Introduction

Hello everyone,

I have decided it’s time to join the community. I’ve just gotten myself set up with a he-fans account, and now I’m familiarizing myself with site navigation. As an introduction, I would like to share my MOTU backstory. It’s a little long-winded, so feel free to just skip to the last paragraph if you’re bored.

I discovered MOTU when the toy line was first released in 1982. Back then, I would hitch a ride with my mom on her weekly grocery trips, and when we arrived at the grocer, I would duck into the Ace Hardware next door and browse their toy aisle. One day I brushed past the Star Wars stuff and came upon this wonderful mash-up of colorful barbarians on a post-apocalyptic planet with fantastical machines and a foreboding castle. The box artwork was so awesome. It reminded me of the artwork on my older brothers’ Molly Hatchet albums, albeit more kid friendly. I fell in love with the whole thing. My neighbor friend Kev, who was two years my junior, was also similarly taken in, and we used to strategically use our resources to buy MOTU so that our collections complimented each other. I remember as Kev and I simultaneously watched the premier of the Filmation cartoon while on the telephone, and I remember our joint disappointment. That should tell you all where I stand – I am not a Prince Adam fan.

The glory years started to come to an end in 1985. As junior high loomed, my friends (Kev excepted) started to mock me for my love of MOTU. I felt the pressure to leave MOTU behind to pursue girls, music and sports. I remember Kev coming by and unveiling his latest acquisition (Two Bad!), and I remember thinking - "how cool is this?", but outwardly I had to turn him away. I packed up my MOTU figures, put them in my dresser and closed the drawer. (RIP Kev, buddy)

Fast forward 20 years. My parents came to visit me and my wife and dropped off my old bag of MOTU. I opened the bag, got a giant whiff of Stinkor and then stuffed it away in storage. Fast forward five years after that, and my kids dug out my old MOTU – and fell in love with them. My son would take He Man, Battle Cat and Skeletor to day care with him. One of the male staff workers, who was about my vintage, was bedazzled with those toys, and he was like, hey, these are probably worth something. I decided to do a little research, and I learned that I was in possession of a lot of first release figures, complete. So I did what any prudent dad would do and forbade my kids from playing with them any further. But then my wife intervened, and reminded me that these are toys that are supposed to be played with. And she was right, of course. So, I came up with a solution to make everyone happy – I went onto Craigslist and bought a huge lot of dirty old MOTU figures for $150. I brought them home in a giant box that reeked of cigarettes, presented them to my kids with a smile and said have fun! Of course, when my kids started to smell like dirty ashtrays, I realized I needed to clean the toys. And in the process, I fell in love with them again. I sort of picked up where I left off – part way through the Wave 4. I was introduced to the Evil Horde and the Snakemen. My kids and I collected the remaining figures in each Wave – one “played with” version for them, one mint version for me (until we got to Wave 6, where price dictated just one figure for display). The glory years returned again for a few years, until my kids turned their attention to sports, iPhones and TikTok. As travel sports events took over my life, MOTU was forgotten again.

Then the pandemic hit. Everything has slooooowed down. Suddenly, I have more free time to survey the state of loose vintage MOTU collecting on eBay. Things have changed. I mean, I am not totally surprised by the going price of a loose Scareglow, but $100 or more for a hard head Faker? What happened? This brings me to the reason I’m finally joining the community. I love learning about the COO and other nuances of loose vintage figures. It’s a challenge nowadays to buy loose figures on eBay, because there aren’t many original owners selling, but rather dealers who have Frankensteined figures and accessories together – part Taiwan, part Malaysia, part USA and part whatever without any idea as to whether the pieces truly belong together. I’ve decided to come here for research and advice, and to share what I know. I’ve also decided to search out some rarer loose variants that I have been coveting for a while now, and would like to use the Marketplace.

Thank you.

On behalf of He-Man.org's admin, staff, and moderators, allow me to extend an official Hello and welcome to He-Man.org, Springor Spainor!!

We're glad to have you join our site and we hope you have a fun time discussing Masters of the Universe and Princess of Power here.

Please be sure to read over the rules for posting and interacting on He-Man.org. And if you have any questions, you are welcome to send me a PM for more information.

If you want to buy and trade you will need to upgrade your account to have access to the Marketplace. Please click here and read the section entitled "What are the limitations for users with Gmail/AOL/Yahoo accounts?" for more information. For details on how the upgrading system works click here.

Hello, great introduction!! Welcome to the community!! It's so awesome that you were able to share the joy of MOTU with your children!! Since you're looking to add to your collection, make sure to check out the info I've posted above on how to access the marketplace and good luck with your search!! We have the best He-Fans and She-Ravers around and as always, we have great ongoing MOTU and POP discussions, so feel free to join in the conversation!!

Enjoy your time here and welcome!!

Welcome aboard, my man!

Welcome aboard, feel free joining the conversation, have fun contributing to the community and enjoy spending your time as well as, of course, posting here on the .org!