He-Man and the Masters of the Universe

[samsallspark]

Hard to believe it's almost been 30 years since Masters of the Universe first appeared on shore shelves, I was 8 years old when that first commercial for Castle Grayskull first aired, I didn't know who He-Man was or what a Skeletor was all I knew was I wanted everything shown on that commercial. Like so many boys back then I had parents and Grandparents who made trips to the toystore to grab up those cool hot toys, (be it Star Wars, G.I.JOE, Transformers, or in this case He-Man) I collected these for many years, along with several other toylines and I remember living near a Lionel Playworld and seeing the Eternia Playset on clearance, Then like all good things the original line ended around 87-88 and I remember being in middle school when as fate would have it a friend was having a garage sale, I went over and there it was, ETERNIA, I got it for 10.00!!!!!


Flash forward to 2005 Now as many of you know I live here on the Gulf Coast, and 2005 took my home and many of those collections away from me, I lost a lot, but like so many I rebuilt, (mind you further inland)!!!! But earlier this week a friend and I made a trade that allowed me to get a chunk of the MOTU collection back. I'm thrilled, not only because it's something that I lost, but because my youngest son is almost at that same age that I was when the originals came out and I see the same magic in his eyes that I had so long ago.

[jds1911a1]

Sam I am all choked up reading this I get the same charge seeing my son play with Star wars.

[toys2cool]

man my first action figure ever was Evil-Lyn, i was 3 or 4 years old and I still remember picking her out she was the last MOTU figure they had and I had to have her

[Jordiway]

I remember looking throught the J.C. Pennys catalog and seeing all the He-Man stuff which is where my first figures came from that xmas which was really cool because they all came in mail order soild brown boxes so even after I opened my presents I didnt know what they were. Man I loved this line as a kid and still have most of my stuff sadly tho I have no love for this line of toys anymore even when the new stuff came out a few years ago it did nothing for me. I dont no why I dont like it anymore because it was my favorite stuff as a kid. I remember staring at them at kmart having trouble just picking one my mom was pretty cool tho everytime we went to kmart she would let me get one. I cant believe how much action figures cost now $10 to $20 I feel sorry for the next generation of kids our generation was pretty lucky with mego's and other stuff being so cheap even the poorest kid in the neighbohood had a few mego's and my family was not rich by any means so I was very fortunate as a kid.

[Figuremod73]

As a kid this is the first series of toys i was ever a real collector of. I use to never get toys much during the year so in the years of christman '83-'86 the toy i asked for more than anything was HEMAN, HEMAN! I remembered always jumping up out of my seat on saturday mornings when a new commercial came out, i always thought they were so cool (at least the earlier ones). I ended up having almost every figure and playset (never eternia though!) I throughly enjoyed these toys but later graduated to Transformers. Unfortunately, without my knowlege years ago they were sold at a yardsale. I was very upset about it, it was like losing a good friend. Ever since one thing has happened after another that has tied me up financially so i havent really been able to be the toy collector i would like to be. I probably have about ten figs right now but someday i hope to eventually be able to get my Heman collection back along with all the other toys i have grown fond of or were favorites back in my youth.
Yes, toys are expensive and theres way to many good ones out there!!!!

[Figuremod73]

oh, and before i forget, HAPPY BIRTHDAY HEMAN!

[jwyblejr]

I just couldn't get into the original stuff. The 2002 stuff is a different story.

[Nostalgiabuff]

loved the line when it came out. the fantasy genre was just ripe for this kind of toy. the cartoon kind of ruined it although I did watch it back in the day. can't sit through an episode now. the comics the originals came with had a way cooled story line. I remember I had all of the original few waves except Merman.
as an adult the line does not interest me, although I did snag a Castle Grayskull at a tag sale last summer for $3.00 and still have it in my closet. it was one I never had and always wanted cause it was so cool. maybe eventually I will pickup He Man and Skeletor and put them on display

[samsallspark]

Keep em coming guys!

[Earth 2 Chris]

I remember being infatuated with the figures when I first saw them on commercials and on shelves. I still recall early Christmas morning 1982, and being scared crapless by the Castle Grayskull box! I never knew a toy could be so...DARK!!! I got Skeletor and the He-Man/Battle Cat gift set that day too. One of my fondest Christmas memories, toy-wise.

MOTU was also the first line where I really tried to "collect them all", and I DID! I had every MOTU figure, playset and accessory up until about 1986. I loved the Filmation cartoon, but even at the time I realized they had sucked some of the cool out of the concept. As a result MOTU was also the first toyline I dropped as I got too big to "play" with toys. Despite that, I didn't sell any of my MOTU toys at yard sales during my teen years. I can't say the same about GI Joe or Transformers!

Chris

[samsallspark]

My favorite vehicles from memory were the Talon Fighter as it could connect it's point dread to Castle Grayskull. I also played for Hours with the Attack track vehicle. Later on as I stated prior to Katrina I had Eternia, and it was my baby, I would spend countless hours formulating battles with it, I seriously doubt I'll ever have another Eternia, but stranger things have happened.


I'd love to hear more guys, your favorite figures and vehicles from the original line.

[Figuremod73]

i have always been the most fond of the earlier waves. On the villian side my favs are beastman, triclops, trapjaw, webstor, and of course skeletor. Of course, i had battle armor skeletor before i got the original that i got a few years later. On the good guy side my favs are ramman, teela, battlecat, BA heman, stratos, and syklone. I had many battles with these before i later added the others. I use to play them along with my Blackstar, warlord, and other knockoff figures. I think it was the dragonwalker? The one that was battery operated and the legs would swing. It use to run over the figures all the time,lol. Like i said i had almost the whole line, and really almost all are my favs...

[samsallspark]

i have always been the most fond of the earlier waves. I think it was the dragonwalker? The one that was battery operated and the legs would swing. It use to run over the figures all the time,lol. Like i said i had almost the whole line, and really almost all are my favs...

If it was a green vehicle it was the dragon walker, if it was red that was the attack track, both are very cool!

[Bruce Banner]

I remember being captivated by the MOTU figures the minute I first saw them in my local toy store in southern Ontario.

He-Man was the first one I acquired, followed by the rest of the early waves.
I do remember Teela being really hard to find for some reason...

I never had any of the vehicles, but I did have Battle Cat and Zoar.

I stopped collecting them around the time they released the Evil Horde... in fact I think Hordak was probably one of the last MOTU figures I bought.

Favourites would have to be the early ones; He-Man, Skeletor, Man at Arms, Mer-Man, Beast Man, TrapJaw, Stratos, Zodac, Man-E-Faces, etc.

[HardyGirl]

The only association I had to HeMan was my kid brother. I was in high school when this came out and my little half brother used to have to watch this cartoon every day or he'd pitch a fit! And I remember that Christmas, we went out looking through several toy stores for HeMan and BattleCat and Skeletor and Panthor. Man was I glad when he out grew that stuff.