1.) Where did the bio art for Gygor come from?

It came from the vintage Big Jim’s Gorilla box. We scanned it and then re-colored it.

2.) One common MOTU trait is balance. Since we’re getting a Shadow Beast, Gygor might have served as the perfect “good” counterpart to him, just as Battle Cat is the counterpart to Panthor, Stridor to Nightstalker, and Tytus to Megator. Setting aside the question of whether Gygor had ever been intended to be good or bad in the 1980s, why did you make him evil in Classics?

Gygor was never actually produced and never appeared in any entertainment so there really isn’t precedent for whose side he is on other than fans’ imaginations from an early image/description of He-Man on top of Gygor. In the end, all MOTU figures are avatars of fan’s imaginations and you are welcome to make him on whatever side you want!

3.) In the 1980s, the constant re-use of the basic molds for MOTU resulted in softer detailing in later figures as the molds aged. Have any steps been taken to prevent this from happening, since MOTUC is tentatively planned out through at least 2015?

Sorry, we can’t share logistic strategies like this publicly, but we are well aware of the long term use for the MOTU tools.

4.) Is the Mer-Man from the Aquaman/Mer-Man 2-pack the shade of blue as Faker/Skeletor etc., or will he be more of a teal in the final release?

The figure shown at SDCC is very close to final. It is a light blue, like in the mini comics.

5.) The items coming out for MOTUC in 2011 look fantastic! But it seems a bit misleading to refer to the Club Eternia subscription as “all-in” when it excludes several major items–specifically the “diorama environment” and the Q4 vehicle, both of which most fans who have subs are sure to want. Why were these excluded from the sub, and is there any chance of offering an early “opt-in” for subscribers who have already committed to giving Mattel nearly $500 next year?

Quite frankly we don’t know how many of these items we can and/or want to do and need the freedom to adjust based on fan interest and logistics. Not including them in the sub gives us that flexibility. Leaving some items out lets us craft the line as it fits best.

My thoughts:

Obviously, #2 didn’t answer my question–why did they choose to make Gygor evil? They could have at least said, “We just thought it’d be cooler that way.”

Regarding #5: If Mattel tells fans up front that the subscription will include the diorama and the vehicle, and then fans order the subscription anyway, Mattel is guaranteed the sales of those items, so the stuff about “freedom to adjust based on fan interest” is an irrelevant distraction. I think it’s fair to say that any fan willing to sign up for a subscription is almost certain to want those items as well.

That said, I can think of a logical reason for not including the diorama/vehicles in the sub: Mattel doesn’t yet know what the costs and prices will be, and therefore can’t tell fans how much they’ll have to pay before they sign up for the sub. But that’s not what they said here. –PG