MOTU Classics

Sanjeev Wrote:
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> Marlena in a space suit is fucking awesome.

Yeah, I'm with you on this one. I find myself enjoying the obscure characters in the line the most. Like Vikor and Battle Tits Teela. I can't wait for them to roll out Demo-Man or the Fighting Foe Men.


> Got a reissue Trapjaw, by the way. Nice, but...

I think TJ takes the cake on accessories and playness, even if the extra arm and head are really for the 200X crowd. The loose belt and dangly bits are faithful to the original. Which is a drag. If they'd molded the inside of the belt to the loincloth part it would have been more snug and the hooks on the arm parts should have been redone. But, whatever. The figure still looks good alongside Whiplash and Evil Lynn. ^^

Heh, pretty interesting bit here:

"Starting January 2012, you are automatically shipped the Club Eternia Monthly Figure every month for a total of twelve months (January through December). For 2012, you will also be shipped four beast figures or multi-packs and four character variant figures at various intervals throughout the year. You are billed as figures ship. Figures revealed to date are Snake Face (January), Slush Head (February) and Mosquitor(March). Also in March is the largest Beast/Multipack item for the year - the Jaw Bridge of Castle Grayskull! First in an annual series to build-up pieces to the mighty fortress of mystery and power!"

This is taken from Mattycollector.com. But apparently there will be annual sales of bits and pieces of Castle Grayskull. So, what does this mean? 5 years from now you'll have the whole thing?

Wind Raider as the first vehicle in the line: . Not too bad, and it does seem to be pretty much an update of the original: .

More serious than thou

Heh heh, hey Sanjeev....



More serious than thou

Oh lord...

OK, thread resurrection here for no reason than to show off this:

The Alcala Skeletor head. THIS is the reason to get the Demo Man figure. The figure itself isn't bad, and it features quite a bit of new tooling, but this thing is the shit. If you remember the mini-comics at all (my MOTU collection as a kid was pre-Filmation), this looks just like it to me.

More serious than thou

I miss Loincloth Lenny. They released all the good stuff after I quit.

Maybe Matty is learning a thing or two. Keeping He-man, Skeletor, and Battlecat in stock constantly is something they should have done a long time ago.

Of course, this comes on the heels of delaying my December shipment for a month because of a shortage of Demo-man, which I found out not by a customer service email but by digging up info on forums. Apparently posting stuff on Facebook is better than emailing customers when stuff is delayed.

Gcrush,
You have a date with destiny: [www.bigbadtoystore.com]

-Mason

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Matthewalt "I actually kinda LIKE that approach! You know: let's make a TOY. Remember those? Products designed to be played with without breaking? DO YOU REMEMBER, LOVE?!"

mcfitch Wrote:
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> Gcrush,
> You have a date with destiny:
> [www.bigbadtoystore.com]
>
> -Mason


I breifly dated Destiny and, let me tell you, it was worth every Old Timer with Cheese dinner I had to sit through at Chili's Margarita two-for-one happy hour to finally get to touch her pecs. And, dood, they're totally real.

Sadly, the old adage about dating topless Eternian women in furry loincloths is also very, very real. *sigh*

Man...stuff like this makes me regret not having an MOTU Classics collection anymore:

[www.bigbadtoystore.com]

I don't collect or display any US action figures from my childhood (aside from a few stormtroopers) but I'm always tempted to but a castle Greyskull when I see one at a comic shop or somewhere similar. This looks nifty keen as all get out. I do at least need to see this in person. That means I need to convince sanjeev to buy one.
-Mason

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Matthewalt "I actually kinda LIKE that approach! You know: let's make a TOY. Remember those? Products designed to be played with without breaking? DO YOU REMEMBER, LOVE?!"

$369?!? How much did the originals retail back in the 80's? I'm pretty sure you can still land a decent condition vintage one for much less than $369! At least, that Toy Hunter guy did...

Whhhhaaaaaaaaaaa!?

They're actually making this??? Man...for all the gobs and gobs of hate thrown at Mattel by man-children across the 'nets, they seriously have some balls!

I think the original was around $40.
-Mason

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Matthewalt "I actually kinda LIKE that approach! You know: let's make a TOY. Remember those? Products designed to be played with without breaking? DO YOU REMEMBER, LOVE?!"

That 369 is the BBTS/borderline scalper price (don't get me wrong, I love BBTS for most things, but they are basically scalping stuff like MOTC, which also maybe makes it easier for intl buyers to buy).

The real price isn't that much better: $250 plus shipping, which I assume will be astronomical considering how much it costs them to ship even one figure. But it's not a repro, this is a brand new toy (albeit based on the original), plus selling to a much smaller market, so I don't think you can compare it price-wise to getting the original.

Preorders begin here:
[www.mattycollector.com]

They need to get a certain minimum by November 10 or they won't bother releasing this at all.

I'm tempted, but man where the heck would I put that? It would be different if I had a son, though.

I guess I'd have to see how different this is from the original. I mean, the size of the figures isn't THAT different...and the original was fun as shit...and the original's so much cheaper. So...why should I buy a new one??

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Sanjeev
I guess I'd have to see how different this is from the original. I mean, the size of the figures isn't THAT different...and the original was fun as shit...and the original's so much cheaper. So...why should I buy a new one??

So you can dock the overpriced Windraider you bought! Or didn't buy. But hey, it's still available! For only $50 bucks plus probably 20 bucks shipping.

Never liked the Windraider myself, I was always more of a fan of the Battle Ram.

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Sanjeev
I guess I'd have to see how different this is from the original. I mean, the size of the figures isn't THAT different...and the original was fun as shit...and the original's so much cheaper. So...why should I buy a new one??

For the reason I stated above.
-Mason

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Matthewalt "I actually kinda LIKE that approach! You know: let's make a TOY. Remember those? Products designed to be played with without breaking? DO YOU REMEMBER, LOVE?!"

Greyskull is cool and all, but I'm enchanted by this felt sculpture of Beast-Man:
[www.justinalanvolpe.com]

-Paul Segal

"Oh, the anger is never far, never far." -SteveH

That it looks nifty keen? But it's only a drawwrrrring... :/

I'm sure we'd have a better chance of convincing Dave to buy an original...then we can go down there and play. Like god intended.

I'm definitely intrigued, but hard to feel like it'll be worth it - for me. I know that they are saying this CG would have three floors instead of the two the original had. It's supposed to be larger overall, still have the clamshell type design, and various accessories and gimmicks. Technically the new figures are taller, so the original is a BIT small. There are so many things coming out this year (and early into next), and although this is a pre-order it seems like they want your money NOW. That's part of why I stopped collecting the Ashley Wood stuff. I went through the process of ordering and nearly pulled the trigger, but the end result was going to be slightly less than $300 between shipping and tax ($20 just for that). Dunno, I may reconsider, but where the hell will I put something that big?

More serious than thou

Yeah, I also have the space dilemma (I'm sure nearly everyone does). I think this will have a lot of difficulty reaching the initial threshold (though I have no idea what that is), seeing how the MOTUC sub seemingly barely made it, and only after a bunch of urging/threats.

Plus it's not like they can re-use the mold for anything else either. I'm not even sure I want something as big as Granymyr (sp?) at this point.

While I'm not going to enshrine New Lenny's Castle Grapeskull in my expansive mansion because it won't come with a figure of that insane robot sticker from the vintage set, I should point out that the vintage one isn't workable with New Lenny at all. The bow-legged-ness of vintage Squattor and Can-Man made it possible for them to duck through the Castle's mouth. New Lenny, not so much.

Compare the Left and Right Green Snake Man for a sense of how much taller the Right Green Snake Man is:




Here's a random picture of some dood's modded out classic castle with New Lenny and crew around it. They look like 'roided-out teenagers at an elementary school playground. Not so great.



As for the $250 price tag... Man, that's just where we're at these days. Once the $100 mark was broken we were doomed. A $350 Mazinger of My Dreams? Sign me up. Castle Grapeskull is in the same zone of luxury manchild goods. And props to Matty for Kicking it in this manner. Ever since New Lenny rolled out they've said that there is no good way to produce such a playset and the "fans" have shat upon them continuously for it. Well, time for the "fans" to put up or shut up. While I would personally love to see this made (despite not wanting to buy it), I doubt enough people will throw in for it.

FYI - Should you pre-order during the Kick phase, Matty will not charge you for the Castle until it ships. Unlike 3A, who won't even fart in your general direction unless you first tuck a fiver in their bikini on Monday before they sit down to eat their microwave bean burrito lunch on Thursday of next week.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/18/2012 10:20PM by Gcrush.

By the way, the Dragon Blaster Skeletor figure that came out last month is terrible. Except for the fact that if you put a classic set of armor on it you finally get a truly updated original Skeletor! DBS has the reptilian forarms and scaly boots of the original vintage figure - something that, surprisingly, none of the New Lenny Skeletors have had until now. Crazy!

Also, the Snake Men army builder two pack is great. Especially the Yellow Snake Fellow. While it's basically just a yellar Green Cobra Man, it's still a damn sexy toy once you strip the armor off of it. The orange one resembles an eyelash viper, and that's pretty cool, too. Naked, of course. The armor just doesn't do anything for me.





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/18/2012 10:33PM by Gcrush.

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Gcrush
As for the $250 price tag...

Here's a video showing a foam-sheet mockup of Matty Grayskull with the vintage version next to it for comparison. You can really see how much larger the MOTUC figures are. Anyway, it's huge. Over two feet tall and estimated to weigh in around 20lbs. That's fucking crazy!




Again, I really hope this thing gets made. Having a monstrous flagship product was a hallmark of 1980s toys and, well, this is in pretty much the exact same spirit. While I'm personally not going to throw down for one of these, I can't see how anyone wouldn't be excited about this. This proposed Castle Lennyskull would be as amazing as Hasbro's scaled up Falcon, AT-AT, and Bandai's upcoming Uber-Zinger - the kind of shit that a kid in the 1980s would have pledged his soul for. Or at least the soul of his older sibling.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/21/2012 09:35AM by Gcrush.

I tend to agree with the sentiment regarding the MotUC Castle Greyskull, G. I've got, maybe, four figures and Panthor...and I'm good. Not really interested in investing further in the line. If I had the time, energy, dough, and shelf space, I'd be throwing down for fully-gimmicked vintage Lennies. That said, I'd be tickled if they got enough support to drop this new Greyskull. That'd just be cool, damnit...

Then again...Matty's Voltron was just as ambitious...and it seems not to be going well... :/

Well, I threw down for the new Castle Greyskull. As noted, putting my money where my mouth is. I'll find some way to afford this toy. As for the space, I'll find it somehow. This is going to be a space-hog year between this and Fort Max. I'll likely need to lose some of the less "important" MOTUC figs I have. And, even if I decide not to keep the CG, there's no doubt that it will be worth easily what I pay for it later on.

More serious than thou

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fujikuro
Well, I threw down for the new Castle Greyskull. As noted, putting my money where my mouth is. I'll find some way to afford this toy. As for the space, I'll find it somehow. This is going to be a space-hog year between this and Fort Max. I'll likely need to lose some of the less "important" MOTUC figs I have. And, even if I decide not to keep the CG, there's no doubt that it will be worth easily what I pay for it later on.

Awesome. You'll have to let us know how it turns out!

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Gcrush

Awesome. You'll have to let us know how it turns out!

Well, IF they get around to making the thing. I'm really hoping they do, as it sure looks like their intent is to just make upscaled model of the original (on the outside at least). I don't want some modernized, extremized version of the thing. Like I said, I'm pretty sure I'll at least make my money back if it's not really my thing once I have it in hand.

More serious than thou

Haw, haw, haw.





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/14/2012 02:49AM by Gcrush.

Betterer:





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/14/2012 10:13AM by Sanjeev.