Scott, even though I didn't collect MOTUC figures. I love watching your videos, I can hear it in your voice that you had pride & passion in your work. I also appreciate you actually thinking about the fans & convinced the company to add the J plastic to the boxes. Thank you for making these videos, they're a joy to watch.
Mer-Man - the king of kings! Was always my favorite MOTU character of all time, and this particular version of the figure was very special to me. I have mine standing next to the blue DC VS MOTU deco Mer-Man! Good stuff Scott
Love these behind the scenes of MOTU Classics figures 👍 Can’t wait for you to get to Hordak, Webstor, & ScareGlow. My top 3 for that first full year of the wave😜
The sculptor at Four Horsemen Studios referred to in this video is actually “Eric Treadaway” - not “Treadwell”. We were actually given suggestions on what items were to come with each character as far as accessories went, and we were told to go ahead and create extra accessories when feasible (we even had a full reference library of artifacts & weapons at Four Horsemen Studios for that exact purpose), and any of those items that couldn’t be used with that character at that time could possibly be released later with an alternate version of the character, a different character, or even in an accessories pack. As with the bases we created for the DC Universe Classics line, we never “over sculpted” (as Scott likes to refer to it) anything without clearance from Mattel beforehand, although Scott might not have been made privy to those discussions.
Corrected my mispronunciation of other Eric's name! So sorry about that! And yes, I think that many times "Marketing" was not privy to discussions between design and the Horsemen so figures would come in with items not always expected. ;-)
I missed out on most of the classics line because i was a kid, only ever got He Man and Skeletor at conventions, but Mer Man has always been one of my favorite MOTU characters since i first saw him in the 200X show and I now currently have both wide release Mer Man origins figures and the Dollar Tree Minifigure. Although I really do dig and appreciate the amount of detail, work and thought that was put into him. Mer Man really got the respect he deserves ^w^
The Orgins Mer-Man is basically a scaled down, cheaper version of the Classics one. He doesn't come with a retro style head, but honestly, who cares, this sculpt based on the comic is amazing. As are the colors, dark aquamarine, gold, and the yellow hands and feet. He is just wonderful now. If you made the call on the Classics one, thanks. A good legacy.
I remember how quickly Mer Man was sold out. It was very nuts, only in 50 minutes. He also was on sale for a second time 2 weeks later than the first edition. He is indeed one of the 10 best MotUC figures ever.
Question from a Mer-Man fan. I liked how you clarified the difference in Beast Man's appearance where his species gets lighter fur as they age, and I was wondering if something similar applies to Mer-Man's different heads? Perhaps his species can adapt their eyes and gills to adjust for different environments, like deep ocean pressure, warm water, cold water, etc? For example, the artwork on the Origins figure cards with the original head shows him in dark water while the art with the new head shows him coming ashore. What say you?
While I don't collect or really have any interest in MOTU I find the inner- workings of the toy industry fascinating so these are really cool. I find it...conerning...how management really didn't understand collectors at all when it comes to the packaging. Did they not know people kept things mint on card? And was that understanding/philosophy just a product of its time where there was such a large disconnect between management and adult collectors because the adult collector marker was still in its infancy?
@@spectorcreative1872 Still I would expect them to have an idea of what the end user wants. Granted that would explain my gripe with Mattel's packaging of their WWE figures being so bland even with online exclusives. Speaking of, what are your thoughts on the WWE×MOTU cross over?
I remember a bunch of friends lamenting how they couldn't be home during the sale on matty collector and the figures would sell out before they got a chance to buy them. So, I, trying to be a nice guy, had my wife order a bunch of Mer-Men to supply those who couldn't take time off work to buy toys. This of course led to people thinking I was scalping the figures (for the cost of shipping) and subsequently, I was giving Mer-Man as a Christmas gift for several years. Looking back, There was no more irrational and whiney (for lack of better term) collector, than those of this line.
The packaging always sucked on the classics line. I've always hated the green bricks. But any packaging vs no packaging was the right call. You get points for that. Mer Man, MAA, and Tri-Klops set the standard for what the line should have always been - adult collector aimed. Vintage inspired but with improvements - extra knives on Tri-Klops, extra details on MAA, an extra head here and there. Sadly, they proved to be the exception and not the new standard. What we ultimately got was very good with splashes of greatness, but it could have been even better than it was. Oh well. Mer Man is still awesome.
Merman was always an absolute favourite BUT I hated him being called Squidish Rex. I think I also hated when I read with much horror that Mermista chopped his head off? am I right? I thought the BIOS should be open ended for our imaginations....BUT as far as a figure goes...wow...love. I have 3.
What's with that vintage Mer-Man at the end with the orange armor? His armor is yellow, is that a variant or am I just losing my marbles? It's hecka cool!
I never understood Mer-Man's head. It looked better when it was redone as Stinkor's head, because it didn't look particularly finny. At least the colors matched Filmation if the overall look didn't.
@@spectorcreative1872 I know. My point was why the original ended up so different from the artwork. It's one of the most drastic changes between card art and toy..
Looks great. Perfect colors. All the classics I've seen so far were done perfectly, you can really see that people care about this. There are fans and then there are motu fans. Feel like I gotta step my game up sheesh. Kinda like the calvin and Hobbes effect, except there was a toyline.
@@spectorcreative1872 well, when i was about 20 years younger, I got pretty decent imitations. I blame Rodney Dangerfield and the show In living color. But Ernest was probably the secret origin. Now? Oh no, too inconsistent to be a thing anymore at all. It's cool when you have am environment and or venue for a talent but when you're in the middle of nowhere you're just a weird thing that makes noise and nobody gets references anymore. I'm not hip, as they say. I Deffinently have a face for radio though!
@@spectorcreative1872 cliff from cheers, that was my best aside from John Wayne. Can confidently say they WERE my best. Ghandi, gracho marks. The Chris farley stuff SO stopped working a long time ago but used to be fire. Oh and bing Crosby, I think that was his name. At one point is read books out loud to work on articulation but that faded away after i finally started some art classes. Dude. Sorry for typing novels. Im in idle rn so I find myself rambling and doodling a lot. Should change my name to rusty, yeesh.
How hard is it for Mattel just swap file got it it's there's just use original don't understand management see id be in board room telling them some history look red cards yours use it Why not use he man's original head Mer man is brilliant it covers his history one figure neck piece clever
It is actually quite hard and requires a lot of graphic work. It isn't just swapping files and MOTUC had very little resources for this type of thing. We had to make due
I know I'm in the minority... but I always hated the 'cardback' head. It just looks goofy and dopey. Pirannha head just looks creepy and scary and more in line with evil ocean Warlord Cardback head looks like stupid stooge who gets backhanded by skeletor on a regular basis.
