Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Ask Matty!
September 1st 2011

Hey all! Here's the September 1st Q & A! Unlike the past few segments, I'm going to be doing some commentary on the answers this time... as I am a bit upset by a few of them.

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1.) This one is in regards to secret accessories- By now we all know that Megator's secret accessory was a second "zombified" head. Since many fans will buy multiples of a figure if it comes with extra heads, it is a bit frustrating to find out about the second head AFTER the sale has happened. Are secret accessories something that we will see pop up again in the line, and if so, will you guys reconsider keeping second heads as a part of that? I for one am VERY glad I found out about Megator's extra head before the sale date, as I was able to plan for purchasing a second before it was too late.

“Secret Accessories” are something we do for fun for fans. If the fans enjoy it we will continue to do it. If they don’t and it becomes “upsetting” we will move away from it.

Okay... I'm pretty fine with this one. I vote "no more secrets" for the reasons listed in the question. What do you guys think?

2.) What was the purpose of all the fake MOTUC subscription item lists posted during the week of comic-con? We all now know that the first list was 100% true and that all subsequent lists were fake, but why do that? It seems teasing items that weren't really coming (like the movie 3-pack and the Castle Grayskull Jawbridge) is a bad move, since not delivering these items for fans excited by them only leads to frustration and disappointment. Even worse, it possibly even cost sub-sales. For potential first-time buyers checking out the booth at SDCC (who might not have had any inkling of what was going on with the site), seeing a placard with the likes of Disco Skeletor and Zombie Randor as releases for 2012 probably didn't sell them on trying out the line.

All of our official announcements-- as always promised-- were done at our panel. If fans want the straight announcements we recommend coming to or reviewing the panel only.

And here we go... They completely avoid the direct question as to the purpose for the fake lists, nor do they comment on its possible adverse affects on sub sales. I'm sure we are all aware that the panel had the straight announcements... but that wasn't really part of my question.

3.) During the Megator/ Man-E-Faces sale, subscribers were first erroneously charged for just Megator at first. After the fans alerted you guys to this, the decision was made to cancel the first authorization and immediately run a second charge for the combined Megator/ Man-E-Faces bundle. Since you didn't wait for the first authorization to drop off before doing this, many subscribers were stuck with covering both charges at once, which lead to depleted bank accounts and, in some cases, bounced charges from other companies and overdraft fees from certain credit unions. What's worse, you didn't even bother to warn anyone a second charge was coming until after you had done it, leaving consumers without even a chance to pad their accounts in anticipation of the second charge. My question is this: Do you plan on reimbursing any of your customers that might have been stuck with fees (either overdraft from their credit union or late charges incurred by being unable to pay certain bills due to lack of available funds) due to your error? And if this were to occur again, would you at least reconsider how it was handled?

We have already taken steps to ensure this issue does not happen again and apologies for any inconvenience caused.

Again, not really answering the question at all. And apologies are great... but what about the folks who incurred fees over this? Will that be addressed?

4.) It has always been stated that extra items (like the weapons pak or the upcoming vehicle) couldn't be added in to the subscription because we only agreed to pay "X" amount of dollars for the year. This year, the total on the subscription sales page left off the 4 quarterly variants and only listed the sub total for the year as $430. After 2 weeks, a message was posted by you guys explaining the error and listing the new total as $510. Now since many folks never saw the message and the original sales page listed the price as $430, isn't adding the 4 quarterly variants after they agreed to the $430 total violating this standard? How is adding the 4 variants on after consumers agreed to the $430 price any different than adding vehicles or weapons paks on?

If fans wanted to cancel their MOTU sub due to the incorrect amount posted for the first two weeks they were welcome to do so and we will still honor cancelations due to this issue for the next month through Sept 30th.


Sigh... Really? Really Matty? I didn't even ask about canceling subs!!!

5.) MINI-COMICS SLIGHT SPOILER WARNING: Now that we have seen the first page of the upcoming initial issue of the 3-part MOTUC comic series, can you confirm whether or not the green head included in the Eternian Guard 2-pack is intended to be a "snakified" Man-At-Arms? The resemblance is pretty uncanny...

The caption is pretty clear who you are looking at. It is right on the panel.

This one actually made me the angriest of all. It was a completely direct question regarding the head in the Eternian Guards pack. I REALLY wanted tha confirmed... but they somehow turned it around to me asking if that panel was Man-At-Arms when the panel BLATANTLY says it's Man-At-Arms! Even worse, the answer was very condescending and a bit rude.

I am awaiting clarification on the last one at least. I figure the others are a lost cause.

UPDATE- Scott did send over a new answer for the last one:

No, the 4th Palace Guard head is not intended to specifically be Duncan transformed into a Snake Man.

Huh... Well I wonder what it's supposed to be then?

Zodac
Cosmic Enforcer

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Real Name: Zodac Zur

Once a member of Eternia’s Council of Elders, Zodac chose to retain his human form and left Eternia after Grayskull’s demise. Finding peace among the stars, Zodac was recruited by the Overlords of Trolla to become a Cosmic Enforcer, beings tasked with maintaining neutrality throughout the universe. Although he no longer calls Eternia home, the constant struggle over the Power Sword has often called him back to his native planet to maintain the eternal balance between good and evil.

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Accessories: Cosmic Blaster

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Video Spotlight:



Additional Pictures:

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Mer-Man
Ocean Warlord

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Real Name: Squidish Rex

Ruler of the undersea realms of Eternia, Mer-Man was forced to serve in the armies of Skeletor after his kingdom was destroyed in a battle with rival ocean clans. His allegiance with Skeletor brings him to the surface world more often then he would like. Cowardly on land, Mer-Man prefers to stay in the murky waters of the Sea of Rakash, awaiting the evil call of Skeletor.

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Accessories: Sword Of Rakash, Trident.

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Additional Parts: Mer-Man also includes an additional interchangeable head, allowing you to recreate his look from the vintage cardback.

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Video Spotlight:



Additional Pictures:

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Sunday, August 28, 2011

Buzz-Off & Whiplash Commercial!

Just finished another update on a vintage commercial... Buzz-Off & Whiplash! Enjoy!



Original Art:
"Double-Edged Sword"
By Larry Houston

Unlike the previous original art entries, the original art for "Double-Edged Sword" looks to have escaped any changes in its final published form. The interesting thing about this art is getting to see it sans word balloons. The art is truly action-packed, which gets a bit lost in the final form due to the need for a fairly large amount of dialogue. Plus- Trap Jaw is in this story, so that automatically makes it cooler. ;)

Presented here is the original art for the book's final 5 pages, followed by the published versions:

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