I've always loved the old mini-comic world of MOTU. As a kid I discovered MOTU as a toy line first, so those old mini-comics sparked my imagination about these awesome toys and the larger world of Eternia as a whole. Sword and sorcery mixed with ancient technology on a war ravaged world. Filled with rich environments, creatures, and ancient magic like Castle Grayskull. While I've enjoyed the Filmation and MYP interpretations of MOTU, for me they're both trumped by the original mini-comic world and stories.Originally Posted by He-Man54
I would love a MOTUC barbarian He-man figure from "He-Man and the Power-Sword" with the longer hair, boot knife, and the metallic blue/grey armor and weapons. He could even come packaged with the original Zoar as a giant armored battle eagle! Please Mattel, I'll find more money!
I too discovered the toys first.
I find it awesome that ZODAC was first envisioned as a Bounty Hunter. That makes a lot more sense to me, and that's kind of how I always thought of him. Either that, or a Mercenary on the side of good.
And I would love to see figures of 'Savage' TEELA and ADAM from issue # 1 of the DC Comics mini.
Prefers ZODAC with human feet!
I don't knock anyone for liking the Pre-Filmation He-man. I liked it,because it was like Conan,but I really liked it when He-man became a magical being with the power sword because that set him apart from Conan or any other barbarian. I liked the fact he was 2 people,but still one person.
I totally agree. I've always prefered the pre-Filmation era to the Filmation era.
Supporter of All Eras! Including "Son of He-Man"!
I get it, kind of like Yu-Gi-Oh.
I started reading the minicomics when I first saw the petition for Green Godess in MOTUC. Ever since then I have been trying to catch up. When I was a kid I was so excited to get each figure I would just put the minicomic away to read later, well later is now. I can see why all the love for pre-Filmation but there are some aspects of the show that I wouldnt want to change. Especially the transformation from Adam to He-Man.
I guess I can identify with the show more because thats what I grew up watching. Which leads me to this question. Do you think Mattel would have written a diffrent cannon or bios for the characters if they had the Filmation rights ?
I am confused by this... The first wave of figures included Teela... and she came with one of the first 4 mini-comics... so, in that way, it was always confusing... but you make it sound as though you had been reading MOTU comics or books before Teela (the figure) came out... how is that possible??
A Want List of Sorts:
Rokkon, Stonedar, Nepthu, Plundor, Sea Hawk, Strong-Arm, Dactys, Horde Troopers, Storm, Geldor, Modulok, Battle Ram, Kowl, Loo-Kee, Hydron, Glimmer, Angella, Stridor, Eldor, Two Bad, Ninjor, Rio Blast, Mermista, Entrapta, Sweet Bee, Peekablue, Double Trouble, Perfuma, Flutterina, Spinnerella, Gorpo, Flogg, Crita, Madam Razz & Broom
I'm confused why Teela is a redhead in the 2nd mini-comic: "King of Castle Grayskull",
She is blonde in the other 3 mini-comics:
01 He-Man and the Power Sword
03 Battle in the Clouds
04 The Vengeance of Skeletor
And also blonde in all of the DC Comics.
"King of Castle Grayskull" IS the 2nd mini-comic, right?
If so, perhaps there are 2 versions of "King of Castle Grayskull", one with Teela having blonde hair, and one where Teela has the red hair.
Maybe they recolored it and released it along with the Teela action figure?
She has the tiara on, but takes it off later on and lets her hair down. This style looks very similar to the blonde Teela.
Last edited by synthalus; August 3, 2009 at 06:26am.
as a child i barely had a chance to watch the filmation stuff, so all the background stories came from those mini-comics...i loved very much
in germany(where i am from) they had a double pack He-man/Skeletor with a tape
(my first figures)
called "stardust" and a line of those stories on tape sold seperately
( i still can talk with the dialog of those tapes, hehe)
so i knew the Motu universe only from those great comics and tapes
AND those early comics were from such high quality...really got me inspired
remember looking at the backside, where the figures were introduced
...oh, all those nice memories
THE RAW's Fan Art:
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myspace:
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BEST THREAD EVER!!!! I thought I was the only person who loved the Pre filmation stuff and lore!
I remember being so excited about the cartoon, and sitting and watching it the 1st time and thinking, 'What the hells he doing with the sword? and whys he wearing pink pants?' and I gave up and went and played in the yard.
I always hated the Adam is heman stuff, in my personal canon Adam was the prince who always needed saving by heman and co.
Last edited by Staff Of Ka; August 3, 2009 at 08:06am.
I may just be a Gay Pop fan...but I am also the one who wants ALL of the Figures, who wants this line to continue and who is putting my money where my mouth is....are you doing the same?
THE LINK BELOW IS THE TIME THE NEXT MOTUC FIGURE GO'S ON SALE!
http://www.time.gov/timezone.cgi?Eastern/d/-5
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I WAS!!!I am confused by this... The first wave of figures included Teela... and she came with one of the first 4 mini-comics... so, in that way, it was always confusing... but you make it sound as though you had been reading MOTU comics or books before Teela (the figure) came out... how is that possible??
He-Man, Skeletor, Beast Man and Man-At-Arms came out initially in 1981. Teela, Mer-Man, Stratos and Zodac didn't come out until 1982. All of the characters except for Zodac were in the original 4 mini-comics, but all of the characters didn't come out originally together.
People always refer to the 8 back as a wave, but they didn't come out together. Half came out on Christmas time 1981 and the other half came out around Spring of 1982. I had Vengeance of Skeletor and King of Castle Grayskull when I first got my figures, which told me there WAS a Teela figure coming out.
She's red haired in that comic, blonde in the other mini-comics of that time.I'm confused why Teela is a redhead in the 2nd mini-comic: "King of Castle Grayskull",
She is blonde in the other 3 mini-comics:
01 He-Man and the Power Sword
03 Battle in the Clouds
04 The Vengeance of Skeletor
And also blonde in all of the DC Comics.
"King of Castle Grayskull" IS the 2nd mini-comic, right?
If so, perhaps there are 2 versions of "King of Castle Grayskull", one with Teela having blonde hair, and one where Teela has the red hair.
Maybe they recolored it and released it along with the Teela action figure?
She has the tiara on, but takes it off later on and lets her hair down. This style looks very similar to the blonde Teela.
The mini-comics didn't have the best consistency when it comes to coloring. In Teela's case, she was supposed to be blonde because almost all of the media portrayed her that way for the first few years (coloring books, puzzles, comics, etc.). Whereas Stratos being caucasian, Beast Man being all red and Mer-Man being blue are coloring mistakes or changes.
Last edited by MegaGearMax; August 3, 2009 at 08:48am.
Right. The early versions of the original four mini-comics had a page advertising Stratos, Teela, Mer Man and Zodac as "coming soon" (can't remember the exact date as my mini-comics are packed away at the moment).
Some sources even refer to them as part of the second wave; this has generally been corrected in more recent years, though.
~jay firestorm~
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/pj-firesto...id=p4340.l2562 FS: MIB first release Classics, MIB 200x, COMPLETE VINTAGE FIGURE SET, 2009 SDCC Art Book, more...
I've always liked this picture of the Goddess.
Sacrifices to a Demon!
MAA vs Skeletor...and Skeletor is WINNING! And Teela is a BEAST in combat!
Last edited by MegaGearMax; August 3, 2009 at 01:19pm.
Hey MegaGearMax. Great thread! Thanks for posting it.
I am also one of those who grew up with the minicomics as this was the only thing I could get at that time in eastern Europe behind the iron curtain. Actually I have never seen any of the filmation episodes. Conan-like He-Man being a skilled warrior from the jungle, joined by Man-at-Arms and Stratos to fight against Skeletor; creepy Castle Grayskull, Green Godess, blonde Teela, Zoar with armor and laser all the early stuff with mystery surrounding everything I like it a lot. There was no real back story and so a lot of space left for your imagination and fantasy to come up with your own MOTU world.
Regarding the pre-filmation characters: I could come up with more of them that might be interesting in MOTUC at some point. But this is just my opinion.
I really like this blue monster He-Man was fighting in He-Man and the Power Sword, I also like demon Haramesh from minicomics Siege of Avion. Also as King Hsss has his army of snake-men and Hordak has his Horde Troopers Skeletor never had any army. So I always imagined that since he is the most evil being in MOTU he deserves an army that is really devilish. Somehow I never liked Skeletors bone warriors. But in the early minicomics Siege of Avion, Power of Point Dread, Masks of Power there are the Ilkorts (Orcs) who would be a great devilish army for Skeletor. And the two demons from Masks of Power would be interesting figures too. But yes, I know everyone has his/her favorite characters and not everything can be done and I am not sure how well such characters would be selling as figures so this was just an idea.
Last edited by MegaGearMax; August 3, 2009 at 03:44pm.
This is something I don't get. The "1981" thing. These figures must have come out with zero publicity. Because like many kids at the time, I watched all the after-school cartoons, saturday morning cartoons, and saw all the toy commercials. I never saw a motu commercial until sometime in later 1982. I started seeing the commericials, didn't think much of it until that Christmas, when my cousin got some of the toys. He also had minicomics, and gave me one (the 1st one). It reeled me right in, I was right into it. That's around the time that other kids I knew were getting into it too.
I kept getting the first 3 minicomics, and I didn't get the Vengeance of Skeletor for almost 2 years. It came with Whiplash, on my birthday. Was happy as hell to get it, especially since by then we were headlong into what's been called here "the filmation incursion".
Y'know, I get confused as to exactly when...1981 sounds too early, although it's when most sources say the figures came out. 1982 sounds right, although it might not be correct. I could have sworn that Teela, Mer-Man, Stratos and Zodac came out around spring 1983...
There were commercials. Particularly the old ones with "He-Man, He-Man" chanting in the background. That's how I knew of the line! IIRC, we're talking Christmas when I asked for MOTU figures.
I got Castle Grayskull, He-Man and the Wind Raider, Skeletor and I "think" Man-At-Arms. They were already opened by the time I got downstairs.
Last edited by MegaGearMax; August 3, 2009 at 04:06pm.
haha, yeah me too. I think at the time that's how everyone knew it, I remember kids imitating the commercial.
As for when they were released, I only mention that because I've seen other references on the forum to the figures being sold back in 1981 and such, it's always confused me.
Teela is a mystical clone of the Sorceress! Score one for the mini-comic crowd!
Last edited by MegaGearMax; August 5, 2009 at 04:31pm.
Also, the "Great Wars" have been named and defined (at least, for the first time I've seen)...all the fighting between KG, the Horde, the Snake men.
Quoting Man-At-Arms; ..."Friend He-Man."
Love it!
You know, looking over that Tale of Teela comic, I really hope Point Dread and the Talon Fighter are mentioned in the bios. Just another cool addition to the world of MOTU that never really made it past the minicomics and that my friends, is a real shame.
Of all the threads I have had the pleasure of reading on this board, this is by far my favorite. The minicomics were my first introduction to the He-Man universe (well, along with the toys they came with, of course!). In my mind, THIS was what Masters of the Universe was all about. Barbarian He-Man (w/ no Prince Adam alter-ego), the Goddess, Man-at-Arms w/ NO mustache, two halves of the Power Sword...I can go on and on. This era was filled with so much mysticism and mystery and wonder. And it was all neutered by the Filmation cartoon. While I loved the cartoon as a child, I cringe when I watch it today (except for the music--that was the best part of the cartoon). But I can still, at age 35, pick up an original minicomic and find myself transported back to that world.
I truly hope that the Green Goddess is just the beginning of Mattel recognizing the greatness of this early era.
Read my book: True Confessions of a Fanboy www.truefanboy.com
I was totally into the Mini-Comic story's all the way and used lots of imagination when I was a kid
One of my first He-Man toys was the He-Man and Battle Cat 2-pack.
The best thing I remember regarding MOTU toys was either in 1985 or 1986.
I remember when I was with my parents in a toy store and they asked me which things I liked. Out of all the many cool 80's toys, I walked straight up to the Isle with MOTU. I was standing in front of those HUGE playset boxes of Castle Grayskull and Snake Mountain. It took me quite some time to pick which one I liked the best, but eventually I chose Castle Grayskull.
Naturally it was too expensive and I didn't get it
A few months later for my 5th or 6th birthday my parents rented a summer holiday house in Center Parcs (Awesome Park with an amazing subtropical swimming pool with a rock cave) for a week. During that week was my birthday. I received Castle Grayskull for my birthday
One of my favorite figures was Dragon Blaster Skeletor!
I loved the way the little dragon could spray water
I still have the mini-comic which was one of my favorites. I've read it many times.
My mom tells me that I actually watched "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" on dutch tv.
I cannot remember watching the Filmation cartoon before I got into the toys, even after I got the toys, I remember seeing only a few episodes on a German tv station (I didn't understand the language tho).
I received Whiplash from my uncle and aunt on a birthday around '87 or '88.
He was one of the last MOTU figures I got.
I always called them He-Man figures, not MOTU figures =)
Yeah I saw her on some later pages even with Blonde hair again
Here she is with the red hair in "King of Castle Grayskull"
I too was first drawn into the world of He-Man via the original mini-comics, and have a fondness for them for that very reason to this day. And I believe it was late '81 when those first four came out, or at least that is when I first happened across them down here anyway.
Funnily enough, I remember it all quite vividly, I must have been 7 or so, and I don't remember why, but my Grandmother had taken myself and the eldest of my cousins (who was still a couple years younger than me) to a store called Birchalls, which still exists, and we were told that we could pick one thing each, and walking through the toy department we were both instantly drawn towards a display shelf of the first wave of vintage MOTU figs, which had been set up right at the front of the toy department.
They had the first four figures (He-Man, Skeletor, Man-At-Arms and Beast Man), Battle Cat, Battle Ram, and I think they had Castle Grayskull as well, and like I said, we were just drawn straight to these things from the moment we saw them. I'm sure it was the painted art that caught our eyes and imaginations and lured us in, as it really was just so different than anything else out there at the time, packaging wise. At this point we'd never heard of He-Man or The Masters of the Universe, I didn't know any kids at school who had any, and there had been no advertising as far as I was aware, but still, there was something special about these things, and these two kids new it at first glance. It didn't matter that we'd never heard of them or seen them before, they were weird, and different, and cool.
I can't remember how long we stood there and marvelled at these things, probably for as long as the patience of my Grandmother, and my Aunt, who had also gone with us, allowed, but there was no question what those two kids were buying that day. And so both of us left the store with out first MOTU figures that day, the first of a good few for my cousin and his younger brothers - though he would later be taken pretty hard by the Transformers bug when they hit two or three years later, and that was pretty much the end of his MOTU journey - and the first of a great many for me, and the beginning of my first, and only really, bona-fide toy collecting obsession, one in which my father would also soon become a part of, and he would gradually stoke the fires to my obsession and help me to add to it whenever he could afford to do so. For a few years there collecting MOTU figures really did help bring my father and me closer together, and became an easy excuse for him to spend time with his son. Another big reason why the line holds such a special place with me to this day.
Oh, and what were those first two figures that my cousin and myself chose on that fateful day? My cousin chose Beast Man. I chose Man-At-Arms. And the rest, as they say, is history...
Great story! I love that this line triggers fond memories in all our hearts!
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