MOTUC: Filmation now on the table?

June 13, 2011 | Poe

Huh. So it turns out if you go on an unofficial hiatus and ignore toy news, important toy news slips by you.

Specifically, this. From Worldscreen.com:

NEW YORK: Classic Media is partnering with Mattel to roll out a new consumer-products program for Masters of the Universe to celebrate the brand’s 30th anniversary in 2012.

The new line will encompass apparel (t-shirts, sweatshirts, thermals, track jackets and fashion tops for men, women and kids) and accessories (wristbands, belts and belt buckles, key chains, costume jewelry and more) from Changes, costumes from Disguise and a special 30th Anniversary edition DVD box set from Mill Creek Entertainment. Publishing partners will be announced soon. Plus, the Masters of the Universe Classics toy line from Mattel will continue through 2012.

“Masters of the Universe is an iconic franchise with a legacy that’s deeply rooted in fantastical storytelling which translates naturally to play experiences and products kids of all ages love,” said Michael Riley, VP of franchise development at Mattel. “In 2012 the property celebrates its milestone 30th anniversary allowing us to create a robust synergistic program that offers something for all fans.”

Classic Media is introducing a new Masters of the Universe style guide for the anniversary celebration featuring retro artwork, all-new modern artist renderings, as well as a special 30th Anniversary logo. Classic will also work with Mill Creek Entertainment on the DVD release.

“We’re very excited to be working with the team at Mattel to celebrate this iconic franchise’s 30th anniversary,” said Nicole Blake, executive VP of global marketing and consumer products at Classic Media. “This is the perfect opportunity to re-engage fans with the original series and to introduce Masters of the Universe to the next generation.”

Since the 1982 debut of the Masters of the Universe toy line, there has been a 1983 TV series, a 1987 Warner Bros. film, a 1990 series The New Adventures of He-Man and the 2002 Cartoon Network show He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.

Now, obviously, there is nothing specific in this press release about Filmation characters in MOTUC. But Classic Media owns the Filmation rights, and now that Mattel and CM have a working relationship, it’s conceivable that Filmation-only characters–such as Shadow Weaver, Sea Hawk, and Plun-Dor–are now on the table, not to mention Filmation-style repaints and retools.

Anyway, for now: fingers crossed.

P.S. The 30th Anniversary logo was found here.

Toy Aisle Trolls > The Strife Aquatic

June 10, 2011 | Poe

Toy Aisle Trolls is a feature highlighting acts of vandalism to in-store toy items. If you find a ruined package, a stolen figure, a swapped-out figure, or any other such acts, take a photo (cell phone photos are fine if they’re not blurry) and email them to poe AT poeghostal.com.

Submitted by: 3B

The Problem: The Aquaman has been replaced by the Alex Ross’s “Justice”-style Aquaman from the Walmart “Undersea Assault” 2-pack.

What It’s Supposed to Look Like: This.

XXX writes:

I snapped this one at my local TRU yesterday. I’m not too bothered by this one, though. Why? I’ve never seen this version of Aquaman (from the Walmart-exclusive “Undersea Assault” 2-pack) at retail, so you can say it’s pretty rare in my area. This troll obviously just wanted the classic version of Aquaman and swapped in the gold one. Also, the package showed very little evidence of being opened.

Probably worth mentioning that this particular store hasn’t stocked any of the Aquaman/Mer-Man or Hawkman/Stratos packs. In fact, they have a boatload of the Lex/Skeletor packs left. I suspect this troll picked up the set at another store about 7miles to the North, which recently stocked the new sets.

As for payback… I think the fact the “Aquaman” TV series was never made is punishment enough for this troll.

Karmic Payback: Yeah, this is one of those cases where I have mixed feelings about dishing out the karmic payback. On the one hand, yes, many DCUC fans do want the Aquaman. And the guy did engage in criminal behavior by opening the pack, swapping a figure and returning it. It was dishonest.

On the other hand, that Walmart Aquaman was hard to find…anyone who bought this set would either be thrilled to get the Aquaman, or could probably sell the Aquaman on eBay and recoup enough money to buy another one of these sets and get the right Aquaman. And if they didn’t realize they got the wrong Aquaman, then obviously they don’t care enough about the figure for it to matter.

So I’m going to defer to you, faithful readers, to determine the punishment (or reward) of your choice.

Review > Sy-Klone (Masters of the Universe Classics, Mattel)

June 6, 2011 | Poe

I never owned Sy-Klone as a kid, and as such, I don’t have any real attachment to the character. I was also always a bit confused by him–did the “klone” part of his name mean he was some sort of weird clone of He-Man? His face did–and does–look a lot like He-Man. I realize Mattel needed to make the figure’s name trademarkable somehow, but by introducing the “clone” question, it confused some of us kids.

X-Entertainment wrote an exhaustive analysis of Sy-Klone that I highly recommend. I was also quite fond of the Millennium version, which introduced a sort of cyberpunk street samurai look to the character. The new Classics version is of course based on the vintage Sy-Klone, with the small addition of the Millennium-style hula hoop.

(more…)

Eternia, circa 1986

June 2, 2011 | Poe

Wow. The stereotype of the 1980s yuppie obsessed with technology, particularly the then-new technology of mass market video cameras, has paid off for us in spades, folks.

Some wise soul–specifically, the father of YouTube user sammyb7883–sacrificed a videocassette that could have been used to tape that night’s rerun of Cheers to give us He-Fans a glance into a world we thought was gone–namely, Eternia itself, replicated in miniature at a mall in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Watch the whole thing. The bored Hordak at the beginning is misleading. You’re soon taken into some sort of mystical cave featuring a gigantic Snake Mountain set. An announcer lists each new He-Man figure for the season, who gets a moment in the spotlight. And then–AND THEN–the battle begins!

Seriously, what is going on here? Is that a TV screen showing something filmed on a set designed to look exactly like the mountain? Holograms? Actual magic? I…I can’t tell.

Thanks to David O’Brien for the tip.

Ask Mattel > Answers for Mid-May 2011

May 17, 2011 | Poe

1.) MegaGearMax asks: A bunch of fans were really disappointed Battleground Teela’s controversial bio didn’t explain the most pressing questions on fan’s minds since her reveal at NYTF 2011 — namely, why was her hair now blonde or why is she wearing a new costume. Classicized 200X versions of vintage MOTU characters whose changes might not be so easily explained as a change of clothes might also fall under this topic. So I was wondering: why did the bio writers decided not to try to explain why characters have such different looks?

We absolutely have throught about these details. You’ll just need to keep reading the bios won’t you?

2.) Chris asks: I used the tracking for the Newgistics shipping and it makes no sense. It takes longer, and still ends up getting handed over to USPS. Why not send it USPS to begin with? (more…)

Happy Catra Day

May 16, 2011 | Poe

I nearly forgot that today was a Mattycollector day. Catra’s the only new MOTUC item, although there are reissues of Stratos, Whiplash, and She-Ra. If you don’t have a Whiplash yet, I highly recommend him.

A friend asked me whether to pick up the reissue She-Ra if he didn’t have one, since “She-Ra 2.0” is coming (the retooled She-Ra who will be better able to sit on Swift Wind). Well, the thing to know is that She-Ra 2.0 won’t have the Filmation-style She-Ra head; it will have a tiara-less head with a removable toy-style mask (which will fix on via a clip instead of the giant square hole). Most people consider the Filmation-style head the “true” She-Ra, but it all depends on your preferences. She-Ra 2.0’s head will be removable and interchangeable with the regular She-Ra’s.

Anyway, here’s the link to the all-in-one order page. There’s a lot of Green Lantern stuff on sale this month, too, though I don’t think any of it is exclusive to Mattycollector and apparently Green Man and the Retro-Action Guy Gardner are exclusive to Mattycollector. You know what would have been a good use of Mattycollector? Selling that Green Lantern 5-pack. Or even better, individual figures from that set. Maybe someday.

Megator & Man-E-Faces’…’s?…Packaging Revealed

May 13, 2011 | Poe

Mattel has posted packaging pics & bios for Man-E-Faces and Megator, both due this August.

I’ve been thinking I may start doing bio discussions upon their revealing, rather than waiting until I’ve had a chance to scan the actual packaging (I’ll still do that and include them in the review, though). Anyone care either way?

As for these, it’s notable that both of these figures will have “mystery” accessories. I’m with IAT in hoping for a gross zombie head for Megator. That said, the whole thing about resurrecting him is…kinda weird, but cool, I think. Those are my ever-so-erudite thoughts on the matter, at least until the official bio discussion.

As for Man-E-Faces: he was always one of my favorites as a kid. I loved the vintage figure, I loved the 200X figure, and I’m really like the MOTUC version, too. Of the figures coming out between now and August, it’s a tie for me between MEF and Battleground Teela for the one I’m most excited about (Catra, I’m afraid, wins “least”).

Any guesses on MEF’s secret accessory? Or did we already do this?

The Power-Con of Grayskull

May 12, 2011 | Poe

Power-Con, the first-ever He-Man and She-Ra convention, now has a date and location.

“Get ready He-Fans and She-Ravers!

Power-Con will take place Saturday, September 24th and Sunday, September 25th at the Four Points at the Los Angeles Intl Airport! You can fly directly into LAX, jump on the free hotel shuttle and be there in no time!

Show hours are from 10am to 6pm on Saturday followed by a limited attendance dinner (details coming soon) and then an after-hours mixer open to everyone and from 10am to 5pm on Sunday.

The official Power-Con fan convention website will be launching VERY soon!
http://www.thepower-con.com/

It will have advanced and onsite order info for attendees and exhibitors, our first guest announcements, discounted hotel reservation info (so don’t call in your reservations yet!), and many more details. So please spread the word to fans you know!

We know so many fans are going to love Power-Con. It’s going to be packed with programming and have an amazing guest list.

Stay tuned for more info and make sure you are there. You won’t want to miss out!”

I’m sure your first thought was, “Will Poe be there?” so that you can plan to be as far away as possible accordingly. I’m still not sure yet. Hoping to, but we’ll see.