NYCC 2009: MOTUC & Other Mattel Online Exclusives Panel

by Jay Cochran
February 07, 2009
Today at the 2009 New York Comic Con, the folks from Mattel reveal new details for theit Masters of the Universe Classic line along with other online exclusives they will be offering in 2009. Mattel's toy designer Bill Benecke and marketing brand manager Scott Neitlich along with the Four Horsemen are on today's panel.

- MOTC, Ghostbusters, DCUC – all by 4 Horsemen

- Retail space limited in most stores, often devoted to movie lines, Matty lets Mattel get wanted product to the fans such as single figures instead of waves with definite release dates

- Everything on Matty is an exclusive. Any future releases will be different.

- New 2-packs every quarter

- Retail wouldn’t take He-Man at this point so Mattel went ahead with online sales

- Merman comes with both heads

- Merman, Zodak, Hordak, Man-at-Arms with 2 heads, dagger, blaster and staff an maybe a bonus accessory

- Tri-lops aug 15th

- Ghostbusters – the 12 inch body is patented and the Movie Masters will expand beyond GB.

- Peter and Zedmoore done but not approved so can’t show. There are plans for a giant Stay Puff Man monster.

- Matty is working on allowing a subscription program to allow combining orders to save on shipping. Figures could either be sent once a year en mass or automatically regularly each month.

- 12 inch GB will be $60, 6 inch $20.

- MOTC is selling very well so Mattel is looking at expanding the line.

- No plans for polling fans for the 2 packs yet, but it’s a possibility.

- He-Man mini-comics may be re-released as a graphic novel.

- Matty ships internationally and a foreign distribution center may be opened in a particular country if there is enough sales there. Germany, for instance, as exhibited a high demand.

- The 2 packs might include a C&C figure over the year of 4 releases.

- There will be a DCUC at SDCC exclusive that will be “amazing” and “cool”.

- There will be some Skeletors available at SDCC. If he is offered online again, there will be some change to the packaging, but the figure will be the same. -- A re-release would probably be at least 8 months after the first run.

- King Greyskull will probably be re-released though with a different, less impressive packaging.

- The He-Man SDCC exclusive may also have a chase variant.

- Fuzzy Mossman will be fuzzy. They’re talking about scenting him, but it’s unlikely.

- Princess Power and New Adventures are available to be included in this line.

-A director has been signed for the feature film. More animation, either straight to DVD releases or on TV is possible.

- Battlecat will happen – in 2010.

- More female characters planned for 2010.

- Panthor won’t be far behind Battlecat. He may be flocked in purple.

- There is still no access to original Filmation characters.

- He-Man works for Mattel cost wise because they can reuse the molds. That makes characters like Modulok hard to do.

- If the movie happens and there is retail support, then characters like Modulok can happen.

- Accessory packs with repainted accessories for the lines are possible. Tooling a new weapon costs as much as tooling part of a figure.

- If a toy breaks after it’s sold out, you may still be able to replace it as Mattel keeps 3% of all products for replacements.

- Man-at-Arms should be the first figure with packaging protection to keep the blister intact.

- Future DCUC 2-packs will have more esoteric , obscure in the future, things that might not have as much broad appeal at retail.

- All 4 Horsemen work together on all the lines. Movie figures take a lot longer than DC figures. The work on the lines happens fairly simultaneously. The sculptors move back and forth.

- Thundercats is not available for Mattel at this time. They are interested in doing the line though so they will pursue it.

- This version of Zodak will come with his gun. A future version may have his staff.

- The 30 inch Monitor for SDCC is hand made and hand painted. He is too expensive to tool.

- Playsets for Infinite Heroes are being considered.

- If GB sells well, they may do a 3 ¾ line.

- The 4 Horsemen try to balance articulation and the character’s look. It’s also done as needed, as with the Green Arrow’s baled wrist joint.

- MOTC will focus for the initial version of a character on his original style, with re-releases having more modern paint schemes.

-JLU may have a Lobo figure released on Mattycollector. Matty can have characters that might be inappropriate for retail.

- Two MOTUC female figures will be released in the next year. The second one will be released in January 2010.

- There will be an unpainted proto-type later in the convention.
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Comments...

Last 10 comments - ( Read All Posts )
CaptainTriumph - 2009-02-17 @ 5:48 am
man ! those figures are just awesome !!!! Im sooo happy ......

I totally agree, they are awesome. But then they should be for what they cost.

synch - 2009-02-17 @ 2:30 am
The only way I'll be buying that Teela is if it does come with a head to make her look like her 2002 style. The original one looks way too silly to me.

Well with merman they have both heads... so I don't see why they can't with other figures

I wonder what would Ram-man look like, he'll have a unique sculpt but I know he isn't going to be bigger what he was.

No matter what its hard to top the original with that one ...

azrael23 - 2009-02-09 @ 2:39 am

I wonder what would Ram-man look like, he'll have a unique sculpt but I know he isn't going to be bigger what he was.

shokker - 2009-02-08 @ 11:34 am

the only issue i have with them is scale. i mean if the 200x line showed something, that villains like beastman or clawfull are better a bit higher and bulkier then others.

BigBot84 - 2009-02-08 @ 8:46 am

The only way I'll be buying that Teela is if it does come with a head to make her look like her 2002 style. The original one looks way too silly to me.

Bigsexy94 - 2009-02-08 @ 6:34 am

I admit I always like but didn't buy too many of the 2002 line. My brother bought almost all of them an we repainted a lot of them andthey are all amazing figures, for the most part I must say. But aside from He Man, Skeletor and a couple He man Staction figures (classic color scheme and battle armor He Man, which I love by the way) I never got into getting the rest of them, my brother tayed pretty loyal to them getting almost all of the Stactions now too and all are still on display with the Castle of Grayskull.

But with the coming of this new line, I have to say that it's my favorite line since the SOTA Street fighters were going strong. I for one love the fact that they are 80s based. Thats the reason I love the line I think despite the fact that I'll admit the 2002 designs are way cooler, the nostalgia factor and the great quality despite being overpriced is what draws me to this line. Its like when I look at them I see an exact replica of what I had when i was 5, but am amazed at how much better they actually do look when i look at pictures of the old figures. It's like my imagination filled in the gaps of detail and awesomeness and now at 25 years old, these figures actually reflect what my imagination compensated for at 5.

Furthermore, not only are they 80s based they are 80's FIGURE based which differ quite a lot from the Filmation cartoon look. Even better for me. I'm not quite sure which was first, He Man or Star wars but I do know that He-Man and all the figures I owned preceded my other childhood obsessions of Ninja Turtles and Batman. These figures were the coolest thing imaginable as a kid.

I love how Mattel is bridging the gap between the classic figure look and the classic cartoon look such as the alternate heads for Man at Arms and Mer Man. and accessories like the half swords are such a cool homage to the original line. I have to say though that I wish they went further with the alternate pieces, i.e. Skeletor with looser fitting hood ala cartoon look and peices that can snap on the other side of Man at arms legs and arms to match the cartoon look.

Teela is an interesting case. She had the Egyptian snake like headdress on the old figure which had the normal head underneath like the cartoon. I see Mattel sculpted that look, but due to the headdress, she won't have the collar like she did in the cartoon. But what makes her look even stranger is the pieces that extend on the front of her outfit, like the 2002 look and it appears her head crown underneath her headdress protrudes further down her forehead than either the old toy or the cartoon crown did. The alternate 2002 head is pretty cool yes but I'd rather a simple headdress-less head like the cartoon as an alternate head seeing as it doesn't seem like that one is removable like the old toy.

Also as in I am to this line I still do plan on skipping out on figures. Stratos was never all that cool in my eyes and is still not a figure I ever owned or plan to own, same goes with Zodac. I was going to skip Faker but he's pretty cool and I went to NYCC so i picked him up/ But Mer Man, Hordak, Teela and Tri Clops will all be mine. I know Stratos is somewhat important but I never had an affinity for him. That being said if they ever get to other obscure characters like Jitsu or Rio blast I'd get them in a heartbeat becaue I had their figures as a kid.

azrael23 - 2009-02-08 @ 5:42 am

I don't think you have to worry about this line performing well on a month to month basis. The

line can only go up and if they keep with the great quality and huge roster then I'm sure collectors

will anticipate each release. Faker will be one of those characters that sells out fast.

gojira77 - 2009-02-08 @ 5:04 am

I have to keep in mind that "super-posability" (to use a word from Toy Biz) is an action feature, and that all of the figures we've seen so far only used that lame spring-in-waist feature originally. I'm not really sure how I'll feel about a possible Mek-a-nek w/o an extending neck. Flocking Moss-Man and Panthor sure does a lot to put me at peace, though.

It was a huge surprise to see three new, incredible figures, as well as the proto-type for Teela w/ Pre-Filmation Sorceress Costume. I'm glad to finally see how they will be handling classic armor on the new, more articulated bucks. It's a shame that Man-at-arms' left arm piece will limit his use of that arm (at least while it's on), but I'm not sure they could have done much else to preserve the classic look. I'm intrigued to see how they're adapting the old hard shell armor to Hordak-- soft PVC upper shell like MAA over a smoother new torso. I suspect we'll see this approach replicated with characters like Mek-A-Neck, Fisto, and Jitsu, as well as possibly Battle Armor He-Man and Skeletor. I'm sure fans will be just as excited about these new figures as they were with the first three (provided that they got He-Man and Skeletor the first time or have a game plan to get them later). I just hope that Stratos and Faker also perform well, even if they don't sell out in 12 days. The line needs to continue to do strong on a month by month basis.

azrael23 - 2009-02-08 @ 2:20 am
It's like the whole line is basically designed on the original line, taking almost all its cues from the '80s, and yet that's still not good enough for some people. And I just don't understand that line of thinking. I'm a MOTU fan, not an '80s MOTU fan. There's room for all eras.

Sorry to rant, but that attitudes really bugging me.

My sentiments exactly. I'm also noticing how many fans are still complaining about the 2002 line which has been

discontinued for what? over 5 years now? I mean seriously Granted I understand how many fans have their

different opinions, but complaining is complaining. Mattel is really doing a good job in their approach by making this

almost a blend of both the 80s and 2002 line and if you're a MOTU fan then it shouldn't be a problem with this, like you

said, there is room for all areas.

Another thing I'm noticing are the ones that stood on the sidelines, the ones that still had sour grapes about the 2002 line

being skeptical of this new relaunch and waited right down to the last minute to make up their minds on whether or not

to jump on board, and now that He-Man sold out and commanding high ebay prices, these same ones are now complaining

that Mattel didn't make enough As that saying goes, you can't please everyone, but this type of attitude is getting redundant.

Eric - 2009-02-08 @ 1:21 am

These figures are definitely awesome, but one thing that's bugging me is all the fans that complain about them having any influence other than the original line.

On another board, people are complaining that Teela might have a second head that's based on the 200X Teela. I saw another post that was complaining about Hordak's staff, saying it was too 200X-ish.

It's like the whole line is basically designed on the original line, taking almost all its cues from the '80s, and yet that's still not good enough for some people. And I just don't understand that line of thinking. I'm a MOTU fan, not an '80s MOTU fan. There's room for all eras.

Sorry to rant, but that attitudes really bugging me.

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