Super7 offered insight into their upcoming Masters of the Universe Classics, ReAction, M.U.S.C.L.E. mini-figures, and more at New York Comic Con.
Few toy booths had as many unanswered questions going in to New York Comic Con as Super7. The designer toymakers-cum-pop culture giants had announced just a few months ago that they were inheriting the Masters of the Universe property from Mattel, and would be releasing everything from M.U.S.C.L.E.-style minis, to new additions to the vintage 80’s line, and– arguably most importantly– continuing the current Masters of the Universe Classics line, in conjunction with the Four Horsemen.
But that was far from the extent of Super7’s display at NYCC. They also spotlighted the upcoming Street Fighter 2 ReAction figures, a new wave of Alien-themed M.U.S.C.L.E. minis, and The Worst, their retro themed line of all new villain characters designed in house, inspired by the simple truism “Bad guys are always the coolest.”
In terms of MOTUC and the other Four Horsemen collaborations in the works such as Thundercats, Super7 didn’t have too much new information to share. What they did feature was a new wave of Masters of the Universe Classics “Ultimate Edition” figures, using existing tooling from Mattel and refreshed decos to re-release some of the line’s most integral core characters, such as He-Man, Skeletor, Tee-La, and Ram Man. In addition to the clever new paint apps (Ram Man’s refreshed pallet is based on his vintage mini-comics appearance), the big draw of this wave is the inclusion of ALL alternate accessories– from variant heads to extra weapons and more swappable pieces– most of which have been out of production in Mattel’s MOTUC line for a few years now.
This serves as a nice way to welcome new collectors, who may have missed out on the original releases, to the fold, while providing enough added value to make the reissues worthwhile re-purchases for MOTU diehards. It’s a smart strategy, especially when paired with the future releases of new FilMation and toy line-inspired figures to the collection in 2017.
The other big elephant in the room (or booth, I suppose) was Thundercats Classics. Mattel made a big deal about the toy line in advance of its 2016 subscription, but since that closed we’ve heard no definitive status on the future of the line beyond the handful of releases Mattel committed to for the rest of this year’s sub. We still don’t have concrete confirmation that the line will continue, but Super7 said they are still very actively involved in the process of picking up where Mattel left off. This is a smaller fanbase than MOTU overall, but the core team of Thundercats and Mumm-Ra’s Mutants could easily be tackled in a single year’s worth of figures… so I’m hopeful we’ll see at least a few new figures to round out the collection from Super7 sometime in the near future.
That leads to the other big question– how will Super7 release their new figures? The Ultimate assortment will be released as a single wave, available as a group or individually, and the intent is to make them readily available for the forseeable future, as they compose the core team of main characters from the franchise. Super7 is still trying to consider whether to offer future, all-new figures in a similar wave format, or follow Matty Collector’s lead and offer them through a subscription service.
We’ll continue to follow any news out of Super7 in this regard with great interest. In the meantime, the big takeaway from their showcase at NYCC was that Masters Classics will definitely continue with all new releases in 2017, and odds are very good Thundercats will carry on as well. The pricing per figure should remain in the same ballpark as Matty Collector’s price tags, which made me breathe another huge sigh of relief.
Super7’s approach to MOTU has already proven more insightful and well-planned than anything we’ve seen from Mattel, so it’s virtually impossible to consider this transition anything but good news. I’m intrigued to see what Super7 and the Horsemen come up with for future additions to the beloved collector’s line… and in the meantime, Super7 is offering a bunch of other great properties in a variety of formats, proving they’re more than up to the task of connecting with people across the broader geek spectrum.
Check out photos from Super7’s booth at NYCC below:
