The mysterious Savage He-Man variant formerly known as "Wonder Bread He-Man"

[He-bro]

Not every day that you see an unmarked WB he-man in a lot on eBay

I saw this lot about 30 minutes before it ended right when my friends and I had to leave for a new years party -so I put in a bid 20 min. before it ended and was outbid. I was taking a risk though because you don't know for sure if the figure is legit.

To me it looks fake because the boots and shorts are too shiny like someone painted it.

I could be wrong, but notice it also has the black Zodac armor, which I heard from others who had the figure they put that on themselves and it didn't come with it, so this guy to claims that he didn't know what the figure is, but it has the rumored amore on.

Most people who don't know who all the figures were would just call it He-Man. But this guy called it "+ One Unknown Figure" and to make sure he looked like a novice he called another figure "Judo Man? (Unsure of name)" when he got other names perfectly right like Kobra Kahn (notice the 2 K's) novices would have used c's not K's.

[Ram_Man_21]

I can't wait to see where this lead takes us hopefully very far.

[galaxy warrior]

To me it looks fake because the boots and shorts are too shiny like someone painted it.

I could be wrong, but notice it also has the black Zodac armor, which I heard from others who had the figure they put that on themselves and it didn't come with it, so this guy to claims that he didn't know what the figure is, but it has the rumored amore on.

Most people who don't know who all the figures were would just call it He-Man. But this guy called it "+ One Unknown Figure" and to make sure he looked like a novice he called another figure "Judo Man? (Unsure of name)" when he got other names perfectly right like Kobra Kahn (notice the 2 K's) novices would have used c's not K's.

exactly i used these same clues to point out to a friend who wanted to bid. faking like they dont know...judoman hahahhahah yeah right.

[Trev-Or]

So while I was in LA I found out that my cousin who lives in LA has a friend that works for Mattel at their headquarters in El Segundo (formerly Hawthorn). I just heard from him yesterday and this employee "knows the lady who works at the Mattel archives." I found this interesting because whenever I tried contacting Mattel myself, they always told me they don't have a functioning archive dept. and that in their words 'any toys older that 10 years are obsolete.' This Mattel employee said that they would talk to the woman who works in the archive and see if she knows anything or can point us in the right direction towards someone who does. So keep your fingers crossed!
I'm thinking now that the only way this mystery can be cracked is directly through Mattel. The only way that this can be done is by developing inside connections with current or former employees. When I tried contacting promo department stores related to the possible Barbie/He-Man promotion they thought I was crazy. There is no way that these stores are going to have records about this figure.
I found some other interesting information while in my friends all 80s toy store in Sacramento the other day. I talked to a Hot Wheels collector who told me that his wife and him used to frequent Mattel toy stores in the mid to late eighties in Los Angeles. He would go to look for Hot Wheels items and his wife would collect Moncchichi items. The thing that was interesting was that he told me that in these stores was something that collectors refer to as the ‘bin of death’ (BOD). He said that in these bins there would be junk, leftovers, returns, damaged, opened product etc. Most of the items in the BOD came in plastic bags, some sealed, some taped, and some in a box. Though he said that the Mattel store he used to frequent is gone, there are some Mattel stores still around. It might be helpful to contact these stores to see if they could possibly offer any valuable information.

http://www.mattel.com/matteltoystore/locations.asp

To me, this gives a little more merit to the Fowlers bagged WB sealed with tape. Many of the Mattel items in these miscellaneous bins came in plastic baggies sealed with tape.

[Brian Ozone]

So while I was in LA I found out that my cousin who lives in LA has a friend that works for Mattel at their headquarters in El Segundo (formerly Hawthorn). I just heard from him yesterday and this employee "knows the lady who works at the Mattel archives." I found this interesting because whenever I tried contacting Mattel myself, they always told me they don't have a functioning archive dept. and that in their words 'any toys older that 10 years are obsolete.' This Mattel employee said that they would talk to the woman who works in the archive and see if she knows anything or can point us in the right direction towards someone who does. So keep your fingers crossed!
I'm thinking now that the only way this mystery can be cracked is directly through Mattel. The only way that this can be done is by developing inside connections with current or former employees. When I tried contacting promo department stores related to the possible Barbie/He-Man promotion they thought I was crazy. There is no way that these stores are going to have records about this figure.
I found some other interesting information while in my friends all 80s toy store in Sacramento the other day. I talked to a Hot Wheels collector who told me that his wife and him used to frequent Mattel toy stores in the mid to late eighties in Los Angeles. He would go to look for Hot Wheels items and his wife would collect Moncchichi items. The thing that was interesting was that he told me that in these stores was something that collectors refer to as the ‘bin of death’ (BOD). He said that in these bins there would be junk, leftovers, returns, damaged, opened product etc. Most of the items in the BOD came in plastic bags, some sealed, some taped, and some in a box. Though he said that the Mattel store he used to frequent is gone, there are some Mattel stores still around. It might be helpful to contact these stores to see if they could possibly offer any valuable information.

http://www.mattel.com/matteltoystore/locations.asp

To me, this gives a little more merit to the Fowlers bagged WB sealed with tape. Many of the Mattel items in these miscellaneous bins came in plastic baggies sealed with tape.

Thats good news and a new lead. Hope it brings us to a anything or a something. This is like jack the ripper we will never know.

[skeletoncrew]

GREAT work Trev-Or...!!!

there's a new star detective on this case...

can't say to see what you scrounge up...

[Trev-Or]

Well a couple days ago I heard back from my friend with the Mattel connection and am not sure what to think about it. He sent me an e-mail that contained a chain of 7 e-mails starting with his first e-mail to his friend. First my friend e-mailed his friend who works for Mattel with an attachment of the Fowlers baggie and the 3 for 1 flyer. Then this employee forwarded the e-mail to a lady who works in the archives department. From there the lady who works for the archives dept. forwarded the e-mail to two other employees who then forwarded the e-mail to someone who was referred to as ‘the company expert’ by one of the employees. This is what the employee had to say:

“I remembered what we used to call this figure back in my younger days.
Its called the ‘Wonderbread He-man’ (1982). Indeed this is the He-Man character, in just a variant outfit. It got this name through collectors because Wonderbread teamed up with Mattel to offer this figure as a gift with purchase mail away item.
There is a spurious one that collectors claimed to have which includes this exact figure with a black vest--This is a fake.
The image you enclosed is the real deal.”

Obviously I don’t really know what to make of this. Does this guy really know what he’s talking about or is he just under this the same misunderstanding as the rest of us are?
What I plan on doing next is contacting this employee directly to see if he knows more than the rest of us. I also plan on contacting the lady who works in the archives dept. directly to see what the possibilities are of scrounging up any hard data on this figure’s existence, not just the same hearsay evidence that we’ve been used to dealing with.

[skeletoncrew]

“I remembered what we used to call this figure back in my younger days.
Its called the ‘Wonderbread He-man’ (1982). Indeed this is the He-Man character, in just a variant outfit. It got this name through collectors because Wonderbread teamed up with Mattel to offer this figure as a gift with purchase mail away item.
There is a spurious one that collectors claimed to have which includes this exact figure with a black vest--This is a fake.
The image you enclosed is the real deal.”

ALL that to get an official statement of the "party line" that puts up back to square ONE...

keep tryin' buddy, a good mystery is never easy to crack...!!!

[Ram_Man_21]

Well, at least we got a little more info to go by with this new bit of information. We may be getting closer than ever now

[galaxy warrior]

the mattel stores is a good place for them to have leaked out. i think its was an early version where the factory didnt get the update on colors and did a run. mattel had little to do with it. so they shelved them. later on while clearing stuff out. they threw these out to the outlets. ive seen this same behavoir in other toylines. so its not beyond impossible

[Brian Ozone]

I never heard of a mattel store.

I lived in queens my whole life and traveled a lot and never saw one. I asked my freinds and they never heard or saw one either.

He's a mail away figure why is it so hard to grasp that concept.

[skeletoncrew]

I never heard of a mattel store.

there are and have been Mattel outlet stores, if you click on this link you will have heard of them(can't always believe what the friends say/remember)...

He's a mail away figure why is it so hard to grasp that concept.

the reason it is hard to grasp is there is NO paper trail of ANY kind...no ads talking about a mail away figure, no legitimately believeable sealed examples, no one can even remember where it came from, etc...

i think it's highly possible this figure WAS liquidated through both the outlet stores AND a mail away promotion...but, it is ALL speculation at this point, no evidence to support...

that is why it is a mystery...

[JVS3]

Obviously I don’t really know what to make of this. Does this guy really know what he’s talking about or is he just under this the same misunderstanding as the rest of us are?

Sounds like the later.
There's nothing official or useful in any of that, unfortunately.

[Prometheus]

the reason it is hard to grasp is there is NO paper trail of ANY kind...no ads talking about a mail away figure...

Well, if memory serves me right, there was a Nestle Quik advertisement that came out back in the day for a mail away figure. I believe it was a mail away figure for some sort of proof of purchase. I even think that there was once one of those Nestle Quik can's that had this advertisement that was listed on Ebay. Of course everyone speculated about it on this forum, no real answers as usual. To me, it even made a little sense that He-Man had dark hair and dark boots with this promotion. Kinda like he was a "Chocolate He-Man." Again, it was just speculation, but the advertisement was real, I remember seeing it and the listing on Ebay was real too.

[skeletoncrew]

Well, if memory serves me right, there was a Nestle Quik advertisement that came out back in the day for a mail away figure.

memories aren't evidence...eye witness testimony is notoriously unreliable and memories even worse...

To me, it even made a little sense that He-Man had dark hair and dark boots with this promotion. Kinda like he was a "Chocolate He-Man." Again, it was just speculation, but the advertisement was real, I remember seeing it and the listing on Ebay was real too.

i'm with ya...Nestle was known to do some promotions back in the day, but i'm pretty sure the Nestle angle has been ruled out...

though i would love more evidence('cause when it comes to memories we have people that remember it being a mail away and people that remember getting them in outlet store(s) or even a pic of the promotional packaging you refer to...

i'm not trying to be an ass, but we've been around the block with memories and vagueries, we need HARD evidence to solve this mystery or even make SOME progress...not vague, or even clear, recollections...

anybody...???

[Prometheus]

memories aren't evidence...eye witness testimony is notoriously unreliable and memories even worse...



i'm with ya...Nestle was known to do some promotions back in the day, but i'm pretty sure the Nestle angle has been ruled out...

though i would love more evidence('cause when it comes to memories we have people that remember it being a mail away and people that remember getting them in outlet store(s) or even a pic of the promotional packaging you refer to...

i'm not trying to be an ass, but we've been around the block with memories and vagueries, we need HARD evidence to solve this mystery or even make SOME progress...not vague, or even clear, recollections...

anybody...???

I guess Nestle is ruled out to you, but like you said, there is no hard evidence against it. Dude, did you read my post? I said the promotion was on Ebay and the forum read it. It wasn't just my memories. Why would it be ruled out?

[galaxy warrior]

I never heard of a mattel store.

I lived in queens my whole life and traveled a lot and never saw one. I asked my freinds and they never heard or saw one either.

He's a mail away figure why is it so hard to grasp that concept.

yeah ive lived in bklyn my whole childhood and never saw a mattel store but outlets arent usually in the nyc area. you gotta go out to the boondocks for that. and the mattel store is an outlet store. its a sound an idea as any. and the mail away is totally shot to hell until someone can supply a real ad for it. and no one has. the bagged example is a trustworthy as any other counterfiet so thats no proof. the nestle idea is as cole as any but still lacks proof and its that lacking that makes this so bogus.

[Brian Ozone]

well this figure must have brain washing powers.

its so retarted that no one can remember how the hell they got him.

it really ****'s me off

[Trev-Or]

Well, if memory serves me right, there was a Nestle Quik advertisement that came out back in the day for a mail away figure. I believe it was a mail away figure for some sort of proof of purchase. I even think that there was once one of those Nestle Quik can's that had this advertisement that was listed on Ebay. Of course everyone speculated about it on this forum, no real answers as usual. To me, it even made a little sense that He-Man had dark hair and dark boots with this promotion. Kinda like he was a "Chocolate He-Man." Again, it was just speculation, but the advertisement was real, I remember seeing it and the listing on Ebay was real too.

I wish we could get a hold of that Nestle add. I would LOVE to see that. Thursday or Friday once my school week winds down I'm going to be trying to contact some Mattel employees directly. At this point we still don't know if Mattel may have records of this figure in some kind of a record file of some sort. I want to talk to the archives lady and find out what the deal is...i'll let you dudes know what she tell me.

[jmb410s]

I wish we could get a hold of that Nestle add. I would LOVE to see that. Thursday or Friday once my school week winds down I'm going to be trying to contact some Mattel employees directly. At this point we still don't know if Mattel may have records of this figure in some kind of a record file of some sort. I want to talk to the archives lady and find out what the deal is...i'll let you dudes know what she tell me.

I bought that can off of ebay. Here is a quick picture I took a couple months back. I will have to dig it out and re-read, but I don't remember any reference that would lead us to believe that the WB came from here.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ckMOTUBack.jpg

***Please read and follow rules about image sizes***

[skeletoncrew]

I guess Nestle is ruled out to you, but like you said, there is no hard evidence against it. Dude, did you read my post? I said the promotion was on Ebay and the forum read it. It wasn't just my memories. Why would it be ruled out?

i thought it was ruled out...i have never seen it, maybe it was erroneously ruled out...this is why it can take a bunch of people to crack these things...it doesn't hurt to go back and look at the evidence again....

i appreciate you bringing up the Nestle angle again, 'cause now i get to see the can...

I bought that can off of ebay. Here is a quick picture I took a couple months back. I will have to dig it out and re-read, but I don't remember any reference that would lead us to believe that the WB came from here.

thanks for posting that...!!! i can see the POTENTIAL that the "250,000 Second Prizes" of an "Authentic Action Figure" could potentially be the source of SAVAGE HE-MAN...i doubt that was 250,000 SAVAGEs, BUT they could have been distributed through this channel..

do we have any further information that would confirm or deny this Nestle possibility...???

in particular i would like to know the year of this promotion...obviously, it was after Snake Mountain came out...

interesting stuff...

[galaxy warrior]

well like i thought but now confirmed that can makes no mention of a special he-man. and second prize wouldnt be something exclusive and not repped. it justw ouldnt go down that way. it would be repped heavy and be the goal object of the contest.

[Trev-Or]

I bought that can off of ebay. Here is a quick picture I took a couple months back. I will have to dig it out and re-read, but I don't remember any reference that would lead us to believe that the WB came from here.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ckMOTUBack.jpg

***Please read and follow rules about image sizes***

JMB410s, thanks for posting that! Unfortunately it doesn't seem provide too much to go off of. It's good to have on file though. Trying to solve this mystery is like fishing, re-cast and see what we pull up next!

[hatesminion]

hi legs are a little loose but very good shape i took pics of the inside
http://s50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...Picture164.jpg

[JVS3]

thanks for posting that...!!! i can see the POTENTIAL that the "250,000 Second Prizes" of an "Authentic Action Figure" could potentially be the source of SAVAGE HE-MAN...i doubt that was 250,000 SAVAGEs, BUT they could have been distributed through this channel..

do we have any further information that would confirm or deny this Nestle possibility...???

Nothing to confirm or deny, as far as I know.
- Authentic Action Figure worth 5.00

Hmmm, makes me think it was probably a carded figure, since 5.00 was close to retail for the line at that time.
But anything is possible. It could have been a bagged Savage He-Man.

The grand prize being, what does that say? Complete Action Set worth 500.00
first prizes are a Snake Mountain playset worth 50.00
then 250,000 of those 5.00 figures.

But when you think about it, 50.00 was high for a Snake Mountain, and there aren't many of them.

So 5.00 for a carded figure may be steep in comparison to Snake Mountain.
Plus, there's only a 1000 Snake Mountains, but 250,000 figures. That's a huge increase.
It would be a lot more cost effect to ship a bagged figure than a carded figure.

but, who knows...