Starting the Monday after Comic Con, because you demanded it, Mattel will be launching a brand new Collector Website with the latest news, updates, and previews. And the big news: This new site will also be the EXCLUSIVE home of Masters of the Universe Classic action figures with a new character available EACH MONTH starting this fall!
Of course we’ll have more details including the URL name at San Diego Comic Con, but we wanted to make sure to give online toy fans the scoop first. Oh – and to kick off the new online store, we’ll be putting aside a very limited number of each of this year’s SDCC exclusives which will go on sale on the new collector web site at 8:00 am Eastern Standard Time on July 28th.
And… Mattel employee Toyguru clarifies…
Hey,
Clarification time. Seems like our press release caused as many questions as it answered.
The new Mattel collector fan site (URL to be revealed at SDCC) will be the exclusive home of MOTUC figures. They will not be sold at retail. One of the ways we were able to do this new line was by giving it a home on our new fan site’s store. The advantages to doing the line this way are numerous. For starters, we hope it makes it a lot easier for fans to get them. One place, one price, set release dates.
The figures will be available to ship internationally (sadly with the exception of King Grayskull. Because of the electronics involved in his unique packaging, countries outside of North America can not take it through the mail. Just one of those factors in our world no one can control).
BUT: starting later this fall when the first figure premiers, it will be available to ship world wide (no electronics!).
A new figure will premier for purchase on the 15th of every month. How long and how big will the line get? Only time and fan support will tell.
I can tell you we are very committed to this line and seeing it become a success. We want to work with the fans to deliver a highly detailed, fully articulated MOTU toy line with the character selection fan’s demand. And having this new website will be a huge part in achieving that success together.
The site will also sell exclusive product for some of our other collector lines like CARS and DCU. We’ll have more on that as well as more details about MOTU C at San Diego.
Believe me when I say, this year’s Booth will have a huge Masters presence. So much that it may dominate the convention. Why? Cause MOTU kicks ass.
On the one hand… yay, they ship internationally (bet it’ll cost us an arm and a leg though) and I can understand the logistics of doing it this way.. but it seems very much like taking no risk at pushing them back to retail where casual buyers pick them up. This way, only die hard fans are going to collect these.
Still, I suppose once the film gets underway things will start popping up in the stores.
but it seems very much like taking no risk at pushing them back to retail where casual buyers will pick them up. This way, only die hard fans are going to collect these.
No kidding. To compensate, I think they need to advertise the crap out of these things.
but it seems very much like taking no risk at pushing them back to retail where casual buyers will pick them up. This way, only die hard fans are going to collect these.
No kidding. To compensate, I think they need to advertise the crap out of these things.
I guess we’ll see at Comic Con how big of a push they’re going to make. Hopefully, it will be more than a cardboard Grayskull patched together with Hubba Bubba and the tears of a 1,000 fanboys.
I think this is the PERFECT way to distribute these. These aren’t for kids… they are designed for collectors, us, and making them available like this will be amazing, I only hope they do a thing where you can join a subscription based club, they automatically deduct the money from your checking account, and your figure ships, like those collector plates, or DVD clubs… I mean DUH!!!? THIS IS WHAT I HAVE BEEN ASKING FOR! This could quite possibly revolutionize the toy business!
I .... I could Kiss Toy Guru!
Look out Scott, Imma hunt you down at Comic Con and plant one right on your gob!
Don’t get me wrong, I’m over-the-moon that we’re finally getting the Collector site. But with no retail presence, I’m just worried sales won’t be good enough to keep ‘em going after the first 2 Waves. I don’t want the Classics to be a temporary line to create some hype before finally getting phased out in favor of the movie toys.
It is good for die hard fans, while they are happy to cater to JUST us. But I worry that may not be for long.
Its gone from one extreme to the other.. ‘These toys are for kids’ and now ‘These toys are for die hard fans only’..
There’s got to be a happy medium. Afterall, if this plan fails and they stop making figures after the first 12 (if people stick with it that long) then once again they are going to blame fans that they werent interested.
Ideally, I’d have liked to have seen them in stores, and with figures offered online aswell. Perhaps a variant offered exclusively online. I mean, there was talk of them going Teela/Green Goddess. Are they going to offer both in one month?? If not, seems like a waste of a months slot where we might have had a new character..
I dunno. It just doesnt seem thought out properly. But as I said on he-man.org, maybe its just dipping a toe in the water to see what the reaction is, and if its good, maybe things will start hitting stores later on.
I agree with the subscription idea though. I would be up for that provided the shipping to the UK isnt crazy. If theyre going to ask $30/40 shipping, I may have to get someone else to buy them for me and send them on, since I know you can ship a figure to the UK for $10, and some of these companies just like to sting you if they think they have you over a barrel, and with Mattels track record..
Don’t get me wrong, I’m over-the-moon that we’re finally getting the Collector site. But with no retail presence, I’m just worried sales won’t be good enough to keep ‘em going after the first 2 Waves. I don’t want the Classics to be a temporary line to create some hype before finally getting phased out in favor of the movie toys.
Thing is… I see nothing about ‘waves’. I see one figure a month. This tells me that things like build-a-figures, vehicles, and playsets have a slim-to-none chance… or (at least in the case of a possible BAF) that it’ll take 5 months or more to get them.
It also tells me that Mattel expects me to plunk down the money for shipping every blasted month for one figure. It doesn’t even matter how long the line lasts, that’s gonna burn the wallet. If this is a general online shop, that could mollify things a little, but if not, it’s going to leave me weighing whether I really want the figures. Five bucks for shipping could instead be five bucks for a gallon of gas to take me to Wal-Mart so I can buy some other toy while I get my groceries…
If the electronics of the KG package are the only problem for intl shipping, it seems like a no-brainer to release him in whatever the ‘normal’ packaging is at some point.
Thing is… I see nothing about ‘waves’. I see one figure a month. This tells me that things like build-a-figures, vehicles, and playsets have a slim-to-none chance… or (at least in the case of a possible BAF) that it’ll take 5 months or more to get them.
The survival of the Classics line being dependent on the sales of the first 2 waves was something addressed by Scott Neitlich at NYCC, I believe.
Five bucks for shipping could instead be five bucks for a gallon of gas to take me to Wal-Mart so I can buy some other toy while I get my groceries…
Five bucks.. Oh gods.. Im not beating you down here Luke, but I’d be delighted to pay five bucks shipping.. I’m expecting Mattel to hit International fans with shipping costs about $30 or $40 It’d be a great surprise if they treat us fairly and charge a respectable price.
That is my major worry with this idea at the moment. That, and that if I wanted to order more than one at a time I’d be hit with customs charges.. If I could buy them online from Mattel UK and not have to import them, Id be much happier with this idea, and be ordering loads of em.
Thing is… I see nothing about ‘waves’. I see one figure a month. This tells me that things like build-a-figures, vehicles, and playsets have a slim-to-none chance… or (at least in the case of a possible BAF) that it’ll take 5 months or more to get them.
The survival of the Classics line being dependent on the sales of the first 2 waves was something addressed by Scott Neitlich at NYCC, I believe.
The same guy who said this?
A new figure will premier for purchase on the 15th of every month. How long and how big will the line get? Only time and fan support will tell.
Nothing about that sounds like ‘waves’ to me. I sincerely want to be wrong here… but the words I’m reading don’t match what you’re saying.
And Nick, I’m so insulted! How could you!
Yeah, I’m sure shipping outside the US is going to suck no matter what. Even more reason why I think one figure a month is going to be terrible for the average collector. The way to please the fans, IMO, is not to suck up all their money with shipping and leave them nothing to buy the figures with.
Nothing about that sounds like ‘waves’ to me. I sincerely want to be wrong here… but the words I’m reading don’t match what you’re saying.
Hey there Luke…
The part about ‘waves’ came from a Q & A session at New York Comic Con from a few months back. (I can try to find it for you on He-Man.org if you want) At that time, Mattel was touting this MOTU Classics line as being one that would have the biggest distribution of any previous Mattel line. However, it sounds to me as if they couldn’t get the retailer support they were hoping for and so that’s why they now changed it to ‘1 figure at a time’. Also, apparently the back of King Grayskull’s packaging is cross-promoting the first wave of characters.
Nothing about that sounds like ‘waves’ to me. I sincerely want to be wrong here… but the words I’m reading don’t match what you’re saying.
Hey there Luke…
The part about ‘waves’ came from a Q & A session at New York Comic Con from a few months back. (I can try to find it for you on He-Man.org if you want) At that time, Mattel was touting this MOTU Classics line as being one that would have the biggest distribution of any previous Mattel line. However, it sounds to me as if they couldn’t get the retailer support they were hoping for and so that’s why they now changed it to ‘1 figure at a time’. Also, apparently the back of King Grayskull’s packaging is cross-promoting the first wave of characters.
Yeah, I’m not getting upset at you, I’m just annoyed at the thought of paying shipping for a single figure every month. It won’t take long for that to start adding up. Personally, when I look back at the first six figures and think that I could have gotten another few figures for the cost I paid in shipping, had they been at the store… that’s gonna bug me. Given that most of the time, the shipping for one figure could actually ship 2-3, there’s really no ignoring that this line will be pricey to collect. Chances are very good that many fans will play favorites with which characters they get and/or try to buy every several months rather than once a month, which will tend to make Mattel nervous and stick to the fan-favorites.
I realize that at the moment, Mattel is trying very hard to make this work, but frankly, I’m just not seeing where it’s worth it to them or the collectors. Even if they take a cue from Hasbro’s GI Joe line and re-use molds constantly while changing a few accessories to make them into new characters(kinda like the original MOTU line, actually), sooner or later it’s going to come down to the money, and a big company like Mattel has big lines they could spend their money on… a collector-oriented online-only toyline really can’t be expected to remain one of their priorities for any length of time.
I want to see this line last for years, to the point where we start getting crazy disco repaints again because they’ve run out of characters… but the realist in me just doesn’t see that happening with the program that’s being described.
But again I’ll state that I’d love to be wrong about that.
*sigh* Here they go again….. I hope that sometime down the road some retail store plans on getting these as an exclusive.Target would be a great place! I’ll support the line as best I can since I am not actively collecting anything in the ways of retail toys go. Collectible toys is a little different (My He-Man collection is almost complete!) but I haven’t been able to find a lot in that regards that screams “BUY ME! BUY ME!” I hope Mattel does what Hasbro does and has a few promotions throughout the year like 10% off or free shipping. Or maybe have a code that fans can use… I just wish I didn’t have to go online for it all. It won’t bug me with shipping as I don’t care if the card gets damaged I’ll be ripping the toy out of the package anyway like I did with my Hook ‘Em Flogg and Rotar (READ NOT ROTON BUT ROTAR) but it is nice walking into a store and there is the toy you really want… There’s something satisfactory about the hunt of it all…
I just hope somewhere down the road the line is successful enough to warrant making some obscure characters like Spinnerella, Kayo and Marlena…
http://www.mattycollector.com is the address for the new Classics line! Looks like they finally added a countdown for it, plus you can sign up for the newsletter ‘n stuff.
It’d be a great surprise if they treat us fairly and charge a respectable price.
