Should Scott "Toyguru" Neitlich be moved off of MOTUC?

[Kastor]

The question came up on another board but it was shut down for no good reason. I thought the conversation should be continued.

I'm not advocating for him to be fired, but should someone else be in charge of the line?

Would we get honest answers instead of some of the fables we have gotten in the past?

And do you think he would be moved if some of his higher up's were better informed of the snarky answers and half truths he has been giving consumers?

[He-Fan]

Chris here...

I've wanted to see Scott taken off as MOTU brand manager since almost the very beginning. I find him to be a thoroughly insufferable individual and (aside from the figures themselves) I hate what he's done with MOTU. So yep, I'd love to see him moved!

Take care...

[shadowfall1976]

I want to go on record as saying this, I am by no means apologizing for or defending Scott.

I find Scott's remarks rude, arogant and totally unprofessional at times. That all said, I don't believe we'd have the line we have without him as far as layout and selection. Someone else who didn't give a damn would have let the line die back at SDCC 2012 when the sub numbers were looking bad.

Now, do I believe he has been a hindrance to the very line he's tried to build up? Yes.

Can he make better decisions? Yes.

Should Ruben be shit canned? Hell Yeah he should be before Scott is.

Scott has been a blessing and a curse to the line, but I don't for one minute believe that someone else would have brought this line into 2014, I think the VIntage would have been the focus and we'd only have those on our shelves, not Filmation, not POP, not the other cool characters.... Now that said, without Scott, we'd certainly not have Spector....and I could have lived without seeing his X-Men wannabe ass in MOTUC along with SLL & Cy-Chop.... But if knowing I had to see those figures in MOTUC means I have a display room full of my new and old favorite MOTU characters....then I can live with that. Scott and the 4H are MOTUC, if one or the other goes, the line would die a painful death at the end of 2014.

In the end, I think he needs to be more informed before speaking, which as the Brand Manager I can't see how in the hell he is not better informed, and he needs a better grasp on how to be more professional when dealing with the fans and the buying public.

And let's not forget the arrogance of his design team buddy....Ruben. Does he actually think he is doing a good job, and is incapable of doing better? Or is it his ego that prevents him from delivering what the figures truly need?

[Croc-O-Bite!]

Excellent post shadowfall. I couldn't agree more.

[Cocoasmooth]

Its too late in the game to get rid of Scott. He will ride this wave till its bitter end. I hope the experience and attitude from the fans towards him has humbled him. I didn't appreciate that he called Val and Emiliano's work Fan Fiction. Scott was lucky too be incharge to add his own fan fiction to make it classics canon. He needs to keep a respectful tone and watch how he addresses the fans and the professional community that have been helping keep his line alive.

[Shawn]

I do not understand this opinion at all. Its never to late until the line is over and if we did get someone else, then perhaps it doesn't have to end? Unless you mean we won't leave willingly that he would rather dive it into the ground?

[Cocoasmooth]

Who else would Mattel replace him with? This whole thing was supposedly his idea in the first place. The whole MattyCollector.com deal is his baby. I wish he would be replaced back then but everyone already adjusted fire for the most part after the mistakes.

[Mr.Future]

So we're no longer saying just moved off MOTU, now we're saying ALL boys lines? Harsh. LOL. I actually totally agree with shadowfall1976, but I am curious about this Ruben guy. I don't believe I've even heard of him. What makes him so bad?

And Cocoasmooth's post reminds me of something I've wondered for a long time. Can anyone confirm Scott's claim that Mattel higher-ups dictated that all figures had to be put into the canon. So as a result we end up with concept figures like Vikor getting bios that try to shoehorn these characters into an already overly complicated continuity? I always wondered about that because I just don't see the logic in that.

[shadowfall1976]

He's the one who does the final engineering of the figures, and the final looks, he's responsible for the Female Skirts instead of leotards, Stinkor's reversed forearms, Frosta's misfortunes, Fat Albert armor syndrome, Black plastic painted figures back in 2012 and defacing the 4H prototypes in what I can only describe as him trying to feed his ego thinking he's a world class designer when he's a moderate skill at best. He ruined the coming Scorpia figure, and many others.

I also don't believe that the higher ups cared which figures were released, all signs point to Scott being the one who put whoever he wanted to in the line, hence why we just got Plundor and Nepthu instead of say Masque and Negator.

[Kastor]

So we're no longer saying just moved off MOTU, now we're saying ALL boys lines? Harsh. LOL.

He has taken a step back from the DC lines in general, and that line is full of examples of saying one thing one day and another another day.

One recent example of his not understanding or being snarky was when we asked about Doomsday, stating in the question if fans were willing to pay more for the large Doomsday could he be made, kind of like the preorders for Grayskull and Ecto-1

Scott's answer:

"Fans had their chance to support the Unleashed Doomsday and we did not reach that goal. Asking for him now is akin to losing the Superbowl but asking for the trophy anyway."

We offered Scott Neitlich an alternative in the question, so we addressed the "math" thing. We were not asking for the figure at a lower cost; in fact we were suggesting that we give them more money for the figure! I think this is a perfect example of Scott acting like a kid taking his ball and going home. I have to wonder how much longer until this rational is used for MOTU fans...

[Shawn]

I can see both sides. On the one hand fans want toys and Mattel wants money...The problem comes with Mattel realizing that they can't make crap in this type of economy. Look at DC Direct. It seams to be working for them. Mattel will realize this or just say "screw it", because they don't really care about making toys....they only care about making money.

[melmoth666]

I agree that he shouldn't be moved off the line now...but I don't think he should be promoted, and hopefully Mattel looks at all of the BS that Scott has brought to their doorstep with WWE, DCUC, Voltron, Back to The Future, Ghost Busters...His resume is a grocery list of failure...and they send him to the mail room. I cannot agree with the idea that HE is responsible for MOTUC still being around..that is on the FANS and 30 years of history. Scott is immaterial. The best trick that he has played is convincing the community that without him, there would be no line at all. That is like if Joe Quesada were to say without him there would be no Spider Man.

[melmoth666]

I mean---Voltron was a failure. DCUC was a failure. Ghostbusters was a failure. Young Justice was a failure. WWE was a failure. The Back to the Future Hoverboard was an EPIC failure. Scott is the guy Mattel earmarked to go after the adult collector. I think it is too late to get rid of him for MOTUC...but I can't understand how he keeps his current job after this line ends. There is just enough life in MOTUC to not shut it down completely, and they are going to leave TG hang around until MOTUC is done, MattyCollector.com is shuttered, and adult collectors, the fickle bunch we are, have moved on. At that point I just don't see the positives in the resume?

[Dynamo of Eternia]

In reply to melmoth666, I don't necessarily agree that all of those things were a failure.

Voltron... as far as I know that sub did reasonably well. There just wasn't anywhere else to go with it after that one year. Vehicle Voltron doesn't have the popularity of Lion Voltron. I don't think most fans would spend the same money on a random giant Robeast as they did to collect the full Voltron figure. This was more akin to the Watchmen sub which was basically meant to be a "once and done" kind of thing. Now if you are referring to Voltron Force, that short-lived newer cartoon, and the toys based on it that never even made it to shelves, I guess that could be considered a failure, but I don't know how much of that, if any, would be Scott's fault. The cartoon didn't get picked up for a second season. Granted, the toys arguably should have been on shelves at the same time as they show starting up, but the delay may not have necessarily been his fault.

DCUC... are you referring to the entire line as a whole, including both the phyiscal retail and later Matty sub incarnations of the line? Overall the line did and sold well. Sure, it had some hits and misses... not everything was perfect. But the line went quite a while and a lot of figures came out. Just because it didn't ultimately get to every incarnation of every character doesn't mean it was a failure. Plus the shift from the retail shelves to MattyCollectr sub model was more so DC's fault than Mattel's from what I understand. DC was focused on the whole "New 52" reboot of the entire universe and wanted the items on mass retail shelves to reflect this new direction. The quick, last minute shift to a sub model for DCUC was basically DC "throwing fans a bone" by letting Mattel continue that line in some fashion to keep that collection going. In the long run it died out, largely due to there being many obscure figures, but I would hardly call the line as a whole a failure.

Ghostbusters... Okay, here you have a point, at least in reference to the 6 inch figure line. Even though I collected it (and even signed up for the failed Ecto-1 preorder), the problem was Mattel needing to make SO many variants of the 4 main Ghostbusters due to their business model of needing to reuse parts. As a result, the ghosts that we wanted in our collections were mostly after-thought pack-ins with the variants of the main 4 characters. And of course one of the biggest problems with the Ecto-1 preorder was the need to once again buy MORE variants of the same characters just to have them actually sit in the car. So I can see why the subs for that line quickly dropped off in the second year and I'm surprised that they even bothered with the Ecto-1 sign up at all.

That being said, the Ghostbusters prop replicas have been AWESOME! I just got the Neutrino wand and I LOVE that thing! I have all of them to date, and would love if they can manage to make a proton pack to go with it, but I'm happy with what we've gotten so far.

The Back to the Future hoverboard was a HUGE disapointment. I'm a big fan of BTTF (probably more so than Ghostbusters), and that thing was just an all around let down. The sound effects suck... they are NO WHERE near up to par with the quality of the Ghostbusters prop items, and the fact that the designs on it are mainly just big stickers is rather lame. I would have rather they just skipped the electronic features and instead had just gone for a really good, accurate looking replica piece.

Young Justice... Okay, the line failed, but that was aimed at a mass retail audience and it didn't get the desired response. Adult collectors weren't going to be enough to keep that afloat. Unforutnately kids today just don't buy/play with toys like we did when we were kids. Sure, some lines have defied the odds (like the current TMNT line), but by and large you don't see the same robust variety of kid-aimed action figure collections complete with vehicles, playsets, etc. today like we had when we were kids. Times have changed.

So what I see here are a combination of successes and failures, some of which on both sides can be attributed to Scott, and others of which can be aimed at factors outside of his control. By no means am I a "cheerleader" for him. I have my criticisms of the guy, too, but not everything has been a failure.

That being said, it will be interesting to see how long MattyCollector as a whole lasts once MOTUC is done. That's been the one and only consistent factor since it started, and the line is winding down. They will need more than the occasional one-off item to keep that site going.

[KOLOBOSREXX]

...On what parallel Earth is the WWE line a failure?!?? LOL... It's one of the top-selling boys' lines out there! Everything else is purely subjective...

[Cocoasmooth]

The problem is that when all is said and done Scott will be credited for the success and failure of this line. The math has demonstrated that he has been a success. The line survives 6 years with minimal media support. Granted that the line peaked in 2012 and is at a downward trend it survived despite the hiccups. A lot of it due to the many quiet people out there that never really experienced too many problems with their Matty experience. I am not among that population I'm an obsessed follower. I cannot let go of my nostalgia trip even after experiencing more than 5 different burns from the Matty experience.

[Shawn]

He isn't the devil, and he most certainly isn't God!

Scott did his job, he got the ball rolling. We all thank him for that. He helped me to get the SDCC art books out to like six fans. He has been known to do some cool stuff! He has made bad business decisions that have cost this line. I'm not laying everything at his feet, but as the brand manager the buck should stop with him. If he has any power to fix a mistake (his or other people) he should be willing to do so, that is what a brand manager does isn't it? Otherwise, what the **** is he doing?

It's always wise to know when to leave a party, or when to let another person drive the car.

Also, I could do with LESS communication, and less trolling the community. I do not understand why some don't see it as such, or worse tolerate it. The Unnamed One packaging? that isn't marketing, well it is a type of marketing... but it (like Spirit of Hordak) are not fun because trolling is only fun for the one doing the trolling.

And do you think he would be moved if some of his higher up's were better informed of the snarky answers and half truths he has been giving consumers?

The way he can be disrespectful is annoying, but if his bosses believe he has done his job well that is all that matters. I think making a list of the problems since day one would be helpful. That way we can tally what has been fixed and what hasn't. Lets see just how much Toy guru has done. IMO this should be done with care and not full of emotion, just observable facts. If we want to be treated like adults, we have to not act like children.

Someone else who didn't give a damn would have let the line die back at SDCC 2012 when the sub numbers were looking bad

The numbers must be good, otherwise we wouldn't have a line.

I agree with a lot of what you are saying, especially about being well informed before speaking, however I disagree about Laser lot. The execution leaves a lot to be desired (why no forward thinking with Extendar reuse?) but its a great concept and name. I do wish he was green and had more tie ins to The Powers of Grayskull/Preternia era.

I wish the 4HM had more direct control over everything. It would certainly be less costly for Mattel wouldn't it? Look how well they do on thier own with a small largely unknown lines?

[Mechanizor]

Honestly, I've grown to dislike the guy a lot especially in the last of couple of years. I know the toy industry isn't sailing smoothly these days, but Mr. LieGuru has shown to be a major trouble not only to the MOTU brand, but also to its community and its customers! His statements and actions are full of contradictions, and it seems that he's enjoying every minute of it. Many hard core fans and insiders showed us many of Scott's pitfalls repeatedly, yet a bunch around the Org still keep praising his work no matter what. I'm not sure if his removal will actually help out the brand after killing it slowly for the past five years! Maybe it's a bit too late for that.

[D.M.]

Most definitively yes. Though it's utterly baffling how that guy still has a job.

[SNAKE HUNTER]

The MOTUC line will sell the same (or even more) without Scott. MOTUC is the only surviving line of mattycollector and the 2 main reasons are: 4H and fan support (customers). Nothing more.

[MoViEfReAk]

We caught Scott lying so many times, why does everybody believe him when he says that the subsales are down? Where are the many many many thousand quitters? Here and there someone appears and claims he is done with the line but then again there are people coming late to it. If so many thousands have left the line ebay should be flooded with collections. But it isn't. Older figures are hard to get. And then again: Scott shows us little for the first month of each year- and at the end of the year we get bombed with items. If the toyline REALLY is in danger, why are they giving us additional subs (that even sell worse than the main subs- concerning their words)? Why do they give us Sky High? Why Spirit of Hordak? Why Weapons Paks? How can they sell their stock to Big Lots - and they sell figures for 10$? Has anyone forgotten that the submeter graphics had the wrong dates until someone pointed it out? JUST THINK ABOUT IT! WHERE IS THE PROOF THAT SUB SALES ARE DOWN?

[Mechanizor]

Wow, I missed on the submeter graphic's wrong date! It appears that Toyguru is indeed the master of lies!

[Dark Horse]

I have never in my entire life seen such an incompetent person keep their job after so many failures. If you combine the property of MotUC with the skill of the 4HM, you have a guarenteed success. Yet Scott has managed to divide the fans, lie constantly, and crow bar his own ideas into what he thinks is MotU canon. All Scott has done is used other's hard work to try and create his own media personality. No matter what he says, he does not care for the line or his fans. All he cares about is himself. What a thoroughly detestable individual.

[He-Fan]

Chris here...

Yep, I couldn't agree more!

Take care...

[MegaGearMax]

Might as well keep TG on, since the line might not make it to 2016. We could always get the MOTUC version of Fangirl 2.0, so it can get worse.

Personally, I think TG and Digital River have killed much of the Classics fanbase with their continued antics. Fans might happily leave the line because of the repeated crap that they had to go through. It sucks as, some former MOTUC fans want the line to fail since they've been burned so badly by Mattel.

[shadowfall1976]

"We could always get the MOTUC version of Fangirl 2.0, so it can get worse."

As much as I am no fan of Scott, and will not defend his actions, this not many seem to get.

[Cocoasmooth]

Agreed but who is Fangirl 2.0?

[MegaGearMax]

Fangirl 2.0 was the brand manager of DC Universe. Fans blame her for the Superfiends wave and the Rainbow Lantern Wave which turned away from making classic DC Comic characters. DCUC pegwarmed hard from Waves 17 -20. She didn't have a knowledge of DC, like TG does.

That's why I said without TG, it could get worse.

[AlessandraF]

I don't like Scott but at this point I agree with MGM.... Who is this Fangirl 2.0?

[MegaGearMax]

I don't like Scott but at this point I agree with MGM.... Who is this Fangirl 2.0?

Fangirl 2.0 is thought to be the reason why DC Universe died at retail. She WAS the brand manager for DC Universe Classics while TG was brand manager for Green Lantern at the time. Her name was Danielle.

She didn't appear to have much knowledge about the DC brand's characters and rumor has it that she was responsible for some of the final lackluster DC Universe retail waves -- the infamous Rainbow Lanterns and the Superfriends wave. The thought is that those waves deviated from making classic DC characters in favor of corporate demands.

She later announced that DC Universe was ending at retail right during the subscription time and being replaced with New 52 figures and other variations of the main DC characters.

A short time after that, we didn't see her around anymore.

[danbrenus]

"Oh please, MOTU addicteds, buy more than one subscription, don't you see how miserable we toy corporatives are? Don't you feel for us? Well, so, if you don't buy our painted black-plastic figures, our loose joints characters, our crumbling-chest robots ecc...the line will die, and it will be all your fault!"
Sorry bunch, way too much bull#### from a higly paid brand manager that should learn how to do his job...

[MegaGearMax]

"Oh please, MOTU addicteds, buy more than one subscription, don't you see how miserable we toy corporatives are? Don't you feel for us? Well, so, if you don't buy our painted black-plastic figures, our loose joints characters, our crumbling-chest robots ecc...the line will die, and it will be all your fault!"
Sorry bunch, way too much bull#### from a higly paid brand manager that should learn how to do his job...

Not that highly paid. You should have seen TG's apartment in his Toy Hunter episode.

TG isn't rich...

[stabby]

We're all toy collectors here.....I think we all understand why toyguru isn't rich:-)

[Novelty]

I don't think that's his apartment. I think that's some studio somewhere...

[Robzilla]

I thought I would throw my two cents in on this topic, as it seems to be one of the most polarizing aspects of the line. In my mind, there is no question about the level of passion that Scott has for this property. In many ways, I do think he goes to bat for certain things that he knows the fans want to see. From that standpoint, I think he has added value as someone who is not only responsible for the growth of the line, but he also brings in the perspective as a fellow fan.

I do think that it also works against him as well, being one of his biggest weaknesses. In many ways, I see this as something of a vanity project for him as a fan. In my mind, he's had way too much influence on the narrative for the property for my taste. Storytelling is not in his wheelhouse, and I personally don't care for his take on the narrative of the line. Yes, I know it's just words on the back of the box, and that's how I treat them. Yet, that influence is still bound to have a lasting effect. It's also that influence that I think has led to some poor choices in terms of character selection (Nepthu as an example), as well as how his own fan created character has been elevated into a position of prominence in the Classics storyline. It's a little too "Masters of the Universe as presented by Toyguru" for me, and I do feel like that the particular influence that he has exercised in that regard has negatively impacted the line.

I would have to say my biggest gripe about him is in the way he interacts with customers on tough subjects. Keep in mind, I'll be the first one to say that I think Scott is great in the aspect of the frequency in which he interacts and communicates with the fan community. It's something we really haven't seen out of any other toy company, and I think thats a credit to him. That said, as I mentioned before that when the going gets tough, Toyguru has shown himself to be a PR nightmare. Snarky answers do little to instill any kind of confidence or loyalty from consumers of the brand, no matter how out of line or accusatory the line of questioning is. We all know there are consumers who can't see the bigger picture, and I think we all can acknowledge it's tough answering the hard questions. His approach at times does little help though, often times making things much worse than needed. I do expect him to display a better level of professionalism than I've out of him in times like this, and I go back to I think it's his involvement as a fan of the brand that complicates things to a degree. I often question his ability to seperate himself as being a fan to being the brand manager, and I think that is a critical component to managing a role like that.

As I look at other aspects, there has been a lot of other accusations hurled his way. That he takes credit for things that had nothing to do with him seems to be a pretty common theme. I don't know how true that is or not, and I probably never will. It's a shame if that is the case, as I think there are a lot of people who have contributed things to this line who will probably never get the recognition they deserve unfortunately.

As far as should he be moved off, at this point in the life cycle of this brand I think it wouldn't really make sense. I do believe we are in the twilight of this incarnation of MOTU, so I don't see how it would really change the course of things at this point.

[Novelty]

As far as should he be moved off, at this point in the life cycle of this brand I think it wouldn't really make sense. I do believe we are in the twilight of this incarnation of MOTU, so I don't see how it would really change the course of things at this point.

This statement for the win. I second this.

[Black Zodac]

Yesterday at Mattycollector.com, Scott explained to a customer in a post what his actual job duties are. You can find them at the link below:

http://forums.mattycollector.com/eve...7/m/1651083758

[GREP-A-TOR]

"Don't you people understand? I am good with dealing with customers! I take the information from the customers so that the engineers don't have to deal with them, I am a people-person goddamit!"

What Scott's statement has in common with this person's statement is that both should be fired.

[Novelty]

I just read this recently, it's another good read. Mods, feel free to merge this with another thread if there's a need to.

http://vertigoinks.blogspot.com/2012...-neitlich.html

2. TG doing what his bosses tell him to do and having to approve certain figures is a bit of a cop out. Playaction Marketing is his division and he's in charge of mandates from budget to lineup to logistic issues. Where TG bosses come in is when it involves securing money outside of the MOTUC budget, promotional issues on a larger scale with mass media implications, as well as canceling or creating new product/media. When TG goes on record and says his bosses won't let Illumina in the line, HE IS 100% FULL OF HOT AIR.

[Croc-O-Bite!]

You make some excellent points Robzilla.

The main reason why I feel Scott should stay with MOTUC until the bitter end is because he IS passionate...... about his writing (those putrid bios and his influence on those equally bad mini-comics ), his character (Spector), and his perceived 'legacy'. Just look at how Spector appears in the minis, gets mentioned in the DC comic, and keeps popping up on cardbacks, while the 4H's Draego-Man gets none of that.

I'm sure he wants MOTUC to last as long as possible so his contributions can continue to be pushed. We just have to continue to tolerate that, and hopefully the end result will be the figures we do like/want.

[GREP-A-TOR]

I sat on the sidelines until the Horde Trooper sell out fiasco, I already had one due to my sub - but wanted to build an army (just like the box says). Scott's replies to consumer/fan questions regarding this pushed me over the edge. He just said "NO".

When the thread/conversation about Scott moving on was ended/ LOCKED over at the org, for no reason in December, I was furious.

Here are some threads I have unearthed that show "super-fan" Scott's true colors:

http://theredshadows.proboards.com/i...ead=380&page=2
http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/03/22/shipping/
http://ragingnerdgasm.blogspot.com/2...-on-matty.html
http://santalux.blogspot.com/2013/01...-lies-and.html
https://www.facebook.com/mastersofth...51784313141683

Imagine if someone was able to stay in a job with no repercussions for their failures? I just wish there was someone at Mattel to "Pass it on" to that actually cared and understood what a crap job this guy has been doing.

This line has survived Despite Scott, in my opinion, and from the FACTS that I have been able to find.