Today’s the day! Feel free to use this post to comment on every agonizing yoctosecond of your efforts to order him. And don’t forget Ultraman and Alex Luthor.
When you’re done ordering, relax and enjoy a cheap laugh by coming back here at 1pm for your regularly scheduled It Figures!
Good luck!
ToyGuru posted a very big update over on He-Man.org–so huge it merited a rare weekend update here at PGPoA. I recommend you read the whole thing over there, but here are some highlights. (more…)
I didn’t know Matt, a.k.a. “SkeletonCrew” on He-Man.org, but came across this article about his passing in a daily search for action figure-related news. Matt was a customizer, best known for his work with “COTU World.” He was also an Army veteran.
It’s not often we hear about losing one of our own in this still-young hobby. I offer my condolescences to Matt’s family and friends. Here’s a link to a memorial thread on He-Man.org.
He-Man.org contributor Guia X (also known as P. Gayatin on Flickr) has posted some incredible photos of MOTUC Hordak. Check ’em out!
So after more than twenty years, we’re finally getting our He-Ro figure. But styles have changed quite a few times since 1987. What was in then isn’t so in now, including the dry look. But it was huge in the 1980s.
Looking at He-Ro, I see a couple of possible inspirations.
…or maybe…THE PUMANAN!
SpyMagician over at AFI has again made me hate him with his review of an early production sample of He-Ro. The review includes a look at the SDCC sticker and a better look at the bio.
It turns out the “sword of life” is actually the “sword of He.” Plenty of fans over at He-Man.org are unhappy with this idea, but I think it works. It’s sort of like Ra. Buuuut I can see how someone could think it was stupid. I also wish they’d gone with He-Ro’s original real name, “Gray,” but I suppose that might be confusing given the presence of King Grayskull in this canon.
After getting a good look at the black-molded translucent Power Sword, I do wish we could get it as a variant. It looks very cool, like a galaxy contained within a sword.
As for the figure itself–looks great. Can’t wait.
Mastering the Universe: He-Man and the Rise and Fall of a Billion-Dollar Idea (Order from Amazon)
by Roger Sweet and David Wecker
Emmis Books, 2005
ISBN: 1578602238
I picked up a copy of Mastering the Universe when it was first published. Aside from flipping through a few bits here and there, I never sat down and read the whole thing through until a few weeks ago. The book is ostensibly an account of the creation, development, and ultimate fall of Mattel’s Masters of the Universe toyline through the eyes of toy designer Roger Sweet.
But if you take away anything from Mastering the Universe, Sweet would like it to be this: it was all his idea. And I mean all. As one reviewer of the book on Amazon put it, it reads like a court deposition in a case where the question is who created He-Man. Sweet backs up his claims by constantly citing specific patents, internal documents, and other paperwork that means little or nothing to the average reader (or indeed, anyone other than another Mattel employee).
For this reason, Mastering the Universe isn’t always an easy read. Sweet’s writing (aided by his nephew, David Wecker) is peppered with moments of bitterness, egotism, and defensiveness, not to mention a heavy helping of self-martyrdom. Oddly enough, in both its self-aggrandizing nature and its defensiveness regarding credit for MOTU, Sweet’s book shares certain similarities with Dream Doll, the autobiography of Mattel founder Ruth Handler, who claimed she was the sole inventor of Barbie. (more…)
Mattel has added a He-Ro page to Mattycollector. There are a couple of packaging photos, and it turns out the sword is intended to be blue to represent its power (it will be blue in all versions). It’s still translucent and has the speckled-glitter “star effect.” He’ll cost $20 on Mattycollector. (more…)
