into their adult collector-oriented Masters of the Universe Classics line, Mattel had to find a way to replicate the action feature without having to go through an expensive retool process. Their solution was to make three removable breastplates. Some fans were pleased, others not so much.
So the question, then, is this: Is Battle Armor He-Man still cool without his iconic action feature? (more…)
