Since this issue has been divided up into several different parts, I thought having an index to the entire newsletter would make reading it a lot easier.
Welcome to issue 13 of 'The Scrolls of Greyskull', the unofficial newsletter devoted to He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and She-Ra: Princess ofPower. I apologize that this issue is coming out late, and I'll try to make sure it comes out on time in the future. This issue was put together really quickly, so I hope it turned out OK.
This issue is set up in the format introduced in issue 12, which should make it a lot easier to sort through. For more info on what's in each section,refer to part 0, which should be the previous message in your in-box.
For the last couple of issues, I've forgotten to hide the headers before sending the newsletters out. I'll try to be a little bit more careful about that this time.
Unfortunately, 'The Saga Of He-Man' fan fiction that appeared last issue hasbeen pulled due to time constraints on the part of the author.
If you have absolutely no idea why you're getting mail like this (or justdon't like the newsletter), e-mail me at ctyner@awod.com and tell me so. I have a form on my web page that makes it easy to sign up, but unfortunately, it's also abused by some people who think making other people's lives miserable is funny.
Also, I'd appreciate it if you'd e-mail me if you plan on cancelling your e-mail account. It cuts down on the bounced mail a lot, and that really gets to be a problem...
Please keep on mailing me articles, ideas, suggestions, comments, files, interpretive dance steps, your own homemade He-Man fuzzy underwear...whatever to me at ctyner@awod.com. I try to make it a rule not to send attachments larger than 50K though, so please bear that in mind before you send me something.
I appreciate it! -Adam Tyner
[Buying, Selling, Trading]
This is sort of the 'classifieds' section of the newsletter. If you are interested in submitting an ad here, e-mail me at ctyner@awod.com
Quick disclaimer-I'm not responsible for any claims people post.
WTT: bdmiller@mindspring.com - I have Grizzlor, Hordak, Leech, Mntenna, Stonedar, Rokkon, King Hiss, Rattlor, & Tung Lashor MOMC - WTT for other MOC figures.
WTB: Bob Budimerovich (vile@worldnet.att.net) - Meckaneck, Stratos, Mer-Man, and Beast-Man
WTB/T: Wanted: copies of the following episodes - He-Man: The Gamesman, The Once and Future Duke, She-Ra: Birds of a Feather, Greatest Magic. E-mail sorceress@tamu.edu
FS: Over 100 He-Man episodes and 30 She-Ra episodes FS/Trade. E-mail RBeiswenge@aol.com for more info.
[Various Interviews]
This section contains interviews fans have conducted with several peopleinvolved with He-Man, such as Lou Scheimer, Mark DiCamillo, and some other guy.
Angells (angellaz@norwich.net) mailed me a copy of a portion of an interviewwith Lou Scheimer that appeared in Toon Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 4 that tell show He-Man got its start.
"Well, I had done a show called 'Black Star,' which was sort of 'He-Man' without the muscles. It was a nice show, but it didn't last, and Mattel hadcome to me with this muscle-bound character, which was sort of Conan done sideways, and they had only two characters originally: He-Man and Skeletor. Well, just saying you were a He-Man in those days sounded so awful. Today it's just kind of a generic word for that type of character, when before that it meant this macho, male, bullshit type person. They said they wantedto do something like this. And I looked at what they wanted to do. Theyhad him this barbarian with all this awful killing, maiming, and hurting,and I said, "You can't do it like that. There's no way." And I told themthat if they gave us total creative control, then we'll create the concept. At that time Westinghouse bought the company."
It appears that He-Man would've been an entirely different cartoon if not for Filmation, and I'm much happier with the way things turned out. ;)
James "Extendar" Wallen (WALLENJ@coral.indstate.edu) conducted an e-mail interview with Mark DiCamillo, one of the people behind the action figuresat Mattel.
JW - I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for creating the object that has been my idol for the past 11 years...He-Man. I was 7 when the showcame out and about 6 when the figures were first come into being. I am now acollege student in Indiana, but I am still very much a He-Man fan. I have somany questions that I want to ask and I figure that you are the man to answer them. So here goes... What was your inspiration for the design of The Sword of Power? I had an actual one made that is hanging in my dorm room.
MD - I actually came up with the Power Sword toy in my hotel room in Tokyo.I was in Japan working with a group of Japanese toy inventors on new He-Man action figures. They showed me a boxing glove they were working on that made punching sounds, and it *hit* me that this technology would make for a cool Power Sword.
JW - Are you in any way shape or form still associated with Mattel, and doyou know if they plan to re-release the Masters of the Universe product line in the near future. I have heard rumors of them coming out again next yearas a collector's item. Can you confirm or deny this?
MD - I am no longer at Mattel, but I have a lot of friends there. I would not expect to see anything new for the Masters of the Universe until Mattel finished with toys based on the yet-to-be-released Disney movie 'Hercules'.
JW - Were you associated with the show? If so, what did John Erwin, the voice of He-Man, actually look like? About how old would he be today?
MD - I was marginally involved with the original show with Filmation, but mostly involved with the New Adventures of He-Man show, kind of Masters TNG.
JW - What was your inspiration for the He-Man character?
MD - He-Man has many fathers, but I can not claim to be one of them. Thetwo main creators were Roger Sweet and Mark Taylor. Mark does work forGaloob now. He-Man was primarily inspired by body builder competitions and fantasy game play like Dungeons and Dragons. Various concepts were tested to try and unseat GI Joe as the top action figure brand. He-Man was the winner.
JW - Do you know if they plan to re-release the videos of the cartoon? I have tried to get them, but people keep telling me they are in amortatorium and that they aren't available. Will they ever re-release them?
MD - The rights to the TV show are jointly owned by Mattel and what is left of Filmation. I do not believe there is a plan to release them on video. There was at least one video released of the New Adventures show, but Ithink that was it.
This next interview was conducted by Robbie Beiswenger (RBeiswenge@aol.com),and it was with Larry DiTillo.
RB - Why did the MOTU (Masters of the Universe) series end?
LD - He-Man was a toy-driven show, exactly like Transformers or G.I. Joe orany of the other multitude of cartoon shows which have flowed down the pikesince. This means the show is created to sell a toy line and financed by -A TOY COMPANY! What a surprise... Toy-driven shows are never meant to last more then a season or two, enough to create a demand, satsify it, then moveon to a new toy (and possibly a new show). However on occasion, the writer stake the toy concept and despite all the bonehead obstacles in their way(and believe me there are many) they create solid characters and good stories to feature them in. The show becomes independent of the toy and is watched by people of all different ages, not just youngsters. Good writers, good storytellers make a good show. They are not always big hits, but He Man was.
Why did the show end? Because the toy line was being phased out. Mattel put up the money and when they no longer desired what they saw as a toy commercial (which is perfectly reasonable thinking for a toy company) theyno longer financed it.
In short, even He Man couldn't beat businessman.
RB - Did you ever do anything with Granamyr (a giant red dragon, verywise, and the only human he trusted was He-Man)? If so, what were yourthoughts on him?
LD - Ah, Granamyr... Here's that story. Before breaking into the cartoonbiz at Filmation, I worked for the FBI... That is FLYING BUFFALO INC., aspiffy little game company that does pbm games and the Tunnels and Trollsrole playing game. I wrote a game scenario for them called The Isle OfDarksmoke and in it was this grouchy terrible dragon called Granamyr. Ihad played the part so many times in games I knew him as well as I knew myself. So when it came time to do a story for He Man I decided to use adragon (creatures I am quite fond of and sometimes have the temper of) and Granamyr became that dragon. Granamyr indeed is responsible for my wholecareer for that story was what got me on staff at Filmation.
RB - Why was Skeletor such a dork in the cartoon? He would have been a lot cooler if he was more intelligent.
LD - SIGHHHH... Skeletor was a dork because that's how Filmation wanted him, a comic opera villain. This is no surprise to any cartoon writer who specializes in action genres. Dorky villains are par for the course. Nowon occasion we could actually make Skeletor a little bit of a schemer, however after the first 30 or shows were written we realized we had another problem. Every show was a reaction to a plan by Skeletor. In short, it was boring. So we started to create NEW villains, new challenges and kind oflet Skeletor be for a while. This freshened the show.
However, in defense of Skeletor, every survey we ever did showed he was the second most popular character on the show. Kids ate up that comic opera cackly villain stuff and still do. And Skeletor also let us ham it up aswriters, something we like to do now and then.
And cool is not what you go for when the target audience is 5 to 12. You hamit up... It worked... The "New He-Man" didn't.
[Question Of The Month]
This month's question was inspired by Kleprakaun@aol.com. What do you think are some of the most interesting aspects of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe? Kleprakaun lists some:
1. They used swords, spears, bows,and shields, while at the same timeriding in tanks and shooting laser blasters---a wonderful blend of sci-fiand fantasy.
2. Half of the people wore no pants. He-man, Teela, She-Ra,Beast-Man...the list goes on. Most of them wore those furry underwear things.
3. No one, not even Randor himself, recognized He-man was Adam. Randor saw both of them up close very often, but he never noticed. He wroe less clothes, talked in a deeper voice, and was a little tanner. There was also,of course, the classic "you never saw them together"
4. Skeletor was never imprisoned. WHY? He was the biggest threat to Eternia (most of the time), yet all the times that they went to Snake Mt.,they never captured him. I mean, they knew where his headquarters was---why didn't they levl Snake Mt.?
5. (This one came to me while watching 'The Secret of the Sword'.) The King's men, lead by Man-at-Arms, stopped the invasion of the Horde.......with spears. They showed the Horde with tanks, lasers, andthousands of armor clad soldiers. The King's men ran at them with spearsand green tights.
This is in no way meant to put down He-Man in anyway. I love the show, I just thought these things needed to be said, and maybe I'll spark some newdiscussions.
I hope that sparks some discussion too, unlike last month's question (which I thought would get a lot of response), which asked:
"How would you feel if a company like Todd Toys (as a rumor suggests) remadethe He-Man figures? What would you like to change? What would you like tobe the same?"
*Aaron Egleston (egghead@juno.com)*: I wasn't sure what the re-release ofStar Wars would be like. However, I saw it and loved it. It's kinda the same way with He-Man toys. I'm not sure what a re-release of He-Man toys would be like even though I signed the e-mail petition. I don't want He-Man to be updated or revamped like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Superman, or Marvel comics which had drastic changes. More like Star Wars, the same thing and not redone all over again. Star Wars was done over to show how it was meant to be seen. Let's find out who He-Man really is.
10. Take off the red squares on He-Man's chest plate. He never had them in the cartoon and since we go mostly by the cartoon, he should have them.
9. Take away He-Man's ax. He never used in the series, or either of the movies.
8. Take away Teela's snake staff and snake armor. She never used it either.
7. Please make Orko smaller. He was way to huge!!
6. Have a fully poseable battle cat and panthor.
5. Give He-Man and Adam a place to put their swords when not in use.If you put them in the suit, it usually busted the strap, and if you put it in Adam's vest, you ended up stretching it. (The only figures to have aplace to put their weapons to my knowledge were Tri-Klops and Trapjaw.)
4. Take away Mer-Man's sword---he never even used it!!
3. Give Stratos some kind of weapon. He's a moving target!!!
2. When did Ram Man ever use his ax? Take it away....
AND THE #1 CHANGE IS......
#1 GIVE MAN AT ARMS A MOUSTACHE!!!!!
[Todd Toys]
One rumor that's been floating around the Internet for a while is that Todd Toys (the action figure company owned by comic artist Todd McFarlane) is going to release He-Man action figures. Here's a letter from Dan "Spikor"Syndrome (idiot@interlog.com) about this.
I just E-Mailed Chet Jaques asking him to E-Mail this list suggestingthe re-make of He-Man, and what WE thought of that proposition. It's MHFO (MY HUMBLE FRIGGING OPINION) that this is as close as it's gonna ever come. We're the last generation of He-Worshipers... It's up to us! Be it video's re-airing of the Toon or what not, something's gotta start the wheel turning. The kids'll eat it up! I mean, C'mon! Look at this new show... Blitzkrieg Boppin' Beetle Warriors (or whatever). Can anyone say BLAAUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! ?
Up until now, I've only been including one file attachment per issue. This time, I'm bending the rules a little. ;>Motu.zip contains V1.14 of a great text-based He-Man game. This is definitely worth checking out. I was very much impressed with it...
I'm also including a picture that was sent to me through e-mail, but unfortunately, I lost the name of the artist who did it. If you did this, please e-mail me so I can give you credit in the next issue of the newsletter. Thanks!
If you're not signed up to receive file attachments, you can get these files from the newsletter archives (the address is listed in the Net Guide).
[Discovery Zone]
Despite the name, the Discovery Zone isn't some obscure realm of Eternia. According to Dan "Mosquitor" Oliveira (Daniel.Oliveira@state.ma.us), it does have something He-Man related though.
My sister used to work at the 'Discovery Zone' (a day care service with aball crawl & slides & stuff like that).
Recently she told me there was something there I should take a look at, so I went to check it out myself.
They have this fake talking robot with lights which plays all kinds of different theme songs. One of the songs it plays is the HE-MAN theme!!!! I looked for a date on the robot & it was made in 1992 (or somewhere around that time), so it's fairly new. They also have one of these at the localshopping mall. I forgot the thing's name. Just look for a big smiling fake robot which plays music like 'Indiana Jones','Superman', 'Star Wars', etc..
I couldn't believe the He-Man theme was in there!
[Masters of the Universe II - The Story Of She-Ra (Part 1)]
Many people have talked about it, but Mark Von Ohlen (Orko1981@aol.com) is the only one to take the first step in creating a sequel to the Masters ofthe Universe movie! :) This is only the first part, and the story will continue in later issues of the newsletter.
MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE 2: THE STORY OF SHE-RA
It is late at night. Inside Castle Greyskull, the Sorceress sits upon her throne. She closes her eyes and dreams of an incident from the past.
"You may have defeated us," an unknown soldier yells, "but you'll never see this child again!" Then, a woman dressed all in red sends a fireball down on the Sorceress and Man-At-Arms, hitting the Sorceress. The two escape into a portal and disappear.
The Sorceress awakes with a scream... "No! Adora!"
Suddenly the Great Eye opens in the Castle. From the sky a glowing sword floats into the Sorceress' hands.
"Can it be? After so long?" The Sorceress sends a telepathic message to He-Man, telling him to come to Greyskull.
He-Man, Teela, Man-At-Arms, and Gwildor arrive at the Castle.
"I need you to go on a very important mission for me," she says.
"What kind of mission, Sorceress?" He-Man asks.
"You must journey into a far off land and find someone there."
"How will I find this one?"
"Hold out your hand."
The sword appears magically in He-Man's hands.
"This sword shall lead you to the one you seek."
"Except for this jewel, this sword looks exactly like mine."
"And like your's, it is meant for someone with a very special destiny."
Suddenly the sword begins to glow once again.
"What's going on?" He-Man exclaims.
"Watch," the Sorceress says.
A magical beam from the jewel blasts Gwildor's cosmic key. A great gateway opens.
"You must enter the gate and find the true owner of the sword," theSorceress explains.
He-Man and his friends depart.
At the other end of the gate, our heroes find a beautiful planet lined withlush plants and pink trees. The planet looks peaceful, but looks can be deceiving. Out of nowhere, our heroes hear screams from a distance. They run towards the noise and find a man anda woman being attacked by several robot-like soldiers.
"Help us, please!" screams the woman as our heroes come running.
"Quickly, He-Man, we have to help them," says Man-At-Arms.
He-Man draws his sword as Teela and Duncan pull out their lazer guns.
"Let them go, whoever you are!" He-Man screams.
"No one gives orders to a Horde trooper except Hordak." He should to the other soldiers, "Destroy them!"
He-Man and his friends fight bravely and eventually take down the soldiers.
They retreat and swear revenge: "You haven't seen the last of us, Princess!"
The woman raises her hands and sends several beams of neon light explosion sat them. They run off in fear.
The two people thank He-Man and introduce themselves as Bo, an archer forthe Great Rebellion, and Glimmer, Princess of Brightmoon. Puzzled at why they were attacked, He-Man questions the two about the soldiers.
Glimmer explains that an intergalactic army known as the Horde came to their planet years ago, when she was only a child, and took over everything. Her mother was captured during the battle to defend their kingdom. She does not know where the rest of her family is. Only a few people who have magical powers have been able to avoid being captured or imprisoned by the Horde. Bo quickly intervenes advising they getto Whispering Woods before Hordak sends reinforcements. Glimmer finishes her tale along the way.
The action then heads to the Fright Zone where Hordak is perched upon his throne. A spy tells him about the incident in Theimore and how the soldiers were defeated. Before Hordak could respond, Shadow Weaver floats hurriedlyinto the throne room.
"We have a more pressing concern Hordak," she says. "Strangers from another world have come to Etheria, and they bring with them a seed of great trouble for the Horde."
"Where are these strangers?" Hordak replies.
"They were in the kingdom of Brightmoon, but my spells can no longer find them."
"Could they have been responsible for the defeat of our troopers?" Catra asks.
"You may be right, Catra," says Hordak. "Send Force Captain Adora to me at once. I have a plan that will bring these strangers into the open and then we will teach them it's not nice to cause trouble for the evil Horde."
Back in Whispering Woods, Bo and Glimmer take our heroes to the main camp. There they meet Peekablue, Frosta, and Castaspella: all former queens of kingdoms taken over by the Horde. Suddenly, Perfuma (another former queen) comes rushing to the camp.
"It's terrible!" she yells. "The Horde has placed the entire village of Theimore under arrest."
"But why?" Glimmer asks.
"Apparently several of their troopers were troused by a group of warriorsclaiming to be rebels."
"Unless the culprets give themselves up, they'll send the entire village to the mines of slaves."
"They'd do it, too. Those fiends."
"I can't ask you to sacrifice yourselves, but maybe they'll be happy with just me," Bo says.
"There must be a way to save the village without giving in," says Teela.
"But the Horde has their Force Captain and four of their worst villains inthe village. I'm afraid we're no match for them, no," Perfuma replies.
"If you're really going to be the Great Rebellion, you're going to have to start somewhere," says He-Man.
"He-Man's right. Let's save Theimore!" Glimmer exclaims.
"We're with you, Glimmer. We're not afraid of the Horde," says Frosta.
The rebels reach the village and see a Horde slave transporter loading thevillagers.
There are several Horde soldiers and four Special Forces agents: Catra,Leech, Mantenna, and Netossa.
"This is just a waste of time, those rebels will never give themselves up,"Catra says.
"We should destroy the village... at least then we'd have some fun," says Mantenna.
"She'd never let us do it," says Netossa.
"Who cares about her? She shouldn't even be leading us. If she wasn't Hordak's favorite..."
"What was that, Leech?" Suddenly a tall woman with long blonde hair arrives.
"Nothing, Force Captain."
"You four better be on your guard... these rebels seem bolder than most."
"Don't worry about us... we're ready for anything," Catra says.
Back in the shadows, the rebels get ready to attack.
"My magic may be able to free the people, but I'm going to need some time,"says Glimmer.
"We'll keep the Horde busy," says He-Man. Everyone takes their positions.
"I hope the spell Glimmer put on this arrow works," hopes Bo.
Bo shoots the arrow into the sky: fireworks appear all around.
"For Brightmoon, attack!" yells Frosta.
The rebels attack. The fight starts off in vain. The Horde is many andthe rebels are few. Quickly our heros begin to lose the battle. Leech has drained Frosta's power. Mantenna has knocked Perfuma unconcious with hiseye beams. Catra realizes Glimmer's plans to free the prisoners and takes action. She places her mask over her eyes and magically becomes a ferocious purple cat. Catra leaps at Glimmer and knocks her down. Netossa then casts a net over Glimmer making her her prisoner.
He-Man fights ferociously with the Horde soldiers and finds the Force Captain. They square off in a sword fight. He-Man loses his Sword ofPower, though Teela recovers it. He quickly takes the Sword of Protectionf rom his cape and slashes at the woman's sword. The fight is over between them... He-Man wins. Suddenly the sword begins to glow as the Force Captain's image appears in the jewel of his sword.
"You. You're the one I came to find," He-Man says.
"Is that so?" Force Captain Adora replies with a smirk on her face as a soldiers knocks out He-Man from behind.
A large Horde ship appears from the sky with Shadow Weaver and Hordak.
"Quickly, Force Captain, take the prisoners and get aboard," Hordak commands.
They beam up Adora, Glimmer and He-Man as the other Horde members take offin the Horde slave transport. The rebels were not defeated, but they werenot victorious either. Teela screams in fear as He-Man is taken away, along with Glimmer.
Stay tuned for part 2 in issue 14 of 'The Scrolls Of Greyskull'!
["The Legend Begins"]
Dan Oliveira (Daniel.Oliveira@state.ma.us) posted information on the last Mattel mini-comic, "The Legend Begins" to the He-Man mailing list not too long ago, and I thought it might be of interest to the other He-Fans as well.
Part one of the "Powers of Grayskull" comic was, to my knowledge, the last minicomic they made. It came with the three dinosaurs.
This started the Preternia storyline & in these comics, the origin of He-Man's & Grayskull's power was finally going to be revealed! Unfortunately, Masters of the Universe ended before parts two and three were released.
The shadowy person at the end is, indeed, He-Ro (an extremely powerful wizard). King Hiss mentions "one whom he (Hiss) serves" - possibly the evil giant, Megator. Another character (not in this comic) was named Eldor, whois the keeper of a book which contains the secrets of Castle Grayskull.
If the rumors regarding foreign releases for Tytus, Megator and others are true, then parts two and three of this story may have been publishedalso. At this point, however, there is no concrete proof of this. I'm sure someone (the writer of the comic??) knows what was supposed to happen. I'm dying to find out!! If anyone has any information, let me know!!!
So if you're reading this and you were the writer of that comic, please pass this information along to me at ctyner@awod.com. :)
[Out Of This World]
Alexandra Spears (AlexaIrene@aol.com) is an active poster to the mailing list who aspires to be a published author. Well, this is a start, Alex. :>
Out of this World by Alexandra Spears (NO, STAR TREK DOES NOT COME INTO THIS! Not really! :P)
Okay, here's the situation. I was driving along U.S. 250 on my way up to Michigan to see my family. I was just coming out of Ashland, Ohio, and theroad was pretty deserted. I was stopping at a traffic light. I shifted to neutral and was bringing my 1986 Dodge Charger with the Star Trek bumper stickers to a stop when suddenly this yellow disk of light appeared. I ouldn't slow down in time and I went right through it. Looking in my rearview mirror, I saw the light disappearing.
"What the Sam Hill," I muttered to myself as I stopped. I got on the CB."Break 1 9 for radio check," I said. No response--I wasn't getting any transmission at all. I tried the car radio--zip. No surprise that my tape player still worked, however.
Looking out the windshield, I could see pastel-colored trees. I was beginning to wonder exactly where I was. Obviously not Ohio. Or Michigan. My car was on some kind of cobblestone path that led into some woods. And I could see a young woman walking towards me.
I rolled down my window. "Hi. Who are you? Where am I?" I asked.
"I'm Adora. This is Etheria," she replied. She was a pretty woman, with blonde hair and blue eyes.
"I'm Alexandra," I told her. "I'm from Earth."
"My mother's from Earth," Adora told me.
Suddenly, these robots appeared out of the woodwork. "There's the traitor!" one of them exclaimed.
"Adora, get in! I'll get us outta here!" I told her, flinging open the passenger door. Adora jumped in and I put the car into first and took off.
"Whew, thanks," Adora sighed.
"What's the deal with those guys?" I asked.
Adora proceeded to tell me her life story, about her abduction as an infantby the Horde. Also, Hordak had accidentally discovered that she and her twin brother Adam were She-Ra and He-Man, respectively. Which, of course,meant trouble.
"Don't sound to me like you're a traitor," I said. "It's not like you wereserving them willingly."
"Hordak doesn't see it that way," Adora said with a wry smile.
We were silent. I popped in my Star Trek: First Contact soundtrack and the song by Steppenwolf, "Magic Carpet Ride," began playing. "Rock and roll," I explained to Adora as I followed her directions and drove into the main camp of the Great Rebellion. I felt as if I were on some kind of magic carpet ride.
"Fortunately, my parents don't know I'm coming. And my husband thinks I'm in Michigan," I told Adora. "But he'll be a bit worried when I don't call him."
"Well, we'll find a way to get you back," Adora assured me.
As soon as we got out of the car, Adora introduced me to Bow, Madame Razz,Broom, Kowl, Glimmer, and Angella. I must have looked weird in my Starfleet Academy T-shirt, purple stirrup pants, slouch socks, and gym shoes. I alsohad on my wedding ring, naturally, and my engagement ring that had anamethyst shaped like a heart surrounded by seventeen diamonds. My brown hair was pulled back, my bangs curled, a style I saw on no one. There were black-framed glasses in front of my brown eyes that I wore for distance; I was near-sighted.
"Welcome to Etheria, Alexandra," said Bow. "What pretty rings you have."
"Thanks. These are my wedding and engagement rings," I told him. "And my class ring--I graduated from Ferndale High School in the year 1991, when I was 18. See, this indicates that I was in the band. And it has my nickname on it--everyone calls me Alex because next to no one can say Alexandra!"
Bow chuckled. "I did, though. But it would be easier to call you Alex."
I shrugged. "Go for it, dude!"
Queen Angella returned to Castle Bright Moon to find a way to send me back to Earth. Meanwhile, I sat around with the gang, telling them all about life on Earth in the 1990s.
"My brother Adam's coming tomorrow. You can meet him then," said Adora to me.
"That's cool," I said. "You know what, my husband's older brother and sister, Marvin and Marian, are twins. They're both blue-eyed blonds. My husband has brown hair and brown eyes like I do. Someone thought that wewere brother and sister, but trust me, we're not."
"That's interesting," Kowl put in.
I got to spend a night on Etheria. I just put on my flannel pajamas and my Walkman and fell asleep listening to my Star Trek soundtrack, right after Roy Orbison's "Ooby Dooby" was done. I didn't hear the auto-stop kicking in.
The next morning, I put on another set of clothes--this time jeans, a pink turtleneck, and a lavendar v-neck sweater. I noticed that no one here seemed to change clothes very much.
"Madame, is there any way you can get my curling iron to heat up?" I askedher after breakfast. "This runs on electricity, and somehow I don't think there are any electrical outlets here."
"Of course, dearie."
"Thanks a lot, Madame."
She watched, fascinated, as I sat in front of a mirror with a brush,styling spritz, and hairspray, and proceeded to do my bangs. "Lots of girlson Earth do this," I explained.
Right after I was done, Adora came up with her twin brother Adam. "You must be Adam," I said, shaking his hand. "I've heard quite a bit about you."
"And you're from Mother's home world," he grinned. "I like your car."
"Thanks. It runs!"
"We're going to go to Thaymor today," Adora said. "Would you like to come,and look around?" she asked me.
"Sure," I said.
Adam, Adora, and I walked to Thaymor, which was a bit of a trip. Fortunately my shoes were good for walking in. I wondered how Adora could stand being in high heels all the time.
We entered the Laughing Swan Inn. Adora stopped to get information from one of the Rebel spies. Suddenly, a bunch of bad guys came in. From the Rebels' descriptions, I knew this to be Force Captain Catra and her bunch.A few four-letter words ran through my mind.
"There's the traitor!" Catra shrieked. "And get that stranger too!"
Boy, if my co-workers at KFC could see me now, I thought. What did you doover the week-end? Jackie, the manager, would ask.
Oh, just kicked around a magical world and had a real cool adventure, I'dreply.
Yeah right!
Mantenna shot this beam at me and I lost my balance.
"You dumb-ass!" I shouted as a couple of robots grabbed me; I'd been separated from the twins in the fray. They hauled me away as the twins were fighting; they'd managed to change to He-Man and She-Ra.
I was tossed into a Horde transport, behind bars, no less. Hordak had me in an interrogation room. I was scared as anything, but I just sat there in that chilly room (good thing I had my sweater on!) with my arms crossed, trying to act like a big bad Detroit girl.
"Hey, homey, what did I do?" I asked. "All I did was accidentally stumble upon this world. I was just driving along and a portal appeared."
"Hmmm," said Hordak. "Apparently my portal to Whispering Woods wound up on Earth. But you've apparently sided with the Rebels!"
"Y'all got that straight. My country is a free country. They elect some joker every four years--"
"Enough! You are here now, and I think you'll stay here."
"Screw that! I want outta here! All I was doing was going to see my family. That's it!"
"You're the bait for my trap to catch those troublesome twins, He-Man and She-Ra!" He laughed an evil laugh. "Guards--take this woman to the dungeons!"
I was wishing for a phaser or a disruptor right then. Something to take these guys out. I was no fighter. No way I could get past the robots that were escorting me to a cell. Maybe I should have got Jeff to teach me karate, I mused as they shoved me into this cold cell. Once again I was grateful for a long-sleeved shirt and sweater!
My Walkman was with me, and in it was another Star Trek soundtrack. The one that belonged to Wayne County Public Library, the one that was due backin a few days. Perfect. I merely snapped the set on and listened to it.
I didn't have very long to wait, because He-Man and She-Ra came crashing in. Apparently they'd managed to evade Hordak's trap. "Let's get you out of here, Alex," said He-Man.
"Thanks. I was getting bored," I grinned. "Hordak tried to create a portal that would lead him into Whispering Woods, but it wound up on Earth,I found out. Just thought I'd let you know."
Back at Whispering Woods, I had my portable stereo out and we were listening to rock and roll. Queen Angella came up and said that she'd managed to create a gate to Earth.
After I said good-bye, I climbed into my car and revved the engine. Then I put it into first and drove through the portal, wondering what Jeff would say about my little adventure.
[Letter To Mattel]
Several people on the mailing list and I have been working together to develop a letter to send to Mattel. We're also going to enclose names, e-mail addresses, and phone numbers to show our support. If you'd like toadd your name, e-mail princeadam@geocities.com with your real name and you re-mail address and/or phone number (preferably both).
BTW, I really appreciate all the responses I've been getting! I apologize for not being able to respond to all of you individually, but that's a lot of mail to go through! :>
BTW, right now, there are around 400 names. I'd like to get 500 before mid-April. Since there are around 700 He-Fans, I think this goal's certainly attainable. :>
Also, if there are any comments, suggestions, or whatnot you have about this letter, please e-mail me so I can improve upon it. Thanks! :>
Dear _______________________,
One of the most successful action figure lines of the 1980s was Mattel's"He-Man and the Masters of the Universe". The line was very successful fora number of years, and for and hundreds of thousands of young men and woman worldwide retain fond memories of the action figures and related cartoon.
Over the past year, there has been a great resurgence of interest in He-Manover the Internet. There are many high profile web pages featuring He-Man,as well as a newsletter and a mailing list. Over the past few months, many people have suggested writing up a petition to return the original "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" and "She-Ra: Princess of Power" lines as collectors' items.
You can see how much interest there is in returning the action figures by looking at some of the many pages on the World Wide Web.
If you'd like to get in contact with the members of the He-Man/She-Ramailing list, send e-mail to heman-list@hypenet.com.
Several people on the mailing list have pointed out that a few recent Mattel creations bear strong resemblances to figures and playsets from the Masters of the Universe and Princess of Power lines. This leads us to believe that some of the original molds are still in existence, and if this is the case, re-releasing the lines would be a lot easier. Kenner is using the original molds for the Star Wars vehicles, which are proving to be very popular.
Enclosed are the names, e-mail addresses, and phone numbers of _________ people who would like to see the Masters of the Universe and She-Ra lines re-released in some fashion --- in their original forms or slightly revamped for a 1990s audience.
This newsletter is not intended to infringe on any copyrights and is writtenpurely out of love. :>
[Net Guide]
By far, the largest part of the newsletter has been the He-Man/She-Ra Net Guide. I thought the newsletter might be a little easier to sift through if I separated this section from the rest.
He-Man/She-Ra On The Internet
The Internet consists of much more than the World Wide Web, so I've decided to replace the 'Web pages' section of the newsletter with a section detailing the various ways of obtaining He-Man information and such over the Internet.
