With Mattypalooza this Friday, Preview Night for Mattel’s Masters of the Universe Classics lines (Club Eternia and Club Etheria) was mostly catch-up – showing off figures in public that had already been revealed via their social media programs. For me, the highlight of this group of figures is Rio Blast – which I didn’t have as a kid, but whose kookiness mixed with badassery has won me over.
The big push from Mattel is for the Battle Ram, which sports an updated front half (to ameliorate the pain of having to buy it again) and a Man-at-Arms with Filmation-inspired head sculpt. The Battle Ram, due in October, is *not* part of the subscriptions – so it is not exactly a lock for Mattel, which will be pushing collectors’ tolerance for price creep with a $110 price tag.
I’m not sure if the figures or gossip will be of more interest to the MOTUC fans out there – but the conspiracy theories abound. Just from random folks on the floor, I heard some doozies. For example, one theory is that the number of subs is capped for 2015, because that enables them to end the line after next year.
There’s also talk of de-emphasizing collector-oriented products. Mattycollector really only has Masters now, despite some anemic pushes for collector props, rehashes of Ghostbusters, and deluxe versions of the new DC 6-inchers (ugh). The Mattel booth has definitely seen a fair share of space dedicated to mass market lines like Hot Wheels for its Star Wars, Marvel, and other licenses – this was space that used to go to the collector lines.
Stay tuned for more, after the Mattypalooza panel on Friday.
FINALLY The entire Battle Ram vehicle with a newly sculpted Man-At-Arms figure I’m definitely buying this 🙂