Ugh…I have to admit, I find this a little depressing. The four figures now vying for FANtastic Exclusive 2009 are: Wolfbat, Raven, Vampire Lady, and the Ministry of Hunters, which I think pretty much solidifies my belief that the majority of FE voters are MOTU2K fans who think MOTU2K Skeletor is one of the greatest action figures ever made.
Seriously, this is probably the outcome I least wanted. Now I can only pray the Ministry of Hunters wins, since they’re the only one of the four I really like. Please, I urge you to go vote for the Ministry. As for the other bracket–I don’t care who you vote for, really, but if you forced me at gunpoint to choose, I guess Raven.
I feel your pain Poe.
I dont know, really like the ministry, especially the one on the left. We havent really had armored figures in awhile, and knowing 4H, we are sure to expect something great.
Although, its not like well be seeing these anytime soon anyway given the 4H's size and the problems theyve had with their factory.
I voted for the ministry and raven. Im not sure why you're hating on the raven so much poe. I feel like the style is much more restrained than Wolfbat or Vampire Lady, who are both overstylized ala some of MOTU2K, He-Man being the most notable offender in my mind. I thought that the Gargoyle was great looking, in my top three probably with Raven and the Ministry. I also voted for the tree thing to beat Lady Vampire cause it looked really good the way it was knarled, a lot of sculpt fun for the horsemen, but alas it was not meant to be.
It can be pretty depressing how gungho some people are for the MOTU2K series. OAFE's MOTUC reviews are utterly unreadable because of it.
Wow, you find it disturbing that some people think 200X Skeletor is one of the greatest figures ever? I DO think 200X Skeletor is one of the greatest figures ever, and I find it disturbing that some people think MOTUC He-Man is one of greatest figures ever.
Anyways, as much as I love 200X Skeletor, these characters (Ministry, Wolfbat, VL, Raven) were all at the bottom of my list, as I find them for the most part incredibly dull and cliche.
I was hoping Oxx & Leivia or Botannean/Arboreon would win. I also really liked Cranius & Clavicus and The Vessel, but they didn't make it out of the first round.
Oh well, now I'm pulling for Vampire Lady, as at least she will make a pretty figure.
I didn't write I thought it was "disturbing" (or depressing) that the majority of FE voters appear to think MOTU2K is one of the greatest action figures ever made. I think it's a great figure too.
What I meant to imply is that they're all voting for characters with the same basic design aesthetic as MOTU2K Skeletor, i.e., dark fantasy/Gothic types. Incidentally, I'm pretty damned sure the only Gothitropolis character who didn't make the cut was the Gargoyle…sigh.
I'm gonna vote for Wolfbat in his bracket, just to see what kinds of variations they come up with. You have my support in the Ministry's bracket, though.
@Poe. Sorry, I misinterpreted the source of your depression.
Thinking about it a little harder though, I do like the idea of the 4F figures that are produced being able to aesthetically fit in with the 200X MOTU line. I mean, we clearly lost the battle to MOUTUC for real He-Man toys, but I would love a 4H line that can integrate seamlessly into the world they created with 200X.
Of course the beauty of MOTU is that you have a diverse set of characters that are not all fanatasy/gothic types (consider Zodak, Snout Spout, Roboto, and Mekaneck). As such a lot of figure like Oxx/Leivia could have fit it.
Oddly, I didn't think the Anitherian 9 fit in well with 200X MOUT because they seemed very "realistic" and do not match up well with the stylized look of 200X. The new female characters look like they will fit in a bit better.
As far as these final 4, I just really think they are uninspired and cliche. Of course once I see the figures in 3d, I might feel differently.
It's quite possible, even likely, the Horsemen will take Raven and create some incredibly badass demon or gargoyle variant or something.
I just would have rather seen something more science fiction oriented this time around.
I'm pulling for Raven, though I'll be able to live w/ any of them save Vampire Lady.
Death to Vampire Lady!
I voted for ministry and raven. Personally, Im hoping Ministry takes it, but seriously, isnt this Fantastic exclusive series going to be released in 2015 or something? because we havent even seen updates on scarabus yet.
any idea on when we might see this series?
I love MOTUC but I prefer 2002 versions. What I wonder is if the hardcore MOTU classics fans will EXPLODE with RAGE when or IF the new MOTU movie ever comes out in the next few years.
I'm curious…do you classics fans actually think they'll be stylized in the 80's classics look for the live action movie? Personally, I think if they did people would laugh.
I find it funny how MOTU fans want the line to succeed but are trapped in the 80's. The fact that classic fans are sooooo pissed off when they hear this debate is the VERY reason why MOTU will never succeed past online retail.
Marvel/DC/GIJOE/TRANSFORMERS have all had some sort of updates, yet MOTU classics fans seem to be the majority of MOTU and I believe such a mindset hinders the line from evolving.
I'm a fan of MOTU both classics and modern…i may learn more towards modern but that's because times have changed. MOTU needs to evolve.
I think even if Mattel didn't fudge up the line, MOTU still would not have succeeded because the MAJORITY of fans are CLASSICS fans. The only way the MAJORITY would be overruled would be if MOTU 2002 brought in newer fans.
A horrible update I think was the New Adventures of He-Man…if Classics fans were to ever bash updates, I'd say that'd be it.
Anyway…I love the Classics line but the 4horsemen did an amazing UNBELIEVABLE job doing the updates on each character (for what they had to work with).
To conclude, I am in no way ridiculing the classics fans but realistically the world today is a lot different than the 80's and if classics fans want MOTU to be seen on TV and toy aisles of today, I suggest a bit more flexiblity.
I'm with Dead Man Walking on this.
@ Dead Man Walking: "Wow, you find it disturbing that some people think 200X Skeletor is one of the greatest figures ever? I DO think 200X Skeletor is one of the greatest figures ever, and I find it disturbing that some people think MOTUC He-Man is one of greatest figures ever."
Man Skeletor 2002 IS one of the greatest figures ever made.
@ Poe: I'm confused. 90% of EVERY 2002 MOTU review was so positive. You even loved Stratos but since the classics came out you've changed your mind? Just curious if all the motu 2002 hype controlled your reviewing rather than actually liking the line?
You're a sore loser Poe.
Once your tears of bitterness have cleansed your scabby eyes, you will come to see that Wolfbat will make an amazing figure.
You will buy it and you will like it. If by some glitch, the Ministry or Raven win, they will also make great figures.
The Vamp Tramp needs to go though… (Poetic AND True)
Time for me to say something!
2002 Skeletor is great but only in sculpt, and saying that there is areas that need inprovement. Needed more articulation and should not have had the hunched back, plus the head was too small.
I loved the looks of the 2002 figures but the fact of the matter is they were basically statues with crap articulation.
200x He-Man was one of the worst with his emo/ skater hair cut, I canot look at him without thinking he is from some crap show like Dawson's Creek or some other uninspired dumbed down piece of crap.
MOTU cannot afford to be flexible. Look at Transformers Animated. They went with the lazy American animation style and styled the toys the same. The toys are junk and pathetic looking, not to mention numerous QC issues. They look like infant toys that no fan would buy. But yet in desperation to make the best of a bad situation the TF fans have championed them claiming that they look like their on screen counter parts, lots of articulation bla bla bla….all because they cannot admit that Hasbro made a bad choice sold out and went with the trend.
MOTU Classics are selling well. Transforers Animated may be getting canceled.
THE TREND IS DEAD.
I know this is about voting foe some figures.
Poe do a post about the MOTU debate and lets get it all out in the open, we need somewhere to vent our comments.
Hey Mark… I was right with ya up until you started bashing TF Animated.
I'm a fan of the 2002 line, and I agree with what you said, they look great as Statues, which is why I'm almost glad they went with the ministatues. I think I'd rather have zero articulation rather than a little bit while the details suffer. Some people talk about 2002 Skeletor like he's the holy grail of MOTU figures… his head was way too small, you could barely see his face, and he had the obvious PoA issues. I was looking back at an old issue of Toy Fare a while ago and saw the original 1-ups the 4H did and comparing them to the figures we got its almost completely different.
As far as Transformers Animated, I think its the best thing thats happened to Transformers since Beast Wars. I don't know how you can call the animation style "lazy" yeah, its stylized, and takes a page from Teen Titans… but guess what, the same dudes working on TT are also working on TFA. I think the toys are great. They look 99.999% like they do on the show, and they're fun to play with. I haven't heard of any huge QC issues, I'm sure they have their share, but I have yet to encounter any.
I'm sure of course none of this will change your opinion, but I really don't care for it, so I won't really bother. I just wanted to get the other half out there.
I have been enjoying TFA since the series premiered and I picked up the first wave of toys. I am not desperate, I am not delusional. If you want your Gee Wun Blockformers, go back to the 1980's.
I guess at least you appreciate MOTUC.
Oh, and where have you been? MOTUC has been posted about/debated upon multiple times!
I'm thinking the 2002 figures lacked articulation to cut cost since every figure was a different sculpt. Ahhhh to each his own i guess.
I just find the perfect pose and the perfect bases for the 2002 figures and display them up as statues so that's why i don't care much about articulation (unless I can't pose them right). For example….I broke apart Clawful…carved the inner pieces so I can reposition his arms and waist for him to be posed the way I want him to be posed.
I agree though…articulation was very much needed.
I cannot wait for Mer man Classic! I details on his trident are perfect.
oh and 2002 He-man was pretty bad…even Ice Armor heman was a lot better.
I found a perfect He-man to fit the 2002 line that keeps both the updates and Classics at a balance.
The SDCC Classic Colors He-man mini statue! Got a good deal on it on ebay! $25 Nice! Really wish there was a mini statue of Spikor.
@ Mark: MOTUC is selling well, but that's for online sales which cater to classics fans and the scalpers. I don't think it would gain new fans or at least garner a large amount of new fans for the line to stay on retail shelves.
As for TF Animated, I'm not familiar with the line…heard and seen the toys on the shelves but I'm pretty clueless about how well they're selling. They've been on the shelves for awhile now so maybe all avenues: animated or updated versions are a good idea to market characters new to the TF Universe.
MOTU has all the elements of success: buff heroes, robots, magic, mystery, cool designs….its a shame MOTU isn't really getting the best PR out there. It's like a combo of LOTR and Star Wars so the line in my opinion has limitless potential.
Yeah I know I was on some of those debates LOL.
Back up a sec, I am not keen on the toys or the animation style but I do actually like the cartoon…seen every episode….how great was Transwarp.
I have watched a lot of Supperior Japanese animation, not keen on anme but for the most part its beautiful. I need to say this…I am an artist so I do know what I'm talking about….and I hate cartoons that are drawn like Animated with hyper exadurated limbs and elongated faces etc. I just think that they could put more effort in, a lot of 80's cartoons had supperior animation. They could even have done it normal and used CGI like Beast Wars and I would have prefered it…and I ain't fond of CGI either.
I agree it is the best WRITTEN series since Beast Wars (although there have been a couple of really useless episodes). The R.I.D. toys were amazing and that was nearly 10 years ago, but comparing them to Animated toys…I just cannot help but think they have taken a step back.
Also I do own 10 Animated toys (Magnus, Prime, Bulkhead, Prowl, Grimlock, Megatron, Starcream, Blitzwing, Lockdown, Soundwave). After having them and played about with them I was just underwhelmed as they were just not that great compared to SOME of the Classics. I.E. Voyager Prime, Blitzwing. If all the toys had better heads and more proportioned limbs they would probably be the best ever.
Also with some like Starscream the legs and other figures limbs pop off….didn't have this problem with G1….granted a lot of them didn't have movable limbs….but the more parts that move the more parts break.
At least with the G1 BLOCKFORMERS you got an added bonus….use as a weapon…if you had a Transformer with you lets say Animted Blitzwing and you were being mugged, if you fired Blitzwing at the mugger it would break on impact with his face…..if lets say you had Galvatron or Sixshot etc etc, if you connected that with his skull, there is a chance you will kill him. Especially if you have one of the larger Soul Of Chogokin robots like Godmars.
One other thing PrfktTear, I am back in the 80's…collecting Transformers, MOTU, G.I. Joe growing a mullet/ long hair again how much more 80's can I be? LOL.
@Jim, believe me nothing would be cooler than to go into Toys'R'Us etc and buy the Classics there.
I would love a Classics Spikor.
Everyone has opinions on why MOTU 200X didn't succed and we can blame articulation, design, etc etc. The FACT is the reason it did not do well was due to Mattel being crap a distributing the figures, there was a demand for the figures but collectors and kids alike could not find any of the other characters besides He-Man and Skeletor. It amazes me still how many different variations they came up with…there was a ninja and samurai He-Man, some obbsessive will argue the differential between both (I know the differece but cannot be bothered typing it). It is a wonder they did not release a Tai Che version.
Back on point, if they continued the 2002 cartoon and had more articulated figures it would sell well. It won't sell well when you cannot get any other heroic warriors or evil minions.
I also agree about the LOTR and SW, but again the big difference was Hasbro and Toybiz distributed the figuress.
Picture the scene you go into a shop and be like 'wow I'll get Bigs Darklighter or some no name character who was seen for one second in a deleted scene from episode one, or one of the many differnt orges etc from LOTR….or should I get a cool 4 hosrse man sculpted evil minion like Trapjaw, or Tri-clops oh maybe even Whipash oh there is so many great characters to choose from the MOTU mythos…oh wait all they have is Spin Blade Skeletor, Smash Blade He-Man, Ninja He-Man or Wolf Armour He-Man…alrady have 2 versions of Skeletor and He-Man, suppose I'll buy something else not as cool.
If Mattel could distribute like any other toy company it would succeed. Saying that NA He-Man was well distributed but it really sucked thats why it failed.
Hey hey hey. Don't call out us Geewunners like that. Some of us are fine just not buying TFA stuff without loudly complaining. I dug the fact that they're trying something new to draw in a new audience who were only familiar with the movie, I just didn't care for it. Which was fine, because it was never for me. So I save the way too much money I'll be spending on the reissue Bruticus and the Masterpiece Grimlock.
(I reserve my hate for the movie. In my mind, not only am I a viking but the only Transformers movie was the one that bridged the gap between Orson Welles and Judd Nelson.)
At FrownyMcFrown: I wasn't dumping on GeeWun, I've been a fan since the '80s. Its one thing not to like something, its another to actually feel hatred towards a line. Hey, I didn't pay attention to any of the shows/toys from the Unicron trilogy. I didn't like it, but I also didn't go out of my way to hate it. It wasn't until Classics came around that got me back into collecting TFs hardcore.
@MarkyMark #22:
Well, fairplay then, at least we can agree that the show is well written. And every series is going to have a few throwaway episodes. I think its just a tool used by writers to spread out overall story. Even the new Battlestar Galactica which I hail as one of the greatest tv shows ever had a couple throwaways. If you don't like the animation style thats cool. But isn't that like saying I prefer Monet to Picasso? I think its better than the hybrid CGI/Cell animation featured in the Unicron Trilogy.
I admit, I'm not in love with every Animated figure I own, and I have double what you have. I don't think they're all perfect, but I still like most of 'em. I don't think its fair to compare Animated to Classics. I admit, Classics Voyager Prime is a LOT better than TFA Vgr Prime, I actually prefer the deluxe Prime. On the flip side of the coin, I don't think many of the new Universe/Classics figures have been that great either. You've got some really good ones like Cyclonus, Hound, and Onslaught. But then you've got the abomination known as Galvatron, the standupformer Silverbolt, and Sunstreaker & Ironhide who I was really underwhelmed with.
If you're watching MacGyver on DVD, you're my hero!
I think the horse is dead: Mattel fucked up the 2002 line. If it wasn't for the bajillion variants and crappy repaints, maybe the right toys would have gotten into the hands of kids. They handled it like their Batman lines by having Neon Glow Sign Batman, Leisure Suit Batman, and Snow Man Batman. Too bad figures like Evil-Lyn, Two-Bad, Fisto, etc, didn't get out there in volume.
I really wish NA had kept on going after hearing what they had planned for the second season.
PrfktTear-
Ironically, I loved Galaxy Force/Cybertron, and it got me back into collecting them. Evac is one of my favorites, ever, right up there with Rail Racer and Transmetal Megatron as just plain awesome toys. And I like how excessively Gundam-y Prime from Cybertron was when you added Wing Saber. But TFA doesn't do it for me.
Strangely enough, I just realized that we're toy collectors with different opinions who aren't resorting to ad hominem attacks or trying to tear down the opposing person's personal taste. What's wrong with us?
@PrfktTear
I did not like the animation of the unicron trilogy…that is to say I did not like the computer parts as they were poorly done. Saying thaat I never saw a lot of Cybertron…man I wish I had gotten some Cybertron toys like Evac and Mudflap.
I have noticed a lot of the new Classics/ Universe toys are not on par with the first series. Give me any Animated toy over Classics Galvatron. A lot of those designs were rushed.
Personnally I am thinking of selling my Animated collection but I have to admit there is some really cool aspects to them….I AM A SELL OUT.
NA season would have been excellent same with the unmade 200X series 3. I would recommend you check out the UK comic based on the NA, it was pretty good.
You must be spying on me, I was consideing getting it on dvd.
Wow I looked up the intro to McGyver I must get a dvd of it.
I also need to watch the new Battlestar Galactica update. I liked the original. I have the pilot movie of the new series but I have never got round to watching it.
Rushed yes, but why? It seems like they tried to make some characters closer to the Alternators line rather than the original Classics. Thats why I think Hound and Cyclonus stack up the best when compared to Bumblebee, Prime, Megatron, Starscream, etc.
What were you considering getting on DVD? NA? MacGyver?
McGyver on dvd.
It amaze me the didn't make Soundwave and Shockwave. Grimlock could have been better.
If they made a Classics or Animated Predaking it would be amazing.
I may not be the biggest Animated toy fan but they are miles better than the movie crap…Animated Devastator/ Constructicons looks better than the movie Devestator so far.
There is only one Transformers movie and it was made in 86. Transformers + Michael Bay= CRAP!
There was no need for a Classics Soundwave if you got the MP3 version. Not that it was a particularly good MP3 player.
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