Looking Back 30 Years of MOTU pt. I

As I've mentioned Before, He-Man's 30th Birthday is this year and Mattel has taken a weird approach to celebrating it. I think that I SHOULD Celebrate it by Looking Back on ALL the Toylines that made MOTU what it was and what it is... Since MOTU Classics is a Celebration of ALL of them under a cohesive look inspired by the Original Toyline, I guess I should start with that Line.

I began Collecting MOTU around 85' and was able to get older figures due to the many mom and pop toy stores around the time. (Technically my parents were the ones buying them but that's not the point) Well, the little guys were HUGE compared to the other toys from the era  like Hasbro's GI Joes, Kenner's Star Wars or DC Super Powers and Mattel's own Marvel Secret Wars. It's kinda funny though... 30 years later and Hasbro is STILL making GI Joes, Star Wars, Mattel was making a Spiritual Successor to Super Powers while Hasbro has the Spiritual successor to Secret Wars (DCUC and Marvel Legends) but we're not here to talk about those. We're here to talk about the 5 POA squatting barbarian figures that were the Original MOTU... Before some wise-ass commenter attempts to correct me about their POA by mentioning the Spring-Loaded Waist twist or some other Action-feature induced POA, there is your answer. I'm not counting Action Feature POAs.

They were colorful kinda quirky and eye-catching. Also they were the FIRST TRUE Toyline I collected. (Sorry Duplo blocks, but you guys aren't action figures) Now, as a child of the 80s the close link between MOTU and Filmation CANNOT be ignored.

To the 80s me Filmation WAS MOTU My Man-at-Arms had a mustache...(I painted one on him with nail polish and ruined his head... I got a second MAA to replace him though) Sadly I don't remember if I had the Original He-Man or not... I DO Remember Battle Armor and Thunder Punch though... The same for Skeletor (with his Battle Armor and Dragon Blaster) Now back on the main topic, Filmation was VERY important to my play universe (More on that when I deal with Princess of Power)
The lack of a Sorceress or a Queen Marlena were felt on my play universe but I still had fun with them. I DO remember them fondly even if I had to save my Beastman once from a toilet or the Grizzlors I ruined with the slime pit!

I have not many memories about the movie but they were mostly not pleasant, felt ripped-off and hated the Earth angle from the movie. (I learned to appreciate it more as an adult... which WILL BE a recurring theme on the Looking Back on MOTU rants)

Part of me misses the little guys, nostalgia is a crazy thing... Especially when dealing with some MOTUC Figures like Thunderpunch He-Man... (More on that on the ICFTTC for TP He-Man)
It's making me long for action features, when normally I prefer Articulation and sculpt over these features.
I have to admit that they were FUN FUN FUN!! I still feel the smell of gunpowder, or remeber the sound of the spring loaded drum on the BA and how tasty Whiplash's tail was... Yeah I was a biter...

MOTU Classics KNOWS how to pull the nostalgia strings AND enhance rosters with characters like Queen Marlena and Cringer... but without the Original line and the influences it made on other toylines (and the cartoons to promote these toys)  I would NOT be talking about MOTU today...

Next we'll tackle She-Ra: Princess of Power