Question: Who stands six feet and two inches tall, weighs two hundred
and twenty-five pounds, generally utilizes his brains to avoid
violence, and is so bad ass that even his sister is bad ass? That’s
right -- It’s He-Man.
When you think of 1980’s iconic superheroes and cartoons, you cannot
escape the Masters of the Universe franchise. At one point in time,
He-Man had it all. A great cartoon, great action figures, and even a
major motion picture. (Regardless of what you think, that movie was
awesome and we won’t hear another word about it.) He-Man was so popular
that even his sister, She-Ra, had her own spin-off cartoon. Yes -- it
was the eighties and it was the glory days.
But what made He-Man such a legend? Let’s take a quick review. First,
his name is so fantastically cheesy and awesome, it only sounds good and
makes sense because we’ve heard it so much. He -- He -- He’s a man. He
is He-Man. That’s perfect. Right on the money for this crowd. Second --
he’s ridiculously fast, acrobatic, and mega strong. In the early comics
he battled a pre-Crisis Superman and held his ground. Put that on a rap
sheet. He packs an awesome sword and a legendary catchphrase. “By the
power of Grayskull…..” Ring a bell? He-Man is the real deal, even if
time has left him behind. His nickname is Defender of The Universe.
That’s hardcore.
The cartoon was so beloved because of the great characters that
surrounded He-Man. These characters define 1980’s art, imagination, and
design in the world of comics and cartoons. That was their appeal then,
and that’s their appeal now. Characters like Skeletor, Cringer aka
Battle Cat, Man-At-Arms, She-Ra, Teela, and many others paved the way
into many a kids toy collections.
And of course, Skeletor. What a great villain to help make the Masters
of the Universe so epic. Skeletor is part dark arts, part science, part
ninja, and rides a mean, giant cat named Panthor. He is down for his
agenda, one hundred percent. The voice acting and watching He-Man foil
his schemes, is what made the show great. If you are lucky enough to
have grown up in the He-Man era, we understand if you're tearing up a
little while reminiscing.
The shame of He-Man is the progression of the franchise. Unlike many
other great 1980’s franchises, He-Man has struggled to reinvent himself
and stay relevant. That’s created a great die hard cult following
amongst fans that were there in the beginning, and the one’s that came
along later. The question is: do you still have any love for He-Man?
When it comes to He-Man action figures, Radar toys is still on board.
Being babies from the eighties, we’ll always have a soft spot for He-Man
action figures. For example, lets take a look at some recent and near
recent figures that we drooled over:
The first two figures pictured are from the 2003 line and we absolutely love them. I mean, just look at Skeletor. He looks crazy. The third picture is a recent release of a two pack featuring Skeletor vs. Lex Luthor. Two real mean guys, from different worlds, up to much the same stuff. Sweet. We're taking a second look at these figures to remind us how awesome He-Man still is. The word on the street is that Mattel is set to release a new line of He-Man figures is 2011 and we're stoked. Before that time, it's great to see what's still available out there in the realm of Masters of the Universe. He-Man earned his place on your good guys shelf almost three decades ago, and Skeletor has been certified as up to no good for about as long. Respect.
See some He-Man and all kinds of cool action figures, here, at Radar Toys. Thanks for reading and we hope you enjoyed the article.
