What if Emiliano Santalucia was MotU Classics Brand Manager?

[Jyrki]

Do you think the MOTU Classics could have been a collector's dream line if Emiliano was working at Mattel on this toy line, without "ToyGuru" being a part of it? I imagine many will reply "Yes" for this based on the designs that Emiliano shared with us. They really have lots of potential for a great line and are desiged very well.

[Emiliano]

Thank you so much, but I really don't think I'll be suited for being a brand manager
A guy in that position must deal with a lot more things than just what the figures will look like, not to talk about the company internal politics and all the PR stuff.
I know that isn't for me. Corporations aren't for me in general. I'm an artist and I think I should just stick to that, even if I know I can be a good consultant on everything MOTU.
BTW, this is the stuff that got me the job with Hasbro

[Draego-Man]

I'm sure Val is totally pissed that you got a job at Hasbro based on your amazing talent, and he can't get a job with Mattel even though he sucks up like a snivelling stray dog.

[Captain Atkin]

I think the line would have been incredible if there had been a collaboration with Emiliano on both design and story. A missed opportunity on Mattel's part.

[Jyrki]

Let's not forget few things about Emiliano. Other than his deep passion (for MotU and Po) and his incredible talent P. He's very humble, open minded, friendly nature, very knowledgeable and is willing share infomation for community openly without hiding it.

[Mechanizor]

It's a no brainer that line could'v been in a much better shape if Emiliano was involved!

A very sincere passionate talented artist and a designer who happens to be a MOTU encyclopedia and a heavy weight collector like him is not what Mattel is looking for!!!! Oh jee, who thought of that idiotic outcome other than a pesky self absorbed talentless POS named Neitlich!

[MIDOR]

I don't know you Emiliano. I'm not familiar with your work.

And it's for reasons he touched upon that i am going to say no.

Specifically.....

Could Emiliano put a quicker end to reversed shoulders or the weak ankles? Would he allow baby skeletor to happen? Would he allow Mo-Larr (a figure I like)?
Would the bios be any different? Would he retcon them with the now available Filmation rights? What about Digital River? Shipping to fans outside the United States?
Photog cracked lense? Exploding crotch? cracked roboto torso? Could those 3 things have been prevented with him in command? He-Ro's glittery sword? Pink eye He-Man?
What about those two?

To be honest could any of those things have been prevented regardless of whoever was in charge?

[Black Zodac]

I think that most of those things you just mentioned could have been prevented if someone better was put in charge. The problem with Scott is that he isn't really concerned about toy quality. His only real concern is the profit margin. Profit is important, but more important is ensuring that mistakes are fixed quickly in order to continue making a healthy profit. With Toyguru in charge, the line has lost money due to problems not being properly addressed, which caused many subscribers to stop collecting. I think that there are many talented people out there who could do a better job than Scott.

[Emiliano]

Again, thanks everybody
Midor, I do a lot of work for Transformers and lot of other Hasbro brands. And some of my work have been posted above. I did have a part in some MOTUC product too, helping out with designs and references.

To answer your hypothetical questions, you are right, some of those issue could have not been prevented by a different brand manager. Most of them are engineering issues.
Still, quite a lot of the stuff you listed could have been very different. Stuff like the reversed shoulder for example. If I was part of the team, I would have noticed that and asked to fix them.
If I was in charge (and again, I don't want to be), no, I wouldn't have done stuff like Mo-Larr, Standor or Baby Skeletor, or at least I would have fought against them. These are things definitely up to who is in charge.
Same for the bios. If I could have worked on the team, they would definitely be very different.

But once more: I never wanted to be a brand manager, and I don't think I'd be good at that job. All I wanted was to be able to help out. I couldn't have prevented ALL those issues to happen, but you can bet I would have tried to fix at least those falling under my area of expertise

[Grayskull's Lost Son]

Emiliano is awesome! I think many figure designs could have been much better if he was in charge of the design team.

[Guest]

If Emilano was the brand manager, you wouldn't even recognize this line. You can tell by the quality of his drawings, his attention for detail, and his online presence. Sure, in some cases engineering would still create issues, but solutions would be crafted without sacrificing the final product. I'm sure in many cases there could be a work around. Would he solve all the issues in this line? Absolutely not. Would the actual figures themselves be in a whole other ballpark? Yes, I believe so.

By having a truly visually creative man at the top, with talented people working under him, I feel that MOTUC would be far more exciting and representative of what was expected in the beginning. By having a artistically talentless, money grubbing, arrogant penny pinching, hack with no public relations skills, and the tastes of an 8 year old, it sets the stage for the line. I truly believe the figures would have been in a whole new league, and the bios, at least above a 3rd grade reading level.

I'd be curious to see what releases would have came down the pipe with him dangling these renditions in the faces of the 'powers that be', instead of whatever dribble gets passed around before the esteemed Nutleech approved such 'fan demanded' characters such as Mighty Spector, Plundor, Spirit of Jell-O Hordak (cheapest figure in the line) and the Royal Guardsmen With My Own Ugly Face 2 Pack, and Filmation (we could have made a new head but, hey, we didn't because I'm cheap) Hordak.

[wallbie]

Something I wish could be expanded upon is Emiliano's "Homecoming" comic that (for me at least) got him noticed. In fact, that's what renewed my interest in all things MOTU and eventually led me to the ORG and eventually here. Back in 2000, I came up with a crazy idea for a fan set of OverPower cards based on MOTU & POP after doing stuff for the same game with Street Fighter characters. The ORG and MOTU: Homecoming were at the top of my Internet searches while I was doing research to refresh my memory on quite a few things and introduce me to New Adventures.

I feel "Homecoming" would be most welcome as a basis for mini-comics in MOTUC, and would likely be the most "personalization" if you will, I could imagine Emiliano executing in MOTUC if he were brand manager as the OP suggests. I don't hold a lot of vitriol towards the line or the brand manager since I no longer get to buy these figures due to lack of finances. That's what had me on the fence with He-Man and Beast Man in the first place. I do have to say that I feel Emiliano would spend more time getting quality product to customers and focusing on items with more relevance to the entire mythos since he is a big fan of MOTU himself opposed to making videos of him rubbing elbows with celebrities.

[Shawn]

[Rant edited for sake of sanity...]

I had a several page impassioned post totally complete explaining why, from a STRICTLY literary standpoint Scott is killen Teh Bioz and every MOTU story that comes after it but I choose not to post it because one LESS Anti-Toyguru rant on the front door of Hemanworld the better. Some people misconstrue Dark Hemisphere atmospheres and conflate that with us I think. I don't want to add to that perception even with valid points. However, I do have the following that I feel I must say...

Homecoming was the first fan-fic I ever read. I still do from time to time. I printed it out and kepp it with the rest of my MOTU comics. This story is what made Kayo so cool. I would bet money this story is why Toyguru NON STOP says "No way for Kayo!" in MOTUC. Suffice it to say that Teh Bioz are broken for the opposite reason that Homecomming works! One of them doesn't invalidate the past "just like you remember" But lets us all imagine what we want to happen next and what happened before that story. Homecomming answered questions by asking them. The Bios tell us how it is...Perhaps Emiliano never continued that story, not because he doesn't have time (although I'm sure that plays into it) but because he didn't want to be the guy who over explains his own ideas on how we should all be playing with our toys? We all remember THAT kid...****, I WAS "that kid" hahah. "that's not what's in the cartoon" was something I said alot as a kid...I still can be a little like that...(Example: The Energy Beast!...and all the DC live action movies...) That is why I try to FIGHT that urge because I know that nobody likes that part of me. Emiliano isn't like that at all. He draws a picture of Nordor and we all go "oooooooooh" and he just enjoys the conversation whereas

(The Lego Movie)



Toyguru is Lord Business and Emiliano builds Transformers!

[wallbie]

Perhaps this memo should come across Lord Business' desk then, especially with subs on the horizon: "It's about all of us. Right now, it's about you. And you... still... can change everything."

[Novelty]

Everything is awesome? And could you PM me the rant? I'd like to read it please.

[Shawn]

@ wallbie LOL. Exactly.

@ Novelty. Nope sorry. I trashed it.