Masters of the Universe: Origins He-Man review

 

This was supposed to arrive mid to late September, yet look what just turned up at my house? And it seemed like I had only just reviewed a new He-Man figure five minutes ago. But this is from a complete reboot of Masters of the universe (MOTU), paying homage to the toy line of old but with modern articulation and a neat customising gimmick too. MOTU Origins (to give the line its official name) is Mattel’s stab at the modern retro toy trend, and how appropriate that the first character I get is the figurehead of the brand, the most powerful man in the universe, heir to the power of Grayskull, and voted best cat owner on Eternia, three years running: it’s He-Man!

The problem with retro inspired merchandise is you’re preying on people’s nostalgia. Which means the very people you want to go wild over MOTU coming back as a proper retail line (in 2021 officially) are also likely to not like any changes you make because people don’t like having dear memories challenged. But challenged your nostalgia must be. You can see this isn’t quite your dad’s He-Man. It’s familiar, yet new. The blonde hair is there, as ever, but it’s more of an unkempt center parting than the page boy styling of the original He-Man figure, or the pudding basin cut of the cartoon show. Add that to the scowling expression on his face and he looks more like Ken from Street Fighter 2 than He-Man. That’s not to say the headsculpt is bad, because it isn’t. The paint apps are basic but work- with only a little black spot on the nose- and now that I’ve had some time to get used to this new He-Man, I don’t hate it now I see it more of being like the barbarian-like He-Man from the original mini-comics. The rest of the body is immediately familiar to anyone who ever had a MOTU figure, the six inch body is heavily muscled almost exactly like the vintage toys were, except now there’s much more articulation (more on that in a minute). In fact,  if you turn in the arms and bend the knees in a touch, it looks near identical to that vintage body. The trademark armour is strapped down tight with nice, raised detail along the straps and the iconic Maltese cross on the center, painted in a deep  crimson. And because of the new fastening, it fits snugly against the torso. The boots have some nice, sculpted strap detail, although only the fur trim is painted it’s still edifying to see the work put into it. Also, as minor as it seems, the body is molded in a flat skin tone so this He-Man doesn’t have the overtly shiny finish of old  even though he doesn’t have the Hollywood tan of previous He-Men.

Size comparison with MOTU Classics He-Man

With 200X He-Man

With Funko Dorbz He-Man

With Super7 vintage style filmation He-Man

In a squat pose they could almost be the same body

The articulation is a bit interesting: the head is on a ball joint so it can completely rotate, lean to the side and look up and down. The arms completely rotate at the shoulder and pivot up. the elbows can bend at almost 45 degrees (just blocked by how swole the biceps are) and rotate around until they stop at the back of the upper arm sculpt- which is designed to obscure the elbow joint. Both wrists rotate completely and pivot up and down, so with a bit of work you can get the “by power of Grayskull” pose no problem. He can almost reach back for the sword on the back of his armour. The waist allows a full rotation- sorry old school fans: no power punch function here. The legs attach at the hips via a ball and pivot joint that gives a really good amount of sideways movement: the leg almost comes all the way out sideways and partly forward. The knees, like the elbows, almost bend at a right angle and can mostly rotate at the joint. The lower leg completely rotates at the boot-cut and the foot pivots back and forth as well as to the side. All together this makes this He-Man the single most posable He-Mans I’ve ever owned. And more importantly it’s fun to pose. Sure, the classics figures have more joints but not the same flexibility as this guy. After spending the last few months struggling with getting vintage inspired MOTU toys just to stand on their own, it’s such a breath of fresh air to have a MOTU figure that stands fine on its own and is capable of some really dynamic stances. If you’re into toy photography then you’re gonna get a lot of mileage out of this guy. But that’s not all, at the head, shoulders, waist, and at the boot-cut the joint pops off allowing you to mix and match with other MOTU origins and Masters of the WWE Universe figures for easy customs. I just can’t show you because I’ve only got He-Man so far, but the potential for parts-swapping is even better than the classics line- which is probably why I pre ordered nearly all of wave one and two. And if you’re wondering, yes, the Origins head does fit on a classics body however, a classics head won’t fit on an Origins body.

The armour comes off once you remove the torso and arms

"Look, mum. No figure stand!"

"No. I've pushed it too far. Still no stand needed though!"

"By the power of Grayskull...scratch my itch!"

"What do you mean you ran out of spray tan?"

The accessories are- can you guess? There’s the power sword, which comes  as  half a sword- a throwback to the original toy where He-Man’s half must combine with Skeletor’s half to gain entry to castle Grayskull. However the eagle-eyed among you will notice the design is more akin to how it looked in the old mini-comics. Like the vintage sword, there’s a hand guard that really serves to secure the handle around the right hand, but, unlike the vintage sword, is molded in a silver plastic. But unlike the vintage sword the plastic is soft and gummy so it didn’t  warp in transit. Same goes for the battle axe,  though this comes in a flat grey plastic with little detail other than some panel detail along the blade. Nothing special but it wouldn’t be a proper He-Man without it. And it wouldn’t be a He-Man figure without his trademark shield, which is how any fan would expect it to be: grey with a cross design and studs all around. It clips onto the left arm only (the right arm has a clenched fist,  which won’t allow the shield to attach) via a clip and a handle for extra security while playing. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Also included is a mini-comic. It’s about the same size and the comic you’d get in your vintage MOTU figure back in the 80s, and features some really nice art but, unlike the old mini-comics,  there’s no dialogue. I’m guessing this is to save money on printing different languages for Europe- because the figure comes on a European style cardback, with multiple languages. But don’t worry, the plot doesn’t go beyond “Adam sees a thing, turns into He-Man then does a thing”. I hope I didn’t spoil it for you. 

"Nice hair"

HADOUKEN!

And without a stand as well

"Urgh! I have the most powerful headache in the universe"

Check the back!

When I first saw the first images of the Origins line, I wasn’t too keen on the idea. I wondered who was it for? Adult collectors like detail and lots of paint apps, while children tend to want toys based on movies and tv shows, and I don’t think the Origins toys are based on the upcoming Netflix MOTU show, so why should I buy them? But over the course of messing around with this new He-Man, putting him in various poses for photos I grew to like it more and more. When I pre ordered a whole bunch of these figures, I did it with the idea to review them then sell them off, but after a week messing about with this He-Man I’m keeping it and I can’t wait for the rest of the figures to arrive. For the adult, hardcore collector you can see these as a mini-comic inspired line. Or if you have kids and have wanted to get them into MOTU but didn’t like the idea of them playing with your valuable collection or tracking down overpriced modern figures then you’re onto a winner with Origins. They’re ok for kids six and older, the modular limb gimmick adds extra play value, and they’re reasonably priced to boot. So why should you buy them? Because they’re fun action figures you can collect, customize, and share with your kids.

Company: Mattel 

Price paid: £13.24

Bought from:Amazon UK

Age: 6+