Figure Review: 200X MerMan

Ahhhh, MerMan....the mighty warrior from the swamps of Eternia. We have a lot to discuss here...

The original MerMan was pretty cool looking. He looked liked a frightened alien from War of the Worlds. Far from a demonic sea creature, his sculpt was better suited for Stinkor, the mighty warrior of stank, but he was still a figure memorable enough to become a favorite over the years from the most diehard fans.

Off the bat, he's given an advantage. He comes from the sea! Everyone loves underwater characters. It's a given. Now while this figure never represented everything MerMan can be in my opinion, it's his 2002 facelift that truly makes me wanna do a cannonball into the MOTU pool...

Now that's a real splash! Also, yes, I'm done with the pool puns.

The 2002 MerMan pays more tribute to the Creature from the Black Lagoon,  a character that no doubt inspired his creation. Where as the original figure was a little more cartoony and silly, much like the entire line itself, this seemed to to take the character more seriously.  A more frightening looking face sculpt and a more "monster" type body, scales and all. Indeed, he looks more like something coming from a b-movie. I can already picture Tom Savini's mask and effects!

Also included were some nifty weapons. In his first release, MerMan simply came armed with a sword. Not a bad weapon by any means, considering there's some weird fascination with being an amazing swordsman on Eternia. I guess "sword defense" classes are taught at an early age in Eternia, but be that as may, those lessons seemed to have made it all the way to depths of the sea in Merman's family too. Now sadly, before taking the photo of this figure, I actually had the sword he came with, but it seems either I lost it or my rabbits ate it. Who knows? But, that wasn't the only weapon is his arsenal. No sir. His other weapon is his trusty trident to spear right through the hearts of his enemies. Swords are cool but a trident? Now we're talking...I don't know what it is about giving creatures from below tridents, but I always thought they were cool weapons. Even though I lost his sword, he looks more intimidating with that sweet trident. Take that, Aquaman...


Awesome sculpt, gnarly weapons, wicked feed that look like they haven't been touched a pumice stone in centuries, MerMan has it all. One of the bests offerings in the series, I personally think this is a prime example of the potential the 200X line had to offer. If I was to point to any figure and say "this is why I love this line", MerMan would certainly be one of the first, if not the first.


GOOD JOURNEY!

-Chad

Scare Glow Invades SDCC!

I can't believe I'm typing this, but we officially live in a world where a Scareglow Funko Pop exists!

Photo Credit: he-man.org

For the uninitiated on today's subject, ScareGlow was released in the 1987, when the line was winding down. His figure was most unique, just a giant glow in the dark skeleton with a giant purple Dracula cape. I'm a long time fan of action figures that glow in the dark, so naturally Scareglow has always been one I've been on the hunt for to no avail. Being one of the last figures released, his numbers were much lower than say a TrapJaw or Battle Armor He-Man. Now, as cool as the figure is, it's his backstory that gets weird. He was originally introduced as a spirit from the future that Skeletor brought to the present to scare people and invoke fear into his enemies. A cool idea but fans took this as it was Skeletor's future ghost after he died. Personally, I always just saw him as a hitman of Skeletor and never really thought of him as his future form. No matter his origin story, Scareglow, armed with his green "Scythe of Death" was just too cool for his own good and found a way to stand out of an already outrageous line. While he didn't get a figure in the 200X series, which I thought he would've made a darn fine addition to, he did make a special appearance in a charity comic called The Power Of Fear. ScareGlow was not seen again in figure form until 2009's MOTUClassic line.


So that brings us to today:

Scareglow was given the Funko Pop treatment as an exclusive for San Diego Comic Con, something I still can't believe. Of all the characters to receive a Funko Pop, ScareGlow is hardly a name I'd ever imagine. Sure, every license gets a Funko Pop these days, but such a minor character from MOTU? Come on. We'd get Snout Spout before we get any consideration for ScareGlow! But thankfully, it happened! He was also offered as an exclusive to Barnes and Noble the first day of SDCC, for fans who couldn't make the big show and boy, once he was announced, he was a must own for all collectors. Thankfully, I work at a mall that has a B&N and know some of the staff, so they were kind enough to put one aside for me. It pays to work at the mall and have a network going! So the morning it opened, I raced down from my store to get this beautiful figure. And what a beauty it is.

Such terror but such cuteness!

Best part about this figure isn't his fantastic and detailed sculpt. Or his terrifying weapon

HE GLOWS.


Say what you want about Funko jumping the shark with it's multitude of properties, but they still know how to deliver the goods and they really delivered with this one, folks. I mean come on, can you imagine if they released Scareglow without the glow in the dark paint? Uh-uh. Nobody would truly care. I mean, eBayers wouldn't care, but that's their prerogative, bless their hearts. Scareglow without his most memorable feature would be a no-no and including it definitely sends this figure over the top in terms of uniqueness, which is what it's draw was in 1987 and now.

Don't they just look like they're planning to egg King Randor's palace?

30 years later, we're still talking about this guy. Who'da thunk it? Of all the characters I would've expected to be discussing a new figure of, I surely would've not guessed him! But after 30 years, I'm glad to have finally gotten my grubby mits on him to put with the rest of my MOTU collection. Sure, he may not be the original figure, but he's still downright amazing, nonetheless! I guess that's the true feature of this character: his ability to stand out and be memorable.


Plus, if I'm ever working late, I got the sweet glow of this bad boy to keep me all warm and fuzzy...or fearful. One or the other.


GOOD JOURNEY!


-Chad

FIGURE REVIEW: Blade

From the Masters of the Universe movie, comes Blade, the lethal swordsman and one of Skeletor's newest henchmen and my personal favorite of the bunch. Sorry, Karg. No offense...

Times Square...ETERNIA?!?!?

Times Square. The Big Apple. Gotham City. The Entertainment Capitol of the World. New York City is not just a perfect background for 1980s Christmas movies but also a proverbial melting point of all races, genders, religions from all over the world. Bringing together the finest folks this world has to offer and sometimes the not so finest. But that's ok, NYC is one of the finest places you could ever ask to visit and to experience complete madness!

Oh and Times Square was the backdrop for a great punk movie of the same name where Tim Curry plays a  DJ...

JOHNNY. LEGUARDIA.

All that hype aside, Times Square earned it's name of "Crossroads of the Universe" on one fateful Friday in October of 2002. The legendary Toys R Us in Times Square brought together three of the most powerful names in the galaxy (we'll get to them in a moment) to officially kick off the 200X MOTU line, a line that had been hyped for quite a while by multiple toy publications, Cartoon Network and Mattel themselves.This was the second coming of He-Man and fans were going crazy! But not as crazy as the fans in Times Square this fateful day.

Now, I previously mentioned some pretty powerful names that came together for this event. But who were these folks that were an almost Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage level of Mega-Powerness? Who? Who?


Without any further adieu, let's take a look at the hosts of the day:



HE-MAN:

 SKELETOR:

MARIO FREAKING LOPEZ:

No. You're not under a spell of Evil Lyn. This is not a rib from Bruce Prichard. This is not an April Fools Joke. THIS IS REALITY PEOPLE.

THE LEGEND...and some random local DJ that isn't Tim Curry as Johnny Leguardia.

The angle of this mega event was to give fans a big first look at MOTU, meet the fantastic artists and sculptors behind the figures, The Four Horsemen, and get a show. And a show they were given.

Earth hero Mario Lopez was brought in to introduce our intergalatic hero and his boneheaded villain as well as discuss his love the legendary defender of Grayskull, which he apparently did over a very microphone set on the lowest setting. Sadly, no dance moves or headlocks by Bayside's number one stud. This was all a different Mario today. Fun loving, yet focused. No time for ripping up Raiders tickets and break dancing in a tutu when the galaxy was at stake.

Skeletor and He-Man came out to exchange words and finish what they started last time we saw them. Remember when they claimed their legendary sword fight in the live action movie was their final battle? Lies. They clearly saw the future and the future was now. Times Square provided the perfect backdrop for what could be the greatest battle since nWo vs Team WCW at the War Games in 1996. With AC Slater as the impartial referee and peacekeeper, it was time to determine who truly was The Master of the Universe. Were we doomed to worship a giant bodybuiler on a roided up Smurf body? Was our hero to defeat Skeletor once and for all? Emotions were running high this day, and the battle finally ensued.

After a while,  Skeletor, rightfully so, surrendered. Clearly the power of inflatable swords while wearing sandals was a little too much for Keldor to tolerate. He-Man accepted Skeletor's white flag, most likely not wanting to hurt the young audience who were there to meet their hero. While admirable yet foolish, I can't help but to think Skeletor had something up his sleeve. But no. He knew what hills to die on. Skeletor probably took a look outside and realized if he had a plan, about 47 Yankees fans outside would beat him down and shove those sandals where the sun don't shine, all while eating calzones.

Defeated Skeletor is sad.

A lot of fans who weren't in the loop at the time most likely don't remember this, since it wasn't broadcast from coast to coast or promoted heavily outside an ad on He-Man.org and a flyer in the store itself. But it's such a unique and silly footnote in the history of Masters of the Universe. I'm sure a lot of stores did different promotional events over the years, but none brought together the power of Eternia and Bayside.

Personally I didn't attend this event but a couple of my friends did and told me it was quite the absurd and wild afternoon that you had to experience in person to truly appreciate it. In fact, a week or so after the event my friend Ryan called me up, after discovering pictures being posted on a few sites and screams DO YOU SEE WHAT WE MISSED?!?!?!? Ryan will come up later, since he played a huge part in my love of this series at that time, but make no bones about it: Had we known in advanced, we would've been more than happy to drop dime on driving up from DC to Manhattan meeting He-Man, Mario Lopez and a sandal wearing Skeletor. Because who wouldn't?

Much thanks to DinoDrac for allowing me to use these photos! 


GOOD JOURNEY!


-Chad

MOTU Month: Interviewing Gary Goddard!

The Horror Movie BBQ Podcast is back with a brand new special episode! In today's episode, I'll be interviewing the director of the 1987 live action Masters of the Universe movie, Mr. Gary Goddard!!!! This was actually our second interview as the first time we chatted, the audio was absolutely unusable, so I had to do this over the phone instead of the normal skype. Please keep that in mind when you hear the quality of the audio itself.

FIGURE REVIEW: 200X Prince Adam

When Mattel introduced the 200X toy line, it seemed one of the biggest goals was to improve on old designs as a way to make it new all over again. Whether it was the characters themselves, the creatures, the vehicles and even Castle Greyskull, no stone was left unturned as far as this bold, new venture. And one of the characters that desperately needed a facelift? None other than Prince Adam...

Before you start filling my inbox full with hate mail, think about it. The original Prince Adam figure was just a quick repaint of the actual He-Man figure in a white shirt and purple underpants. You're not exactly hiding his secret identity well there, Mattel. One look at Adam and Webstor will figure out who he is in about 3 seconds and he's the dumbest of Skeletor's minions! So now you've got the most powerful man in the universe sharing a mold with what seems to be a Flying Graysons reject. Come on, now.

So the beauty of this figure that we were given in 2003 was that Prince Adam resembled more of the boyish secret identity of our Hero. No big muscles, no 6 pack abs, no Lex Luger body by IcoPro. Nope, just a figure that looks more like a geeky IT director. With a sweet vest, a pair of tight slacks and sweet dishwashing gloves, Adam finally convinces me that he's a complete wuss and wouldn't be able to throw a rock through Man-At-Arm's window, let alone take down Skeletors entire army of monsters. Even if you're not a fan of the 200X series, you at least gotta hand it to them, they finally gave Adam a good figure.


Oh yeah, and check out the height difference:

Come on, tell me that's not a vast improvement. It's like one of those "before and after" Milk commercials from the late 80s.

So sad story, the Adam figure used was picked up at the famous McDonald House Sale last year, but someone decided he'd look better bald. So thankfully a spare He-Man figure came in handy and I was able to do the old switcheroo. So if you see an Adam out and about with a different hair style, that's why. Which, now that I think about, negates my point about distinguishing the difference between Adam and He-Man and kinda makes me a hypocrite. Hmmm...Maybe I should've kept Adam looking like a skinnier Yul Brynner after all.

GOOD JOURNEY!

-Chad

The Power of the Evil Horde Book/Cassette!

I'm a big fan of storybook-cassette/record sets from my childhood. I mean, there's so many out there due to their popularity in the 70s/80s/90s that I'm still discovering recordings I've never seen before. I'm talking Real Ghostbusters, The A-Team, Transformers, and so much more. Heck, even George Washington's life got a story cassette!

Now, as you can imagine, He-Man and She-Ra received quite a few stories. You'd be right. I've found so many tapes and records from not just America, but all over the world. Some of them are very corny and not acted or written very well but what else would you expect when it comes to these? At the same time, some were pretty fantastic. Believe it or not, Secret of the Sword actually got a story record featuring actual dialogue and sound effects from the movie! It's a pretty fantastic to listen to if you're in the mood to listen to a fun adventure while you're out running or driving to a convention. But what we're gonna look at today, is even more fantastic...

THE POWER OF THE EVIL HORDE!

Yes folks, it's so cool I insisted on using colored text.

Credit: He-Man.org

Your eyes don't deceive you. A book/cassette released by Mattel in 1985 dedicated to the origins of the Horde! I had never heard of this tape until a couple years ago, so as a huge Horde fan, discovering this was a real treat. But other than being the story of Hordak and His Homiez, what makes this tape so fantastic?

Well for starters, the book itself is illustrated by animation legend Bruce Timm, known for his work in DC Comics animated series/movies. Bruce was actually an artist with Filmation at the time and seemed to be a great choice for this project. You'll also notice that Filmation (the company that produced the original He-Man cartoon) lent it's voice talent to this project which is an unusual move considering most of these books on cassette were done by no name actors with little to no connection to the cartoon. So to hear John Erwin as He-Man, Alan Oppenheimer as Skeletor, Lou Scheimer as Orko and George DiCenzo as Hordak, amongs other characters from the series, is a real breath of fresh air. On top of that, the music from the cartoons were also included! No longer would we just hear corny synthesizers as the background music and sound effects. It certainly added to the excitement and fun to the story. As far as listening experiences go, it kinda felt like you were listening to an actual episode of the cartoon.


Something you should also notice about this gem is that after transforming into He-Man, the muscly defender of Eternia refers to himself as "The Master of the Universe". Which caught me off guard, because the only time anyone used that phrase was in the opening intro, but I never recall anyone actually using it in reference to themselves. So to say that made me mark out, is an understatement. 

Another fun note is how the Fright Zone is mentioned in great detail. What's always been weird to me is how the Fright Zone was never shown or explored in the cartoon series. I suppose I can see why considering it looks pretty frightening, which achieves it's goal, but I still think it would've made for some fun episodes. But in this story, they narrator and the characters involved go into great detail to describe it. Which leads me to believe this whole story could've been based off an unused script for either a He-Man or She-Ra episode. But that's all speculation on my part.

Photo Credit: He-Man.org

All I can say is thank goodness for YouTube, because these stories make for a fun and somewhat campy listening experience on road trips, lull periods at work, and just when a quick laugh or smile is needed. Add the MOTU franchise and you've got a winner.





GOOD JOURNEY!


-Chad

FIGURE REVIEW: GWILDOR

Today's subject is quite the controversial character and I see no better way to kick off MOTU Month than with this guy!

See that furry, little troll? That's Gwildor, a character created for the live action Masters movie as a replacement for the cartoon's favorite magical master of hi-jinx, Orko. He essentially played the comic relief, a bumbling fool that would follow around He-Man and his crew on their way to and from Eternia. The master of the awe inducing Cosmic Key was played by legendary character actor Billy Barty and became an instant favorite of...well, probably just me. But his figure is a fantastic sculpt and I have to imagine, had the line continued, we could've gotten more great sculpts like this. His size, big gut, happy face and crazy hair make him stand out.



Gwildor only came with one accessory and he only needed one accessory. I can only be referring to...THE COSMIC KEY!

Photo Credit: He-Man.org

The figure included in this writeup is beaten up and beyond filthy for a good reason because...well...he's mine! I've had him since 1987! After seeing the movie, I quickly became a fan. How could I not love a troll that steals fried chicken and ribs from a bunch of horny teens making out in a convertible?

He's one of the very few toys, action figure or otherwise, I still have. He went through the dirt in many battles in my backyard as a child and has remained a favorite in my collection. Now, the modern "Classic" line gave us a phenomenal sculpt that looks more in line with the way he looked in the movie, but for me, nothing tops this guy right here.

Now if only I could find that coat he wears in my size...

Good Journey!

-Chad

Kicking Off MOTU Month!

Things have been awfully quiet here on the blog lately and I do apologize. It's been a relaxing and lazy summer so far but that aside, I have a very good reason for my weeks long absence. Well, I think it's good and I think you'll agree...

MOTU MONTH!

Yup! If you've been paying attention to my Twitter and Facebook page, you'll notice I've been dropping hints about doing a Masters of the Universe project for this very blog. What started off as just doing a MOTU 200X themed week turned into a much bigger project when I came to the realization that not only did MOTU 200X debut in August of 2002, but the live action movie debuted in August in 1987! The Masters of the Universe live action movie is a HUGE favorite of mine, which I'll elaborate more throughout this month, so I wanted to do something with that as well. So then it kinda hit me again: I haven't done as much He-Man related content on this blog. And that's awfully surprising, considering the impact the toyline has had on me in my life, which again, is something I'll follow up more on as we continue.

So what do I have in store?

-Figure Reviews!

Just a quick look or two at some of my favorite figures throughout the entire history of MOTU. Whether it's the original line, the New Adventures, or my personal fave the 200X line, all will be looked at! Well, maybe not Classics, but that's only because I don't own any. My bad.

-Interviews!

I'll be sharing some interviews with a famous name or two. I've always got an ace up my sleeve! You just never know who will stop by on the blog or podcast!


-Trips Down Memory Lane!

Obviously with a toy that spans practically my entire lifetime, there's gonna be some fun stories to tell and memories to share. There's gonna be some fun things to discuss that I'm sure you'll find in common with me.

-Cartoon Discussion!

Plenty of episodes of all three cartoon series to discuss. Some good, some bad...all very silly one way or the other.



-More!

Oh yes...there's a lot more! I don't wanna give everything away! But all I can tell you is if you're a fan of everything He-Man, She-Ra and all those crazy kids on Eternia and Etheria, you'll wanna stick around all month! I'll sometimes have multiple entries and writeups on one day! It's gonna be a lot of fun and I hope you enjoy reading them just as much as I do writing them!

So, until next time...Good Journey!


-Chad