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Mattel finally revealed the Masters of the Universe: Origins Snake Lair Playset! THE HISTORY: After the success of the massive Masters of the Universe: Origins (and Masterverse compatible) Eternia playset crowdfunding campaign, Mattel asked fans to vote last year on the next crowdfunded large-scale item. That vote was called “Eternia’s Choice” and the winner was a new playset called the SNAKE LAIR! And now, Mattel has finally unveiled the finished design realized in plastic! And thanks to the legendary Pixel Dan, we have a terrific look at this magnificent playset. Check it out: The Snake Lair is larger than Castle Grayskull…
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I hated the original artwork they showed. Mainly because of the big faces it had all over the outer walls. I thought that was extremely stupid. I had no plans to back it. I voted for the Attak Trak & Fright Zone.
But now I LOVE this new version & want to back it. I didn't save up any money. When the guy said backing starts on August 7th I immediately thought there is no way I can get $500 up with such short notice. But then it hit me, this isn't as big as Eternia so it should be a lot lower than $500.
So how much do you think it will be? If Snake Mountain & Grayskull were around $80 & this is a little bigger I'm hoping it will be $200 or less. BUT, they always seem to jack the prices up for crowdfunds. I don't understand why but crowdfunds are always ridiculously overpriced. If this was gonna be in regular stores I would say it should be around $150 or less. But because it's a crowdfund I'm expecting an overly inflated price around $300.
What do you think? Am I close to the mark or way off?
I saw a comparison pic somewhere (Twitter?) and it does look like it’s not *that* much smaller than Eternia…
If so, it could be $400. 😬
I always thought crowdfunds have smaller production runs. So the production costs *per unit* are higher. No doubt they do try to make good markup, too.
I hated the original artwork they showed. Mainly because of the big faces it had all over the outer walls. I thought that was extremely stupid. I had no plans to back it. I voted for the Attak Trak & Fright Zone.
But now I LOVE this new version & want to back it. I didn't save up any money. When the guy said backing starts on August 7th I immediately thought there is no way I can get $500 up with such short notice. But then it hit me, this isn't as big as Eternia so it should be a lot lower than $500.
So how much do you think it will be? If Snake Mountain & Grayskull were around $80 & this is a little bigger I'm hoping it will be $200 or less. BUT, they always seem to jack the prices up for crowdfunds. I don't understand why but crowdfunds are always ridiculously overpriced. If this was gonna be in regular stores I would say it should be around $150 or less. But because it's a crowdfund I'm expecting an overly inflated price around $300.
What do you think? Am I close to the mark or way off?
I'd be guessing $300-$400 as well, but $500 isn't out of the question. You have to consider the smaller production run, the fact that its an all new playset with zero nostalgia behind it and the paint apps on this thing looks like it blows Grayskull and Snake Mountain out of the water. This will probably sell less than the OG sets and potentially even less than Eternia, even if the set ends up being cheaper.
Pretty ridiculous that August 5th is pretty much a week away, and they cant tell you price, and tiers.
This item right here shows they have no idea of fandom and figured that any big oversized expensive item people will throw money at it. They got away with it for Eternia, that was a grail item. This means jack.
This should be same sizes as CG ,SM. Nothing more.
@bearddadrip this seems to be a common opinion. I can’t wait to see how this sells
I think there will be a lot of GI Joe collectors buying this for their Classified collection. And those guys are willing to pay stupid amounts of money. Just look at all the Youtubers who blew $20+ for over 100 or 200 of each army builder figure like the Cobra Vipers & B.A.T.s. I could be wrong but I think they will buy this & then repaint it into a Cobra fortress. I would if I were rich.
I really want this but honestly, if I had the money I would spend it on my main thing, Transformers.
I wish Mattel would focus more on remaking all the original vehicles & playsets rather than making up new stuff. I see a lot of people saying they are done with & sick of the Snakemen. I can't believe the Snake Lair won the vote. I personally want them to make a new FRIGHT FIGHTER & STARSHIP ETERNIA. I hate how the later toys from every line always get neglected/forgotten.
The Snakemen already have two playsets: Snake Mountain and Viper Tower. So to me, the Snake Lair, like virtually every new creation from Classics, is completely unnecessary. Now, this prototype, does not resemble the illustration for which participants voted, and looks incredibly cheap. There is absolutely no reason it should rival the size of the flagship playset, Eternia. Which also suggests it will approach Eternia in price as well. I would much rather have had the Horde Tower.
Mattel could have offered an incredible Eternos Palace play set for the first time ever...and they give us this.
Of the five or so items to vote for, I like this one the least. (It and the Horde Tank.) But this doesn’t look much like the concept art or the previous comic appearances of the Lair. I’d gladly take the Horde Tank over this.
It rehashes old MOTU playset features (elevator, throne, trap door, gun turret, drawbridge, weapons rack, etc) while at the same time looking so out of place. I’ve said it and others have said it… looks like it belongs to Fisher Price or Imaginex.
We could have had the Attack Trak, Doom Tower, or Fright Zone, and we got this…
If they try to attach a hefty price tag to this thing, I wonder if it will fund. If it doesn’t fund, I hope that doesn’t dissuade Mattel from doing some of those other options. Or something else better. A Cartoon Collection Castle Grayskull? A Slime Pit? Eternos Palace?
The Snakemen already have two playsets: Snake Mountain and Viper Tower. So to me, the Snake Lair, like virtually every new creation from Classics, is completely unnecessary. Now, this prototype, does not resemble the illustration for which participants voted, and looks incredibly cheap. There is absolutely no reason it should rival the size of the flagship playset, Eternia. Which also suggests it will approach Eternia in price as well. I would much rather have had the Horde Tower.
Bro this is it exactly. This ain't the thing we voted on and it didn't need to be so big. Why did they change it? Greed?
🇺🇸 SNOUT SPOUT FOR PRESIDENT 🇺🇸
I for one absolutely love this thing. I would have been happy to get what was shown in the Fan Vote, but to me this is them going above and beyond and giving us something that actually outshines Origins Grayskull and Snake Mountain, in terms of playability, display options, etc. I don't understand all the folks saying this looks like Playmobile or Imaginext... I look at the previous playsets and think this thing fits right in with them (albeit on a bigger scale, no pun intended). And I've always been one of the folks saying "there's too much Snakemen, they're my least favorite faction", basically since the 200X era. But lately, with figures like Vypor, Terroar and Lord Gr'Asp, Lady Slither, and all these upcoming TMNT/MOTU reveals (Rattlor and that King Hiss in particular), the Snakemen are really growing on me (it only took... decades... LOL). I see an inventiveness and newness here that gets me excited about potentially purchasing this. I love the Rattle Trap, the Iron Maiden, Lady Slither's mummified corpse on her throne, the little details everywhere.
Now, do I have room for this? Of course not, but I'll figure something out. I was, like most, anticipating something the square footage of the vintage Fright Zone with a price point lingering around the $150-250 mark. So, no, I'm not really looking forward to it possibly being Eternia-priced. But I look at it and think, well... it's basically the size of 1 and half Snake Mountains, isn't it? So maybe it won't quite be in the four hundred plus bucks range. It doesn't have a tram, motorized vehicles, and it doesn't have full three dimensional towers like Viper or Grayskull (and all that plastic those shapes entailed) and it's pretty much clamshell style but with three folding sides instead of two.
I hope it gets funded.
So some people think the Snake Lair looks cheap like Imaginext? While at the same time, they LOVE the cheap, lazy, plain, no-detail, Cartoon Collection?
Yeah....OK! 🙄 Make it make sense! You people like that 100% goofy-looking Collector vehicle. Now that thing looks like a crappy pre-school toy. Fits in perfectly with Imaginext or Fisher Price.
So some people think the Snake Lair looks cheap like Imaginext? While at the same time, they LOVE the cheap, lazy, plain, no-detail, Cartoon Collection?
Yeah....OK! 🙄 Make it make sense! You people like that 100% goofy-looking Collector vehicle. Now that thing looks like a crappy pre-school toy. Fits in perfectly with Imaginext or Fisher Price.
Yeah, I don't get that argument AT ALL. The playset looks pretty cool, the only thing I don't like is how the snake head at the entrance looks a bit squished in like a pugs face. Otherwise, I think this version is much better than the concept art for it. I don't collect Origins, but if I did I would absolutely be scooping this up. I agree with your sentiment about the Cartoon Collection. I don't know how its selling. The figures aren't great and the paint apps are incredibly weak. But I grew up with 200x so maybe the nostalgia behind the Cartoon Collection is moving figures? I can't see any other reason to buy them over Origins or Masterverse.
I don't think the design of the Snake Lair is the issue, so much as the expected price. In the old concept art, it likely would've been priced at the $200-250 range. This one is looking more like $350-$500. I understand having an issue with the increased price of the playset, but at the same time I think people need to understand that they can't afford to collect everything. You can't be in on every MOTU line as well as other toy lines and expect to snag everything. You need to pick and choose. If you only collected the Mattel MOTU lines it would probably cost you less than $800 per year. Even if this thing was $500 and increased your annual cost to $1200 for the year is that really an "insane" price to spend on a hobby over the course of 12 months?
I'll be shocked if the Snake Lair doesn't fund, but I don't think that any of the stretch goals are going to be reached.