Random Toy Pic :: Masters, Prepare for Battle!

Trying to get a bit more organized with my toys that aren't on display, and gathered together a bunch of MOTU figures that for some reason haven't been stored with my main MOTU collection yet. Zodac and Trap-Jaw (you can see the top of his head above He-Man) are actually the re-releases from around 2000. The rest are original MOTU figures from flea market finds over the past few years. And even with a handful of floppy limbs, they all stand surprisingly well!

Extendar, Roboto, Horde Trooper, Grizzlor, and even Battle Cat are all figures I did not own as a child. You can see a bit of Clawful too in the right lower corner - he was one of my childhood favorites and one I did own and love.

Deep Thoughts :: Masters of the Universe

I can still remember the first time I laid eyes upon the Masters of the Universe.

The year was 1982.

For some reason I received a present from an aunt out in California. It was early in 1982, or perhaps some time in the summer. It was definitely before Fall; I know because I wanted (and got) Beastman for my birthday that year, so by November '82 I was certainly well aware of the Masters of the Universe...well...universe. Well enough to know what baddies I needed to add to my collection anyways.

The present I received early in 1982 was the He-Man and Wind Raider gift set. At first I honestly didn't know what to make of it. Was this a doll? I certainly wasn't used to such large action figures (Star Wars dominated my toy collection up until that point, and having completely missed the Mego boat but having an older sister into Barbies, I knew clearly the distinction between dolls and action figures. This 'He-Man' was nearly nude, am I expected to provide pants?) Was it a baby toy? (He-Man's simplistic construction, rubber head and wobbly leg joints, coupled with the fact that my aunt was notorious for sending me toys much more suited for toddlers even though I was about to turn eight had me wondering...)

But the packaging showed some pretty fantastical stuff; warriors and monsters with massive bladed weapons couldn't possibly be for babies, or girls, right? I don't recall if the set came with a mini-comic but if it did that hauntingly beautiful Alcala imagery certainly hit me full force too (I know the comics swept me away eventually, I just don't remember if it started here or later.)

And by gum, the vehicle was pretty darn neat, with it's wind-up winch and stickers and such. And He-Man...okay he was a hugely muscled nearly naked nordic specimen of manhood...an odd choice for a child's plaything indeed...but boy was he armed to the furry-shorts-wearin' teeth!

I think I dig this thing!

Masters of the Universe consumed my toy collecting for only a couple short years. I had Greyskull and Skeletor and Panthor and Zoar and Clawful and Man-At-Arms and what seemed like a ton more. I played with them outside in the dirt and in the snow and at my cousin's house and with friends; and once I even duct taped old Castle Greyskull shut and checked it as my luggage on a plane trip to Grandma's (you should have seen the people at the luggage turnstyle when a green skull-faced castle popped out and began rotating past them.)

But as fleeting as childhood is, those moments of toy-obsession can be all the more fleeting; by 1984 my interest in MOTU was waning and I was moving away from such 'childish' toys and into more mature themed toys like Transformers and Go-Bots.

I believe Clawful was the last new MOTU figure I ever received, and some time in 1985 I was offered a bunch of money for my 'toys I wasn't playing with anymore' and sold my whole MOTU lot to Dad's coworker's kid.

I don't regret it at all. I wouldn't have changed my mind at the time (I was too young for nostalgia) and I'm glad the toys went to a kid who got to enjoy them. And hey, I made some money which I turned right back into more toys at the time anyways - many of which I do still own.

Yet somehow something that my 7 to 9 year old mind mused over daily, be it during playtime or afternoon toon time or during school with erasers-not-toys; somehow those two years of direct almost daily contact have turned into a lifetime of fandom even though all those original toys left for new adventures long ago.

A Psychologist could have a field day culling the reasons that period in my life cut such a deep groove in my psyche. All I know is that the toys and themes present in the Masters of the Universe left a mark on me in ways not even Star Wars (a pre and post MOTU obsession) or Transformers (post MOTU) or even Batman (still to this day) can truly contend with.

Of course I have since gathered together more original MOTU toys in my adulthood than I originally owned as a kid (in retrospect I realize I did not really own that many - it just seemed that way to me at the time,) and I have a handful of Masters of the Universe Classics (mostly favorite childhood characters, plus one or two oddballs.) I also have hundreds (maybe thousands) of toys of different genres and from different eras, and something shiny and new or retro will invariably pop-up tomorrow or the next day to catch my wandering attention.

But all others will always pale in comparison to the Sci-Barbarian He-Man and his Future cum Medieval ilk and the lasting effect they had on my impressionable young mind.

Slush Head

When Mattel attempted to re-vamp He-Man and the Masters of the Universe at the end of the eighties I completely ignored the toyline. Primarily because I was too old for He-Man, focusing my toy collecting on all the cool new Batman movie stuff coming out. But also because of the stupid new direction the toyline took, giving He-Man and his pals more of a Buck Rogers/Star Wars type space theme and much less of the savage barbarian concept we had all grown up with.

Had I payed more attention however I may have picked up a couple of the cool looking villains in the line, including this guy named Slush Head aka Kalamarr.

I love that this guy has actual liquid in his helmet. A sort of reverse scuba suit, or more accurately a Scawba (Self Contained Above Water Breathing Apparatus) maybe?

And not only is his helmet full of liquid, but his head actually turns too! Keen.

I found this guy at the swap meet sans accessories. But for fifty cents, I couldn't pass him up. He's a little roughed up, but his helmet is still full of whatever carcinogenic poison Mattel pumped in there over twenty years ago, so that's cool.

And I think to myself, what a Wun-Dar-ful world!

As a previous owner of an actual honest to God Wonderbread (or Savage) He-Man, the announcement that Mattel was going to recreate the infamous "dark" Master in their MOTUC line really pleased me. The fact that I had to sign up for the 2010 subscription to get him? Not so much.

But whaddyagonnado? Gotta feed my Frankenstein.

So I signed up. And here he is in all his glory, Wun-Dar (as he is known in the MOTU Classics mythos.)

Buried in the sands of time, or in some Mattel lawyer's file cabinet under "silence orders," the true reason behind a dark haired, black clad He-Man may never be known. What I can give a 100% Toyriffic guarantee to is the fact that an original figure with this coloration did exist.

Appropriately, the one I owned also had the black Zodac armor. So while there is infighting between MOTU fans and "experts" as to whether or not this was the case with the original mysterious release, it's here on Wun-Dar and that makes me happy.

Wun-Dar comes with a sword and a Zodac type gun as well. Both in black and silver. Wun-Dar digs the Raiders.

Since I didn't get into MOTUC until this year, Wun-Dar is (so far) the only He-Man I have. Which is fine by me! Of course I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the undeniable Conan vibe this guy gives off.

Even though he's the same exact figure, Wun-Dar seems a lot more of a badass than the blonde He-Man.

In addition to his sword and gun (and black Zodac armor,) Wun-Dar also comes with a loaf of bread (a nod to his Wonderbread legend) and his very own"half" sword reminiscent of the swords of the original line.

"I have the Wun-Daaaaarrrrrr!!!!!!"

Battle Cat

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.

I Have The Pow... I Mean Wonderbread He-Man!!!!!!!!!

Okay kids, here's what's likely to be to this point the most extensive look at a Wonder Bread He-Man online. In my online search, I was only able to find a few fuzzy images, so I tried to take some nice close-ups and comparison views for this entry.

First up is a close-up of Wonder Bread, or Savage, He-Man. He has the soft rubber head of the early releases of He-Man, and his features are well defined. As a Hot Wheels collector, I know that the dies and molds wear out, and one indication of age on a figure or toy car is how well defined the details are. This may be a hint that Wonder Bread He-Man was one of the first releases out of the mold.



Next up is a full body shot. This figure was clearly used as intended - as a toy - and has some minor play wear. The kid who had him played with him, but didn't beat the living heck out of him. He has loose hips and doesn't stand up well on his own, which can be common for old Masters of the Universe figures.

The kid who owned him did, however, take a sharpie to his wrist guards. No big deal, and the wear on the sharpie indicates further that this figure has been around a while. He was also wearing this armor when I found him. Maybe it was added later in the figure's life, but I find it interesting that this is not the only Wonder Bread figure found in this fashion (according to scant online reports) - could it be that he was in fact released with this armor at some point, or a case of great minds thinking alike in playing with this figure? We may never know.


Here's a comparison shot of all the He-Men I own at this point.

Top Row: an original Thunder-Punch He-Man, the mysterious Wonder Bread He-Man, aka Savage He-Man in some circles, and an original Battle Armor He-Man.
Bottom Row: Commemorative re-release He-Man, Commemorative re-release Faker, and an original Faker.


Here are some head shots for comparison. All shown but the Commemorative version have soft heads, and the Wonder Bread He-Man has the sharpest sculpt of the three with rubber heads. Again, hinting that he was molded before the other two, and before the mold had much wear.


Here he is from the back. The kid he belonged to put his initials on his back: "D.R." in sharpie. Again, no big deal, easily removed if I wanted to, but it helps add context to the figure. Heck, maybe "D.R." himself will pop up someday to share his story about where this guy came from!

Or maybe henceforth we can have a new name for this He-Man: "Dr. He-Man!" Okay maybe not, but you have to admit it has a nicer ring than "Wonder Bread He-Man" ;)



Here he is from the top. You can see the minor wear on his hair color, and the detail of the sculpt in the hair.



Here is a close-up of his boots. You can see they have minor wear and were not re-painted as the plastic shows under the boot paint.


Here's a very interesting observation. Apart from the fact that I should probably not have been looking so closely at this area ;)
As you can see, there is a slight gap where there is no design/sculpting between the belt and the fur of the shorts. For comparison I added a pic of the original Faker's shorts to show the fur/sculpt goes all the way to the beltline. I don't know what that may mean, but I found it to be interesting and it may hold a clue as to the date of this figure's release.




(Don't stare too long)

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UPDATE:

Wonderbread He-Man has been sold and no longer resides in my collection.

Before selling him, I cleaned off the sharpie on his wrists and back. It came off very easily - just required a little heavy rubbing. He-Man didn't seem to mind ;)






ANOTHER UPDATE: I consider the mystery of Wonderbread or Savage He-Man solved with this first hand account from a pair of brothers over at Flashlights are Something you Eat.
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Buy stuff by me at Zazzle!

King Randor and Scare Glow

Two gems from my recent flea market haul.



It was actually Randor that caught my eye when I saw the box. I had never seen him in person before and knew I had to have him. He's in unbelievable minty condition, whoever he belonged to must have gotten him near the end of their interest in the line, or they just didn't like playing with him. Scare Glow is almost as minty, and is another amazing find, as both of these guys are pretty hard to come by.

Randor is He-Man's father, and Scare Glow is the "Evil Ghost of Skeletor" (Redundant enough for you? You mean he isn't the kind, loving ghost of Skeletor? Or the ghost of bad, bad Leroy Brown?)

Anyways, I am excited to add these guys to my collection.

Wonder Bread He-Man - The Holy Grail of He-Man-dom!

I'll cut to the chase first, then give my long winded account afterwards -

TA-DAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!



Yes folks, that is in fact the elusive, mythical, legendary, Holy Grail "Wonderbread He-Man."

There is a lot of speculation, and little real, corroborative info on this figure. Assumptions range from it being a mail away promo from Wonder Bread to it being an initial-run figure that got dumped on the foreign market: He-Man may have started life as to be Conan, before Mattel shifted the character and series to the in-house idea of "He-Man" (due to licensing or violence or what-not.)

He may have come with a couple red accessories (axe and sword) and he may have come with this black chestpiece.

Whatever the case may be, he's as elusive as the facts surrounding him.

And he was in the bottom of a five dollar box of MOTU stuff at the flea market today! I didn't even know it until I got the box home, I was just excited to hear the box was five bucks - with a BUNCH of figures and accessories, Snake Mountain, and both "Cats" - all in very good to excellent shape!!!



"Amazing" is an understatement. I'm still in shock! There's a lot here, so I'll be adding more posts soon of the highlights.

UPDATE: I've added more on Wonder Bread He-Man HERE