I have a hard rule when it comes to entertainment (unnecessary) items. If a company purposely makes it hard to find, I'm 100% out. I was loving this line at the beginning but Mattel just HAD to throw some figures on Creations and just HAD to have Target (looking at you Rise of Evil) and Walmart exclusives. Then the retail spaces just HAD to trim down Origins to one peg so they could get Masterverse and the netflix show items out in the 7 inches of space that non Jurassic Park or Transformer toys were given. All of this was happening while what seemed like every single dad-bod having toy youtuber were telling me that either Origins was failing or its perfectly fine for companies to send people through the ringer to find any item they were wanting. Origins will be the end of my toy collecting. I loved it for what it reminded me of and disliked it for showing me how enthusiastically creatively bankrupt we are as a people nowadays. Thanks for the video!
Funny you mention Masterverse as they've apparently given up on that at retail as well. I've got a shelf of them and I'm about to sell them off and find something else to collect. I'm sick of not seeing any of them at retail. None of the stores in my area have gotten any new ones in at least 6 months. Hell, the Wal-marts around me don't have any Masters of the Universe at all! I refuse to buy any of it online. Hunting is part of the fun for me.
I have the same rule. I have a full time job. I don't want to take time off so I can constantly refresh my browser at a certain time and rush to order something before the run out in 5 minutes.
Exclusives are what happens when a company (Mattel) needs to convince a retailer (walmart) to buy their product. If Rise of Evil, for example, wasn't a target exclusive then Target likely would not have been interested in carrying any of the motu line at all. It's a reboot, not a fresh new product all the kiddos are clamoring for, and Target gives zero fks if Mattel is successful with it or not. How many exclusives has Target done recently w this line? Rise of Evil and the Battlefield 2pack both wound up in heaps at closeout stores like Ollies cause no one was buying them at Target. They got burned, not likely to try again w this line.
It's nice to have a hobby. It's not nice when toys are unobtainable because they're either limited edition, exclusive to special shops and conventions or over priced etc. Also, not nice when sold in some countries and not all.
@@brianlabelle9543 Eh, does no one import them for you? I live in UK and I've got the Masterverse store exclusives fine enough from UK based online retailers importing them. I've seen them do Origins too
The amount of variants in MOTU Origins gave me flashbacks to what killed the 200x line back in the early 2000's. Like who the hell wanted so many He-Man and Skeletor variants then and now??
I´m not a MOTU fan or collector but know what´s going on. I could argue that the reason why they haven´t finished the main line is because there aren´t that many left. As such, they want to spread them as far as possible. For instance, why aren´t people demanding the figure of Blast-Attak?
Because he isn't a very popular character? He never appeared on the cartoon, and was released in 1986 at the tail end of the line (when most figures from 1985 were still clogging shelves). He also requires 100% unique parts (unlike most He-Man figures that all share the same sculpts).
I just want to point out, if you hadn't noticed yet, that the cage in the new Snake Mountain can connect to the trap door platform. So it essentially replaces the net.
Motu, Gi Joe, and most other toy lines without cartoons or even with are aimed for adult collectors, not kids. The Motu line isn't a confusing line to collect and not hard to get, and I enjoy the different versions. Origins vintage line will be completed, and She Ra stuff is coming in the cartoon line
About the action gimmicks. I lament the loss of those too. A lot of the vintage figures are defined by their unique gimmick. I think what happened is Mattel soon discovered that only 40+ men were buying these figures (sometimes forcing their kids, who just want to play on their tablet, to go on nostalgia trips with them). If no-one is playing with these toys it probably made more sense to just focus on poseability and the uniformity in swapping of bodyparts - a dream come true for customizers. I still have all these things mint on card. Should I ever take them out, they will be put on static display. So I don't really mind anymore. I have the vintage figs if I want to play with action gimmicks.
I want *_MORE_* MOTU crossovers using the origins buck. Make characters from Thundarr and other Hanna Barbara & adjacent properties. Space Ghost, that faĺcon guy with the dyno mutt, and why not some of the other 80s lines that are getting relatively recent releases in other scales, like thundercats, silverhawks, bravestarr, c.o.p.s... matter of fact, I think there's enough to kitbash a bulletproof, just need to look for some sunglasses that might fit on a boxcut sunman or clamp champ headsculpt, and throw a playmates TMNT trenchcoat on an origins buck.... *_"it's criiimmme fightin' tiiimmmme."_*
If you didn’t know the cage in the origins snake mountain can be put under the trap door so when the figure falls through it falls into the cage then you can put it back under the floor with skeletors throne.
You summed it up well. The only thing that they did right IMO was to re-release the waves that they initially screwed up and sent overseas while over-ordering the Buzz-off/Naked Stratos wave.
Slow releasing Origins figures is great for me. I collect 3 lines and this lets me continue because im prepared for the MOTU releases. We get enough notice to prepare and if we cant secure enough funds to buy 3 outright, then you use a few other options. Just finish out the originals and the Horde.
Yep, I actually prefer it this way. Keep it going as long as possible. Vintage only collectors only need to worry about 1 figure each quarter, and the rest of us can get a bunch of new characters to help flesh out the world of Eternia. Everybody is happy.
This video is 100% spot on. These toys should come with their gimmicks, not just to pose. You can't play with them having to change parts every two minutes. I really miss the old school days of collecting. Great video Retroblasting, this is why i watch.
Great video I’m a kid and it is frustrating, because they made Eternia made it exclusive and the secondary market is way overpriced and I cannot afford the original and so many key characters, exclusives, or hard to find like scare glow
It never once crossed my mind that these were for kids. The price point on the individual figures seemed a little high for that. I worked in the toy department for Target for a bit, and you can quickly identify what lines are for adult collectors and what's for child consumers from price alone. I also get why they made some of the play feature vhanges. Fewer parts mean fewer things to break. Lastly, I dig the motu and tmnt crossover, so agree to disagree, and I'm looking to start collecting those at some point
20:36 No word on Two-Bad yet, but Origins Rio Blast was shown off at SDCC this past July, so he'll be (*sigh*) a Mattel Creations exclusive. Oh and Modulok will be on Amazon AND other online retailers apparently so I guess thats good? 21:10 Well Frosta & Catra will be out in the Cartoon Collection in 2025 so better late then never?
I mean Modulok would probably the only other one I'd get since I had the OG figure before, but man. It's a shame they fumbled as hard as they did. Two-Bad really neaded an update. This feels almost like how Hasbro treated the Lightning Collection or even TF: Legacy nowadays. Where they'll focus on one thing, the jump into another and then forget that other thing existed.
If you’re skipping out on Turtles of Greyskull your missing a great toy line full stop. They fit in perfectly to the strangeness of Masters of the Universe. Also those She Ra figures are coming out next year.
It appears Micheal here just ain’t into almost any TMNT mash ups. Especially after seeing his video on the old TMNT toyline. He doesn’t get the silly Turtle outfit variants or the crossovers.
I agree about the character selection, exclusives and playsets. I disagree about most of the action features though. It's cool if they can re-create the gimmick without hindering the poseability, like Clawful, Battle Armor He-Man and so on. I like to display my figures and take photos of them. I don't play with them the same way I did when I was a kid. I don't need figures that shoot water, I'd rather have the effects parts instead. I agree they're definitely making us wait too long for Two-Bad, but I also appreciate new characters and variants being sprinkled in here and there. Lords of Power Merman, Frog Monger and the Skeleton Warriors for example are all awesome figures and I'm thrilled to have them in my collection.
I have almost every one of these, plus a lot of the vehicles and playsets. Where is the best place to sell these? Ive had them for 40 years, and I need room in my storage unit 😢
I only see Masterverse versions of those figures. The only Origins character I have heard of from that duo is the announced Cartoon version of Catra that hasn't launched yet.
@@KJ-tz7vc yeah those are Cartoon Collection and look very nice though I only really collect Masterverse and got those ones. I do wonder why Frosta got priority over Glimmer and Bow in both lines though. I like Frosta but she's a very minor character compared to those two.
I agree with you 1000% on how most of the online only exclusives should have been general release, while obscure repaints like Anti-Eternia He-Man, and Naked Stratos should have been the exclusives. Seeing every single newer MOTU item go on clearance when they were only 6 months old, while he's been there for literal years has made me hate the character. I have to disagree with you on the concept and guest star figures. I love the fact that we got brand new Sun-Man figures; and I'd imagine Mattel had a deal with the creator that they would have to be in stores; since the whole point of the original Sun-Man line was to give kids more diverse human characters. I love the WWF and Turtle crossovers, as well as things like Frog Monger, and all the snakes who were either vintage concepts or Classics characters. In terms of action features it's so odd; In one wave we got Horde Trooper with the break apart feature (Even though I'd have rather him be a solid figure) and Mantenna who not only had the eye bug out feature, but also has a ball jointed neck, AND they gave him 4 legs; all for a basic figure; Then the next several waves and no spitting, no neck extending, no tongue lashing, no nothing! Snake Face could have had the snake pop out action if Mattel had used a similar mechanism as their Mantenna. You are so right about Cobra Khan; they could have made him a lil' squirt bottle. Then they could have also done a lazy Dragon Blaster head on Cobra Khan body new character. I could go on and on about the agony and ecstasy of current year He-Mans, so I better stop for now. Hope you have a nice day.
People forget that this is a business, and politics and economics has a lot to do with this products, Mattel of course has their own failures, but we have to recognize that even with the fact that Motu is a collector limited toyline and kids are not interested in this toys anymore, they still have some commitment to release the figures in any way possible and of course obtain some profit, I even can be sure they motu is not as profitable as it was in the 80,s but Mattel still show some love to a Limited fan base that just want to get all the vintage figures and move on..
Here, here! I agree, I'm 43 and just got back into MOTU and I'm so glad that new figures are still coming out, found some at Target without even looking for them and I don't have to search on eBay, which can get expensive. I plan on getting as many as I can for my son so he can have some cool toys growing up.
Well said. We are lucky MOTU Origins is still going at all. Very few toy lines last this long anymore. I appreciate Mattel's commitment to finishing it, they just have to make sure it remains profitable in order to do so.
@@sarderts7680 Racist? Why? Was Mattel racist for making Clamp Champ back in 1987? What you say doesn't make any sense. Diversity in MOTU is a good thing.
Eternia is the greatest playset ever in my opinion second is the hyve i don't regret the cash i spent importing them both too the uk ,etrernia is visually stunning and the tram is the magic for me , the line is never ending so space is the problem now they promised to complete the line and i think they will bring them all out and extra characters the way they are smashing them out.
I had the original Eternia. I was 7 and it was pure magic. I think it's cool they brought it back... but I can't get behind big companies crowd funding, and I can't support that outrageous price point.
I was watching Masters of the Universe, but I was collecting Star Wars figures and G.I Joe at the time and, when you are a kid... you think the toys you see in your favorite toy store will never go away and you can always get them another day!
I believe this is a tactic. They are delaying the release of the last vintage characters because they suspect (and they are probably right) that a lot of people will stop collecting this line once those are in their hands. By releasing them later they also know that collectors will keep checking and buyimg extra figures they would otherwise have ignored. Also, I may be a minortiy here, but I am fine with having lots of Snake-men. That's because I have always felt that hordeans and snake-men were underrepresented in the vintage line. What annoys me is their lack of effort creating new characters and, above all, the "snake-versions" they make of the main characters. Even as a kid, I never cared for He-man and Skeletor's many versions.
@@mirkohirsch I'd also love a Tytus and a Megator... but if you notice they are making new figures by mainly reusing pieces. Terroar, for example, is a total kitbash. So of they do release those figures, get ready to pay an arm and a leg for them. As they did in the 80's with the Secret Wars, they are trying to avoid creating new molds / retooling. They do when they need to release vintage figures updates, but they charge a lot more for any figure that requires an extra effort. While I understand the business logic behind all of that, I also believe that they should consider that this is probably the last chance they have to capitalize on vintage-style figures. If they mess this one up, with so much reuse and versions, chances are they won't get another shot. Moreover when many adult collectors, who are the main (not to say only) driver of this line, are clearly stating that they are upset with how things are going.
Mattel said in 2023 that the remainder of vintage Origins would be MC exclusives beginning in 2024 and so far it appears they have kept true to that statement. A handful of Origins carded figures have gone to retail but none of the vintage characters have. I believe this is due to how unreliable retail in the US has been at stocking Origins. Many (most?) WalMarts dont even have a motu section anymore, thanks to Wave 7. And since Target and WalMart are about the only options left for mass market retail in the US, it makes sense. Most other chains are discount stores not ordering direct from manufacturers. There's amazon, but even they have trouble moving a lot of Origins product it seems.
@@shanekaylor580but why??? You can't say that people would rather buy TOG figures in retail than Dragstor or Stonedar. Why? I dont't understand. And to be worse, only collectors from few countries can buy from Mattel Creation. They cut off half of the world.
@Sammoga_Yeddi You're guess is as good as mine. I dont know if its the same for other countries, I can only go by what they said for the US sales. Cartoon Coole tion is showing up at Target and some walmarts, along w ToG
I kicked myself for selling my childhood He-Man toys. Now , as an adult, I'm kicking myself for rebuying He-Man toys.... At least most of them were on sale.
A really insightful video, I'm really glad I've come across it. My little one has really gotten into She-Ra; she even went dressed as the princess of power for Halloween. We're excited about the POP series being included in the cartoon collection, and hopefully they treat it much better than the She-Ra originals. But anyway, when it came to the WWE crossovers, they stopped making the WWE Retro (Hasbro style) figures to make the WWEternia line. And I was really into the Retro figs, that I purposely did not want to get the WWEternia line. Fast forward to when my daughter got into the MOTU, and I now have half the WWEternia figs on my game room wall, along with the Origins Horde figs mixed in. Anyway, hope to see more of your content.
A guy who used to work for Mattel he created master of the universe toys and he thinks he know everything he even created his own figure to be included in the motu universe.
My biggest frustration with this line has been tracking down the exclusives. I grew up with 200x figures not the original 80s line or filmation cartoon so I've actually enjoyed all the snake men and turtles stuff. I'm just getting really tired of mattel creations exclusives.
I need to apologise i am one of the one that wanted sun man character and i got them 😅 and also snake men but dang is true inwould have rather get all the 80s ones first
I like the Sun Man characters too, but those characters and the variants should be the exclusives. The classic characters should be at retail. It's so simple.
@@elextrano7597 Don't be sorry... I gladly welcomed the Sun-man set! I love the diversity and whacked out colors and accessories. Space Sumo also gave us an Asian character that actually looks like a human being and not just some chop saki stereotype.
I don't care for half of the figures but The line is not a failure if it's lasted 4 years already so far. How long did the original line last? Ummm 5 years lol
Wait, do you think he called the line _a failure?_ lol. He doesn't speak the work _failure_ anywhere in the video. The title says the line has _faltered._ Entirely different meaning.
He's wrong about that too. Nearly five years in and still going strong. It's now expanded to include the cartoon collection with She-Ra characters, and we are also getting a Thundercats crossover next year.
I gave up on collecting Origins because of poor distribution & how difficult it became to get the ones I wanted & I'm not going to feed into the cycle of scarcity driving up the cost on the secondary market. Plus, I agree with you Michael - skimping on the special features of the figures was a let down. Not even gonna bother with the pure asinine nature of that Eternia playset. Good editorial video man. -Dustin
Ya know, every time I watch a vintage or Origins video and see battle damaged or thunderblast whatever He-Man and Skeletor I always think about that when I was playing with my toys once I had He-Man and Skeletor I never asked for an upgrade cause that Christmas list slot could go to a character I didnt have😊
As I have my vintage collection AND Classics/Masterverse for modern sculpting and articulation, Origins didn't really have a place in my collection. It was the characters who were not in the vintage line that appealed to me in Origins. However I couldn't care less about Sunman. I wanted vintage style figures of Masters of the Universe characters not in the original line. Filmation characters for instance.
Dang, I never saw Whiplash at retail, and missed out on the pre-orders way back when he first went up. Also, they did show off a Rio Blast at SDCC...no idea where that's going to end up as far as being able to buy it yet though.
Mattel cutting corners are known and being seen very clearly by us Hot Wheels guys too... literally just repainting cars/trucks from 2022/2023 for 2024 and 2025 is looking even worse. Distribution on some of their anniversary cars, holiday cars.. completely absymal this year.
I have to point out Mattel actually showed off the Catra figure at sdcc 2024, and much if not all of the 2025 Cartoon Collection will be She-Ra/Filmation Evil Horde.
2025 Masters of the Universe Origins Cartoon Collection Figures will include Frosta, Catra and Filmation style Horde characters that were announced at SDCC this year. If you are wanting She-Ra characters in the style of original POP line that would be a different issue. However I agree with many of your points. While I'm personally all in and love many of the new Snake Men, I do think it was a mistake to go so heavy in mini comics, 200X and Sun Man figures (honestly should have remained a one and done Mattel Creations exclusive) which should have been more spread out. Even as a New Adventures fan and I would love to see those factions done in the 5.5 Origins style; I understand I'm a minority in that opinion.
I was pretty young during the original Heman and got into origins to relive that childhood music and pass it to my kids. The feels faded after Grizzlor, it's been too hard to collect. Mattel Creation is a joke with major figures selling out in seconds. Selling online is fine but then produce enough for demand. Valaverse is a great example for them.
History repeating itself? I wonder if Mattel is afraid that once they DO release all the missing vintage figures people would stop buying the rest of the line?
I love my MOTU Origins figures - but yes, agreed - the sequence which they came out in and the decisions by Mattel in relation thereto hurt the market badly - especially in a far away destination like here in South Africa. Toy stores would over-stock on a wave that included Sun-Man and the likes - the wave would not sell, and then they would skip the next wave or two that included must-haves like Buzz Off. This forced me to online sites which provided these figures at much higher prices. Enough to make me want to tear what is left of my hair out! Lol...
You absolutely nailed this review! From your intro that didn’t let that know it all now a nobody get away Scott free to a fair and balanced evaluation of a line that should have been great but suffered from stupid pivots. Bravo on a thought provoking and entertaining video
I would like them to finish remaking the original figures too. A new Rio Blast would be amazing, but I’m happy getting new characters and Snakemen too. The Snakemen figures were always my favorite as a kid. I’d like a mix. 3 out of 4 original remakes, 1 new character.
Two Bad wasn’t a comic con exclusive, rather a creations exclusive Also, the comic figures were good to source for my dilemma, as original Stratos and Trap Jaw commanded stupid scalper prices. There is lots wrong with the Origins like, yet the rights outweigh it.
I like both of those far more than regular Origins. Masterverse is my fave figure line of recent times. Cartoon Collection is nice too though I don't have as strong an affection for the cartoon but it's cool to see them done for those who do love it that much (I did buy He-Man just to include him in 'multiverse' figure photos with others)
I do love the New Eternia figures, some of those are gorgeous looking, but it seems those are mostly being sold online now as the stores around me only ever get in a few and sit on them for months. But it is a shame how things ended up. And as i just finished watching the entire video, HOLY CROW were there a ton figures i never saw on the pegs! Wow...and sad thing is i have a Target or Walmart on just about every corner around me. Also, that animated line dried up and moved onto online stores as well...last i checked on Big Bad's site there were some new ones that definitely came out after the stires quit carrying them
It has been easier to pick up a vintage Grizzlor and King Hiss than getting the Origins version. The King Hiss pre order "selling out" has been the example of why the line has been become frustrating for me. I know I'll find one eventually at a local show or swap meet. Or I'll just pick up that Turtles/MOTU crossover version. Side Note: My kids referred to Lords of Power Beast Man as "Flasher Beast Man". He is the perfect tag team partner for Nudist Stratos.
Good thing he hasn't heard about the upcoming Thundercats crossover 🤫😅 Some of the mutated versions of classic characters in the Turtles of Grayskull line are brilliant. And so is Michaelangelo with a He-Man wig 😂
@retroblasting I'm way more critical then you for most of the time and usually agree with you. But here you are overexagerating. Compared to any other modern action figure line this line delivers, is easy to get and affordable.That it is not a perfect replica of the 1980's is not always a downside.
I share many of your sentiments, but I am buying the turtles of grayskull line. I haven’t bought a single exclusive and I’m anti billion dollar companies doing crowdfunding. Great video
You know, Transformers Generations has had this problem as bad if not worse than this. While Optimus Prime and Bumblebee have recent "definitive" versions that came out just this year, the same cannot be said for many others from the toon. Between distribution disasters, quality control nightmares, and stylization quirks, it's impossible to get a perfect version of the 1984-1987 cartoon crew (or in some people's mind, a 1984-1985 cartoon crew if they don't want the "taint" of anything from 1986 onward). Windcharger might be the only one missing, but everyone not named Optimus, Bumblebee, Sideswipe, Wheeljack, Gears, Brawn, Hound, Jetfire, Shockwave, the Dinobots, Insecticon Kickback, Blaster, Cosmos, Inferno, Red Alert, Beachcomber, Astrotrain, or Devcon (that bounty hunter who only appeared in ONE episode of the toon) is in dire need of redos to better match up with everyone else quality-wise and aesthetically.
I'm trying to collect all the MOTU Origins figures... but some are just way too exclusive and I find out about them way way too late. I do want to get Wun-Darr though. I have about 1/5 of the entire line right now.
I have completely gotten out of modern toy collecting (Stan Solo being the exception). Any time something looks promising it just ends up like this. I'm so tired of exclusives, having to chase figures, keeping all these different variants straight, and then only seeing peg-warmers for months on end followed by near non-existent space at retail. As an 80s kid who's very first fandom was He-Man, this line could have and should have been for someone like me and it just isn't.
My disappointment with this line is when it was announced it sounded like it would be affordable and aimed at kids. I was hoping to take my kids out to choose which figures they would like off the shelves. The distribution in my part of the world hasn't been great. During one lockdown I brought one of everything they had in store. Partly for Christmas presents. after that it we'd get random waves and I'd end up having to do the same. I like the figures but in my part of the world with the terrible distribution they aren't selling well. I would have loved to get all of the playsets for my kids. But at those prices. No.
When MOTU is done I do not see much of anything I will buy from MATTEL. I guess Michael will be done with Mattel after the last 2 releases he wants also
Agreed. When Origins wraps up, I think this will be it for me. That's partly why I don't want it to end. I want them to update every Classics figure in the Origins style, not just the vintage ones.
I think I would have been more lenient and happy if they had just released at least the main wave of action figures to retail, and then afterwards, gave characters from 200x, comics, original characters, snake men. Making certain characters exclusives seems like a cheap move. I will however give credit that they reissued certain key characters for fans to get a chance to get them after poor distribution and scalpers. The line had tons of potential, had Mattel just been patient.
Yeah, Origins is far from perfect, but I still have a soft spot for this line. Some of the variants are downright nonsense, while others I'm into. The Turtles x Grayskull is a perfect example of this with about a 50:50 cool to lame ratio.
I'm fine with them making figures like Wun-Dar, Camo-Khan and other variants Mattel Creations exclusives, but there's no reason that core characters like Grizzlor and Sy-Klone couldn't be sold at retail like all the rest. For me the whole appeal of Origins was to build the collection I never had as a kid but always wanted, and while for the most part I've done that, missing out on key figures like Two-Bad, Sy-klone and Grizzlor while Sun-Man figures rot on pegs is really frustrating.
They're probably going to do new versions as part of the cartoon collection. They already said they're doing another too bad. The first one was just a common exclusive.
Origins is the main line of figures I collect, and I'm really digging the snake men, but this was 20+ minutes of truth. Mattel have not been customer friendly with this line. They have a really out of touch view with how much money people are willing to spend on this stuff. I haven't gotten any of the cartoon collection or the turtle one, and don't really plan on starting.
Has Manchild News grown up and left the nest for college? ...and how can he trip balls, didn't leave them as charred chestnuts on that lava surfing planet?
Fantastic video as always Michael. I’ve been a fan of Motu since the beginning and collected them as soon as I had my own income. I was so excited when the line was announced and looking forward to it. But with all the exclusives, the weird figures I’m not really interested in etc, I rarely buy origins anymore, and when I want to buy something, I can’t.
Everybody's got an opinion. Mattel has made some mistakes but I'm still having a blast collecting origins, TOG, and Masterverse. And looking forward to Thundercats
I loved this series but when I realized I would never have it all I gave up. I collected the complete masters of the Wwe and currently collecting turtles of grayskull but distribution issues are becoming frusterating again
Go ahead and throw rotten tomatoes at me if you want, but I don't want to drive to Target anymore, and walk in look on the pegs and just hope I get lucky enough to find a figure I might interested in and then go stand in line and check out. If I can order that shit online in a couple of minutes, and have it sent to my house in a couple of days? I'm picking that option 99/100.
I'm with you. I've not had a problem collecting the figures I want. People are just upset that they're taking forever to finish the vintage line. Throw a lot of fans don't understand is there's a lot of people who want cartoon inspired figures. To do that they had to make a deal with DreamWorks. Which probably took time. Which is why we got so many snake men figures.
Retail near me is awful and Walmart never stocks its own MOTU exclusives. People claim there's no scalpers anymore because there's so little stock in brick and mortar, but it means that NOTHING will be found at physical retail. What little arrives is eaten up and gone or what you find are unpopular remains. They get to the closeout stores first, too, making all those "I found this for 4 bucks!" posts online infuriating.
I have a hard rule when it comes to entertainment (unnecessary) items. If a company purposely makes it hard to find, I'm 100% out. I was loving this line at the beginning but Mattel just HAD to throw some figures on Creations and just HAD to have Target (looking at you Rise of Evil) and Walmart exclusives. Then the retail spaces just HAD to trim down Origins to one peg so they could get Masterverse and the netflix show items out in the 7 inches of space that non Jurassic Park or Transformer toys were given.
All of this was happening while what seemed like every single dad-bod having toy youtuber were telling me that either Origins was failing or its perfectly fine for companies to send people through the ringer to find any item they were wanting.
Origins will be the end of my toy collecting. I loved it for what it reminded me of and disliked it for showing me how enthusiastically creatively bankrupt we are as a people nowadays.
Thanks for the video!
Funny you mention Masterverse as they've apparently given up on that at retail as well. I've got a shelf of them and I'm about to sell them off and find something else to collect.
I'm sick of not seeing any of them at retail. None of the stores in my area have gotten any new ones in at least 6 months. Hell, the Wal-marts around me don't have any Masters of the Universe at all!
I refuse to buy any of it online. Hunting is part of the fun for me.
I have the same rule. I have a full time job. I don't want to take time off so I can constantly refresh my browser at a certain time and rush to order something before the run out in 5 minutes.
Exclusives are what happens when a company (Mattel) needs to convince a retailer (walmart) to buy their product. If Rise of Evil, for example, wasn't a target exclusive then Target likely would not have been interested in carrying any of the motu line at all. It's a reboot, not a fresh new product all the kiddos are clamoring for, and Target gives zero fks if Mattel is successful with it or not. How many exclusives has Target done recently w this line? Rise of Evil and the Battlefield 2pack both wound up in heaps at closeout stores like Ollies cause no one was buying them at Target. They got burned, not likely to try again w this line.
@@ryanbwags eh, Masterverse is plentiful where I live. They're a wave or two behind online stores but they're still getting them in on shelves.
As someone who lives in the Uk is a real pain. Especially finding out that Battlefield two pack became cheap @shanekaylor580
It's nice to have a hobby. It's not nice when toys are unobtainable because they're either limited edition, exclusive to special shops and conventions or over priced etc. Also, not nice when sold in some countries and not all.
Amen
Agreed. All of the Wal-Mart and Target exclusives are unavailable in Canada, that’s why I gave it up.
@@a.rheser8181 🙏
@@brianlabelle9543 🤪 It's crazy.
@@brianlabelle9543 Eh, does no one import them for you? I live in UK and I've got the Masterverse store exclusives fine enough from UK based online retailers importing them. I've seen them do Origins too
I wish Mattel would reissue “Jayce and The Wheeled Warriors”
I ❤ Vac Metal!
oh man.. That would be special. But it seems like a pipe dream now.
The 2nd half of the line is essentially when it became tailor made for scalpers.
I think the cartoon line is great
Not really the point.
The amount of variants in MOTU Origins gave me flashbacks to what killed the 200x line back in the early 2000's. Like who the hell wanted so many He-Man and Skeletor variants then and now??
They’re mostly recreating original figures, sure there’s the Snake Armor ones but they’re very different and cool
The most irritating 200X variant was Serpent Crush Skeletor, a release that should've been Ssssqueeze who never got a figure in the actual toy line.
Anti Eternia He-Man was actually an character in a german radio play and looked right that on its cover. Its episode 11 called "anti eternia".
That's not really the point.
I´m not a MOTU fan or collector but know what´s going on.
I could argue that the reason why they haven´t finished the main line is because there aren´t that many left. As such, they want to spread them as far as possible.
For instance, why aren´t people demanding the figure of Blast-Attak?
Because he isn't a very popular character? He never appeared on the cartoon, and was released in 1986 at the tail end of the line (when most figures from 1985 were still clogging shelves).
He also requires 100% unique parts (unlike most He-Man figures that all share the same sculpts).
@@Rocket1377 He should be most favorite character.
I wish that Michael gets the action figure of Mighty Spector for Christmas. 😀 😛
I hear it makes a great substitute Yule log if you burn it;)
@@joemartin5669 😀
I just want to point out, if you hadn't noticed yet, that the cage in the new Snake Mountain can connect to the trap door platform. So it essentially replaces the net.
Motu, Gi Joe, and most other toy lines without cartoons or even with are aimed for adult collectors, not kids. The Motu line isn't a confusing line to collect and not hard to get, and I enjoy the different versions. Origins vintage line will be completed, and She Ra stuff is coming in the cartoon line
About the action gimmicks. I lament the loss of those too. A lot of the vintage figures are defined by their unique gimmick. I think what happened is Mattel soon discovered that only 40+ men were buying these figures (sometimes forcing their kids, who just want to play on their tablet, to go on nostalgia trips with them). If no-one is playing with these toys it probably made more sense to just focus on poseability and the uniformity in swapping of bodyparts - a dream come true for customizers. I still have all these things mint on card. Should I ever take them out, they will be put on static display. So I don't really mind anymore. I have the vintage figs if I want to play with action gimmicks.
I loved the 1987 movie Masterverses. Especially the Meg Foster Evil-Lyn we never got before. Hoping more characters get done that we never got before.
I want *_MORE_* MOTU crossovers using the origins buck. Make characters from Thundarr and other Hanna Barbara & adjacent properties.
Space Ghost, that faĺcon guy with the dyno mutt, and why not some of the other 80s lines that are getting relatively recent releases in other scales, like thundercats, silverhawks, bravestarr, c.o.p.s... matter of fact, I think there's enough to kitbash a bulletproof, just need to look for some sunglasses that might fit on a boxcut sunman or clamp champ headsculpt, and throw a playmates TMNT trenchcoat on an origins buck....
*_"it's criiimmme fightin' tiiimmmme."_*
Does your mom still cut the crusts off the bread for you?
If you didn’t know the cage in the origins snake mountain can be put under the trap door so when the figure falls through it falls into the cage then you can put it back under the floor with skeletors throne.
You summed it up well. The only thing that they did right IMO was to re-release the waves that they initially screwed up and sent overseas while over-ordering the Buzz-off/Naked Stratos wave.
The store managers are the ones to blame for that. They never understand that ordering more stock from the same wave is a bad idea.
ADAM: I have the power!
BROKEN VADER: Your "power" is insignificant to the power of the Force
ADAM: You have no arms!
Slow releasing Origins figures is great for me. I collect 3 lines and this lets me continue because im prepared for the MOTU releases. We get enough notice to prepare and if we cant secure enough funds to buy 3 outright, then you use a few other options. Just finish out the originals and the Horde.
Yep, I actually prefer it this way. Keep it going as long as possible. Vintage only collectors only need to worry about 1 figure each quarter, and the rest of us can get a bunch of new characters to help flesh out the world of Eternia. Everybody is happy.
I had to watch that intro twice. Hilarious.
Haven't thought about him in a long time. He seemed to just disappear into the ether.
This video is 100% spot on. These toys should come with their gimmicks, not just to pose. You can't play with them having to change parts every two minutes. I really miss the old school days of collecting. Great video Retroblasting, this is why i watch.
Great video I’m a kid and it is frustrating, because they made Eternia made it exclusive and the secondary market is way overpriced and I cannot afford the original and so many key characters, exclusives, or hard to find like scare glow
It never once crossed my mind that these were for kids. The price point on the individual figures seemed a little high for that. I worked in the toy department for Target for a bit, and you can quickly identify what lines are for adult collectors and what's for child consumers from price alone. I also get why they made some of the play feature vhanges. Fewer parts mean fewer things to break. Lastly, I dig the motu and tmnt crossover, so agree to disagree, and I'm looking to start collecting those at some point
20:36 No word on Two-Bad yet, but Origins Rio Blast was shown off at SDCC this past July, so he'll be (*sigh*) a Mattel Creations exclusive. Oh and Modulok will be on Amazon AND other online retailers apparently so I guess thats good?
21:10 Well Frosta & Catra will be out in the Cartoon Collection in 2025 so better late then never?
I mean Modulok would probably the only other one I'd get since I had the OG figure before, but man. It's a shame they fumbled as hard as they did. Two-Bad really neaded an update.
This feels almost like how Hasbro treated the Lightning Collection or even TF: Legacy nowadays. Where they'll focus on one thing, the jump into another and then forget that other thing existed.
The Turtles of Grayskull line is where it’s at.
Proof that recreational drugs ruin a person.
Origins repeated many of the sins of Classics, which is actually INEXCUSABLE
I used to put Spector Creative's channel on when I couldn't sleep at night. Worked every time.
Try Grilling with JR that old mumbling fart always puts ya to sleep.
eh i wouldn't dare give his videos any more views after the idiotic experience I had with him...
If you’re skipping out on Turtles of Greyskull your missing a great toy line full stop. They fit in perfectly to the strangeness of Masters of the Universe. Also those She Ra figures are coming out next year.
Absolutely! Turtles of Grayskull has suprisingly turned out to be an amazing line and lots of fun.
It appears Micheal here just ain’t into almost any TMNT mash ups. Especially after seeing his video on the old TMNT toyline. He doesn’t get the silly Turtle outfit variants or the crossovers.
The She-Ra figures will be part of the cartoon line. I would have liked to have seen at least Catra in Origins.
TOG is awful abomination. I hate that line. 🤮
@@Sammoga_Yeddi I don’t hate that line & loving it’s silliness, so I can’t relate 😏🤷♂️.
I agree about the character selection, exclusives and playsets. I disagree about most of the action features though. It's cool if they can re-create the gimmick without hindering the poseability, like Clawful, Battle Armor He-Man and so on. I like to display my figures and take photos of them. I don't play with them the same way I did when I was a kid. I don't need figures that shoot water, I'd rather have the effects parts instead. I agree they're definitely making us wait too long for Two-Bad, but I also appreciate new characters and variants being sprinkled in here and there. Lords of Power Merman, Frog Monger and the Skeleton Warriors for example are all awesome figures and I'm thrilled to have them in my collection.
You're asking Origins to be Classics -- and apparently they fucking listened. A shame.
I have almost every one of these, plus a lot of the vehicles and playsets. Where is the best place to sell these? Ive had them for 40 years, and I need room in my storage unit 😢
MOTU as a whole has to be the most confusing toy line out there to collect.
Not as confusing as the lore 🤣
Transformers has entered the chat.
Is it? Im in MOTU for too long so cant really say. What´s confusing you?
@@shootermcgavin1208 🤔...
12 inch Gi Joe and Matt Mason:
"Are we a joke to you?"
At this point, Modulok and Rio Blast are the only two Origins figure that I'd feel any need to add to my collection.
They are both getting released in Q1 2025.
Frosts and Catra Origins figures were listed on Amazon and sold out within minutes.
I only see Masterverse versions of those figures. The only Origins character I have heard of from that duo is the announced Cartoon version of Catra that hasn't launched yet.
@@retroblasting OK, that must be the one, then. Origins scale, anyway.
@@KJ-tz7vc yeah those are Cartoon Collection and look very nice though I only really collect Masterverse and got those ones. I do wonder why Frosta got priority over Glimmer and Bow in both lines though. I like Frosta but she's a very minor character compared to those two.
I agree with you 1000% on how most of the online only exclusives should have been general release, while obscure repaints like Anti-Eternia He-Man, and Naked Stratos should have been the exclusives. Seeing every single newer MOTU item go on clearance when they were only 6 months old, while he's been there for literal years has made me hate the character.
I have to disagree with you on the concept and guest star figures. I love the fact that we got brand new Sun-Man figures; and I'd imagine Mattel had a deal with the creator that they would have to be in stores; since the whole point of the original Sun-Man line was to give kids more diverse human characters. I love the WWF and Turtle crossovers, as well as things like Frog Monger, and all the snakes who were either vintage concepts or Classics characters.
In terms of action features it's so odd; In one wave we got Horde Trooper with the break apart feature (Even though I'd have rather him be a solid figure) and Mantenna who not only had the eye bug out feature, but also has a ball jointed neck, AND they gave him 4 legs; all for a basic figure; Then the next several waves and no spitting, no neck extending, no tongue lashing, no nothing! Snake Face could have had the snake pop out action if Mattel had used a similar mechanism as their Mantenna. You are so right about Cobra Khan; they could have made him a lil' squirt bottle. Then they could have also done a lazy Dragon Blaster head on Cobra Khan body new character.
I could go on and on about the agony and ecstasy of current year He-Mans, so I better stop for now. Hope you have a nice day.
People forget that this is a business, and politics and economics has a lot to do with this products, Mattel of course has their own failures, but we have to recognize that even with the fact that Motu is a collector limited toyline and kids are not interested in this toys anymore, they still have some commitment to release the figures in any way possible and of course obtain some profit, I even can be sure they motu is not as profitable as it was in the 80,s but Mattel still show some love to a Limited fan base that just want to get all the vintage figures and move on..
Here, here! I agree, I'm 43 and just got back into MOTU and I'm so glad that new figures are still coming out, found some at Target without even looking for them and I don't have to search on eBay, which can get expensive. I plan on getting as many as I can for my son so he can have some cool toys growing up.
Well said. We are lucky MOTU Origins is still going at all. Very few toy lines last this long anymore. I appreciate Mattel's commitment to finishing it, they just have to make sure it remains profitable in order to do so.
Weird then how so many of their business decisions and strategies are so anti-profit.
I still love Sun-Man, and so glad we got them
Yeah, I liked the inclusion. Made me want to see other characters like Bravestarr and Blackstar in the line.
@@StarshipYorktown racist
@@sarderts7680 How are they racist?
@@Carn_Is_Done POC Collectors are
@@sarderts7680 Racist? Why? Was Mattel racist for making Clamp Champ back in 1987? What you say doesn't make any sense. Diversity in MOTU is a good thing.
Eternia is the greatest playset ever in my opinion second is the hyve i don't regret the cash i spent importing them both too the uk ,etrernia is visually stunning and the tram is the magic for me , the line is never ending so space is the problem now they promised to complete the line and i think they will bring them all out and extra characters the way they are smashing them out.
I had the original Eternia. I was 7 and it was pure magic. I think it's cool they brought it back... but I can't get behind big companies crowd funding, and I can't support that outrageous price point.
I was just thinking we haven't seen DV lately! Great video on the current state of he-man origins. I saw the stranger things crossover too at target.
I was watching Masters of the Universe, but I was collecting Star Wars figures and G.I Joe at the time and, when you are a kid... you think the toys you see in your favorite toy store will never go away and you can always get them another day!
I believe this is a tactic.
They are delaying the release of the last vintage characters because they suspect (and they are probably right) that a lot of people will stop collecting this line once those are in their hands.
By releasing them later they also know that collectors will keep checking and buyimg extra figures they would otherwise have ignored.
Also, I may be a minortiy here, but I am fine with having lots of Snake-men.
That's because I have always felt that hordeans and snake-men were underrepresented in the vintage line.
What annoys me is their lack of effort creating new characters and, above all, the "snake-versions" they make of the main characters.
Even as a kid, I never cared for He-man and Skeletor's many versions.
Good point. I guess you are right about the missing vintage characters leading to collectors stopping to buy. I was hoping for a Megator though.
@@mirkohirsch I'd also love a Tytus and a Megator... but if you notice they are making new figures by mainly reusing pieces. Terroar, for example, is a total kitbash.
So of they do release those figures, get ready to pay an arm and a leg for them.
As they did in the 80's with the Secret Wars, they are trying to avoid creating new molds / retooling.
They do when they need to release vintage figures updates, but they charge a lot more for any figure that requires an extra effort.
While I understand the business logic behind all of that, I also believe that they should consider that this is probably the last chance they have to capitalize on vintage-style figures.
If they mess this one up, with so much reuse and versions, chances are they won't get another shot.
Moreover when many adult collectors, who are the main (not to say only) driver of this line, are clearly stating that they are upset with how things are going.
Mattel said in 2023 that the remainder of vintage Origins would be MC exclusives beginning in 2024 and so far it appears they have kept true to that statement. A handful of Origins carded figures have gone to retail but none of the vintage characters have. I believe this is due to how unreliable retail in the US has been at stocking Origins. Many (most?) WalMarts dont even have a motu section anymore, thanks to Wave 7. And since Target and WalMart are about the only options left for mass market retail in the US, it makes sense. Most other chains are discount stores not ordering direct from manufacturers. There's amazon, but even they have trouble moving a lot of Origins product it seems.
@@shanekaylor580but why??? You can't say that people would rather buy TOG figures in retail than Dragstor or Stonedar. Why? I dont't understand. And to be worse, only collectors from few countries can buy from Mattel Creation. They cut off half of the world.
@Sammoga_Yeddi You're guess is as good as mine. I dont know if its the same for other countries, I can only go by what they said for the US sales. Cartoon Coole tion is showing up at Target and some walmarts, along w ToG
I kicked myself for selling my childhood He-Man toys. Now , as an adult, I'm kicking myself for rebuying He-Man toys.... At least most of them were on sale.
You at least made some money my friend. My entire collection was throw away to the trash by my mother.😭
A really insightful video, I'm really glad I've come across it. My little one has really gotten into She-Ra; she even went dressed as the princess of power for Halloween. We're excited about the POP series being included in the cartoon collection, and hopefully they treat it much better than the She-Ra originals. But anyway, when it came to the WWE crossovers, they stopped making the WWE Retro (Hasbro style) figures to make the WWEternia line. And I was really into the Retro figs, that I purposely did not want to get the WWEternia line. Fast forward to when my daughter got into the MOTU, and I now have half the WWEternia figs on my game room wall, along with the Origins Horde figs mixed in. Anyway, hope to see more of your content.
I am bummed to see the origins line not having the original features of the figures. That's what made them fun in the first place.
The intro of you and BV looking at the Eternia playset! I literally rolled on the floor laughing. Another masterpiece video, Michael! Loved it!
Who is he talking about in the beginning?
A guy who used to work for Mattel he created master of the universe toys and he thinks he know everything he even created his own figure to be included in the motu universe.
@@francoisregis2155I would think creating the toys would make him more of an expert than the joyless prince here
My biggest frustration with this line has been tracking down the exclusives. I grew up with 200x figures not the original 80s line or filmation cartoon so I've actually enjoyed all the snake men and turtles stuff. I'm just getting really tired of mattel creations exclusives.
This is an incredible video and that intro was gold!
Tripping balls!
I need to apologise i am one of the one that wanted sun man character and i got them 😅 and also snake men but dang is true inwould have rather get all the 80s ones first
I like the Sun Man characters too, but those characters and the variants should be the exclusives. The classic characters should be at retail. It's so simple.
@@elextrano7597 Don't be sorry... I gladly welcomed the Sun-man set! I love the diversity and whacked out colors and accessories. Space Sumo also gave us an Asian character that actually looks like a human being and not just some chop saki stereotype.
@@paolomongon6616 i just think they are neat addition to the heroes... and yes i got 2 of the sun mans
I don't care for half of the figures but The line is not a failure if it's lasted 4 years already so far. How long did the original line last? Ummm 5 years lol
Wait, do you think he called the line _a failure?_ lol. He doesn't speak the work _failure_ anywhere in the video. The title says the line has _faltered._ Entirely different meaning.
He's wrong about that too. Nearly five years in and still going strong. It's now expanded to include the cartoon collection with She-Ra characters, and we are also getting a Thundercats crossover next year.
@@timothyward8695just say the right thing and agree with the joyless king and you’ll be okay
I gave up on collecting Origins because of poor distribution & how difficult it became to get the ones I wanted & I'm not going to feed into the cycle of scarcity driving up the cost on the secondary market.
Plus, I agree with you Michael - skimping on the special features of the figures was a let down.
Not even gonna bother with the pure asinine nature of that Eternia playset.
Good editorial video man.
-Dustin
Ya know, every time I watch a vintage or Origins video and see battle damaged or thunderblast whatever He-Man and Skeletor I always think about that when I was playing with my toys once I had He-Man and Skeletor I never asked for an upgrade cause that Christmas list slot could go to a character I didnt have😊
As I have my vintage collection AND Classics/Masterverse for modern sculpting and articulation, Origins didn't really have a place in my collection. It was the characters who were not in the vintage line that appealed to me in Origins. However I couldn't care less about Sunman. I wanted vintage style figures of Masters of the Universe characters not in the original line. Filmation characters for instance.
Dang, I never saw Whiplash at retail, and missed out on the pre-orders way back when he first went up. Also, they did show off a Rio Blast at SDCC...no idea where that's going to end up as far as being able to buy it yet though.
This video explains to me why I found Origins at Ollie's.
Mattel cutting corners are known and being seen very clearly by us Hot Wheels guys too... literally just repainting cars/trucks from 2022/2023 for 2024 and 2025 is looking even worse. Distribution on some of their anniversary cars, holiday cars.. completely absymal this year.
I have to point out Mattel actually showed off the Catra figure at sdcc 2024, and much if not all of the 2025 Cartoon Collection will be She-Ra/Filmation Evil Horde.
Exactly. The Snake Men are basically completed now, and Mattel are moving onto She-Ra and the Evil Horde. Origins is still going strong.
2025 Masters of the Universe Origins Cartoon Collection Figures will include Frosta, Catra and Filmation style Horde characters that were announced at SDCC this year. If you are wanting She-Ra characters in the style of original POP line that would be a different issue. However I agree with many of your points. While I'm personally all in and love many of the new Snake Men, I do think it was a mistake to go so heavy in mini comics, 200X and Sun Man figures (honestly should have remained a one and done Mattel Creations exclusive) which should have been more spread out. Even as a New Adventures fan and I would love to see those factions done in the 5.5 Origins style; I understand I'm a minority in that opinion.
I would also love new adventures figures in MOTU Origins, not in Masterverse.
@@a.rheser8181 can't they be in both?
I was pretty young during the original Heman and got into origins to relive that childhood music and pass it to my kids. The feels faded after Grizzlor, it's been too hard to collect. Mattel Creation is a joke with major figures selling out in seconds. Selling online is fine but then produce enough for demand. Valaverse is a great example for them.
History repeating itself? I wonder if Mattel is afraid that once they DO release all the missing vintage figures people would stop buying the rest of the line?
Eternia was 1000€ in Europe... oucccchhhh!!!
I LOVE all the new snake men and sun men figures. Most of us already have all the old figures its good to add new characters to the collection.
MOTU was ons a part of my childhood and give my parents' endless agony in the past. today i have a origins heman and skeletor symbolic in my shelf.
I love my MOTU Origins figures - but yes, agreed - the sequence which they came out in and the decisions by Mattel in relation thereto hurt the market badly - especially in a far away destination like here in South Africa. Toy stores would over-stock on a wave that included Sun-Man and the likes - the wave would not sell, and then they would skip the next wave or two that included must-haves like Buzz Off. This forced me to online sites which provided these figures at much higher prices. Enough to make me want to tear what is left of my hair out! Lol...
You absolutely nailed this review! From your intro that didn’t let that know it all now a nobody get away Scott free to a fair and balanced evaluation of a line that should have been great but suffered from stupid pivots. Bravo on a thought provoking and entertaining video
I would like them to finish remaking the original figures too. A new Rio Blast would be amazing, but I’m happy getting new characters and Snakemen too. The Snakemen figures were always my favorite as a kid. I’d like a mix. 3 out of 4 original remakes, 1 new character.
"Rio Blast would be amazing"? He was revealed in July.
@@Carn_Is_Done awesome! I didn’t know.
Good video. I've said all over social media where I can - the boutique toy culture is killing the hobby and will be it's death.
Two Bad wasn’t a comic con exclusive, rather a creations exclusive
Also, the comic figures were good to source for my dilemma, as original Stratos and Trap Jaw commanded stupid scalper prices.
There is lots wrong with the Origins like, yet the rights outweigh it.
Two Bad started as a Comic-Con exclusive toyhabits.com/two-bad-motu-origins-cartoon-collection-sdcc-2024-exclusive-multipack/
I enjoyed this immensely. It's all too true. I love the Filmation and Masterverse figs though. 😊
I like both of those far more than regular Origins. Masterverse is my fave figure line of recent times. Cartoon Collection is nice too though I don't have as strong an affection for the cartoon but it's cool to see them done for those who do love it that much (I did buy He-Man just to include him in 'multiverse' figure photos with others)
I was done with Mattel Creations when it stopped shipping to Canada. Now I wait for Toy Conventions to buy Origins, and the Cartoon Collection.
I do love the New Eternia figures, some of those are gorgeous looking, but it seems those are mostly being sold online now as the stores around me only ever get in a few and sit on them for months. But it is a shame how things ended up. And as i just finished watching the entire video, HOLY CROW were there a ton figures i never saw on the pegs! Wow...and sad thing is i have a Target or Walmart on just about every corner around me. Also, that animated line dried up and moved onto online stores as well...last i checked on Big Bad's site there were some new ones that definitely came out after the stires quit carrying them
It has been easier to pick up a vintage Grizzlor and King Hiss than getting the Origins version. The King Hiss pre order "selling out" has been the example of why the line has been become frustrating for me. I know I'll find one eventually at a local show or swap meet. Or I'll just pick up that Turtles/MOTU crossover version.
Side Note: My kids referred to Lords of Power Beast Man as "Flasher Beast Man". He is the perfect tag team partner for Nudist Stratos.
Good thing he hasn't heard about the upcoming Thundercats crossover 🤫😅 Some of the mutated versions of classic characters in the Turtles of Grayskull line are brilliant. And so is Michaelangelo with a He-Man wig 😂
Yep, I love the TMNT crossover. Looking forward to the Thundercats one and the rumoured MOTU x Transformers line as well.
Seeing that eternia playset makes me wish for a motu land in universal studios
Same here for Hollywood and Osaka Japan.
Love the old-style logo too!
I will never tire of seeing your reaction to seeing Eternia. It will always be funny.
Best use of "He is. You are." I've ever seen.
What’s fun about head swapping or neck attachments??? What were they thinking?
They were probably thinking it would be a cool gimmick, because toys have gimmicks
I have many and yet I will always still buy different varieties of heman villains or hero’s horse cars and castles
He-Skeletor is awesome
In a reality with no standards, yes.
Love his appearance in the Masters of the Multiverse comic.
Nitpicking over a few mistakes in a, for the rest very succesful line. It's way better then anything hasbro does this decade.
Captain No Standards here....
@retroblasting I'm way more critical then you for most of the time and usually agree with you. But here you are overexagerating. Compared to any other modern action figure line this line delivers, is easy to get and affordable.That it is not a perfect replica of the 1980's is not always a downside.
I'm still waiting for Mattel to finally release Gan-Jarr, Eternia's Master of Herbs and Hallucinations. 😀 😛
Not a chance. He's still locked up in Prison-Starr.
Crazy cat. I did 10yrs in C-Block with the dude.
Straight outta his dammed mind 👉🤪
@@Gangstor 😀
I share many of your sentiments, but I am buying the turtles of grayskull line. I haven’t bought a single exclusive and I’m anti billion dollar companies doing crowdfunding.
Great video
You know, Transformers Generations has had this problem as bad if not worse than this. While Optimus Prime and Bumblebee have recent "definitive" versions that came out just this year, the same cannot be said for many others from the toon. Between distribution disasters, quality control nightmares, and stylization quirks, it's impossible to get a perfect version of the 1984-1987 cartoon crew (or in some people's mind, a 1984-1985 cartoon crew if they don't want the "taint" of anything from 1986 onward). Windcharger might be the only one missing, but everyone not named Optimus, Bumblebee, Sideswipe, Wheeljack, Gears, Brawn, Hound, Jetfire, Shockwave, the Dinobots, Insecticon Kickback, Blaster, Cosmos, Inferno, Red Alert, Beachcomber, Astrotrain, or Devcon (that bounty hunter who only appeared in ONE episode of the toon) is in dire need of redos to better match up with everyone else quality-wise and aesthetically.
Maybe I misunderstood, it you said $90 for the vintage Castle Grayskull, mine was only $30 bucks up here in Canada, I got it when it was released
Our dollars are worth different amounts, but not THAT different!
No mention of Fearless Photog?
Don't recall. Watch the video again. It may have changed.
I popped for the use of Lethal Weapon 2 in this one.
I'm trying to collect all the MOTU Origins figures... but some are just way too exclusive and I find out about them way way too late. I do want to get Wun-Darr though. I have about 1/5 of the entire line right now.
I have completely gotten out of modern toy collecting (Stan Solo being the exception). Any time something looks promising it just ends up like this. I'm so tired of exclusives, having to chase figures, keeping all these different variants straight, and then only seeing peg-warmers for months on end followed by near non-existent space at retail. As an 80s kid who's very first fandom was He-Man, this line could have and should have been for someone like me and it just isn't.
My disappointment with this line is when it was announced it sounded like it would be affordable and aimed at kids. I was hoping to take my kids out to choose which figures they would like off the shelves.
The distribution in my part of the world hasn't been great. During one lockdown I brought one of everything they had in store. Partly for Christmas presents. after that it we'd get random waves and I'd end up having to do the same.
I like the figures but in my part of the world with the terrible distribution they aren't selling well. I would have loved to get all of the playsets for my kids. But at those prices. No.
Same here. My godchild loves He-man but it’s increasingly difficult to get them.
It's still very affordable. Most action figures are around 25 bucks each now. MOTU are cheaper than Transformers or Marvel Legends.
3:34 I feel like this could have been a prime opportunity for an over-the-top fart sound effect.
Nope
When MOTU is done I do not see much of anything I will buy from MATTEL. I guess Michael will be done with Mattel after the last 2 releases he wants also
Agreed. When Origins wraps up, I think this will be it for me. That's partly why I don't want it to end. I want them to update every Classics figure in the Origins style, not just the vintage ones.
I think I would have been more lenient and happy if they had just released at least the main wave of action figures to retail, and then afterwards, gave characters from 200x, comics, original characters, snake men. Making certain characters exclusives seems like a cheap move. I will however give credit that they reissued certain key characters for fans to get a chance to get them after poor distribution and scalpers. The line had tons of potential, had Mattel just been patient.
I could care less about redoing every vintage figure but I do question the hard on for Snake Men.
Yeah, Origins is far from perfect, but I still have a soft spot for this line. Some of the variants are downright nonsense, while others I'm into. The Turtles x Grayskull is a perfect example of this with about a 50:50 cool to lame ratio.
I'm fine with them making figures like Wun-Dar, Camo-Khan and other variants Mattel Creations exclusives, but there's no reason that core characters like Grizzlor and Sy-Klone couldn't be sold at retail like all the rest. For me the whole appeal of Origins was to build the collection I never had as a kid but always wanted, and while for the most part I've done that, missing out on key figures like Two-Bad, Sy-klone and Grizzlor while Sun-Man figures rot on pegs is really frustrating.
They're probably going to do new versions as part of the cartoon collection. They already said they're doing another too bad. The first one was just a common exclusive.
Origins is the main line of figures I collect, and I'm really digging the snake men, but this was 20+ minutes of truth. Mattel have not been customer friendly with this line. They have a really out of touch view with how much money people are willing to spend on this stuff. I haven't gotten any of the cartoon collection or the turtle one, and don't really plan on starting.
Has Manchild News grown up and left the nest for college? ...and how can he trip balls, didn't leave them as charred chestnuts on that lava surfing planet?
Sun-man was a peg wormer 💯
I call him woke man😂
Great video! I gave up on Motu origins,because I couldn’t find most of them. I have some,but I pick and choose.
Sun Man? Never heard of him.
Woke man. Those figures are peg warmers 😂
Fantastic video as always Michael. I’ve been a fan of Motu since the beginning and collected them as soon as I had my own income. I was so excited when the line was announced and looking forward to it. But with all the exclusives, the weird figures I’m not really interested in etc, I rarely buy origins anymore, and when I want to buy something, I can’t.
Everybody's got an opinion. Mattel has made some mistakes but I'm still having a blast collecting origins, TOG, and Masterverse. And looking forward to Thundercats
I loved this series but when I realized I would never have it all I gave up. I collected the complete masters of the Wwe and currently collecting turtles of grayskull but distribution issues are becoming frusterating again
Go ahead and throw rotten tomatoes at me if you want, but I don't want to drive to Target anymore, and walk in look on the pegs and just hope I get lucky enough to find a figure I might interested in and then go stand in line and check out. If I can order that shit online in a couple of minutes, and have it sent to my house in a couple of days? I'm picking that option 99/100.
I'm with you. I've not had a problem collecting the figures I want. People are just upset that they're taking forever to finish the vintage line.
Throw a lot of fans don't understand is there's a lot of people who want cartoon inspired figures. To do that they had to make a deal with DreamWorks. Which probably took time. Which is why we got so many snake men figures.
Retail near me is awful and Walmart never stocks its own MOTU exclusives. People claim there's no scalpers anymore because there's so little stock in brick and mortar, but it means that NOTHING will be found at physical retail. What little arrives is eaten up and gone or what you find are unpopular remains. They get to the closeout stores first, too, making all those "I found this for 4 bucks!" posts online infuriating.