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

[Bigman]

I was so excited when I spotted this lot with what looks like Wonderbread in it:

**Please do not post links to active eBay auctions outside of the Marketplace**

Then I saw his other items included custom Wonderbreads. Ah well...

Don't know if he was counting on over excited collectors or not but clever if he was.

[hadley]

Tallstar, man, if this mystery is ever solved I sincerely hope you're the one to do it.

...though it would be a little bittersweet.

[gjm679]

I still don't see how there isn't any real proof of this figure's origin after all these years. I agree that parents probably would not remember what or when they ordered for their kids. But it seems to me that the kids would. I remember ordering Hot Wheels from some breakfast cereal. I can still identify the vehicles (my kids have them now). But, I can't remember which cereal it was. As popular as MOTU was back then, surely someone can remember more details.

[Tallstar]

Tallstar, man, if this mystery is ever solved I sincerely hope you're the one to do it.

...though it would be a little bittersweet.

I've sort of given up on this. Maybe I will get motivated again with time.

[18minutes]

Just stopping in with my own personal account of Savage He-Man. It appears that many of these details have already been tossed around but it still seems like an enormous amount of uncertainty exists. Here is the story of my brother's which I clearly remember him getting in 1983.

http://mattandtimfunny.blogspot.com/...an-savage.html

I hope this helps to verify and clarify some things rather than add to the confusion.

[JVS3]

Awesome story! Thanks for posting that So mail-in? Store give-away? Both? GAH! Will we ever find out?????

[midor]

Awesome story! Thanks for posting that So mail-in? Store give-away? Both? GAH! Will we ever find out?????

Nope. There's so much we don't know. And with each passing year it get's harder to get answers.

Personally I blame the shooter on the grassy knoll. wait. wrong conspiracy. nevermind.

[Tallstar]

Just stopping in with my own personal account of Savage He-Man. It appears that many of these details have already been tossed around but it still seems like an enormous amount of uncertainty exists. Here is the story of my brother's which I clearly remember him getting in 1983.

http://mattandtimfunny.blogspot.com/...an-savage.html

I hope this helps to verify and clarify some things rather than add to the confusion.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, along with the interview with your brother. I actually had to grab a drink before reading, because I relish every detail of these sort of historical accounts and had to set the mood, so to speak.

This explanation sounds like it could be plausible, because I remember stumbling upon a picture of a live-action Man-E-Faces at Toy 'R Us when scouring the web some time back. Maybe he was there to advertise the offer?



Mattel also had that free in-store giveaway for a cardboard punch-out Manny laser pistol. I believe this did this at various stores, including Toys 'R Us.

[Adam_Prince of Eternia]

Just stopping in with my own personal account of Savage He-Man. It appears that many of these details have already been tossed around but it still seems like an enormous amount of uncertainty exists. Here is the story of my brother's which I clearly remember him getting in 1983.

http://mattandtimfunny.blogspot.com/...an-savage.html

I hope this helps to verify and clarify some things rather than add to the confusion.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, along with the interview with your brother. I actually had to grab a drink before reading, because I relish every detail of these sort of historical accounts and had to set the mood, so to speak.

This explanation sounds like it could be plausible, because I remember stumbling upon a picture of a live-action Man-E-Faces at Toy 'R Us when scouring the web some time back. Maybe he was there to advertise the offer?

http://www.plaidstallions.com/marvel/manefaces.jpg

Mattel also had that free in-store giveaway for a cardboard punch-out Manny laser pistol. I believe this did this at various stores, including Toys 'R Us.

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...oct_skaggs.jpg

This would be consistent with what some of us have postulated all along:

In 1986, Mattel introduced the Princess of Power Mystery Doll promotion. For each Princess of Power doll UPC, one would receive a 1985 production error Princess of Power doll free by mail.

Perhaps the Savage or “Mystery He-Man” is a 1982 production error He-Man released by Mattel through a similar mail away promotion.

I think its possible that this figure may have been part of that buy 3 get 1 free offer that was shown in Toyfare. After the offer expired the leftover supply was sold at discount stores. I know this happens because I found a bin full of clear Hasbro Predators at a Dollar store in the late 90's and that was previouly only available as a mail away and they were in clear baggies with a weapon no package.

This could explain how some people remember buying it while others remember getting it in the mail. Also it seemed back then that when you mail away for a figure it comes in a different color. I remeber a GI Joe figure that was offered in some cereal that my Mom sent away for. When I got it , it was the same figure I already had but it was painted in totally different colors.

I am fairly certain that the weapons in question were not produced specifically for Man-E-Faces, but were packaged with him in order to liquidate them. It is possible that these weapons had existed for some time beforehand.

I am postulating that the weapons in question are a production error, i.e. they were to be packaged with Castle Grayskull, but were produced in the wrong color, and were packaged with Savage He-Man, and with Man-E-Weapons in order to liquidate them.

[Tallstar]

This would be consistent with what some of us have postulated all along:

Yeah, it seems like both of you were on to something. It really makes a lot of sense too, because Mattel was known for their "Waste Not" stance with their toys, especially in the 60s and 70s when it wasn't really a big deal to slap together a transitional Barbie with "wrong" parts and sell it like that. So yes, maybe this would explain the lack of a neck pin, the loin cloth gap on Savage He-Man etc.; a production error figure that was given away through the Buy Three Promotion. And I would imagine they were very limited, otherwise there would be a ton more turning up.

[Adam_Prince of Eternia]

Yeah, it seems like both of you were on to something. It really makes a lot of sense too, because Mattel was known for their "Waste Not" stance with their toys, especially in the 60s and 70s when it wasn't really a big deal to slap together a transitional Barbie with "wrong" parts and sell it like that. So yes, maybe this would explain the lack of a neck pin, the loin cloth gap on Savage He-Man etc.; a production error figure that was given away through the Buy Three Promotion. And I would imagine they were very limited, otherwise there would be a ton more turning up.

Precisely. I postulate that in 1983, Mattel released a Man-E-Faces figure on a Man-E-Weapons blister in order to liquidate 1982 production error Castle Grayskull weapons, and held a promotion in which one received a 1982 production error He-Man figure with the purchase of this Man-E-Faces figure and two others. Not only would this be consistent with the Mystery He-Man figure being a limited release, dated to 1983, and associated with a mail away promotion, but it would also explain why the weapons from the Man-E-Weapons blister are often associated with the Mystery He-Man figure; the Mystery He-Man figure had no armor, weapons, or accessories, and the children who purchased Man-E-Faces on the Man-E-Weapons blister in order to receive the Mystery He-Man figure had extra weapons.

[18minutes]

the Mystery He-Man figure had no armor, weapons, or accessories

I'm no expert here but (assuming I'm understanding what you're saying) I can assure you that this figure did indeed come with the brown shield. Not only does my brother remember this vividly, I also recall this shield being used with this figure to "fly like a helicopter." It was used this way with this figure and not others because the others had weapons of their own. This "new guy" was left with his simple spinning shield.

[Adam_Prince of Eternia]

I'm no expert here but (assuming I'm understanding what you're saying) I can assure you that this figure did indeed come with the brown shield. Not only does my brother remember this vividly, I also recall this shield being used with this figure to "fly like a helicopter." It was used this way with this figure and not others because the others had weapons of their own. This "new guy" was left with his simple spinning shield.

The additional weapons that came with Man-E-Faces on the Man-E-Weapons blister include a shield, mace, gun, axe, and sword.

[18minutes]

The additional weapons that came with Man-E-Faces on the Man-E-Weapons blister include a shield, mace, gun, axe, and sword.

Right. The shield from the Man-E-Weapons was just like the one that came with this mail-in figure. I assure you, with 100% certainty, that this mail-in came with this shield.

[The All American]

I'm not sure if the news has been posted yet, but Hostess, the makers of Wonder Bread (and Twinkees), are closing up shop. http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...,3175964.story

Will the Wonder Bread He-Man mystery ever be solved now?

What if they find some Savage/Wonder Bread He-Mans in a vaults somewhere while cleaning out the Headquarters building?

[JVS3]

I talked to them several times from 2001 to 2007 and they claimed to have no records of promotions from that far back. So... *shrugs* who knows. Most anything is possible, right?

[Tallstar]

I wish Scott would look into the Buy Three Offer. If this is indeed where Savage He-Man originated, surely there must be a way to find out who was responsible for organizing the promotion and handing out the free items.

[midor]

What if they find some Savage/Wonder Bread He-Mans in a vaults somewhere while cleaning out the Headquarters building?

I doubt it they probably had a purge or two aways back. Assuming they held on to things in the first place.

I talked to them several times from 2001 to 2007 and they claimed to have no records of promotions from that far back. So... *shrugs* who knows. Most anything is possible, right?

Which leads me to believe that they had a purge before 2001.

[PaavoGold]

Well, they made a figure, so it's not a hoax at least any more!

[neusch23]

Did any see the one on ebay right now? It is in a bag.

[JVS3]

The bag is still debated and probably will be until proof is found. He may have very well come in a bag but we just don't know the details. The seller may have gotten this from someone else who claimed it was an original bagged Savage He-Man. Heck, it could be genuine. Who knows for certain? It's still a fun mystery.

[StrikeoftheBeast]

I've been seeing them sell for pretty cheap lately. Did they drop in price?

[JVS3]

Over the years, a lot more of them have showed up in the marketplace. It's still a relatively rare figure, though, regardless of where the heck it came from.

[Moominsthenmotu]

A moment of silence for the apparent end of Hostess, the loss of thousands of jobs and wonder bread now being homeless. I won't get into the good or evil of the company or the unions but let's hope they get back on their feet and the innocent parties land jobs for Christmas.

[MOTUalberta]

Anyone seen the "Official" Bootleg?

There is this mini-doc too.

There's two parts to it.