The Energon Pub

[blackeyedprime]

Nic Cage would have been great as Skeletor...it just wouldnt have been a good film

Adam/Keldor as brothers is going to stink more than the technology vs magic route. I can't remember the last film by Sony that I liked (probably something obscure, or maybe Venom depite it not being good). I'm kind of surprised Rihanna hasnt been cast as Skeletor.

Budget and script are going to be the key rather than the cast, Jason Momoas Conan was pretty much forgotten. Probably giving this a miss at cinema but hope it does well enough for other unrelated films/series.

[AllNewSuperRobot]

It is funny that Eragon and Conan offset previous He-Man films. When both iterations ended up lacklustre and forgettable. The Conan film completely missed the point of the source material and came across to me as faithful an adaptation as the 90's Hercules TV show.

The Greyskull film script sounded the most promising. I like the idea of rebooting He-Man with the tone of the original mini-comics and wiping the slate of the cartoons. Mattel have a weird fixation on trying to replicate the success of the original series. I doubt that will ever happen when they are so slavish to it. Comedy works with comedic characters IE Mechanic. Tonally that isn't the direction you want to take a Live Action Masters movie.

I think it was around the halfway point of the video wherein they showed some serious concept redesigns and both Man-E-Faces and Trap-Jaw looked very interesting.





I'd love to see a MOTU film that looked like this!




An even better one I found for Modulok.

[blackeyedprime]

Damn, that Modulok is a thing of great nightmares. Those redesigns all look great.

I think He-man has to be kid friendly sadly it's not in the position (yet) of Batman having movies being able to be released for adults/kids seperatley. I think with he-man, starting a slow build up may be the best approach rather than all out lotr (or warcraft) style.

I'm honestly just happy that Michael Bay isnt attached to it in any way shape or form (though some good things came out of the live action transformers other than the actual films, same cant be said of his TMNT). Surely J. Michael Straczynski would be the best person for a MOTU script but hey.

[AllNewSuperRobot]

Yeah, one of the main hurdles to MOTU is the hiatus. Tonally, it has to start from square one, as it is largely known as "That 80's Franchise". By that I mean Batman has been so ingrained in pop culture that people don't refer to it as "that 40's property". It is a distinction that I think adversely affects all the big franchises of that era.

While I am intrigued that not a single Spielberg-level name has been attached to MOTU, it is a little concerning some of the lower key names that have. Time will tell, but I am more sceptical over this new script than what they proposed with that Greyskull one.

Meanwhile, one more less horrific (but just as cool) redesign, that clearly had an actress in mind for the role...



Evil-Lyn

[blackeyedprime]

Not liking that design, a bit too Rita Repulsaish meets HR Giger and I wouldn't be keen on the actress either though shes been good in some things.

[AllNewSuperRobot]

Although I do think Eva Green would be ideal for the role, I must admit Evil Lyn isn't as extreme/interesting a redesign as Man-E-Faces or Modulok.

It is funny you mention HR Giger, as that was clearly the design direction New Adventures was aiming for. Just look at The Mutants and 'Disks of Doom' Skeletor. I think it would capture the Fantasy/Sci-Fi aspect of MOTU better than most aesthetic choices. Although, the less human the character, the more... non-kid friendly, the character would look. If Modulok looked like that, imagine Buzz-Off, Mantenna or the Snake Men.

[blackeyedprime]

Think I'd prefer Ruth Wilson (His Dark materials/Luther), then I'd try to get the original actress back as shadow weaver (tho she might be a bit too frail for wire work -not from age, if the awful Rob Zombie film I last saw her in was anything to go by. Fortunately I watched They Live for the umpteenth time not long after).

Sadly all I can imagine for Mantenna is something close to Jar Jar Binks which is hard to shake. Falls to knees and curses filthy apes and George Lucas.

[AllNewSuperRobot]

I can see Ruth Wilson working too. I doubt Kirstie Alley would be up for the same kind of cameo as Dolph Lundgren though. She is nearly 70 now.

Sad, but likely true for Mantenna. I'd like to think that with that concept art as the chosen aesthetic, they would play the villains straight. Save the comedic relief for Orko or Mechaneck. Filmation has left a looming taint of ineptitude over depictions of Skeletor and his followers. 200X redressed that a little with Skeletor himself but, hopefully future adaptations ditch that vibe completely. Characters such as Beast-Man, from their lore alone, shouldn't be pushovers.

[AllNewSuperRobot]

I can see Ruth Wilson working too. I doubt Kirstie Alley would be up for the same kind of cameo as Dolph Lundgren though. She is nearly 70 now.

Wow, Don't know what I was thinking on that day... #FakeFan

CORRECTION:

I can see Ruth Wilson working too. I doubt Meg Foster would be up for the same kind of cameo as Dolph Lundgren though. She is in her 70's now.

[blackeyedprime]

Wasn't going to call you out on it but...sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name...just not Meg Fosters

Doubting we will see the He-man wrestlers this side of the pond otherwise I'd be in for the ring, Ultimate Warrior and HHH Skeletor. I don't have any of the classics left other than King Grayskull/Battlelion so as long as the new MOTU line arrives in toy stores I'll be happy.

[blackeyedprime]

Mattel display wasn't that great for the motu stuff. I'm sure the leg joints look better on the female wrestling figures than female motu. Orco looks great, battlecat because it won't cost a small fortune but not quite sure I'm going all in on them. The mega construx are more impressive but would probably end up costing more to get based on Greyskulls price.

[AllNewSuperRobot]

To me, they looked really bad. I dunno, I suppose we have to get out of the mindset of expecting Classics level quality from them. These are mass retail now (I heard?)



A video, for those who haven't seen them.

[blackeyedprime]

Mass retail and cheap (at least stateside), you can probably buy 3 Adams with bike to one classic figure. If they can do a snake mountain similar price to the savage lands batcave I'll be interested but I don't think what is offered will create price drops in classics any time soon if ever.

[AllNewSuperRobot]

Indeed. I've been looking to secondary market Classics since this Origins announcement. No price drops at all yet...

[Vic Zanzibar]

I’m interested at the $15 price point. Never gotten into MOTU before.

[blackeyedprime]

Toyark (and probably other places) has motu wwe wave 2 pics up. John cena as fakor, macho man as man at arms/battle damage chest (which is kinda dissapointing as I like the old rotating chest gimmick than the swap out plates in a line that supposedly has retro power), rey mysterio as Stratos and roman as fisto.

I'd probably pick up rey and macho from those.

[Vic Zanzibar]

I saw the first wave of WWE MOTU figures in person yesterday. I’ve been trying to assess if the value is there at $15 for the upcoming MOTU figures given the articulation limits and upon seeing the WWE versions, I think it likely is. They do appear to fit nicely between the $10 basic and $20 Elite grade WWE figures because they are a bit more articulated and detailed than basics and they also come with accessories while basics don’t, but they are behind in those same categories compared to the Elites. As such, $15 seems fair despite the not exactly advanced designs. The simpler design definitely hits the nostalgia note hard. They don’t look like collector pieces; they look like freaking ACTION FIGURES meant to be bashed into each other in epic battle. That’s a welcome thing to me. Don’t really know much about MOTU, but I think I may give this new stuff a try.

[blackeyedprime]

Action figures at action figure prices, its a nice change. If you get the chance to watch the he-man cartoon from 200X it's worth a watch though I think it's pretty safe in saying the new figures are not going to represent the 200x look.
The books that are collected works of all the news paper serials or comics that came with the original figures are pretty good too. The original Toon is kind of one of those things you had to grow up on to appreciate but still better than some other 80s toons. Amazon's Shera is pretty good but depends on the ability to cope with the art style and I've only seen first series.

*also the toys that made us motu episodes pretty good and will give an idea if you want a collection of stuff that's just same body reuses for multiple characters for the most part (tho it doesn't seem to have hindered marvel legends or the upcoming gi Joe figures too much).

[blackeyedprime]

I was kind of worried that exclusive heman origins stuff was going to be over done and expensive...


https://news.toyark.com/2020/03/08/powe ... -ra-384414


Damn. On the brightside I like the looks of that skeletor more than retail version and merman and Beastman look good.

[blackeyedprime]

Decided to open up my sdcc King grayskull to go on his battle lion and his foot broke just trying to remove the plastic band holder
Any other classic figures that self destroy when touched?

Very impressed with the mythic legions purplor and kronaww, when I get the William Stout movie figures they will accompany them. Kind of want to give purplor a net backpack so he can carry around a broken skeletor or multibot in it chewbacca style.

[blackeyedprime]

Wave 3 of wwe motu pics up on toy Ark (undertaker/scare glow or faceless one, bauman/Beastman, the rock/generic? And New day/mane faces).
Undertakers good but new day steals the show having the three members faces on the one body, even with my lack of knowledge of wrestling being mainly wwf/wcw new day is well done. Hoping for a hart foundation (anvil, bret, Jimmy) version at some point.

[blackeyedprime]

Motu boardgame coming to Kickstarter next year by CMON. Saving my penny's now and will sell a kidney or two in order to back it. Haven't really spent much time painting conan minis up as motu but still might continue with some of them as yag-kosha/yogah of yag made for a great snoutspout/hose head.

[AllNewSuperRobot]

What type of Board game are we talking? A generic chess, monopoly etc reskin or something different?

[blackeyedprime]

Could be something similar to IDWs tmnt/batman animated skirmish kind of board game but zombicide is probably what CMON is known for, though if they do arcadia quest chibi style later on I'd probably be interested too. Doubt it will be full on army's like game of thrones.

https://www.tabletopgamingnews.com/CMON ... Board-Game

[AllNewSuperRobot]

It sounds interesting, one to keep an eye out for. I do like the new font too. Hopefully that isn't just for the board game.