Modern Masters of the Universe

[Brian]

The Fwoosh has a nice review (w/pics) up of the upcoming MOTU Classics He-Man figure.  I can still see the issue with the eyes/face, but otherwise it looks like a pretty nice figure overall.  I especially like the comparison pic they have up of the original, the 2002, and this new version - where you can really see this is a modern interpretation of the original figure.  I'm hoping to grab one on Dec 1st, I wonder how quickly these will sell.

[Brian]

For anyone interested, it looks like He-Man and Beastman are both up for order at MattyCollector.com.

[spiderpumpkin]

Thanks for the post about the new figures.  I almost forgot to keep checking on these.  Looks like they made a lot because they are limiting orders to 10 of each figure.  I ordered 1 Beast Man and 1 He-Man.

[Ben]

I'm broke, so I haven't ordered them, and I don't know if I'll be able to this Friday, since the Dark Knight DVD comes out next Tuesday.

Man, the $20 price point is a little too much for me to commit. It's why I don't buy Star Wars vehicles or Evolutions sets. I suppose I'll order He-Man, and if I like it, I'll try to get a Beast Man later. I imagine if it was He-Man and Skeletor at the same time, I'd throw the cash together.

[ruiner]

They should cover shipping with those prices. . .they're selling direct to consumer so you know the profit margin is there!

[Ben]

And they're reusing parts over and over like in the old line. Seriously, the only unique thing about these toys are the heads and occasionally the armor.

I was pretty stoked about this line until I learned of the price and the online-only thing. I guess it's better than getting Mattel'd at retail again, and having to piss away all that time and gas hunting them.

[Brian]

Yeah, the price on these things really does sting - especially, as you mentioned Ben, since there is a lot of re-use just like the old days.  I wanted He-Man and Skeletor, and I went ahead and ordered BeastMan when I ordered He-Man just so the shipping didn't sting quite as badly.  But, at $20 each (closer to $30 with shipping), its going to be tough to justify keeping up.  Heck, even with the higher prices on the SW line, I could still get roughly four figures at retail for the price of one MOTU Classics figure.  I understand its a bit higher since its "online only collectors line", but even $15 wouldn't be quite as bad.  It looks like both He-Man and BeastMan are still in stock, so either they made plenty or they aren't quite hot sellers.

[Brian]

Just as a heads up for anyone interested in this line, but He-Man and Beast Man arrived on my doorstep today.  I haven't gotten a chance to open them yet, but they did look pretty nice in the package.  Also, the He-Man I received didn't seem to have nearly the problem with the "shiny face" that some of the early reviews noted.  I still think its overpriced by at least $5 a figure, but it looks like a pretty nice line so far.  Not sure how far I'll be able to go with it, but I'm definitely looking forward to picking up Skeletor at least in January.  It would be an easy line to keep up with if it was all you collected, $20 a month, 1 figure, and done .  I know its the wrong forum, but Hasbro could have done something similar to this with the remaining Indy figures.  I think they would be surprised how many of us would bite on that last Raiders wave.  If for some reason the retail situation really dried up for Star Wars in the future too, I wouldn't mind coming back each month for "collectors" figures in that line - probably more than one per month, but at least you would know when they'd be released, order it, and be done.  Anyways...back on topic.

[Brian]

Packaged pics of Skeletor at AFI (and ToyArk).  Also, it looks like the latest ToyFare(s) have ads for the first three figures, and you can check them out on the He-Man.org forums.

Is anyone here really buying into this line?  The prices are plenty steep, and it seems like there is a lot less chatter this time around than there was with the 200X line.  Like I've mentioned before, I hope to at least grab Skeletor and then we'll have to see after that.  So far, I'd like to continue with the whole collection (at least the ones I know, like I did with the Joes), but with the $20 plus shipping, I doubt I'd be able to keep up (unless this was all I collected).  Even if the price came down $5 it would help, although I think these could be at retail for $10-$12.  Heck, most of these types of lines (Legends, DCU Classics, etc.) are almost exclusively bought by collectors anyways - I don't know how this would be a whole lot different (although maybe it would have to be TRU exclusive or something).

From some comments I've been reading from ToyGuru at various forums, it sounds like these are heading to be sold out in about a month's time (which is what they were planning/expecting).  It sounds like they've been happy with sales so far, and if things continue they may look at some larger items in the future.

[ruiner]

For $20, these figures should be arriving in dead mint condition.  My packaging was all banged up.  I might hang around for awhile but the prices are really pushing it.

Like I said before, shipping should be included. 

[Brian]

For $20, these figures should be arriving in dead mint condition.  My packaging was all banged up.  I might hang around for awhile but the prices are really pushing it.

Like I said before, shipping should be included. 

I was going to mention that too, if you're someone who wants to keep these MOC you may be out of luck.  Mine arrived all banged up as well.  I don't care too much since I'll be opening them anyways, but like ruiner mentioned, for that price they should be arriving in perfect condition.  I agree, if shipping was included in the price, these would be a much better deal.  Also of note for those who may want to keep these MOC, there is not "peg hanger" or whatever you want to call it, so I don't know how they could be hung on a wall or anything like that.  Still though, all that aside, the figures do look nice (still haven't gotten a chance to open them up).

[spiderpumpkin]

I received He-Man and Beast Man today.  I was going to open these up right away but I really like how they look in the small window box type package.  These will look cool stacked on a shelf for display or maybe I'll open them; still unsure.  My Beast Man has a small corner bend but otherwise both came in great condition.

[Ben]

I suppose there's no point in getting a set to keep MOC if they're all arriving banged up. I think I'll order a set of these soon, especially if they'll be sold out in a month.

You'd think that with all the smoke Mattel has blown about this being a collector's line, they wouldn't have blown the game in the ninth by allowing these to show up in terrible condition. But this is Mattel.

[drewlam]

If purchased as singles, shipping pushes these to almost $30ea for me.  I'm still thinking of getting a few, but I'll have to wait and see if he-man is still available when skeletor comes out.  If so I'll likely get the two of them together, as shipping for two is almost the same as shipping for one.

[Ben]

A photo gallery of Skeletor from he-man.org

This figure looks great.