Technically we in Europe got Slush Head and New Adventures Skeletor. But realistically it’s more like you said!

NA Skele was offered through HEO but they were first told that they can offer him, then had to tell their dealers that they won’t get him and then again this decision has changed leading to a very small number being available after all. So a few dealers got their original orders fulfilled by HEO.

Slush Head was offered by Smyths in a few countries. But first of all Smyths is a presence in a very few select countries. And I even among those not all countries Smyths entities offered the figure. I can’t say for sure but I think like many others people at Mattel might compare the countries of Europe like the states in the US. Which couldn’t be further from reality when it comes to distribution and many other things. 
So yes Slush Head was never available for the biggest part of Europe and we didn’t even speak about other markets like South America, Asia etc. they have similar issues. 

Thanks to the OP for taking the time to write this up. I agree with basically everything you said. I will add tho that maybe, just maybe, this letter would have benefited from being about 50% shorter 😉

In any case, I think Mattel can and should do better when it comes to distribution and availability of their MOTU products. It's really a shame, considering that this line was kept alive for decades by a devoted group of international fans - a sizable chunk of which is now struggling with how Mattel is releasing their products. From an internationally operating entity like Mattel, this is very difficult to accept. And don't even get me started on this "exclusivity" BS - whole-heartedly agree with the OP - we are (mostly) 40+ grown people with careers, families and other kinds of obligations. Who does Mattel think it is "helping" with these dumb timed or event exclusives. It's really infuriating and disrespectful to the community at large. 

Well said.