"The original" He-Man classic figure review thread (now with poll!)

[Spacedust]

Okay, to the first classic figure review of the New Year, and this may be the most obvious one, but let's cover it and get it out of the way...
This week's figure is (THE ORIGINAL) HE-MAN.

The centre of the whole line. The one that started it all.

Like the majority I expect, He-Man was the first figure of the line that I bought. They had started to creep in at school, and I was immediately attracted to their bright colours and wonderful chunky feel and appearance.

I remember the day I got him, one sunny Summer Saturday morning, when I was 5. I went shopping to the local High Street with my Mum. I had been a good boy (awwh), and she bought him for me.
One of my most vivid memories from a child is sitting that afternoon in my grandparents' large garden, and my late grandfather reading the mini-comic to me.

I love the early feel, with He-Man presented as a wandering barbarian. There was a lot of medieval feel to the early stories too, which really appealed to me. In some way, I actually like this version of He-Man more than the later Prince Adam alter ego one.

He-Man was the only figure that I ever bought twice. My original got really played with. After a couple of years the clip on the back of his armor had broken off (as they were prone to doing), and his arms were very loose (much to do with how I used to like to pull the arms off of figures and swap them around with other characters). One December Saturday morning, late in the line's life, I went to a Christmas fayre with my Grandma, and saw a brand new original He-Man there going really cheap, so I got it.
As I have mentioned on other threads, this second He-Man turned out to be the Malaysian one with the quite rare side-handle to the axe (although it wasn't a hard headed He-Man). Ordinarily, I took very good care of my figures and accessories, but for some reason, I disliked this handle as I wanted it to be like my original, and so snapped it off! I have regretted it ever since; especially in more recent times, when I have learnt that this extra handle is quite rare!!

Due to so many He-Man figures being produced, there are quite a few colour variations to be found. The most notable and well known is the belt, which varied from orange to red. Other examples have more yellowy / orangey hair, and more reddish / brown boots and trunks.

I liked He-Man's character in the Filmation cartoon. He was a super-hero, but down to Earth (or should that be down to Eternia?). He was very easy to warm to, unlike the 200x cartoon version (which I shall get on to in the moment).

As the line progressed, there were many variations of He-Man (with the first being tagged “The original” He-Man), but somehow in my eyes, the original was the best. It was so iconic and recognisable.

The 200x version of He-Man is hard to fairly judge. As with many of the updates, I didn't like that they weren’t as chunky and muscular, and that the colours were dulled down. In the MYP cartoon, He-Man was drawn with a pea-sized head and, even taking into consideration nostalgia regarding the Filmation version, I found this new one to be very hard to really warm to.

There is so much more I could say on the figure, but I'll let the thread get rolling first.

Rating... 9 or 10? The figure is basic mold and only the standard "spring waist" action feature, as all of the earliest entries in the line were. But he is just so iconic, and I spent so much of my childhood playing with him... sorry for being obvious, but it's gotta be a 10!

I'd like to hear your comments, criticisms, memories, anything to do with the figure. :-)

And, as I am also now doing with the classic episode review threads (http://www.he-man.org/forums/boards/....php?t=145063), I'm putting a poll with this thread, as an easy way to keep "score" of the figure.

[Orko's Magic Hat]

I didn't have an "original" He-Man figure until 1988! He-Man for some reason was quite difficult to obtain in stores round my area.

My first MOTU figure was Prince Adam though, which I used as He-Man and even tried to colour him orange using a felt-tipped pen

Now I have bought another He-Man off ebay about 7/8 years back and I really like it, a simple design and an all round cool figure. I also have an open Commemorative He-Man figure which is better and more neater looking.

My rating: 10/10

[The Horrorist]

He-man was my second fig, Buzz Off being the first. He got also played with a lot resulting loose arms, cracked head, broken armor. He is just the best and iconic version of all the he-man figs out there. He resembled his cartoon version really good, up to the face. This couldn't be said of a lot figures in the line.

[Dave-Man]

Actually, the cartoon version resembled the toy a lot. The toy actually came first.

[stuecketor]

often imitated and never duplicated. I thought he was cool because he came with armor and THREE weapons! I got prince adam, then battla armor he-man, and then the original. It is still one of my favorites and I now own about eight in various conditions...

just cant argue with the classics

[Spacedust]

The Filmation rendition of He-Man was really good, and quite spot on, down to the face as he been mentioned. The only really noticable thing missing was the three squares either side of the upper half of his armor, which were probably eliminated for simplicity of animation. They're the only thing I wish had been included. Of course, out of the figure's three weapons, Filmation He-Man only used his sword, but this wasn't surprising, as anti-violence friendly Filmation didn't use the majority of figures' weapons.

My first MOTU figure was Prince Adam though, which I used as He-Man and even tried to colour him orange using a felt-tipped pen

Orange? What were you doing, trying to turn him into David Dickinson?! (One for the Brits there!)

Now I have bought another He-Man off ebay about 7/8 years back and I really like it, a simple design and an all round cool figure. I also have an open Commemorative He-Man figure which is better and more neater looking.

Commemorative, better? Bah, blasphomy! They had to buy up second hand figures as they didn't keep the molds; any differences are accidental. The closer to the original the better. Pah, I shall not hear of such things!

[Mike Bock]

The original He-Man will always be the Original He-Man!! The best there is!!

[aussie-man]

howdy!! and yes i agree with you mike! the origional is the best,,,sadly i never had a he-man as a child,(back in the early 80's) still dont but working on it!!!.10/10

[Spacedust]

howdy!! and yes i agree with you mike! the origional is the best,,,sadly i never had a he-man as a child,(back in the early 80's) still dont but working on it!!!.10/10

Well I have a complete (all armor and weapons) and near mint Original He-Man on e-bay at the moment if you're interested (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Masters-Of-The...QcmdZViewItem), although if you're in Australia I'll have to look up postage.

Shameless plug? You bet!!

[sonofblaine]

I have to give him 10 for a few reasons.

First of all, he is the start of it all. And despite his simple design, there's something very prototypical about it. Kindof like the simpler the better. The Alpha. He doesn't NEED gimmicks.

Also, this figure was always exciting for me because I sorta never had one til I was an adult, collecting. I got one in the HEroic Three-Pack for Christmas when I was like 3 or 4. But can hardly remember it and never actually owning a true He-man. In my memories after that, I remember having an old, naked Adam I had to pretend was He-man. I remember my friends having a He-man and thinking the Battle-Axe was the coolest weapon ever, and his shield too. Never had them for Adam.

Then a few years ago, when I started to get back into MOTU collecting heavilly, I eventually bought a complete He-Man on ebay and getting it just felt special. Sure, there were lots of them and not at all expensive to obtain, yet his feel, his three weapons, his harness. It was like somthing special. And it was just an ultra surge of awesomness when I got a Battle Cat for him a few weeks later (The Battlecat I had as a kid lost it's helmet early on and I MISSED not having one for him).

[Spacedust]

First of all, he is the start of it all. And despite his simple design, there's something very prototypical about it. Kindof like the simpler the better. The Alpha. He doesn't NEED gimmicks.

I totally agree. As a kid, I didn't have any of the He-Man variants, and was never overly attracted to them. He-Man was fine as he was; when I had saved up my pocket money for a new figure, I always felt I'd rather spend it on a new character, not a variation on a figure that I already had.
It wasn't until quite late on, when one shopping trip my Grandma bought me a Flying Fists He-Man (and even then, only because it was reduced) that I had another version.

[aussie-man]

thx for the heads up spacedust, im actually looking at 2 moc's up on ebay at the moment. hoping the wife lets me buy 1 lol....i tell her its for our son,but that doesnt work ...><

[galaxy warrior]

he-man gets a 10 for being down right the best figure. with out any super gadgets or gimmick he has only twist action and acc. yet with those alone he could do so much. set the standard on action figures without even trying.

[Arkan]

10/10 no arguments there. A beautiful figure, a classic and came with 3 figures. Sublime.

I have got the American He Man (soft head) and the Argentinian (hard head)
I like them both, amazing figures.

[2-bad]

The original He-Man will always be the Original He-Man!! The best there is!!

You put is so well, Mike.

Gotta agree 100%. No figure to me till date can beat the classic He-man figure.

[he-mike]

I always like Battle Armor He-man just a bit better than the classic orginal. I think that's because as kid I loved the card art on the vehicle boxes which often showed him that way. His battle armor made him seem just a little bit more tough.

[Captain Wow]

The original Masters Of The Universe characters may not have had much in the way of articulation, but they were the best. The original He-Man will always be the best of the best. That character and the entire show and everything about it were probably the single biggest influence in my life when I was a kid. 10/10, no question.

[Spacedust]

I always like Battle Armor He-man just a bit better than the classic orginal. I think that's because as kid I loved the card art on the vehicle boxes which often showed him that way. His battle armor made him seem just a little bit more tough.

Although I think the original He-Man is the definitive version, out of the variants, Battle Armor He-Man is my favourite. His armor looks good, and has a cool action feature. I always liked to think that he wore this armor when he ventured into colder terrains.

I think that the box art used Battle Armor He-Man's image a lot as he was the most recent version of He-Man at the time. It was some cool art, though.

But that's discussion for a future figure review thread!!

[bcrduke]

COOL!

I got He-Man with a few others and Castle Grayskull for Christmas in 1982... I had seen him and the others in the store (Macy's like store, which is no currently a Macy's LOL). I remember not wanting to leave the store because I LOVED the way these toys looked. My mom obviously caught my fascination, because they were all under the tree a few weeks later.

He-Man was amazing. So simple and so interesting. What was really cool, I think, is that his background and personality were so vague... aside from the mini-comics, which, because I was so little, confused me a bit. Not until the cartoon hit did He-Man have an actual defined personality... so I had made one up for him until then!

He was the ultimate good guy - always saving the castle, and Teela and Man at Arms... always throwing Beast Man around. Always making Skeletor SCREAM in anger. His weapons were so cool. The sword was beautiful and was really cool when fit together with the evil half of the sword... even if He-Man couldn't hold it that well when it was put together

I liked his shield but I had trouble keeping it on him for some reason.. and I liked the axe, but was always frustrated that he couldn't hold the axe and sword. ah well

He-Man is one of the biggest reasons I have some amazing memories from childhood. He-Man was my hero, and I am not ashamed to say it: I love him. Call me crazy.

out of 10, I say 12...

-Brian

[Arkan]

COOL!

I liked his shield but I had trouble keeping it on him for some reason.. and I liked the axe, but was always frustrated that he couldn't hold the axe and sword. ah well

-Brian

Yes you can! The axe on the right and the sword on the left. The sowrd´s grip "deforms" a little but the figure looks great. The same with Battle Armor.

Back on topic, another thing I like of the figure is the face´s expression. It´s a sort of smile and is also agressive at the same time really cool.
I don´t remember when I got my figure. I imagine I had some because I used to chew the hands and swords so my parents bought me a new figure each time I destroy one.
The He-Man figure I now have I bougth it at a Comic Store y Downtown Buenos Aires; I was 16 and I remember that when I saw it I frezeed, entered and pay it. I still remember the price: AR $16 (in that moment 1 peso = 1 dollar). The only weapon it came with was the shield, the others it bought them apart.
I love that figure.

[braxsis364]

Of course He man is and corect me if im wrong but he man is the super human powered King. or prince and future king if you go by the original cartoon.

who has received awesome powers from an uknown, and ancient source of power. witch apears to be some form of energy witch theorecticly comes from the bowels of Grayskull.and Grayskull itself had a life of its own acording to one of the mini comics. I read the spirit of Grayskull could make the castle itself talk with the drawbrige, me and my brother allways played this way. I remember a few times I made Grayskulll say, no Skelertor you will never have my power.

then my brother would try to stick Skelertors arm in and try to say that because Skelertor got his arm inside. he used his magic and could get inside. whenever my brother pulled this, I would ether have whoever was in GraySkull at the time defeat Skelertor. or just have grayskull bite Skelertors arm right off to my brothers disbelife. when I grabed his Skelertor and pulled his arm off. ahh the good ol days sorry a little of topic but theres no denie"ing Heman and Grayskull had a conection that was crossed with destiny.

and He man was destined to rule eternia and the universe. with unquestionable might and indomitable goodness He man was the King and nobody messed with him. I think that was the main apeal for a lot of fans as kids or even a little older. I think I was around 11 when I first seen the first He man comercial. who did'int want to be He man, he had it all he had his own world. and no one could take it away from him.He man the King and gets a perfect score of 10.

as for the first figures I got I remember vividly my mother and brother and me. saw Skellertor, Man at arms, and He man, and ill admit that me and my brother decided to get Skellertor and man at arms first. because mom was only gonna let us have two. and skellertor and Man at arms looked more interesting then He man, until I learned more about him.

[Dr Bo]

For me it still the best figure of the lot; simple, slick and rooting heavily on strong visual cue and archetype.
It's a freaking barbarian dude in fur undie and boots, with a big brass belt and bracer. He have a stylish metal harness as top, a big sword, a big shield and a big, mean double-edged axe.
Just by the figure itself, ignoring the mini-comics, lunchboxes, cartoon and all (which sure helped the man achieving success) it is a pretty potent design. The classic He-Man is both a Hercules type heroic strongman, a viking warrior dude, a Conan-ish wanderer, a noble savage ala Tarzan, a barbarian knight, all heroism, bravado and power!

[Eamon]

I gave the original He-man an 8 and I'l tell you why:

His cuffs. They really should've been painted like Tri Klops.
And since the two halfs of the power sword was abandoned in favour of the single sword idea, we should've been given a full He-man sword.

But despite these two things, he is the original and best action figure ever made!

[He-Lurker]

I gave He-Man an 8 as well. Mostly because I never had one until recently! I had a Battle Armor He-Man growing up, which I thought was the best. The original He-Man is classic, but I think a lot of the gimmick toys were a bit more fun

[mossman]

where can one still buy a carded one in good condition?