Motu 200X “The Lost Year”
For the past few weeks I’ve been researching the 2002 Masters of the Universe toy line and what was in store for it. Unless new information arises, here is a final summary of my findings:
In November of 2003, when asked about what toys could be expected after Christmas, Brad Woods (Jeremy Padawer’s successor) responded with
“New characters that will appear are (most you have already seen pictures): Snake Armor He-Man, Claw Attack Stratos, a new Orko and a new Ram Man.”
Though the next (and final) wave did indeed include the first three figures mentioned, the Ram Man variant has never been seen, and with the then-imminent cancellation of the line it is unknown if this figure was scrapped or simply delayed.
At SDCC 2004, fully sculpted prototypes for figures of Clawful, Stinkor, Tung Lashor, The Sorceress, Clamp Champ, Snout Spout, and Hordak were shown. The four horsemen also mentioned they had “about a half dozen” other prototypes fully sculpted. One of these was later confirmed to be Snake Face. Another spot is likely to be Webstor.
The Spring wave (March 04) would have featured Tung Lashor and Snake Face. There would have been more than those two but those were the only ones that were certain.
Clawful, Webstor, and Stinkor all would have been in the same wave. They were intended to be released in November 2003, but the schedule was changed to get the Snake toys on shelves before Christmas. It was stated that these three would be released in the summer, yet it’s unclear if this means May/June 04 or August 04.
The August 2004 wave (known as Fall 1 by Mattel) would have included Clamp Champ, Snout Spout, a Kulatak, Snake Buster He-Man, and the long awaited Wind Raider vehicle.
Snout Spout, Clamp Champ, and Stinkor all would have had water shooting functions included in their figures. (Snake Blaster He-Man might have been able to shoot water as well, though this is only a theory.)
In July of 2003 Jeremy Padawer stated
“You should start seeing new series specific figures in 2004. Marzo is a great candidate for a mid to late 04 introduction. I can't make a promise, but it's something we need to look into further.”
This, as well as the inclusion of the Kulatak figure means that characters who appeared in the MYP series were on the table, even if they did not get a figure in the original line.
Also in July 2003, Jeremy wrote “Yes, in 2003 we will issue the 1st evil lyn deco. In 2004 we will issue her second deco. Teela will also be re-released in new deco….” Whether this meant new variants for Teela and Evil-Lyn or simply repaints is unknown. Jeremy later referred to the “Disco Skeletor” repaint as a re-deco, so it seems repaints were slightly more likely.
In January 2003, a design for a toy called “Multi-Bot” was submitted to Mattel for review, but had no resemblance to the original figure. Instead, this item was a large robot that was built out of various weapons, and could be disassembled into a weapon pack of sorts.
King Randor was never planned to have a regular figure released because Mattel didn’t think he would sell well with kids.
On August 29 2003, Mattel was asked about a Snake Mountain Playset. Their response was: “It's planned, but there's no release date yet.” Additionally, in the final “What the Fans Want to Know” which took place after the line had been confirmed cancelled, Mattel stated “Snake Mountain didn't get beyond mere conversations. The Wind Raider was modeled. Photos of this model are unfortunately not for the public.”
No product list was created for 2005, though there were vague ideas. Namely, this would have been the year of Horde Figures and we would have seen the color of the packaging change accordingly.
A “Horde Buster He-Man” figure was fully sculpted and includes a large shield that has wings that could pop out. This was not the main armor He-Man would have worn in season 3.
This information comes from the “What the Fans Want to Know” interviews, Planet Eternia articles from the early 2000s, the Four Horsemen message boards of the mid 2000s, Power-Con panels, and Eric Mayse himself. As always, if you see anything that needs to be added please comment.
For the past few weeks I’ve been researching the 2002 Masters of the Universe toy line and what was in store for it. Unless new information arises, here is a final summary of my findings:
In November of 2003, when asked about what toys could be expected after Christmas, Brad Woods (Jeremy Padawer’s successor) responded with
“New characters that will appear are (most you have already seen pictures): Snake Armor He-Man, Claw Attack Stratos, a new Orko and a new Ram Man.”
Though the next (and final) wave did indeed include the first three figures mentioned, the Ram Man variant has never been seen, and with the then-imminent cancellation of the line it is unknown if this figure was scrapped or simply delayed.
At SDCC 2004, fully sculpted prototypes for figures of Clawful, Stinkor, Tung Lashor, The Sorceress, Clamp Champ, Snout Spout, and Hordak were shown. The four horsemen also mentioned they had “about a half dozen” other prototypes fully sculpted. One of these was later confirmed to be Snake Face. Another spot is likely to be Webstor.
The Spring wave (March 04) would have featured Tung Lashor and Snake Face. There would have been more than those two but those were the only ones that were certain.
Clawful, Webstor, and Stinkor all would have been in the same wave. They were intended to be released in November 2003, but the schedule was changed to get the Snake toys on shelves before Christmas. It was stated that these three would be released in the summer, yet it’s unclear if this means May/June 04 or August 04.
The August 2004 wave (known as Fall 1 by Mattel) would have included Clamp Champ, Snout Spout, a Kulatak, Snake Buster He-Man, and the long awaited Wind Raider vehicle.
Snout Spout, Clamp Champ, and Stinkor all would have had water shooting functions included in their figures. (Snake Blaster He-Man might have been able to shoot water as well, though this is only a theory.)
In July of 2003 Jeremy Padawer stated
“You should start seeing new series specific figures in 2004. Marzo is a great candidate for a mid to late 04 introduction. I can't make a promise, but it's something we need to look into further.”
This, as well as the inclusion of the Kulatak figure means that characters who appeared in the MYP series were on the table, even if they did not get a figure in the original line.
Also in July 2003, Jeremy wrote “Yes, in 2003 we will issue the 1st evil lyn deco. In 2004 we will issue her second deco. Teela will also be re-released in new deco….” Whether this meant new variants for Teela and Evil-Lyn or simply repaints is unknown. Jeremy later referred to the “Disco Skeletor” repaint as a re-deco, so it seems repaints were slightly more likely.
In January 2003, a design for a toy called “Multi-Bot” was submitted to Mattel for review, but had no resemblance to the original figure. Instead, this item was a large robot that was built out of various weapons, and could be disassembled into a weapon pack of sorts.
King Randor was never planned to have a regular figure released because Mattel didn’t think he would sell well with kids.
On August 29 2003, Mattel was asked about a Snake Mountain Playset. Their response was: “It's planned, but there's no release date yet.” Additionally, in the final “What the Fans Want to Know” which took place after the line had been confirmed cancelled, Mattel stated “Snake Mountain didn't get beyond mere conversations. The Wind Raider was modeled. Photos of this model are unfortunately not for the public.”
No product list was created for 2005, though there were vague ideas. Namely, this would have been the year of Horde Figures and we would have seen the color of the packaging change accordingly.
A “Horde Buster He-Man” figure was fully sculpted and includes a large shield that has wings that could pop out. This was not the main armor He-Man would have worn in season 3.
This information comes from the “What the Fans Want to Know” interviews, Planet Eternia articles from the early 2000s, the Four Horsemen message boards of the mid 2000s, Power-Con panels, and Eric Mayse himself. As always, if you see anything that needs to be added please comment.