2008 NYCC - Masters Of The Universe

Scott Neitlich, a production manager with Mattel, lead the He-Man panel at the New York Comic Con today. The presentation served a two-fold purpose. First was to showcase the upcoming release of the DVD for volume three of the 2002 Masters of the Universe cartoon that was shown on Cartoon Network.

The first volume of the series is currently available. Volume two is set to be released in May of this year. The third volume featuring the final episodes of the series is due in July, 2008.

Mattel has had discussions about finishing the main story line of that series in some other format, such as a DVD release or perhaps a comic book. The collector fan base of that series is large and loyal, but the cartoon never really found a broad juvenile market so Mattel was not able to continue it.

The upcoming live action He-Man movie is still in the script development stage so there is no announcement about that.

The new MOTU toy line that was announced at SDCC last year will be independent of the movie and any possible new cartoon. The line is called Masters of the Universe Classics. The first wave will be released in the Fall of 2008. No specifics were mentioned as to the character assortment of that first wave. It would be hard to imagine a He-Man line without He-Man, though.

Before that line actually hits retail, there will be a figure available as an exclusive for the San Diego Comic Con this summer. That figure is . . King Grayskull. There will also be a variant of Grayskull as a statue, the form Prince Adam first saw him in.

The entire He-Man universe is open to character selection with a few exceptions. The only figures Mattel can't produce are any that were original and exclusive to the Filmation cartoon. As long as a Filmation created character was also used in some other medium, Mattel has the rights to make a new figure from it. Let Orko fans rejoice.

This new line is aimed at collectors, though it will have wide distribution. There are no action features. There are no plans at this point for vehicles or playsets. Those would depend on fan response. Since there is no movie or TV show support to draw attention to the line, it will be completely fan driven. Where it goes depends on retail sales.

For those who enjoyed the old mini-comics that came with the original figures, Mattel is considering releasing those in trade paperback form.

The new figures are designed by the Four Horsemen and are in scale with the other line they are designing for Mattel, DC Universe Classics.