| Masters of the Universe is recently getting a new resurgence from the recently released classic figures with modern articulation longtime fans growing up having them in their childhood collection. They say nothing like the original that defined Mattel’s boys’ toys aside from their popular Hot Wheels diecast cars.
The original MOTU toyline lasted from 1983 to 1988 lasting beyond the Filmation series that’s long enough to build a brand. It had a follow up series in the early 1990s, but not as popular as how it defined itself. The next series was a reboot in the early 2000s with a shot at revival, but unlike the follow up series it was easily forgotten. |
But the difference with the previous reboot to this one it had its own significant impact with the new generation of MOTU fans, but not one of them were from the old school series Filmation or even the follow up reboot where He-Man and Skeletor battled out in space.
This was a totally fresh retelling of MOTU with a well-written narrative and a very talented voice cast. The character designs though, take its cues from the current crop of Japanese Anime invasion that was at the height of its powers at that time. But the 1980s revival was strong too, which takes inspiration of what the ‘New’ He-Man cartoon would look like. This time around they’re not overly muscular and out of proportions, where they traded all that for more proportioned body designs and making it appeal for the younger audience at the same time trying to lure older fans.
But the trade-off in making the characters more humanly possible for its anatomy the weapons they come with are overly exaggerated and the concept on how they look as mentioned are inspired from Japanese Anime.
Of course, describing the series was something refreshing and some says the series was solid and fleshed out the characters in the stories with their connections and relations to each other. Despite the well-written stories and top notch voice actors the series only lasted for two seasons being aired on Cartoon Network ending with a cliffhanger with no resolve what happened during that second season that focused on the Snakemen, which would produce the wave of toys by Mattel.
Just like the original toyline some of the characters had action features and gimmicks, but for He-Man, this figure only had the basics, which most kids would really appreciate to have and for some who owned the original.
Mattel produced the first wave of action figures, but they’re no longer 5.5 inches tall and also the difference that the articulation was better with a wave of motion to its shoulders and hips with ball-jointed head. Also, like the original He-Man figure the spring waist action feature was still there and at that time.
With all the modern upgrade and design the figure still was not fully articulated in today’s action figures, which still not having bends at the elbow or knees. But this figure has wrist swivel that adapted around that era and this prior to the Marvel Legends toyline by Toy Biz that would change the way action figures are designed.
Handsomest Man of the Universe
He-Man’s features are not like the old figure it had inspiration from its past and present concepts of Japanese Anime. At first glance you’ll recall that He-Man also had a live-action movie that starred Dolph Lundgren and some of his features where probably incorporated the final look for this modern take of the character.
This was not your childhood He-Man with more humanly proportions he looked younger, since Prince Adam is portrayed as a teenager in the animated series, rather than just the same guy that turned his skin tone to tan when raise his sword. It was impressive at first glanced how Mattel revived the franchise after 11 years since ‘The New Adventures’ that only lasted for a season.
Weapons of Choice
Just like the original He-Man comes with the standard axe, shield, and power sword. But the new take on his weapons are the overly exaggerated size. Everything in this new series was not proportioned to the figures, but it works how the concepts were done by the Four Horsemen. The new look He-Man did not stop there with the huge weapons, but also the design of the power sword was different from the classic.
The sword’s design is something if you have watched the cartoon when he uses to become He-Man the middle part near the hilt swivels. The design has so many layers it’s not the usual power sword some of the older fans says it was overly designed for something simple. But as they say change is constant though it depends how it will be received by older fans, which most of the time was not as popular as expected.
The Future
It’s almost two decades since the series aired and the toys where sold on local retail, and it wasn’t good times for the franchise. For a time, MOTU existed in the comicbook realm to flesh out some of the narratives that needed closure. The action figure though had resurgence again when Mattel rebooted the toyline by 2007/2008 with the MOTU Classic, but this time aimed at the toy collecting scene.
Basically, it was an exclusive release through the former Matty Collector site and then through Super7. Those action figures were targeted for premium collectors and that’s what most recently remembers since the designs takes inspirations to the original toyline. Though this MOTU 20XX is not popular it has its own charm for those who had the chance to collect the figures.
Mattel never shied away from its legacy with MOTU by acknowledging it through the Classics line, and possible that some of the concepts would be revisited in the current retail toyline with MOTU Origins. Despite not being a popular series the cartoon had better storytelling and the action figures where top notch for a time, but these days some of the characters did not aged well.
But for this He-Man it has its own legacy that became part of the franchise, and surely you’ll definitely see some of the elements carried over to future MOTU toys. For some they’ve forgotten this He-Man, but not its legacy because he has the power.
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