Son of He-Man: a new recipe for disaster?

[Widukind]

With King He-Man, we got the first figure of the "Son of He-Man" faction... Due to the huge price King He-Man reached here in Europe (and he's just a variant), I didn't buy him. But I think he looked OK.

On the other hand, I can only cringe when I think about the other figures that were hinted at : Dare, Son of He-Man, and (most of all)... Skeleteen. I saw the drawings and the look of Skeleteen. I find it lame, boring and uninspired. I wonder what other figures they could come up with for this faction, but I can tell you right away that I won't buy Skeleteen. Should any other Son of He-Man figures be so bland, I can promise you it will be a "no purchase" for me !

I fear that the Son of He-Man characters will be a way for Matty and LIEguru to push their own designs into the line... and Mattel design team ideas caused some catastrophes in the past (remember 200X variant figures and vehicles).

Hence the title of this thread : Son of He-Man : a new recipe for disaster ?

[Dark Angel]

Lou Scheimer's original idea had merit (that's not the same as saying I like it, mind you). However, the current brand manager's interjections ("Skeleteen was discovered in the archives after I wrote him into the margin of someone else's work!") are not only ridiculous in the extreme, but more importantly, just plain bad. Yes, if he insists on putting such a series of figures into production, the line will suffer.

[Croc-O-Bite!]

More so than the design (I'm looking at you Skeleteen), it's Scott's dreadful attempts at story telling that's the recipe for disaster IMO.
Hopefully when MOTUC is all said and done, the stench of his writing washes off of all MOTU (not just this SOHM) eventually.

[Matthew L. Martin]

*Shrug* If they do Dare (sorry, but the name He-Ro belongs to the Most Powerful Wizard in the Universe IMCanons), we'll see if he's based on the design from Lou Scheimer's proposal or an original design. Personally, I don't care for the concept. Partially it's because I didn't grow up with it, but I also think it weakens the importance if He-Man's son just has to take up the same battle 20 years later. Emiliano's hinted that we'll wind up with Dare and 'Skeleteen' teaming up against the Unnamed One, and while not perfect, I do think that might be a superior idea to Dare vs. Skeletor Redux or Skeleteen.

But I'd like to see He-Man's victory over Skeletor be more lasting. If you bring Skeletor back or introduce a new threat to Eternia, make it a few centuries or millennia later. I've got some ideas on this as a way to repurpose/reimagine the New Adventures figures--'Prince' Duncan/He-Man vs. Skeletor Reborn vs. Horde Prime.

[Crusader]

Personally, I don't care for the concept. Partially it's because I didn't grow up with it

No one grew up on this, it's a failed pitch from 1996 that never amounted to anything.

Anyway, I don't care for it either, especially with ToyGuru involved in the creative process.

[Captain Atkin]

I suspect that we won't see many characters made for the "Son of He-Man" line. So far, we have King He-Man, The Mighty Spector, and Sir Laser-Lot (as he is brought into the future to serve the King.) We will be getting Dare as a figure, I'm sure, and he will most likely be He-Ro 2.0. If they make Skeleteen, I pray to the Elders that he is not actually called Skeleteen, as that name is beyond terrible. My personal feeling is that they should have Skeletor transform into the Great Black Wizard and keep him the villain of the story. If Skeletor and Evil-Lyn do have a kid in that timeline, I think the story would be better served by having the kid be conflicted about which side to serve on (good vs. evil). I don't think they should just turn him into the new "big bad evil" because he is the son of Skeletor.

[Pinch]

I don't really want or need anymore SOH figures. As mentioned above give me Eldor & Gray already.

[MegaGearMax]

Penny Dreadful's feelings on this matter mirror my own: I don't like the idea of He-Man and Skeletor's kids taking the fight over to a new generation. He-Man and She-Ra are the ones who are supposed to stop these great evils.

I really didn't mind King He-Man, as I see him sort of like I saw Aragorn at the end of Lord of the Rings. He became the King of Gondor and Sauron was defeated. Everyone lived happily ever after.

[Jukka]

Penny Dreadful is mostly known from Roast Gooble Dinner but she has made numerous appearances in other podcasts. And she does fantastic work on interviewing creators from the vintage toyline, that she posts on facebook.

[Crusader]

I really didn't mind King He-Man, as I see him sort of like I saw Aragorn at the end of Lord of the Rings. He became the King of Gondor and Sauron was defeated. Everyone lived happily ever after.

I concur, though I see him more like King Conan.

[Nemisythe]

I feel for the sake of many that fear or feel that trying to create the whole Dare universe means the end of He-Man era (which somewhere dooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwn the road could happen, but no time soon) I would suggest that maybe a story where He-Man or another Master is transported to the future where he sees (now you can take it as the future or an alternate one) where Dare exists? Eventually the story could show you a little something of that timeline but it doesn't have to mean that it's the definitive timeline or future.Yes / no?

[Mechanizor]

In my humble opinion I appreciate people brainstorming new ideas and such, but at the end of the day, there are good ideas and bad ideas that are shelved for good reasons, not everything people come up with needs to be materialized, especially in Toy form.

That being said, the idea of having a continuation starting with Dare and Skeleteen is not only a bad one, but outrageously despicable!

[Widukind]

I feel for the sake of many that fear or feel that trying to create the whole Dare universe means the end of He-Man era (which somewhere dooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwn the road could happen, but no time soon) I would suggest that maybe a story where He-Man or another Master is transported to the future where he sees (now you can take it as the future or an alternate one) where Dare exists? Eventually the story could show you a little something of that timeline but it doesn't have to mean that it's the definitive timeline or future.Yes / no?

As stated before, they can do whatever they want with the (bad) storytelling: I personally don't care. Tha bad storytelling has been going on for a very long time already. But they'd better not make crappy, rushed figures with bad designs and/or too much tool reuse ! The Skeleteen idea is already a very bad one to start with...

I also think you're a bit too optimistic and not realistic enough when you think that Son of He-Man figures will be released way down the line... I'm pretty sure that Neitlich won't be able to resist to include at least ONE Son of He-Man figure in the 2014/2015 lineup. Heck, for all we know a Son of He-Man mini-sub could even see the light of the day... there are indeed some "surprises" Scott mentioned and that we still know nothing about.

[Nemisythe]

Well I don't know if you listen to the Gooble Dinner but a while back Scott did say that Dare would be the 'end cap' figure of this line so unless that has changed we will get He-Ro II. But I was being realistic when it came to anything else from that period or storyline (Skeleteen unless it comes in a 2 pack with Dare). And if you take it another step, we already have TMS, Sir Lazer Lot and King He-Man so we have 3 figures from the son of He-Man line already which I'm aware of. I guess what I should've clarified is concepts beyond Dare and S-Teen.

[shadowfall1976]

It's bad enough NA came along, which to be honest, I never heard of until I came here a few years ago. To me 200X messed up MOTU with aesthetics, I heard back in 2001 or so a new MOTU line was coming, I was set to buy some new He-Man....then I saw the figures....hell no, tried watching the show....hated the animation and character models....

The new bios smell of booty already without Scott writing new shit for never before, or never explored characters in a new era.... If a new Era was to come....it should not have been in Classics, it should have been it's own entity. Classics should have encompassed only pre-existing eras and concepts, not new crammed in eras.

So yeah....we already disagree enough as it is with existing stuff, but hey, let's add Stroke Lip He-Man and his son then Spector and SLL to the mix.....let's see what happens.

For one, He-Man and She-Ra were the chosen ones, not Dare, not Skeletor Jr. They should be the ones to stop it, not the Junior Masters league. This isn't Batman, it's MOTU.

And how in the hell would he be Skeleteen wasn't he was fathered by Keldor, before he became Skeletor? And seriously....Skeleteen.... Stupid ass name.

[Anti-Guru]

What kinda annoys me is some people claim NA is not a vintage line. Is it just because they were released after MOTU and they are clearly cheaper looking? Or is it because they just don't like NA? Whatever the case may be, NA is vintage... and yup, the 200X figures will be vintage soon enough too. NA is for all intents and purposes, a continuation of the vintage MOTU line... only different. I'm not crazy about the original NA figures, but the 4H certainly did a hell of a job integrating them into the classics universe.

[MegaGearMax]

NA turns 25 this year. I think it definitely is a vintage line as it came around during the tail end of the eighties.

And I agree, TG and the 4H did a great job integrating the NA characters into regular MOTU canon, both storywise and in action figure form.

[Robzilla]

I have to say that I had no love for NA when the Classics line started. That is, until I had Optikk in my hand. Man, is he a cool figure! Love Slush-head, and with getting that awesome looking NA Skeletor in a few months, I'm all for NA. Hopefully they hit it out of the park with Mara. A chick with a spiked ball at the end of her ponytail? Cool! ;-)

[Dark Angel]

Honestly, I have to say that part of the problem is NA was never even on a lot of fan's radars. Look at Shadowfall1976 above - he'd never even heard of the line. I was aware of it peripherally, but was no longer interested in toys when the line debuted - and since a whole lot of us MOTU fans fall in the same age range, I bet I am not the only one. Its a little tougher to appreciate something that was never an integral part of your world.

However, that does not excuse dismissing NA or any other part of the line out of hand! I've said it before and I have said it again - I'm not all that interested in the characters, but they are a great thing for those who want them!

[Battle Ram Man]

I'd rather see an expansion of the characters in He-Man's generation rather than passing the torch to a new one.

[Y2Greg]

Agreed.

I also am very skeptical of the current creative minds at Mattel. Why not just go with the butter and bread of MOTU, which is new heroes and villains joining the fight? Draego-Man was such a great example of that.

[MegaGearMax]

I think it depends on the character in question...Spector and Cy-Chop were also new characters too. New characters are hit and miss.

Now if Mattel had the 4H design some new characters, then the fans might go for that.

[Battle Ram Man]

Yes, good point. Let the 4H design the characters. In fact the more that is left to their discretion, the better.

[Croc-O-Bite!]

I'm not crazy about the original NA figures, but the 4H certainly did a hell of a job integrating them into the classics universe.

I can't argue with you there. I love the all the Evil Mutants released so far (even with the heavy Trap Jaw leg reuse).
Since I'm not that big of a NA fan, I pose them on a shelf with Kronis as a different faction, In My CanonTM of course.

[Dark Horse]

Anything that has a Neitlich driven design will be a disaster. The man just isn't creative. Absolutely all of his ideas and influences have been bad. He can take the greatest concepts and turn them into utter garbage.

[Wintor]

Son of He-Man could be good as it could be bad. If there are some strong character designs and a decent story behind it, then I'll gladly welcome it. At the very least, I do want Dare and Skeleteen simply because we have been teased about it.

[Robzilla]

I think a lot of the resistance to Skeleteen lies much within the name. Frankly, it's a bad name. I don't care if it was jotted in the notes of a piece of paper found in the Mattel vaults. It doesn't necessarily mean it's going to work. If that mohawk looking thing from the mini comics is the design direction for what I will come to know as the "Son of Skeletor", I'm even less hopeful than I was with the name. (Seriously, if I see a "Ghost Rider" esque bike I give up)

That said, I'm open to where the story goes in SOH. I do worry about the fate of She-ra, as I have a distinct feeling she's not going to make it out of the NA arc of the narrative alive.

[Anti-Guru]

Personally, I don't like any "Son of" stories. It reminds me of the old horror movies from back in the day... Son of Frankenstein, Son of Kong, etc. But the main reasons I would never support the "son of" concept is because there shouldn't be two He-Ros and it would be the brainchild of Neitlich. I don't care about the new stories and canon because frankly, they suck. I would have preferred the original POG story line to continue with the real He-Ro, but written by a competent writer... and of course I'd like to see Eldor and Gray released as figures too.

[Dark Angel]

This, and the fact that, as stated more than once in this thread already, the whole point of the storyline is that He-Man and She-Ra are the ones who put this sh--er--stuff to bed. Finis! You can have all the alternate, "What If...?" versions of the story you want, but if they are not the "chosen ones", well, then, you ain't telling the story anymore!

[GREP-A-TOR]

Personally, I don't like any "Son of" stories. It reminds me of the old horror movies from back in the day... Son of Frankenstein, Son of Kong, etc. But the main reasons I would never support the "son of" concept is because there shouldn't be two He-Ros and it would be the brainchild of Neitlich. I don't care about the new stories and canon because frankly, they suck. I would have preferred the original POG story line to continue with the real He-Ro, but written by a competent writer... and of course I'd like to see Eldor and Gray released as figures too.

This, nail, head. Exactly how I feel.

[Kel-Ton]

I don't understand the reasoning behind trying to use the son of he-man stories to expand the universe, I would've have thought that mattel would take the opportunity to finally give us the powers of grayskull line, something which i personally would much prefer.

[_RZ_]

I think a lot of the resistance to Skeleteen lies much within the name. Frankly, it's a bad name. I don't care if it was jotted in the notes of a piece of paper found in the Mattel vaults. It doesn't necessarily mean it's going to work. If that mohawk looking thing from the mini comics is the design direction for what I will come to know as the "Son of Skeletor", I'm even less hopeful than I was with the name. (Seriously, if I see a "Ghost Rider" esque bike I give up)

I feel the same way. I'm open minded, I will give them a good fair chance to do something cool; I thought King He-Man was awesome. But if they call Skeletor's Son "Skeleteen" and/or give him the design shown in the mini-comics, that will suck. The fans have been pretty clear since the day that comic was released: this Skeleteen design and idea is really, really bad. I can't recall a single post or comment that praises it.

[Mechanizor]

Well, I hope all Neitlich's plans fail if they're heading in that direction.

[paulioscorchio]

No Son of He-Man for me thanks