November
2016
Taking a look at He-Man
and Skeletor throughout the years
November 18, 2016
In the early 00’s, Mattel reissued some of their
Masters of the Universe figures in fancy packaging as a
part of their Commemorative line. They were pretty much
straight up reproductions of the original 80’s
figures. I went as far as collecting the first ten
figures. Besides a multi-pack, I never saw any of them in
local stores. I believe there were only 10,000 of each
figure produced with the exception of He-Man and
Skeletor, which had 15,000 produced of each. I had to
obtain my figures on eBay. It felt like a rip at the time
because I had to pay over $10.00 a figure plus shipping.
Nowadays, paying $10 and over for an action figure is the
norm. The figures, themselves, are pretty good. The
quality of the plastic used is nice and the paint jobs
are excellent.
Not long after the Commemorative line, Mattel launched a
new Master of the Universe line with a new cartoon, which
is now referred to 200X. I like the figures as well as
the cartoon. The amount of detail that went into each
figure was amazing. Even to this day, I am always
noticing something that I didn’t notice before every
time I take them out. Also, each figure had a built in
action feature, which is something that I’m not too
fond of with action figures in general, but I thought was
very well done with the figures in the 200X line. The
line had some major short comings and that’s that
the figures were difficult to obtain in stores. I had to
resort to eBay after the initial figures were released.
Mattel went overboard on making different versions of
He-Man and Skeletor, as well as repaints. I think those
efforts would have been better put towards making figures
of different characters and keeping figures in their
original colors available longer.
In the late 00’s, Mattel launched its Masters of the
Universe Classics figures line. I had a bad taste left in
my mouth from the last two lines’ availability
issues and didn’t get on board with the line, which
one needed a subscription to obtain most of the figures
from. I think that they are amazing figures, though. I
bought all of the DC vs MOTU Classics sets from my local
Toys ’R Us and later bought a few individual figures
from an online toy shop.
Recently, Super7 has taken over the MOTU brand and
I’m pretty happy with what they have released so
far. The prices, quality, and availability have all been
to my liking. The thing is, though, I keep feeling that
the brand is going backwards. Part of me wants to see
something new done with the property. I felt that the
200X line best achieved that.
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Red
Army
November 18, 2016
I am very fond of old school plastic toy soldiers. A
connoisseur, I might add. So, here we have a WWII Russian
Infantry set in 1/32nd scale manufactured by the long
defunct Atlantic of Italy. Atlantic toy soldiers
weren’t the most historically accurate toy soldiers,
but there’s an artistic flair to them that I quite
enjoy. They are, also, made from some of the best plastic
I have ever seen. I have never had a figure break on me
over the years and that says a lot because they are often
older than I am. The set includes an officer, five
soldiers with Mosin Nagant rifles, three with PPSH
submachineguns, and my favorite, a soldier manning what
appears to be a Maxim machinegun. The last of which is
oversized, but it’s a pretty nice toy in itself
that’s assembled from seven different parts, which
fit together nicely and stay together without glue. I
like how the machinegun can rotate and elevate. I’m
not exactly sure what to say about the figures’
color. I’m guessing Atlantic molded them in red
because they’re communists? They did that with the
figures in their Russian Revolution set and Chinese
Revolution set, as well. It’s a very dark red in
this case, so I don’t find it to be annoying for a
toy soldier set. All in all, I don’t think it’s
the best set on the subject, but it is an interesting one
nonetheless. I would recommend it to any plastic toy
soldier enthusiast.
On an additional note, I have speculated over the years
that the two men running are meant to be posed pulling
the machinegun as often seen in wartime photos.
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Satan Cross
November 18, 2016
Today, we’re going to be looking at Satan Cross from
Mattel’s M.U.S.C.L.E. line. Satan Cross didn’t
appear on the 80’s M.U.S.C.L.E. checklist poster.
Back in the early days of online M.U.S.C.L.E. collecting,
he was referred to as X-1 and collectors had no idea what
the mysterious hole in his back was for.
It turns out that it was for an extra torso with a pair
of legs to plug into giving him a Minotaur type
appearance as seen here in this version exclusive to the
Kinnikuman line. I obtained it from an auction held by
the M.U.S.C.L.E. Preservation Society’s founder,
Darrin Vindiola. The one that made it into the North
American line never came with the additional piece.
As people became more aware of the Kinnikuman line in
Japan, his name, also, became known. I was utterly amazed
that every M.U.S.C.L.E. figure was based on a character
that appeared in cartoons and comics in Japan.
So, is the Satan Cross figure rare? I seldom refer to any
figure as rare. I don’t consider it to be with an
auction being up for one at any given time. It’s a
figure that anyone shooting for a full set can probably
add to their collection at some point. I can’t say
the same for truly rare figures like Spinning Head
Ashuraman. Back in the early 00’s, there were a lot
less M.U.S.C.L.E. auctions, though. Try four a week
sometimes. Back then, I’d be more comfortable using
the term, “rare”.
I’m going to share my story of obtaining a Satan
Cross figure, which wasn’t very remarkable, but what
followed was. I saw mine in a lot of flesh colored
M.U.S.C.L.E. figures on eBay. I already knew about the
figure being hard to find. So, late one night in 2000, I
sat at my Gateway Essential computer with its close to
thirty pound EV500 monitor and placed my bid. At one
point, I almost didn’t bid, but another bidder
sniped the auction’s original bidder with not much
time left and that made me go for it. I won the lot and
the Satan Cross figure in its pristine condition was
mine! The following day, I got an email from the original
bidder telling me that the lot contained a rare figure
and that I should guard it with my life. He had placed
his bid and was hoping that no one would find the lot
while he was working the night shift. This led to further
emails and would lead to us forming a friendship. Matthew
Davis would become the very first friend I made online.
He was a man that I had a large amount of things in
common with, especially music. The only other bidder in
the auction, Chris Olian latter became a friend of ours.
What were the odds?
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