Pig Man on Campus

 

I found the Masters of the Universe Origins Pig-Head at Target today!

Pig-Head was originally a villain in the 80s Sun-Man toyline, which was not a Mattel creation and other than being similarly styled, had nothing to do with MOTU. 

By the time of the Sun-Man line, I had moved on from MOTU and similarly styled toys, so while I may have had some awareness of their existence, they weren't anything I sought out as a kid.

I of course would love to have any of the original Sun-Man figures now, but somehow have never come across any in my decades long toy collecting career. Fortunately the creators of Sun-Man have teamed up with Mattel and they are now part of the MOTU, via these new Origins releases!

I have not seen Sun-Man at retail yet, but will grab him when I do. A few of his teammates are also in the pipeline, but Pig-Head is by far the best of the bunch. The neon colors and odd helmeted boar head, along with his medieval weaponry, really recall the wild west cobbled together feel of the 80s toylines that took their inspiration in equal measure from the likes of Conan, Star Wars, and "what pieces do we have left over in the shop that we can slap together and call a villain?"

Pig-Head is beautiful, surprising addition to the Origins toyline. Who could have ever predicted this collab between He-Man and Sun-Man would happen in the 2020s? 

Now, if I could only find Sun-Man! 

'Walk of Shame' April O'Neil :: New from Playmates!

"Call me!"

This is Shogun April O'Neil from 1993, and one of the last waves of original TMNT action figures. Based I assume (having never seen the movie) on the TMNT III live action film, April is either lost in time wearing her traditional ancient Japanese garb, or is walking off a massive hangover of regret, hoping she doesn't run into anyone she knows on the subway ride home while wearing a stolen bathrobe and pajama bottoms taken from the bathroom floor before climbing out the window of the apartment of a guy she only knows as Tinder's @BigGunz69.

"Jose Cuervo, you are NOT a friend of mine!"

At least her make-up isn't smeared. Small favors!

I'm sure April's hair was a bit less 'Splinter's-nest-y' when new, but it's a hot mess now! I found her at the bottom of a quarter bin at the flea market last weekend. I'm sure the seller had no idea she was a TMNT as all his other TMNT figures were overpriced. In his defense, Shogun April comes across as a McDonald's Happy Meal Barbie type toy, and not one single thing about her would lead you to believe she was April O'Neil. But hey, I won't judge her. We all have our pasts.

Two-Bad :: Punching Himself in the Face for Over 30 Years

Two-Bad is another MOTU figure I did not own as a kid. Ironically, I now own two - both the flat back and round back version. I prefer the round back version because he's more properly proportioned, and this is him. Although you wouldn't have known because I didn't photograph his back.

Like with all Masters of the Universe figures, Two-Bad had an action feature, and it's still hilarious after 32 years - each arm pulls back and punches the other head in the face! HAHAHAHAHAH comedy gold! The only way Two-Bad could have been better would have been for him to have had two fingers extended on one of the hands.

"Oh, a wiseguy, eh?"

"Why I oughtta...!"

I remember reading somewhere that the original concept for Two-Bad was for him to have been two enemy characters mashed together by some sorcery or other and so of course they were always fighting each other even as a two-headed unit. Not sure what his canonical cover story is nowadays, but that;s how I like to think of him.

Random Toy Pic :: Masters, Prepare for Battle!

Trying to get a bit more organized with my toys that aren't on display, and gathered together a bunch of MOTU figures that for some reason haven't been stored with my main MOTU collection yet. Zodac and Trap-Jaw (you can see the top of his head above He-Man) are actually the re-releases from around 2000. The rest are original MOTU figures from flea market finds over the past few years. And even with a handful of floppy limbs, they all stand surprisingly well!

Extendar, Roboto, Horde Trooper, Grizzlor, and even Battle Cat are all figures I did not own as a child. You can see a bit of Clawful too in the right lower corner - he was one of my childhood favorites and one I did own and love.

Happy MOTU Day!

Apparently today, April 28th, is MOTU day. Why? I don't know, perhaps I should look around the 'net and find out. But I've been so busy lately! In fact, I have been so busy my planned 'MOTU Day' post never happened, and I'm pulling an '80's sitcom' over here and doing a flashback episode.

Lame I know, but hey, if you never saw these posts, they're new to you!

So follow the links, look at the pictures, and enjoy the last couple of hours of MOTU Day!

Extendar, Master of reaching stuff off the top shelf!

Horde Trooper - he's sooper dooooper!

Hey laaadiiiieeeees!!!

And of course the slice-du-resistance...I once owned a Wonder-Bread He-Man! But I don't any more. Waaaah!


Check out the rest of today's MOTU Day blog participants...

The Toy Box 1138
BattleGrip
Hoardworld
Nerditis
Needless Things
Action Figure Barbecue
Action Figure Adventures
Diary of a Dorkette

...and tune in soon for actual new content. Yay!

Extendar - Sticking his neck (and arms and waist and legs) out for He-Man since 1986

Although I was a huge Masters of the Universe fan back in the early eighties, Extendar came out too late in the line (1986) to enter into my collection.

Until last weekend that is, when I found him at the flea market. It was a good weekend for flea-marketing!

Extendar is one of the few MOTU action figures that shares no parts with any other Masters of the Universe figure. He does however have a gimmick action-feature like pretty much every MOTU action figure.

And it's...unique.

I am Extendar - Master of the ancient art of 'Pea-kah-booh'

Extendar is a literal robotic White Knight. He actually looks far cooler in his 'normal' mode than when his action feature is employed. But leave it to the original MOTU toyline to take things to the nth degree:

Go Go Gadget Arms...oops...wrong '80s cartoon.

Extendar's arms...

Top shelf be damned!

...legs...

36-24-36, bitches!

...waist...

I wish I was a baller

...and neck all extend to make Extendar's dreams of joining the MOTUNBA complete.

Extendar is...just weird. He's like Mekaneck on steroids. But he is also surprisingly endearing. I like the pearlescent nature of his armor, and he's a bit bulkier that standard Masters of the Universe action figures - as if he were actually wearing armor over their musclebound near-nakedness. His extending bits lock into place quite well after all these years, and only his left leg suffers from the looseness common in MOTU figures. An issue that can be fixed if I ever feel the need. But for now he still stands with a bit of work in both modes, so it isn't as bad as a few MOTU figures I have.

Oddly Extendar has a peace sign embossed on the back of his neck. Not sure if this was addressed in any iteration of the character's storyline, or if this is just something a designer threw in for fun. Peace through superior extending-power? I don't know. Does anyone know?

Clawful :: Crableg Variant Edition

Clawful is one of my favorite MOTU characters of all time. Why I don't have the MOTUC version is beyond me. Well, actually I've attempted to get him a couple times, and the stars mis-align to keep him out of my grasp every time. A story for another time however...today let's look at an original Clawful that I was able to net!

This is the leg variant version of Clawful, with different legs than the standard Clawful (of which I own the early 2000s re-release.)

The other version I own has Skeletor legs, but this version has Buzz-Off legs. Not sure how these variants were released, what numbers they appeared in, or if either is more valuable than the other. I do know that this version has crossed my path far less than the other version, so I would say this one is the harder to find of the two.

I won this Clawful, complete with his green mace, off of the Pop Pop, It's Trash Culture blog a couple months back. It's nice to have an actual original Clawful again, since he was a childhood favorite. I can now add this original MOTU Clawful leg variant to my collection that consists of the Clawful re-release and my Fuerza T Destructor.

Clawful was a pretty foolish individual in the cartoon, but I always saw him as a formidable sea-based foe for the Masters. And the fact that he did not speak with a Maine accent is a massive missed opportunity in my opinion.

Clawful was one of the last MOTU figures I got as a child before I grew out of the toyline, and I think that also has an affect on his nostalgia factor for me.

Deep Thoughts :: Masters of the Universe

I can still remember the first time I laid eyes upon the Masters of the Universe.

The year was 1982.

For some reason I received a present from an aunt out in California. It was early in 1982, or perhaps some time in the summer. It was definitely before Fall; I know because I wanted (and got) Beastman for my birthday that year, so by November '82 I was certainly well aware of the Masters of the Universe...well...universe. Well enough to know what baddies I needed to add to my collection anyways.

The present I received early in 1982 was the He-Man and Wind Raider gift set. At first I honestly didn't know what to make of it. Was this a doll? I certainly wasn't used to such large action figures (Star Wars dominated my toy collection up until that point, and having completely missed the Mego boat but having an older sister into Barbies, I knew clearly the distinction between dolls and action figures. This 'He-Man' was nearly nude, am I expected to provide pants?) Was it a baby toy? (He-Man's simplistic construction, rubber head and wobbly leg joints, coupled with the fact that my aunt was notorious for sending me toys much more suited for toddlers even though I was about to turn eight had me wondering...)

But the packaging showed some pretty fantastical stuff; warriors and monsters with massive bladed weapons couldn't possibly be for babies, or girls, right? I don't recall if the set came with a mini-comic but if it did that hauntingly beautiful Alcala imagery certainly hit me full force too (I know the comics swept me away eventually, I just don't remember if it started here or later.)

And by gum, the vehicle was pretty darn neat, with it's wind-up winch and stickers and such. And He-Man...okay he was a hugely muscled nearly naked nordic specimen of manhood...an odd choice for a child's plaything indeed...but boy was he armed to the furry-shorts-wearin' teeth!

I think I dig this thing!

Masters of the Universe consumed my toy collecting for only a couple short years. I had Greyskull and Skeletor and Panthor and Zoar and Clawful and Man-At-Arms and what seemed like a ton more. I played with them outside in the dirt and in the snow and at my cousin's house and with friends; and once I even duct taped old Castle Greyskull shut and checked it as my luggage on a plane trip to Grandma's (you should have seen the people at the luggage turnstyle when a green skull-faced castle popped out and began rotating past them.)

But as fleeting as childhood is, those moments of toy-obsession can be all the more fleeting; by 1984 my interest in MOTU was waning and I was moving away from such 'childish' toys and into more mature themed toys like Transformers and Go-Bots.

I believe Clawful was the last new MOTU figure I ever received, and some time in 1985 I was offered a bunch of money for my 'toys I wasn't playing with anymore' and sold my whole MOTU lot to Dad's coworker's kid.

I don't regret it at all. I wouldn't have changed my mind at the time (I was too young for nostalgia) and I'm glad the toys went to a kid who got to enjoy them. And hey, I made some money which I turned right back into more toys at the time anyways - many of which I do still own.

Yet somehow something that my 7 to 9 year old mind mused over daily, be it during playtime or afternoon toon time or during school with erasers-not-toys; somehow those two years of direct almost daily contact have turned into a lifetime of fandom even though all those original toys left for new adventures long ago.

A Psychologist could have a field day culling the reasons that period in my life cut such a deep groove in my psyche. All I know is that the toys and themes present in the Masters of the Universe left a mark on me in ways not even Star Wars (a pre and post MOTU obsession) or Transformers (post MOTU) or even Batman (still to this day) can truly contend with.

Of course I have since gathered together more original MOTU toys in my adulthood than I originally owned as a kid (in retrospect I realize I did not really own that many - it just seemed that way to me at the time,) and I have a handful of Masters of the Universe Classics (mostly favorite childhood characters, plus one or two oddballs.) I also have hundreds (maybe thousands) of toys of different genres and from different eras, and something shiny and new or retro will invariably pop-up tomorrow or the next day to catch my wandering attention.

But all others will always pale in comparison to the Sci-Barbarian He-Man and his Future cum Medieval ilk and the lasting effect they had on my impressionable young mind.

This Dorke's Horde...Trooper

Okay let's get one thing straight: Skeletor is a badass and Hordak is a ninny. Also, growing up I always considered Hordak and his minions to be girl's toys because they were featured predominantly on the She-Ra cartoon.

But since this Horde Trooper is hard to find, sort of awesome in a Stormtrooper kind of way, and is not a dolly (pants = not removeable) he has earned the right to be featured on Toyriffic.

"I renounce Hordak for the ninny he is and join Team Skeletor!"

Horde Troopers came out near the end of the Masters of the Universe line (he's marked 1985) so they are generally harder to come by than figures released during the line's peak. In fact, before seeing this guy at the flea market, I don't believe I've ever seen one in person.

Therefore I was willing to shell out a whopping five dollars for this guy. That's a lot in flea market dollars!

As with all Masters of the Universe toys, the Horde Trooper has an action feature. As with all Hordak minions, the action feature reflects his uselessness - basically any good guy or door knob hits the center of the Trooper's Horde symbol and poof, he falls apart!

Horde Trooper originally came with a staff (also useless) but mine does not have it.

I do admit I'm a bit jealous that Skeletor's robot minions never made it to plastic while Hordak's junkyard heaps did. But I'm not bitter.

Flea Market Finds :: SWAT Kats and Horde Trooper

This past weekend's flea market haul was small but powerful. A Remco SWAT Kat named Razor and a Horde Trooper by Mattel.

I know Horde Troopers are pretty hard to come by, and I've never seen a SWAT Kat in person before, so I consider these great finds!

Tune in for future posts featuring these guys in more detail soon!

I'm too Batsexy

I had to have this whacked-out Batman figure primarily so I could do this:

I'm too sexy for my Batshirt too sexy for my Batshirt
So sexy you're butt-hurt
And I'm too sexy for Robin too sexy for Robin
be he Dick, Tim or Jason

And I'm too sexy for you Harley
Too sexy for you Harley
No way I'm Batusi-dancing

I'm The Batman you know what I mean
And I do my bat-turn on the Batwalk
Yeah on the Batwalk on the Batwalk yeah
I do my bat-turn on the Batwalk

I'm too sexy for my Batmobile too sexy for my Batmobile
So sexy I make Talia al Ghul squeel
And I'm too sexy for my cowl man
Too sexy for my cowl man what do you think about that, Owlman?

I'm The Batman you know what I mean
And I do my bat-turn on the Batwalk
Yeah on the Batwalk on the Batwalk yeah
I shake my bat-touche on the Batwalk

I'm too sexy for my too sexy for my too sexy for my

'Cos I'm The Batman you know what I mean
And I do my bat-turn on the Batwalk
Yeah on the Batwalk on the Batwalk yeah
I shake my bat-touche on the Batwalk

I'm too sexy for Catwoman too sexy for Catwoman
Poor pussy poor pussy Catwoman
I'm too sexy for you Ivy too sexy for you Ivy
Ivy's going to leave me

And I'm too sexy for this song.

Okay, now that that is out of the way...



I was aware of Batman: Night Force Ninjas when the line was released back in the late nineties, having seen a few of the figures hanging in the Kay-B near the bookstore I worked. The toys appeared to be an odd combination of 'Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots' and comicbook stylized Batman, with some early nineties neon thrown in for good measure. 


I looked them over occasionally but ignored the line at the time, primarily because I never found the awesome and surprisingly comic accurate looking Azrael figure, and also because the 'action feature' gimmick seemed to be the primary selling point of the figures - so I assumed that in typical action feature form, it would rob the toys of the full potential of their designs. 


But as is often the case, one starts to re-examine these things years later, and somehow finds charm in what would otherwise not have been given a second glance when one's collecting tastes differed by a decade's time.



Case in point: Shirtless Batman.

Stay with me.


Having recently found another Skeletor and a collection of Conan stories at a garage sale, and of course snatching them both up with the same childlike exuberance I approached such things as a kid, my re-discovery of this shirtless Batman action figure also reminded me of the HUGE popularity of sword and sorcery toys and movies during my youth. 


Toys and movies which always included (but were rarely questioned regarding) nearly naked oiled up loincloth clad beefcake....aimed primarily at boys age 8-12. 


He-Man, Blackstar, Conan, Beastmaster. These guys were everywhere, with nary a covered leg or pectoral in the bunch. 


And somehow that was totally okay.

Jump ahead to 1998. Someone designing a Batman toy thinks to himself (or herself, but most likely himself) 'You know what hasn't been done yet? Shirtless Batman!' And then gets the damn thing made! 


Then a few months later some mom somewhere is out buying Batman toys for her son and comes across this guy, and doesn't think twice about the absolute absurdity of buying an imagination building plaything of a man in neon green pants, a bat-cowl, gloves and no shirt for her precious little boy. 


I love it!


So somehow upon seeing this Batman again my mind combined the homoerotic heroes of my youth with my love for all things Batman and I could not resist buying shirtless Batman; and now I'm left wondering how the hell I'm going to explain my need for a shirtless Batman to my wife.


First world problems. 

Anyways, back to the ridiculous nature of a shirtless Batman action figure. I mean really...why?


The only times I can think of Batman being (only) shirtless in the comics is in battle with Ra's al Ghul...and maybe while battling a shark. And to be honest, I think shirtless battles with al Ghul happen more often than shirtless shark battles. Which is weird in and of itself; sharks I can understand, you need to have your arms and chest unincumbered by the weight of...lycra?...to swim well enough to elude and/or disembowel a shark Batman style, but what is it about Ra's that makes Bruce Wayne want to constantly bare his bat nipples?

SEE! 


EDITOR'S NOTE: I did not find any shirtless shark battle pics during my exhaustive three minute Google image search, so maybe I merely imagined those.


So even though Knight Force Ninjas did not include an action figure of Ra's al Ghul, (although it should have, he does lead an army of...wait for it...NINJAS!) it did include a shirtless Batman. And the line was surprisingly fleshed out (get it, haw haw) with a Joker and Riddler and Tim Drake Robin and Killer Croc and Azrael and even a pseudo AzBats! 


But alas, no shirtless Ra's al Ghul to match forces with shirtless Batman.


Finally, to my knowledge Knight Force Ninjas is the only toyline to have ever included a shirtless Batman.

Shirtless Batman, forever alone...

...and forever FABULOUS!

Ladies Night

For Eclectorama's last photo assignment, 'Ladies Night,' I took some pics of a couple themed groups of gals in my collection. A couple sets of gals didn't make the cut, so I figured I should show them eventually; and here they are:

First up is a total spoiler if you haven't seen Batman: Mask of the Phantasm. Also of note, if you haven't seen Batman: Mask of the Phantasm there is something seriously wrong with you! Anyways, the first toy is Phantasm herself, unmasked! The second is Batgirl, but the unique thing about this toy is that it actually came from Jack in the Box. She has a lever on her back to kick the baddies, and is one of the finest looking Batgirl animated action figures made - from a fast food joint! Amazing when that happens!

Next up come a couple of Barbie-barians...err I mean Barbarians; Evil-Lyn and Teela. Toys I avoided like the plague as a kid (eww, girls are icky!) little did I know at the time how great these figures (and girls) actually are.