The End Is Near
As much as I don't want to admit it, the end for Masters of the Universe Classics is nearing.
It's been a wild ride when things began back in 2008. What started off as a SDCC exclusive, followed by what was supposed to be a handful of figures, ballooned into a decent sized adult collector's line, but the steam has been slowly running out over these last few years.
Starting in 2012, the number of subscriptions went down drastically for 2013 and day of sale has since been reduced. Perhaps this is due to bad figure selection, a saturation point in product, scalpers unable to sell off certain figures or the inevitable price increase, but the fact is, numbers are down.
That's why after the dip in 2012 for the 2013 subscription, we were told the roadmap would be reworked for 2014 and 2015. So as we enter 2014, the closure of the line has begun, both 2014 and 2015 is mainly going to be used up to finish up vintage He-Man and She-Ra, with heavy hitter characters from New Adventures and possibly other fan favorites.
So far, 2014 has mainly kept that end of the bargain. We've seen Two Bad, Modulok and Glimmer so far. March is going to see Hydron as well as the Unnamed One, though I'm sure that this month's selection will cause nothing but complaints all around by those who have been calling for the line's end.
Hydron being a part of New Adventures is not viewed favorably and though the Unnamed One does have his place in the mythos as a mysterious villain, he will likely be disowned by most fan. Then again if you're nothing more than an evil Trollan, I can see why most fans would hate this after being told we would be blown away by it. An evil Orko just isn't really what most people have in mind when they think of an ultimate evil, but we will finally learn if the leaked pictures of the figure are real or not most likely by today as subscription members begin receiving this month's figures.
Apart from this month possibly being the weakest of it all, the rest of 2014 is looking pretty dandy with the regular Club Eternia figures being Blade, Scorpia, Extendar, Battle Lion (Okay, this one is a bit of a cheap let down), Flogg, Flutterina, New Adventures Skeletor, Rio Blast and most likely Eldor.
All in all, 2014 looks pretty good to me, with the inferior Battle Cat clone only the real disappointment for me in 2014 so far.
At least for some good news, the Club Etheria mini-sub went through with 97%, which will help us get 7 Princess of Power figures. So far we know that we will be getting Light Hope, Madame Razz with Broom, Double Trouble, Entrapta and Sweet Bee. Again, these are all essential figures that will help to make the collection complete by the end of 2015.
And of course there are some out of subscription items like Goat Man and a Kowl/Loo-Kee 2-pack.
It's fun getting all of the heavy hitters like this, but it's also sad at the same time to see us burning through the good characters. Though I've never been a fan of the New Adventures, it is a corner of MOTU that has grown on me and one that I feel needs to be completed before the end of the line.
Should 2015 go through, it will mainly be used to give us the remaining He-Man and She-Ra characters, though Mara from New Adventures is known to be coming in 2015 as she won a fan's vote. But if a Club Etheria mini-sub can go through, I remain positive that 2015 will go through as well. Though after that, I think the fandom may have had enough of this line and that the chances of finishing off New Adventures will remain slim, despite being told that they'd try to get those characters to us, even if it means doing them as convention exclusives or releasing 1 figure per quarter.
It's a shame knowing something that you love is coming to an end, especially when there's still so much potential left in the line.
Personally I hope that once all of the vintage stuff is done, something can be done to give the line a shot in the arm. Perhaps the inclusion of 2.0 figures is what is needed to get new people on board. They got the license to the Filmation cartoon, a few A-list Filmation variants included in a future subscription wouldn't be too terrible of an idea in my opinion. Then again, those are simply my own personal tastes and something I'd rather purchase over say, mini-comic variants.
But it was a great ride while it lasted and this was the little line that proved many wrong and chugged longer than it probably should have.
It's been a wild ride when things began back in 2008. What started off as a SDCC exclusive, followed by what was supposed to be a handful of figures, ballooned into a decent sized adult collector's line, but the steam has been slowly running out over these last few years.
Starting in 2012, the number of subscriptions went down drastically for 2013 and day of sale has since been reduced. Perhaps this is due to bad figure selection, a saturation point in product, scalpers unable to sell off certain figures or the inevitable price increase, but the fact is, numbers are down.
That's why after the dip in 2012 for the 2013 subscription, we were told the roadmap would be reworked for 2014 and 2015. So as we enter 2014, the closure of the line has begun, both 2014 and 2015 is mainly going to be used up to finish up vintage He-Man and She-Ra, with heavy hitter characters from New Adventures and possibly other fan favorites.
So far, 2014 has mainly kept that end of the bargain. We've seen Two Bad, Modulok and Glimmer so far. March is going to see Hydron as well as the Unnamed One, though I'm sure that this month's selection will cause nothing but complaints all around by those who have been calling for the line's end.
Hydron being a part of New Adventures is not viewed favorably and though the Unnamed One does have his place in the mythos as a mysterious villain, he will likely be disowned by most fan. Then again if you're nothing more than an evil Trollan, I can see why most fans would hate this after being told we would be blown away by it. An evil Orko just isn't really what most people have in mind when they think of an ultimate evil, but we will finally learn if the leaked pictures of the figure are real or not most likely by today as subscription members begin receiving this month's figures.
Apart from this month possibly being the weakest of it all, the rest of 2014 is looking pretty dandy with the regular Club Eternia figures being Blade, Scorpia, Extendar, Battle Lion (Okay, this one is a bit of a cheap let down), Flogg, Flutterina, New Adventures Skeletor, Rio Blast and most likely Eldor.
All in all, 2014 looks pretty good to me, with the inferior Battle Cat clone only the real disappointment for me in 2014 so far.
At least for some good news, the Club Etheria mini-sub went through with 97%, which will help us get 7 Princess of Power figures. So far we know that we will be getting Light Hope, Madame Razz with Broom, Double Trouble, Entrapta and Sweet Bee. Again, these are all essential figures that will help to make the collection complete by the end of 2015.
And of course there are some out of subscription items like Goat Man and a Kowl/Loo-Kee 2-pack.
It's fun getting all of the heavy hitters like this, but it's also sad at the same time to see us burning through the good characters. Though I've never been a fan of the New Adventures, it is a corner of MOTU that has grown on me and one that I feel needs to be completed before the end of the line.
Should 2015 go through, it will mainly be used to give us the remaining He-Man and She-Ra characters, though Mara from New Adventures is known to be coming in 2015 as she won a fan's vote. But if a Club Etheria mini-sub can go through, I remain positive that 2015 will go through as well. Though after that, I think the fandom may have had enough of this line and that the chances of finishing off New Adventures will remain slim, despite being told that they'd try to get those characters to us, even if it means doing them as convention exclusives or releasing 1 figure per quarter.
It's a shame knowing something that you love is coming to an end, especially when there's still so much potential left in the line.
Personally I hope that once all of the vintage stuff is done, something can be done to give the line a shot in the arm. Perhaps the inclusion of 2.0 figures is what is needed to get new people on board. They got the license to the Filmation cartoon, a few A-list Filmation variants included in a future subscription wouldn't be too terrible of an idea in my opinion. Then again, those are simply my own personal tastes and something I'd rather purchase over say, mini-comic variants.
But it was a great ride while it lasted and this was the little line that proved many wrong and chugged longer than it probably should have.