This is the 17th issue of the Scrolls of Grayskull, the e-mail newsletterdevoted to He-Man and She-Ra. I'm really sorry about the delay in gettingthe newsletter out, and especially sorry about how long it's taken me toupdate my web page. Due to the wonders of Fall break, both have been takencare of. ;) My web page's address ishttp://www.he-man.org/ctyner/index.shtml - I've added picturesfrom the mini-comics, sounds, songs, action figure pictures, and much more! I've also added a lot of links to new He-Man pages, which seem to bespringing up every day! I think this is great, and I hope you take a lookat them.

I'd really like to hear what you think about the newsletter, and I'despecially like it if you'd send me content...stories, drawings,news...whatever you could send me would be greatly appreciated.

Also, if you have access to any sort of mailing list software and couldgive me access to it, I would also greatly appreciate it! Sending theseout take a very long time. :P

Finally, I got a lot of response about considering dumping fileattachments. You really seem to like them, so I'm going to maintain the 2separate lists and continue sending out file attachments to those who wantthem. :) You can always get previous file attachments and oldernewsletters at the Scrolls of Grayskull archives athttp://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/3624/archive.html, which is maintainedby Scott White.

If you need to unsubscribe for any reason, e-mail ctyner@cs.clemson.eduwith "Unsubscribe" as the subject and I'll remove you from the list. Ifyou plan on cancelling your e-mail account, please e-mail me. I hategetting bounced mail.

Zadoc Angell (angellaz@norwich.net) recently reported some great news fromHallmark.

A few days ago, I telephoned Hallmark Entertainment (212) 977-9001. Ihad been told on a previous call that I should contact Whitney Vliep, whowas the expert on the He-Man and She-Ra cartoons. I talked with Ms. Vliepand she answered a few of my questions. She says that, although there noplans for He-Man and She-Ra in the U.S. _right now_, her job depends ongetting those cartoons in the U.S. (She's director of BusinessDevelopment.) The problem, of course, is that they haven't found a networkyet that's willing to pay enough. (I asked her a price, she said shecouldn't discuss that with me.) She says that there's _NO_ truth to thestatement that Hallmark will not sell individual series. You don't have tobuy the whole library if you only want He-Man and She-Ra. I asked if therewas such a thing as a Hallmark Network, and she said there was, but only inforeign countries. Maybe if this channel were available in the U.S., wecould see He-Man and She-Ra. She'd like to hear from He-Fans, so pleasegive her a phone call (ask for Whitney Vliep at the phone number above) orfax her at (212) 977-7407. Please let her know that there are lots ofpeople who want He-Man and She-Ra!

I can't think of any better news to report. It certainly is possible thatHe-Man will be back on the air soon!

The entries are in from the 2nd Annual Internet Create-A-Character Contest,and voting has already begun! To take a look at the submitted entries andget information on voting, take a look athttp://www.he-man.org/ctyner/fan-creations.html.

The results will be printed in the next newsletter.

I've gotten letters from several of you who are interested in participatingin the tape tree. However, there are still too few people to get this offthe ground. If you're interested in being a branch, or if you have lots ofmaterial for the tree, e-mail me at ctyner@awod.com.

If you have no idea what a tape tree is, take a look at issue 15 ( http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/3624/news15.html ).

How would you go about "rebooting" He-Man for a '90s audience? I recentlygot some ideas from Richard Klosterman (grskull@aol.com). I'd like to hear your ideas too; pass them along to me at ctyner@awod.com.

Castle Grayskull is actually a castle created by an entity whocalls himself 'Grayskull'. The "god" has a sort of Skeletor and Shao Khan(Mortal Kombat 2 and 3) mixture to his look. He would be considered thecreator of all the countless dimentions. One day, he saw the lady known asthe Sorceress playing with her son Adam, born to her with the king ofEternia, King Randor. Grayskull quickly fell in love with the young woman(who'd divorced Randor earlier) and soon began to be friendly with her.Both fell in love with each other and had a son, Skeletor, the next rulerof Castle Grayskull. Grayskull gave the Sorceress awesome power andcrafted a powerful blade for their young son. However, Skeletor becamedisheartened by the fact that his father was far more powerful and wouldprobably never truly die. Using his power sword, Skeletor trapped hisfather within the blade and cursed his mother to forever be tied with thecastle. However, young Adam, who was still very beloved by Grayskull,vowed to free his step father and mother, and by taking up his father's ownblade, he defeated Skeletor, and Grayskull was free again! In reward forhis bravery and courage, Adam was also given great power, and was officallymade the true son of Grayskull, while Skeletor was banished to live withthe "normal" Eternians. Skeletor, however, built himself up to be a verypower mortal and demanded that his father give him back some of his formerheritage. Feeling a little pity, Grayskull did so and gave Skeletor therights to the horrid castle, Snake Mountain, where Skeletor happily livesnowadays.

I always find these stories interesting. Another set of stories byRunJT@aol.com can be found in the Scrolls of Grayskull archives athttp://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/3624/. (BTW, John, are you interestedin sending more Revamp stories? I've had a lot of people express interestin seeing further installments...)

On my site, I have a section devoted to articles about He-Man and She-Ra.Here's a nostalgic little article from Time Magazine (July 2, 1984 issue,reprinted without permission).

It's pumping plastic time as He-Man and his multimuscled minions ruleToyland's battlefield. (Mattel's Masters of the Universe toys for boys)If you're looking to strike up a conversation with a boy over the age of 5these days, you'd better be thoroughly versed in the nuances of the magickigndom of Eternia, whose denizens are known throughout toyland as Mastersof the Universe. The hero of Eternia is He-Man, a hulking 5-1/2-inch blondwith muscles bulging grotesquely beneath his armor plate (which bouncesback at a touch after being dented by a sword). From his abode of Goodness,the Castle Grayskull (about $28, depending on the store), He-Man ($5-$8)and his cohorts battle their nemesis, Skeletor. A purple-hooded skull-headwith remarkable sky-blue pectorals and deltoids and special battle armorliek his foe's, Skeletor hangs out at his palace of Evil, Snake Mountain(about $44), which boasts a hidden microphone that transforms a child'spiping voice into a deep and scary "voice of evil."

You'd have to be in some other galaxy today to miss these hulks, who nowrule the world of play. Mattel expects to sell 55 million of them this yearalone--far outdistancing the upstart Cabbage Patch Kids (produced byColeco), which sold a mere two million last year. As for those classicMattel idols Barbie and ken, it's taken more than two decades to sell about200 million of them--a wimpy performance compared with that of He-Man andhis scantily clad female partner, the goddess-warrior Teela. Their appealis bolstered by the daily syndicated TV show Masters of the Universe, atop-rated series watched by millions of tots in 32 countries--and by some190 Masters-related products: lunch boxes, watches, pajamas and even anelectric toothbrush from which He-Man's voice booms forth with a plug fordental hygiene.

Since the first He-Man rolled off Mattell's assembly line in 1982, some 24characters have joined the polychloride pantheon, among them Fisto,Ram-Man, Man-E-Faces (all good) and Clawful, Tri-Klops and Evil-Lyn (bad).All have bursting biceps, some skill--a spring-loaded fist, a periscopeneck--and vivid colors, of which flesh is the most prevalent. And afterfive straight quarterly losses, Mattel has posted a 51 percent gain insales attributed mainly to Masters of the Universe. Last year thecollection grossed a whopping $736 million for its creators.

The perfect fairy-tale beginning would have been if the designer of thesemuscular money-makers had been a modern-day Geppetto toiling in his MattelWorkshop. Alas for fable tradition, they came about as a result ofextensive market research conducted by Mattel because of their competitorKenner's successful Star Wars dolls. Mattel ran 17 different studies onevertything from boys' play habits to their hair-color preference.

"We went back to the basics of value, durability and imagination, ratherthan leaning so heavily on fads and technology," says Paul Cleveland, aMattel vice-president. The finding showed that boys like figures thatrepresent strength and power and prefer a fantasy environment. If theyacquired one doll, Mattel further found, they were likely to becomecollectors of the set.

Based on these results, Mattel gambled 15 percent of its production on themuscle-bound stable and a whole line of gadgetry, which now includes DragonWalker, a "beast/vehicle," Stridor, an armored war-horse, and a Roton"assault vehicle." Within five months the factory in Taiwan couldn't turnout enough creatures to match the demand. Now Mattel executives arepondering the weightier implications of their creations. Vice president JoeMorrison has gone back to reread such classic studies as Joseph Campbell'sThe Hero With a Thousand Faces and Bruno Bettelheim's The Uses ofEnchantment. "I think we plugged into a basic human archetype," he saysmodestly.

Dr. Richard Stamp, a professor or archaeology at Oakland University, offersa more prosaic conclusion. "Most cultures have mythical figures that aresuperhuman or have supernatural powers. The only thing new is thattechnology has finally created doll figures that have sparked little boys'imaginatins." And, happily for Mattel, magically lightened their parents'pockets.

David Turgeon (turdm@rhodes.edu) recently conducted an interview with Paul Dini, one of the writers from He-Man that has gone on to do many greataward-winning things. :) This was copied with permission from Turge's great web page at http://198.78.29.15/index.html.

Turge-Dear Mr.Dini,