Originally posted by Shawn
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I think maybe that might be true for some people- I'm talking about those who use their morals to show off to others as you mention above here. We all know that one co-worker or relative who wants to make their eating habits or political views, or religion, or whatever, into a show-off contest of who is more righteous; who is a "better person." But I don't think that ALL or even MOST of people who take political or social action based on their own moral compass are doing so for selfish reasons… most people do it because they believe it to be the right thing. I think that idea or thought - that taking a moral stand isn't about the topic at hand, and that is it about elitism or some type of ego trip- is something a lot of political pundits in the US and Europe try to make on TV and unfortunately it has seeped into our world at large, as a way to "deflect" criticism at those who are knowingly doing the wrong thing. All one really has to do is look at old US TV shows with commercials from the 70's and 80's on YouTube to see how our attitudes about moral stances and issues have changed. When was the last time you saw a commercial for a worker's union on TV in the US? When was the last time you not for profit program geared at kids? I'd rather not go down that rabbit hole of discussion on this topic, but it's only been the last twenty or so years that taking a moral stance on an issue- be it socio-political or simply "I won't shop at this store anymore" - has made that person an egoist, a nutcase, or simply crazy. Why is that, and why does it extend even into hobbies?
I don't think EVERYONE is a hypocrite. Not everyone ignores their moral code when it benefits them personally. Just because something makes money, it does not justify the action. Everyone judges everyone else- it's a part of human existence. It's how you judge others and why and what for that counts. Being fair and trying to see things from that persons perspective goes a long way. And I also think that just because someone is religious, they don't necessarily have the monopoly on morality.
Without getting too deep down more rabbit holes here, let's keep it MOTU. I think there are a subset of MOTU fans who feel that the more they buy, the more money they spend, the better they are than others… I know someone who could recite the plots of most episodes of POP from memory and remembers a lot of the obscure Filmation characters, but she doesn't own a single piece of merchandise beyond the DVDs, that she throws on every time little kids come to her house. Does that make her less of a fan than the guy who got into MOTUC in 2012 and buys 5 subs and posts daily on the fan forums? I had a gigantic carded vintage collection in the 90's- but had to sell them all as the years went on. I didn't even take pictures of my collection back then. Does that make me a better fan than someone who has a lone carded Beast Man, who takes pictures and puts them on Instagram daily?
The world is totally of our own making. While to some extent this statement Shawn makes is true- many of the things in today's world are the result of our parent's actions or their parent's actions- we create the world we live in every day, with what we say, do and spend our money on. We can pass the buck as much as we want, but we do have the power to change things, if we want to. Change always requires sacrifice. No change just "happens". We as fans need to stop justifying and start taking hard looks at ourselves and our actions. That doesn't mean berating people who subscribe on Facebook, and it doesn't mean pretending that your subscription or desire for more toys is noble in any way. Some things are simply wrong to do, full stop. Taking candy from babies is bad; being violent with others is bad; and lying to customers is bad. It doesn't matter if it is profitable- it's just wrong. We as humans don't like it when others lie or take advantage of us. We as human beings in the modern world have placed honest and integrity in business as an ideal for hundreds upon hundreds of years, across languages and cultures. It was a major focus of our grandparents and great-grandparents generations worldwide, beyond the 2 world wars. People fought and died for the consumer and employee rights that the western world enjoys and erodes with each passing decade. The modern world that is owned by big business would like to make that part of recent history go away, just as American schools in the 80's wanted to make Vietnam go away. They don't want to talk about it because then, we will forget all about it, and no one will even know it is being taken away from them. Trust and responsibility in industry is paramount to the survival of the western world. It is how we put a man on the moon, how we cracked international and language barriers, and why we can use lasers to shoot into the human body and fix things. We can do these amazing things today because we were honest with ourselves and others. That trust allows us to do amazing things in this world- for ourselves and others.
In the US in specific, we had HUGE upheaval in the business world in the first fifty years of the 20th century, because large companies treated customers and employees with complete lack of respect for their lives and well-being. People demanded consumer protections, and fought hard to make sure that corporations didn't take advantage of their customers. They didn't want companies selling food to sell dirty or spoiled food (which they did) they didn't want plastic companies to use toxins that hurt the consumer (because they did exactly that) and the people didn't want to be lied to or taken advantage of by snake oil salesmen-type tactics (which is how advertising was used!) These are all facts, and not personal choices. They're not political talking points, they're not opinions, and they're not flexible. It is what happened and as the old saying goes, history repeats itself. Companies did this, and still do when left to their own devices. And our beloved He-Man is a big part of that history, as we all know, and changed the world of children on Earth forever. Lou Scheimer and others tried to counter that pure greed push, and tempered it with universal morality so that our generation- the thirty somethings and forty somethings of today- could see through the adverts and "me generation" that was developing and give us all a brain to use and decide for ourselves what is right and wrong.
Because, like it or not, believe it or not, If we continue to allow that honest discourse between customer and company to erode, as we have with MOTUC and Scott, we are simply making things worse for tomorrow in trade for toys today.
As for Mattel and child labor and such… all products made in factories are not exploitative. And not all toy or electronic factories are exploitative either. Mattel has made huge changes since the tragedies of 2007-2008 as has overseas factory culture. There are of course a lot of bad operators out there, and there is a lot of horrible stuff going on (especially with electronics and mobile device batteries) but it isn't fair to say "everything" as that isn't accurate.
Originally posted by Shawn
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I mean, there are a lot of old adages the old timers told me when I was collecting as a teen back in the day that still ring true, like anything that says "collector's edition" usually won't be worth anything; or that gold is always a better investment than keeping a carded action figure in your closet for twenty years, because tastes change and what is cool in 1994 isn't always what is cool in 2014.I still see people talking about their MOTUC collections as some type of retirement fund. Look, collect because you want to collect, not because they are "worth money." No modern toys are ever going to be worth the money that the vintage stuff was in the boom years of the 90's-00s. I know that people don't like to hear that, but then again no one likes to be told what they are doing is wrong. There are too many made to even play at that type of thinking. I think we'd all be better off if the reselling stopped, as it inflates the demand beyond reasonable numbers (guys buying twenty subs to resell, c'mon) and creates a "wall of overpriced toys" which bars newcomers from the line, keeps shop owners from ordering new product.
What do I mean by the "Wall of Overpriced Toys"? We've all seen it before, be it in a little toy shop, or a comic book store… I even see them now on eBay and Amazon. The shop (or website, or seller, etc.) will have an incredible selection of toys available to buy, but everything is really expensive. "Wow, they have Teela; damn, she's $350." "Awesome, they have Shadow Weaver…. argh, she's $800!" So the seller thinks interest is low, when in fact, he's just trying to get too much for what he's trying to sell. But he has to sell it at that price to make a profit, because he bought five subs and no one would buy the Star Sisters even at a discount. Or they are greedy. Or, they just don't pay attention to the market. Usually The Wall comes because of scalpers. The shop owner is scalping or buying from scalpers. Since scalpers buy at retail, their costs are far above those who buy wholesale. So everything will be a lot more than say, someone selling their personal collection. And since they're too expensive, they never sell, and since they never sell, the "interest" in the line goes down.
Originally posted by Novelty
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What are good reasons TOO SUB for someone who would LOVE to be a completionist, but can't because previous figures cost too much? I have all the first year and the have subbed the last couple, but have MASSIVE holes, whole years (2010-2012) that might never be filled like Shadow Weaver and Fisto being the most painful. Why should I sub? I "want" to because I can, but I don't know that it's smart or worth the money/pain.
Morality is a big issue, that is messy and complicated. Most people don't REALLY want to think about that type of difficult questions...and most of the few that act like they do, just want to play pretend. 
Not that I have any answers my self: I'm just a commentator "just sayin" 
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