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You have to revisit New Eternia. That is truly not the case anymore except for the He-Man head sculpts. You got me with those. 🤪
Agreed.
The 40th Anniversary He-Man head sculpt is decent... but all others are nightmarish.
Despite that, I think the figures and sculpts are great (minus the godawful thigh cuts!!! 😡 )
>>>The Power of the Good and the Way of the Magic!<<<
Yes... Mondo was a subsidiary of Alamo Drafthouse until they were acquired by Funko. This took place in 2022 - the same year that She-Ra was revealed / released, and subsequently the same time that Mondo decided to double their prices.
I can't help but feel that if Mondo stayed at reasonable price points, the company as a whole wouldn't be in financial straights. If push comes to shove, Funko may decide to cut their losses and dissolve the Mondo team... I mean, their products have to cost a heckuva lot more to plan, create, paint, package, and ship than something like a Funko POP.
Either way, if you look at it from an outsiders point of view, the Mondo figures are abnormally overpriced for what they are: big, plastic toys. (Hot Toys have infinitely better sculpts, full cloth goods outfits, 100% unique sculpts, and ridiculous amounts of accessories - and they are on the same pricing scale.)
Now, don't get me wrong... I have almost every Mondo MOTU made to this point (missing a few like the new Scare Glow, Trap Jaw, Beast man, and Revelation Skeletor) with Evil-Lyn and Goddesss on order, but that just makes me a part of the problem.
I heard the RGB excuse when the figures were revealed at SDCC and it still doesn't sit well with me. I can't imagine that Hasbro had to pay the same amount to license the characters from Columbia / Sony... so why Mondo? And if Mondo had to acquire the license through Hasbro, it still doesn't jive because Hasbro is allowing Super 7 to use their TF and G.I. Joe IPs and I'd bet they didn't ask for huge amounts of money to do so.
Admittedly, I am no expert on licensing... but, it sounds like Mondo was looking for a quick excuse to charge $120 for a 6 inch action figure (and, in doing so, set a new standard for the industry that hurts the consumer.)
Funko acquiring Mondo from Alamo Drafthouse was more so because Alamo Drafthouse was under dire straights and going under. Not Mondo. I can't see how you think that Mondo currently is having financial issues considering that they're rapidly expanding their 1/6 figure offerings and up until the recent tariff situation all of their 1/6 scale figures have flown off the shelves (barring He-Man, Teela and Skeletor left overs) prices be damned. A majority of their soft vinyl is in the same boat and their vinyl records also sell out pretty quickly too. If Funko was purchasing a sinking ship I don't think they would've allowed them to expand their figure and vinyl offerings so heavily, especially into small franchises like Scott Pilgrim. Now due to tariffs I think they certainly could be in danger of having financial issues in the near future if they don't play their cards right. A company that is having issues doesn't ramp up production of their offerings which is exactly what's been happening since Funko acquired them
@mighty-thanos I took another honest look at the New Eternia line again today. Here are the figures that I like the sculpts on in no particular order:
- Beast-Man
- Zodac
- Stratos
- Buzz-Off
- Clawful
- Snout Spout
- Trap-Jaw
- Sy-Klone
- Ninjor (probably the best he's ever looked, borderline Mondo-fied)
- Potentially Webstor (he looks 200x but they didn't go in on it enough IMO)
The other figures are only okay looking or there are aspects that are holding them back. For example, Whiplash is pretty cool, but his face sculpt is just awful. Roboto is another that has a lot of unrealized potential. Man-E-Faces on the other hand is just completely abysmal in this line. I think Panthor is walking the same path as Man-E-Faces as well.
Despite some of the cool sculpts, the paint apps just look so cheap. Zodac has an amazing bulky look, but the paint is so dull and drab (maybe I'd feel different with a figure in-hand). Looking at my Mondo Skeletor on my desk right now I keep on thinking how much better Zodac's red armor could look with some sheen or highlighting. I don't think that Masterverse should be pumping out $100 plus figures, but they could easily increase the price on each figure by another $10-20 and give them some better paint. The paint apps applied to the MOTUC line is much better on average than anything Masterverse has produced. I get that its nit-picky, but if I'm going to be picking up the same characters for the umpteenth time they need to juice them up a little bit. On paper the New Eternia line should have me beyond pumped (and I was before I seen the first wave), but the reality is that when I look at these figures I constantly think about what could've been.
Look at the paint job on the Mondo Man-E-Faces here its absolutely stunning. This is what I'm looking for in my collecting these days. If Mattel could even paint something half as well I'd be forking them over money hand and fist.
@admin Mondo showed off the full photos for Man-E-Faces today. He looks incredible. Again, the best he's ever looked IMO. They also dumped that yellow cape from the figure too which I'm not too sure about. I don't think I'd ever use the cape, but if they were going to drop something I would've preferred that it be his "little buddy" figure instead. The fabric is cheaper than the plastic at this point.
Mondo priced me out….
Usually, I am in on their MOTU stuff, but with tariff, tax, and removing free shipping, I just can’t rationalize the cost for a figure.
…and I was stretching my rationale before these changes. 😀
>>>The Power of the Good and the Way of the Magic!<<<
@mighty-thanos I took another honest look at the New Eternia line again today. Here are the figures that I like the sculpts on in no particular order:
- Beast-Man
- Zodac
- Stratos
- Buzz-Off
- Clawful
- Snout Spout
- Trap-Jaw
- Sy-Klone
- Ninjor (probably the best he's ever looked, borderline Mondo-fied)
- Potentially Webstor (he looks 200x but they didn't go in on it enough IMO)
The other figures are only okay looking or there are aspects that are holding them back. For example, Whiplash is pretty cool, but his face sculpt is just awful. Roboto is another that has a lot of unrealized potential. Man-E-Faces on the other hand is just completely abysmal in this line. I think Panthor is walking the same path as Man-E-Faces as well.
Despite some of the cool sculpts, the paint apps just look so cheap. Zodac has an amazing bulky look, but the paint is so dull and drab (maybe I'd feel different with a figure in-hand). Looking at my Mondo Skeletor on my desk right now I keep on thinking how much better Zodac's red armor could look with some sheen or highlighting. I don't think that Masterverse should be pumping out $100 plus figures, but they could easily increase the price on each figure by another $10-20 and give them some better paint. The paint apps applied to the MOTUC line is much better on average than anything Masterverse has produced. I get that its nit-picky, but if I'm going to be picking up the same characters for the umpteenth time they need to juice them up a little bit. On paper the New Eternia line should have me beyond pumped (and I was before I seen the first wave), but the reality is that when I look at these figures I constantly think about what could've been.
Look at the paint job on the Mondo Man-E-Faces here its absolutely stunning. This is what I'm looking for in my collecting these days. If Mattel could even paint something half as well I'd be forking them over money hand and fist.
@admin Mondo showed off the full photos for Man-E-Faces today. He looks incredible. Again, the best he's ever looked IMO. They also dumped that yellow cape from the figure too which I'm not too sure about. I don't think I'd ever use the cape, but if they were going to drop something I would've preferred that it be his "little buddy" figure instead. The fabric is cheaper than the plastic at this point.
When you said the paint apps applied to the MOTUC line is much better on average than anything Masterverse has produced, my BS detector went off. One close in hand look at the New Eternia Evil-Lyn and Mer-Man dispels that. The early New Eternia figure paint apps I'll give you. Zodac is lackluster
I guess they finally priced me out. Ive went back and forth all week about MEF, yes the tariff stinks, but $32 for shipping? They can shove it. After taxes, tarriff, shipping, $260 figure (which is over priced as is) turns into $340.
Ill wait it out and see if they offer a basic version, with less stuff probably for $5 cheaper. Or if they do a vintage version.
They need to stop with all the extra crap that comes with these figures, its just too much crap you cant use. Paying for crap to sit in storage.
I have a feeling they are losing lots of sales with removing free shipping and adding tariff fees. These were a bit overpriced already.
The fact that limited edition Beastman is still available is quite telling. Normally, limited edition MOTU sells out FAST.
Man-E-Faces looks neat, but I can’t spend that much on a figure.
Who knows? Maybe the key to Motu's future success lies in their upcoming 200X line. If that were to be verified, it could have a more positive impact on their propensity to raise prices. After all, the more customers, the better it is for everyone.
Who knows? Maybe the key to Motu's future success lies in their upcoming 200X line. If that were to be verified, it could have a more positive impact on their propensity to raise prices. After all, the more customers, the better it is for everyone.
However, the more customers who are willing to pay out the nose for toys, the worse it could be for everyone. This is because a new bar will be set for all companies to raise prices without warrant... because they know the fans will pay.
>>>The Power of the Good and the Way of the Magic!<<<
@ornclown Well, I wouldn't describe that as fair or ethical selling logic. In my opinion, adopting an iron fist approach can seriously damage a business in the short term. Sadly, however, this unfortunate practice is not uncommon. Take the Ultimates Thundercats Sky Cutter, for example, which currently has a pre-order price of $185 despite requiring much less plastic than the Mandora Electro Charger, which costs $150. Not to mention that the Sky Cutter is much more popular. Anyway! I suppose the tariffs, along with other unpleasant factors, make the maths irrevocable. I miss the Mattycollector days, when the economic situation was more favourable and manufacturers were much less greedy. Remember the MOTUC Point Dread/Talon Fighter combo? $125! We got a lot for our money!
@grayskullguardsman The Limited Edition Beast-Man figure is finally listed as sold out now. Same for the Carnage figure. While it did take significantly longer to sell out (typically limited MOTU sells out in less than a couple hours) it did sell out eventually. Which is a positive. I was worried that it wasn't going to sell, but hopefully it will signal to Mondo to cut out the retooled Exclusive figures and stick to brand new characters. As we've all seen with 200x variants can torpedo a line (current economic status notwithstanding). There was no Toy Talk for Man-E-Faces, but hopefully he sold pretty well too. Luckily, I don't have to pay for the tariffs, but the shipping charges definitely suck, especially considering I need to pay an exchange rate on the figures as well.
@mighty-thanos I took a look at my MOTUC Mer-Man. I honestly like him a LOT better than this New Eternia version. I do enjoy the metallic paintjobs on the New Eternia Mer-Man, but the skin does lack some detail. There is a lot of washes in the MOTUC version that really makes Mer-Man's skin and sculpt detail pop-out. Again this is my personal opinion on the Masterverse figures. Not trying to BS anyone into not liking the line.
I'm curious to see what SDCC will bring. I'm thinking that it will herald He-Man and Clawful from 200x. I wouldn't be surprised if they had an exclusive King Grayskull figure at the show for the new line. However, that could easily come during Power-Con (if its happening this year). She-Ra and Swift Wind will be released in the Fall and will likely be the last 1/6 release for this year now (at least I hope so).
@mighty-thanos I took a look at my MOTUC Mer-Man. I honestly like him a LOT better than this New Eternia version. I do enjoy the metallic paintjobs on the New Eternia Mer-Man, but the skin does lack some detail. There is a lot of washes in the MOTUC version that really makes Mer-Man's skin and sculpt detail pop-out. Again this is my personal opinion on the Masterverse figures. Not trying to BS anyone into not liking the line.
Agreed. I don't mind the New Eternia Mer-Man, but to me the MOTUC version is better.
WANTED IN MASTERVERSE:
'87 Movie Man-At-Arms, '87 Movie Skeletor Trooper, '87 Movie Teela, New Eternia Masks of Power Demons, New Eternia Queen Marlena (White Space Outfit).
WANTED IN MONDO 200X 1/12 SCALE:
Disco Skeletor, King Miro, Count Marzo, Kex Queen, Ambrosia Webstor, King Grayskull and many, many more.
@ornclown Well, I wouldn't describe that as fair or ethical selling logic. In my opinion, adopting an iron fist approach can seriously damage a business in the short term. Sadly, however, this unfortunate practice is not uncommon. Take the Ultimates Thundercats Sky Cutter, for example, which currently has a pre-order price of $185 despite requiring much less plastic than the Mandora Electro Charger, which costs $150. Not to mention that the Sky Cutter is much more popular. Anyway! I suppose the tariffs, along with other unpleasant factors, make the maths irrevocable. I miss the Mattycollector days, when the economic situation was more favourable and manufacturers were much less greedy. Remember the MOTUC Point Dread/Talon Fighter combo? $125! We got a lot for our money!
Agreed.
The Super7 logic is impossible to explain without mentioning greed.
The Sky Cutter is a rectangular piece of hollow plastic. It should not come anywhere near their asking price. I truly hope Mattel makes a Sky Cutter in the MOTU x TC line and charges a fraction of the price.... just to spite Super7.
>>>The Power of the Good and the Way of the Magic!<<<
@mighty-thanos I took a look at my MOTUC Mer-Man. I honestly like him a LOT better than this New Eternia version. I do enjoy the metallic paintjobs on the New Eternia Mer-Man, but the skin does lack some detail. There is a lot of washes in the MOTUC version that really makes Mer-Man's skin and sculpt detail pop-out. Again this is my personal opinion on the Masterverse figures. Not trying to BS anyone into not liking the line
Were you impressed at all with NE Evil-Lyn?
@mighty-thanos I took a look at my MOTUC Mer-Man. I honestly like him a LOT better than this New Eternia version. I do enjoy the metallic paintjobs on the New Eternia Mer-Man, but the skin does lack some detail. There is a lot of washes in the MOTUC version that really makes Mer-Man's skin and sculpt detail pop-out. Again this is my personal opinion on the Masterverse figures. Not trying to BS anyone into not liking the line
Were you impressed at all with NE Evil-Lyn?
I think the overall sculpt and the face sculpt especially on the NE Evil-Lyn is fantastic. However, I think that the paint apps on some of her armor is too homogenous. For reference, Amazon has her listed for $40 CAD. So its probably $30ish USD. I would much prefer if Mattel was selling the NE figures for like $70-90 CAD. Many of the figures would be top tier if they were able to have more paint apps on them. I'm not expecting Mondo levels of paint detail, but they can do more than they're doing for not that much more cost. On Evil-Lyn for example I would've loved if they were to give her a wired cape and have more paint apps on her loincloth piece and her bracelets and staff especially. Overall, I'd give her a solid 7 or 8/10. Definitely a quality figure in the line.
Many of my gripes with the NE figures would probably be solved if Mattel simply put more into the figures and subsequently charged the consumer more per figure. Additionally, the other big issue I have with the NE figures is the consistency. Comparing the NE Evil-Lyn face to the NE Teela face is NIGHT AND DAY. I have no idea what the hell they were thinking when they saw the face sculpt for Teela, but its awful. Compare her to Hordak and Khobra Khan and its like she was designed by a blind man.
The latest Mondo Toy Talk episode reveals their intention to unveil the unpainted prototype of the 200X Skeletor figure. I'm hoping that they'll also announce the final price for each of these figures that are yet to be produced.
The latest Mondo Toy Talk episode reveals their intention to unveil the unpainted prototype of the 200X Skeletor figure. I'm hoping that they'll also announce the final price for each of these figures that are yet to be produced.
Clawful is going to be there painted as well. That little goldfish creature Hector was holding up before he held up Skeletor's unpainted Havoc Staff is from the 200x series. My assumption is that the figures are going to be ranging from $80-120 USD. He-Man is going to be less expensive than Clawful for sure. He's going to have a bigger buck and probably be sitting between 8-9 inches similar to how the 1/6 Beast-Man is between 13-14 inches. Hector also mentioned that they think the 200x Skeletor rendition is the best Skeletor that's ever been produced in figure form. Excited to see what he looks like.
Additionally, I watched the previous Toy Talk as the second half of it was discussing the Man-E-Faces figure. I guess he took two weeks to paint and the engineering/sculpting process took 30 days of working 8 hours plus per day to complete. Not including the concepting phases done by Emiliano.
I know that price has been the topic of conversation surrounding these figures for the last several months, but after doing some research I'm thinking that these figures are actually pretty fairly priced in the market. Some things to consider below:
- Mondo line started around 2015ish I believe. So basically 10 years ago now. Back then the figures were definitely cheaper ($160-$195), but I would argue that back then their designs weren't nearly as good as they are now and we got significantly less accessories. Therefore, they needed less development time than they do now. The original Skeletor and He-Man combined probably needed less development time then the Man-E-Faces figure. In 2015 the average price point of a Hot Toy figure was about $200-$250. So Mondo cost less than a Hot Toy
- Today the average Mondo MOTU figure is sitting at a price point of $250. Obviously, much more than 10 years ago, but everything is more expensive than it was 10 years ago. Design-wise the figures have increased in quality as well. Today the average 1/6 Hot Toy usually sells between $250-$450 USD. With some figures selling upwards of $700 USD
- A common point that is made regarding the Hot Toy's is that they have better paint details, all fabric/faux leather clothing and the joints are all completely hidden within the figure. Mondo has done similar figures in the low $200 price point for Meghan and The Thing so they do have capability of doing this
- I'm not sure how successful this would be for MOTU. A majority of the MOTU characters are mostly naked looking at the Hot Toys figures almost all of them are covered in cloth clothing or skin suits of some kind (Venom/Spider-Man). Not only does this make it easier to hide the joints, but since most of the characters are standard humanoids with similar builds there is a lot of basic buck reuse. Most of the budget is going into the accessories. For example, Beast-Man or Buzz-Off can't ever really be reused for another character. Looking at my 1/6 Skeletor I don't think he'd look nearly as good if his chest piece was made out of faux leather and fabric as opposed to the plastic that he has now
- Regarding the hyper-realism of Hot Toys, I also question how popular the Mondo MOTU figures would be if they were designed with that style in mind. They look like MOTU characters are expected to look. Their design choices seem entirely purposeful and are a large reason why the line has blown up over the past few years as opposed to the earlier renditions
- Hot Toys seems to be mostly comprised of DC, Marvel and Star Wars characters along with the odd one-off here and there. The market for these brands is much, much larger than the market for MOTU. Let alone the market for premium priced MOTU product
I think that Mondo would still turn a profit on these figures and the quality wouldn't suffer if they were to charge $200-$220 dollars per figure. So maybe they're overcharging by a small margin. But the average net profit of toy lines is usually somewhere between 10-20%. To think that Mondo is netting above this on their 1/6 scale offerings would be an unreasonable assumption. Obviously, having to pay for shipping and tariff's now on top of the price point might make these figures fall out of peoples budgets, but I think its reasonable to assume that Hot Toy buyers are experiencing the same crunch that Mondo currently is as well. I don't think that Mondo would be able to produce Buzz-Off and Man-E-Faces at the same level and sell the figures for $150. Pricing something lower doesn't automatically result in more people buying your product. Overall, just some food for thought to consider regarding the line.
The latest Mondo Toy Talk episode reveals their intention to unveil the unpainted prototype of the 200X Skeletor figure. I'm hoping that they'll also announce the final price for each of these figures that are yet to be produced.
I would hope that the prices for the MYP MOTU figures is consistent with Mondo's RGB line... meaning they will be around $101USD.
However, Mondo has consistently surprised me with their constant price increases on each new reveal, so who actually knows what they will be?
>>>The Power of the Good and the Way of the Magic!<<<
I think the overall sculpt and the face sculpt especially on the NE Evil-Lyn is fantastic. However, I think that the paint apps on some of her armor is too homogenous. For reference, Amazon has her listed for $40 CAD. So its probably $30ish USD. I would much prefer if Mattel was selling the NE figures for like $70-90 CAD. Many of the figures would be top tier if they were able to have more paint apps on them. I'm not expecting Mondo levels of paint detail, but they can do more than they're doing for not that much more cost. On Evil-Lyn for example I would've loved if they were to give her a wired cape and have more paint apps on her loincloth piece and her bracelets and staff especially. Overall, I'd give her a solid 7 or 8/10. Definitely a quality figure in the line.
She is $23 on BBTS.
To me a 7 is too low. The New Eternia Evil-Lyn is objectively the best 6.5 incher of Lyn so far.
I think the overall sculpt and the face sculpt especially on the NE Evil-Lyn is fantastic. However, I think that the paint apps on some of her armor is too homogenous. For reference, Amazon has her listed for $40 CAD. So its probably $30ish USD. I would much prefer if Mattel was selling the NE figures for like $70-90 CAD. Many of the figures would be top tier if they were able to have more paint apps on them. I'm not expecting Mondo levels of paint detail, but they can do more than they're doing for not that much more cost. On Evil-Lyn for example I would've loved if they were to give her a wired cape and have more paint apps on her loincloth piece and her bracelets and staff especially. Overall, I'd give her a solid 7 or 8/10. Definitely a quality figure in the line.
She is $23 on BBTS.
To me a 7 is too low. The New Eternia Evil-Lyn is objectively the best 6.5 incher of Lyn so far.
Alright, so probably like $35ish CAD by the time the conversion comes through and shipping is paid. I still wish Mattel was charging more for these figures though. Going from $23 USD to like $60 USD wouldn't be a huge increase considering each NE wave is usually only consisting of 3 figures these days and it would result in more detail being allotted to each figure. Admittedly, I've never been a big fan of blue Evil-Lyn. Growing up with 200x I've always preferred the purple scheme on her.
I compared this version with the ones from MOTUC and on a second look I would agree that this is the best Evil-Lyn has ever looked in this scale. If they took her head sculpt and put it on a 200x clothing styled figure she'd probably be the perfect Evil-Lyn. I'm feeling the same way about the NE Kobra Khan figure as well the more I look at him.
That She-ra and Swiftwind are amazing. I cant wait for them to put it out for preorder, to add to the growing list of stuff they cant get out.