Choking Hazard: TRU Exclusives - Mattel's 2-pack folly

Why was this exlusive Zodac set so hard to get? The Vs. toyline seemed to be doomed to the discount bin from the start. Some blame it on a poor choice of figures, partly because Mattel has an affinity to repackage its figures as much as possible in the DCUC toyline, while the MOTUC fiugres were themselves repaints of existing figures. Diehard Masters of the Universe fans for the most part applauded the use of alternative paint schemes for characters as they were depicted in the mini comics included with figures in the vintage toyline. To everyone else, however, the return of He-Man and Skeletor to retail stores as what seemed like an experiment with Mattel's popular online-only MOTUC toyline appeared to go largely unnoticed. Most people did not likely regonize the odd color schemes (turquise blue for Mer-man, for example), and nowhere on the figures' packaging was the familiar explosive red design children adored in the 80's. Artwork featured on the packaging was less than admired. Also, fans of both the MOTU and DCUC toylines were faced with the decision of whether or not they would pay the extra money to buy both figures, when in all likelihood they only wanted (or had the money for) one of the two toys. The result was stores unable to sell off their initial Vs. sets, preventing fans from buying later toys that came down the line. Eventually Mattel called it quits on this series, choosing to end it with an exclusive figure set featuring a previously unseen character variant, Battle Armor Faker, which will soon be in my mailbox and ready for his own review!