There was plenty of MOTU news this last week and not much of it made it to the front page here at IAT. Granamyr’s packaging and bio were revealed (along with the news that he’ll be delayed), the “apology gift” for Frosta was sorta revealed, and a new 3rd party add-on kit for Castle Grayskull Man is a must have.
It was confirmed last week that Granamyr will not be delivered to Mattycollector in time for next week’s sale. Despite the “slight” delay, Mattycollector will still have him available to order on December 17th. What that means for each of you is that any order containing a Granamyr will not ship until he’s ready to go out. If you want your regular Dec figures sooner, you might consider ordering the big grumpy dragon separately. To assuage our concerns that Granamyr will not be arriving in time, Mattel has provided the packaging images for Granamyr (with amazing Rudy Obrero art) along with his bio:
Granamyr – Great Magical-Wielding Dragon, Real Name: Granamyr the Wise
Granamyr is one of the oldest and wisest of the Eternian Dragons of Darksmoke, an ancient kingdom in Eternia’s Dark Hemisphere. He greatly distrusts most men after the Great Wars between dragons and humans in ancient times. As one of the most powerful magic users on Eternia, he possesses such extraordinary might that even Skeletor dares not challenge him. When Man-At-Arms was turned to glass by an evil spell, Granamyr provided He-Man with healing magic, but only after Eternia’s bravest warrior proved he had not only great strength but great mercy and wisdom as well. The ancient dragon Granamyr guards Eternia’s magical secrets and rules all of Darksmoke.
In other Matty news, subscribers received an e-mail last week that Mattel had decided on a course of action for the “apology item” they had announced as a response to Frosta’s reversed forearms:
Hi %%FIRST_NAME%%,
As the year comes to a close, we wanted to say “thank you” for being a loyal Club Eternia® subscriber in 2012. It’s been a great year with incredible highs (Fisto™, Rattlor™ – two vintage figures that surpassed even our expectations) the occasional minor misstep (Frosta’s gloves), and more incredible highs (Griffin, a 200X beast, and Shadow Weaver – our first Filmation figure!).
So, to make sure you know how much we value your business and as promised at Power Con in noting the issue with Frosta’s gloves, we’re sending you a FREE gift… a basic Masters of the Universe® Classics figure will be included with your December subscription shipment! You won’t know which one you’re getting until it arrives and because it’s our gift to you, shipping for this freebie figure is 100% paid by Mattel. While we originally thought this gift might not come until late next year, we wanted to end 2012 with a bang and make sure you get your free gift before the year is up!
Looking ahead, 2013 promises to be even more powerful! We’ll start out the year with Ram Man® and Netossa™, then get ready for the arrival of the first Castle Grayskull® playset in 30 years.
Again, thank you for being a part of our MOTUC family. We wish you and yours the happiest of holidays!
Reaction was mixed, but largely positive to the announcement. While I’m happy that Mattel is doing something in response to the Frosta QC, I can’t say I’m personally thrilled with the decision. Early word from Toy Guru seemed to indicate that they’d be doing something new & unique (a new deco on an old accessory, perhaps?) and those initial Toy Guru comments raised my expectations well beyond that of a receiving duplicate figure.
Still, one could say that an entire free figure soundly trumps an accessory, and I will happily sell or donate the doubled-up figure and still come out ahead. This is absolutely true, but I should point out that I’m buying an entire MOTU DVD set (affiliate link) to get a gold power sword. So I like me some redecoed accessories.
Finally, in our MOTU-news-not-from-Mattel segment, the always amazing Joe Amaro has a new third-party item for your MOTU Classics collection. Designed in collaboration with the talented Daniel Benedict, this $30 add-on kit will include a new skull head, helmet, & display stand that all look exceptional when paired with the figure:
The set goes on a sale at Wednesday Dec. 12th at 9PM (Eastern Standard Time). I’m hoping to snag one myself even though I’ll be at work (that and my track record on Amaro items is lousy, I’m 0-for-2), but best of luck to each of you that wants one!
ok, so it’s a random figure to SUBSCRIBERS ONLY?
What about those who ordered her day of?
and I still want to know why a dragon needs a vikinging helmet??? :/
Only Subscribers. Because Mattel thinks that Day of Sales folks KNEW She was Defective before buying her. (As if all the customer base checks out the .org or the Matty forums) At the same time they were saying THIS IS Your Frosta. Take it or leave it.
While I know they’re just dumping old stock on subscribers, I’m surprised that they are giving away a full figure and paying the shipping for it. (They’re paying for the shipping on “Free” figure only, not whatever else it will come with… which is Procrusts and Mosquitor… So if shipping those 3 would be say $15.55, but shipping just Procrustus and Mosquitor is $12.87 then you’re paying $12.87 and Mattel pays the difference to reach the $15.55 total for Shipping.)
everyone focuses on the viking helmet… what i want to know is, where does that dragon keep his genitals? and how long does one have to sit to get a flat taint and ass like that?
‘sides, the earliest depictions of horned helmets came from art found in cyprus… so it’s a cyprussian helm… and honestly, given the prince in purple tights and a pink tunic w/ the space invader mom, THAT’s the hang up point? this mythos is weirder than shawney bean’s haggis. 🙂
Draego-Man was a magical hybrid, maybe they need magic or some kind of ritual to create dragons.
I want to get Granamys and Procrustus, but it’s too much. They’re figures I would like to have, but it’s more the collector mentality as I couldn’t care less for them.
true dat – Vikings didn’t have horned helmets (Hollywood myth #1473).
Dragons do not have genitals as such things are dirty. They are wholesome Republicans that reproduce by delicately kissing their ladywives following a traditional white wedding. Similarly, they are noble creatures that do not engage in the sin of pooping and so require nothing more than a glass-smooth surface to relieve the strain on their dangerously unstable tiny chicken legs. They scoot about their land on flattened hindquarters, propelled by Family Values.
(Bio supplied by the romney campaign along with the 2013 statement)
Maybe the helmet is to prove he’s a steer, not a …um, nevermind.
and most lizards have retractable genitalia, so it’s often hard to tell unless you handle them regularly.
^ What Brainlock said about reptilian genitalia. And if they’re anything like snakes and lizards, dragons have two.
And it’s not the helmet that’s horned. Granamyr put the helmet on one day when he was young and never took it off (because hats are cool), and his own horns eventually grew through it. I’ve seen pictures of people who had the same problem with hats and their hair. Storyboards of the Granamyr episodes show that it’s the dragon that has the horns; the artist left the helmet off because he thought it was stupid.
But I reiterate: hats are cool.
I’ll say what I said over at PoeGhostal’s:
I’d bet dollars to donuts the free basic figure is Mighty Spector. Also, a Frakkin’ GITD Slimer? That’s bullcrap. They should have given out the other Scoleri brother, instead of packaging it with courtroom Ray, a variant I bet no one wanted. (I know the Slimer thing wasn’t mentioned here, but it still pisses me off AND ties into the “free gift” business.)
it’s also worth note that this statement:
“arrival of the first Castle Grayskull® playset in 30 years.”
is a completely bullcrap lie. like, not even close to factually accurate. who released this statement, the romney campaign?
i know, for some folks, that doesn’t seem like a big deal, but it’s a blatant lie. it’s not like they forgot the 2002 castle, nutlick has made comparison statements between the 2002 and upcoming castles before, and the copy for that email should have gone through someone (though i suppose the greeting verifies that this email was done w/ minimal care for the audience) to me, telling such blatant lies makes me less than enthused to then tolerate other ignorance, like say, a late granamyr. i’m not paying extra shipping to get him later, where’s the apology figure for the numerous late figs, eh? where’s the apology figure for the other figs w/ swapped parts? where’s the apology figure for the defective figs that cracked and crumbled like cheap garbage after mattel’s “extensive safety testing” and their use of “expensive, special plastic?” wankers, the whole lot of them…
well, the plus side is, now, if we decide to wait and get the whole shipment of stuff this month shipped at once, it’ll take a miracle to get it by xmas. these jerkwads are trying to bring me down on the first day of saturnalia, and i won’t have it!
so tell us how you REALLY feel.
😉
I suspect someone in Mattel marketing isn’t a fan of MOTU and is only going by some lost childhood memories. I mean, what benefit is there in ignoring the playset that was released a decade ago?
(Unless, for reasons we don’t know, the planned playset isn’t as good as the 200X Castle Grayskull. But that seems unlikely.)
“then get ready for the arrival of the first Castle Grayskull® playset in 30 years.”
Ummm…? Didn’t they make one for the 200X toys?
I’ll be HUGETIME SAD FACE if I don’t get in on that CGM kit!!!!
I missed out. That’s what happens when things go on sale at 2:00 a.m. (my local time). Sent in the e-mail form saying I wouldn’t mind another run so I can get a crack at it again.
while a re docco’d accessory would have been neat..I think a full figure is much better. Though I hear ya that DVD set is calling me…I want that gold sword! I can’t wait to see what everyone gets in a few weeks
I’m now torn on whether to separate orders and risk missing something or throw it all together and then wait. I guess I have the rest of the week to make a decision; who am I kidding? We all know I’m impatient and will separate the orders . . . and then not open the toys for a month or more.
Granamyr looks better each time I see the shots. And that box is gorgeous.
“and then not open the toys for a month or more” — this.
I’m OK with waiting for the entire order. Granamyr is what I really want anyway, Mosquitor is just a bonus that I can wait for. I’m really struggling to justify Procrustus though, I remember him from the mini-comic but I feel no attachment towards him, but the star seed is actually the tempting part. It’s just not $44 tempting
My, oh my! That CGM kit sold out really quick!
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