>>10163813Thanks anon. I was actually thinking of writing more, and I think your post fits in perfectly with what else I was gonna write
I think Mattel's best course would've been to push thought MOTU even with failing sales; keep making more cartoon episodes of MOTU(not just She-ra), make MOTU a legacy brand like Barbie. Not like New Adventures--keep the size and proportions of the classic He-man, and just keep making new versions trying to keep up with trends even if they didn't hit 100%. Ideally, Mattel would've kept MOTU as their flagship boy's brand like how Barbie is their flagship girl's brand
Pokemon is a perfect example of your theory, imo, also works if you consider that it didn't hit global saturation until about 99(The US release was september 98, which was so late in the year the wheels didn't start really turning until the Holiday season.
In Japan, Gold/Silver was how they kept things fresh in the 3rd year. In global markets, Ruby/Sapphire hit around the 3rd year. R/S wasn't as popular, sure...but they stayed the course, they had faith the brand would survive despite losses. So once the global 7th year hits, we get Diamond and Pearl,which sold better.
So many other brands just give up once the well starts drying up. Transformers and TMNT are two of the few American franchises that seemed to keep getting media even after diminishing returns. Power rangers, too, but that's helped by the flow of sentai. And as a result, they stayed in public conscious. Meanwhile, brands like GI Joe and MOTU diminished in the 90's when the flow of media dried up. GI Joe tried, but only with DTVs and a single season of Extreme. But there needs to be some faith in a property, otherwise it dries up and dies.
