Demolition He-Man

I'm endlessly interested when toy companies reuse various molds for other lines. It's a common practice that can sometimes be very obvious when done... and not so much other times. Toy production is very expensive and these companies are out to make money, so it makes sense to reuse what assets they have. Movie tie in toys are going to be short lived on shelves and attention spans are likely going to shift quickly. Sure, Star Wars or other long running franchises are a different story. However something like Demolition Man from 1993... even the companies knew it was a gamble.

The toy line heavily reused molds from The New Adventures of He-Man. There were new head sculpts and weapons, but considering the prior line had recently wrapped up (1989-1992) this was pretty brazen for Mattel. Some of those figures were probably still on toy shelves at the same. The Battle Baton Spartan figure featured in the commercial was clearly a repaint of the standard He-Man and impossible to ignore next to each other. Some of the other figures are harder to tell... but that's impossible once you see it.

The New, New, Newer Adventures Of He-Man

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe debuted on Netflix this past weekend and boy was it a fun time. It's funny that I spent extra time with The New Adventures of He-Man this summer, because it's really hard not to draw comparisons between this new show and that old one. On top of the classic He-Man formula is sci-fi and anime influences with a healthy dose of comedy. The show is a mix of action, adventure, laughs, and even feels. It's pretty damn good. 

It's not the same old He-Man either, a complete reboot. I'm surprised I like it as much as I do, because I'm very G1 with my MOTU. It's just the way I prefer it, but man, they did a great job. He-Man is the leader of the Masters of the Universe on Eternos. Once again he's Prince Adam given super powers with the power sword and Castle Grayskull. He shares this power with his friends giving them super powered forms as well creating a team to fight Skeletor who's mastered the forces of Havok and created his own Dark Masters. It's a new twist on some familiar faces that's a lot better than I expected it to be.

Masters Of Their Own Dang Universe

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe is a new cartoon and toy line aimed more at kids unlike Origins and Revelations. That gives it the freedom to be different. I've generally always been pretty G1 with He-Man, but this one has my interest. Taking a more sci fi route, they're practically reinventing the series for a new generation of kids who practically don't know the gang. Going by the trailer, I'm assuming the new versions of the crew are a group of kids or younger people. They'll find themselves discovering Castle Greyskull and all the various magical stuff that makes up Eternia. It's a little weird seeing Man at Arms the same age as Prince Adam... but the whole thing has a general Megaman/Big Hero 6 vibe that's hard to not like. For me anyway.

The toys so far seem to match the show models pretty well. They're the standard 5" you expect from a He-Man style figure with some beefy, more animated styled sculpting. There's also some fancier 8" figures that look pretty neat. Not to mention vehicles and playsets. The visual styling is a pretty big departure from what you'd expect, though I'm making 'The New Adventures of He-Man' comparisons thanks to the more sci fi look. I plan on getting a few, but would go hole hog on Eternia Minis of them if they happened. You know, I'd love a game. A 3D platformer on my Switch.

So far the reception to the trailer and early toy looks has been pretty positive in the MOTU groups I'm in. Which was surprising, I'd figure the opposite. But no, most seem to be pretty welcoming towards it. The only negativity I've really seen is the generic nerds who generally overvalue their own opinion. I think with the healthy amount of new and old themed MOTU product available, most folks are ok with something different. They literally can just ignore it if they choose. Me though, I'm digging it. It's a pretty fun departure from a well established formula. I'm ok trying something new out. If it's not for me, then no biggie.

He-Man In Space

While being off the past days recovering from my ICU stay, I've been taking in a lot of TV. Well, I've been taking in a lot of TV in between bouts of sleep. You'd be surprised just how tired you get after heart failure. One of the shows I've decided to spend some extra time with is 'The New Adventures of He-Man'. I spend so much time with G1 MOTU that the follow up almost gets forgotten sometimes.

Also, 'The New Adventures of old Christine' is always on late at night. This has nothing to do with that, but I am bewildered how such a long running show could air completely without me knowing.

With He-Man though, his new adventures are really a shot in the arm of rejuvenation as it takes the formula and changes it just enough. It's easy to dismiss as mostly forgotten by history, but it's pretty good. He-Man and Skeletor find themselves in the future on a planet named Primus taking part in their war. I won't go super into details as why, but that's the gist of it. Skeletor finds himself paired with the Evil Mutants while He-Man obviously is with the Galactic Guardians.

The toys are pretty different from the original. It's clear that a complete new direction was the idea. Later some of the molds would be reused for the Demolition Man toyline. The cartoon, while a western production, has a very anime look. It's pretty hard to ignore, so much that if you told me they recycled an anime to use... I'd have a hard time not believing it. It's distinctly in that 80's/early 90's anime style. Some scenes could easily be mistaken for Masterforce. Clearly I like it. While I'm not saying you should, I am saying it's worth checking out.

Faker Than A Three Dollar Bill

On Eternia, if you see He-Man committing an evil act... and he only kinda looks like He-Man... you've just witnessed Faker in action. As his name and appearance would imply, Faker is an evil duplicate of He-Man. Obviously a blue skinned repaint of the classic He-Man toy with Skeletor's armor in orange and a robotic sticker on his chest, he is still pretty neat.

Faker didn't show up in a lot of MOTU fiction. Clearly the toy was a low budget solution to getting another figure on the shelves fast. So it stands to reason that not a lot of attention was paid to him afterwards. However Faker does appear in one episode of the classic cartoon. In it he's a near identical clone of He-Man causing trouble. This idea got revisited in 'The New Adventures of He-Man' with another near identical clone named He-Slave (no really). 

Faker does have various comic appearances, including a mini-comic late in the line despite being one of the earlier toys. His origins range from evil robot clone to magically created clone to random member of the Evil Warriors. I do like the classics take on Faker, in which he's a failed robot duplicate of Prince Adam. Man-at-Arms thought it would be a good idea to have a fake Adam to stand in while He-Man was off on adventure. The robot didn't work out and ended up in the hands of the Evil Warriors and reprogrammed. The idea is to fool the people of Eternia that He-Man had went evil. Pretty standard evil clone stuff admittedly, but it works. 

I mainly like Faker because of his colors. The blue contrasts with the orange in such a weirdly fun way. I've made my joke about Eternia being full of living Halloween decorations a million times before, and I'm going to make it again. It's most obvious in his Battle Armor variation. With it, Faker has an orange version of Skeletor's battle armor that makes you wonder why he wasn't a seasonal special edition. Despite the very basic nature of the toy, Faker is pretty popular and generally gets a good amount of merchandise. Which I'm sure Mattel is only to happy to produce.

Shit Slush Head

In the late 80's Mattel decided to refresh He-Man by taking him to space in 'The New Adventures of He-Man'. No longer fighting armies of living Halloween decorations on Eternia, He-Man finds himself fighting space mutants on the planet Primus (no relation). In the mini-comics, Skeletor takes control of the Evil Mutants and it's business as usual. In the cartoon however, Skeletor makes an alliance with the leader of the Evil Mutants Flogg. 

Slush Head is a swamp creature member of the Evil Mutants. The fish bowl on his head is full of swamp water to keep him alive when he's having new adventures with He-Man. In toy form this makes for a neat toy gimmick as do his tentacles. Looking straight out of a cheesy sci fi B movie he also is packing a matching laser gun that can double as an axe. If Slush Head can't shoot you, I guess he can cut your head off.

He-Man and his Adventures

Not long after Master of the Universe ended, Mattel reintroduced He-Man in a new more sci fi themed line named simply 'He-Man' with a new cartoon series called 'The New Adventures of He-Man'. While I'm pretty much a G1 guy with MOTU, I did get some of the toys and watch the cartoon as a kid. It doesn't have the goofy charm of the original line, it's still pretty fun in it's own right. This promotional video is pretty weird, you got late 80's CGI putting the toys in random adventures. Of course it hasn't aged amazingly, it's pretty novel in it's own right outside of selling He-Man toys.