Masters of the Universe: He-Man

This year is the 30th Anniversary of Masters of the Universe. Thought I'll do a post on the main versions of He-Man from the various toylines.

Starting with the vintage figure from the 1980s. Love this figure. Played with it a lot. The sculpt screams "powerful", it has great accessories and it was pretty hardy. It could withstand rough play. He could double up as Prince Adam too since they look the same. For me back then with the armour removed he was Prince Adam, and when he changed into He-Man, I just put the armour back on. But doing that repeatedly meant that the tabs on the back of the armour broke. The armour is pretty flimsy. The bands on his wrists are unpainted. Have gotten used to them so I think I prefer them as they are. The legs of the figure are held together by a rubber piece. Unfortunately it has become brittle and has broken due to age. He is now supported with blu-tack. He came with a power sword, a battle axe and a shield.

Articulation. The head and arms can fully rotate, and the legs can be lifted up and down. He has an action feature. Turn his waist either side and and it'll spring back to the front, enabling him to punch someone.

I didn't like the New Adventures of He-Man cartoon, but I still got the figure. The body is okay but the head is off. He looks more like an angry Arnold Schwarzenegger than He-Man. I quite like the H buckle on the belt, even if its not show accurate.

Articulation. His head can be rotated fully, hips have peg and hinge and knees have hinge and swivel. The knee joints are very thin and there's a worry they might break. He has an action feature. Turn his waist side to side and his arms will move up and down. You can get his arms to stay in certain positions.

His accessories include the power sword, a shield, a helmet and armour. Here's how he looks like fully equipped. The shield is pretty cool. A Green Lantern might swipe it from him next time.

In 2002 we got a new Masters of the Universe cartoon and toyline. Love the cartoon. The stories were better, there was more action and we got to know more about some of the characters. He-Man got an updated look while keeping some of the vintage elements like the armour style, loin cloth and furry boots. The figure is well sculpted. It has a good likeness to his appearance in the cartoon. Would have preferred a more natural expression instead of the gritted teeth he's spotting. I think his arms are a little too big and out of proportion. He comes with a power sword, battle axe and shield. The sword is unique as part of the hilt can be rotated to unleash the power as part of his transformation like in the cartoon.

Articulation. The head can be rotated, shoulders have ball and hinge, wrists have swivel and hips have ball and hinge. There's an action feature at his waist. Twist his waist and it'll spring back to the front.

NECA continued the modern line in the form of mini-statues. We got characters not previously released by Mattel. He-Man was released as a SDCC exclusive. He's similar to the 2002 version but here he's wearing the vintage costume and colours. I like this figure a lot even though he's a statue. He's sculpted to hold aloft his sword. Together with his wind swept hair, you get the idea hes just tranformed into He-Man, or heroically leading his allies into battle. His eyes are whiter than usual. (close up pic at the top of the post) To me, its like there's power flowing through him. He's painted very well. There's different colour tones on his skin. He comes with a power sword, a shield, a battle axe and a base. The power sword is more like the original version instead of the 2002 version.

This next He-Man is from the Masters of the Universe Classics line. The figure I got is a reissue which I think is better as it does not have the "red eyes". This is a nice figure. He's back to his original look. Seeing him brings back memories. The sculpt is great and he's got improved articulation. His hands seem to be a little small though and I don't like the bigger size wrist armor on his left arm. Though its designed to be like the original, would have preferred it to be the same size as the one on his right. The figure stands near 7". Would have liked if he were in the 6" scale, then he could properly go up against the likes of Superman and the Hulk. He comes with two power swords, one whole and one half versions. Both are painted similarly. I don't like the two tone grey. He also comes with a battle axe and a shield.

Articulation. Hes got a ball jointed neck, ball and hinge shoulders, bicep swivel, single jointed elbows, wrist swivel, ab crunch, waist rotation, ball and hinge hips, high thigh swivel, single jointed knees, swivel at the top of his boots and hinge ankles.