This was a year ago, and I see masterverse and origins sell at target, Walmart, Big Lots, online, and MOTU exclusives at mattel creations. So much for a “toy line that won’t sell at retail.”
Don't forget that this isn't even the first time he's done this. He had the DC line put out a Red Lantern named Night-Lick and he made it into the comics.
Even a year after you did this it holds up.I'm sure you know of his recent "prediction" he did as well as the shirt with what you said on it in a recent interview
Just saw that Scott recently did an interview with the idiots at ClownfishTV. I should have expected a company man like Neitlich to happily and openly converse with grifters if it means getting a bigger platform. This video aged like fine wine Michael 👍🏻
Still valid after all this time. I had a problem with Matty Collector from the very first . I thought the mascot, the very face of the concept, was all wrong. He looked like a snide bastard who put you down for liking what you liked, and was in your face about stuff he had that could never be yours. Hmmmmm. 😉 But with Scott, by his words, it was very confusing. He was brand manager and in charge of everything yet soooo many times simple things were beyond his great Powhaaa. Can’t do a paint op because there was no budget for it. Can’t do an accessory because budget. Can’t do a figure because it would need specific tooling with no reuse potential… which meant so many figures that did things got made half-assed. How is it possible that Ram-Man was one of the LAST figures made (if I recall right. Been a lot of years)? He’s one of the key ‘Filmation 10’ that you need, if you’re entry into the world was the cartoon. Unless I missed it there was never anything done about the Green Goddess with magic shattering pelvis action. What SHOULD have been done was a free replacement figure sent to every buyer, automatically. I doubt anything like that happened. Mighty Spector just hit me the wrong way. He used the story of the kid who didn’t get his figure made to piggyback his own thing. That’s just not cool. I see his current ‘tube vids and there is some interesting ‘inside baseball’ stuff that helps explain some otherwise inexplicable happenings in the toy world, for the most part it’s him trying to seem relevant to people who just don’t want to hear from him. Ah well.
I am the guy you quoted at 33:10 from an editorial I posted at my site motucfigures... And while I did rationalize him injecting himself into the line at that time from a fan perspective, I was also one of the most outspoken fans against Scott's brand management during the line's existence. Both as Sallah at the org and my own blog, I called out his tactics MANY times, including the editorial detailing me quitting the line over Stinkor's mismatched forearms and Scott's response to the error. That all being said... This video was GREAT. You called out who and what needed to be called out. You got yourself a sub.
Man! They dropped the ball on Stinkor. It's a good fig, but it could've been so much better. The rationale behind the arms depicting a wind effect was weak.
I take it to be more meaning he was part of new generation of indy film makes that broke out in the early 90s, i mean thats his background before going into other media.
@@JONNYSORENSEN_AU Or could be that he's the new generation of film hack since he used to be a pretty hardcore nerd before selling out to dem Hollywood bux.
The Masters line had Barbarians, demons from other dimensions, cowboys(Rio Blast), Ninjas, transforming Rock People etc.... Why would a superhero type be out of place?
@@mikeyfourbarrel8473 He seems "right about movies", but "diva queen trying to squish other channels out". Sorry, man... ...false-flagging other videos to censor people that shine light on you is WEAK.
Who else is watching this again mid-2024 and realizing it just as timely and relevant as the day it was uploaded? I may have to rewatch annually and remind myself what a mess these corporate hacks have created. Allegedly Kevin S publicly bears the brunt of revelations shame but Scott and Mattel are just as culpable in my opinion, allegedly. I feel like white collar charges should have been filed in some instances I won't name, I'll just say stockholders should be furious. Thank you Retroblasting, the little people appreciate you and your honesty and cherish your channel
I know I commented the other day about how much I’ve come to enjoy this channel along with Bobby Skullface’s and Toy Galaxy but this absolutely cemented that sentiment. (Analog Toys is entertaining as well lol.) I haven’t felt like you were talking down to your audience nor pandering. I don’t feel like you’re stirring unnecessary drama but laying out facts and events that took place. I appreciate the content.
I always took MOTU canon mythos like Transformers canon. It's all over the place. Right off the bat the Filmation series contradicted the comics the figures came with.
It was all over the place from the beginning because He-Man was supposed to be Conan. Mattel was readying to support a new set of movies in the Conan mythos before realizing it was going to be rated R and the film studio didn't have enough money to produce the fantastical world they had envisioned. Thus, He-Man was born and then the 2 Conan movies were more "grounded", so to speak.
@@sbojan83 "It was all over the place from the beginning because He-Man was supposed to be Conan." No it was NOT. There's documentation to prove that. That whole thing is a MYTH. Knuckle: "Right off the bat the Filmation series contradicted the comics the figures came with." The first four comics were very crude. Then DC comics revised the whole thing, a revision which formed the basis for the Filmation series. So no, it's not really all over the place. It's the actual evolution of the property.
I posted this elsewhere but I'll also post it here... I liked what Scott did for the brand. From what I understand he put in alot of his own time to help Classics thrive. I love my Classics collection and I do believe it wouldn't have happened if it were not for his love of MOTU and the hard work he did organizating the line when Mattel clearly didn't care as much. You can love or hate his attitude/actions while working on the line but it simply wouldn't have panned out the way it did without him. A large portion of the fan base was relentlessly hostile to Scott during the line (and continued to be afterwards when Super 7 took it over, so much that Brian Flynn had to hide early reveals of the figures until they were closer to final because of the same hostile whining fans). I have said over and over that Masters of the Universe Classics was lightning in a bottle and Scott along with the Horsemen were instrumental in making it all happen. I watched it all happen from beginning to end and I have a near complete collection that quite frankly I love very much. People really need to stop dumping on this guy.
Brian Flynn openly lied to fans at Power-Con in 2019 and said his price hikes were because tariffs were going to be placed on toys by the federal government and said that those price hikes were already "baked in" to Super 7's prices. When the entire category of Chinese tariffs that included toys was negotiated away that Fall, he refused to answer fans' questions about why those "baked in" price hikes never went away and, instead, only went up more. That, along with serious quality control issues, is why fans were "hostile" to Brian, as you say. I have no doubt you are a person who bought "the Mighty Spector" for this nearly complete collection.
@serick73 I believe it was 100% lightning in a bottle. I absolutely adore my Classics collection! It is a sight to behold. The Classics line was a multitude of factors that converged that will likely never ever be able to be reproduced again in the future. The way it spanned all the MOTU eras and weaved them all together into one timeline, POP figures, New Adventure Figures, Powers of Grayskull Figures, Filmation Figures, 200x Figures, Prototype figures, Castle Grayskull, Snake Mountain, all the vehicles, the incredible sculpting from the Four Horsemen, the cool chase figures, the cool new characters in figure form and in the mini-comics (which sadly never became figures ie.e Lady Slither, Bandwith, Hans Hammerholder, The Great Black Wizard, Skeleteen, etc...) The sheer amount of figures in the line is astounding and we got characters I, not in a million years, would have ever dreamed of getting in figure form. The aesthetic and detail the Horsemen put into the overall 'Classics' style and the actual sculpts make the new Masterverse figures look awful in comparison (that new Viking He-Man is awful - Vikor was inspired by the prototype - the new Viking He-Man LOOKS like a prototype). It was a GREAT time to collect figures. I loved waiting for the figures to arrive each month, loved Pixel-Dan's reviews and eagerly awaited the reveals that happened at each of the toy shows (and the ridiculous fan-drama that ensued with each and every reveal - to be honest, it was a bit entertaining watching the MASS drama and arguments on He-Man.org). SURE the line had it's bumps and wasn't 100% perfect - but it was nearly perfect. As a kid from the 80's who collected the original toys I would dream as a kid of a Catra figure, Lizard Man figure, an Uncle Montork figure, a PROPER She-Ra figure that wasn't a doll. Classics was some weird materialization of those figure wishes as a kid - quite literally the Classics line was a LOVE LETTER to fans like me in aesthetic, detail and character selection. I never bought multiple subs - just one and I cherish them all. It is really quite astounding when I go through my collection because there is just SO MUCH THERE. It also led to the Thundercats figures and Ultimately to the Ultimates from Super7 (also sculpted by the Horsemen). The Thundercats and TMNT figures are really great. So you sir can have your sour memories and opinions. I for one love what they did with that entire series of figures. It WAS and IS incredible.
But Keldor is not IN the comic? Its' just a word/name in there. Doesn't really make a "character" having a random name in a mini comic. It's a name, and a word sure. If I come up with "shark-or" as a name, but he doesnt appear for over a decade, well then the character doesnt really exist until he.... exists.. in something?
@@namelessjedi2242 Scott. I remember him saying that they were already scraping the bottom of the for classic characters. I'm guessing they didn't want to jump into The New Adventures because he knew how weak that series is, and without the nostalgia factor, the platform will quickly lose subscribers.
I will admit it was a funny gag and the nod to it with the figure was funny. But I didn't think it would become lore/cannon. Or even cause such an uproar.
@@namelessjedi2242 I did, it was me. It was the only MOTU thing I ever saw. That I liked and I said, “ Scott, boyo, if I can’t wrestle Battle of the Planets into this He-Man thing you keeps blathering on about, what can you do with Steve Martin’s character from Little Shop, now there was a movie.” Yup, that’s how the conversation went, still sad he didn’t come with the Banjo I asked for though, that woulda been the shit right there I tell ya.
Making him a character was pretty cool imo. Same with how they made concept art into new characters like Vikor and Demo-Man. I'm a sucker for that stuff
@@davidanderson4748 this whole video is filled with things no one should be mad about, mostly. aside from a generic self insert and a lack of distribution/reprints. MOTUC's lore was never the main focus, it was the figures themselves. No clue why it matters so much
Strange how Transformers has never really had this issue, despite having the whole Multiverse thing, with the many different Continuities that exist in the brand.
@@mikeyfourbarrel8473 generally us transformers fans don’t care that much for the Bay movies but that’s because he had no general understanding of what he was working with.
An interesting wrinkle tho, the recent TF Collector's Club (run by Fun Publications / Master collector) had aped the MOTUC subscription model to further bleed the fans in addition to their version of Botcon. This was the era where pumping out so many exclusives per year, rife with QA issues to boot, cheapened the expirience of collecting them. So much overpriced exclusives made them less than special.
I think a big difference is that during the 1980s there were two strong versions of the TF story (the comics and cartoon) that were both around long enough to contribute a lot the mythology and neither really changed to mirror the other's continuity set-up whilst other smaller story material either adapted to one or the other or did its own thing. (In the UK there was also the virtual war declared on the cartoon by the comic letters page, which was answered by a Transformer in character and both Soundwave and Grimlock took issue with their screen portrayals.) By contrast the 1980s Motu cartoon was dominant with no other single source of story material lasting long enough to generate a strong following for an alternative basic narrative and so most other stuff, including the mini comics, quickly tried to conform with it and it was only when the separate toylines and properties for She-Ra and the Horde came along that it was no longer possible for Motu only material to follow the cartoon.
The bayverse brought me in, o expanded my knowledge with G1 , had animated as my first cartoon, became a teen with prime, rewatched the unicron trilogy, watched beast wars, and kept up with the comics. The multiverse of Transformers works. However that doesn’t matter to Michael because he considers devoted transformers fans to be fools and irrelevant.
I was a subscriber from day one. I never had an issue with Scott or his canon. Some of it was done to copyright the intellectual MOTU properies which were due to expire. Notice few characters had name changes due to those rights expiring. Outside of Scott, nobody else at Mattel saw value in MOTU. The success of classics relaunched MOTU.
You never had an issue with Scott's cannon? I hope not. But we're talking canon here, not genitals. Go talk about his cannon on the appropriate slashboards.
I subscribed but not every year. Some years were crap offerings that, honestly, did not justify having to put up with Digital River. Including Neitlich's vanity Spector project. The horrible job that Digital River did pretty much killed half of the value proposition of Mattycollector.
Yet you can't say that palace guard face or the Mighty Specter were needed things. Well, all my guards look pristine, just the one with the Neitlich face has the most dinged up armor.
When I was buying Marty Collector Ghostbusters props, I joined their forums to ask if there was going to be a proton pack to go with the particle thrower and he rudely chewed me out about asking the question because apparently he was asked that before I joined the forums. How would I have known that? I realized then that he was a big jerk and I couldn’t believe he would talk to a customer like that and was so happy when he left Marty Collector.
So you are saying that Scott convinced Mattel that MOTU wasn’t viable at retail? Really? You don’t think that it had anything to do with the fact that the 200x line failed and died at retail a couple of years earlier?
@Joe Markese And that is exactly what retailers are asking for. They want He-man not Spikor or whomever. Is this the best strategy? Not in my opinion but it doesn't change the fact that it's true. What should Mattel do? Tell their customers to f' off and not fulfill their orders as they're being asked to? Sound strategy.
Scott has said MULTIPLE times on his channel that he doesn’t believe MOTU can work at retail… especially with no attached show…. It’s why he believes origins wouldn’t work. Though he says he hopes it does. Your argument doesn’t stand.
@@michaelcorsiniart Right… Scott has also said that 80% of retail sales need to go to kids for a line to be a success. and that He-Man, as it was in the 80s, doesn’t resonate with modern kids the same way it did with children of my generation. How does any of that prove that he “convinced the suits at Mattel that He-Man would never succeed at retail again” as Michael states in the video citing “some sources” as his evidence. He also states “if He-Man was so popular year after year why wasn’t Mattel overing these toys to retail”. 200x was not “so popular” that it (toy line and cartoon” failed to met expectations and was canceled after a couple of years. Are you really telling me that that had NOTHING to do with Mattel not wanting to put He-Man toys at retail in 2008?
@@AkuMayfair Michael is careful with his words and you need to be more careful listening. He said Scott “had a hand in convincing Mattel that Masters would not work at retail”… meaning he was one of many. He is careful through the video to say things like that… Carefully never making him solely responsible because that WOULD be stupid. He is making the charge that the same corporate attitude that has the action figure industry in the position it is now… ALSO exists in Scott Neitlich. He is ONE of MANY. Michael literally says, "it takes a village!" Additionally, the "sources" that you claim Michael cites... are stories relayed my Neitlich, himself! And he is careful to say that they are suspicious... with the words, "if the stories are to be believed..." Don't build an argument by changing the context and meaning of another man words. It's a waste of time.
@@michaelcorsiniart Okay. I see that I made some errors here. Let me try this again. I said he cited “some sources” when in fact he said “some accounts”. That was my error. The rest of what I quoted was 100% accurate to what the man said but after rewatching the full video again I see that much later he does back track and say that of course Scott was only one person who had a hand in convincing Mattel that MOTU was not viable at retail. Not exactly the same as what was said from the top (around three minutes in) but okay I missed that, my mistake. Oh… and I was only quoting from the early segment of the video, you where only quoting from the latter part of the video…. So seems that we could both be accused of taking the mans words out of context to make our argument. All of that said, the question I’m asking is still unanswered. Why is there no mention of the retail failure of the 200x line just a few years earlier and the effect that it had on the retail future of MOTU? Are we really meant to believe that, in 2008, the still fresh failure of the 200x line had less impact on the brands retail future than the opinion of the so-called ToyGuru (and the others)? Maybe he did help push Mattel off of that cliff, but seems to me that they where already standing at the edge.
Prior to working on Masters of the Universe, Scott Neitlich worked in other toy lines under Mattel. One of those lines was Hot Wheels, and under the Hot Wheels label you'll find the name "Spector" used twice in their products (as far as I know): one such "Spector" was a skeleton-themed car. The other Hot Wheels "Spector" came out under Mattel's very own take on the Transformers, the "Modifighters". There was a subset of smaller Modifighters, and under that subset sure enough you'll find a robot named "Spector".
So glad that you did this video. I originally subscribed to his channel because I was trying to get info about buying the Origins line. I somewhat cringed every time he opened a video about introduced himself as the 'Toy Guru'. After a while I started to feel like he was somewhat narcissistic. When I never saw the 2nd or 3rd wave of Origins in my local stores, I was curious as to why. His video about how that happened seemed wrong to me (shipped wave 2 to Europe?). I unsubscribed from his channel shortly after because it seemed like he was making videos just to brag on himself and not to give real info.
Hey Michael, I really hope you accept Scott's invitation to speak with him. I feel that the toy community as a whole would benefit from that discussion. I personally did not agree with many of your points in this video, but I also do not agree with many of Scott's points he has made. On the flipside, I also agree with other points that both of you have brought up regarding various issues. I would really love to see that conversation happen so that we can come together and do what we can to improve the issues we all have been facing. I hope that the expectation of how you think the conversation may go does not deter you from, at the very least, making an attempt to better the toy community. Thanks, and I hope you consider it.
Michael French was right when he made this video and guess what? He is STILL 100 percent right today especially after recent events that have happened in the toy community and industry. Michael is always ahead of everyone else. That only happens when ppl refuse to bend the knee and refuse to become mindless simpy followers. Michael French, I salute you. You are the man.
I’m with you guys on this. It would not take that long to watch or rewatch all the cartoons read a few comic books, then come up with a good cohesive story. This whole series was pure fluff. It felt like he called it in and expected everyone to be like oh yeah that’s the shit. Wow incredible. Instead some people were like that’s pure shit. It was. I’ll end on a good note. The art was incredible.
I'll bet 99% of 80s kids threw out those crappy comics with the packaging, the other 1% are complaining about "canon" on TH-cam and comparing it to insanely popular franchises like Star Wars and Star Trek. Making yourself an obscure character in the story is really badass (except the cheap Deadpool knock-off look), and doesn't change anything that much.
I was never a He-man fan. My kid brother was, but I ran out of steam for action figures after my Mego Batman stuff, Star Wars, and GI Joe. My brother loved every conceivable IP, and collected them his whole life. But this channel is priceless so I am really enjoying this story, even if He-man was never my bag. You can always intrigue me by mocking Kevin Smith. He just sucks.
By the way, my advice is 3D modeling, 3D scanning, 3D printing, and no pity whatsoever for the corpo-cunts that have wrecked the industry. Take it all away from them. The only thing they have to sell is the concept of "official" and when they can't enforce that, they can't monetize it. So strip it away from Scot Dicklick and the rest of the rancid slime that have trainwrecked this hobby. Build your own.
I enjoyed the video. I revisited my vintage MOTU at the end of 2018 and never even heard of MOTUC until I was searching for vintage figures, I needed to complete my collection. I'm sure I would have bought into the Classics if only I knew about them.
"Try to be more positive to Super 7...Negative comments really do sink lines." Meanwhile, the fans: loading the nuclear torpedoes to blast the scam out of the water...
I like the idea of amalgamating all the different ears of MOTU. It's what I do in my head with all franchises I love. But I didn't really like the bios with Classics. It's easily ignored though. The figures were fantastic and the best MOTU line we'll ever get. Even in a movie year I doubt we'll ever get a MOTU line as all encompassing as Classics was with NA, Golden Books, Ladybird Books, Filmation etc. Let alone a huge 7 inch scale Castle Grayskull and Snake Mountain.
My big problem, at least in NJ is that stores dont stock anything. Empty shelves everywhere, so im forced to buy online if i want anything. But then places like Walmart and Target randomly cancel your orders and say the payment couldnt be recieved, even though i just got a package from them the day before.
I remember seeing somone call out Nietlich on one of his videos lol when he took the credit for bringing Gygor to classics and the actual guy responsible for Gygor got pissed and called him out on it in the comments lol
MIKE!! I love ya dude... we’ve met, donated some toys, conversed since 2015... I think you went 0.001% too far with this one. Pixel Dan directly addressed the copycat/duplicat situation on his powercon reveals video(March 13th)... He gave Joe Amato credit. For the record I’ve never criticized any of your videos. Val staples; I don’t know enough about his role in the controversy but I’ll take your word. Spector creative; I agree that he’s made some stupid comments in the heman forums and deflected his failures into others but the whole “ Face on an eternian guard/mighty Spector” situation..... I think you are speculating too much about his intent. We don’t know what the rapport was within his division. Maybe all of his subordinates loved him and cherished him so much and encouraged him to leave his fingerprint on the classics line? If you (Michael French) got a job managing gijoe classified tomorrow, we(your 91k subs) would beg you to put a Michael head sculpt on someone(grand slam maybe)... Scott may be a corporate shill or a cog in the corporate machine but I think you kinda filled in the blanks too much. Of course that’s just my opinion
He's neither a corporate shill nor a cog in any machine. He was drummed out of the industry for being zero worth. Now he's a bitter industry reject that makes bitter, dejected TH-cam videos.
Re watching this great video, I enjoy Michael and Scott both and while creator drama is usually uninteresting to me, both these guys are very intelligent and very passionate and made this feud entertaining.
I kind of feel a core idea of MotU Classics was to combine elements from all the previous He-Man "canons" (mini-comics, Filmation, and the 2000s reboot) into one as a toyline that celebrated all of the brand. Does that idea actually work? Debatable, as a lot of times the writing had to jump through a lot of hoops to fit seemingly contradictory things together, and invent a lot of stuff to fill the gaps. But ultimately I do respect what they set out to do. Now, should it be "The" definitive version of the MotU? universe I don't think so. Preferring only the mini-comics or Filmation or the reboot canon and ignoring the others is just as valid, if not more so, than trying to reconsile different versions of the brand that were created largely independently from each other into a single whole. It's kind of unfortunate that MotU Classics kind of ends up being treated that way, rather than as just "a" version of the MotU universe. Not sure how much of that it Neytlich's own fault, though, because while he does a lot of videos about the lore of MotU Classics (which he wrote), he also does seem to consider MotU a multiverse that can have different equally valid versions of the universe (of which Classics is just one take).
@@dedalionarts6077 I mean attach all continuities into one story in a modified way through a multiverse like said in the video. I believe it’s called transformers legacy
I hate multiverse. 200x is one of the rare exceptions where the reboot is superior to the original show. If you rewatch the 80's cartoon you immediately notice it's not aged as well as transformers or gi joe.
I’m a big fan of this page and your particular brand of humor. This video seems like a knee jerk reaction to Spector Creatives video about the Haslab Sentinel. Although entertaining, this video seems very petty to me. I’m sure my opinion means nothing to you. Which makes me curious as to why Spector Creatives video fired you up so much? Are you trying to tell me if you could create a new character based on yourself in a toy line you wouldn’t do it!? Calling BS friend. Love you but you’re full of it.
I am really looking forward to your discussion! Hope it stays professional & as a fan of both this could really move the industry forward. Thanks for your hard work
he replied asking to do a show with you.. i think that would be awesome.. as i enjoy both of your channels, looking forward to it.. if it ever does happen... until next time....
@@williamthompson5504 That does ring true. He seems to just want to voice his opinion as fact then throw insults to look big. I don't think he'd actually sit down and have a mature and polite debate with someone.
Why is it bad though? If He is the word for power in that world all they did was just make the name “world correct” ( I can’t think of a way to describe it).
Nice frustration video which only focusses on everything bad SN did for MOTU. I'm interested in what good things you have to say about what SN did for MOTU.
You've been a subscriber for 5 years and you're just now seeing this video? That tells me you're not an engaged sub, and you wait for TH-cam to spoonfeed you content. You should know by now that I am objective. If I had felt SN had done anything positive **I would have said so.** Take your Pollyanna relativism somewhere else next time you want to throw a passive-aggressive comment like this at me. It won't fly here. - Michael
@@retroblasting Well my take on objective is definitely something else. I like lots of your video's because they go deep into the source material. But this video just sounds very sour and frustrated.
Multiverse like Time Travel is very hard to pull off. You have to plan ahead from multiple causalities. And have it be incredibly dangerous. Otherwise the villains would use it constantly. Or have it be fun and gimmicky. Bill and Ted makes absolutely no sense but I enjoy the hell out of it.
The character of Spector isn't as OP as people have made him out to be. Scott went out of his way to explain this to people and try to have that reflected in the figure. Around his thigh is a holster with these green test tube looking widgets. Those are like fuel rods that power either his pistol or his time travel device. He has a limited number of them and when they're gone, they're gone. So he literally would have a set number of trips he can go on, and also would have to decide between "fight or flight" as he can't use up all those rods on combat, or else how the hell would he get back home? It's actually an intriguing part of the character and always appreciated that aspect of him.
Toys like comics and video games are niche cultures that have gone mainstream. But they're run by corporations that actively prey on their customers. Selling the cheapest product for the highest prices.
I like it when you make informative, well produced, entertaining videos about retro action figures. I wish the channel kind of stuck with that and didn’t keep chasing these vendettas. This IS about retro action figures, but I don’t feel entertained. I don’t feel informed. I just feel negative.
Gosh that's brutal, however I do see your point, but 2002 he-man is brilliant, really, objectively it's beyond the 80s he-man and I grew up watching and collecting the 80s classic, 2002 was just the perfect balance.
It is a good show. To me the most interesting MOTU stories were the mini comics before Filmation got involved. When I first saw the Filmation show I thought that my T.V. was personally punking me. I've grown to appreciate it for what it is but 2000X is still cool.
I haven't seen a lot of this guy's videos, and there are some valid points in this one about Mattel, but there are many other points running off of false information and obvious bias. A Neutral take, this is not.
My very first time listening to Neitlich was on his TH-cam channel and what stuck out right away is this guy is full of himself, wow! I thought maybe I’m wrong but every other time I’ve watched it I feel the same. I have no problem sticking up for my friends and I will do it again. We love you Joe Amato Mattel do better you should be ashamed. I will re visit this again on my show. Thanks Michael have a blessed day
Michael my man... I usually love your videos, especially the ones about MOTU. But man oh man did somebody piss in your Corn Flakes this morning or what?
The main ripple effect of Scott letting MOTU go to Super7 is still being felt to this very day. As Scott Neitlich is why Brian Flynn even has a toy career at all. Because Brian Flynn is using the outdated Matty Collector Toy bodies for his awful Ultimates line. Plus to add to it Brian Flynn is currently acting exactly like Neitlich when he was running MattyCollector. He's lying to fans and talking down to them just like Neitlich.
Bull, "things are better now"! Back in the mid 00's when I was in college, I could walk into a toy aisle any given day and I would find something I was looking for. Now? If I happen to find something, and admitedly I've been a bit lucky lately, but in general, nothing!
What utopia did you live In? I mean we have documentation (messageboards, live journal) of that time of just how difficult it was to find anything of value at retail. What toy lines did you buy that you could always find? Hyper curious about this one.
@@oansun the one when malls and toys r us still existed. Online sales ebay and scalpers turned it into horse breeding basically. Only the elite few get what they want. Dropping 1800 bucks on static statues. None of these ppl have real problems.
It was easier when dedicated toy stores like TRU, Child World, and Kaybee Toys (there in the US) existed. We CANNOT expect the same level of experience with big box retailers. The loss of TRU is quite damaging to the toy industry as a whole. Among other things, it gave big box retailers more power on toy manufacturers. We're talking about companies fighting over a very, VERY limited aisle (and storage) space.
@@oansun Like everyone pointed out, Toys'r'us, kaybee toys and other places were around. And I live in Puerto Rico, which is tecnically a 3rd world country. But, yeah, the loss of dedicated toy stores really affected collectors, I forgot about that detail.
You’re obviously wrong about reboot culture. It’s not about lacking the talent to continue a story, it’s about resetting a storyline to the point where the largest possible audience cohort will be familiar with the goings-on. It’s the same reason any movie with “the final chapter” in the title will abandon any attempt at deep continuity.
@@somethingclever8916 I’m not praising them. Just presenting applying the old adage “Never ascribe to malice that which can be explained by incompetence.” Retro’s explaination, frankly, sounds paranoid in the extreme.
So... you're saying that the 200X series DIDN'T shit the bed at retail? I can't speak to most of this, but I firmly believe that the online subscription model WAS the only way Classics was going to happen, and it's CERTAINLY the only way they were able to just drop deep-cuts all over the place. Your assertions regarding their market viability do not hold water. Ghostbusters and He-Man are back on shelves now because there is media to market it now.
@@Theopheus That whole thing was in response to the last original MOTU Wave.... the HE-Man property was "HAWT" and needed more merchandise.... This made Mattel overproduce secondary characters which didn't sell.... Apparently the public wanted He-Man cause there was a new wave of kids getting into the cartoon.... This is what they said int those Netflix Documentaries....
Mattel bought the license for Ghostbusters because there was supposed to be a new movie around 2010, but Bill Murray blocked it because of his feud with Harold Ramis. Mattel would have put it in stores if GB3 came out back then. But no movie, no retail. Hasbro has since made toys because there have been two new movies.
When James Silvani and I revived DARKWING DUCK, we tried to walk the line… we pulled in characters from the Disney Afternoon comics, but also made the series a continuation of the cartoon. No reimagining, no reboot… just a new “season.”
dude .... i heard somebody say that this guy was responsible for turning he-man into his personal fan-fiction ... didn't know what that meant ... now i do ... that's dude!!
@@megasystem8473 No now it is all about beefs in the toy community (which 99.9% of us could care less about), modern toy companies’ ineptitude, etc. I don’t mind the occasional off the cuff rant but this clearly took a lot of time and effort to create and edit. Would’ve loved to see something of this quality about a vintage toy line.
I love this one from Retro blasting because it's now truth. No way to deny it anymore. It's so specific, and to point and spot on, it's not only hilarious, it's prophetic! It's also a blueprint of the corporate mind set, run by narcissistic psychopaths. Great job Michael. I've seen this twice, and it's still fascinating!
@@samaonbradford3810 I agree. That sort of thing makes the world seem smaller. It makes so much more sense for your arch nemesis to be some random bloke.
Learn to read the mini comics! Also they were going to add that into the Filmation one but it was cancelled.. The comic is called "Search for Keldor" so are you going to argue with the creators of He-Man? It's like me not wanting Luke to be Vader's son because it was a "twist" uhh most shows like these have twists in them.
So much of this video is essentially The Simpsons meme "Old man yells at cloud". Like a broken clock, he at least gets some things right. But, the majority is just narrow visioned ranting that conveniently disregards established information about the brand's original lore and planned lore expansion in the 80's. Just so he can justify what is a highly ironic rant where he calls out someone else for twisting information to suit their own personal narrative as he does the exact same thing in ranting about the other person doing it.....
Exactly!! He wants to sound like he knows so much by talking about classics, but….. like….. as much as Scott sucks … Scott was Classics, and we have a lot to thank him for. He did some dumb things, made some Corporate ass decisions…. But he was in a corporate job, and I’ve seen dumber things done for a Toyline than what he did. He gave us vehicles, every figure from the vintage line, and even Castle Grayskull And, despite what he says in this video, figures like Mo-Larr, and Fearless Photog are what make Classics the best MOTU line ever. Idk, I stick to my case that true MOTU fans are fans of the action figures. His point about rebooting being lazy no matter what, proves that, because technically, the Filmation cartoon is a Reboot of the already established lore that had existed for 3 years. I miss the old Internet MOTU community that just talked about toys and cartoons This new one that’s just mad about Politics *that they’re bringing to the table more than their opposition* just fucking sucks, it sucks.
Savage! But I can't argue with the points made! Masterverse and Origins are doing great rn at retail, and I don't even know who is running the property, isn't that odd?
How is Mighty Specter even a He-Man character? He just looks like a rejected X-Men member
Absolutely. It’s the most un-creative design ever. 90s X-Men Cyclops with Deadpools mask. Who-hoo.
I mean... Mattel invited everything from Ninjas and robots to the party... Its been the kitchen sink property from the get go
Purple Nurple Dead Pool.
Very much so,or like,rob leifield, universe ,Wildcat character or some isht.
Or a gi joe
This was a year ago, and I see masterverse and origins sell at target, Walmart, Big Lots, online, and MOTU exclusives at mattel creations. So much for a “toy line that won’t sell at retail.”
Just rewatching this now and it’s even more accurate than ever. Scott is exactly what is wrong with the toy industry.
Don't forget that this isn't even the first time he's done this. He had the DC line put out a Red Lantern named Night-Lick and he made it into the comics.
SMH.... He has no shame.
He's so shameless he might as be well be writing fan fiction on wattpad at this point
Nahhh 😮
Even a year after you did this it holds up.I'm sure you know of his recent "prediction" he did as well as the shirt with what you said on it in a recent interview
That specter face dude looks like Jared from Subway.
👍
Some people should not be allowed to have that much power. People like Scott.
Honey...bring me some popcorn, Michael is pissed again!
Just saw that Scott recently did an interview with the idiots at ClownfishTV. I should have expected a company man like Neitlich to happily and openly converse with grifters if it means getting a bigger platform. This video aged like fine wine Michael 👍🏻
I would argue the whole video has aged well, given where that man is today. Not just "for the most part."
@@retroblasting I was mostly referring to minor parts not about Scott, sorry for nitpicking
@@MOTU_CTR Thank you
He just appropriated and cosplayed as Deadpool and put himself over . What a tool .
Still valid after all this time. I had a problem with Matty Collector from the very first . I thought the mascot, the very face of the concept, was all wrong. He looked like a snide bastard who put you down for liking what you liked, and was in your face about stuff he had that could never be yours.
Hmmmmm. 😉
But with Scott, by his words, it was very confusing. He was brand manager and in charge of everything yet soooo many times simple things were beyond his great Powhaaa. Can’t do a paint op because there was no budget for it. Can’t do an accessory because budget. Can’t do a figure because it would need specific tooling with no reuse potential… which meant so many figures that did things got made half-assed.
How is it possible that Ram-Man was one of the LAST figures made (if I recall right. Been a lot of years)? He’s one of the key ‘Filmation 10’ that you need, if you’re entry into the world was the cartoon.
Unless I missed it there was never anything done about the Green Goddess with magic shattering pelvis action. What SHOULD have been done was a free replacement figure sent to every buyer, automatically. I doubt anything like that happened.
Mighty Spector just hit me the wrong way. He used the story of the kid who didn’t get his figure made to piggyback his own thing. That’s just not cool.
I see his current ‘tube vids and there is some interesting ‘inside baseball’ stuff that helps explain some otherwise inexplicable happenings in the toy world, for the most part it’s him trying to seem relevant to people who just don’t want to hear from him.
Ah well.
I am the guy you quoted at 33:10 from an editorial I posted at my site motucfigures... And while I did rationalize him injecting himself into the line at that time from a fan perspective, I was also one of the most outspoken fans against Scott's brand management during the line's existence. Both as Sallah at the org and my own blog, I called out his tactics MANY times, including the editorial detailing me quitting the line over Stinkor's mismatched forearms and Scott's response to the error.
That all being said... This video was GREAT. You called out who and what needed to be called out. You got yourself a sub.
Man! They dropped the ball on Stinkor. It's a good fig, but it could've been so much better. The rationale behind the arms depicting a wind effect was weak.
1:00 it's really odd to hear Kevin Smith referred to as a "new generation" of anything, considering the guy's in his 50s
I take it to be more meaning he was part of new generation of indy film makes that broke out in the early 90s, i mean thats his background before going into other media.
@@JONNYSORENSEN_AU Or could be that he's the new generation of film hack since he used to be a pretty hardcore nerd before selling out to dem Hollywood bux.
Smith made his career shitting on Fandoms
Well its just a matter of time before twitter sees his movies and cancel him
@@Maria_Erias perhaps ask RB then? I prefer facts fo speculation
@@somethingclever8916 who was he shitting on in the early 90? 🤔
The Might Spectre's look doesn't go with He-Man. Looks more like a cousin of Spider-man joined X-men.
The Masters line had Barbarians, demons from other dimensions, cowboys(Rio Blast), Ninjas, transforming Rock People etc.... Why would a superhero type be out of place?
@@GemJam73 the concept fits well but the anesthetics does not, IMHO.
He definitely reminds me more of an early 90s comic character. He-Man always lives in the early 80s.
He looks like a Cyclops knock off
@@iampoch01 Yep. That's my point. Looks like a Marvel charater.
Michael "Let's see how much shit I can stir up in 37 minutes".
@@mikeyfourbarrel8473 He seems "right about movies", but "diva queen trying to squish other channels out". Sorry, man... ...false-flagging other videos to censor people that shine light on you is WEAK.
Who else is watching this again mid-2024 and realizing it just as timely and relevant as the day it was uploaded? I may have to rewatch annually and remind myself what a mess these corporate hacks have created. Allegedly Kevin S publicly bears the brunt of revelations shame but Scott and Mattel are just as culpable in my opinion, allegedly. I feel like white collar charges should have been filed in some instances I won't name, I'll just say stockholders should be furious. Thank you Retroblasting, the little people appreciate you and your honesty and cherish your channel
"Mighty" Spector looks like a jacked, bald version of Super Ninja from Chuck Norris' Karate Commandos.
Literally the “60 Minutes” of the toy industry. Great commentary man.
I know I commented the other day about how much I’ve come to enjoy this channel along with Bobby Skullface’s and Toy Galaxy but this absolutely cemented that sentiment. (Analog Toys is entertaining as well lol.) I haven’t felt like you were talking down to your audience nor pandering. I don’t feel like you’re stirring unnecessary drama but laying out facts and events that took place. I appreciate the content.
Beautifully said Michael!
I always took MOTU canon mythos like Transformers canon. It's all over the place. Right off the bat the Filmation series contradicted the comics the figures came with.
It was all over the place from the beginning because He-Man was supposed to be Conan.
Mattel was readying to support a new set of movies in the Conan mythos before realizing it was going to be rated R and the film studio didn't have enough money to produce the fantastical world they had envisioned. Thus, He-Man was born and then the 2 Conan movies were more "grounded", so to speak.
@@sbojan83 "It was all over the place from the beginning because He-Man was supposed to be Conan."
No it was NOT. There's documentation to prove that. That whole thing is a MYTH.
Knuckle: "Right off the bat the Filmation series contradicted the comics the figures came with."
The first four comics were very crude. Then DC comics revised the whole thing, a revision which formed the basis for the Filmation series. So no, it's not really all over the place. It's the actual evolution of the property.
I only liked the first few mini comics. The show was a thing, but those comics were crazy.
Because the comic and cartoon were ideas the creator pulled out of his rectum. Watch toys that made is
I posted this elsewhere but I'll also post it here... I liked what Scott did for the brand. From what I understand he put in alot of his own time to help Classics thrive. I love my Classics collection and I do believe it wouldn't have happened if it were not for his love of MOTU and the hard work he did organizating the line when Mattel clearly didn't care as much. You can love or hate his attitude/actions while working on the line but it simply wouldn't have panned out the way it did without him. A large portion of the fan base was relentlessly hostile to Scott during the line (and continued to be afterwards when Super 7 took it over, so much that Brian Flynn had to hide early reveals of the figures until they were closer to final because of the same hostile whining fans). I have said over and over that Masters of the Universe Classics was lightning in a bottle and Scott along with the Horsemen were instrumental in making it all happen. I watched it all happen from beginning to end and I have a near complete collection that quite frankly I love very much. People really need to stop dumping on this guy.
Brian Flynn openly lied to fans at Power-Con in 2019 and said his price hikes were because tariffs were going to be placed on toys by the federal government and said that those price hikes were already "baked in" to Super 7's prices. When the entire category of Chinese tariffs that included toys was negotiated away that Fall, he refused to answer fans' questions about why those "baked in" price hikes never went away and, instead, only went up more. That, along with serious quality control issues, is why fans were "hostile" to Brian, as you say. I have no doubt you are a person who bought "the Mighty Spector" for this nearly complete collection.
@serick73 I believe it was 100% lightning in a bottle. I absolutely adore my Classics collection! It is a sight to behold. The Classics line was a multitude of factors that converged that will likely never ever be able to be reproduced again in the future. The way it spanned all the MOTU eras and weaved them all together into one timeline, POP figures, New Adventure Figures, Powers of Grayskull Figures, Filmation Figures, 200x Figures, Prototype figures, Castle Grayskull, Snake Mountain, all the vehicles, the incredible sculpting from the Four Horsemen, the cool chase figures, the cool new characters in figure form and in the mini-comics (which sadly never became figures ie.e Lady Slither, Bandwith, Hans Hammerholder, The Great Black Wizard, Skeleteen, etc...) The sheer amount of figures in the line is astounding and we got characters I, not in a million years, would have ever dreamed of getting in figure form. The aesthetic and detail the Horsemen put into the overall 'Classics' style and the actual sculpts make the new Masterverse figures look awful in comparison (that new Viking He-Man is awful - Vikor was inspired by the prototype - the new Viking He-Man LOOKS like a prototype). It was a GREAT time to collect figures. I loved waiting for the figures to arrive each month, loved Pixel-Dan's reviews and eagerly awaited the reveals that happened at each of the toy shows (and the ridiculous fan-drama that ensued with each and every reveal - to be honest, it was a bit entertaining watching the MASS drama and arguments on He-Man.org). SURE the line had it's bumps and wasn't 100% perfect - but it was nearly perfect. As a kid from the 80's who collected the original toys I would dream as a kid of a Catra figure, Lizard Man figure, an Uncle Montork figure, a PROPER She-Ra figure that wasn't a doll. Classics was some weird materialization of those figure wishes as a kid - quite literally the Classics line was a LOVE LETTER to fans like me in aesthetic, detail and character selection. I never bought multiple subs - just one and I cherish them all. It is really quite astounding when I go through my collection because there is just SO MUCH THERE. It also led to the Thundercats figures and Ultimately to the Ultimates from Super7 (also sculpted by the Horsemen). The Thundercats and TMNT figures are really great. So you sir can have your sour memories and opinions. I for one love what they did with that entire series of figures. It WAS and IS incredible.
"The Search for Keldor" was a mini comic in 1985. Keldor wasn't a new 200X character.
Not the character being new - the CONFIRMATION OF THE DETAILS within the animated mythology. Let's use our brains for more than pedantry, OK?
@@B17FRascal Your response is pedantic AF.
@@shootermcgavin1208 King Grayskull also came from the original mini-comics
But Keldor is not IN the comic? Its' just a word/name in there. Doesn't really make a "character" having a random name in a mini comic. It's a name, and a word sure. If I come up with "shark-or" as a name, but he doesnt appear for over a decade, well then the character doesnt really exist until he.... exists.. in something?
I believe that mini comic came packaged with Scareglow in the vintage MOTU line
Molar is a creation from Seth Green's 'Robot Chicken' show. Just for accuracy.
But who decided it should be a figure?
@@namelessjedi2242 Scott. I remember him saying that they were already scraping the bottom of the for classic characters. I'm guessing they didn't want to jump into The New Adventures because he knew how weak that series is, and without the nostalgia factor, the platform will quickly lose subscribers.
I will admit it was a funny gag and the nod to it with the figure was funny.
But I didn't think it would become lore/cannon.
Or even cause such an uproar.
@@myronaustin agreed. To be honest, it was fan service more than anything. As Spector said regarding it, they decided to do it because it was fun.
@@namelessjedi2242 I did, it was me. It was the only MOTU thing I ever saw. That I liked and I said, “ Scott, boyo, if I can’t wrestle Battle of the Planets into this He-Man thing you keeps blathering on about, what can you do with Steve Martin’s character from Little Shop, now there was a movie.”
Yup, that’s how the conversation went, still sad he didn’t come with the Banjo I asked for though, that woulda been the shit right there I tell ya.
I don't think I can ever hate the character of Wundar. The whole wonder bread He Man debacle is just so fascinating.
Making him a character was pretty cool imo. Same with how they made concept art into new characters like Vikor and Demo-Man. I'm a sucker for that stuff
@@berkajr3685 Being able to hold Demo-Man as a physical figure was brilliant. That art is great and I hope he makes his way into Origins.
@@davidanderson4748 this whole video is filled with things no one should be mad about, mostly. aside from a generic self insert and a lack of distribution/reprints. MOTUC's lore was never the main focus, it was the figures themselves. No clue why it matters so much
So Michael, when are you having Scott invited to your show?
I see that Neitlich has already offered to speak to Micheal on the Retroblasting channel. Curious to see if the invitation is accepted.
@Joe Markese Talk face to face? man to man? collector to collector?
@@gregoryneill1234 they did it on the Geek. Dad. Life channel.
Strange how Transformers has never really had this issue, despite having the whole Multiverse thing, with the many different Continuities that exist in the brand.
@@mikeyfourbarrel8473 generally us transformers fans don’t care that much for the Bay movies but that’s because he had no general understanding of what he was working with.
An interesting wrinkle tho, the recent TF Collector's Club (run by Fun Publications / Master collector) had aped the MOTUC subscription model to further bleed the fans in addition to their version of Botcon. This was the era where pumping out so many exclusives per year, rife with QA issues to boot, cheapened the expirience of collecting them. So much overpriced exclusives made them less than special.
I think a big difference is that during the 1980s there were two strong versions of the TF story (the comics and cartoon) that were both around long enough to contribute a lot the mythology and neither really changed to mirror the other's continuity set-up whilst other smaller story material either adapted to one or the other or did its own thing. (In the UK there was also the virtual war declared on the cartoon by the comic letters page, which was answered by a Transformer in character and both Soundwave and Grimlock took issue with their screen portrayals.) By contrast the 1980s Motu cartoon was dominant with no other single source of story material lasting long enough to generate a strong following for an alternative basic narrative and so most other stuff, including the mini comics, quickly tried to conform with it and it was only when the separate toylines and properties for She-Ra and the Horde came along that it was no longer possible for Motu only material to follow the cartoon.
@@U.C.1180 oh yeah, while my kid self loved the Michael bay movies, now i hate them
The bayverse brought me in, o expanded my knowledge with G1 , had animated as my first cartoon, became a teen with prime, rewatched the unicron trilogy, watched beast wars, and kept up with the comics. The multiverse of Transformers works. However that doesn’t matter to Michael because he considers devoted transformers fans to be fools and irrelevant.
I was a subscriber from day one. I never had an issue with Scott or his canon. Some of it was done to copyright the intellectual MOTU properies which were due to expire. Notice few characters had name changes due to those rights expiring. Outside of Scott, nobody else at Mattel saw value in MOTU. The success of classics relaunched MOTU.
Yeah I think not enough people understand just how different the landscape was in 2009. Mattel in general had no faith in MOTU.
You never had an issue with Scott's cannon? I hope not. But we're talking canon here, not genitals. Go talk about his cannon on the appropriate slashboards.
I subscribed but not every year. Some years were crap offerings that, honestly, did not justify having to put up with Digital River. Including Neitlich's vanity Spector project. The horrible job that Digital River did pretty much killed half of the value proposition of Mattycollector.
Yet you can't say that palace guard face or the Mighty Specter were needed things.
Well, all my guards look pristine, just the one with the Neitlich face has the most dinged up armor.
When I was buying Marty Collector Ghostbusters props, I joined their forums to ask if there was going to be a proton pack to go with the particle thrower and he rudely chewed me out about asking the question because apparently he was asked that before I joined the forums. How would I have known that? I realized then that he was a big jerk and I couldn’t believe he would talk to a customer like that and was so happy when he left Marty Collector.
He convinced Mattel that DC Superhero toys weren't selling because of the Green Lantern movie, and Young Justice
So you are saying that Scott convinced Mattel that MOTU wasn’t viable at retail? Really? You don’t think that it had anything to do with the fact that the 200x line failed and died at retail a couple of years earlier?
@Joe Markese And that is exactly what retailers are asking for. They want He-man not Spikor or whomever. Is this the best strategy? Not in my opinion but it doesn't change the fact that it's true. What should Mattel do? Tell their customers to f' off and not fulfill their orders as they're being asked to? Sound strategy.
Scott has said MULTIPLE times on his channel that he doesn’t believe MOTU can work at retail… especially with no attached show…. It’s why he believes origins wouldn’t work. Though he says he hopes it does. Your argument doesn’t stand.
@@michaelcorsiniart Right… Scott has also said that 80% of retail sales need to go to kids for a line to be a success. and that He-Man, as it was in the 80s, doesn’t resonate with modern kids the same way it did with children of my generation. How does any of that prove that he “convinced the suits at Mattel that He-Man would never succeed at retail again” as Michael states in the video citing “some sources” as his evidence. He also states “if He-Man was so popular year after year why wasn’t Mattel overing these toys to retail”. 200x was not “so popular” that it (toy line and cartoon” failed to met expectations and was canceled after a couple of years. Are you really telling me that that had NOTHING to do with Mattel not wanting to put He-Man toys at retail in 2008?
@@AkuMayfair Michael is careful with his words and you need to be more careful listening. He said Scott “had a hand in convincing Mattel that Masters would not work at retail”… meaning he was one of many. He is careful through the video to say things like that… Carefully never making him solely responsible because that WOULD be stupid. He is making the charge that the same corporate attitude that has the action figure industry in the position it is now… ALSO exists in Scott Neitlich. He is ONE of MANY. Michael literally says, "it takes a village!" Additionally, the "sources" that you claim Michael cites... are stories relayed my Neitlich, himself! And he is careful to say that they are suspicious... with the words, "if the stories are to be believed..." Don't build an argument by changing the context and meaning of another man words. It's a waste of time.
@@michaelcorsiniart Okay. I see that I made some errors here. Let me try this again. I said he cited “some sources” when in fact he said “some accounts”. That was my error. The rest of what I quoted was 100% accurate to what the man said but after rewatching the full video again I see that much later he does back track and say that of course Scott was only one person who had a hand in convincing Mattel that MOTU was not viable at retail. Not exactly the same as what was said from the top (around three minutes in) but okay I missed that, my mistake. Oh… and I was only quoting from the early segment of the video, you where only quoting from the latter part of the video…. So seems that we could both be accused of taking the mans words out of context to make our argument.
All of that said, the question I’m asking is still unanswered. Why is there no mention of the retail failure of the 200x line just a few years earlier and the effect that it had on the retail future of MOTU? Are we really meant to believe that, in 2008, the still fresh failure of the 200x line had less impact on the brands retail future than the opinion of the so-called ToyGuru (and the others)? Maybe he did help push Mattel off of that cliff, but seems to me that they where already standing at the edge.
Prior to working on Masters of the Universe, Scott Neitlich worked in other toy lines under Mattel. One of those lines was Hot Wheels, and under the Hot Wheels label you'll find the name "Spector" used twice in their products (as far as I know): one such "Spector" was a skeleton-themed car. The other Hot Wheels "Spector" came out under Mattel's very own take on the Transformers, the "Modifighters". There was a subset of smaller Modifighters, and under that subset sure enough you'll find a robot named "Spector".
So glad that you did this video. I originally subscribed to his channel because I was trying to get info about buying the Origins line. I somewhat cringed every time he opened a video about introduced himself as the 'Toy Guru'. After a while I started to feel like he was somewhat narcissistic.
When I never saw the 2nd or 3rd wave of Origins in my local stores, I was curious as to why. His video about how that happened seemed wrong to me (shipped wave 2 to Europe?). I unsubscribed from his channel shortly after because it seemed like he was making videos just to brag on himself and not to give real info.
Indeed.
Hey Michael,
I really hope you accept Scott's invitation to speak with him. I feel that the toy community as a whole would benefit from that discussion. I personally did not agree with many of your points in this video, but I also do not agree with many of Scott's points he has made. On the flipside, I also agree with other points that both of you have brought up regarding various issues. I would really love to see that conversation happen so that we can come together and do what we can to improve the issues we all have been facing. I hope that the expectation of how you think the conversation may go does not deter you from, at the very least, making an attempt to better the toy community.
Thanks, and I hope you consider it.
This. Also i like a lot your content and i am happy to see such constructive comment from you.
Yeah I agree your comment jcc
Scott already burned that bridge last year. Does nobody here pay attention? I genuinely have bad short term memory, but the long term memory is fine.
Michael French was right when he made this video and guess what? He is STILL 100 percent right today especially after recent events that have happened in the toy community and industry. Michael is always ahead of everyone else. That only happens when ppl refuse to bend the knee and refuse to become mindless simpy followers. Michael French, I salute you. You are the man.
Thank you for the kind words!
I’m with you guys on this. It would not take that long to watch or rewatch all the cartoons read a few comic books, then come up with a good cohesive story. This whole series was pure fluff. It felt like he called it in and expected everyone to be like oh yeah that’s the shit. Wow incredible. Instead some people were like that’s pure shit. It was. I’ll end on a good note. The art was incredible.
Definitely, Scott is one of the most egotistical people ever, who thinks just because he was in the toy industry, he’s smarter that everyone else
Does anybody else thing Scott Knightlet looks like Jared from subway?
I don't know about that, but the director of the 1987 MOTU movie, Gary Goddard, has some things in common with Jared.
I'll bet 99% of 80s kids threw out those crappy comics with the packaging, the other 1% are complaining about "canon" on TH-cam and comparing it to insanely popular franchises like Star Wars and Star Trek. Making yourself an obscure character in the story is really badass (except the cheap Deadpool knock-off look), and doesn't change anything that much.
I was never a He-man fan. My kid brother was, but I ran out of steam for action figures after my Mego Batman stuff, Star Wars, and GI Joe. My brother loved every conceivable IP, and collected them his whole life.
But this channel is priceless so I am really enjoying this story, even if He-man was never my bag. You can always intrigue me by mocking Kevin Smith.
He just sucks.
By the way, my advice is 3D modeling, 3D scanning, 3D printing, and no pity whatsoever for the corpo-cunts that have wrecked the industry. Take it all away from them. The only thing they have to sell is the concept of "official" and when they can't enforce that, they can't monetize it.
So strip it away from Scot Dicklick and the rest of the rancid slime that have trainwrecked this hobby. Build your own.
"Try and please everyone, you please no one" [What I think of these reboot/sequel things]
I enjoyed the video. I revisited my vintage MOTU at the end of 2018 and never even heard of MOTUC until I was searching for vintage figures, I needed to complete my collection. I'm sure I would have bought into the Classics if only I knew about them.
I like both channels and love to see them debate the issues presented in this video.
I never knew they made a mo-lar figure, best classic robot chicken skecltch
pixel would never bite the hand that feeds him
Excellent video. Thanks for making this.
"Try to be more positive to Super 7...Negative comments really do sink lines."
Meanwhile, the fans: loading the nuclear torpedoes to blast the scam out of the water...
Powercon 2022 better have a wrestling ring Retro VS Scott..Winner gets a MIB Megator!
I like the idea of amalgamating all the different ears of MOTU. It's what I do in my head with all franchises I love. But I didn't really like the bios with Classics. It's easily ignored though. The figures were fantastic and the best MOTU line we'll ever get. Even in a movie year I doubt we'll ever get a MOTU line as all encompassing as Classics was with NA, Golden Books, Ladybird Books, Filmation etc. Let alone a huge 7 inch scale Castle Grayskull and Snake Mountain.
The attempt to combine all of MOTU was ambitious and could've worked! If it'd been handled better
My big problem, at least in NJ is that stores dont stock anything. Empty shelves everywhere, so im forced to buy online if i want anything. But then places like Walmart and Target randomly cancel your orders and say the payment couldnt be recieved, even though i just got a package from them the day before.
“Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action.”
I remember seeing somone call out Nietlich on one of his videos lol when he took the credit for bringing Gygor to classics and the actual guy responsible for Gygor got pissed and called him out on it in the comments lol
MIKE!! I love ya dude... we’ve met, donated some toys, conversed since 2015... I think you went 0.001% too far with this one. Pixel Dan directly addressed the copycat/duplicat situation on his powercon reveals video(March 13th)... He gave Joe Amato credit.
For the record I’ve never criticized any of your videos.
Val staples; I don’t know enough about his role in the controversy but I’ll take your word.
Spector creative; I agree that he’s made some stupid comments in the heman forums and deflected his failures into others but the whole “ Face on an eternian guard/mighty Spector” situation..... I think you are speculating too much about his intent. We don’t know what the rapport was within his division. Maybe all of his subordinates loved him and cherished him so much and encouraged him to leave his fingerprint on the classics line? If you (Michael French) got a job managing gijoe classified tomorrow, we(your 91k subs) would beg you to put a Michael head sculpt on someone(grand slam maybe)...
Scott may be a corporate shill or a cog in the corporate machine but I think you kinda filled in the blanks too much.
Of course that’s just my opinion
He's neither a corporate shill nor a cog in any machine. He was drummed out of the industry for being zero worth. Now he's a bitter industry reject that makes bitter, dejected TH-cam videos.
@@RockandrollNegro he left him a tell for a better job, what the hell are you talking about
@@MassHystarix wrong.
Loved every second of the video, thank you.
I like Mo Larr its from a robot chicken sketch thats actually funny
Wow, I'm subbed to this guy's TH-cam channel... This should be interesting
Re watching this great video, I enjoy Michael and Scott both and while creator drama is usually uninteresting to me, both these guys are very intelligent and very passionate and made this feud entertaining.
I kind of feel a core idea of MotU Classics was to combine elements from all the previous He-Man "canons" (mini-comics, Filmation, and the 2000s reboot) into one as a toyline that celebrated all of the brand. Does that idea actually work? Debatable, as a lot of times the writing had to jump through a lot of hoops to fit seemingly contradictory things together, and invent a lot of stuff to fill the gaps. But ultimately I do respect what they set out to do.
Now, should it be "The" definitive version of the MotU? universe I don't think so. Preferring only the mini-comics or Filmation or the reboot canon and ignoring the others is just as valid, if not more so, than trying to reconsile different versions of the brand that were created largely independently from each other into a single whole. It's kind of unfortunate that MotU Classics kind of ends up being treated that way, rather than as just "a" version of the MotU universe. Not sure how much of that it Neytlich's own fault, though, because while he does a lot of videos about the lore of MotU Classics (which he wrote), he also does seem to consider MotU a multiverse that can have different equally valid versions of the universe (of which Classics is just one take).
What’s worse is that hasbro may be doing something similar with transformers, trying to merge every continuity into one storyline.
@@panzerkorps2122 Didn't they tryed that once with Aligned continutie?
@@dedalionarts6077 I mean attach all continuities into one story in a modified way through a multiverse like said in the video. I believe it’s called transformers legacy
Oh yes The Migthy Spector one of the most hated characters of MOTU
I would like to hear a chat/debate between you two guys.
I hate multiverse. 200x is one of the rare exceptions where the reboot is superior to the original show. If you rewatch the 80's cartoon you immediately notice it's not aged as well as transformers or gi joe.
ehh i kinda think seasons 1&2 of TF were pretty slipshod. doesnt mean i dont love 'em still though. :-)
"The walking purple nurple" LMAO
"He licks his own Anus and likes the smell!" LOL. I had to pause the video with these two lines
It seems Spector has politely offered to have a conversation with you on your channel.
IT'S A TRAP!
Never thought Skeletor would be needing a dentist in Eternia.
I’m a big fan of this page and your particular brand of humor. This video seems like a knee jerk reaction to Spector Creatives video about the Haslab Sentinel. Although entertaining, this video seems very petty to me. I’m sure my opinion means nothing to you. Which makes me curious as to why Spector Creatives video fired you up so much? Are you trying to tell me if you could create a new character based on yourself in a toy line you wouldn’t do it!? Calling BS friend. Love you but you’re full of it.
Everyone's opinion actually means a great deal to him and he takes them extremely personal.
And then there's Retroblasting here false-flagging Spector to try and knock him off 'Tube.
tbh, I thought that whatever that character is, it's just Deadpool crossing over and doing his wall/dimension breaking ways.
"Trust the company! They pay me bazillions, so you have to trust them and throw as much money down their throats as possible."
I am really looking forward to your discussion! Hope it stays professional & as a fan of both this could really move the industry forward. Thanks for your hard work
he replied asking to do a show with you.. i think that would be awesome.. as i enjoy both of your channels, looking forward to it.. if it ever does happen... until next time....
I think a discussion video should definitely happen.
@@williamthompson5504 That does ring true. He seems to just want to voice his opinion as fact then throw insults to look big. I don't think he'd actually sit down and have a mature and polite debate with someone.
@@williamthompson5504 it is tonight apparently
Just when I thought the name "Cobra-La" the was stupidest thing I ever heard, the Sword of 🎵HE-hee🎵 took it to a whole new level!😂😂😂🙌
Especially since there's new meme, _"I now identify as Michael Jackson and my pronouns are, 'HE-Hee!'"_
Total missed opportunity that they didn't have an evil counterpart to the sword of 🎵He-hee🎵. The sword of 🎵 SHA-MONE🎵
Why is it bad though? If He is the word for power in that world all they did was just make the name “world correct” ( I can’t think of a way to describe it).
COBRA-LLALALLAALALAALALALALALA
Nice frustration video which only focusses on everything bad SN did for MOTU. I'm interested in what good things you have to say about what SN did for MOTU.
You've been a subscriber for 5 years and you're just now seeing this video? That tells me you're not an engaged sub, and you wait for TH-cam to spoonfeed you content. You should know by now that I am objective. If I had felt SN had done anything positive **I would have said so.** Take your Pollyanna relativism somewhere else next time you want to throw a passive-aggressive comment like this at me. It won't fly here. - Michael
@@retroblasting Well my take on objective is definitely something else. I like lots of your video's because they go deep into the source material. But this video just sounds very sour and frustrated.
Oh my the He sword was cracking me up
I have a lot of stories to tell, as I was kinda in the middle of the whole fans/corporation relationship....
I'd love to hear them!
Ah we remember the days...
yes please 'cause i even remember you being booted from RGD podcast for something you said on the classics line
yes please
Sounds interesting, do tell.
Multiverse like Time Travel is very hard to pull off. You have to plan ahead from multiple causalities. And have it be incredibly dangerous. Otherwise the villains would use it constantly.
Or have it be fun and gimmicky. Bill and Ted makes absolutely no sense but I enjoy the hell out of it.
The character of Spector isn't as OP as people have made him out to be.
Scott went out of his way to explain this to people and try to have that reflected in the figure.
Around his thigh is a holster with these green test tube looking widgets. Those are like fuel rods that power either his pistol or his time travel device. He has a limited number of them and when they're gone, they're gone.
So he literally would have a set number of trips he can go on, and also would have to decide between "fight or flight" as he can't use up all those rods on combat, or else how the hell would he get back home?
It's actually an intriguing part of the character and always appreciated that aspect of him.
Toys like comics and video games are niche cultures that have gone mainstream. But they're run by corporations that actively prey on their customers. Selling the cheapest product for the highest prices.
Excellent analysis RB. Loved seeing the Sean Lock clips, too. RIP.
I like it when you make informative, well produced, entertaining videos about retro action figures. I wish the channel kind of stuck with that and didn’t keep chasing these vendettas. This IS about retro action figures, but I don’t feel entertained. I don’t feel informed. I just feel negative.
Welcome to Reality, try the salad!
🍼
And just like that Retroblasting comes outta nowhere with the chair!
Gosh that's brutal, however I do see your point, but 2002 he-man is brilliant, really, objectively it's beyond the 80s he-man and I grew up watching and collecting the 80s classic, 2002 was just the perfect balance.
It is a good show. To me the most interesting MOTU stories were the mini comics before Filmation got involved. When I first saw the Filmation show I thought that my T.V. was personally punking me. I've grown to appreciate it for what it is but 2000X is still cool.
DAMN I LOVE THIS CHANNEL!!!!
I haven't seen a lot of this guy's videos, and there are some valid points in this one about Mattel, but there are many other points running off of false information and obvious bias. A Neutral take, this is not.
When did I ever say this was neutral, squid man? Also - FUN FACT -- The moment you have a take, YOU AREN'T NEUTRAL, genius. Learn what words mean.
My very first time listening to Neitlich was on his TH-cam channel and what stuck out right away is this guy is full of himself, wow!
I thought maybe I’m wrong but every other time I’ve watched it I feel the same.
I have no problem sticking up for my friends and I will do it again. We love you Joe Amato
Mattel do better you should be ashamed.
I will re visit this again on my show.
Thanks Michael have a blessed day
Michael my man... I usually love your videos, especially the ones about MOTU. But man oh man did somebody piss in your Corn Flakes this morning or what?
The main ripple effect of Scott letting MOTU go to Super7 is still being felt to this very day. As Scott Neitlich is why Brian Flynn even has a toy career at all. Because Brian Flynn is using the outdated Matty Collector Toy bodies for his awful Ultimates line. Plus to add to it Brian Flynn is currently acting exactly like Neitlich when he was running MattyCollector. He's lying to fans and talking down to them just like Neitlich.
The Mighty Spector looks like Deadpool trying to fit in with the X-men. He looks like a mutant from Marvel, not something from MOTU.
I've been saying the same thing for years. Sure,almost anything can fit into MOTU but Spector feels way too "Oc. Do not steal!"
i kinda think mighty spector reminds me of firefly from g.i. joe.
Spector looks like Deadpool and Domino fused. I'm not the only one seeing it, right?
I enjoy both of you guys! That being said may the great debate begin!
Bull, "things are better now"! Back in the mid 00's when I was in college, I could walk into a toy aisle any given day and I would find something I was looking for. Now? If I happen to find something, and admitedly I've been a bit lucky lately, but in general, nothing!
What utopia did you live
In? I mean we have documentation (messageboards, live journal) of that time of just how difficult it was to find anything of value at retail. What toy lines did you buy that you could always find? Hyper curious about this one.
@@oansun the one when malls and toys r us still existed. Online sales ebay and scalpers turned it into horse breeding basically. Only the elite few get what they want. Dropping 1800 bucks on static statues. None of these ppl have real problems.
Now? There is Covid, so going to a toy store isn’t completely safe for me. So I unfortunately can’t relate.
It was easier when dedicated toy stores like TRU, Child World, and Kaybee Toys (there in the US) existed. We CANNOT expect the same level of experience with big box retailers. The loss of TRU is quite damaging to the toy industry as a whole. Among other things, it gave big box retailers more power on toy manufacturers. We're talking about companies fighting over a very, VERY limited aisle (and storage) space.
@@oansun
Like everyone pointed out, Toys'r'us, kaybee toys and other places were around. And I live in Puerto Rico, which is tecnically a 3rd world country. But, yeah, the loss of dedicated toy stores really affected collectors, I forgot about that detail.
wasn’t there a comic about Keldor in the 80s?
You’re obviously wrong about reboot culture. It’s not about lacking the talent to continue a story, it’s about resetting a storyline to the point where the largest possible audience cohort will be familiar with the goings-on. It’s the same reason any movie with “the final chapter” in the title will abandon any attempt at deep continuity.
Agreed.
Its lack of taking risks and hijackings others work.
Reboots are nothing to oraise
Reboots/remakes/“re-imaginings” are usually hot garbage.
Reboot Culture is nothing more than artistic bankruptcy.
@@somethingclever8916 I’m not praising them. Just presenting applying the old adage “Never ascribe to malice that which can be explained by incompetence.” Retro’s explaination, frankly, sounds paranoid in the extreme.
So... you're saying that the 200X series DIDN'T shit the bed at retail? I can't speak to most of this, but I firmly believe that the online subscription model WAS the only way Classics was going to happen, and it's CERTAINLY the only way they were able to just drop deep-cuts all over the place.
Your assertions regarding their market viability do not hold water. Ghostbusters and He-Man are back on shelves now because there is media to market it now.
Facts
@@Theopheus That whole thing was in response to the last original MOTU Wave.... the HE-Man property was "HAWT" and needed more merchandise.... This made Mattel overproduce secondary characters which didn't sell.... Apparently the public wanted He-Man cause there was a new wave of kids getting into the cartoon.... This is what they said int those Netflix Documentaries....
Show got cancelled because of slow toy sales even though I loved it.
Mattel bought the license for Ghostbusters because there was supposed to be a new movie around 2010, but Bill Murray blocked it because of his feud with Harold Ramis. Mattel would have put it in stores if GB3 came out back then. But no movie, no retail. Hasbro has since made toys because there have been two new movies.
Thank you for the Battle Cat/anus comment, Mike. I nearly drove off the road I laughed so hard.
When James Silvani and I revived DARKWING DUCK, we tried to walk the line… we pulled in characters from the Disney Afternoon comics, but also made the series a continuation of the cartoon. No reimagining, no reboot… just a new “season.”
dude .... i heard somebody say that this guy was responsible for turning he-man into his personal fan-fiction ... didn't know what that meant ... now i do ... that's dude!!
Teddy Rubskin?!? You're back?!? Coolness, welcome back!! I'm coming to check your new channel, it's been a long time (2020 was NOT a fun year. LMAO)
AMEN!…this video made me subscribe to your channel, thanks!
I still remember when this channel was about vintage toys.
It still is
@@megasystem8473 No now it is all about beefs in the toy community (which 99.9% of us could care less about), modern toy companies’ ineptitude, etc. I don’t mind the occasional off the cuff rant but this clearly took a lot of time and effort to create and edit. Would’ve loved to see something of this quality about a vintage toy line.
I love this one from Retro blasting because it's now truth.
No way to deny it anymore.
It's so specific, and to point and spot on, it's not only hilarious, it's prophetic!
It's also a blueprint of the corporate mind set, run by narcissistic psychopaths.
Great job Michael.
I've seen this twice, and it's still fascinating!
Keldor was hinted at being Skeletor and Randors brother way before the 2002 series...
The Keldor thing is crap. Skeletor is not Randor's brother. Tired of having all these shocking twist added in.
@@samaonbradford3810 I agree. That sort of thing makes the world seem smaller. It makes so much more sense for your arch nemesis to be some random bloke.
Learn to read the mini comics! Also they were going to add that into the Filmation one but it was cancelled.. The comic is called "Search for Keldor" so are you going to argue with the creators of He-Man? It's like me not wanting Luke to be Vader's son because it was a "twist" uhh most shows like these have twists in them.
I hope Michael Bay and Scott never do a collaboration. Our childhoods will be destroyed.
So much of this video is essentially The Simpsons meme "Old man yells at cloud".
Like a broken clock, he at least gets some things right.
But, the majority is just narrow visioned ranting that conveniently disregards established information about the brand's original lore and planned lore expansion in the 80's.
Just so he can justify what is a highly ironic rant where he calls out someone else for twisting information to suit their own personal narrative as he does the exact same thing in ranting about the other person doing it.....
Exactly!! He wants to sound like he knows so much by talking about classics, but….. like….. as much as Scott sucks … Scott was Classics, and we have a lot to thank him for.
He did some dumb things, made some Corporate ass decisions…. But he was in a corporate job, and I’ve seen dumber things done for a Toyline than what he did.
He gave us vehicles, every figure from the vintage line, and even Castle Grayskull
And, despite what he says in this video, figures like Mo-Larr, and Fearless Photog are what make Classics the best MOTU line ever.
Idk, I stick to my case that true MOTU fans are fans of the action figures.
His point about rebooting being lazy no matter what, proves that, because technically, the Filmation cartoon is a Reboot of the already established lore that had existed for 3 years.
I miss the old Internet MOTU community that just talked about toys and cartoons
This new one that’s just mad about Politics *that they’re bringing to the table more than their opposition* just fucking sucks, it sucks.
Jesus and people call Rey a Mary Sue...
I just said it today, it was a bad day executives discovered the multiverse, and we've only started. Fanfiction made professional.
Fanfiction made professional! Well put. That's exactly what it feels like sometimes.
Savage! But I can't argue with the points made! Masterverse and Origins are doing great rn at retail, and I don't even know who is running the property, isn't that odd?