MOTU Stagnation...

Wait what? Yes, you read correctly, MOTU stagnation... Before I start I must issue a warning!
This rant could be considered offensive to some people because it involves support to Princess of Power AND New Adventures; not to mention that some of the vintage only fans will find some expressions offensive. While I'm not against people choosing the original line as their favorite branch of MOTU; I'll be referring to those who HATE POP and/or NA and will NEVER give that branch of MOTU a chance EVER... Or in the most ridiculous cases They act as if having a PoP character would give them a case of "teh gays"... Again, "teh gays" is not a real disease. Sexual orientation cannot be defined by action figures, dolls or videogames.

While in the 80s the POP dolls, were, well dolls; the MOTUC POP Toys are ACTION FIGURES.
The NA Toys were Wimpy looking compared to the Roid-Rage MOTU toys... The MOTUC NA Figures Look JUST LIKE MOTUC Figures from the vintage era done in classics style... (With most of the mutants sharing legs with Trap Jaw...)

The Beef I have with some sectors of the MOTU fandom is their inability to understand that this toyline is MEANT TO BE ALL ERAS UNDER ONE UMBRELLA... Not Vintage MOTU 2.0, which is what they want. I mean, seriously, they are bitching about Hydron being a part of the line and that they should have added more vintage... WHAT MORE VINTAGE FIGURES!? We've got about 12-16 figures left from each Era... and NA isn't going to get many characters aside Flogg, NA Skeletor, Hydron and maybe 1 more Galactic Protector. Guys like Kayo, Nocturna have been put in the back burner... (which is a shame).

What does this have to do with stagnation? It's quite simple. The Radical Vintage Purists have a very myopic approach to MOTU. Just the vintage figures (and usually it's just waves 1 & 2). Nothing else exists for them... No, She-Ra, New Adventures, etc... This loud segment of the fandom is part of what is holding this brand back! (the other part is Mattel, but that's another rant for another time)

Their inflexibility to understand that we're all in this together, baffles me. Classics is a line that covers all eras, but unified in a style that makes all figures cohesive. Bow is no longer wimpy, neither is Flipshot. Not to mention that Mattel has catered a bit too much to the Vintage era fans... and I've ranted already about that... Their inflexibility to accept the other branches makes the universe part of Masters of the Universe feel rather small.

NA doesn't fit with MOTU, you say... Syklone, Man-e-Faces, Rio Blast, Blast Attack, Saurod, Blade, Mantenna, Leech, Mosquitor, just to name a few figures are vintage MOTU, but could work well with New Adventures, had they been made for that line instead of Vintage MOTU. Heck, Bow, She-Ra, Frosta, Catra, Entrapta could have worked as Vintage MOTU characters. Their clothes would have worked well and fit the vintage line. (Catra would have gotten a clawing action figure like Terror Claws Skeletor. She-Ra would have gotten the same Twist Waist then punch feature the Teela and Evil Lyn had... which makes little sense with Evil Lyn since she's supposed to be a witch.

But SOME can't seem to look beyond the shimmery dresses and rooted hair. Mattel is partly to blame for this. Marketing the 80s toyline made the POP toys extra girly... (I've already ranted about that too!)
A Mermaid, a Dryad, An Angel, A Cryomancer, a Huntress, a super human Dancer that can generate tornados, a Spy, a Fairy-esque being, an Alien Humanoid with Bee attributes, a Wizard, an Oracle, a Light Manipulator, and A Demi-Goddess do not fit with a line with a Sorceress, a Demi-God, a Telescoping scout, an elephant Firefighter, a Plant Elemental, a Flying Monkey, a Top Cyborg, a partial shape-shifter, and a stretching knight? PoP has more classic fantasy characters than MOTU... which got really weird on those last waves, ditching the barbarian stuff and going towards sci-fi.

That's without mentioning their backstory. A group of Queens, Princesses and other women who had to "man-up" due to the evil alien invaders iron grip in their whole world. Not only that but they were able to regain control on SOME parts of their world! Unlike on Eternia, where He-Man fights to keep the Status quo; She-Ra is fighting for Liberation AND Redemption! Not to mention how that helps show how dangerous the evil Horde is.

It's the frou frou Girly elements that turn these guys off? Well, Classics is using the less "Doll Clothing" from the Filmation cartoon, but that's too Underdetailed? That argument is usually a distraction... The real issue is usually, I don't want non-vintage stuff! With POP no matter how many redesigns, or showcase their backstory, they'll deny it's importance and call it crap... or slime, or whatever. They want to keep MOTU in it's twelve back glory... Which would mean Stagnation. This cycle of 12-back, twelve-back, again and again is what castrates MOTU. Aside Dekker, Adam, Randor and a few stragglers from later waves the DC comic has been full of members of the Twelve Back club. Ironically enough the Lame-ass POP stuff is what's keeping things interesting in that huge mess that is DC Comics.

I'm OK if you don't like POP, NA, 200X, etc. I'm not saying LIKE THEM... OK I kinda am, but it's because I can see the awesome beyond the shallow stories and obvious ploys to sell toys... Because The vintage mini comics were so deep and so hardcore...

The thing is just because you don't like POP, NA, etc. doesn't mean that they shouldn't be made! While yes I mock Nepthu for being unwanted but in the end, I'm happy for those who wanted him... Same thing goes for Geldor.

I find it incredibly funny when a Radical Vintage Purist... (The ones that go on crazy tirades and need to remind everyone how much they dislike POP on every post on every forum) whines about the MOTUC Sub and how there's 3-5 items out of 17 that are NOT Vintage... But you don't hear the NA fans complaining about having to buy 15-16 non-NA items Each year... Or the POP fans having to buy 13-14 non-POP Items each year... MOTUC made me like NA.

If we had other shows, toys, videogames work with the radical vintage purist logic we'd have:

-All the seasons of The Real World would be with the Season 1 Cast.
-Power Rangers would be Jason, Zack, Trini, Kimberly and Billy vs Rita... No Tommy, no Lord Zedd
-Thundercats would miss out on Pumyra, Lynx-O and Bengali... (While No Bengali would be fun... We kinda need him)
-Final Fantasy XIII would still be about the same 4 Warriors of Light.
-The X-men would be the 60s team.

I wonder if they love the Legend of Zelda... It sticks to the same story with the Same 3 characters...

Before I close this mega-long rant: I'll do another reminder.

-Preferring the Original MOTU over the other branches is not bad. Being an asshat about it with the whole guys who like POP are gay... (Some are gay, others are straight... I happen to fall on the second category...) or how POP should have never been added to an all encompassing line!

-If you haven't given POP a try, do so... Check out who is who and use that with their world's background. Same thing applies to NA... The cartoons might not be perfect, but it's a start.

-The clothing on Primus and Etheria is not necessarily the same as Eternia. The same way as a Samurai's clothes are not the same as a Viking's... and that's on the same planet... Try having similar clothes on different planets and time periods.