MOTUC Evil-lyn conjures a storm–of controversy

UPDATE: I’ve bought a copy of ToyFare #150 and seen the pic, and my post below stands as-is, with one addition: the staff & head sculpt look great.

Also, in a Facebook comment, Mattel writes: “There are actually a few additional accessories that come with Evil Lyn, but we’re not ready to reveal them yet.”

The first photos of MOTUC Evil-lyn appear in this week’s ToyFare #150. Obviously I’m not going to post the pics here, and I encourage you to pick up the issue yourself if you’re interested (there’s also a reveal of two new DCUC two-packs, including a pouch-belt, black-bat-symbol Batman and a green-and-red Tim Drake).

[First, a caveat: I haven't even seen the photos of Evil-lyn myself yet, and in terms of accessories I don't know how complete ToyFare's information is.]

First off, the details: she’s yellow-skinned and her armor is colored like her original toy, not the purple of the 200X version. She comes with a full-length staff and a knife (presumably her 200X knife). However, there’s already a furor erupting over at He-Man.org over the fact the figure is apparently a straight repaint of Teela.

This is at odds with the way MOTUC has been handled so far. While the original figure was indeed a straight repaint of Teela, the original cross-sell art–which seems to have been the guiding design principle for the Four Horsemen thus far–is different, mostly around the “dress” area.

I have to admit, I’m pretty bummed out about this myself. I suspect the reason is that retooling the large one-piece outfit would be expensive, and it’s very likely we’re going to see a retooled 200X-style Evil-lyn down the road, so the decision-makers may have felt they could go the cheap route here. But it’s still quite disappointing.

I’m fine with the yellow skin and the knife. The staff I’m a little annoyed with. Is the top part of the staff detachable so you can turn it into a wand, to match the card art?

What bothers me is that Mattel and the Horsemen have done such a great job with balancing each MOTUC figure in terms of the look of the original toy vs. the original card art, offering both when possible (Mer-Man being the best example), but here they seem to have gone with a bad compromise. If they’re going to do a straight repaint like the original toy, then give us a wand, not a staff (if for no other reason than there are already so many staves in this line). We all know there’s going to be a 200X-style repaint down the line–the full-sized staff will make sense then.

Thoughts?

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Posted: December 9, 2009 in News

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This item has 42 comments (now closed):

  1. Philip Reed

    12.09.2009 10.48

    Are the photos in Toyfair presented as the final images from Mattel, or are they “catalog” shots that could be rough prototypes for advertising purposes?

  2. Baena

    12.09.2009 11.41

    I’m with you Poe in the disappointment.

    Surely it couldn’t have cost THAT much more to do a unique dress for Evil Lyn.

    But as I posted recently in the hot debate at the .org… The only hope this gives is that there must me some amazing figures coming with loads of new toolings and accessories for Mattel to go so skimpy on such a major character as Evil Lyn. It’s a hope mind you, maybe a fool’s hope, but hope nonetheless. :)

    I’m also hesitant to say that Toyfare has the complete list of accessories for Evil Lyn. I wouldn’t be surprised, if Mattel does indeed surprise us with some “Secret accessories!” ;)

  3. PrfktTear

    12.09.2009 13.59

    ***FACEPALM***

    Did everyone forget the original Teela/Evil Lyn bodies were straight repaints of each other? Would brand new tooling of Evil Lyn’s armor be cool, yeah. However I expected nothing other than a repaint, so I guess I’m not too disappointed. I hope the staff/want is like what Poe said though, this line is getting a little staff heavy!

  4. Mark

    12.09.2009 14.18

    MOTUC is based on the principal of reusing body sculpts….no one should have expected anything different than a Teela repaint.

  5. Andrew

    12.09.2009 14.21

    @PrfktTear: No, nobody forgot, per se . . . it’s just that that never happened! Because toy fans would never ignore obvious truths in favour of finding any reason whatsoever to go on a bashing spree!

  6. Andrew

    12.09.2009 14.21

    @Mark: Seriously, bro, every fucking toy line’s done it.

  7. Poe

    12.09.2009 14.27

    @PrfktTear: I mentioned that fact in my post, and then explained why I’m still surprised.

    @Mark: That’s only partially true. Every single character except for Faker, Zodak, and the Goddess have all had newly-tooled armor (and those figures were all “bonus” figures–Faker was intended to be solely an exclusive, but got bumped into full production when Mer-Man was late).

    And I was basing my expectations primarily on the Horsemen’s previously evinced devotion to the original card art up to now (as noted in my interview, they even wanted to do the other Tri-Klops sword, but made the decision to go with the Doomseeker instead).

    I am genuinely suprised Evil-lyn isn’t coming with a retooled “dress” (and frankly, I’m surprised that piece wasn’t molded separately so it could be easily swapped out). And I don’t think my surprise is unwarranted at all.

  8. Mark

    12.09.2009 14.28

    @Andrew: Exactly man, thats what I mean, there is no point in people expecting some new sculpt when it doesn’t need it.

  9. Mark

    12.09.2009 14.38

    @Poe: But all the figure released to date were different, Teela and Evil Lyn were exact remoulds.

    Speaking of your excellent interview with the 4H I just want to point one thing out. Good as they are they did not give us 100% accurate TMNT, 60% at best. Good figures, great accessories but not comic accurate bodies LOL.

  10. Baena

    12.09.2009 14.50

    Look, I never gripe about MotUC, can’t you guys just let me gripe just this ONCE?! Huh?! ;)

    ‘Sides, King Randor get’s his own armor for MotUC.
    While they MIGHT use that armor again for Jitsu, It’s doubtful as Jitsu doesn’t have a cape and the cross on his armor isn’t accentuated to be the same as Randor’s weapon’s design elements. Surely Evil Lyn holds as much weight to the MotU mythos as Randor!

  11. Poe

    12.09.2009 15.37

    The more I think about it, it really does perplex me that the “leaves” on Teela’s pelvis weren’t just molded as a separate piece.

    I guess it came down to cost–new tooling is always the most expensive part of producing an action figure.

  12. Newton Gimmick

    12.09.2009 16.12

    Does she have a new head? That’s mostly all I care about.

    Although three Teela bodies already seems a bit of a tough sell.

  13. Poe

    12.09.2009 16.27

    @Newton Gimmick: Yep! and it looks good.

  14. Newton Gimmick

    12.09.2009 16.34

    Good deal.

  15. dayraven

    12.09.2009 18.30

    i don’t get the furor… she’s looks pretty much exactly as i expected… though the knife is a nice addition. i think the 200x restyle has already been mentioned, so if this lyn ain’t your deal, cool, just wait. but the face and weapons look great… i suspect, when “in-hand” reviews start popping, like w/ most motuc releases, we’ll get a load of backpeddling.

  16. Mark

    12.09.2009 19.07

    Seen the picture. She looks okay, but she could have looked a lot better. The face sculpt is a real let down, it neither looks like the original, the card art, the cartoon or 200x….very disappoing. Also, the staff is to long.
    They (like Skeletor) should have gave her a cloth cape, the dragon pearl or even the ram stone…that’ll probably be the secret accessory….or another head.
    But then since I don’t collect the line anymore it dosen’t affect me.

  17. finkrod

    12.09.2009 19.21

    I’ll reserve judgement til I see the picture. I’ve never been a fan of the jaundiced look to begin with, so I’m more looking forward to the (hopefully) forthcoming 200X version.

  18. Philip Reed

    12.09.2009 20.39

    @Poe: I know at work that tooling charges on plastic (we’ve been working on Zombie Dice and Cthulhu Dice so my tooling experience is very recent) is one of the biggest costs of manufacturing. And since tooling is a fixed cost it’s best to reuse the tooling as much as possible.

    My chats with people in the toy industry points to reuse of tooling being more important there than it is in games.

    I guess I’m saying “I agree.”

  19. Thomas B

    12.09.2009 21.50

    meh i gotta say i think us fans were expecting WAAY too much on a figure we KNEW would be mostly a straight repaint. i think she looks GREAT!

    since there may be even more accessories with her it is even a bigger bonus but if she ddidnt i would not feel bad.

    mattel has already stated they want to do a 200X version as well which may need extra tooling and a dif skin color.

  20. Fallen Eldor

    12.10.2009 2.34

    Nobody wanted this Evil Lyn, she has never been depicted in this particular outfit before.I don’t know why some fans feel the need to defend Mattel’s bad decisions. Mattel’s idea of a 200x version will probably be a flesh tone repaint.

  21. Motorthing

    12.10.2009 8.58

    I don’t think it comes down to “surprise”, I think many are reacting to the fact that the absolute cheap-ass bare minimum has been done to create this figure for their $20.

    Yeah, everyone knows MOTUC is totally reliant on parts reuse but soemtimes it does just sits up and begs for a slap down – and this is probably it.

    Even a couple of small tweaks would have been in order here – nothing radical.

    I mean, just how tight with a buck do Mattel have to get on this line now, the costs involved are already totally minimal on the basic bodies.

    I can answer that myself – obviously very.

  22. Replicant

    12.10.2009 10.07

    I think she looks great! I love the head sculpt. I’m not sure about the staff yet. I’d like to see her come with a glow in the dark wand like the original. We’ll just have to wait and see what the extra accessories are. Hopefully a wand and Screech! :)

  23. Mark

    12.10.2009 11.14

    My mate said this line was not going to work in the long run and he is being proved right.

    Over priced crap.

  24. Poe

    12.10.2009 11.21

    @Mark: Dude, I tend to be a pessimist myself, but every time you post it’s a bummer.

    Anyway, I have to say I think your mate is wrong until the day the figures stop selling out in less than a week.

  25. PrfktTear

    12.10.2009 12.31

    @Poe: My comments weren’t directed at you, you did mention that she was a repaint. I guess my response was more of a “what is it this time” reaction.

  26. Matthew K

    12.10.2009 13.38

    This is what I expected to see, and what I wanted, so I’m pleased with this proto pic.

    I don’t look at all the cardback art as being equal. The eightback stuff seemed more conceptual and had differences to the final figures. As the line went on, though the card art sort started to look like the paintings were based on the final figure themselves.

    Since Evil-Lynn looked like one of the latter cases, I don’t really expect them to change the Teela sculpt to match that art.

  27. Mark

    12.10.2009 13.48

    @Poe: LOL, its not intentional….just seems to be with MOTUC and Mattel.

  28. PrfktTear

    12.10.2009 14.12

    I’m not worried about the survival of the line. If it ends, it ends, and we’ve got some cool figures from it. Thats what I’ve been saying all along. It would be a shame to not get figures of certain characters, but if thats the case so be it.

    Just as Poe said, as long as the figures keep selling out in a week, I don’t think its in any danger.

  29. Reilly

    12.10.2009 17.16

    I didn’t expect Evil-Lyn to feature many new molds. I did hope though that she’d get a modified dress. I also considered the possibility that she might end up as a straight Teela repaint with new head.

    When the later turned out to be true, I was really disappointed since it seemed that she was also rather light on the accessoires. And why should I not? For 20 bucks, I can expect more from a rather major character than just a new head and two accessoires.

    Fortunately, the Horsemen and Mattel didn’t fail me, since Evil-Lyn will have more accessoires after all. That’s gonna make the figure worth its money for me.

    Additionally, it still looks to me as if her staff will be able to separate, which is gonna be a darn cool feature. Not to forget that it might be able to glow in the dark just like the vintage weapon.

    With those things in mind, I’m actually looking forward to her again.

  30. elvis8batman

    12.10.2009 18.20

    Does anyone think that one of the other accessories not yet shown might be a cape, to make her more show accurate?

  31. Bandalero

    12.10.2009 19.10

    Hey I brought up the fact there were too many staves in the MOTUC line now over at the org before they incorrectly retitled it “staffs”. I wish we could see more medieval weaponry like a wand. And give Evil-Lyn an open spell-casting hand if we’re going to get a straight repaint. Oh well, there’s always 200X

  32. dayraven

    12.11.2009 0.19

    @Mark: i wouldn’t go so far as to say crap… yes, they’re overpriced… but crap, not yet. these are WAY more a value than the 15 bucks being asked for the movie masters and DCU lines. even ML which USED to be a great value, isn’t hitting close to these, the paints are better, the plastic grades are a 10fold improvement, the articulation is solid… motuc, although expensive, is a toy in the old school sense of the word… the rest of lines coming in w/in 5 bucks of that price point are mostly shelf dressing.

    the only company giving you more bang for your buck right now is NECA, and even they are hit and miss.

  33. PrfktTear

    12.11.2009 11.25

    Sooo… I went to Newbury Comics last night to take a peek at this Evil-Lyn in TF, but of course the magazines were sealed in plastic. Not being a db, I left them as is. Do any of you crafty folk know where one might be able to take a peak? I woulda just picked up the issue (it looks pretty good, Super Mario toy news?!), and I will do so when I get paid… next Friday. Until then however, I am rabidly foaming at the mouth to gaze upon the Lyn that is Evil. Out of respect for Poe, don’t post anything here, but if you could e-mail me a link or something at PrfktTear (at) aol (dot) com.

  34. J.Adrian728

    12.11.2009 13.55

    Gosh! Am I the only person who’s genuinely happy with the Evil-Lyn results? I mean, you have to bare in mind that the photos taken are obviously from a prototype and not a finished product. I’m hoping to see some use of metallics mixed with the armor like Teela’s and perhaps more variation in color on the staff… but I’m not worried, the horseman know what they’re doing. As far as the armor sculpt, she’s exactly what I expected. Yes, it’s a repaint of Teela’s armor, just like it was in the original toy, but the sculpt they’ve created for the armor lends itself beautifully to both characters, the leaves being more reminiscent of Teela and the horned bits more of Evil-Lyn’s 200X costume. The face is stunning, sultry, sexy and completely devious. I understand that some people are disappointed and from a buyer’s perspective I totally get it but given that this line is supposed to be reminiscent of the original line I don’t think anyone should’ve expected anything different! I’m thrilled, and if anyone out there isn’t, well, more for me lol and less time on the red screen come April 15:)

  35. J.Adrian728

    12.11.2009 14.01

    ooooo… as for extra accessories, anyone think that perhaps she may come with another hand? Possibly open palmed with the blue flame like her staction figure?

  36. Mark

    12.11.2009 14.06

    @PrfktTear: They are on Facebook on the MOTUC fan page/ group.

  37. Poe

    12.11.2009 14.27

    @J.Adrian728: I think that’s unlikely, because we haven’t had an interchangeable hand yet in MOTUC. But anything’s possible.

  38. J.Adrian728

    12.11.2009 14.37

    @Poe: thats very true. But won’t they be giving Trap-jaw interchangeable hand pieces for his robotic arm?

  39. PrfktTear

    12.11.2009 14.54

    @Mark: Thank you! I’ll look into that!

    @J.Adrian728 – I’m not too upset over the hand thing. Plus I think to swap a hand they’d need to redo something maybe. Also, I think comparing swapping hands and Trap Jaw’s cannon are two different things.

  40. J.Adrian728

    12.11.2009 15.09

    @PrfktTear: good point.

  41. PrfktTear@aol.com

    12.12.2009 5.19

    @Mark: Thanks! I found the pic. She’s gorgeous! Honestly, the lack of any unique tooling for the body really doesn’t bother me. I also don’t really care that they didn’t give her an open cast spelling hand. They def would have gotten points for including an additional hand, but since we haven’t seen that yet in the line I don’t think its something to hold against them. Plus, if she does have her wand/staff, it would have been annoying to not be able to pose her with the staff in both hands.

  42. Mark

    12.12.2009 5.40

    @PrfktTear@aol.com: Its nice enough, but I still think the face could have been better.
    With the WWE figures comming out I think Mattel will be re-using a lot of the parts so there will be a lot more variety of parts in the MOTU line.

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