29.7.15
SDCC and MOTU: a new vibe
But no, this is not a rant about King Hiss torso or Power-Con exclusives, quite the opposite.
After the overly positive experience in San Diego Comic Con, I made a promise to myself and to a few other people to make a post about how the vibes surrounding MOTUC and Mattel are definitely different.
As many of you know, a new team is now in charge of Mattycollector.com and running the MOTUC line. This new team introduced itself for the first time to the fans at the panel at SDCC. I was there, I listened carefully about everything that was said and what the fans' reaction was.
I have to give big props to these new people for the way the presented the new team and all the issues they addressed during the panel. They first recognized the experience with Mattycollector and MOTU, as fans and collector, hasn't been the greatest to say the least.
As they say, the first step in solving a problem is recognizing there is one.
After that, I felt a lot more relaxed about the panel, and more than one time I smiled pleased at the things I heard.
I've been a big supporter of words like transparency with the customers, and not having one single person at the center of it all, but having multiple talents contributing to the brand. They took very calmly the huge but rightful outrage at Digital River. And the lineup and new projects they revealed (along with the expanded licensed products in development) showed a much more open mentality in how to handle the MOTU brand.
All this proved me one thing: we were right. We were right at voicing our criticisms. Yes, because of that I probably lost the opportunity to work on the brand again, but that's okay. Our message was received. We were right, because the moment new people stepped in, they realized what many fans were saying was true and there were issue to take care of, and a relationship to heal.
Of course, time will tell fans if they'll deliver what they promised. But I'm all for the fanbase giving them a chance.
They are already facing some big troubles with the fanbase with the Snake Men torso and the Power-Con exclusives. And while I understand some of the solutions are not good for everybody, I really appreciate the honesty they showed to fans with their answers, also understanding that sometime they have to deal with problems created before their arrival.
Make no mistake: 90% of the time, my problem was with the way things were communicated to the fans. If I see an effort – and I'm truly seeing it – to make things differently, that is a huge step forward.
I can finally sit back and relax, and watch what happens with MOTU, with a bit more hope and a smile.
PS:
I totally expect some idiot coming out and telling me I'm kissing their ass to try to get back to work on MOTU. First of all, I don't necessarily need to work on MOTU. I'd love to, and I would surely jump on any occasion that may present because my heart will always be with MOTU, but professionally, I'm very satisfied with my collaboration with Hasbro and the Transformers team. Those guys believed in me since day one, allowed me to learn and grow my skills as a toy designer and took me where I am now.
I'm also been at work on MOTU related products lately, so in a way, I'm still close to MOTU.
Also, if you believed I hate Mattel and I'm going to attack everything Mattel does, you're making a huge mistake. I've explained multiple times where the past issues came from. Due to the recent changes, I have no reason to believe these issues exist anymore. And since I'm part of the industry, I often have a better understanding than the average fan about the process. So please don't take my explanations of things as ass-kissing.
I will always be a big supporter of free speech and open criticisms, as these are meant to improve things, not destroy them.
PS2:
My commitment with The Power and The Honor Foundation hasn't changed. The collaboration with Dark Horse put us back on track and we devised new exiting plans for the immense collection of art we have. We'll continue to make all the possible effort to bring it all to the fans.
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10 commenti:
I agree with you Emiliano,
I was VERY upset about the torso at first, then I realized, a regime change still has to deal with the mess left behind. So while I dislike the development, I appreciate that they heard our complaints and did SOMETHING about it. hell they even answered my question when I asked WHY it became impossible to give us the torso, was it the cost of a figure etc.
So I really appreciate they fully addressed and answered that!
I don't care much about the powercon exclusives, butI feel for the fans that want them.
Couple of questions for you Big E,
1 - Will there be future releases of the P&H catalog or will your work simply be rolled into future darkhorse books?
2 - Since it seems Mattel pretty much has the classics team set, is there any chance you partner up with the horsemen or something similar to release items for the classics line of items Mattel will flat out never release such as the dungeon grate, a sculpted moat, perhaps alternate heads or exchangeable parts or weapons for your versions of a signature series such as new feet or the like that a more experienced fan could use to replace an existing figure's parts to bring it more in line with your vision of a signature series.
Granted there might not be the same size audience as the general fan of the classics line but I think that there is a strong enough following (look at the Power Con Exclusives situation) that it would be a worthwhile endeavor for a fan such as yourself.
Hi Horror Masque,
to answer your questions the best I can:
1: this is up to Dark Horse. We'd love to work with them to create more books from our collection, if they are interested, we're always open to explore our collaboration further. If they aren't, we'll look into other ways to bring all the art we have to the fans.
2:if I got your question right, I doubt the 4H would get a separate license to produce third party MOTU accessories. While it's something I'd love to work on with the 4H, I just don't see that happening as they are already working on the brand directly for Mattel.
Any chance you will be at Power Con?
Not in a million years.
Hola Emiliano! Espero que sepas hablar español, por tu nombre imagino que si, pero bueno todo el mundo puede equivocarse :-P Mi ingles no es tan bueno asi que para evitar confusiones me arriesgo a ir en mi idioma.
Principalmente mi colección va por Transformers, pero me he metido tardiamente en el mundo de MOTUC solo para tener los personajes principales. Algo que casi he logrado hasta quedar estancado en los dificiles (teela, sorceress y alguno que otro). Tampoco estoy al tanto de las circunstancias por las que ha pasado esta linea y solo soy un coleccionista casual.
En fin, solo queria decirte que aqui tienes un buen fan de tu diseño de Teela Filmation. Seria grandioso que algun dia podamos contar con esta figura. No es un pedido hacia ti, sino solo un deseo en particular. Tomalo como un descargo de alguien que necesitaba decirlo :-P
Asi que solo eso, mis saludos, mis respetos y gran admiración por el trabajo que realizas.
Unfortunately, I don't speak Spanish :( I'm Italian.
Hehe, well... the short story. Im a Transformers collector and a casual Motuc colector. Just want to have the main characters but at the moment its expensive to get some of them like Teela and Sorceress. I like so much the desing of filmation teela and i will be happy if someday whe can get in the shelf. Just a particular wish.
My greetings, respect and admiration about your great work!
You don't have to wait too long then, Filmation Teela is coming at the end of the year with the Talon Fighetr :)
The Matty panel also gave the impression that ToyGuru was not the popular man about campus at Mattel he used to let on. A group of colleagues being able to speak freely now that an arrogant asshole has gone seemed to be the vibe of that panel.
ToyGuru lied about stuff all the time, posed as a design expert and, when something truly did have his hands on it - like the push for a solely Green Lantern themed DCUC, it bombed like hell.