Masters of the Universe figures

The only place I have heard confirmed of getting the Snake Men in decent numbers was Aldi's. I'm glad I bailed on the series when I did. Though I've been keeping my peepers on things. Too many He-Man's, Too many Skeletors, a lack of supporting characters. Mattel vowing that they wouldn't make King Randor, Queen Marlena, even shockingly Sorceress, unless it was as an exclusive. And the commits that they wouldn't make things like Palace Guards, etc. It just doomed the line from the beginning. Mattel needs to learn how to run a successful toy line. :)

MTFBWY and HH!!

Jar Jar Binks

Its really too bad. All signs are pointing to that the line is done. It could have been really great. I wish I could have gotten a Clawful figure.

A friend told me he read it was officially cancelled. :cry: I've not confirmed this, but it seems like the case.

Let's bow our heads in a moment of silence for the Hordak figure that could've been.

This is too bad. The newer versions were looking great. They should have made Moss Man right at the beginning, the awesomeness of that figure would have hooked thousands of collectors into this line from day one. Who can turn down an action figure that doubles as an air freshener for your closet? :crazed:

Some possible news about the fate of MOTU. It makes sense, since it wasn't in the Toy Fair Press Release. Looks like the line will become a speciality retailer and mail-order line only. Because Mattel has no retailer support left to keep the line in regular stores. No big suprise, they slit their own throats on this one. This post is from over on AmericanDreamComics. :)

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The word from Mattel Reps *at the Fair* is that MOTU does not have a presence because the line is being refocused as a Mail-order, or on-line ordering line. The major stores (Wal MArt, K-Mart, KB, Target, TRU, etc) do not want the line. They will not order it. But Mattel is aware that we'll still buy the product. So they're not wasting time with product as Toy Fair, becasue they're not going to be selling MOTU to the clientel that they're interested in at Toy Fair.

The line is not cancelled. It's simply being diverted to a Collector-oriented platform of on-line, specialty stores, and the like.

It might be better this way. With no odd case pack-outs, we may all have a shot at getting new figures as they come out. We may just have to pay more for them.

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MTFBWY and HH!!

Jar Jar Binks

I don't know how you Americans are faring, but we've been getting an odd shipment of MOTU into our Zellers stores over the past couple of weeks. Seeing numerous (read: lots) of older, HTF figures like Orko, Whiplash, Mekanek, Fire Armor Skeletor, amid others on the shelves. Have you guys been seeing them down there? Still no Mer Man, Stratos, Beast Man, regular Man At Arms, Teela, Evil-Lyn.

Hey JJ, I've read over on the heman.org boards about Canadians finding older HTF MOTU (up to Man-E-Faces) at Zellers. Nothing here in NB from what I've seen but I hope to at least find something in stores here before the end. The internet is an expensive place to buy MOTU. But if that's the only way to get them so be it.

If this is true, I really applaud Mattel's efforts on keeping the line alive. Honestly, even though figures may become more expensive (I'd be willing to pay more to keep the line going) - I really think this could be great! No more crappy He-Man and Skeletor variants - or at least fewer and farther between - and we just might have a shot at all of those cool characters we want only much easier to find! I say bring it on. Good move Mattel; thanks for the effort! :D

I don't totally believe what was said. The big retailers generally don't even do Feb Toy Fair anymore, they have their own October pre-TF thing now; Toy Fair is used primarily for appealing to alternate stores like specialty shops, etailers, and alternate retailers like drug stores, so it doesn't make sense why the line wouldn't show up at TF if that's who Mattel is going to try to cater to. Seems like another nail in this line's coffin, Mattel should just start pumping out all the HTF figs to Target & TRU now while they can, try to juice the line that way before it's too late.

More word on the Death of He-Man and Masters of the Universe. From Action-Figure.com:

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Mattel: US TOYFAIR: What About He-Man?
Posted by adrian on Thursday, February 19, 2004 - 08:34 AM EST

The question everyone wants answered is what exactly is going on with the Masters of the Universe brand right now...

OK, so as some of you may have gathered there were no Masters of the Universe figures on display at the Mattel showroom.

Mattel told me that the sales of the Snakemen just weren't high enough to justify further waves. Mattel's own Market Research puts the collectors Market for MOTU as about 10 - 15% of all sales (I think it's higher).

Now, trust me when I say that there are those that understand why the line failed (don't make the mistake of painting all of Mattel with the same brush), how big the potential is, and that you guys are wanting MOTU to live. Just about everyone I spoke to was talking about the line, it was the talk of ToyFair.

Now Mattel is saying that they might release some further figures as collector club exclusives or as direct to consumer internet sales. I also know that overseas, Masters of the Universe is doing pretty well. I further know that a number of sculpts already exist.

So what's gonna happen? Actually, there's a lot of movement on MOTU but I don't want to give you false hope nor be a naysayer. Those that need to know that there is still demand for MOTU figures, know. They now have to go off and use that data, so it could go quiet for a while, the fans have done their job, and it's now a time to wait and see, what happens. It's only when (/ if) things get decided, we'll know more and be able to tell you more.

If you ask me whether we'll ever see further figures, I honestly can't say. I'm neither optomistic nor pessamistic. There's too many things that could happen for me to predict, so all I can do is sit here and wait and see what unfolds.

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MTFBWY and HH!!

Jar Jar Binks