Wednesday, January 20, 2010

I can finally say I'm a MOTUC collector...

Let's face it, you can't be a collector of Batman related figures if you don't own a Batman. You can't be an enthusiast of Ninja Turtles and not own the four turtles. You can't be a toy collector and not own an obsessive compulsive disorder. It's just the way the world works. Following that logic, you can't be a MOTU Collector and not own He-Man. I do, but the 200X ad 80s versions of He-Man. I started collecting classics fairly late, so I missed the He-Guy, Skeletor and Beastman.

Too bad (not Two-Bad) I thought, I will have to pay so much money for those. But Mattel was kind enough to reissue them as extra figures starting in November. So I did what a toy collector occasionally does: I waited. And it doesn't matter how much practice you had, how much time you waited for that 52 Animal Man when everywhere else in the world he's been used as custom base because he's so common. It doesn't matter any of that, because waiting is hard. But getting the prize is so much better then.

As I said in Teela's post, I just got these:



Let's start with Scareglow and the move on to the Main Man (the OTHER Main Man, Lobo) himself later.

Scareglow is a great figure, and the proof that, although I love the nostalgic feel all this line has, is not necessary to appreciate it. I never had a Scareglow when I was a kid, he was produced too late in the original line and the company that made MOTU in Argentina (Hot Toys) never finished those last waves. If you wanted a Scareglow, or even Rio Blast or Dragstor you had to buy the original Mattel ones in specialized toy stores, and they were pretty expensive. I remember getting a Snout Spout and treasuring it, a friend of mine had a Mosquitor AND a Rio Blast, I was so jealous...


"This next Tupperware is great for keeping corn, carrots or the keys to Castle Grayskull fresh for all eternity".

There's something weird about Scareglow, if you look at him for just a few seconds you'll see a guy (a ridiculously buffed guy) in a bad skeleton suit for Halloween. With a cape. But after you take a closer look you start to understand the subtle job the Four Horsemen did. After some more time you realize just how great he is. All the little details are not simple at all, but they are designed to make the figure look simple. Scareglow is very much like a surprise punch to the face: You never see it coming. When you get it, you deal with it, you try to rationalize it. And, a few minutes later, the pain starts. Except in this case the "pain" is finally accepting that this figure, with the goofy name and the glow in the dark plastic, looks amazing.

He-Man is just great. He looks incredible, every little detail in the sculpt is perfect and created to be an homage and a new thing at the same time. I saw some reviews of the earlier release of He-Man and he had some kind of issue with the paint apps to his eyes, he looked kinda irritated, the skin a darker tone of red than the rest. It seemed like He-Man had something in his eyes, and scratched them just too many times.


"Perhaps if I scratch it with my sword, the itching will go away!"

In the reissue, that's completely fixed. I won't start with He-Man's wardrobe because that would be inappropriate. He has his usual furry shorts, metal/leather straps and power sword that allows him to call the power of... The power of... (Gay School! Say it! Gay School! C'mon, He-Man and the Misters Universe and the power of Gay School! The Gay porn script almost writes itself...) The power of Grayskull, of course. And you have to remember, for your childhood's sake, that He-Man is the ultimate manly man...


"Not pictured: Heterosexuality"

Oh, shut up!

Jokes aside, He-Man is a great figure, and even more, is the one that allows me to call myself a MOTUCollector. And also, we must not forget that He-Man is at heart a barbarian and, like any other barbarian, he has the potential to be an incredibly badass character.



Until next time.

3 comments:

LEon said...

I recall the old He-man toy in the 80s come with a battle axe. Your new He-man had a axe? Still have anyway to get a He-man at your end?

chrismandesign said...

i watched He-man regular series & never saw something like that Scareglow character (???) so that makes me a not-fan of MOTU ??? ... probably... nevertheless who didn’t know to prince Adams a.k.a. El-man ??? LLOOOOLOL... these figures appeal to me, very well manufactured, great detail & paint job, better than the ones i hav seen... myb i’ll change my mind bout to own MOTU figures, myb not... who knows ???

P.D. uhu... actually i know how difficult is to wait a toy... some preorder pieces are waiting to come to his nice owner... patience, patience, ltl groundhopper...

Bubbashelby said...

Great post! I still don't have an MOTUC He-Man, and I'd love to have Scareglow - I didn't have the original Scareglow as a kid but got him a couple years ago, he's awesome.