The Pros of Collecting MOTU Classics ( The Positives )
(1) EVERY THING IN THE WORLD OF MOTU IS REPRESENTED - Everything from the cartoons, comics, magazines you name it has been made into a figure . Not only does MOTU Classics focus on all of the vintage characters in the 1980s toy line, but it also focuses on many characters that lots of fans have been wanting figures of outside of the vintage line . Filmation characters such as Shadow Beasts , Granamyr , along with others from the Mike Young Productions MOTU , etc . All of the MOTU Spin-Off lines such as The Powers of Grayskull, The New Adventures and what seems to be the most popular MOTU Spin-Off which is Princess of Power . Even figures that were meant for the 80s vintage line but never made it , are availble in this line. Gygor is an example of unproduced figures from way back .(2) THE FIGURES ARE VERY ARTICULATED - One of the greatest luxuries of MOTU Classics is that these figures can match the articulation of many other popular six inch scaled lines such as Marvel Legends, The Star Wars Black Series, among others .
(3) THE BIOS ARE A NICE FEATURE - Plus they are also a nice added bonus because the vintage toys did not have personal biographies on the card backs. It is fun to learn the real names of characters and their origins such as how they got their powers , what made them turn to a hero or villain, etc .
(4) ARMY BUILDER CHARACTERS CONSIST OF MORE THAN ONE FIGURE IN A PACKAGING - The great thing about the Army builder characters is that you do not have to purchase a lot of the same figure to build that particular army . The Horde Troopers, The Royal Palace Guards , Skeletor's Robots from the Filmation toon all give that luxury . Where as an army builder character from most other toy lines and franchises, you would have to purchase multiple figures of the same character to build a certain army . For example the Star Wars Black Series, you will need to purchase multiple Storm Troopers if you want to build a Storm Trooper army . Whereas with MOTU Classics for example, like if you purchase three packages of Skeletor's robots, that's a total of nine robots already since that particular item is a three-pack . Even though you still have to purchase multiple packs if you want a large army, however this is much better than spending on multiple individual figures of the same army builder character, because you're saving money .
(5) CHARACTERS THAT FANS HAVE WANTED A LONG TIME FINALLY BEING MADE - Examples are Queen Marlena , Granita , Cringer among others . Even though with the old vintage toy line if we wanted Cringer we had to remove the mask and armor off of our Battle-Cats and use our imagination pretending that Battle-Cat was in Cringer form . Thanks to MOTU Classics we no longer need to pretend that Battle Cat is Cringer, even though they are literally the same creature . It's a luxury to finally have action figures of characters that we wanted back then and did not get, but have them now .
(6) ALL OF THE DIFFERENT MEDIA-OUTLET VERSIONS OF CHARACTERS BEING MADE - Not only do we get vintage like versions of He-Man and Skeletor , but also mini comic versions along with Filmation versions of the characters . This is an excellent strategy by the toy companies to please all MOTU fans that do not like all aspects of MOTU . For example, you may have some fans that liked the Filmation cartoon but hated the toys, or VICE VERSA , they loved the toys but hated the toons . By making different media-outlet versions of of many characters is a nice way of trying to satisfy all fans .
(7) SEVERAL FIGURES COME WITH EXTRA HEADS PLUS THE FUN OF HEAD SWAPPING - You could do the head swapping thing with the old vintage line too however with MOTU Classics the heads are much easier to come off and place back onto a body . Marvel Legends now have the luxury of head swapping too but since this is a MOTU article I will not go off topic . Plus the MOTU Classic figures with multiple heads are in no particular order Whip-Lash, Stinkor , Kobra Khan , Man-E-Faces among a few others .
(8) MOTU CLASSICS ARE SCULPTED BY THE FOUR HORSEMEN - These guys are some of the best toy sculptors in the world . Super talented . For example, many of the Filmation and Mike Young figures look like they came right out of a television and made into a piece of plastic .
(9) MANY FIGURES HAVE UPGRADES AND IMPROVEMENTS OVER THEIR OLD VINTAGE VERSIONS - Now don't get me wrong , I'm not saying that the Classics versions are better toys than their vintage counterparts, all I'm saying is that they have been upgraded . For example , the MOTU Classics versions of Battle-Cat, Panthor , Night Stalker and Stridor all have multiple points of articulation . Where as all of these four character's vintage versions have no articulation, like statues . Still cool even today but as you can see the point I'm making with the upgrades . Another example is Man-E-Faces having more than three faces .
( 10 ) THE PEOPLE AT SUPER 7 ARE COOL AND DOWN TO EARTH - The current company at the time of this writing taking over the line from Mattel , really want to know and take the time to see what figures us fans really want . They have done figure polls on He-Man.org , plus the owner of Super 7, Brian Flynn is a funny guy with a great sense of humor and always provide updates . Here's a link to the Super 7 Youtube channel - https://www.youtube.com/user/super7store/videos . Also because they are over MOTU Classics, Super 7 are also pleasing fans by releasing vintage versions Fimation style, among other MOTU projects . Now on to the negatives about MOTU Classics .
The CONS of Collecting MOTU Classics
( The Negatives )
( 1 ) THE FIGURES ARE NOT SOLD IN RETAIL EXCEPT FOR LOCAL COMIC SHOPS - MOTU Classics are not sold in person in stores such as Walmart, Target , Walgreens , etc . Your local comic book shop may carry some MOTU Classics , other than that the majority of figures will have to be purchased online . I think it sucks that almost every figure must be purchased over the internet, meaning also you pay extra for the shipping . For example, back in the Matty Collector days a figure would be listed at 20 dollars, however you end up paying right around a total of 40 dollars anyway for shipping and handling, along with the weight of the package .
( 2 ) THE FIGURES ARE ON THE EXPENSIVE SIDE - Following up on the above statements of shipping fees, today a majority of the figures are sold for around the 30-40 dollar plus price range on some sites such as Big Bad Toy Store . Add on the shipping and handling fees then you've got one expensive purchase . So it's best to make sure you got a full time job if you plan on buying a lot of MOTU Classics, because it will be tough with just a part time job .
( 3 ) THE 1980s VINTAGE ACTION FEATURES ARE GONE FOR A LOT OF CHARACTERS OR HAVE BEEN MODIFIED -
Sy-Klone can no longer spin like the vintage figure , however you can display him in spinning poses . Blast Attack can no longer split in half, etc. This is a bummer for a lot of vintage collectors that also collect Classics . Where as some figures still maintain their action features, however they have been modified, the functions are no longer the same as they were back in the eighties . For example, Mekaneck's neck no longer stretches by twisting his waist . Now his mechanical neck extensions are added on manually . Same situation with Extendar among others . However the good news is that NOT every figure has lost their action feature . Moss-Man and Stinkor still have their scents, Man-E-Faces can still switch faces by turning the knob on the top of his head, just like the vintage figure .
Those are all of the negatives I can come up with about the MOTU Classics toy line . Let's hope that these three problems can be fixed one day . Speaking of problems, I came up with two more situations that USED to be negatives about MOTU Classics but are no longer a problem . Here goes ..................
FORMER Negatives about MOTU Classics
( 1 ) THE MINI- COMICS ARE GONE - Even though a few figures in the MOTU Classics line came with mini comics, over all the mini comics are a thing of the past with the Classics line. When the MOTU Classics figures first debuted , this was bothersome to many fans. But as the years passed by many of us have gotten used to the figures coming with no comics, so it's no longer a problem anymore . However it would still be a luxury to bring them back .
( 2 ) PROBLEMS DEALING WITH TOY-GURU AND MATTY COLLECTOR - Before Matty-Collector closed its doors I remember a lot of fans on He-Man.Org were complaining of poor customer service. I personally never had this problem I'm just going by what others said in the message boards . Now that Super 7 has taken over that poor customer service is a problem of the past . Also there are no more " scare tactics" about the line being cancelled if a certain goal was not met financially. That too is a problem of the past . Many people complained about Toy-Guru for the tactics .
Okay folks there you have it. The Pros and Cons of Masters of the Universe Classics . Let me know what you think of the article . I would love the feedback and if all positive I'll do more articles similar to this one . Before signing off however, let me leave you with some pics of a few MOTU Classic figures in action . Just for your entertainment and to keep this article from being all dialogue ( just words ) and no pictures .
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