Poe’s Review > Thunder Punch He-Man (Masters of the Universe Classics, Mattel)

May 16, 2012 | Poe
How 'bout a nice Hawaiian punch?

Hurricane Hordak joins the nation's punched

Thunder Punch He-Man is yet another one of those He-Man guises that I never had as a kid; I never even knew anyone who had one. It was a gimmicky figure, given its use of caps to create a “super punch” sound, and action features like that never appealed to me as a kid. The figure also came along a little later in the line in 1985, by which time young Poe was obsessed with Transformers.

The vintage TP He-Man was a bit unusual because he featured some brand-new sculpting, specifically his chest and arms, as well as (if I recall correctly) a solid head rather than a rubbery hollow one. He also lacked the traditional He-Man uber-tan, for whatever reason. Mattel also sold replacement caps for the figure separately.

The Thunder Punch outfit made an appearance in the minicomic “The Treachery of Modulok.” At one point, Hordak has erected an impenetrable barrier of magical energy around himself. It’s a thorny problem, best solved by a counter-spell or a psychological ruse or– (more…)

Happy Stinkor Day!

May 15, 2012 | Poe

Image from He-Man.org

Link to the all-in-one page

It’s Stinkor Day! Whether you think the reversed forearms were a deliberate action by Mattel or an accident they tried to cover up…you’re getting one if you’re a subscriber.

It’s also Slush Head Day (congrats Mike Bock!), Mighty Spector Day, and Snake Mountain Stands Day. For you DC Universe Classics fans, it’s also Golden Age Flash Day.

MOTUC Bio Discussion #56 > Bubble Power She-Ra

May 15, 2012 | Poe

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

She-Ra Bio
Real Name: Adora of the House of Randorâ„¢

After crossing over from Etheria to Eternia with the help of Light Hope, She-Ra joined forces with her brother and the Masters of the Universe who were caught in a four-way war with the Snake Menâ„¢, Skeletor and Hordak. She used her cloned sword to harmonize with and channel the Powers of Grayskullâ„¢ to form new arms and armor in the midst of battle. Her Bubble Powerâ„¢ armor greatly enhances She-Ra’s stamina and allows her to funnel great fumes of energy at her foes. She remained on Eternia to fight off evil until both she and He-Man were called to the stars to fulfill their destiny, traveling to the Tri-Solar System to end the oppression of the Horde Empire.

Like He-Man, She-Ra can “harmonize” with the Powers [sic] of Grayskull to form new arms and armor. He-Man gets the awesome-looking Battle Armor; She-Ra gets…Bubble Powers, which allow her to funnel great “fumes” of energy (energy apparently having been transmuted into a gas at some point).

This bio does reveal a few things, though: it confirms the existence of Light Hope in the MOTUC Bio Universe (MBU) and mentions the four-way war between the Heroic Warriors, the Evil Warriors, the Snake Men and the Horde that occurs near the end of the timeline. I’m a bit unclear on how this war ends, though we know Skeletor defeats Hordak and takes off into space to conquer the Horde Empire and the universe itself.

So, some new information and a serviceable if uninspired explanation for the Bubble Powers (as it includes no mention of, y’know, bubbles).

MOTUC Bio Discussion Archive

MOTUC to Have “Dramatic” Price Hike in 2013

May 11, 2012 | Poe

Mattel is laying the groundwork for an announcement (presumably at SDCC) of a major price increase on Masters of the Universe Classics (including for subscribers) in 2013. In answer to a question about the diminished paint applications on the Horde Prime production figure compared to the prototype, Mattel’s Scott “ToyGuru” Neitlich wrote:

The Horsemen tend to “overdeco” figures. Every figure in 2012 is delivering $22.00 worth of paint apps. In 2013 we are dramatically raising prices so we can afford more paint and accessories. If we wanted to deliver all the figures exactly as the 4HM painted the protos we would need to charge more and we already sold in the sub for 2012, so that is not an option. Legally we can’t raise prices on the sub after it is sold in. This is why we will start 2013 at higher prices.

While some fans have taken issue with the “overdeco” comment, I suspect the Four Horsemen tend to put more detail into the prototypes with the expectation that some of it will be removed/downgraded for the production figure. (Basically, Mattel will look to cut corners on whatever they provide, so the more detailed the Horsemen go – in sculpt and paint – the more detail there is on the final figure – in theory, anyway.) (more…)

Odds ‘n Ends > Outer Space Men, New MOTUC Bios

May 8, 2012 | Poe

  • PGPoA sponsor Urban Collectibles has single figures of DC Direct’s Batman Arkham City Series 2 in stock now.
  • The Four Horsemen are now taking pre-orders for their psychedelic Cosmic Creators: Four Horsemen edition of their Outer Space Men figures, along with reissues of the OSM Infinity Edition Waves 1 & 2 with some tweaked paint apps.
  • Mattel posted packaging pics & bios for the Griffin, Snake Man-At-Arms, and Horde Prime. Still can’t say I’m excited for that Griffin. On a side note, if you want to see the secret of Horde Prime’s face, it’s right here.
  • You can also see pics of some of Mattel’s SDCC exclusives, as well as Vykron’s bio, at Action Figure Insider.
  • I was asked to plug Pocket Power Toys, a website devoted to this little-known toy line from Japan that was sold by Tyco here in the U.S. in the 1990s. The creator of the site adds, “Strictly speaking there’s only one action figure in the line (Glo-Bones).”
  • NECA has a Collector’s Club. Did we know this already?
  • I swear to God, if Bluefin Tamashii Nations doesn’t reveal what their S.H. MonsterArts Godzilla SDCC figure is soon instead of teasing us with bits of artwork, I’m going to – just wait longer. Though it might be a wholly-translucent orange “Meltdown” Godzilla, like this one, which would be a profound disappointment that I wouldn’t buy (and yes, I realize there’s some hypocrisy there, since I’ve always said the best con exclusives are repaints – but preferably a somewhat interesting repaint). I’m hoping there’s a poster of whatever the final artwork is, too.

MOTUC Bio Discussion #55 > Swiftwind

May 8, 2012 | Poe

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

Swiftwindâ„¢ Bio
Real Name: Spirit

A magical steed from Etheria, Spirit served Adora during her time as Force Captain of the Horde Army. Loyal to Adora, not the Horde, Spirit stayed with her after Adora learned of her true heritage and joined the Great Rebellion. Enhanced by Adora’s newly acquired Sword of Protection, Spirit was transformed into She-Ra’s flying mount Swiftwindâ„¢, heroically carrying the Princess of Power into battle. Swiftwind remained with She-Ra, traveling with her from Etheria to Eternia to join with the renegade Masters of the Universe in the continued fight against Hordak and his armies.

I think what I wondered about most in reading this bio was why Swiftwind stuck with Adora after she turned against the Horde. That’s some pretty strong loyalty to turn against the status quo you’ve known your whole life simply out of loyalty. I have to believe Swiftwind wasn’t a fan of the Horde’s regime. If he thought the Horde was running Etheria just fine, it’s arguably like joining up with the Taliban against the government in Afghanistan purely out of loyalty to your best friend.

And once again, I’ve engaged in some traditional geek overthinking. But that’s really the whole point of these bio discussions, isn’t it?

We already knew from She-Ra’s bio that the Heroic Warriors would become renegades under Hordak’s rule (though the Thunder Punch He-Man bio seems to dispute that, as Skeletor is ruling when he’s challenged by Hordak and King Hssss). So nothing new there. Overall a pretty straightforward bio.

Some Awesome MOTUC Fan Art

May 4, 2012 | Poe

While searching for Draego-Man fan art, I came across the work of CJEdwards, who’s drawn a quartet of images of the 30th Anniversary figures that actually makes even the non-Draego-Man ones kind of…cool? (more…)