You have no idea how relieved I was
when I saw the invoice for Galactic Protector He-Man.
Side Note: I just reopened this to do a
proofread and read “Galactic Protector He-Man” as “Galactic
Proctologist He-Man”. I’d buy that variant. Heck, we’ve got a
dentist. Boonga Boonga.
You see, since Toy Fair I had been
under the impression that the Masters of the Universe Classics update
of He-Man as he appeared in the New Adventures cartoon and toy
line was going to be two separate figures. It seemed completely
insane to me, but from the information I read and from the pictures
that looked to be the case. I never saw pics of just the armors or
just the heads. It seemed like this one character was going to be
taking up a 2-pack slot.
So when I looked at my invoice and saw
that this guy was only $25 (only $25 – HA!) I was pleased.
At that point I went and looked at the site and saw that the heads
and armor were, indeed, accessories. Cool.
Side Note: I don’t really go to the
Matty site anymore. I don’t need anything on sale days and the
forums – which used to be daily visits for me - seem to have
fallen into ruin. Only the most hardcore, illiterate fans hang around
there now. Okay, they’re not all illiterate. But a large majority
of the posts seem to have been written by twelve-year-olds with
English as a second language. On top of that, the moderators answer a
lot of Ask Matty questions now and I’m simply not interested in
secondhand information. Or non-information.
I was a huge fan of New Adventures
He-Man and Skeletor. The figures, I mean. I bought those two when
they came out because I loved the heavier sci-fi influence, the
improved articulation, and the (slightly) more realistic proportions.
They were nice looking figures for the time and I was initially
excited about the new line. I had always liked He-Man, but just
hadn’t owned all that many of them. Star Wars and GI Joe were my
things.
I don’t remember exactly what turned
me off of the line. I know the cartoon was awful. And I think the
figures might have been a bit pricey for the time. It was 1990, so I
would’ve been collecting Ninja Turtles, X-Men, and any Batman stuff
I could get my hands on.
First Glance: He looks
great. Regardless of the quality of the cartoon, I do love the idea
of He-Man transforming from Conan into Flash Gordon. Of course, that
was the original concept for He-Man anyway – he was supposed to
change into different genre topes. Hence the hilarious SDCC Exclusive
from last year.
But yeah – this He-Man looks sharp.
The design and colors are very cool.
Articulation: He-Man has
the standard MOTUC articulation, but with a couple of surprise
bonuses.
Head – ball joint
Shoulders – ball joint
Biceps - swivel
Elbows – pivot
Wrists – swivel/pivot
Abdomen - pivot
Waist – swivel
Hips – ball joint
Thigh - swivel
Knees – pivot
Boot tops - swivel
Ankles – rocker
He-Man’s totally rad late-80s
ponytail prevents his head from looking up and catches on the
shoulders with too much rotation, but it is flexible and is not as
restrictive as the female characters’ hair.
This He-Man features new wrist
articulation, which shocked the heck out of me. Both wrists have 360°
of rotation, but they have pivots as well. The right hand has a
vertical pivot and the left is horizontal.
The left doesn’t do much
good, but the right allows He-Man to hold aloft his magic sword. And
then after I finished writing all of that, I realized that Bow also
has this articulation. I can’t decide for the life of me why all of
the humans since him haven’t had it.
All of the joints on my figure are
tight and functional. Let’s all hope stuck joints are a thing of
the past.
Sculpt: This He-Man
definitely looks a little different from the standard one that
resides on Eternia. I don’t know if space travel got to him or
what, but he seems to have a surly grimace. Maybe it’s just the
loss of the pageboy haircut that makes this version look more
menacing. Whatever the case, this is a better look at He-Man’s
face. The hair itself is sculpted well. There’s a shape to it that
makes it look slightly less like a mullet.
He-Man has new wristbands. I don’t
love them or hate them. They’re a good sculpt and I’m glad they
at least match.
The boots are the same as Bow, which is
unfortunate because a lot of this figure already looks like
Bow. Don’t get me wrong – they’re god boots. They’re the
right boots. But between the color scheme and the design I think
He-Man has been raiding Bow’s closet. And I am going to refrain
from making any jokes about Bow and closets.
Coloring: Look at those
eyebrows. Man.
I love the color scheme even though it
is pretty much the same as Bow’s. In all honesty I think they
should have stuck with the old He-Man’s silver and orange. But I
guess gold says “hero”. He-Man does have a tight paint job. All
of the detailing is placed well.
The metallic gold they used looks good,
but I really, really wish they had done vac metal. Yeah, I
know – a lot of people don’t like that. And over time it can wear
off or chip away. But how amazing would this figure have looked I n a
bunch of shiny, golden armor? Really amazing.
He-Man’s skin tone is back to its
usual color, so I guess he’s been able to spend some time
aboveground since the whole Thunderpunch thing. The facial features
are all accurately place. The teeth are whiter than white.
Flair: I do like his new
belt – which is part of his crotch piece - a whole lot. I’m not
sure if those are actually meant to be pouches, but this guy did come
out in 1990, so it’s a safe bet. Just be glad he doesn’t have any
on his boots or bandolier. Just the fact that he has a
bandolier is pretty darn 90s. The trunks attached to the belt do a
good job of creating the “pants” effect and cover the hip joints
well.
Accessories: This He-Man
comes with the Magic Galactic Power Laser Sword, the Magic Galactic
Power Laser Shield, an extra head with a Galactic Helmet, a Galactic
bandolier, and Galactic chest armor.
I don’t know what these things are
called. That’s one thing that kind of bugs me about this line – I
wish they’d list the accessories on the packaging. Like GI Joe did
in the 80s.
Whatever happened to that? There used to be a printed inventory of the items that came with your figure. It would run down the side of the blister card. This would seem especially important with a line like this where most of the weapons have some kind of singular name – “Power Sword”, “Staff of Avion”, “Chaos Staff”, etc.
Whatever happened to that? There used to be a printed inventory of the items that came with your figure. It would run down the side of the blister card. This would seem especially important with a line like this where most of the weapons have some kind of singular name – “Power Sword”, “Staff of Avion”, “Chaos Staff”, etc.
The sword and shield look awesome, like
they’re made of lasers. I don’t quite understand how the shield
works, as it appears to have no source. It’s just this big, flat
laser. I love the shape of this Power Sword (is this an actual Power
Sword or is it just some future doodad He-Man picked up on Primus?
I don’t remember the specifics of the sword either. It looks like
it should work like a lightsaber, but it slides into the loops on the
back of the chest pieces. But the bottom line is I don’t care
because they look awesome and are TRANSLUCENT.
The helmet head actually looks a lot
cooler. The helmet itself has some nice detailing. It reminds me of
something. Captain Power? Does it look like that? I dunno. I can’t
look it up right now. But I like it. Still, I think I’m going to
display the figure with the full chest armor and the ponytail head. I
don’t feel like He-Man should wear stuff on his head. He’s the
star. Can’t be obstructing the moneymaker.
The bandolier is, quite frankly, silly.
It looks like it is supposed to look, but the thing is just goofy.
Its only redeeming quality is that it retains He-Man’s signature
iron cross. And has a loop on the back to store his sword. I guess
that loop must be laser-proof.
The full chest armor is awesome. There
is a ton of detail on this thing – all sorts of gauges and tubes
and dials. I love it. I particularly like the fact that the outer
shell is metallic gold while the padding underneath is a sort of
bronze. It’s a nice touch. All of the paint on this thing is tight.
It’s a little tricky getting it onto the figure, but not too
difficult. You just have to futz with the clasps a good bit.
Packaging: The standard
MOTUC big ol’ blister card.
There is, of course, the standard bio
on the back:
No mention of Primus or Denebria or of any
of He-Man’s Galactic Buddies. Weird.
Value: Holy Galactic
Value, Batman! I might have actually paid $28 for this guy! Breaking
up the shipping between this guy, Freddy Freeman and Clamp Champ
makes NA He-Man cost that much. And I do think I might have paid that
at retail. The blister card is packed full and he comes with cool and
numerous accessories.
Overall: Nailed it. I was
really looking forward to this version of He-Man and the Horsemen and
Matty did not let me down.
5
out of 5
This is a very good action figure.
Unless you specifically hate the New Adventure He-Man design, I
highly recommend it.
-Phantom
Damn you and your reviews. I just won one on ebay, after reading this I decided I should own him afterall. At least I got him for a few bucks cheaper than he would have cost me if I had just ordered him through mattycollector.
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