NYCC: Mattel Armchair
News Armchair Coverage

NoisyDvL5

If you want to know what being a new Dad does to your toy collecting, try this one: I didn’t even realize NYCC was this weekend until yesterday. Oops. To be fair, it’s been a crazy week! I may have some Armchair Coverage up over the weekend… that’ll be up to Sam.

Like me, Mattel is also not at NYCC. To make up for that they’ve been posting “Armchair News” via YouTube. First up, is an update on their 2014 MOTUC offerings:

Things look pretty decent the rest of the year, particularly for the POP faction. Spinnerella & Mermista both look pretty awesome and come with plenty of accessories to get their looks right and more accessories than just your standard shield. Tung Lashor also looks to be a nice addition to the Snakemen. We don’t see it on the video, but I’m more excited for the tongue-in version of the head; glad that’s coming. Galactic Protector She-Ra, or NA She-Ra looks pretty spiffy. I like the design and the accessories. I think I’m going to like her a ton. She’s got me thinking, along with a featured custom at TNI, that I need an NA Faker! The real surprise for me is Gwildor. Fans of the vintage figure may be disappointed, because – even though they can make him thanks to his being in the vintage line – Gwildor looks more like he walked out of the movie than he is based on the vintage figure. That’s interesting.

I was feeling a little gloomy about the last few months of offerings, but the video does a good job of highlighting some of the neat stuff coming. It makes me feel better. It could also be because they don’t show Arrow – I’m not all that thrilled about him, but I know some fans love ’em and I will be taking one for the team.

Mattel then posted a video for their 2015 MOTUC offerings:

This video really hit me up side the head. I knew I was more excited for 2015 than 2014, but there is some great stuff packed into the beginning of next year. Lizard Man looks amazing. I am bummed about the lack of ab crunch ( he stoops, it’s kinda important!) & tail articulation. I’m trying to tell myself those are just budget issues and not annoying thoughtless issues like we’ve seen this year though. That’s particularly true here. The Diamond Ray of Disappearance made of GITD plastic? The translucent webbing on the hands? The new designer, Brandon Sopinsky, looks to have put more thought into 2015’s first figure than all the figures we got this year. Ninjor is similarly a sweet looking figure, particularly when you get that silly belt off of him and give it to Jitsu! The plethora of accessories look good and my only concern is what to do with that cool unmasked head? I’m ecstatic we got it, but I don’t have a good way to display it.

I don’t have any real thoughts about Huntara one way or the other. She’s there for the folks that want her. Oo-Larr is pretty sweet though and I have to figure out what to do with that vintage toy head. Finally, there’s the cool Snake Armor He-Man vs MO2K King Hsssss. This 2pk continues to impress, even without the MO2K Snake Top (which will come with another figure). SA He-Man looks amazing. I love the MO2K head. King Hssss looks even better. I think my vintage guy just got downgraded to Prince Python. And the torsos will all swap – there was some confusion about that happening (I don’t see why, Mattel wouldn’t tool a new torso when they’ve got one they can use), but it’s settled now and all Hsssss halves will work together.

Finally, Mattel revealed their 2015 MOTUC Chase Figure:

Dude! GITD! This is awesome. It is only tempered by the fact that the chase figure randomly popping up on Mattycollector is NOTHING like the thrill of the hunt and it sucks. I’m not just saying that because I still don’t have Loo-Kee. I’ll still say it after. I love the idea of extra figures, just not released this way.

And some DC News:

So there’s the Batman helmet/cowl thingy. And an update on the Super Powers figures – stoked for Gold Supes & Brown Kalibak but the real tidbit here is Doomsday! I have no patience to again wade into the headache-inducing discussion that followed this figure’s announcement. I almost didn’t even post the video here, so suffice to say that I’m just glad we’re getting this figure and that I think he’ll look great next to my Containment Suit version. At $40, he’s high, but I want him and I’ll pay it. It is sad though – that “Final Figure” burst on the package? It’s like a figurative tombstone for the line.

Update! 2015 Reveals!: Check ’em out here!

38 thoughts on “NYCC: Mattel Armchair
News Armchair Coverage”

  1. Yup. I’ve said it before (loudly and frequently), and I’ll say it again (similarly):

    I HATE THAT FREAKIN’ CHASE FIGURE SCHEME!!!

    Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way (for now), I really like that glowy Spirit of Grayskull, even better than the Jedi Blue Raspberry original version. I hope they make him readily available to subscription holders in Early Access, like they did this with this year’s chase item. The stress over Spirit of Hordak nearly finished me off the previous year.

      1. You guys do realise Lookee/Kowl were made available for sale at a certain date earlier in the year? And likely will be made available end of the year. Same as Spirit of Hordak last year. So you don’t actually have to chase them (and they’re, ironically, more available than some regular figures :P).

        I do like this as a chase though. It’s cheap, it’s fun, it’s not essential. Easy pass for me but happy for anyone else who’s keen to get him.

        Noisy, I am surprised you think $40 is high for Doomsday. Given the price of MOTUC and the price of the DC Super Powers (aren’t they gonna be $30 each?), I would have said $40 for Doomsday is an absolute steal. I expected him to be at least $50. Can’t wait to grab one (even though I never bothered with DCUC, I have DC Direct/Collectibles and the BAFs fit in nicely).

        1. Oh, yeah, I realise it, Ghost. I was able to bag a couple of SoH at the very last possible Early Access opportunity (just before EA stopped working for 5 months owing to innumerable glitches), one of which had two right shins. April’s Early Access (I had to order by phone) enabled me to bag a Goat Man and some Kowl & Loo-Kee 2-Packs for myself, my last ex, and a fellow Englishman who couldn’t get on Early Access that day.

          But it still drives me nuts, because I’m a compulsive completist, and the thought of missing out on something for no good reason gives me fits. It drives me nuts because I had SoH in my cart — or about to add him to my cart — thrice last year, only to have him “vanish” before I could complete payment. It drives me nuts because (even though I’ve managed to bag every such figure, myself) there are still loyal fans who keep missing out. It drives me nuts because it’s a silly frustrating gimmick that’s heavily skewed towards scalpers.

          It’s almost nothing like “the true thrill of the hunt,” no matter what Scott keeps saying, because if you’re in a store, with a rare figure right in front of you, there is no chance of some guy from six time zones away materialising in front of you and nabbing it just as you were reaching for it, then immediately putting it up on eBay for twice the price. Nor would you get the store manager run up, push you aside, grab the figure, and call out “Awww, you missed him! Keep coming back again and again and again and again and be sure to spend money!” over his shoulder as he runs away. Possibly whilst whooping like Dr. Zoidberg. Or, worse still, grab the figure off you as you’re at the checkout and pulling the payment out of your wallet, then whoop off towards the stock room with a Dopplering “Oh, darn! Keep coming back at inconvenient times and I MIGHT put him out again! If I feel like it!”

          So, the fact remains, I STILL HATE THAT FREAKIN’ CHASE FIGURE SCHEME!!!

        2. Oh! I’m not complaining by a long shot. I’m ecstatic he’s $40. He’s just high compared to perceived value for me. The Super Powers figures are way high, so you’re right that he is a complete steal in comparison.

        3. And I do know I missed Loo-Kee in April (I got Goat Man, but Loo-Kee was sold out) and I can get them in December. That’s why I’m only annoyed at the idea of online chase figures. (TG’s reasoning also sucks because there’s no ‘thrill of the hunt’ involved).

          For me, I just don’t want to wait until December and I’d like to get a review up earlier in particular.

  2. Why does Toy Guru look so angry in those video freeze frames? Seriously, it looks like he means me serious hurt if I don’t purchase his wares.

    I’m surprised that there is no outrage over Mr. Mxyzptlk being a thirty dollar PVC figurine. Think about it. A pack-in that goes for $30. Yeah, that’s a sure fire way to “kill tah line.”

    1. Clutch, most of us are protesting by just not buying the ridiculously overpriced bit of plastic, or the others that are being offered. I know there are plenty of people who are supremely uninterested in $30 repaints for $15 figures, but really.. at this point it’s just repetitious and exhausting to keep bashing and complaining about Mattel’s handling of MOTUC or DC, to be completely honest.

      Also, you’re just not likely to see any kind of complaining about Mattel on IAT. It’s just really not what they’re known for, but it doesn’t mean that all are perfectly content to get a tiny, inaction figure.

    3. He does get Kalibak’s torso, so I’m trying to focus on that. The cost of the whole ordeal is outrageously overpriced, but I want that Kalibak.

    1. Yeah. Even if he doesn’t show up whimsically for a couple of minutes again, they’ve always made the Chase and Travelling Convention figures available at the end of the year in Early Access and Day-of-Sale.

          1. The thing that bothered me was I have generally only been getting the Pop and Horde figures, (why they couldn’t have been there own sub from the get go is beyond me) anyway they finally offer an etheria sub, so I finally sub (even though I’m still left cherry picking pop figures from the other sub) and they do a Pop chase figure and they offer the bastard in early access the month before people with the pop sub are able to access early access (even though we all signed up at that point).

  6. I like the chase figures – the Spirit of Hordak made me realize that I don’t need to be a completionist 😉

    The Spirit of King Grayskull is an easy pass, too, but I still got Lokee & Cowl.

    2. what blows my mind really is the continued aftermarket price of the red caped king grayskull… you’d think showing up at big lots by the literal paletteload would drop your aftermarket price right through the crapper, and thus, those really interested in this chase version could snag one up for a few bucks and dip him in GitD paint… alas, mattel’s offering will still be cheaper than doing that… not that it makes him a stellar chase figure

      the sad thing is, when i first read about the figure, i thought the headline said “spirit of grayskull” (missed the king) and for a moment, i got all hot and bothered, as in the vintage mini comics, a spirit of grayskull did appear, as both a skull shaped smokey ephemeral face, and as a becloaked figure draped in shadows in another, and i was kind of hoping we were getting something like that, an interpretation of the castle’s interior spirit presence that has at times helped the sorceress… i imagined a modified blister deco so that it appeared as a giant smokey skull face covering the features of the robed spirit behind it, and hoping that something cool lie beneath that, like what happened with light hope…

      and then i opened the page, and it’s Crest Winter Mint Grayskull, now with tartar control! oh well, saves me some money!

    1. I was trying to think of what other figures I would want just completely recast with minimal paint apps and the only one I really wish Mattel would pop is a Slime Pit He-Man in green or a Spirit of He-Ro. I think this is on par with those at least.

  8. Yea what Wilson said. This is an incredibly lazy recast. What is the appeal? I’m at NYCC and Mattels absence is very odd. Feels like they’re giving up on “the adult collector”

    1. The appeal is really for the completists that missed the original, which is ironic because we’ll love it, but it still can’t make the other one not exist.

      1. It’s a glow-in-the-dark ghost. It’s a chance at owning a sort-of version of a “we only made two of ’em” figure. It’ll look cool “haunting” Castle Grayskull. And now we’ll have someone who can kick Scare Glow’s arse. Or run away from the Ghostbusters 2-Packs I managed to bag for $25 apiece, three minutes before the price doubled.

        You don’t want it? Fine, no skin off your nose, mate. More chance for those of us who do. };D

  9. I want to be excited about the 2002-inspired two pack, but I never liked the Snake Armor He-Man (that claw looks wimpy, and the armor gives off a “single-shoulder strap dress” vibe), and I really didn’t care for the Snake Men at all, so Hsss doesn’t excite me, either. I really loved when they killed him off at the end of season 2, and when I found out that the planned script for the very next episode resurrected him, it made me feel a whole lot better about the show ending when it did, even if I really did want more Hordak and She-Ra to be introduced in the next season.

  10. By the look of the thumbnail, I thought King Grayskull was covered in SLIME and got super-excited, thinking Matty was releasing a Classics version of the Slime Pit!

  11. HUUUUHHH another chase, BUT….I’ve gotten them all so far, and I am far too big a sucker for GitD to skip this. PLUS: I really wanted a Spirit of Greyskull, and this will be a much cooler, cheaper option!

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