The Return of the King

Mattel's Masters of the Universe (MotU), one of the company's most successful multimedia franchises, is to return in the Fall!

Behold King Grayskull, who will be a SDCC Exclusive! King Grayskull is the inaugural MotU figure to feature super articulation and classic detail sculpting by the Four Horsemen. Grayskull comes in a brand new package, featuring lights and sounds, which transforms into a mini Castle Grayskull playset.



Castle Grayskull was once home to King Grayskull, an ancestor of Prince Adam. He appears in the Episode, "The Power of Grayskull", waging battle and ultimately defeating the Snakemen led by King Hiss. King Grayskull's triumph was shortlived and he dies defending his kingdom from Hordak. During his lifetime, King Grayskull ruled with wisdom and compassion.

With the emphasis on the collectors market, and The Four Horsemen in the sculpting saddle, the revitalised MotU line is sure to raise the bar on what constitutes the very pinnacle in mass produced collectibles! Read my childhood Masters of the Universe recollection!

If anyone at Mattel is reading this, please contact me to discuss the possibility of running a 'give-away' competition during the holiday season! Thank you in advance.

Torchwood Night

The first Doctor Who spin-off begins on UK television tonight. Torchwood, replete with sex, expletives and violence, spearheaded by Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman).

Captain Jack Harkness, the former Time Agent and con man from the 51st century last seen traveling with the Doctor, ventures to early 21st century Cardiff. There, he becomes a member of Torchwood Institute, a renegade criminal investigation group founded by Queen Victoria to battle hostile extraterrestrial and supernatural threats.

The premise sounds a lot like The X-Files, which was itself inspired by Kolchak: The Night Stalker.

The Secret of the Sword

Yesterday morning a UPS package arrived sans import duty (close call)! The Best of She-Ra - Princess of Power, a strictly limited edition variant.

This limited DVD comes with all new art, from the back of the packaging to the interior packaging scenes.

The cover you see is an homage to the classic Secret of the Sword theatrical promo art, and the spine features the Secret of the Sword logo.

It also comes with its own two unique artcards, featuring the art of fan-favorite illustrators Nathan Baertsch and Emiliano Santalucia. These art cards will not be available in any other release!

Plus, each DVD is individually numbered on the back making every copy one-of-a-kind!

The DVD discs are the same as those in the regular Best of She-Ra DVD in stores now, so you won't miss out on any DVD content with this variant. Those disc features are:

*The Secret of the Sword theatrical film feature
*Five of the five best episodes of the series, as voted on by fans
*A brand new documentary featurette with a variety of talent involved in the making of the original animated series, including the creators, producers, writers, voice over actors, animators and others working behind the scenes
*Feature length audio commentary with Lou Scheimer, Larry DiTillio, Gwen Wetzler and Alan Oppenheimer
*“I Have the Power” music video featurette with new storyboard comparison and new sheet music sing-a-long
*Trivia/Fun facts
*DVD-ROM – scripts for all 5 episodes
*Easter Eggs
*Spanish Language Audio Track

Much obliged to He-Man.org for producing this very rare variant, which will only increase in resale value.

By the Power of Podcasting!

I urge fellow Masters of the Universe fans to subscribe to the excellent Masters Cast. The following podcast description is taken from their site:

Masters Cast is the first He-Man and She-Ra podcast. This podcast is made available free for fans by fans. We cover all of the hot topics and news relating to He-Man and She-Ra. Plus, we have interviewed key players in Masters of the Universe such as Filmation co-founder Lou Scheimer, voice actress Erika Scheimer, and writer and She-Ra co-creator Larry DiTillio.

What are you waiting for? Subscribe (iTunes link).

Toys "R" Us "Hot Toy"

Fellow collectors may want to read the following Toys"R"Us press release issued on Tuesday.

WAYNE, NJ (September 26, 2006) As holiday shopping commences, Toys "R" Us has released THE definitive list of toys destined to be big winners with kids across the country this year. Culminating months of review, today Toys "R" Us unveiled its annual "Hot Toy" list of 36 toys that will top wish lists from coast to coast. Organized by age from Baby's First Christmas to Big Kids, customers looking for the perfect gift can turn to Toys "R" Us for the best selection of must-have and exclusive toys new to the market in 2006. From the overall list, the "Fabulous 15" were chosen, representing the very best, new toys of the holiday season. Toys featured on the list are available at all Toys "R" Us stores nationwide and at www.toysrus.com.

"As a global toy retailer, our "Hot Toy" list is the result of a yearlong evaluation of new toys from around the world," said Ron Boire, President, Toys "R" Us, U.S. "We are in the toy business 365 days a year, and our team worked hard to identify fun toys that will leave kids speechless when they open their gifts this holiday season." He continued, "With new toy shipments arriving in our stores daily, customers can count on our toy-trained staff to help them find the perfect gift this Christmas at The World's Greatest Toy Store."

THE TOYS "R" US FABULOUS 15 THE BEST OF THE HOLIDAY SEASON
Following are the Toys "R" Us "Fabulous 15," representing the best new toys of the holiday season (listed in alphabetical order):

*Blue Man Group Percussion Tubes from ToyQuest®
*Designer's World™ from Tiger® Games
*Dora's Talking Cash Register™ from Fisher-Price®
*ESPN® Fast Action Football™ from Fisher-Price®
*Kid-Tough™ Digital Camera from Fisher-Price®
*Laugh & Learn™ Baby Grand Piano from Fisher-Price®
*Mindstorms® NXT from LEGO®
*My Scene™ My Bling Bling™ Styling Head from Mattel®
*Pink Nitro Notebook™ from VTech®
*Power Rangers Deluxe Manticore Megazord from Bandai®
*Speed Stacks® StackPack® from Play Along®
*Sound City Railway from Imaginarium
*Tap Dancing Mumble from Thinkway
*"T.M.X." ™ Elmo from Fisher-Price®
*Wii™ from Nintendo®

Old Saint Nick's going to need a lorry to carry all this cool stuff!

Transformers - Shockwave

Shockwave was one of my favorite Generation 1 (G1) Transformers! He functioned as Decepticon Military Operations Commander and tranformed into a spectacular space gun (the perfect prop for after-school Star Wars sortes)! In Marvel's animated series, Shockwave remained on Cybertron and acted as Megatron's caretaker. However, the comic took an entirely different direction and was all the better for it (in terms of characterization).

Rather than remain behind on Cybertron, Shockwave was on the Decepticon cruiser, but did not board the Ark. After the Ark crashed, he followed it down, but his guidance systems malfunctioned, and he ended up in the region of Antarctica called the Savage Land (a prehistoric jungle as seen in many other Marvel comics).

Detecting his presence, the Ark's computer used the last of its power to reactivate five Autobots (Grimlock, Snarl, Sludge, Slag and Swoop) with alternate modes based on the Savage Land's dinosaur inhabitants, and they went off to fight him, winding up in a tar pit for four million years, while Shockwave got buried in a landslide for the same.

Shockwave awoke millions of years later and assumed command of the Decepticons, prior to Megatron's return, and ordered the construction of Jetfire (Skyfire in the US).

Despite sending letters and making repeated phone calls to Hasbro (UK), the Shockwave toy was never officially released. However, Radio Shack released a silver variant called, wait for it, Galactic Man (I'll post photos on Flickr).

The Powers of Grayskull: Part II

Mattel's marketing approach was quickly copied. Product-based TV shows were created for The Transformers, Care Bears, G.I. Joe, Visionaries (perhaps the best animated tie-in of the era) and many other toy lines which followed. Cartoons (inspired by) the figures became nothing more than commercials for the toy companies. Critics mourned the loss of 'educational' programs, but there was no arguing with ratings and the 'value' of this inferior edutainment form.

Masters of the Universe was a cash cow and Mattel extended the brand with the introduction of She-Ra: Princess of Power (think action Barbie, also a Mattel property) and The Evil Horde. Hordak was the insidious successor to Skeletor and his Horde Troopers shamelessly copied the Stormtroopers of a galaxy far, far away. A variety of beasts were released. Modulok resides in mint box in my attic.

Primary characters were often redecorated with different features over the years, a trait that would destroy toy lines including, ironically, Masters of the Universe. Figures were sold on bubble-packed cards which changed as new merchandise was released. In 1990, a new series of figures was marketed under the name He-Man. Masters of the Universe, including its spin-offs, ran for a decade. History lesson over.

The Powers of Grayskull: Part I

At a time when Mattel's strapline, the world's number one name in toys, could be seen on every toy aisle around the globe, Masters of the Universe were a feature of my childhood. First a history lesson.

Masters of the Universe is significant for two reasons. It was the first major toy line which incorporated action features, making the figures more than just posable toys. As a result, many future lines would strive to include some sort of action feature... even if it was nothing more than an accessory which snapped onto the figure itself. Action features, however, were not the key factor in the success of the line.

Just prior to Christmas 1983, the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) lifted a number of restrictions on children's television programming. Among the regulations, which were overturned, was a 1969 decision that prohibited television shows based on toy products. This precedent had been established when the Tonka corporation filed suit with the FCC to prevent Mattel from producing a Hot Wheels television program.

The now-defunct Filmation Associates, a subsidiary of Westinghouse, was quick to take advantage of the deregulation. With the cooperation of Mattel, they produced sixty-five half-hour episodes of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. Filmation was unable to sell the series to any of the major networks, so they tried a different approach. Instead of selling the show, they traded the animated sequences for a portion of the air time, allowing local stations to keep the advertising revenues.

I'll conclude the history lesson in my next post!