1 page comic #4: Masters of the Universe

A change from Transformers for this one and, after finding a new level of respect for colourists from doing the previous comics, now I have a new respect for letterers.

Review: MOTUC SDCC Filmation Hordak

I posted in the lead-up to San Diego Comic Con about the disappointment that was the exclusive figure Mattel were selling at the convention. Despite this, I still went ahead and bought it from MattyCollector.com when he went on sale there shortly after the con ended.

Review: MOTUC Horde Troopers

How did we cope?

When I was little I had one stormtrooper. There was never any thought to owning any more. Even if I had, my parents would have answered with a resounding "No!" upon being asked to purchase a second. "You already have that one," they would have said, "Why don't you have a figure you haven't already got?" Which would have made complete and total sense. In many ways it still does. But in many others, it really doesn't. Stormtroopers come in packs, in units, in legions in hordes.

I never owned a Masters of the Universe Horde Trooper when I was little. I had most of the other Horde members, in fact the Horde was by far the largest faction I had He-Man figures for, but never a Trooper. And even if I had, I'd only ever have thought of owning one.

In more recent years, upon collecting those figures I was missing as a child, I've managed to pick up a Horde Trooper. But only one. Others, however, have hundreds in their collections, which is probably why the price of a Horde Trooper is generally more than the rest of the Horde characters. The trooper is the main army grunt, the stormtrooper of the Masters of the Universe world. There needs to be more than one to be an effective and imposing force of terror.

How did we ever manage playing with one?

The Horde Trooper figure in Masters of the Universe Classics has been a long time coming. It is, really, the last army building character released. We've had Eternia Palace Guards and Snakemen, but the set people really wanted was the trooper.

And now it's here. And I ordered a few.

Review: Masters of the Universe plushies

Masters of the Universe was 30 years old last year. To celebrate Mattel sold a load of licenses to various companies for a whole load of merchandise - t-shirts, letter openers - all kinds of tat. It's the greatest amount of branded Masters stuff on the market since the 200x cartoon ended.

One of the licenses was sold to Comic Images for soft toys. The first wave came out last year, although I've only just got hold of them. It comprises of He-Man, Skeletor, Beast Man, Trap Jaw and Battlecat.

All the toys are very heavily based on their appearances in the Filmation cartoon - to the extent that I'm 99% sure the printed faces are directly lifted from cartoon screenshots. They're all in a slightly deformed style, which works better for some characters than others.

Review: Masters of the Universe 200x

The other day, for reasons I can't really remember, I ended up getting out my box of 200x Masters of the Universe figures. Getting this out is no easy task, so it must have been a really great reason, despite my forgetfulness. Being quite heavy, the box normally lives under a pile of other boxes of toys in the cupboard under the stairs. So to get at it means shifting a load of other stuff first.

I say all this only so you appreciate the amount of effort it took to write this review. Although I forgot to take any photos before sticking everything back in the box. Please forgive me, just this once.

200x, aka 'the hyper-detail series', is over 10 years old now, which amazes and astonishes. I remember when it first hit the shelves. I saw He-Man in Forbidden Planet and thought what an absolutely terrible figure it was. While there were fans at the time, I think we can now all agree that the 200x He-Man toy looks terrible.

Thankfully, some of the variants were a hell of a lot better. Ice Armour He-Man, for example, and of course Snake Armour He-Man. Sadly, all the rest were pretty terrible, existed in the 000s and a lot of blame can be placed on their existence for the line ending when it did.

While He-Man (and to an extent Skeletor) were pretty bad, the rest of the figures were universally brilliant. They all featured their action features from the 80s, which I thought was pretty cool even if it did cost in articulation and the like.

Stratos's flapping wings, however, were definitely terrible.

All the designs were updated from their 80s counterparts, increasing the detailing (hyper detail!) and, well, generally making them look a lot cooler.

Part of the problem for Mattel, however, was that each figure had a completely unique sculpt. Whereas in the 80s there was heavy parts reuse between figures to reduce costs, they couldn't do this now. This meant that these things were pretty darn pricey for Mattel to make. Reuse of moulds had to be achieved somehow. Children had to rebuy figures they already owned!

Near the end of the line a whole bunch of repaints appeared on shelves. Some, such as the 'snake armour' ones weren't too bad. Stupidly they didn't look the same as the snake armour versions in the cartoon, but at least Mattel added in some extra accessories so it wasn't too bad buying these things over again.

But then things went crazy. Disco Skeletor crazy. I have no idea what Mattel were thinking when they told the factory to make Skeletor in those colours. I don't think Mattel had any idea what they were thinking either. It looks terrible. Really, horribly bad. Never has a toy been produced in such a horrendous assortment of colours.

In many ways the line was over before it began, a bit like the new ThunderCats line. There were lots of places to place blame, but I think the main ones were a lack of 'push' for the cartoon on Cartoon Network in the US and the Smash Blade disaster.

Obviously without the cartoon being shown 'properly' by Cartoon Network, advertising for the toys was always going to be limited (a bit like new-ThunderCats). The Smash Blade disaster, however, was all Mattel's fault as they packed 000s of He-Man and Skeletor variants in each box of toys sent to retailers and very few of the other characters. It makes sense that all fans of the show would want the main character, but Mattel took it a tad too far and children ended up being annoyed they couldn't get anyone else. Stores couldn't order in more toys because their shelves were clogged with He-Man figures.

Mattel attempted to inject some life into the line with the introduction of the Snake Men, but by now it was too late and it was all over. The US never even got the much-demanded Snake Armour He-Man, much to their annoyance.

Things, bizarrely were a little different here in the UK. Here the show found an audience. Woolworths (ask your parents, kids) actually imported a load of figures from the US to keep up with demand. Snake Armour He-Man was released here, which was great from my point of view as I bought up a bunch to trade with US fans.

The line was dead. NECA released a number of 'staction' figures of 'missing' characters (6" statues designed to fit in with the other toys), but they soon fizzled out.

These days there seems to be a lot of dislike for the 200x series. Whilst popular with some, many have decided that the 'hyper detail' was too much. Personally, I think it still is a really well made line and (almost) all the toys look fantastic. My only complaint is with the vehicles. Back in the 80s, since every figure was based around the same body, everyone fit in every vehicle. Unfortunately with 200x, due to the unique sculpt of each figure, the only figures who'd fit in the vehicles were He-Man and Skeletor - a big problem when it comes to playing with the toys.

It took a good while before Masters returned to plastic form. The Classics line - figures aimed at collectors, and based a lot more on their 80s look than 200x - started well and built up a huge following. But even that is now in trouble. Is Classics about to follow 200x into history? The rumoured film has never made an appearance and action figures in general aren't doing too well as the cost of plastic rises and children turn to video games more and more. Is this the final curtain for He-Man?

Only time will tell.

News: The end of Masters of the Universe

It's the 30th anniversary of Masters of the Universe! Yippee! He-Man has been around for almost as long as I have. Amazing.

So it's kind of ironic that this could be the year that Masters of the Universe Classics dies.

MOTUC is a line that sells exclusively on MattyCollector.com. The line is subscription-driven, with sign up for the following year taking place around the time of San Diego Comic Con each year. Last year there were problems with the Ghostbusters line (which was ultimately cancelled due to lack of people signing up) and DCU (which had to fight to get its line). MOTUC had no issues with interest whatsoever and easily passed the benchmark for continuing into 2012.

How things change...

Despite a great reception to the new showings at SDCC (the press photos for which are here), subscriptions for 2013 are down. Way down. To the point that the line is under threat.

Various reasons have been speculated for this, but I suspect the main ones come down to:

Cost. The price for each figure has risen from $20 to $25 figures. This has had a knock-on effect for UK fans since it now puts every figure above the import limit and means everything is liable for customs fees (and the £8 handling fee Royal Mail slaps on). International shipping costs have also risen.

Obscure figure reveals. This is a lesser issue, but anyone on the fence after the price rise was unlikely to have been won over by the Fighting Foe Men. Personally, I think the reveal for this $75 3-pack was poorly timed, especially after the controversy after the Star Sisters last year. It should have probably have been better revealing this at Power Con later in the year.

There's not a lot Mattel can do about rising prices, although they have stated that the $25 price point will hold for 2014 as well. The 'obscure' figures, however, Mattel are dealing with. While 2013 is already locked in, they have stated that the 2014 line (should it continue that long) will consist entirely of 'heavy hitters', ensuring that by the end of 2014 almost all the major Masters, Princess of Power and New Adventures characters will have been immortalised in plastic form.

There have been a number of appeals from various fans online to encourage people to sign up. The most bizarre of which comes in the form of this...

After watching that, how can you possibly not sign up for 2013? I know before watching it I couldn't have cared less about a Saurod figure, but now, hell, he's right at the top of my Want list.

For an interesting discussion with fans & the MOTUC brand manager check out this podcast from He-Man.org. It's a little lengthy but does go into a lot of interesting details about the line and its future. There's also this video which summarises things:

News: Toy Masters

I suppose most will think that toy companies are nice places, where everyone sits around nicely and thinks solely about how best to entertain children. In the case of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe this was far from the case, especially after the toy line began to sell $squillions and the question over who actually created He-Man arose...

"Toy Masters is the first ever feature-length documentary about the worldwide billion-dollar phenomenon that inspired an entire generation of children: Masters ofthe Universe (MOTU). Filmmakers Roger Lay Jr. and Corey Landis havetracked down all the key players in search for the answer to the question: “Who actually created He-Man?” The filmmakers will bescreening exclusive material from the documentary and participating in a Q&A at this year’s San Diego Comic Con, being held at theSan Diego Convention Center on Friday, July 13th, 2012, from8:30pm-9:30pm in room 26AB. 

Legions of MOTU fans are alreadybuzzing with anticipation. It is likely the film will reach an even wider audience once released, (a la King of Kong), for the controversial rivalry between former Preliminary Designer for Mattel, Roger Sweet, and former Visual Designer for Mattel, Mark Taylor, (both of whom are claiming bragging rites for the initial concept behind He-Man), makes for a compelling, and highly entertaining film. 

During this special one-hour panel fans will get to see exclusive never before seen footage from the epic toy industry smack-down that is TOY MASTERS. Moderator Robert Meyer Burnett (Director, Free Enterprise, Femme Fatales) will be joined onstage by Toy Masters director / producer Roger Lay, Jr andco-producer Corey Landis. Joining them on the panel will be many ofthe key players from the franchise's 30-year history including writer J. Michael Straczynski and designer Mark Taylor. 

The film, which is already being hailed as the next KING OF KONG and the SOCIAL NETWORK of the toy industry,features interviews with the key creative personnel behind everyversion of the best selling toy line and all incarnations of "Mastersof the Universe" on television, film, stage, and print, tracingthe inception and ups and downs of the fantasy juggernaut. Everyone involved in the 30 year history of this beloved franchise makes appearances in the film including such genre luminaries as J. MichaelStraczynski (Babylon 5, Marvel’s Thor), Richard Edlund (Star Wars,Raiders of the Lost Ark), William Stout (Conan The Barbarian, Pan'sLabyrinth), Lou Scheimer (Filmation co-founder), Michael Westmore (Star Trek Franchise), Don Glut (Empire Strikes Back, Transformers Animated), and Gary Goddard (Terminator 2-3D, Captain Power). 

Follow TOY MASTERS on the Facebook group for updates, including exclusive details on how you can be oneof the first to see the film. Or go to the film’s official site for a first look at the trailer. 

Also, during the Comic Con panel, the filmmakers will reveal details on the world premiere of the film,which will be hosted by one of the most prestigious film festivals in the Science Fiction and Fantasy genre."

Review: He-Man Starship Eternia

There's a black sheep in the family.

There tends to be one in most families. I suspect, though no one's ever stayed around me long enough to confirm it, that it's me in my family. The oddity. The one people aren't sure about. The disliked one.

For the Masters of the Universe franchise it's The New Adventures of He-Man.

I only found out this was the situation when I started reading the stuff on He-Man.org, which was about the time the 200x series launched. As a child, I happily watched NA every school holiday morning. It was shown on ITV, usually paired with COPS or some other cartoon that most people have forgotten about, yet I have fond memories of. I didn't know, at the time, that He-Man wasn't supposed to be in space, that it was all just a rip-off of Star Wars, that the scientists were annoying, that all the characters looking different from the Filmation show was bad.

...That Skeletor having eyeballs was sacrilege.

Nope, I just thought it was a fun action-adventure series.

I didn't have any of the toys, however. Not being able to pin down exactly how old I was when I was watching, I'm not sure why I didn't have any. Maybe I just didn't like it that much. Maybe there was something else that was consuming all my pocket money. Maybe I wasn't taken to toy shops that often and so never knew the toys existed.

I simply have no idea.

From reading, however, it seems that one of the main reasons people disliked the toyline - in addition to the cartoon-dislike reasons stated above - was that the figures were a different design to the old Masters of the Universe line. The NA figures were a lot slimmer and had none of the GIANT muscles or other exagerated parts that the originals did. It was difficult to play with both the old and the new together since they looked so different.

It's interesting that these days it's a lot more difficult - and expensive - to get hold of NA figures (on the whole) than the original Masters ones. Presumably this is due to them being no where near as popular and therefore a lot less of them produced. It tends to be ~£20+ for a good condition figure, which is why I don't have any.

I do have the big ship, however.

I would go into details of my adventure in getting hold of Starship Eternia, but my getting lost in Birmingham probably holds little interest to readers of this blog. In brief, however, I found one on ebay for a reasonable price and bought it.

Review: MOTUC Kobra Khan

Kobra Khan has always been one of my favourite He-Man figures, for one simple reason: his water-squirting feature. Regular readers will know that generally action features ruin an otherwise great figure, but Kobra Khan is an exception because a) his feature didn't get in the way of his articulation and b) it was a really handy feature. I kept him handy even when I'd moved on from He-Man figures to other things because he was so damn useful when it was hot. The spray came from his mouth as a fine mist which was perfect for shooting your face with and keeping you cool.

The updated version from the 2000-and something Masters of the Universe series retained the squirting, but it was now more of a squirt. Great for annoying people with, less great for shooting yourself with. He did come with an articulated jaw, however, which I really liked.

All the best toys have removeable helmets or articulated jaws.

The latest version of Kobra Khan doesn't squirt water, for the Classics line (on the whole) is devoid of such things. I was sad, briefly, but got over it. Khan does, however, come with an interchangeable head (almost as cool as a removeable helmet) which allows him to be displayed with either his cowl up, in ready-to-squirt mode, or down, in not-going-to-squirt mode. I can't actually make my mind up which look I prefer and will become the semi-permanent-the-other-going-in-the-bits-box-so-I-don't-lose-it one.

Review: Masters of the Universe Classics: Catra

Was $19.99 on MattyCollector.com [now sold out], so off to ebay with you!