Prince Adam DID have a back holster for the sword

So yup. I did talk to CB about the holster this week. In no way did we leave out the holster on purpose. I had always thought it wasn't sculpted. I checked with Bill from design and he had never seen the holster piece either. We went through all the paperwork and design pages and the box Adam arrived in. It looks like somehow this piece must have been lost between the Horsemen, Mattel and getting the paintmaster to Hong Kong.

Honestly, we are as baffled as anyone else. I really do wish we had included this piece. Just like the fans, I wanted my Adam to holster his sword too. I had falsely assumed this piece was not sculpted (I had thought the Horsemen were recreating the vintage look exactly). I guess as the saying goes, when you want to make an omelette sometimes you need to break a few eggs.

We don't have plans to re-tool an adult Adam right now, but if the stars line up, we'd love to correct this one day. It is absolutely a miss on out part and I wish I had a better report, but from everything I can tell, the part somehow got lost in the shuffle and never made it on the figure. Neither Bill nor I ever saw it. Truly a mystery.

Sorry I don't have better news, but there you go. Now you guys know what I know.

A lot more great stuff is in the pipe. I know this is a miss but I'm sure one day we can get around to correcting it, just no plans to announce right now. But you know we will do all we can down the road.

Scott

http://www.he-man.org/forums/boards/showthread.php?p=2518670#post2518670

the issue is not that adam himself needed the back frog (which, for the record, he does indeed need) it's that they dicked the fans dropping a cool 30 bucks a month for these toys out of an accessory that can not be logiced out as "didn't cost out." yes, a new head takes exclusive sculpting and a variety of paint aps, but a back strap of that magnitude would represent a fraction of a cent per figure to produce. w/ a "limited production run" like that which mattel insists on using for motuc, this literally could have represented a bank-breaking investment. the half sword is more expensive to produce, and in the scheme of things, less necessary. it COULD have been a factory error, or it could have been but one more slap to the face of the consumers who are paying quite the premium for a line which so far has only just started to justify it's cost.

the floppy ankles thing is indeed another issue. making an ankle peg of the proper diameter or the hole of a consistant diameter should be a given… at this price point, QC issues should be one off, not a consistant problem. and again, not to belabor the point, but as they've increased the production run now three times (that they've admitted to) but the price point has remained the same, i'm less inclined to forgive mistakes or obvious screw-overs (like the millenium heads) as mattel's profit margin on the line increases.

PrfkTear wrote:

Yes, but it certainly isn’t something to go rallying the troops for. How about something important like the QC issues with the loose ankles?

Right now, I have an Adam with a loose ankle and no sword holster.

I could have had an Adam with a loose ankle and a sword holster.

I prefer the latter, that's all.

You're right that this isn't the most important issue right now, but it's one of those little things that irked me. How many times in Filmation have we seen Adam reach behind his back for his sword?

What can I say? It bugs me.

I wouldn't be surprised if this gives them an excuse to reissue him single carded now.

By the way, good work Poe!

At this time of great frustration with this line, I think that this is more valuable than a Q n A this time around anyway. I hope this info spreads around and you get credited.

I actually missed the September 1st deadline this time around, so I didn't even get in the questions you asked in my last "Any questions for Mattel?" post. Mattel is very strict with those deadlines. Those questions will be answered for September 15th (if I'm not blacklisted after this, that is 😉 ).

So I couldn't get Mysterious Stranger's question answered until October 1st at the earliest. Someone did ask about it on the Ask Matty forums.

I still think this could be an honest mistake somewhere down the line.

I'm glad the 4H didn't miss that detail. It actually makes it a bit worse because it smells like meddling for costs or F ups which are not acceptable for a line that is paraded as a premium.

As a 4H error, I thought it was an obvious goof, but easily forgiven since everything else is so solid. Now I'm irritated.

I don't envy Toyguru lately. As a toy fan, he's got his dream job, but he has to contend with corporate concerns. He can't just say F off to his bosses or make the company look bad. It really seems like things are reaching a boiling point in the fan to Matty relationship.

Well, this certainly absolves the Four Horsemen, but I’m sure it will direct more ire towards TG and Mattel. Personally I don’t really care whether or not he has a holster. I guess it would have been nice to have it there, but usually if I don’t have the weapons placed in-hand, they’re in my weapons/accessories bin.

The holster must of not cost-out in the end so they had to cut it. Doesn’t bother me much but I can see people getting annoyed by this.

At this point I find it best to taking everything Toyguru and Mattel say with a grain of salt, that way if they say something different down the line I won’t be surprised. Also is it me or did the Mattel higher-ups try to throw the Horsemen under the bus.

@ Paul: I guess him standing up must have been too expensive so they removed that feature in the final product.

@ Poe: I second Mysterious Stranger’s question.

This must be "The Management's" doing..

@ Toyguru – BURN!!!!