MOTUC to Have “Dramatic” Price Hike in 2013

May 11, 2012 | Poe

Mattel is laying the groundwork for an announcement (presumably at SDCC) of a major price increase on Masters of the Universe Classics (including for subscribers) in 2013. In answer to a question about the diminished paint applications on the Horde Prime production figure compared to the prototype, Mattel’s Scott “ToyGuru” Neitlich wrote:

The Horsemen tend to “overdeco” figures. Every figure in 2012 is delivering $22.00 worth of paint apps. In 2013 we are dramatically raising prices so we can afford more paint and accessories. If we wanted to deliver all the figures exactly as the 4HM painted the protos we would need to charge more and we already sold in the sub for 2012, so that is not an option. Legally we can’t raise prices on the sub after it is sold in. This is why we will start 2013 at higher prices.

While some fans have taken issue with the “overdeco” comment, I suspect the Four Horsemen tend to put more detail into the prototypes with the expectation that some of it will be removed/downgraded for the production figure. (Basically, Mattel will look to cut corners on whatever they provide, so the more detailed the Horsemen go – in sculpt and paint – the more detail there is on the final figure – in theory, anyway.) (more…)

Odds ‘n Ends > Outer Space Men, New MOTUC Bios

May 8, 2012 | Poe

  • PGPoA sponsor Urban Collectibles has single figures of DC Direct’s Batman Arkham City Series 2 in stock now.
  • The Four Horsemen are now taking pre-orders for their psychedelic Cosmic Creators: Four Horsemen edition of their Outer Space Men figures, along with reissues of the OSM Infinity Edition Waves 1 & 2 with some tweaked paint apps.
  • Mattel posted packaging pics & bios for the Griffin, Snake Man-At-Arms, and Horde Prime. Still can’t say I’m excited for that Griffin. On a side note, if you want to see the secret of Horde Prime’s face, it’s right here.
  • You can also see pics of some of Mattel’s SDCC exclusives, as well as Vykron’s bio, at Action Figure Insider.
  • I was asked to plug Pocket Power Toys, a website devoted to this little-known toy line from Japan that was sold by Tyco here in the U.S. in the 1990s. The creator of the site adds, “Strictly speaking there’s only one action figure in the line (Glo-Bones).”
  • NECA has a Collector’s Club. Did we know this already?
  • I swear to God, if Bluefin Tamashii Nations doesn’t reveal what their S.H. MonsterArts Godzilla SDCC figure is soon instead of teasing us with bits of artwork, I’m going to – just wait longer. Though it might be a wholly-translucent orange “Meltdown” Godzilla, like this one, which would be a profound disappointment that I wouldn’t buy (and yes, I realize there’s some hypocrisy there, since I’ve always said the best con exclusives are repaints – but preferably a somewhat interesting repaint). I’m hoping there’s a poster of whatever the final artwork is, too.

MOTUC Bio Discussion #55 > Swiftwind

May 8, 2012 | Poe

Inspired by He-Man.org’s Roast Gooble Dinner podcast, welcome to PGPoA’s latest MOTUC Bio Discussion!

Swiftwindâ„¢ Bio
Real Name: Spirit

A magical steed from Etheria, Spirit served Adora during her time as Force Captain of the Horde Army. Loyal to Adora, not the Horde, Spirit stayed with her after Adora learned of her true heritage and joined the Great Rebellion. Enhanced by Adora’s newly acquired Sword of Protection, Spirit was transformed into She-Ra’s flying mount Swiftwindâ„¢, heroically carrying the Princess of Power into battle. Swiftwind remained with She-Ra, traveling with her from Etheria to Eternia to join with the renegade Masters of the Universe in the continued fight against Hordak and his armies.

I think what I wondered about most in reading this bio was why Swiftwind stuck with Adora after she turned against the Horde. That’s some pretty strong loyalty to turn against the status quo you’ve known your whole life simply out of loyalty. I have to believe Swiftwind wasn’t a fan of the Horde’s regime. If he thought the Horde was running Etheria just fine, it’s arguably like joining up with the Taliban against the government in Afghanistan purely out of loyalty to your best friend.

And once again, I’ve engaged in some traditional geek overthinking. But that’s really the whole point of these bio discussions, isn’t it?

We already knew from She-Ra’s bio that the Heroic Warriors would become renegades under Hordak’s rule (though the Thunder Punch He-Man bio seems to dispute that, as Skeletor is ruling when he’s challenged by Hordak and King Hssss). So nothing new there. Overall a pretty straightforward bio.

Some Awesome MOTUC Fan Art

May 4, 2012 | Poe

While searching for Draego-Man fan art, I came across the work of CJEdwards, who’s drawn a quartet of images of the 30th Anniversary figures that actually makes even the non-Draego-Man ones kind of…cool? (more…)

Review > Draego-Man (Masters of the Universe Classics, Mattel)

May 3, 2012 | Poe

It took more than ten years of working on the property, but the Four Horsemen have finally added their own brand-new character to Masters of the Universe.

You can read the not-so-secret history of Draego-Man’s creation in this Fwoosh interview with Horseman Eric Treadaway last year, which describes the process behind his creation. Of course, a dragon-man in MOTU is really a no-brainer – as Treadaway noted, it was odd there were no dragon-men in the original MOTU, nor any bad guys with wings.

That said, Draego-Man has a very retro feel; he evokes memories of figures from those MOTU knockoff lines of the 1980s, like Dragoon from Sungold’s Galaxy Warriors, Gecko from Remco’s Warrior Beasts (pictured alongside Draego-Man below), Iguana from Sewco’s Galaxy Fighters or, most fittingly, Dragonman from SOMA’s Fantasy World.

Of course, being a fantasy monster who fits in well with the ever-popular sword and sorcery interpretation of Masters of the Universe, Draego-Man has proven immensely popular amongst fans of all inclinations. So how is the figure? (more…)

Poe’s Point > Vykron Thoughts

May 1, 2012 | Poe

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gu1Ujp72TCM&h=284&w=500]

Mattel has posted a new video with Scott Neitlich explaining the Vykron SDCC exclusive and showing off the packaging.

One thing I didn’t initially realize about these figures – the boots and cuffs are half-parts that clip on, rather than full parts that encompass the limb and snap on a la the original Toy Biz Iron Man. I understand it as a cost-saving measure, but it makes the figures significantly more like “Cosplay He-Man.”

To be fair, I think this is a great exclusive, and this post by “Prince Adam’s Dad” explains it as well as I could:

Personally, I’m unlikely to pick it up. It’s a neat concept and a cool part of the line’s history, but it just doesn’t fit into what I’m doing with my collection. However, there are plenty of people who will be interested in him. More to the point, there are plenty of people who will be interested in three or four of him to display in each of his forms and MOC.

So it’s a non-essential figure that some people will buy multiples of – sounds like the perfect convention exclusive to me. (more…)

Illustrating Voltron

April 30, 2012 | Poe

Using the coloring technique shown in the “Illustrating Skeletor” guest post by Phil Reed, I spent a couple hours over the weekend turning this:

Voltron - Original

into this:

Voltron - Colorized

I need more practice, obviously. But it’s pretty fun, and works particularly well with robots like this. Also: this is rapidly becoming one of my favorite action figures ever.