So, most of my TOY rants and reviews usually involve MOTU Classics. Mostly because it's my favorite toyline and one of the two toylines I'm actively collecting... (The other one is from the pink aisle and has nothing to do with MOTU or Mattel for that matter)
As I'm looking at my collection I've been having once again a bunch of random thoughts.
Now I'm going to list things that I would have liked to see in MOTUC to make it 20% Cooler... (You know I had to sneak THAT reference in... since that's my new Hannah Montana)
Before I start this is just some random Wishlist of things I'd like to see in a Perfect World without the Harsh issues of Reality (Logistics, budgets, etc.) knocking it down. I understand that a lot of these would be shot down by Mattel's Logistics card, "QC Safety concerns" and "Tiny Tiny line" reasoning. Also none of QC, or CS issues are taken into account here because this rant/list is about the TOYS, not the behind the scenes stuff or surrounding stuff that involves us getting said toys. This is just what would make me go from "These figures are awesome" to "Oh Holy Crap! I need no more toys aside these!"
Yes, MOTU Classics has some of them (Gygor and Shadow Beast that I do not own yet), the Giants (Tytus, Megator and Procrustus which I skipped for personal reasons), Ram Man and Leech. (Well, Leech is a bit of a stretch cause he's just a slightly Wider normal Figure.)
I'm talking about Slightly Larger variants of some characters to look more Menacing. OK Picture it this way: If the next Marvel Legends wave gave you Spider-Man, Captain America, and Hulk with the same body type (all three sharing Cap's main body.) You'd probably feel that Hulk and Spider-Man are a bit off. Well that's how I KINDA FEEL with some MOTU Characters to an extent.
Before you start replying with "Classics Style is based on the vintage style where Most of the figures shared similar body structures" speech, hear me out! I specifically said Larger variants. That way, those who prefer the Vintage inspired "standard buck" characters could have them "just like they remember". Now, with that said look at the Beastmen pic. The 200X Beastman is 6" tall, the MOTUC Beastman in closer to 7" but the 200X Beastman looks Bigger. What I'd like is the MOTUC Beastman slightly larger so he would look as imposing as the MOTUC Ram Man or the 200X Beastman (but with MOTUC Articulation) The same thing for Clawful, Whiplash, Leech, Rattlor and for any other character that this could apply to.
I'm not talking about Little guys like Kowl or Loo-Kee who we REALLY need in the line. I'm talking about a "Slim buck" and "Teen Bucks". I love my Prince Adam, Adora and Teela. I'd love to have "Teenaged versions of them."
While yes, this stems from my love for the 200X looks for Adam and Teela, it's also for the same reasons I like the idea of "Larger characters." In Adam's case it's mostly to make an OBVIOUS Similarity between them disappear. I liked 200X's Teen Adam because it made the Adam = He-Man association seem less obvious than in vintage times. Teela is mentioned here for two reasons... (Close in age to Adam and the "Female Teen buck" could get more reuse.) I'll mention that the Female buck could be reused on other characters (Adora and Glimmer) because it would allow us to get a Horde Adora with Removable Horde Insignia for those who'd like to have a younger Adora to match the younger Adam. The Reason I mention Glimmer is cause she seems to be a child trapped in a woman's body in Filmation and a Teen buck would allow us to get a younger Glimmer. (But then again, I'm a sucker for Glimmer so the more the merrier)
The Slimmer buck would be for guys like Lizard Man (Seriously, he'd look weird in the normal buck) and Master Sebrian who as you can see in the pic above, would look incredibly ridiculous in the normal ROID RAGE Buck!
- Interchangeable hands and heads (or faceplates):
OK I've been Spoiled by SOTA's old Street Fighter line and many Japanese toys with this.
MOTU Classics is supposed to be an "Adult Collector Line" but many lines for Adult Collectors tend to have interchangeable hands heads/ faceplates so the characters can have a variety of expressions and make their display options more customizable. Seriously, in 30 years of He-Man, no He-Man toy can pull off the Iconic Transformation Pose. Sure, the "New Adventures He-Man" will be able to do it, but that's not "Vintage look" He-Man. (It's a step forward though.)
If we had Interchangeable hands, we could have the standard Gripping hands to hold accessories, Punching hands for, well, punching poses, the Weapon aloft hand for the iconic pose, Spell Casting hands for folks like Skeletor, Sorceress or Evil Lyn. The same thing could be applied to the heads/Faceplates. Having your normal "angry He-Man look" or a gentler Filmation inspired look for non-battle poses. Perhaps a screaming face or head for invoking the Power of Grayskull. I've seen some custom hands made by fans that give the characters a lot more expressiveness. - Easter egg weapons, artifacts and accessories:
OK, we HAVE been seeing a couple of these already. (Teela's 1987 movie gun, Skeletor's NOT Storm Troopers Rifle, Nearly Movie Accurate Cosmic Key, Staff of Avion, 200X Techno Sword, Infinity Wheel, Sword of the Ancients, etc.) but we kinda need them to happen a bit more often. Movie Power Sword, Havoc Staff, Diamond Ray of Disappearance, a Battle Damaged Faker head, Sword to _____, etc. Things like those help expand the displays and make the toys more awesome. - Character Upgrade packs:
There are characters that could work getting a full Variant Figure. Other Characters only need is a belt or an Armor (and perhaps an extra head) for example: Stratos. A full 200X Stratos variant would be off the table, but how about a new Harness with the jetpacks (with added handguards like Beastman's whip so Stratos can hold them in his hands) and Blue repaints of the Palace Guard Leg Armor. (Not 100% 200X Accurate, but close enough) King Hssss could get a repainted head (with his face painted as if he was turning more snake-like and a new pseudo loincloth that slips on his crotch to make a more 200X look without going full 200X. Or an orange Repaint of DB Skeletor's armor with a repainted Dragon for Faker. (Though I'd buy a full on Dragon Punch Faker variant) a Snout Spout Upgrade pack (with either a mini comic Snout Spout head or a Staction inspired head in addition to a default head without foam would sell a lot... due to Snout Spout's trunkrot issues)
- Actual Diorama Pieces:
Like I mentioned in my Granamyr Review it would have been cool for Granamyr to come with the stuff showed on his box art. That would have spiced up the display options for him. the weapons rack, while a cool prop (that I currently have boxed cause I can't display it at the moment) a diorama it does not make. The chances of us getting more playsets in the line are close to none... (Mostly cause of Grayskullgate scandal... 2 inches DO make a big difference...) So, here's how dioramas can save the day. A Snake Mountain Throne Room Diorama would satiate some people's need for a Snake Mountain (cause let's face it the vintage Toy Snake Mountain had nothing with the Filmation or MYP snake mountains.) Light Hope himself is pretty much a Diorama Piece... Add some more Crystals and some sort of Cavern/Castle hybrid "wall pieces" and you have a Crystal Castle Diorama without selling the Customers a pink Cloud Castle or a Filmation Crystal Castle (while it would be cool, I know it would be a hard sell... Even in a Perfect World is hard to see the Pop-Haters dropping $300+ on a She-Ra Playset.) That's without mentioning Nordor or Starship Eternia.
With all this said, I LOVE MOTUC. I enjoy most of the figures. I can't wait for Snake Face and the other upcoming figures... (like say: Castaspella, Octavia, New Adventures He-Man, Clamp Champ, Mantenna, etc.)
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