MOTUC Bio Discussion #37 > King Hssss

February 17, 2011 | Poe

Inspired by He-Man.org’s Roast Gooble Dinner podcast, welcome to PGPoA’s latest MOTUC Bio Discussion!

King Hssss Bio

Real Name: Hssss of the Viper House

A servant of the Unnamed One, Hssss was chosen to lead an army of Snake Men to the planet of Eternia to plunder its magical secrets. He ruled Eternia for three centuries until a rebellion formed under D’vann Grayskull. Soon afterwards, the Horde invaded and Hssss was drawn into a three-way war. All three sides agreed to a temporary truce in order to construct the Three Towers, but Hssss was betrayed by Hordak and in time was banished to the Void by the Elders and Zodak. For five thousand years he and his army waited until Evil-Lyn and a Snake Men descendant named Kobra Kahn opened the Snake Pit to free them. King Hssss often tricks foes by appearing heroic but then transforms into a seething mass of serpents and leads the Snake Men into battle!

Portrait art source: Original card art

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Masters of Destruction

February 16, 2011 | Poe

Today’s Teefury shirt is so awesome, my head bulged momentarily from near-explosion. While I go see a doctor about that, you order this. It’ll be gone in thirteen hours, so order soon!

Review > King Hssss (Masters of the Universe Classics)

February 16, 2011 | Poe

I’m fairly certain King Hssss (then known as harder-to-trademark King Hiss) was the last Masters of the Universe action figure I owned as a child. I have a distinct memory of playing with him at my family’s first house, which we moved to a year or so after I’d mostly lost interest in MOTU. Somehow, King Hiss had an appeal beyond being part of the MOTU universe; I think it was the sheer awesomeness of the three-snake inner body. I was also quite fond of the green color scheme and the generally reptilian looks.

I know this is blasphemy to some, but I was never all that fond of the 200X King Hiss. From a design standpoint, they turned him into the standard D&D mummy-lich creature, a tenth-generation photocopy of Xaltotun from Robert E. Howard’s Hour of the Dragon (200X Hiss also has quite a bit of Mumm-Ra in there, though obviously Mumm-Ra has quite a bit of Xaltotun as well). As the brief comic strip on the original card art shows, the play pattern of the original King Hiss figure was that he was an evil snake-creature masquerading as a heroic-looking character (note the similarity of his mask to another famous master of disguise). Even the first minicomic to feature King Hiss played on this idea, and his packaging referred to him as the “dreadful disguised leader of the Snake Men.” 200X King Hiss, though? You see him coming, you reach for your sword hilt.

Again, I know many of you are going to disagree with me on this, but I actually prefer this look for Hiss. Er, Hssss. (more…)

Toy Fair Day 2 > Masters of the Universe Classics

February 15, 2011 | Poe

DSCF0248

First off, just so you all know, I only went to Toy Fair for Saturday and Sunday. But I’ve got plenty to write up about–so much that I’ve decided to break it down. I’m going to discuss a few topics, like MOTUC, in its own post; others, like NECA’s licenses, I’ll group into one post.

First up, we have Masters of the Universe Classics (you can see my pics gallery here). Previously unannounced/unrevealed figures:

Before we go any further, be sure to vote on the Man-E-Faces color issue (this is an official vote by Mattel). What’s all this then, you say? Well, the original Man-E-Faces figure had a blue-and-orange color scheme. But anecdotal evidence, such as the vintage packaging art, suggests the orange parts were actually supposed to be flesh-colored. The figure on display at Toy Fair had a sort of in-between coloring–orange-ish pink–and I thought it was a great compromise, so I voted for that. But you should vote as you think best. (more…)

Happy Bow Day! (+ contest)

February 15, 2011 | Poe

I have no idea what made me use this pic. Other than it obviously being funny, while not obviously riffing on the usual Bow-is-gay cliche. Which I don’t buy, by the way–look at that ‘stache. Dudes with his build and facial hair hanging around extremely hot chicks all the time screams “porn star” to me.

Oh Bow. Why can’t we all just leave you alone? (BTW, in that shot above, I can hear Bow making the Peter Griffin “purring walrus” noise.)

Anyway, it’s Bow Day, though it’s also Shadow Beast Day, Keldor Reissue Day, Tytus Reissue Day and Grayskull Stands Day. No non-MOTUC items this month. Here’s the link to the all-in-one page.

And hey, to make it interesting: I’ve got a MOC WWE Mattel Randy Savage for the person who guesses closest to the exact time Bow sells out (guess a particular minute of the day). Entries must be submitted by 12pm ET. Everyone’s eligible except me and my monkey. Good luck!

Submit your QC issues for Mattel

February 9, 2011 | Poe

As some other sites are doing, I’m willing to present to Mattel a list of common QC problems on their figures. For most of you I’m guessing this will be related to Masters of the Universe Classics and DC Universe Classics, but any Mattel product are welcome. Here’s Scott Neitlich’s note (this one was to AFI) about it:

I know you’ve been asking for a way to get more input into the DCUC line and I have a challenge for you (as a site community) that works well for a dedicated site like this!

Clearly there are a lot of design and engineering issues fans have requested reviewed over the last two years (and many many if not all have been). However, our design and engineering staff has less time to surf the boards and I can only explain so much without images and details.

So here is the challenge. As a website community, put together a one page letter (along with any needed visual photos of product) and I will deliver this to the engineering and design group. Outline in a straightforward way design issues you have or requests (such as weak ankles, bobble heads etc..) But try to keep it on issues that are relevant, not ones that have been resolved. Also, this is design issues only, not shipping or customer service related to Mattycollector.com or retail inventory.

Have a representative who will be at NYTF deliver 4 copies of the letter/visuals to me there at our fan night on Sunday the 13th at 3pm. I will bring it to design so we can all review (along with the Four Horsemen).

I’ll leave it up to you all as to who actually writes the final letter, but as a web site community lets hear what you have to say.

Remember, visuals help a great deal. Try to keep the letter to one page max but attach whatever visuals are needed.

Together we can work to make this line even better! Lets hear what you have to say.

So here’s what to do: just shoot me an email (poe AT poeghostal.com) with a couple of photos of any and all QC problems you’ve run into with a DCUC or MOTUC figure, and then also describe the problem. I’ll write up a letter, print it out along with all the photos, and present it to Scott at Toy Fair.

This is your chance to make a real impression on Mattel regarding this issue–let’s do it! The deadline is 7pm Friday evening.

MOTUC Bio Discussion #36 > Vikor

February 8, 2011 | Poe

Inspired by He-Man.org’s Roast Gooble Dinner podcast, welcome to PGPoA’s latest MOTUC Bio Discussion!

Vikorâ„¢ Bio

Real Name: Vikorâ„¢

Shortly after King Grayskull’s death, Vikorâ„¢, a great warrior from the north was chosen by the Goddess to help protect the Sword of He while all of Eternia waited for a true heir to be born. Already a master of the battleaxe, Vikor’s legend soon spread across Eternia as he quested to vanquish evil – battling the remaining renegade Snake Menâ„¢ and defending the Valley of Gnarlâ„¢ from the Fighting Foe Menâ„¢. Although his time as a He-Man was relatively short, his contribution to the legend will never be forgotten in the great archives of Eternia.

Portrait art source: Early concept art by Mark Taylor

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“Badass” MOTUC?

February 3, 2011 | Poe

Here’s an interesting tidbit. DeviantArt artist Noxious1 has posted this Masters of the Universe Classics art, evidently commissioned by Mattel for use in an internal presentation. Later in the comments, he writes:

It was for internal presentation uses. I was basically commissioned to take the characters and their designs from the newly released “Classics” line and make them (and I quote) “BADASS” so I tried and I think it turned out pretty swell. If it were up to me I would redesign most everyone but for these costumes I got to do what I wanted with them. Very pleased with the outcome 🙂

So here’s my question…why did Mattel want to make MOTUC “badass”…? Please begin speculating wildly…NOW.

Edit: Lemonjuice McGee makes a good point–this may have been part of a pitch to a potential licensing partner. Perhaps they’re trying to interest THQ (or the brand managers and THQ are trying to interest Mattel higher-ups) in a MOTUC videogame?

MOTUC Bio Discussion #35 > Buzz-Off

February 3, 2011 | Poe

Inspired by He-Man.org’s Roast Gooble Dinner podcast, welcome to PGPoA’s latest MOTUC Bio Discussion!

Buzz-Off Bio

Real Name: Tzzzzt zzz zzTTTzz

Heroic King of the Andreenidsâ„¢, a bee-like species closely related to both the Kexâ„¢ insect people and the Arachna Spider-Warriorsâ„¢, Tzzzzt’s race evolved into fierce warriors, guarding their home and their ambrosia honeycombs with stubborn dignity. Although he initially preferred to keep his people’s neutrality, a sky war initiated by Skeletor gave Tzzzzt more than enough reason to ally himself with King Randor’s Masters of the Universe. He often partners with Mekanek using his wings for airborne spying missions.

Portrait Art Source: Original card back

I think the most painful thing about this bio is that it repeatedly refers to Buzz-Off as “Tzzzzt.” They actually managed to make one of the goofiest MOTU names even goofier, and then they doubled down on it. (more…)

Odds ‘n Ends > February 1, 2011 (Updated)

February 1, 2011 | Poe

  • I finally remembered to pick a winner in the Parasite/Hawkgirl contest–it was Reverend Ender. Congrats, RE!
  • The blog Collider has hi-res pics of some of the Bandai Thundercats toys. No pics of the 8″ Classics line yet, though. You can also see the full product list here.
  • It looks like Bif Bang Pow‘s second series of Lost figures may not be produced due to low sales. No surprise there. Look, I don’t want to bag on BBP; they seem like decent guys who really love toys. But Mego-style Lost figures was a bad idea from the start. And now Lost itself is pretty passé. To BBP: Please move on to 6″ non-Mego style Venture Bros. figures. (from Island of Lost Megos, via OAFE)
  • And also make a Prince Vultan for the Flash Gordon line–heck, make it Mego style if you have to, I don’t care. But I think we’ve all waited long enough for a winged action figure of Brian Blessed in kitten heels. (I’m deadly serious here.)
  • Mattel has asked a few websites, such as AFI, to put together a list of QC/engineering problems with the DCUC/MOTUC lines and present them, with pics, at NYTF. Since I’m going, I don’t mind spearheading an operation for this here on PGPoA, if people are interested. Let me know below, and if you are, I’ll put up a specific post and email address for submissions.
  • Update: NOW I remember what my last Odd/End was going to be: the Sword of Ages and the Dread Axe of Darkness will be returning this month!