He-Man & The Masters Of The Universe!

[kayevcee]

Aug 5, 2011 9:05:54 GMT blueshift said:

Oh ho ho ho and on that note, Mattel works hard to screw over their customers - buy a sub or you won't get your figures!

This is a Mattel-wide thing rather than just a He-Man thing. How odd. I guess it makes more business sense to push the subscriptions above all else but it does discourage the casual purchaser.

Unbelievable. I think Mr Cheese put it more eloquently than I can. He also links this article that Mattycollector whould do well to read.

-Nick

[The Doctor]

Mr Cheese seems to be a very wise fellow!

-Ralph

[Hero]

Mr Cheese RULES

[Hero]

Polly Pocket MOTUC set arrived today with no CUTA action.

===KEN

[blueshift]

Aug 8, 2011 18:04:48 GMT Hero said:

Polly Pocket MOTUC set arrived today with no CUTA action.

===KEN

Earlier we were asking who would buy that.

Now we know.

Oh Ken

[Hero]

Is it too late to say they are for my daughter?

Best outer packaging seen so far on a Classics figure. The same glossy white box but with greyscale illustrations. The inner box is also cool.

===KEN

[Hero]

Scored a Classics Count Marzo. Been after one for a while.

===KEN

[blueshift]

The MOTU line seems to be safe for another year, but DCU doesn't seem to be happening. In fact Mattel lay into the fans.

DC Sub: Reveal them All!

Okay, it's no secret to anyone that you guys are struggling to get the commitment required to go forward with the DC sub. It's a shame, too, because this has been a great line of characters.

I think you should consider announcing the entire sub. That way, whether the sub goes through or not, you at least know that you couldn't have provided any more info to convince your fans.

As far as backlash from GB and/or MOTU fans about not revealing those subs, well, I hope we're all mature enough to know that business is business, and the longevity of the DC line may depend on that extra level of transparency.

It is not a matter of considering it. We don't have character selection or sculpt approval for any further figures from our partners at WB and DC. At this point we physically do not have any more figures to reveal. I understand it is a bit of a leap of faith, but so was the GB and MOTU sub and both of those have hit more then the min we needed. Only DC fans seem to be the hold out.

Really Mattel? Really?

[The Doctor]

Oh dear!

-Ralph

[Philip Ayres]

Some MOTU comments on16bit.com today

[blueshift]

Aug 16, 2011 18:16:17 GMT Philip Ayres said:

Some MOTU comments on16bit.com today

Here's the original post:
www.actionfigureinsider.com/main/mattel-updates-fans-on-the-status-of-the-motuc-club-eternia-subscription

Hey He-Fans and She-Ravers,

With so much talk over the DC Sub (and if we have enough subscribers) I wanted to check in with all of you on the MOTUC sub.

First off, as expected we have well passed our min sub order to keep the line going. (MOTU fans are committed!) BUT, I do want to let you know that we are actually at our lowest sub sale yet. Which unless we get a huge bump in sales this week, this means Shadow Weaver will likely be the lowest produced figure in the whole line! Wow.

Also, as stated a few times, we will no longer be doing second runs of figures starting with Man-E-Faces. We still have quite a few older figures already slotted for re-release each month in 2012, but they are all figure originally offered before Man-E-Faces. This also means NONE of the 2012 figures will go into a second run.

Finally, our overall production is going to be a bit lower in 2012. We still intend for product to be available for "Cherry Pickers" the day-of the sale, but 1: we will have overall a bit less, how long this will last is anyone’s guess, and 2: Because production is based on part on the sub sales, with lower overall sub sales then expected, this means the day-of product will be even slightly less then we orignally intended with the original planned"slight reduction" (to control inventory).

Part of the reason for the initial reducution in "day of" quota is to maintain the secondary market so that those who buy the sub but don’t want all of the monthly figures will have an avenue to sell them off at a reasonable secondary market price. We’re not trying to create "Scal-por" but we do want to help out fans who may be turned off by the high price of say, the Star Sisters, and want to know we won’t flood the market with this pack giving them the option of selling it off one day if it is not their cup of tea.

SO….What does all this mean?

While in NO WAY is this message intended to be a "you must buy the sub!" post, in all fairness, consider this fair warning that the sub is your best way of guaranteeing all figures without a sell out and the ONLY way to ever get Shadow Weaver. (and hey don’t forget about the awesome Preternia map!)

Whether the sub is for you is a personal choice, I just want to make sure fair warning and all the info is out there for you to make an eductated choice for your own collection!

Hope this helps!

Scott

Their sub has only been going for a year though, that can hardly be 'record low numbers'. MOTU Classics was first and foremost a direct to consumer line with the sub making it easier for people who didn't want the hassle of the website, now it looks like they are trying to make it a primarily sub line where people must buy EVERYTHING.

[The Doctor]

Not a surprise: it's clearly the business model Matty have been moving towards with their online er, lines of toys. Which is daft as pricing out folk who can't afford the cost of subs can harm your line...

I do wonder if the continual problems with Digital River, etc over a three year period is beginning to actually have an effect on sales direct from Matty beyond the usual online screaming. Making it hard for customers outside the US to buy your product isn't going to help either...

It's one of those chicken and the eggs scenarios. Fans generally love the new line, but don't want to buy from Matty especially as there are plenty of other online stores selling the line but for a small niche line if to0 many fans don't buy direct from Matty it will die. No wonder knickers are twisted.

-Ralph

[Hero]

Count Marzo has arrived and is cooler in the plastic than in the pictures.

Really pleased. He-Ro now has a decent sparring partner.

===KEN

[The Doctor]

Post #14 below:

www.he-man.org/forums/boards/showthread.php?t=212976

-Ralph

[Hero]

King Greyskull on the way!

===KEN

[blueshift]

Mattel admits that its business model was based on fans buying anything with the He-Man logo slapped on it. Literally

Based on the lower then expected sales of the 2012 MOTUC sub (though still well above the min we needed), we are actually reviewing all of 2013 in terms of how many skus will be included now. A lot is in flux now that sub sales were signifigantly lower compared to 2010 and 2011 subs. With a lower "baseline" we have to reevaluate the 2013 line up. It was heavily reliant on what our baseline was of fans buying "anything".

Seriously, someone buy these guys a PR department

[The Doctor]

The problem is that the MOTUC is run on a shoestring by a chap at Mattel who does this on top of his regular brand manager job. It is the lowest of low priorities for the company as a whole. He's a nice chap and on podcasts comes across fine. Alas, he can come across as snarky in text. I don't think it's intended and PR is a skilled task not everyone can do. But I doubt there is either the money or the will to have someone at Mattel be specifically tasked with doing that.

One day, someone higher up in the company will decide they have a killer intellectual property (and one that would play very well in Europe in particular) but that's unlikely unless Barbie dies at retail.

RE: Subs. The 2012 offering is much more expensive than the 2010 or 2011 subs due to the inclusion of larger priced items on top of the 12 monthly figures (which cannot be opted out of) so it really should be of no surprise internally that numbers are down. In current economic conditions, when subs pass the mental barrier of $500 plus shipping something has to give.

A tiered subs approach with opt-in extra packages would have made more sense.

-Ralph

[Hero]

Acquired a loose 2002 Mer-Man complete with weapons at a car boot sale today.

Just noticed that the 2011 Hot Wheels cars are now doing the rounds on eBay, but are pretty pricey.

[The Doctor]

They are not in general release as yet and were at SDCC so best wait for them to hit retail and/or if they turn up in the UK.

-Ralph

[blueshift]

As you may have heard, Mattel are doing a competition to design a new He-Man figure! Sadly it is only open to US residents, but I feel it is our duty to come up with as many mad ideas as possible.

A friend has drawn one of my ideas for me:

boltax.deviantart.com/art/Sluggor-He-man-concept-254222298

I call him Sluggor. My inspiration is those figures that mums hated. In this case, Sluggor would be filled with goo, and uncontrollably spurt slime all over the carpet


(Of course Mattel's current line is gimmick-less but I think He-Man toys should be designed with an insane gimmick in mind always!)


Here is another excellent concept: Fro-Mage, who you can store cheese in, and if you squeeze his tummy, it extrudes an afro of cheese: boltax.deviantart.com/art/Fro-Mage-He-man-concept-254214928

[Philip Ayres]

Nick will soon be a US resident. He could submit in our names

[The Doctor]

One more day and the danger period for Burns has passed. Must not give Matty money.

-Ralph

[The Doctor]

I did not buy a Matty subscription,
Even though I felt an itchin'.
Too expensive and with notorious poor customer service from land to sea,
For the figures I want Ebay will bring me glee.

-Ralph

[Hero]

As cool a figure He-Ro is.
Concern over GPS has gotten me in a fizz

Hopes that modern gold plastic is problem free
Could be answered by the desks or collectors of Matty

King Greyskull now en-route to Bristol town
Will graciously receive without a frown.

===KEN

[The Doctor]

More dickery from Mattel afoot,
Why must they shoot themselves in the foot?
If prices had to go up, bub,
Should have said before they closed the sub.
Then they would have sold more,
But their lack of sense makes me snore.

he-man.org/news_article.php?id=2092

-Ralph

[Hero]

The postage this morning was reliable without dismay.
For King Greyskull arrived on the doorstep early today.

===KEN

[blueshift]

Is this really the best PR?
Actions like this will surely tar!

[Grand Moff Muffin]

Greenpeace doesn't like Mattel either.

Watch the vid and think where your toy packaging comes from.

Rhyming resumes.

Martin

[The Doctor]

Mattel are a bunch of loons,
Best to stick with cartoons.

-Ralph

[Philip Ayres]

I believe the Mattel Collector subscriptions have been reopened.