Masters of the Universe Origins

When I saw photos of the Moss Man shelf tag, I thought they were in Canadian dollars from a Canadian Wal-Mart.  I took a shot last Saturday at the Walmart where I found Duplico.  They had shelf tags, but no figures.  Finding one is going to be inconvenient because it doesn't look like the Walmarts near work or in my town is carrying him.  I'm hoping the $40 price tag will keep people away long enough to give me a chance at getting one.

As much as I love this line, can't say I'll be too bummed if it dies. It's been so impossible to collect. Don't know what it's like in the US, but in Canada it's been feast or famine at retail. A wave either gets ordered in such vast quantities that it clogs the pegs or (more likely) doesn't show up. Many 'fan channels', usually a saving grace for niche lines, don't even bother stocking, apparently the margins are brutal (like $1 each, per Nerdzoic). I've been putting in orders through someone who sells via Previews/Diamond and half the stuff doesn't come in. It's a scalper's paradise.

How is it possible that the Mattel Creations figures have been so much easier for me to get than the ones at mass retail?

I think the line IS done at retail.  I believe they said at SDCC that Origins will be Mattel Creations exclusive going forward.  Maybe Moss Man is the last normal release?

I want that MM but can't pull the trigger at $40.  I'll just hope he hits clearance or sees a decent discount.  Or maybe they'll do a flock-less version, though that wouldn't hit quite right for me.

I got my two Fang-Or in last week but haven't had a chance to open them yet.  They look amazing in all the pics and videos I've seen so far though, a step above most Origins figures in terms of sculpt and paint detail.

Has anyone gotten the second Rulers of the Sun 3-pack?  I've had 4 or 5 delay emails from Target already so starting to wonder if it will ever actually arrive, given Target's track record.

I just got notice from BBTS that the Skeleton Warriors are processing soon.

Posted by: @mikeysee

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I think the line IS done at retail.  I believe they said at SDCC that Origins will be Mattel Creations exclusive going forward.  Maybe Moss Man is the last normal release? ...

Well, Masterverse is just as unreliable at retail, and there's no reason to think the Cartoon Origins line will be any different. All of Mattel's collector MOTU stuff has been very frustrating, at least from my perspective.

Anyways...people are getting Fang-Or? Mine says it's shipping in November, anybody else in that situation?

Skeleton pack hit my PoL.

*edit* Aaaaaaand just now got an email that the snake 4 pack will hit soon.

Same thing happened to me.  Got a warning email last night saying my skeleton 2pks (I ordered 3) were processing soon.  Snakemen 4pk too.  Skeletons hit my Pile of Loot today.  I imagine the Snakemen 4pk will hit this week as well.  May make them a shipment when that happens.

While Origins proper is ending at retail and going to Mattel Creations,  I do believe Filmation Origins will continue at retail.  That's the way I understood it.  Creations Origins will try and finish the vintage toyline characters, and niche characters, while the Filmation figures will be at retail.  Not sure how many Filmation figures are planned though.  Maybe it's only a wave or two, and how well retail orders them will determine their future.

First, I too got notices for my Skeleton Warriors packs, and the Snake Men 4 Pack from BBTS.

Second, yes, MOTU Origins will continue at retail with the Filmation Origins figures.  Mattel will finish the vintage 80's toy line exclusively on Mattel Creations.  They not only plan to do all the remaining figures for the vintage MOTU line (like Rokkon, Stonedar, Rio Blast, etc.) but there was strong implication they may do things like the Fright Zone and Slime Pit on Mattel Creations as well. I know Night Stalker will be on Creations, so maybe we will see other vintage collection vehicles or beasts as well.

Also, any figure that would be from the vintage POP line, NA line, 200X, or just random characters from the lore will be on Mattel Creations.

Lady Slither for instance is coming to Creations, but someone like Flogg, Bubblor, He-Ro, Eldor, etc. would probably also end up on Mattel Creations, and not retail.

Retail stores want the bigger, more common MOTU names.  Thats why they are starting over with everyone in their Filmation look.  So, they can get He-Man, Skeletor, Beast Man, Teela, etc. back out on shelves, but in a different yet desired look.

I really think if Mattel did any lesser-known characters from Filmation though, like say Lizard Man, Dragoon, Strong Arm, etc, they would end up on Mattel Creations as well.  The same way Kol-Dar did.

Thats just how it seemed by what they said during SDCC at panels, or interviews with Pixel Dan or others.

Third, I found Moss Man at Wal-Mart!  So happy to get this figure.  I was worried how hard it would be to find. But I found them and picked one up.

I didn’t order the snake set because the Snake Men are my least favorite faction (I had zero growing up, just King Hiss in Classics), and because I don’t want an extra Snake Armor He-Man. If it goes on sale eventually, maybe I’ll cave. I am looking forward to the Skeleton Warriors, and depending on how well that set comes out, I might want a second set.

The Skeleton Warriors just bring out the Harryhausen fan in me. I want an obscene amount. 

On a different topic, the MOTU/TMNT crossover figures, the ones that totally didn’t leak online a few weeks ago, does anyone have a guess what they’re waiting for on those? They didn’t announce them at SDCC, I saw some people think they were going to wait for Power-Con, which was strange considering they weren’t even present I don’t believe, they’re obviously in production to some extent since they have figures definitely not leaking out, I’m wondering when a better time will be since the movie is in theaters? I wish I had screenshot the image that I didn’t see, Mattel’s lawyers weren’t playing around. 

If they’re doing some kind of MotU-TMNT mash up, there’s little chance of me passing that up. I’m an easy mark for that kind of thing.

The figures I definitely didn’t see were two of the turtles in “medieval style” gear but not excessively so, I don’t remember which two, they definitely pass the squint test. The image quality was pretty poor so I’m going by memories of a blurry picture, the other two appeared to be He-Man in what looked like Foot colors? The last one was Kraang in the robot body made on what looked like the Andre the Giant body. Now I definitely didn’t see this but if I had I think that’s what I might have seen. 

The TMNTxMOTU stuff that we didn't see was very possibly (even probably?) not production or even paint masters, but rather proof-of-concept 'customs' Mattel worked up. Wouldn't be the first time that kind of thing definitely did not leak out. The figures we didn't see were -very- rough looking, even going by terribly photo quality, to be finished product.

Regarding MOTUO/MOTUO-Filmation; Super Camel has the right of it. And this is an obvious and natural progression of Origins at retail. Mattel was running out of the big names to put back on the shelves and that's what retailers want to see. So they're taking the tail end, almost definitely less popular figures, and moving them to online to make room to reinvigorate the line by going Filmation.

Honestly.. I love it. I love all of it. It's a great idea. And I'm saying that as someone known for shitting all over Mattel.. all the time. Because they deserve it.

I love that Mattel has, at least for the moment, committed to the Origins fans that they WILL finish the vintage line at MC. It's good to know we're not being left in the cold by the transition to Filmation designs, and it really does show a certain level of respect for the collectors to say 'you stuck with us this far.. we're not gonna let you down.' For all the hate they deservedly get sometimes, they also deserve respect for this choice that they easily could have not made.

I also love the Filmation stuff. First of all.. mad respect here because Mattel actually sculpted new bodies for these figures. That's crazy. Like.. they could have made small adjustments to the existing figures and most of us would have bought them all again. But nope - legit new figures with new tooling top to bottom (or like 90%). And given how many of us did grow up on Filmation and always wanted our vintage toys to look like the cartoon, this is just such a natural and awesome way to continue the line.

So yeah. Call me a lame fanboy or whatever, but I genuinely love what's happening here and I hope it's so successful that we get a Filmation Castle Grayskull, Snake Mountain, and Attak Trak. You heard me.

I also hope the vintage toy Origins continue to be successful at MC to the point where we can get anything and everything we might ever want. I am SO excited to finally be getting Extendar!

My one concern is that the MC Origins are going to be overpriced, as all the 'exclusive' stuff is. Retail prices for Origins are already, in my opinion, too high. Especially when they went from being 15.99 in Canada to 22.99 or whatever they're at now. I won't be able to support the MC Origins figures if they're sitting at 30 bucks US, plus shipping. And I'm guessing they'll be released one at a time so it's a 15-20 dollar shipping hit EVERY figure. That's a bridge too far for basically everyone but Extendar and Rio Blast, as far as vintage toy characters go.