The survey asks if this was priced at $300 would we back it. I don't know that the price is the issue for me. I think it is just too big.
Also I think the fact that it looks like it could be just another mountain on earth kind of bothers me. Grayskull is green. Snake Mountain is purple. This is just plain old boring earth rock brown and it doesn't feel MOTU to me at all.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/dsjxjcy
Sorry, it wouldn’t let me go back after taking it so I had to memorize the link.
Thanks for sharing it. It works!
Very cool, thanks. My answers were that I wasn't excited about it, I wouldn't buy it for $300, and my negative thoughts were that it was too big and nothing like the set I voted for. The very fact that they're doing this survey makes me think they realize they've botched the reveal. They probably thought they were going to be the buzz of the show like when they showed off Eternia. Noooope.
Also, I'm assuming ya'll saw that BBTS is now selling Gr'asp and Terroar? That's pretty cool, as I'm not confident my Walmart Terroar preorder is actually going to fill. I got Gr'asp already, but no sign of Terroar at all even though I believe they were both supposed to ship around the same time.
I did the survey as well just because.
And Man-O-Man did I let them have it!!!!!
I blasted everything about this offering as complete and utter........okay not really.
I actually think it presents better in the photos they used with the white background.
Now that I have had more time with it I think it is an ok offering. I still think it looks over designed, especially against expectations from the concept art, but not quite as bad as my earlier thoughts. The vehicle is probably the worst offender in making the front too "busy" but I don't know what else they could have done to display/store it so it is what it is I guess. I also do like the closed footprint, as it looks more akin to what I was expecting originally and would probably better fit with Castle Grayskull and Snake Mountain.
The teased price point of $300US is not bad but, again, for non-US buyers the devil will be in the details. If it costs me another $150US to get it shipped to me in Canada then no thanks.
Now let's see if they make any changes, or if this was all just an exercise if futility. Although I don't know how much they can change now after showing it off and saying watch for Aug. 12th. If they cut things out people will probably be less inclined to back thinking they are getting less than was shown.
Back from vacation, I finally got to open Two Bad. Nice figures, but not into the cartoon aesthetic. Also, I impulsively purchased two sets, and I don’t think I need to keep the other, so if anyone missed out, let me know.
The Snake Lair has been postponed due to “feedback”. Probably smart. Pixel Dan had a series of polls about the set on Twitter and the responses were overwhelmingly in the “skip it” category. I feel like Mattel is going to need to come back with a home run to beat the internet grudge on this one.
@mikeysee I honestly didn't think they would postpone this. I figured the survey was more window dressing than actual substance. They must have gotten really bad feedback to make them postpone the Snake Lair this close to the original target date.
Hopefully they go back to the drawing board and come up with something closer to what they showed during the "Eternia's Choice" poll. This offering was fine, but too big, too busy, and over designed needlessly. I think most people were expecting something similar to Castle Grayskull and Snake Mountain in size and price, and not closer to Eternia.
I'm glad they postponed the Snake Lair. I wasn't going to back it, and it takes a lot to make me skip something MOTU. It was just so big and too busy. I wanted more what the original concept art looked like. And honestly, as much space as all these playsets and vehicles take up, I'd rather focus on the playsets from the vintage line.
Fright Zone and Slime Pit, then even the likes of the Crystal Castle etc.
But hopefully they figure something out with the Snake Lair, and they are able to make it more appealing to want to back.
@supercamel-1982 I wonder how bad the response was because I saw a clip of the two guys from Mattel talking about hearing the fans from the survey. They mentioned they had around 5,000 responses which seems pretty high to me, but hopefully it gives them some idea of how big, and passionate, the base is for this playset.
Now the question is what do they change going forward? With what they showed, I can see a vocal minority complaining that they "are trying to screw us" by removing some features, or the vehicle. "We are getting less and paying more!!!"
I can see it already......
@supercamel-1982 Oh, it's coming back for sure. It won the fan poll, so I don't think Mattel is interested in how bad it would look if they just cancelled it outright and said 'you guys were mean to us about it, so now you get nothing.' They don't really have a choice but to just fix it and call a mulligan.
Yeah.. I won't lie. It's surprising they pulled it. But smart. It's not an accident that, maybe for the first time I've ever seen, a toy company was soliciting customer feedback on the PRICE of a single item. And, undoubtedly, they got a whole lot of 'no fucking way' responses on the price point they were suggesting. After that, they'd have to be insane to just go ahead with it anyway. Your customers are telling you they won't buy it.
It's a bummer for people that designed it and, I'm sure, were proud of it. But it's really not close enough to what people expected based on the original fan poll and it's just.. too much. Too much money. Too much unnecessary stuff on it. Too much empty space just for the sake of the set being physically larger and more impressive. It's trying too hard. And really, someone should have noticed that before it was ever unveiled to the public.
Again, still a bummer for a few people for sure. And a money sink for Mattel that now has to pay to completely redesign it, I expect.
Interested to see what they come up with. A better price should be top of their list.
I never saw the concept art til now, but I can see how folks would've liked it better than the prototype. Honestly, for me it was just too much toy. I already struggle to make room for Grayskull and Snake Mountain, but for the right set I'd make room for a third - but this thing is so massive, and the cost was prohibitive. I didn't hate the design as much as some did, but I just couldn't justify the cost or space so that's how I filled out the survey. Honestly, a scaled down version priced like the other two playsets? I'd buy it in a New York minute, wouldn't even bat an eye.
I'm glad they postponed the Snake Lair. I wasn't going to back it, and it takes a lot to make me skip something MOTU. It was just so big and too busy. I wanted more what the original concept art looked like. And honestly, as much space as all these playsets and vehicles take up, I'd rather focus on the playsets from the vintage line.
I doubt all the people who responded to the survey were people who were actually going to back the lair. A good chance lots of them wanted to "complain" to Mattel just to pile on, you know, the same kind of people who likely took part in Pixel Dan's Twitter polls (Twitter, the current hive of scum and villainy in the world).
Latest Post: GI Joe Classified Series Our newest member: aajs Recent Posts Unread Posts
