Barbarian He-Man Thread (Oo-Larr?)

[MegaGearMax]

How on earth can the original characters--the 8-back--be 'fringe'?
It doesn't get more fringe than "He-Ro", and he sold quite nicely.

The 8 back are pretty big, but their original looks that they evolved from are not. Many fans got into MOTU from Filmation and are unaware that He-Man was ever a barbarian. If they did know, they liked Filmation's version over that one--130 episodes versus 4 mini-comics. Sure MOTU was big before Filmation and many of us were there before the He-Man cartoon aired, but many more fans got in with that cartoon and the toyline morphed to follow Filmation instead of the barbarian storyline.

The pre-filmation mini comics wasn't a small, confined world with only those 8 characters. First off, it featured Ram Man and Man-E-Faces, who were on the 12-back, and besides that, there were tons of characters, some of whom never appeared in the Adam/Adora era. Hardly fringe. That would be like saying the original Justice League of America only had 7 members and was therefore limited in scope. They still had a broad, unconfined world in which they operated with them encountering many different characters.

He's probably talking about the original four mini-comics, which barely had anyone in it besides 7 of the 8 back characters and The Goddess.

[Whiplash7]

The 8 back are pretty big, but their original looks that they evolved from are not. Many fans got into MOTU from Filmation and are unaware that He-Man was ever a barbarian. If they did know, they liked Filmation's version over that one--130 episodes versus 4 mini-comics. Sure MOTU was big before Filmation and many of us were there before the He-Man cartoon aired, but many more fans got in with that cartoon and the toyline morphed to follow Filmation instead of the barbarian storyline.

It's still the same characters. He-Man and Teela figures in different clothes--I'm not sure that can be called fringe. I realize that people are scared of repaints and such b/c of the 200x line, but again, some of the other stuff I see on here regarding 'mainstream (lol) motu characters is as fringe as it gets, and this thread is discussing stuff far down the road anyway.

He's probably talking about the original four mini-comics, which barely had anyone in it besides 7 of the 8 back characters and The Goddess.

Right, but it doesn't mean that version of motu can only contain 8 characters that are acceptable to people, or be 'confined'.

[MegaGearMax]

It's still the same characters. He-Man and Teela figures in different clothes--I'm not sure that can be called fringe. I realize that people are scared of repaints and such b/c of the 200x line, but again, some of the other stuff I see on here regarding 'mainstream (lol) motu characters is as fringe as it gets, and this thread is discussing stuff far down the road anyway.

Right, but it doesn't mean that version of motu can only contain 8 characters that are acceptable to people, or be 'confined'.

Well, the biggest thing the Pre-Filmation era repaints has going for it is that everyone is a major character and that there aren't many of them. It's pretty much "The Superfriends" of MOTU, where all the top heroes and villains in the line are battling over Castle Grayskull.

[Kaiser]

Isn´t WunDar the "Savage He-Man", or am I so wrong?

[DreamTripper]

Isn´t WunDar the "Savage He-Man", or am I so wrong?

"Savage" He-Man, not "Barbarian" He-Man. There will also be a "Primitive" He-Man, "Prehistoric" He-Man, "Gladiator" He-Man, and "Warrior" He-Man.

[Alexx]

"Savage" He-Man, not "Barbarian" He-Man. There will also be a "Primitive" He-Man, "Prehistoric" He-Man, "Gladiator" He-Man, and "Warrior" He-Man.

Don't forget "Birthday Party" He-Man! He was the one who didn't show up, so they had to call the Ghostbusters instead.

[MegaGearMax]

Isn´t WunDar the "Savage He-Man", or am I so wrong?

Sorta...

Savage He-Man is the fan name for Wonder Bread He-Man or Wun-Dar. IIRC, many fans assumed that brown haired He-Man with brown weapons looked barbaric and thought that he was the original version.

Barbarian He-Man is from the idea that He-Man was a jungle barbarian before he donned the classic He-Man garb.

In a nutshell, they are now two different characters.

[mightybuck]

Don't forget "Birthday Party" He-Man! He was the one who didn't show up, so they had to call the Ghostbusters instead.

sigh... if only i had mini party hat and a small plastic cake.

[claw guy 3]

I've not read all the posts but it gets on my nerves that "Savage" He-Man can exist but not "200X"

I want Savage He-Man but I don't get how he is figure worthy when 200X He-Man is not. Unless Mattel is using double speak again

[Teela-Na]

I've not read all the posts but it gets on my nerves that "Savage" He-Man can exist but not "200X"

I want Savage He-Man but I don't get how he is figure worthy when 200X He-Man is not. Unless Mattel is using double speak again

200X He-Man is apparently the same character as the He-Man we've already got. He's the Adam He-Man, and MOTUC are only going to make figures in the classic 80s style. If Savage He-Man is a different character, that's why we can get him but not 200X.

[Alexx]

I'm pretty sure we're still getting a 200X He-Man, though! The only thing they've said they won't do is the 200X style. Last we've heard about 200X He-Man, Toyguru said we'd probably get a MotUC 200X He-Man using the current body types but with the items and details of 200X He-Man. At least, that's what I've assumed from old comments.

[MegaGearMax]

I've not read all the posts but it gets on my nerves that "Savage" He-Man can exist but not "200X"

I want Savage He-Man but I don't get how he is figure worthy when 200X He-Man is not. Unless Mattel is using double speak again

Claw...we might be getting 200X He-Man in the line. Toyguru famously mentioned doing a 200X He-Man in June (expect him to be like Zodak and Grayskull--mostly a repaint and redeco), although we don't know when he'd show up. For all we know it could be this year or next year...or maybe even in 2012 (200X's 10 anniversary).

Even though we are discussing Barbarian He-Man, he isn't coming any time soon.

[Larry Waters]

We are getting a 200x Zodak. Call him what you will, but that's what he is. 200x He-Man will appear, not for awhile, but we'll get him.

[Teela-Na]

We are getting a 200x Zodak. Call him what you will, but that's what he is. 200x He-Man will appear, not for awhile, but we'll get him.

He might be that technically, but for this line they've made him a separate character. The 200X He-Man will just be the same character in a different outfit, but still Adam He-Man not a different warrior altogether.

[Krueger]

We are getting a 200x Zodak. Call him what you will, but that's what he is. 200x He-Man will appear, not for awhile, but we'll get him.

But how different will he be? Not much, I think, as there weren't really that many differences between the new and old He-Man to begin with. And if the new figure wouldn't be in the 200x style, then what's the point? How different can Mattel make him look when compared to the He-Man that's already been released?

EDIT: do you mean Snake Armour He-Man?

[King Kahn]

Don't forget "Birthday Party" He-Man! He was the one who didn't show up, so they had to call the Ghostbusters instead.

LOL nice

He might be that technically, but for this line they've made him a separate character. The 200X He-Man will just be the same character in a different outfit, but still Adam He-Man not a different warrior altogether.

yup this is why i wouldn't buy a 200X He-Man in the MOTUC line. it isnt a dif character for me nor is it a dif enough version of the same character ala Battle Armor He-Man.

really it is just a harness(which we got with KG), hair, loinclothe and maybe gauntlets that would be dif so for me it isnt enough.

[Tuukka]

Remember guys that ToyGuru has also said they don't make multiple versions of characters (except He-Man & Skeletor I asume will get few)! Source for that is his post concerning 200X-figs. Means NO blue Mer-Man.. or red Beast-Man.. or caucasian Stratos, unless they are a different characters.

For my personal opinion, I don't want that there's a pre-everybody

One thing I'm sure.. after when we get more these figs and bios, WE NEED A GOOD GRAPHIC TIMELINE!

[MegaGearMax]

Remember guys that ToyGuru has also said they don't make multiple versions of characters (except He-Man & Skeletor I asume will get few)! Source for that is his post concerning 200X-figs. Means NO blue Mer-Man.. or red Beast-Man.. or caucasian Stratos, unless they are a different characters.

That's the strategy for real names...Red Beastman probably isn't R'quil R'quazz, Blue Mer-Man probably isn't Squidish Rex, etc.

And doing 200X versions of characters are way harder to do than doing pre-filmation versions.

But how different will he be? Not much, I think, as there weren't really that many differences between the new and old He-Man to begin with. And if the new figure wouldn't be in the 200x style, then what's the point? How different can Mattel make him look when compared to the He-Man that's already been released?

According to Toyguru, the only new stuff would be a 200X Chest harness and 200X sword, but that's it. MOTUC goes all out for the classic characters, but 200X characters lose detail in translation.

[Lay Ze-Man]

Looks more like a washed out blueish green. Wouldn't exactly call the blue but colors are sometimes in the eye of the beholder.

Exactly, this is what I mean.
If you guys are gonna "demand" a "blue Mer-Man" then why not a He-Man with a white harness as seen in that same panel?

I understand childhood reverence for these early depictions.
But think about how well these IMO extraneous repaints would sell.

If they'd sell well, then I am 100% for them since as far as I'm concerned it's pure money in the MOTUC bank for Mattel and they can start on Ram Man that much sooner!

But if it's just the clamoring of a small group of fans who are finally getting some of "their" figures made, then I'm not sure how much weight can really be assigned to those requests.

Anyway, I'd view a Mer-Man released like that the same way I saw the 200X repaints like reverse Two-bad, Disco Skeletor, etc. ... undesirable.

Pretty much agreed.
Maybe a very limited run boxed set with Alcala head Skeletor, Red Beast Man, and Blue Mer-Man would work.

But single carding these and shoehorning them into the line when there are sooooo many other characters to tackle doesn't seem like the best use of limited resources.

How on earth can the original characters--the 8-back--be 'fringe'?
It doesn't get more fringe than "He-Ro", and he sold quite nicely.

Aside from WB He-Man (who we're getting for much the same reason) and the Giants, He-Ro has long been a Holy Grail for tons of MotU collectors.

You can't possibly tell me that Red Beast Man (a color choice made on the fly because they were making it up as they went along) has anywhere close to that kind of mythic status.

And Teela, I know with the 4H making her that she'd be a nice figure (regardless of what outfit or hairstyle she's wearing) but outside of a few hardcore fans, there's pretty much nobody out there who would recognize any of those alt versions as Teela.

That's what I mean by fringe.
These MOTUC figures are about the most iconic versions of the characters.
And while for specific fans YMMV, the 4H have to try to do a "catch-all" version, not a "cater to this very specific group of fans" version.

The pre-filmation mini comics wasn't a small, confined world with only those 8 characters. First off, it featured Ram Man and Man-E-Faces, who were on the 12-back, and besides that, there were tons of characters, some of whom never appeared in the Adam/Adora era. Hardly fringe. That would be like saying the original Justice League of America only had 7 members and was therefore limited in scope. They still had a broad, unconfined world in which they operated with them encountering many different characters.

It sure feels small and confined to me compared to what came later.
Buzz-Off, Fisto, Clawful, Roboto, The Snake Men, the Horde, She-Ra, etc, etc.
To me you can't have MotU without 'em.

And you can't make the JL comparison because those are pretty much the most famous/recognizable DC characters, and have been throughout the years.

Zodac? Not so much.

The 8 back are pretty big, but their original looks that they evolved from are not. Many fans got into MOTU from Filmation and are unaware that He-Man was ever a barbarian. If they did know, they liked Filmation's version over that one--130 episodes versus 4 mini-comics. Sure MOTU was big before Filmation and many of us were there before the He-Man cartoon aired, but many more fans got in with that cartoon and the toyline morphed to follow Filmation instead of the barbarian storyline.

Forget the mini-comics or Filmation and look at the toys.
Barbarian He-Man, Bikini Teela, these have little to no resemblance to the toys.

He's probably talking about the original four mini-comics, which barely had anyone in it besides 7 of the 8 back characters and The Goddess.

Yup. Compared to the HUGE cast of characters that would come later, it's a very small-feeling world.
One of the biggest draws of MotU for me was always the diversity of the characters and the "go anywhere, do anything" aspect.
That is not at all represented in the original mini-comics IMO.

Well, the biggest thing the Pre-Filmation era repaints has going for it is that everyone is a major character and that there aren't many of them. It's pretty much "The Superfriends" of MOTU, where all the top heroes and villains in the line are battling over Castle Grayskull.

Again, there are a bunch of more "major" MotU that came later.
Evil-Lyn, She-Ra, Hordak, etc.

I've not read all the posts but it gets on my nerves that "Savage" He-Man can exist but not "200X"

I want Savage He-Man but I don't get how he is figure worthy when 200X He-Man is not.

I agree with this.
As I've said, Savage He-Man, if done accurately, will need as much (if not more) new tooling as a 200x He-Man.

And given the mechanical 200x Power Sword that came with MAA, a 200x He-Man doesn't have to be a different character to qualify, as it already fits in with the MOTUC story line, which seems to be the biggest qualification for figure-deserving status in MOTUC.

Maybe the Beast Man reissue will have a blurb about his all-red furred cousins in his bio.

[VaultsofGrayskull]

But if it's just the clamoring of a small group of fans who are finally getting some of "their" figures made, then I'm not sure how much weight can really be assigned to those requests.

I used to thing it might have been a small group of fans, but recently I have realised that the group is actually pretty big! These forums show the strength of support for the pre-Filmation era.

On my site I have written about how I feel the original barbarian concepts were the most imaginative and inspiring incarnation of the Masters. Having felt that fans of this era have had a hard time ever since the Filmation days (and I'm not suggesting that was all bad), I am now heartened by the fact that Mattel has chosen to 'go barbarian' with a lot of the MOTUC line. There must be a reason behind that decision.

Equally, some Filmation / post-Filmation ideas were strong. Hordak is very much MOTU but not pre-Filmation, and yet he is one of the best characters ever imagined. I couldn't imagine a Classics line without him.

[MegaGearMax]

Maybe a very limited run boxed set with Alcala head Skeletor, Red Beast Man, and Blue Mer-Man would work.

I'd love that, but I don't count on Mattel doing this.

But single carding these and shoehorning them into the line when there are sooooo many other characters to tackle doesn't seem like the best use of limited resources.

These are repaints of existing major characters. If anything these will require the least new resources compared with making variations of He-Man, Skeletor, Hordak or some MYP characters.

And Teela, I know with the 4H making her that she'd be a nice figure (regardless of what outfit or hairstyle she's wearing) but outside of a few hardcore fans, there's pretty much nobody out there who would recognize any of those alt versions as Teela.

That's the same problem with Green Goddess. No one outside of fandom knows who she is. That's why they work as bonus figures.

Forget the mini-comics or Filmation and look at the toys.
Barbarian He-Man, Bikini Teela, these have little to no resemblance to the toys.

Different clothes for the same characters being sold as bonus figures only hardcore fans care about. It's another way to refresh characters when the line is trying to sell Rotar and Gwildor.

[Spectror]

Personally, I'd be much more interested if they made a Vikor figure. At least, with his dark hair and barbarian/viking look, Vikor looks like a different character.

Not just like one more He-Man repaint/variant, which is the case for "barbarian He-Man"...

[MegaGearMax]

Personally, I'd be much more interested if they made a Vikor figure. At least, with his dark hair and barbarian/viking look, Vikor looks like a different character.

Not just like one more He-Man repaint/variant, which is the case for "barbarian He-Man"...

Yeah, but we're talking later down the line. By then you might not even care who's taking up slots anymore.

Everyone seems to be taking Barbarian He-Man as if he's coming in a few months.

[Uki]

"Savage" He-Man, not "Barbarian" He-Man. There will also be a "Primitive" He-Man, "Prehistoric" He-Man, "Gladiator" He-Man, and "Warrior" He-Man.

That's a joke, right?

[phantom1592]

A lot of people didn't even care about King Grayskull and two Zodak(c)s, and now we get the Goddess, Wun Dar, Barbarian He-Man, and on the other hand no one knows when we would get some popular guys like Ram Man or Buzz Off?

You forgot He-Ro, Heck I'm including King Randor in there too. He's 100% classic, and a legitimate character... but I'm REALLY not interested in him. Could have found a much more popular character IMO.

Personally I loved the early mini-comics and I can see me getting the barbarian He-man. Something about him does seem like fun. However I do NOT want them to go overboard with the pre-filmation, protype, original idea sketch characters... I do NOT need ugly versions of Merman, Beastman, and Stratos. The ones they already made are awesome! Barbarian Teela? What about the dozens of PoP girls that should come before her? Vic or? C'mon... I really don't need figures of a sketch that was discarded.

We already got the goddess... who I personally consider to be a waste of plastic. The goddess "I" know is the white and red version. Goddess showed up in THAT color a LOT more than the green... That's like getting a Superman with a blue cape, because he showed up that way in a comic once and is TOTALLY Legit!!!

Alcala head Skeletor??? I Honestly don't even see a difference... The lines are a little wavier... but its still a skull in a hood. just like every other version of skeletor... Only LESS sinister and creepy.

Red Beastman? He looked awful! There wasn't any real detail in the earlier books, it was just kind of a red blob.... With the awesome Beastman we have... why do people want new ones???

Save those tooling dollars and get us a Castle!