A MOTUC Battle Ram? Plus Grayskull weapons rack & Swift Wind vote results [updated]

i actually talked to cornboy about the battle ram. i have some pics and a video of it if you'd like to post it Poe.

@toyman2581: Objection, your honor! Hooey!

Man I can't wait to get to law school.

Now that I got my little annoyed response out of the way, I am sure the objective reasoning for Mattel is, "We don't want to commit to anything we're not one hundred percent certain is going to come out." This is why they don't tell us the entirety of 2011's figure schedule right now. They won't commit to it because things can happen.

There's a chance they're not certain on how many weapons pack per calendar year they're going to sell. They're not certain if they're going to sell more figure stands (remember, they told us that they were a one-shot deal but lately they seem to be reconsidering that position).

They tell us there's a vehicle happening in late 2011. There's nothing exact yet. Maybe it has to come at the tail end. Maybe it'll be pushed back to 2012. Maybe it won't get made at all for unforseen complications.

I can accept that they cannot give us everything we request of them. I reserve the right of the man-child to not having to like it.

@toyman2581: There was a moment where one of the Matty moderators mentioned the reason why the "all-in" subscription doesn't include things like figure-stands and weapons paks is because a percentage of collectors keep their stuff MISB and thus, have no need for things that're meant for opening your figures up.

I call hooey on it. The whole point of the subscription, especially the "all-in" movement, is that collectors are telling Mattel they want everything and they want it as effortless and problem-free as possible.

By this same logic, there's a percentage of collectors who are go for the complete collection. This is the group who will buy -everything-. Are they not worth being listened to?

I realize you cannot please everyone, but I think if you're going to the lengths to secure a year's worth of purchases, you should be allowed to get everything you want.

On a side note…

You might not want to refer to it as an "all-in" subscription if you're planning new itens that won't be part of the sub.

It's like paying to eat at a pretty kick ass buffet, with tons of great satisfying food and no crowd but there's a lock with a coin slot over the mashed potatoes. And a huge line of people behind it, quarters in hand.

@Dead Man Walking: I guarantee we get a Strydor/Night Stalker, & it won't be ape-ing Swift Wind. It'll be almost entirely new tooling.

Think about it, it's really more of a "beast" than a vehicle, & ultimately, how many beasts can they really make without getting to these guys. It's a no-brainer in my books. We're gettin' 'em.

@FakeEyes22: Haha… noone who is consistently sensible could be a true fan. True fans can't use any sort of logic or reasoning, its just unheard of!

On one of the recent Roast Gooble podcasts, Val Staples (JVS3) got into talking about the dichotomy of the fandom. Basically, he says how after the Internet boom, up until the early 2000's, there were only people in the community who were there because (like myself) they sat down at a search engine and typed in "Masters of the Universe" just to see what came up. I know I was totally suprised that there were actually other people out there that still remembered He-Man, and upon finding He-Man.org, I devoured all of the content offered on the site.

Then in the early 2000's a lot of old fans came back because of the new cartoon. Now in the late 2000's, you've got both factions of fans, the original nostalgic's and the people who came back during 200x series. Add to that any fans new to the scene either from discovering it on their own, or perhaps the 200x series brought them in, You've got fans who never stopped being into MOTU, or others who maybe are just re-discovering it again altogether. Regardless, you're never going to please EVERYONE. So there is just a broad range of very diverse fans and everyone has an opinion and everyone is right.

Mattel is running a business, and this is a venture for them. They've obviously been playing it close to the chest since the beginning, and I suspect its how the line will always be ran. They're catering to a very specific crowd, sales Internet only, and no media to back it up, Speaking for myself, I'm just happy to have the line, and I'm happy its going into its third full year. I might not like everything, but its mostly stupid little things I can live with, like the bios or the names, and at the very least it gives us something to debate. But there really is no debating, for most people its their way or the highway, very rare is it that people can agree to disagree.

Even if I don't understand it, I can at least respect that people don't like certain choices, but its a matter of opinion. What I don't like is the negativity that it brings out in people, its just not called for. I'm no different, on a couple different occasions some things have raised my ire and perhaps I may have said a thing or two that I would later come to regret. At the end of the day they're just toys.

@Toyman

You have been so consistently sensible, it's hard to believe you're a fan. Don't you know that you should be angry that the Battle Ram's rear wheels are large? I haven't seen that complaint yet, but it's coming I bet.

I agree that a Grayskull is possible some day. The volume of the thing could make shipping a nightmare. As far as mass, its not a whole lot of plastic for its size. There would be a great deal of arguments about how to make it though. An exterior only for display? Something closer to proper scale(maybe impossible)? A Horsemanized version of the complete '82 version? That would be $300, easily, and wars would be fought over how necessary thrones and elevators are…ugh. All I know is that something is possible. They could easily charge $50 for a plastic version of the NECA door.

A company doesn't build giant Prince Adam statues to show off a line that is barely scraping by, right?

The Battle Ram looks great. I'm not buying the whole "we don't know if we can do vehicles or playsets in this line…maybe a movie year" garbage.

Mattel knows damn well (or should know) that any vehicle or playset would sell out just like the regular figs. We already plunk down 30 bones after tax and shipping for one damn figure and these things are selling out in mere minutes. Do they honestly think that something like Castle Grayskull wouldn't do the same no matter what the cost? What would they charge, 100 bucks? I'd pay it.

I think realistically if they were going to do a vehicle it will most likely be the Battle Ram, Wind Raider or Talon Fighter. Land Shark, Spydor, et aliae. would just be too costly (and huge). Though now that they’ve committed to doing Swify Wind, it may not be completely out of the question to see Strydor/Night Stalker.

Personally, I find the Battle Ram overrated. It's really not a particularly cool looking vehicle, but the air chariots featured so much in the cartoon that I think everyone fell in love with it.

Then again, I LOVE the Landshark and only recently found out that most people think it's dumb.

Now Night Stalker–that is one badass looking horse/vehicle. The gold-black-purple color scheme is so cool. He's definitely my most wanted vehicle.

I also wouldn't mind seeing the Spydor, though I'd like to see 2 more legs and a more spider like face.