I’m not going to suggest this story is representative of how kids might react to MOTUC were it a normal retail line, but this story warmed my already-pretty-fuzzy heart.
Back in 2002 my son quickly fell in love with the relaunch of MotU but due to not being able to find anyone other than He-Man and Skeletor variants he also quickly fell out of love with it. Now he’s 11 and here comes the MotUC. I showed him pics of the upcoming exclusive and he never seemed to be interested but when he saw the actual King Grayskull figure he flipped out saying that it’s the most awesome figure he’s ever seen and that he wants one now. I go on the internet and show him pictures of the other figures coming out and he’s all excited saying he wants 1 of each too. I also had to go online and disappoint him by showing him that King Grayskull is sold out and that you can only get him by paying around $75. I also had to disappoint him even further by explaining I’m not about to pay $75 for a figure and that he may have to wait for Christmas. Well he wanted it now. I had to go to Atlanta with my girlfriend this past weekend and when I got back to my parents’ house to pick my son up he shows me the receipt from where he purchased it for $68. Turns out he wanted it so bad he washed and vacuumed family members’ cars for $20 each and he raked and mowed my parent’s yard. All that for a King Grayskull figure. Makes a father proud!
Newt
Nonsense! If my Grayskull's foot fell off within 10 seconds of opening him, your's did too.
Poe
Y'know, my King Grayskull's feet are fine.
Newt
Imagine how disappointed that kid will be once his King Greyskull's foot falls off.
He should have taken the $75 and gotten He-Man and Beastman!
Mark
Cool, would love to get them eventually. I do wish though that they would releasae them here in the UK. I recorded aevery single episode of tv then transfered it to dvd. I loved the way, a bit like Lord of the Rings, the gave a good map of Eternia going back to specific areas. One my favourites was the sands of fire.
PrfktTear
I really enjoy the 2002 series. It added so much depth and character development to the He-Man mythos, while retaining a smidgen of the cheesiness which made the Filmation series so lovable.
The entire 2002 series was released on DVD this year in three volumes. I was lucky enough to be able to review it for DVDSnapshot.com!
I don't have it yet, but volume 3 has two great extras featuring the Four Hoursement, one is "The Making of King Grayskull" and the other is a sort of "Meet the Four Horsemen".
Mark
Shows how awesome the new MOTUC are when an 11 year old kid is willing to do lots of chores to save cash to buy a King Greyskull at $68. I recently watched the 2002 series again and in all honesty I think it is one of the finest animated series ever made.
Esbat
He got the money in a truth telling contest two towns over.
…
Thats awesome, sad he had to pay up the tucus for it but glad he discovered the value of a dollar.
George
Im over here crying; LOL.
Wow wish I had a kid like that.
PrfktTear
Heh… for $20 I hope he put on two coats of wax, got all the crevasses, banged out the floor mates, and hung new air fresheners in the cars!
Christopher
JOking…lol
Christopher
I don't know. I think the kid somehow stole $68. LOL
The parents go on vacation and he does a bunch of chores and in that small amount of time he gets $68?
PrfktTear
$68? Who'd he buy it from?! 😉
Thats a really nice story. It serves as a reminder that at the end of the day, toys belong in the hands of children, not on the shelves of fanboys collecting dust. They're tools for children to use which help encourage learning and creativity through play.
Plus he learned a valuable lesson about the value of a dollar and what hard work can accomplish. I'll never forget when my mother bought G1 Ultra Magnus for me, but I couldn't play with it until I had earned it.
Also, I think this proves that He-Man cans till be relevant today, even with all of the Yu-Gi-Ohs, Ben 10s, and Power Rangers out there. Its a classic story of good vs. evil, yes, some of the characters are a little whacky, but its all in good fun.