MOTU Masterverse Dump (Jan. 2024)

 Last year I caved in and started collecting 7" Masterverse figures, in spite of telling myself that the MOTU Origins line was all I would collect from Mattel's Masters of the Universe lines, but I love these too much! Collecting Masters of the Universe Classics was cost prohibitive when Mattel produced that 6" line back in 2009, so this is kind of like a second chance to own larger scale MOTU figures like that. I have a lot of them to show, so here's a Masterverse dump just to get some opened to be enjoyed...

Revelation Series Fisto

                                             Masterverse Fisto with MOTU Origins Fisto:

Revelation Series Roboto

              Masterverse Stratos with MOTU Origins standard Roboto and Mini Comic Roboto:

New Eternia Series Man-E-Faces

Masterverse Man-E-Faces with MOTU Origins Man-E-Faces:

New Eternia Series Zodac

                                            Masterverse Zodac with MOTU Origins Zodac:

New Eternia Series Buzz-Off

                                   Masterverse Buzz-Off with MOTU Origins Buzz-Off:

New Eternia Series Stratos

Masterverse Stratos with MOTU Origins Mini Comic Stratos and standard Stratos:

I can't say enough good things about these Masteverse figures, that seem to just get better with each new wave. I have more of these to show you here on the Super-DuperToyBox, until then check out my November 2023 post on the Masteverse Whiplash, Clawful, Beastman, and Mer-Man!

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MOTU Origins Clamp Champ & Man-E-Faces

 Like some of the other figures in the MOTU Origins line, I hadn't planned on getting Clamp Champ or Man-E-Faces, but as my enthusiasm and nostalgia grew, I found myself picking them up. These two were purchased at Amazon at an unusually reasonable price, when combined with some accumulated Amazon points totaling a paltry sum of $12.91 each shipped. Amazon likes to fold the card backs of this line, which while annoying mattered little, as I open my toys.

Clamp Champ is packed with a large action feature clamp similar to the 1987 version, though it must be manually pulled back to be triggered. whereas the original performed the complete action with one push of the button. Oversized action accessories are fun for kids, but I'll display mine with just the smaller clamp- I was onto other things when Clamp Champ premiered, so I have no real nostalgia for the larger clamp. I like the alternate head and extra left grip hand, as well as the outfit colors. Like Tri-Klops and many others figures in the line, Clamp Champ is essentially a repainted He-Man with a new head sculpt...

Below, Clamp Champ with my Masters of the WWE Mr. T, a favorite from Mattel's crossover line of figures and playsets that share interchangeable parts with MOTU Origins. I think this was a stroke of genius mixing wrestling figures with the sci-fi/fantasy aspects of Masters of the Universe.

I had the 1983 Man-E-Faces as a child, and while I've heard complaints about his skin tone being more orange than the original, this is incorrect. It's true he had a more natural skin tone in the mini comics, cross sell art, and Filmation animated show, but the figure was more like this Origins version. Mattel has stayed true to most all characteristics of the original figures, as they did with Man-E-Faces.

Below, Man-E-Faces with his Wave 2 mates, Orko, Scare Glow, and Trap Jaw, which was infamously absent from most of North American retail. Luckily, BBTS offered them for preorder, which I pursued the other three, but not Man-E-Faces- odd in that I had him as a child. Later, I corrected this oversight with the aforementioned Amazon find.

Below, Mane-E-Faces flies in on the MOTU Origins Wind Raider, He-Man greeting him at Castle Grayskull. Again, MOTU Origins has my vote for top toy line of the past year, it totally hooked me. The vehicles and playset, character selection, and WWE Universe line compatibility make it home run, and there is word of lots more to come. It will be cool if Mattel can navigate distribution woes.

Clamp Champ included the same mini comic as Battle Armor He-Man and Skeletor, Battle Armor Reborn, and Man-E-Faces came with Double Trouble like Orko, Scare Glow and Trap Jaw from Wave 2- double back and check those out. Visit the Battle Ram Blog to see more about the original mini comics and Masters of the Universe toys I loved in the '80s!

I've said it many times now, Masters of the Universe Origins is my favorite line of the last year, and has really taken me back to the '80s with their faithful retro styling and play value. Clamp Champ and Man-E-Faces are both great examples of what make these figures so much fun. Recommended! 

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Toys From My Childhood: Masters of The Universe

My brother & I had an impressive collection of Masters of The Universe toys back in the early 80's. It's sad to see there isn't much left of them, but it's only because they were really played with by us and then the neices and nephew, and whoever other friend's children came around after we had moved out. And that makes me happy :)

BattleCat was awesome- he had no articulation, but the sculpt is great! Mine has the tip of the tail snapped off, and his armor has some fading/discoloration. He was definitely played with. His gnarly coloring & armor design is proof at how trippy this toy line was!

 

The beefy blue guy atop BattleCat isn't He-Man- that's Faker, He-Man's "evil twin", created by his arch nemesis Skeletor! He outlived both my He-Man figures  :D  He didn't have blue skin or funky orange armor in the single episode of the animated 80's television show by Filmation in which he appeared.

Man-E-Faces was an example of some of the fun , imaginative character design with this toy line, with the ability to change his faces from a human face to a monster face to a robot face by twisting the dial atop his head...

Next up is my favorite of these- Jitsu, who like Faker, appeared only once in the cartoon, and with no character development at all. According to Wikipedia, his name was "Chopper" in the script, but he was never called by name, nor did he have his famous golden hand...

I always liked this toy because I could remove the hand  :D

Mattel is making a killing off the new Masters of the Universe Classics, which looks totally awesome... and somewhat expensive. And if you miss out on MattyCollector's release of these, you will pay even more on the secondary market, many single figures running from $40.00- $60.00 each! People are going bonkers for them! In the 80's they were a BIG deal, too- we had many of the figures, a few of the vehicles, and even a Castle Greyskull playset. They were FUN toys that bring back good memories!

*He-Man.Org... the name says it all

*Check out more vintage Masters of The Universe at ToyArchive.Com!