Due to unforeseen circumstances, Val had to reschedule for Sunday. Apologies to those who showed up today (Saturday) at 6pm and Val was abscent. Instead, please join Val Staples via his Livestream channel tomorrow, Sunday, May 20th at 6pm EST (GMT -4) as he colors Matt Tyree's art for one of the Roast Gooble Dinner wallpapers. During the session, you can ask Val questions about digital coloring, color theory, using Photoshop and more. You can find out more about Val's colors on his Deviantart page . The Livestream channel is currently limited to 50 viewers. So it will be first come first serve. Please note that advertisements play periodically as you watch. They tend to be loud, so you may want to be ready to lower your volume during ads. :-) If you have any questions about Livestream, please check out their Support FAQ before Monday. Click on the Viewers tab for specific info about watching and participating. We hope you enjoy the show!
Thanks to a Mattycollector.com email sent to subscribers, fans were pleased to discover the newest figure in the MOTUC collection: Mekaneck !
Mattel plans for these reveals to be a new regular benefit for subscribers, one of many planned subscriber surprised that they have in store!
See what the fans have to say about this exciting news HERE !
Episode 09 of Scrolls of Eternia! In this episode your host Jukka takes a gander at the times when Skeletor had his very own Castle Grayskull-playset! See what the fans have to say ! Visit the official page for Scrolls of Eternia ! Follow Jukka on Twitter !
Mattel has sent Pixel Dan a third teaser image of the upcoming Masters of the Universe Classics Mosquitor figure, and it’s the meanest teaser yet. This time, it looks like we’ve got just the tip of Mosquitor’s nose.
From Dan: "If Mattel and The Four Horsemen are trying to drive me insane, they are succeeding." Check out Dan's site at www.Pixel-Dan.com
The Emperor of the Evil horde gets his first ever action figure! Join Pixel Dan for a look at Horde Prime!
Horde Prime goes on sale on June 15, 2012 on MattyCollector.com !See what the fans are saying and join the disucssion on the forums! Be sure to visit Pixel Dan daily for more toy videos and commentary at www.Pixel-Dan.com !SUBSCRIBE to Pixel Dan on YouTube so you never miss a video!FOLLOW Pixel Dan on Twitter for general toy talk!
Mattel has once again provided answers to your questions. Thanks again to them for taking the time to answer these! Check out their answers to your Round 79 questions! This round of questions were selected by MOTU_Maniac . Thanks to those fans for their help! 1. bigsexy_j : We hear in answers all the time that design decisions of the figures are left up to the 4H. The 4H designed Stinkor with new forearms and put them on the sides they decided they should be on. Why was the decision made by Mattel then to swap the forearms on Stinkor and change the design of the 4H prototype? Is this not contradictory of all the other times we were told that all these decisions are the 4H's and has nothing to do with engineering or safety standards? The Horsemen make sculpting choices (like how many eyes to give Webstor) but it is up to Mattel designers to translate the Horsemen non articulated sculpt into a functional toy and sometimes changes are made for logistical, aesthetic or safety/assembly reasons. The choice to swap Stinkor's arms was made by Mattel design to give Stinkor a little something extra since he reuses so many parts and make him stand out on shelf. Design also changed Horde Prime’s chest form the flat armor lower torso to the muscle torso. Some choices fans may like, others not so much. But at the end of the day the design team makes the final call on the look and functionality of the figures using the Horsemen sculpt as a jumping off point. This has been the same since figure 1. 2. Canada-Man : Would there be a res-use of Ram Man's buck? And would it be in scale with the vintage toy or be a larger buck to be a bigger dude like in the 200x cartoon? We'll have to see when and if we get to Ram Man! 3. Nemisythe : Considering we are starting to see pullbacks on paint applications (for example: Stinkor's weapons and now the Snake Mountain stands) are we going to see this continue on upcoming figures, beasts, etc? The Horsemen often "over deco" figures beyond what we ask for or can afford. We are still delivering $22.00 worth of paint ops on all 2012 figures. Now that figures cost more we have to sometimes reduce deco to keep a figure in cost. In 2013 we will raise prices so we can afford more deco and more accessories. 4. bskcase : Since it is clear that Snout Spout was defective, can we have a re-release of the figure with a solid plastic snout down the line? I think we are owed that. He was not defective. Toys do sometimes break after being played with or posed. If you have a broken toy you can have it replaced by calling customer service for a non broken one. 5. MOTU_Maniac : Is Mattel considering making Tiered Figure Stands that would work for MOTUC figures (like Mattel did for WWE figures)? I just put up new shelves to expand my collection room and I am already running out of room! Tiered Stands would allow fans to have several rows of figures AND the ability to see all of their lovely faces. They seem to have worked great for the WWE figures! A very cool idea. Nothing planned right now but we will see! Check out what fans have to say about the answers to the WTFWTK 2.79, as well as find links to all the previous WTFWTK sessions!
Scareglow was one of my favorite figures as a kid. I think he was actually one of the very last figures I got, as well. I only had one of the Snake Men (Snake Face) and I never had any of the late Horde or heroic warriors from 1986 and 1987. I distinctly remember getting Scareglow at a Toys ‘R Us. I’m not sure if it was my parents or a visiting relative, but if I am remembering correctly, Scareglow was one of those “we are taking you to the toy store and you can pick out one figure” gifts. So, unlike many other figures I had as a kid that were just given as gifts, Scareglow (while still a gift) was one I got to pick out myself right off the pegs! And how cool is he? I mean, come on! He’s a flippin’ glowing skeleton with a giant green axe and a sweet purple cape. As a kid, this figure just jumped out at me. Plus, he came with that kicking “Search for Keldor” mini-comic that to this day I still think is the best mini-comic from the vintage line. While many of the early mini-comics were just there to sell toys and justify the figure in the package, this one actually brought the story forward and was the first hint into the mysterious origins of Skeletor! Oh, and it had Ninjor in it, too. Never had him, but he was sweet. My friend Shawn had Ninjor. I always stole him for my battles. So when it came down to Classics, getting Scareglow into the line was definitely a priority for me. Plus, Scareglow was one of the few vintage MOTU figures (1982-1987) that never made it into the 200X show, toy line or Staction line. So I knew it wasn’t just me, but a ton of fans had been waiting a long time for a new Scareglow. The other villain that I loved just as much as Scareglow was Spikor. When we were designing the 2009 lineup, I had both of these figures in mind for a fall monthly slot. Not only because they were personal favorites, but because, as stated above, neither had 200X releases or appeared on the show. So fan demand for them was high. In the end, we went with Scareglow, mostly due to the lower tooling (Spikor needed more new parts, including unique wrist bands on his arms, multiple weapons and full chest armor). But from a personal standpoint, we decided to throw the other figure (Spikor) wayyyyy out into 2012. It was always my personal goal to see if I could stay on the brand long enough to get to him since both Scareglow and Spikor were my two favorite villains as a kid. By moving one of them far out, it acted to me personally as a “beacon” for the longevity of the line (and gave a great fan-demanded figure for 2012). Of course, another cool benefit to having Scareglow in the 2009 line for Q4 was that he was SUPPOSED to be the October figure in time for Halloween. But as happens more times than I wish, one figure often gets delayed (in this case, Mer-Man) which caused a ricochet effect that bumped every figure for the rest of the year down a month. While I was slightly disappointed that Scareglow got moved out of October, I was even more disappointed that this bump also affected our December figure, Adora, and pushed her to January 2010. I really wanted one POP figure in Year 1, but alas, the Mer-Man delay moved her out, too. (More on Adora when I get to her in a few weeks!) Back to Scareglow. I’ve told this story before, but it is funny to mention it again: when I brought the entire 2009 line up to upper management, a few of the high-ups who were old timers (and had worked on the vintage line) looked at my image of MOTUC Scareglow (on what we call a B-sheet, or a concept sheet, showing the proposed tooling and costs of a figure along with an image) then immediately looked at me and said “Scareglow? Really?” Back in the day (it seems), Scareglow was part of what we often call a “filler wave.” When a toy line is popular enough (like MOTU was in 1985!), production sometimes can’t keep up with retail demand so the marketing team will come up with a low tool or even a redeco wave to offer additional product that can be “rushed” to shelf faster compared to newly tooled figures (like we do today). If you look at the “wave” of figures that Scareglow (vintage) was in, all of them were low tool or repaints. Characters like Randor, Clamp Champ, Ninjor and Scareglow all used the basic body and new heads/weapons. No new body tools were included (which was the exception for figures this deep in the line). I explained in detail to the execs that while “Scareglow” was a quick fix to getting more product out in 1986/1987, now-a-days he was actually one of the most demanded collector figures (mostly due to not being in the 2002 line, but also because he is just so cool looking. I was given a “well, if you say so” nod (which really does show the trust that upper management has put in me personally for this line) but I still stand by my choice that Scareglow was 100% the right figure to release early in the line. By the time we got to Scareglow, we had implemented our “2 accessories per figure” rule (a “rule” that didn’t exist when we made earlier figures like Stratos, who were just following the “whatever the vintage figure came with” idea). We knew he would obviously come with his sickle from the vintage days, but this was a very early example of coming up with a new idea for a second accessory. We talked at length with the Horsemen and it was them who came up with the idea of giving him a reliquary linked to Castle Grayskull. They proposed it to be similar to Marley’s Ghost in Dicken’s “A Christmas Carol.” The idea was that Scareglow is a “ghost” and often in pop culture and literature, ghosts must carry an object that reflects evil deeds they perpetuated in life, and in death they must carry this item as a “curse.” For Marley it was his chains, for Scareglow, the idea was to give him an object that would represent some horrible deed he had participated in during “life.” This being MOTU, the obvious choice was breaking into Castle Grayskull and the Horsemen came up with a really cool reliquary in the form of a Castle Grayskull artifact that held the key to the Castle. Thus, the idea is he is being punished for his crimes by carrying around a jar with the key, but he can never open the jar. Forever so close, yet so far from his dreams! Because this was one of the very first “original” accessories for the line, we wanted to make sure to include it in his bio and thus Scareglow’s bio was one of the first (and almost only at this point) bios that was actually re-written to include this accessory and explain it. I honestly don’t recall what his original bio was. It really wasn’t that different, but I know it didn’t include the reference to the reliquary. That sentence was added in after the Horsemen came up with the idea for the accessory. Speaking of the bio, this was also one of the early bios I remember which fans were blasting the final sentence saying it was poorly written -- when in fact, the final sentence was the ONLY sentence in the bio that was taken directly from vintage material (in this case, the single sentence on the back of the vintage figure’s package). In particular, I remember a forum member posting that Scarerglow would never “jump out and surprise” his foes and that this was the worst part of the new bio. This did make me laugh a bit considering that this was the only sentence in the bio taken word for word from vintage material! So if it was hokey or odd, blame the vintage line not the current one! We always wanted to use as much existing text for all the bios. While most of this came from the single line on vintage card backs or the 1987 licensor kits, Scareglow didn’t have a 1987 licensor kit bio so that left only the vintage card line as the existing copy to use. Another interesting note about Scareglow is his tagline. In the vintage line, his tagline was “Evil Ghost of Skeletor.” For decades, this left fans wondering if Scareglow was indeed the Ghost of Skeletor (after all, he is dead, perhaps time-traveling back in time to serve himself?) or if like Faker who was the “Evil Roboto of Skeletor” and clearly not Skeletor but rather “of Skeletor” meant “in service to Skeletor.” Since there was precedent through Faker’s tagline that “Evil Roboto of Skeletor” could mean “serving” we made the call to end this debate and confirm indeed that Scareglow is the “Evil Ghost SERVING Skeletor” not “of Skeletor” which could be interpreted as being Skeletor’s actual ghost. Wow, this is getting way too nerdy. I have a headache. But there you go. Thought is put into every detail like this. A few other things to hit on regarding Scareglow would be his name and his glowing. The name in the bio “Karak Nul” was all new. There was very little vintage material for him (being one of the few figures not in the 1987 licensor kit) and he only appeared in one mini-comic (the epic “Search for Keldor”) and clearly “Scareglow” was not a name his “mom” had given him (the litmus test we used on all characters to decide if he or she needs a new real name). There isn’t anything too deep about the name. Karak sounded like “crack” (which he had as a trademark detail in his skull) and Nul was a bit like null and void, or not existing, which is what he pretty much does as a ghost. We tried a few names back and forth and this was the one we all liked the best. With very little in terms of vintage or modern media appearances, Scareglow needed a bit more work to create his bio. From a design standpoint, we knew we wanted him to glow as that is what Scareglow is all about. Some fans and customers complained that we said “no action features” in the Classics line, but I still stand by the call that what we don’t want to do are action features that break up the sculpt or require huge amounts of tooling. Casting existing parts in glow-in-the-dark plastic was a no-brainer. Terry even came up with the cool concept of making the tip of his scythe glow as well for a cool affect. He also made the final part of his cape transparent, as if he was fading away. The very first proto of Scareglow came back from our vendor and had way too much wash on the skull. This wound up being the version we had for SDCC that year (he was one of the big reveals, if memory serves – it often doesn’t) and some fans really loved the wash while others hated it. I tried to quickly note that this was not final (much to the annoyance to those who liked the over-wash) but in the end, I still think going with the vintage paint scheme as intended by the Horsemen was the way to go (although selfishly, I kept one of the early prototypes with the extra-dark wash. I keep it in a box under my desk, along with a few other early “mistakes” or test shots, such as an all-black flocked He-Man that was a test for Moss Man and a few other MOTUC odds and ends I’ve collected over the years.). Scareglow was one of my favorites in the vintage line and now in Classics, he is too. With the new accessory and the glowing “skin,” the Horsemen and Terry really knocked this one out of the park (and all with very little tooling!). I really felt like Scareglow was a turnkey figure in the line that showed our customers (and management) how deep this new collector line could go. And looking back, we were just getting warmed up! Until next time! SdN (AKA Toy Guru)
See what the fans have to say HERE !
The question and answer session for the second half of May is here! Read on to discover what fellow fans are asking the folks at Mattel!
Hordak.de 1. So, Man-At-Arms is now permanently transformed into a Snake Man, loyal to King Hissss, so they could use his knowledge to build machines and vehicles. But, wouldn't that also mean they know about Adam's secret?It certainly is a possibility. This storyline told in "toy form" is what would have happened in the 200X series had it continues with SMAA becoming a new major villain! 2. Do you plan on letting the 30th anniversary figures appear in future bios again or will they rather be one shots with appearences in the current mini-comics?If there is a reason for them to, they are all now full-fledged MOTU characters! 3. Some fans have been very loud about an updated version of the 2008 He-Man figure that could hold his sword aloft and with a more vintage accurate face/ maybe filmation head. As this figure wouldn't need much new tooling how are the chances for a He-Man 2.0 like you did with Bubble Power She-Ra? This alterations could also be made with Flying Fists or NA He-Man! It is certainly something we could look into, but it wouldn't happen until we are (at min) sold out of stock of the current He-Man 1.0, so don't look for this for at least a few more years at the earliest since we produced a lot of He-Men for the 30th. We know there are some rumors of this for 2012, but we can confirm these are only rumors and were never announce by Mattel or planned for 2012. She-Ra 2.0 was needed to interact (sit on) Swiftwind, so there was a more compelling reason to revisit her. For now, 1.0 of He-Man will still be the standard for a few years at the least. 4. What are the chances of getting a set of two naked Vykron figures so we can display all three outfits without spending $90 for them? ;-)None. We will not be doing this. 5. Can you give us only one little hint for the next Weapons Pak to keep us guessing, like: An accessory that was green before is now silver?There is an accessory that is now blue.
MOTULA.foroactivo.net Is there any other product planned to be released out of 2012 sub besides WeaponsPack3 and Granamyr? Maybe some other diorama such as the WeaponsRack? (Zodac is tired of being standing , what about his chair?)
You will just need to wait and see! Is "Son of Heman" going to be part of MOTUC canon? I'll take "keep reading the bios" as a yes.
We would love to get to this realm of the lore in time. But no plans to announce right now. In neither of Evil-lyn's bios there is reference of her skin color. Will you explain this at some point? Or will it just stay as another variant pretty much like the blue Mer-Man of the mini comics?
Yes. This will be explained soon. Regarding the Gar race: Are they originally from Eternia or from Infinita? Do they still inhabit Eternia while Randor is king?
Keep reading the bios! draegon-man wings are awesome. Do you think this stunning piece will be used for other characters in the future?
Yes. They will be on Granamyr. Mintconditioncustom.com Victor asks: How about if the MOTUC line include a series of pink variants (and other figures), and proceeds could be donated to Breast Cancer Research? Such variants could include Filmation colors Prince Adam, pink minicomics Sorceress and Teela, and pink SwiftWind.
A very cool idea but nothing like this is planned right now. preternia.com Is there a reason Vykron’s space-man form does not have a black visor like the original prototype did?
Yes, A clear visor would have required an additional tool just for that piece (due to the clear plastic) and we could not afford more tooling and keep this at the 30.00 price point. Will there be any Matty MOTUC reveals at Wizard World Philadelphia like there have been in the past?
No, we will not be at this show this year. The first mini comic is great, especially seeing He-Man riding a dinosaur. There is a serious lack of dinosaurs in the MOTUC line, how do you hope to fix this problem?
By hopefully one day adding in more dinos! No plans yet but stay tuned! Now that we have so many bio’s under our belts, are there any plans to possibly release a book collecting all the bio’s from start to finish (or volumes since obviously the bios/line aren’t done yet)?
That would be very cool. No plans right now but maybe one day. I keep hearing rumors that the Four Horsemen will be taking a step back with MOTUC or that there are figures coming out that they did not do, is this true or just paranoid fan speculation?
This is not true. Infinite Holloywood 1. Most fans knew nothing about Vykron prior to his announcement. Obviously some of this stuff has come out in some of the recent books and projects about MOTU, but are there still "unknown" secret characters in MOTU that could find their way into the MOTUC line?
You never know what the future will bring! 2. Vykron looks at though he's going to be a figure that a good portion of fans will want three of. Is
Mattel planning to up their number of SDCC exclusives so that there will be ample supply of him? Obviously you can't tell us specific numbers, but is the fact that this guy is someone collectors may want doubles of being factored in at all?
We will be doing slightly more Vyrkon's compared to previous SDCC items but fewer compared to subscription monthly figures.3. The skin tone for the recent Thunder Punch He-Man seems drastically different than some of the previous incarnations of the figure. Was there a change in the chemicals used in his plastic, or was there a specific reason for the different skin tone?
This was a deliberate change by the Horsemen and design to make him different from previous releases. 4. Has
Mattel considered running some sort of promotion with certain collector websites to create an exclusive color way of a figure? Say He-Man.org gets a red faced Skeletor and another site gets a orange faced Skeletor, etc. Similar to the way the Four Horsemen did special versions of their '7th Kingdom' figures. With the website buying a certain quantity of the figure and then being responsible for selling it themselves.
No. MOTUC will remain exclusive to Mattycollector.com. Kastor's Korner The SDCC Vykron looks awesome! Since this figure is clearly made to invite at least three purchases by each MOTU collector, will his production run be larger than past exclusives to accommodate the likelihood of multi-figure purchases?
We will produce more compared to other past SDCC items, but less compared to a monthly figure. In the SDCC news release, you said the Vykron sold on mattycollector.com will be packed out as either the space warrior or the tank warrior. Will the one we receive be randomly selected or will the two package variants be sold as separate items? MOC collectors would surely like the opportunity to purchase both.
You can choose which one to buy. Both Space and Military pack outs will be offered as separate toys on Mattycollector.com after the show. MOTUClassics.Com MOTUClassics.Com Asks: As a MOTU fan, I’m super jealous of the functionality of the stackable stands made for the wrestling figures. Will future MOTUC stands continue to keep with the basic form of the previous two offerings or is the MOTUC team willing to look to the wrestling stands as inspiration to mix in some functionality with the design for some MOTUC Battle Stands 2.0?
We are actively looking into stackable stands maybe as early as 2014. MOTUClassics.Com Asks: Some collectors that enjoy Vykron are planning to buy multiples and display him as three different characters. As a collector yourself, do you feel that same compulsion? If you do, which one would still be Vykron and what would you name the other two?
Toy Guru: I really never thought of them as separate characters and the bio does an awesome job of explaining all of the different outfits. It really is much more like He-Man. He is still He-Man whether he is in Snake Armor, Thunder Punch or New Adventures. Elkkthunder's Toyroom Can you provide the exact date for day of sales of SDCC items- we need to plan for the day off!!
We do not have this locked in yet.
As soon as we do we will announce it. Can you look into why
Digital River sends out multiple emails monthly that state "your subscription is renewing" in great excess of the # of subs one has?
We certainly will! The SDCC Vykron, what is the origin of the exact name. We know Vikor, but from the Power & Honor catalog, the proto design was reference as Vykon.
We wanted to differentiate the name from "Vikor" a bit more while still paying homage to the prototype. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The sites listed below are the sites who want to participate in the Q&A round-up in these threads and on the He-Man.org homepage news entry. Be sure to check out their sites! There's a lot there to see in addition to the Q&As.http://www.planeteternia.de/ http://www.popculturenetwork.com/ http://www.figures.com/ http://www.kastorskorner.com/ http://www.facebook.com/hordak.de http://www.maitresdelunivers.org/ http://www.infinitehollywood.com/ http://www.motucfigures.com/ http://www.he-man.de/ ElkkThunders Toy Room The Ultimate She-Ra Guide MOTUClassics.com www.MOTULA.foroactivo.net http://www.preternia.com www.mintconditioncustom.com/
See what the fans have to say HERE !