Wow...it's hard to believe it's approaching 7 months since I last sent outan issue of the Scrolls of Grayskull. Quite a bit has happened since then,most notably the launching of the new www.he-man.org (more details on thatlater). Also, the Scrolls quietly turned three years old in May. TheScrolls will be undergoing some pretty drastic changes from now on,becoming a group effort rather than Adam just copying and pastinge-mails he's gotten. Still, this is a newsletter for MOTU/POP fans, so ifyou have something you'd like to contribute, please let us know! You canreach Adam at adam@he-man.org.
After months of work (and months of delays), www.he-man.org isready for public consumption! The site, a combination of the efforts of anumber of different He-Man webmasters, including Matt R. and I, is still in the early stages, but a hefty percentage of the contentis up and running, and is sure to keep you occupied. To mention all of thenew features would take quite a bit of time, but please take a look and letus know what you think. We're continuing to build more features, so if yousent us pictures, fan-fic, or a link to your site over the past few months,bear with us -- we've got a HUGE backlog of stuff to still get up.
[Rumor Mill]
Rumor has it that Mattel is reintroducing He-Man ... but it's not in-house.
According to THJ Magazine of Germany, the lesser toy titan is going to beintroducing a new film, a new cartoon series (by Columbia), and new actionfigures (by either ReSaurus or ToyBiz), and new ultra action figures byMacFarlane Toys. So this would be a good thing, right?
Maybe. I would much rather see Mattel do the toys in-house rather thanlicense them out. ReSaurus toys tend to be more expensive and lesscommon -- and there's a good chance with the others that the line could beplagued with variations.
I see a film as a huge risk -- sure, most 20-year-olds remember He-Man, buthow many are going to go see a new He-Man movie? For that matter, how manykids?
Maybe I'm making too much out of one little (admittedly insubstantial)article. But recently Mattel contacted He-Man.org asking for opinions onhow they should go about doing a re-release.
Send your opinions regarding this to matt@he-man.org and we may print yourletter in a future issue.
[Toyland]
Here
are some stray bits of information from the book "Toyland: TheHigh-Stakes Game of the Toy Industry",
by Sydney Ladensohn Stern and TedSchoenhaus, courtesy of Matthew Martin:
* Apparently, the cartoon was offered to ABC and dismissed before beingsyndicated (45).
* The Crystal Castle was originally supposed to include a 'bird-beak'entrance, where the beak would swoop down, pick up the characters, andbring them into the castle. This idea was scrapped when girls and theirmothers proved uninterested in the mechanical feature and preferred asofter, less mechanical approach (132).
* Apparently,
Conan Properties did spend several years insisting thatHe-Man was "Conan in a blond wig" (242).
* I once made
the uncharitable accusation that the He-Man name was justslapped onto a predesigned
line to produce the New Adventures toys.
I mustapologize and retract that. Apparently, Mattel had had serious problemswith
the MotU line--they " "left far too much product on retailers' shelvesin 1985, and it took us three years to clean it up" " according to Mattel'schairman. However, "market research showed that the He-Man character wasstill appealing, so Mattel has reintroduced He-Man without theMasters. "We have a new line, new product, new approach, new planet." "(300).
* And now, the
key info. From the 1987 Toy Fair, what may very well bepieces of _official
promotional information_ on the Powers of
Grayskullline. As we all know, He-Man would travel to Preternia, where, helped
by "He-Ro, the most powerful wizard in the universe, Eldor, his mentor andteacher, and Turbodactyl and Bionatops, his mighty dinosaur allies inbattle, He-Man would fight against the evil dinoreptilian kingdom and thedreaded Tyrantasaurus [sic] Rex" (216).
The authors quote something in thepassage I've reproduced, which sounds like
it might have been official info.
[He-Man's Return To Television?]
K-Toon,
a channel available through a German pay-TV bundle called DF-1, hasadded "The New Adventures of He-Man" to their line-up (which has included"She-Ra: Princess of Power", the He-Man/She-Ra Christmas Special, and"Bravestarr") starting April 6th. I'm not certain if it's still beingaired, but it's one step closer towards getting "Masters of the Universe"back
on the air...
Y'know,
we've seen interviews with people involved in the production of thecartoon & action
figure line, but I don't believe I've seen an interviewwith He-Man and Skeletor
until now:
We've posted in the past about He-Man popping up in unusual places. ErikMurray (psimmons@crosslink.net)
has discovered another -- the name "Orko"is spray painted on a wall in the video for Jay-Z's "Hard KnockLife". Personally, I think it's just a matter of time until we hear a songsampling "I have the power!"...
Also, He-Man has appeared twice in the past few months in Toyfare. Thelatest appearance even included a screen shot of thethen-under-construction www.he-man.org! Hopefully they'll have more to sayabout us now that the site has been launched.
[That Toy Feeling]
T.J. Tindal (AegisSabre@aol.com) sent me the following essay which he wrotefor his college comp. class, and I enjoyed it enough that I decided toreproduce it here:
That Toy FeelingTJ Tindal, 1998
They beckoned
to us. As we walked through the nickel and dime stores with our parents who
had seemingly made us come, we decided to make
the best of the situation and find our favorite department. Maybe if we were
good enough, and didn't cause too much commotion, those people who brought
us, (who coincidentally had the money,) might spend a little on us. We didn't
care about trying on new clothes, or holding onto the buggy while our mothers
went to find a salesclerk, all we cared about was reaching that one aisle.
The aisle in the middle of the store that had all the treasures of our dreams:
the Toy Aisle. Turning the corner into that majestic aisle from the previous
of toilet paper and toothbrushes quickened the heart beat of every boy and
girl, as a whole world of entertainment came pouring into eye's view. In
much the same way we didn't concern ourselves with the "adult-stuff" on the previous aisles, we studied each toy very carefully, as if it was the first time we had seen it. The packages would light up with such phrases as, "New Arm Chopping Action!", or, "Comes with Glow-in-the-Dark Sword!" Nothing could take our mind from this colossal treasure we had found, except for our mother's hideous slice through our heaven, "All right, let's go." Suddenly, we had to see how many items we could pick up and chant, "Please buy this, mommy!" We
left the aisle heartbroken, and gave one last glance to the toys on that
wonderful aisle, as if we were saying good bye to our best friend of ten
years.
Maturing into our teen years, those memories of lore are almost forgotten, and the issues of cars, work, and relationships take precedence over such irrelevant things as toys.
For most of us, that is.
Toys have always
been part of my life, but have taken many different appearances. As I grew
out of the art of manipulating my toys from
pieces of plastic to actual characters with real lives, I began to take interest
in other, more advanced "toys". I bought an electric guitar, a keyboard,
and a computer. A Nintendo controller fitted my hand where the plastic body
of He-Man once did. All of those memories of childhood were banished when
my mother had a yard-sale, and I rid myself of those unsightly action figures.
Years later, I felt a sense of emptiness, where there once was great joy, but no longer. Baseball cards and comic books no longer held an interest to me, as I now feel a need to collect something. Upon calling my best-friend, Andrew, he informed me that he had begun collecting Star Trek action figures. Absurd as I thought this was, I asked him for more information.
"Well," Andrew responded, "I
pretty much keep them in the package. They're worth more that way, and you
can look at them through the package.
Besides, I really don't want to play with them."
I had never thought of collecting toys. I had always pictured them as merely play-things. This opened up a broad spectrum for me, in that I could collect the toys from the cartoons or television shows I liked! After a month or two of collecting, Andrew and I had amassed rather healthy collections, but I felt a bit childish for such a collection. Much to my surprise, my father had began collecting Hot Wheels, and hung them around his room. Hung them around his room? A grown man collecting toys and even going so far as to display them in his place of residence for people to view? Something was terribly wrong here. Or was it? Following the same route, I proceded to hang my Star Trek figures around my room as well, until they looped the walls three full times. Reaching my highest number of 124 unopened Star Trek figures, (as opposed to my fathers total of over 3,500 Hot Wheels,) I concluded it was time to collect new toylines, and I've been collecting ever since.
As in any other hobby, the toy collecting market has respectful traders, as well as dishonorable heathens.
When I became a new toy collector, I began to notice people on the toy aisle. The toys they are sifting through, the particular ones they have in their hands, and most imporantly, if they're looking through your toyline. It's a big deal if you find someone looking through the toys you collect for two main reasons. In meeting someone who collects the same toys as you, you've in turn made a friend. Of course, if he happens to be holding the toy you need to complete your set, you've made an enemy. If you are fortunate enough to arrive at the new shipment of toys before anyone else, you've stumbled upon a gold mine--and you won't give it up easily.
When I found a new release of Star Trek: First Contact movie figures at Wal-Mart two years ago, I realized I was the first one to find this wealth do to the fact that all of the figures of the set were there. Almost crying do to the happiness coursing through my blood, I quickly sifted through the mounds of plastic-glory to find the pieces in the best condition. Turning the corner far left, I noticed a rival Star Trek collector, Mike, I believe his name was, almost skip a beat of life when he saw the treasure I had found. Blazing through aisle number 13, Mike was coming at me like a freight train. I scooped up all of the figures in my person, and glared at him.
"MINE!," I blurted
with all of my might, for it was the only sound I could make at the time.
Sheer happiness interupted by wildly protecting
my new-found wealth caused the brain function known as speech to completely
malfunction.
Mike gave me a bewildered look and I realized I had the attention of every man, woman, and child on the toy aisle. I cleared my throat and began to speak in a normal, civilized tone.
"I believe I arrived at this shipment first, so the way I see it, I get first pick," I
plainly stated, and awaited Mike's reaction.
"All right," he responded, "that's fine with me, but you may want to put down those figures. You're bending up Commander Riker." I
looked down to find that I had, in fact, bent up the cardboard backing of
that particular figure. Silently cursing myself, Mike took a step back, eyeing
me impatiently. I proceded to gather the figures I wanted, leaving a few
behind that did not make a full set. I stood up slowly, thirteen figures
to balance with two hands. I turned and smiled at Mike, knowing I had left
him a pitiful selection.
"I know you tried to make it where I didn't get a full set," he snapped as I began walking away, "but there's a whole other row over here!" I
jolted around to see what he was talking about, dropping all of my treasures
in the process.
"Whoops!," he smiled, "oh, sorry, I was mistaken." My
face welcomed a frown look, and I began to gather my toys. Noticing I bent
some
of the corners of the cardboard of my once perfect action figures, I opted
not to show my anger because I had no intention of allowing him to know he
had won. I just decided to never listen to a word he had to say.
Another such occasion causing a battle for a specific toy, involves the Internet. I frequently visit an online auction web site, where people can bid on collectibles, or whatever else is on auction that day. I have competed in many bid wars, where two people attempt to outbid the other before time runs out on the auction.
Four months ago, I searched for my old He-Man figure from long ago, still in it's original package. I did, in fact, find such a toy, and it was in the last ten minutes of the auction. Current price was at forty-one dollars, so I decided that it didn't matter what it took, I wanted that He-Man!
I placed my bid of forty-five dollars, and felt a sense of great accomplishment in obtaining this figure I so desired. Six minutes left, I reset the auction details to confirm I was indeed the high bidder. Much to my surprise, I had been outbid by one dollar, leaving the total forty-six dollars. I quickly took action and placed my new bid of fifty dollars, knowing that no mortal man would outbid me now! Resetting the details once more, I found that I had been outbid once again. With one minute and thirteen seconds left, I was forced to outbid fifty-one dollars.
I held my breath, and placed my bid of sixty dollars. I watched as my opponent attempted to outbid me, over and over. As the last two seconds remained, he realized he had failed in his endeavors, leaving me the final price of fifty-four dollars.
Very pleased with myself, I displayed a huge grin to no one but me ego, and turned on some music in celebration. To my surprise, I now had an e-mail in my mail box. I read the mail, and realized it was from my competitor for He-Man. He congratulated me, and informed me that it was a very good battle for such a fine piece.
I smiled once again, knowing that there are dishonest collectors out there, but the honest, good-sported toy lovers who treat an opponent as a friend even in defeat, make it all worth while.
