MOTU Classics Castle Grayskull Pre-Orders have begun!
Tuesday, October 16th, 2012 by Pixel Dan
UPDATE: Good news for international fans! Reports have been coming in that Matty has adjusted the shipping costs on international orders. They are about half the cost now, which most seem to report as being accurate. Thank goodness!
Original: The pre-order for the Masters of the Universe Classics Castle Grayskull playset have opened up on MattyCollector.com. You can Pre-Order it and read the full details of the playset here.
The final cost of the playset is $250.00 plus shipping/taxes. Matty will not charge you for the playset until it ships, which isn’t until December 2013. So I guess you’ve got a little over a year to actually save up for it, which is kind of nice.
Shipping costs are already looking really high on this one, though. For me, shipping and taxes to Illinois ran $54. Already, many International fans are reporting shipping prices as high as $200, which is incredibly steep. So be warned, this is not going to be a cheap purchase.
So here’s the question: will the shipping charges keep you from ordering? And also, do we think the high shipping costs will hurt the overall chances of the goal being met in order to actually produce the playset?
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Definate 'pass' for me, unfortunately – United Kingdom VAT will add an extra $50 to the price, then add a $10 "handling fee" from the post office and that's BEFORE the postage costs, which will be astronomical.
Tough call. The reality remains that the item needs to be shipped to get to it's destination. The item is huge, & shipping ain't cheap. Mattel's not making money on shipping. It's a bullet that has to be bit.
I'll stick to my 200x castle thanks uk
I'm in the UK and was budgetting $75 for shipping – all in was expecting the price to hit £250 (approx $375). If the shipping is much higher than this then I just can't see me biting – definitely not if it is $200!!!
I love the Castle but there has to be a limit somewhere…
Same for me – I was thinking around $100 for shipping being steep, but reasonable. $200 is far too high. I hope they can sort it, because it looks like it will be fabulous.
… and it looks like they have… I'll get me coat…
I may get 2.
What's the point of preordering now? If it reaches the goal the preorder will be extended. So why not wait to see if it makes it then order. I guess if its close you might want to help send it over the goal, but it doesn't come close I wouldn't bother ordering. Kind of a head scratcher of a process.
Uhm….why would you wait and see to pre-order it? It’s because of people with that attitude that make this harder than it needs to be, this same attitude is the reason the stupid thermometer exists now….sheesh. I ordered one. Doing my part so everyone can get this.
Don't attack me. I'm just pointing out, what people might think. It seemed like a confusing preorder process and I'm pretty sure you didn't order one because you want everyone else to get one.
I'm not sure it will be extended, though. It might, as these things have been extended int he past. But if it's something you want, I don't know why waiting until it has ended would really help. The order period is only open until November. They will only be making what is ordered. You won;t be able to buy the Castle on it's own if you didn't pre-order. That's my understanding, at least.
Not an attack, just explaining my understanding.
If they meet the quota they will extend the deadline to January. A lot of fans don’t have the money and are on the fence about getting the play set. If it isn’t close I highly doubt the on the fence fans will even bother which could hinder the preorders. It might just make the mark and it won’t matter, but what if it doesn’t. I can see a lot of fans taking a wait and see attitude, because you just preorder later any ways. I’m just saying it might hurt the possibility of hitting the goal.
Your argument makes no sense whatsoever! I am not attacking you, but if you want it, why would you flirt with waiting for an extension. That really sounds like a terrible idea. They don't charge you until it is released in late 2013 anyway. What would be the point of waiting until January, if it even makes it to that point because the real deadline is like Nov. 10th or something. I hope others out there don't think like you because if they do it is very likely that it will never make it to production. It all comes down to do you want it or not? If you do preorder by the November deadline! You pay for it probably a full13 months later, easy choice!
As much as I want one, it's just too expensive for me.
Makes me wish there was something like a Mattel department in Europe so the shipping costs wouldn't be so high and there wouldn't be any additional fees.
Why not work a modular castle line with several parts (towers, walls, doors) being sold separately?
This way you could build your own version of Castle Grayskull and make it as extensive/expensive as you want/need it to be.
Guys, you have over a FULL YEAR to save up for this !! Lets say it would cost you $200 for shipping ( which now, it won’t because Matty has adjusted the shipping prices ) you would only need to save 96 cents a day for 365 days. I’m in SC and my shipping is $56. Not bad considering it’s a 3 story, 2 sided castle with a base and accessories!! I preordered yesterday to help hit the mark, if it’s extended, I’ll order a second one. We have waited 30 years for this to be remade ( and seriously upgraded) The 200x castle has flimsy and narrow floors and is far from intimidating next to my classics figures. Besides, if you order now and they don’t reach the quota, you pay NOTHING! I’m all in for the greatest toy to be made since the original castle, who’s with me ?
I think some people can't afford it, but I also think some folks don't want to pay $300 for a toy. I know as fans we love this stuff and can find the value, but I think we're forgetting that not everyone spends that kind of money on toys.
You definitely aren't wrong. Very rarely do I ever break the $100 barrier for a toy. But I have to in this case. I do make exceptions from time to time. This is one of them.
I preordered 2.
As a child, the jaw bridge tab broke upon installing it, I was devastated lol. Then the next year, while in the hospitial for a leg surgery, my older brother bought me a second one. After teenage and college years when I got into collecting and going through all my old toys, this memory occured to me. I wondered why I had doubles of the castle accessories and then I remembered him bringing the box into the room while I lay in that hospitial bed.
I look forward to opening one and keeping the other, as I have no doubt the box art will be beautiful. That's if they meet the minimum for preorders. The pessimist in me seems to think they will not, but I might be suprised. We shall see.
BTW, shiping was less by ordering 2 in one order then in two seperate orders, so if anyone wants 2, I'd order them together. I'm in IL and for 2 shipping was 76 and change.
pre ordering later this week ! couldnt afford the sub this year but i can save up for this. i cant wait !
I personally ordered two because I'd really like one to play with and one to possibly get graded and cased for the future. I'm really looking forward to it and for the two of them to ship to Milwaukee was $95 so thats not terrible. I really hope this goes through so we could maybe get that Snake Mountain!!!!
Ooh, grading this is going to be expensive! I'd be curious to know how much that will cost you, and would like to see the final graded piece.
Oh I can't wait to see this in the flesh (if it makes it into production). I ordered 1 and the shipping to New Zealand was $107!! Oh well how EPIC are the figures going to look displayed with this. I'd really love another so I can have in interior displayed, but have other priorities.
I'm a bit disappointed with the Castle design. They are revamping the 1980's Grayskull with 2 sides that fold out, instead of going all-out on a huge, dominating Fortress of Power. I was expecting much more for the "Classics" line, especially the way they've been enlarging and updating the old figures. Re-hashing the same fold-out Grayskull design seems very un-epic. I like the idea of releasing "pieces" of Grayskull bit by bit, until the end result is massive. Just my opinion…
Additionally, shipping Grayskull piece by piece will not only allow for an awesome Castle, but will also greatly diminish those outrageous shipping costs.
At least the shipping costs are no longer outrageous. What happened was original, Mattel over estimated the shipping weight to be 40 lbs. They then found out it was only going to be 20 lbs,a nd adjusted the totals. So now the shipping is MUCH better for everywhere.
I'm still glad we're getting the castle as is. I don't liek the build-a-castle idea at all. But to each their own.
Come on Dan!
At least give us a chance to present the blueprints and the cardboard mock-ups first…
Love this castle. I had in my childhood, I buyed the 200X and now I'll get this one as well. I have no idea where I'm gonna place it, but it must be mine!
There is a video of Toyguru presenting a cheaper alternative to the Grayskull plastic castle on he-man.org:
http://www.he-man.org/news_article.php?id=2976
Actually, it’s not an alternative, but a scale comparison of the old castle Grayskull playset compared to the proposed classics version.
Yeah, that's just their foam model to show the scale, not an alternative.