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Quote:

Originally Posted by Sean C

What He-Man/MOTU lines have been popular with kids? The last really kid-aimed line was in 2002 or so, fizzled out after a couple of years, faring worse than Hasbro 2000 GI JOE relaunches (movie tie-ins aside). All these vinyls and stuff aren't kid aimed, the closest thing is the Mega-Brands stuff. Next year we'll see if MOTU figures can make it in mass retail.

MOTU has supported more fan aimed lines in the last 10 years, and yes, there's a lot of MOTU international fans, but that's also in part due to Hasbro's we-don't-give-crap attitude toward GI JOE, letting it fizzle out after a few so-so Toys R Us exclusives, and letting some incompetent fan club make overpriced 4" figures until their license ended.

Scale is important to ARAH fans, which is why jumbo 12" 80's GI JOE figures weren't a success. At that size they immediately lost interest of an already limited number of die hard 80's Joe fans. There's a basic joke in the GI JOE collecting community, "they'll make anything but what we actually want."

I'm probably arguing minutiae...but I don't see MOTU as any more viable than GI JOE, as in a retro GI JOE line. A modern realistic line probably wouldn't go anywhere. If there were a market for that, then BBI's Elite Force stuff would get more mass releases.

The 2002-3 MOTU line lasted a few years, and was FULL of figures, and was quite popular. Kids were asking for it years after it "fizzled out". He-Man went on Qubo and the characters saw renewed interest. I know lots of people who bought the Classics figures for their 8 year olds. That series lasted years. At stores that sold "vintage toys" the He-Man stuff cycled much faster than shelfwarming GI joe stuff. Local stores that sell the Super7 Vintage-style He-Man stuff sell through pretty well, too.

The movie GI Joe stuff didn't do well. The first movie did mediocre. The retro exclusives box sets did well, but distribution to TRU stores was crap (similar to Masterpiece & G1 reissue transformers). The second film merchandise came and went clearance within a week. I'm not exaggerating. The movie was a summer release, but the toys came out in like March/April and were off shelves before the film even released.

MOTU has maintained an appearance in pop culture circles non-stop. GI Joe has all but disappeared. MOTU is better positioned for a resurgence. You go to Hot Topic and there are several MOTU shirts. There are tons of the vinyl figures, and little collectibles, the Mega Construx line, and other "hint hint nudge nudge" stuff.

Don't get me wrong, I would love a resurgence of GI Joe, but I just think it's a harder sell to the American Parent (the #1 toy buyer) than anything else.