Masters of the Universe X Thundercats

[Damien]

I was tinkering with the handful of Super 7 Thundercats I have last night and it really just made me even more interested in getting these in-hand. I feel like these are going to have better ROM even in an Origins style figure.

Only marginally different - I own MOTUC figures and I own MOTUO figures. I think the MOTUO figures pose better, full stop.

 

[docsilence]

Only marginally different - I own MOTUC figures and I own MOTUO figures. I think the MOTUO figures pose better, full stop.

I reckon that's why I really want these. The Thundercats I own just aren't much fun to pose, and MOTUO are SURPRISINGLY fun to pose. I know these are lil different but close enough, which is kinda what I've wanted from a reasonably priced Thundercats line for ages.

 

[Damien]

I reckon that's why I really want these. The Thundercats I own just aren't much fun to pose, and MOTUO are SURPRISINGLY fun to pose. I know these are lil different but close enough, which is kinda what I've wanted from a reasonably priced Thundercats line for ages.

Yeah, I think that's the core of it -and just generally true of the Origins expression all across the board; They're supposed to just be fun toys. Anyone coming at them wanting SUPER poseable is going to be just as disappointed as anyone coming at them wanting them to be super detailed and really beautifully painted. They're really just the epitome of a fun bit of hand-candy that's also fairly pleasing to look at on the shelf.

I shit on Mattel a lot - and rightfully so because they can be the world's worst toy company - but what they did with Origins hit every note it was trying to hit in exactly the right way, that it's literally hard to even explain WHY these are so good, because on paper they kind've shouldn't be. That was a really long run-on sentence but I'm leaving it that way.

That being said, with the ever-present price hikes, I think I'm probably only in for Lion-O and Mumm-Ra. Back when Origins debuted as a line that was actually 15 CAD at retail stores? Would have bought every ThunderCats figure. At like 30 dollars or whatever? Meh. I'll get the two big guns and call it a day.

 

[docsilence]

Yeah, I think that's the core of it -and just generally true of the Origins expression all across the board; They're supposed to just be fun toys. Anyone coming at them wanting SUPER poseable is going to be just as disappointed as anyone coming at them wanting them to be super detailed and really beautifully painted. They're really just the epitome of a fun bit of hand-candy that's also fairly pleasing to look at on the shelf.

I shit on Mattel a lot - and rightfully so because they can be the world's worst toy company - but what they did with Origins hit every note it was trying to hit in exactly the right way, that it's literally hard to even explain WHY these are so good, because on paper they kind've shouldn't be. That was a really long run-on sentence but I'm leaving it that way.

That being said, with the ever-present price hikes, I think I'm probably only in for Lion-O and Mumm-Ra. Back when Origins debuted as a line that was actually 15 CAD at retail stores? Would have bought every ThunderCats figure. At like 30 dollars or whatever? Meh. I'll get the two big guns and call it a day.

After my first Origins figure I went DEEP into that line cos they were so cheap at the time. As prices increase these get to be less of an impulse buy (I've started cherry picking the waves for Origins and, especially, the Turtles of Grayskull, which are RIDICULOUSLY fun toys but are being released so hot and heavy it gets expensive fast).

For this line they'll easily get me for the core 'cats though, Mum-Ra, and I will never, ever turn down an variation of Battlecat. He's my boy. I'll buy him in any format.

 

[Damien]

and I will never, ever turn down an variation of Battlecat. He's my boy. I'll buy him in any format.

My son loves cats, generally, and is really excited about the anthropomorphic Battle Cat in this line. So I'll probably end up with that one at some point.

As prices increase these get to be less of an impulse buy (I've started cherry picking the waves for Origins and, especially, the Turtles of Grayskull, which are RIDICULOUSLY fun toys but are being released so hot and heavy it gets expensive fast).

Yeah, exactly. I mean, I have a pretty sizable Origins collection, but you can kind of see where it started to taper off for me if you compare my figures with the release schedule/dates. I've even skipped exclusives I really wanted (Wun-Dar, He-Ro) because the cost of one figure, plus shipping, plus exchange rate is just too ridiculous to justify on something that's supposed to be just for fun and goofs and that I don't even actively display (I don't have the space, so we decided early on that this would be my son and I's 'play' collection that stays in a toy box, just like the old days).

TMNT and now TC is the culmination of all those price increases and presumably licensing fees as well, where it's just not FUN to collect them and it really starts to come down to just like any other collection I have: Which ones do I feel like are must-haves, and what stuff can I skip. Which is a shame.

 

[vicious]

I always thought these modern MOTU toys have been overpriced for what you get. $20 for a little guy on a standard buck with minimal paint. They're taking advantage of fans, in my opinion. I might pick up Lion-O from this set just for the character but I can agree that it's hard to go "all-in" on these lines nowadays.

 

[Damien]

I always thought these modern MOTU toys have been overpriced for what you get. $20 for a little guy on a standard buck with minimal paint. They're taking advantage of fans, in my opinion. I might pick up Lion-O from this set just for the character but I can agree that it's hard to go "all-in" on these lines nowadays.

I think the original price of 15 bucks was a really good spot for these. It's more expensive than similar-size lines like your average Playmates current-cartoon Ninja Turtles, but the MOTUO bodies had more articulation (i.e. more parts in the tools and more assembly at the factory), more complex engineering (because of all the interchangeability), and were generally chonkier. So, you know, a few bucks more than a Playmates Ninja Turtle with 7 POA that don't even work properly? I can do that.

Realistically, I think Mattel just got greedy. With other price increases I can break that down to other factors - some of which are just 'greed, but with a twist.' But in this case I really do think it was JUST pure greed. Mattel saw the line go gangbusters almost immediately, and within the first year they ratcheted up the Canadian price first, and then increased both the US and Canadian price again after that in very short order. Then they powered through retail releases, jumped to mostly just selling online, and pushed the price up again.

This was nothing more, in my opinion, than Mattel saying 'I think we can make more money on these customers - they seem pretty dedicated, so let's test that.' It's pretty fucking gross, actually.

 

[canprime]

I think the original price of 15 bucks was a really good spot for these. It's more expensive than similar-size lines like your average Playmates current-cartoon Ninja Turtles, but the MOTUO bodies had more articulation (i.e. more parts in the tools and more assembly at the factory), more complex engineering (because of all the interchangeability), and were generally chonkier. So, you know, a few bucks more than a Playmates Ninja Turtle with 7 POA that don't even work properly? I can do that.

Realistically, I think Mattel just got greedy. With other price increases I can break that down to other factors - some of which are just 'greed, but with a twist.' But in this case I really do think it was JUST pure greed. Mattel saw the line go gangbusters almost immediately, and within the first year they ratcheted up the Canadian price first, and then increased both the US and Canadian price again after that in very short order. Then they powered through retail releases, jumped to mostly just selling online, and pushed the price up again.

This was nothing more, in my opinion, than Mattel saying 'I think we can make more money on these customers - they seem pretty dedicated, so let's test that.' It's pretty fucking gross, actually.

Yeah that original $15Cdn price was golden. Nothing else that I collect came even close to that price at the time. It also made sense with how much reuse Mattel gets out of the Origins bucks. Once they crossed $25Cdn it was a steady decline in purchases for me, but they did already have me in pretty deep so I kept on going as much as I could. Now over $30Cdn for a lot of releases and it is an easy pass for me.

As to the Thundercats crossover, I preordered the whole first wave from DJC Collectibles because he had them cheaper than anywhere else (then bumped up to what everyone else was charging). I love the look of the line, well wave one. Wave two I am on the fence about because I don't like a good bit about all three figures. So I'll wait and see how I like wave one in hand before committing to wave two. Plus $33Cdn (before tax) is a lot to ask for basically Origins figures with extra armour.

 

[Damien]

Plus $33Cdn (before tax) is a lot to ask for basically Origins figures with extra armour.

The one thing I will defend about that - at least in comparison to the current prices Mattel is charging for Origins/Cartoon Collection, is that Lion-O comes with a ton of extra bits. More than I'd expect from a non-Deluxe release from Mattel. So if any of the figures are worth 30 bucks, (again, compared to what they're currently charging in general) it would be Lion-O.

 

[canprime]

The one thing I will defend about that - at least in comparison to the current prices Mattel is charging for Origins/Cartoon Collection, is that Lion-O comes with a ton of extra bits. More than I'd expect from a non-Deluxe release from Mattel. So if any of the figures are worth 30 bucks, (again, compared to what they're currently charging in general) it would be Lion-O.

Agreed. I would say Panthro and Tygra also come with a nice amount of armour and bits, but I still have some issues with how they look. Especially Panthro. His forearms are too long, but I guess they had to stretch them out a bit for the armour pieces.

 

[Damien]

Agreed. I would say Panthro and Tygra also come with a nice amount of armour and bits, but I still have some issues with how they look. Especially Panthro. His forearms are too long, but I guess they had to stretch them out a bit for the armour pieces.

Panthro straight up looks ass.

 

[mrboshek]

There is a picture of Panthro that I thought had shorter forearms, but that was likely perspective. Some pictures had painted spikes, while others had unpainted spikes, so I'm hoping the pictures were figures at different stages of design. Probably not, though.
I'd never use it, but the belt/loin cloth exposing half of Panthro's T-Cat logo didn't look too hot in the pictures.

 

[Damien]

There is a picture of Panthro that I thought had shorter forearms, but that was likely perspective. Some pictures had painted spikes, while others had unpainted spikes, so I'm hoping the pictures were figures at different stages of design. Probably not, though.
I'd never use it, but the belt/loin cloth exposing half of Panthro's T-Cat logo didn't look too hot in the pictures.

Genuinely.... he looks ass.

Panthro might, so far, be the only real complete swing-and-a-miss from Mattel in the entirety of this expression (including core Origins, cartoon Origins, TCats, TMNT, and WWE). So it's not like they have a bad track record. But that figure just does not look good at all and maybe it's made all the more stark -because- most of their other figures are handled so well.

 

[mrboshek]

I'm trying to stay optimistic. We don't want one bad Thundercat.

Btw, if anyone watches live toy streams on a regular basis, this should remind them of one of the all-time greatest usernames, "Stinkycatbutt".

 

[vicious]

Mattel loves to paint parts on prototypes and then leave them bare plastic on the finished product. They're probably the last company I trust with product photos (Barbie is even worse about how products look in promo images vs real life).