Illumina Day! December 15th

[He-Mullet]

Hopefully we'll see Illumina for the obvious reasons that have been stated almost everywhere:
She doesn't require that much new tooling, helps pad out the line one more month,one of the few MOTU females (non-POP), she looks cool, her bio could be used to explain more about the Gar people (cause TG uses the bios for story more than being character bios),also making her could be seen as a token of appreciation for the .org admins that kept the MOTU flame going even when Mattel gave up on MOTU... OK now I see why she is getting all those obstacles against her.

[Darkspecter]

I can get behind supporting and raising awareness about obscure characters (she was from the comics, right?).

Yes, Illumina was from the comics. I posted what was to be her story line in the opening post of the thread, but here's the story of Illumina sort-of being published in the comics:

Illumina is a character meant to make her first appearance in MVCreations' MOTU Volume 3, Issue 4 comic. She was to have the story line in the bio that's on the image I posted. The variant cover of Issue 4 (showing Illumina and her Cat) was advertised in Volume 3, Issues 1, 2 and 3. Then, she never appeared in Issue 4 because Mattel instituted a "no new characters" policy and put a strict limit on the characters that could be used and the stories that could be told. This could have been because the 2002 toy line or show wasn't doing as well as they would have liked, but I'm not 100% on that. Other companies have put restrictions like this in comics and TV shows too. The Justice League Unlimited cartoon was not allowed to use Superman or Batman supporting characters and villains for a period of time, for example.

Anyhow, since that time, Illumina has gotten sort of a cult following over the years. It began when she kept being advertised though, with MVC readers wondering who she was and how she would fit into the story.

Here's the last advertisement of Illumina from Volume 3, Issue 3:

[dayraven]

i would like to end my contribution w/ this last note... when TG wanted box art for the wind raider, he turned to veteran of the line ruby obrero, the guy who did the original wind raider box. where the mangosteen was geoff johns for that one? they sure seem inconsistent in "pushing the new guys."

[DrRampageo]

there was noone in a illumina costume at NYCC boo

[doctorkent]

There can never be a winner in an argument like this, because each side can always pull out proof that proves their side (or refer to it).
And before I dive in, let me say that the two figures that pulled me in to MOTU Classics were the Goddess and Wun-Dar, so I understand obscurity.

TG has a point in that inside the pool of MOTU characters - the "this is every character ever from every continuity and line list" - Illumina has a low level of recognition outside of .org. How could she be known? She was featured very little for reasons already stated in this thread.
Inside of .org, I would say that EVERYONE knows about her now.
My personal research - i.e. me talking to people I meet in person or see my collection - would say that in the category "I only collected He-Man between 1982 and 1987", no one knows who He-Ro, Tytus, Carnivus, etc are. And one guy was confused by Scare-Glow, saying that not even the original line is known to all toy collectors.

Instead of the ToyGuru "ask a question that surely will piss off at least 50% of the people you ask" method, I have a more simple strategy. I think that Illumina is a demanded figure - to a small audience of MOTU buyers, primarily situated around .org but slowly expanding. She'd also be a fine choice to those of us who bought a sub and are fine with anything that Mattel puts into it (I have no stats on this because there are generally no complaints in this sub-group of fandom).
However, I think that argument could also be made for many other MOTU characters. I lurk at the .org and see threads devoted to Josh from POP, Songster, yellow Tug-of-War guy, pilots from box art, random NA characters, Filmation characters, "fix He-Man's hands so he can do one more pose"...in my view, you have your " absolute top demand" figures: Ram Man, Mekaneck, Two-Bad, Spikor, Jitsu, Mantenna, Modulok, Horde Trooper.
Then there is a "we're pretty sure this would sell out quick" - Mosquitor, many POP figures, etc.
After that is a vast wasteland of pockets of support, with varying levels of want and loudness.
I know I have read a thread about "toy design Star Sisters", when the versions coming have yet to be released. Or for a true 200X Evil Lyn - even some for a 200X He-Man.
I myself would be one of the posters in the "Make all the NA figures!" thread, but realistically, I know that many people do not want them, or at the least, are not fired up until they see the Horsemen versions.

And that is the problem with Illumina that Scott failed (and continues to fail) to illustrate. He'll never win with scientific proof that the active posters on .org are a certain amount of people buying MOTUC. Or that Mattel has a crack research team that told them that RockEm SockEm Robots would be a hit back in the year 2000 and is smarter than .org. Or by saying "do you want Ram Man or Illumina?"
The truth is not that Illumina is less desired than so many other characters - but that she is desired just as much as many of them.
AND that we all want our favorites - but that no amount of fan pages and such are going to get Quakke moved up in the lineup. Oh wait, that is my most wanted Classics figure.

Anyway, I hope to see Illumina in the line someday. And Quakke.

John K.

[Darkspecter]

I pretty much agree with doctorkent. The main goal of Illumina Day isn't to get her made this very second. It's to help inform others about her because she is an obscure character. That will help the likelihood of her being produced in MOTUC eventually.

I do have some positive news though! It turns out there will be a MOTUC Fan Choice Poll! Mattel chooses 6 characters, He-Man.org chooses 1 character and He-Man.de chooses 1 character. The ballot of 8 characters gets to be voted on by 2013 MOTUC subscribers via a special code you get upon subscribing. The character that wins will be made in late 2013! The poll is specifically for the more obscure, not well known characters. This should be a fun event and it's something Illumina could be part of. Toyguru mentioned her by name at NYCC when naming off some characters that could be a part of this!

Also, I am unable to edit my prvious posts for some reason (just this one). The He-Man.org "Illumina Day" link is now broken. Here is the new one:

http://www.he-man.org/forums/boards/sho ... p?t=215436

Emiliano fixed his Illumina MOTUC concept. The other one was unfinished in the bra area:

[DrRampageo]

This Fan choice poll should be very cool!

[PrfktTear]

I can totally get behind this. Although somehow I feel like there will be some sort of controversey.

[DrRampageo]

I can totally get behind this. Although somehow I feel like there will be some sort of controversey.

Oh of course there will be....
You know when the winner is a Toy guru in street clothes figure

[Darkspecter]

Just a reminder that Illumina Day is only 35 days away! If you want to take part by drawing, baking, sculpting, painting, gluing or sewing something...it would be a good time to get started (if you haven't already)!