One of the coolest components of the Masters of the Universe line were the tiger/panther steeds of He-Man and Skeletor. I had Panthor as a kid, but never had Battle Cat. This guy was found recently at a flea market. The He-Man atop him was from the commemorative re-release series of the early 2000s.I found myself thinking back today on the barbarian fantasies of the eighties - the Conan movies, Beast Master (a personal favorite,) He-Man and the Masters of the Universe etc.
Every time I'm in a bookstore lately I glance over the Robert E. Howard's books as well. Haven't read any of his original work, but it's inexorably pulling on me.
The '80s fantasy trend is one of my favorites. I loved stuff like Beastmaster and He-Man. With Conan and Sonja getting a redux I bet we'll see a minor resurgence. Now companies can market movies, and comics like that to the fans of the genre. They don't have to worry about it not selling if they go directly to the fans. He-Man's Battle Cat was great although it bothered me that it didn't come with a smaller, frightened version of Cringer. Wait, let's take it to the next level...wind a button on cringer and he vibrates like he's trembling! You listening Mattel?
ReplyDeleteI too have always lamented the lack of an accurate Cringer - and a trembling action feature would be in keeping with the line and the character himself!
ReplyDeleteMaybe with the MOTU Classics reboot at mattycollector.com, an accurate representation of Cringer is a possibility (in a Battle-Cat two pack! HEY MATTEL, PUT YOUR EARS ON!)