For San Diego Comic-Con 2019, Mattel has brought back He-Man and the Masters of the Universe following the success of the She-Ra: Princess of Power animated series on Netflix. He-Man is officially going to kick off in 2020 with a brand new toyline inspired by the 1980’s vintage line, and these figures include more articulation and detail while keeping a great look to what you owned as a child more than three decades ago. This 2-pack was featured in our which we had covered it all in a video unboxing and review days before San Diego Comic-Con, and we have some updates on this line that you need to know all about as mentioned in this new review.
This years San Diego Comic-Con set includes a He-Man and Prince Adam with the new points of articulation, and both styled to look like the vintage versions of the characters. Prince Adam wears a removable blue vest which is based on is appearances in the old mini-comics, while He-Man has a removable knife accessory tucked into his boot which is based on early concept art. He also comes with a axe, shield and of course his Power Sword.
During San Diego Comic-Con, we learned a lot of great tidbits of information for fans of Masters of the Universe. First, Mattel is kicking off the line with He-Man, Skeletor, Evil Lyn, Beast Man, Teela and Man-At-Arms as we covered HERE. The line will see He-Man and Skeletor out first, with other characters released shortly after. In addition, we learned that Mattel is expanding their WWE line with Masters of the Universe crossover figures, which has wrestling superstars designed to have the look and feel of classic He-Man characters.
Thank you to Mattel for providing their SDCC 2019 Exclusive – Masters Of The Universe Origins Prince Adam and He-Man 2-Pack Figures for review.
Availability: San Diego Comic-Con 2019
The packaging of this years Masters Of The Universe Origins Prince Adam and He-Man 2-Pack is comes in a box inspired by the walls of Castle Grayskull, with He-Man chest harness on the front, top and back, and wording on the sides. Once opened, there is a Castle Grayskull themed artwork with a slip cover that includes He-Man, Man-At-Arms, Beast Man (Red Mini-Comic appearance) and Skeletor in-front of Castle Grayskull, Prince Adam and the Power Sword on the sides, and Prince Adam and He-Man on the back along with a brief bio. Once the slipcover is removed, you can see more of Castle Grayskull on the front, He-Man, Prince Adam and He-Man split on the sides, and He-Man and Battle Cat on the back. This opens like a book, and there are comic pages between Prince Adam and He-Man that are carefully stored inside a window box. Behind them, is a diorama/shadow box with great artwork.
The figures themselves are amazing, and feature more articulation while keeping the vintage look to them of figures from the 1980’s. Back in the 80’s, the standard was 5 points of articulation at most, and almost every Masters of the Universe figure had shared parts with the exception of some characters that were completely unique. This new line will pay tribute to the 1980’s and fans can be sure that many of these new He-Man figures will also share parts just like they did back in your childhood.
Prince Adam is based on his mini-comic appearance and comes with his blue vest that is made of fabric, which also can be removed from his chest. The arms and hip can pop off and become interchangeable with most of the other He-Man figures in the line, and can also be used as swappable parts with Mattel’s upcoming WWE/Masters of the Universe crossover figures coming next year. He also has two head sculpts based on the original toys, three sets of interchangeable hands, and the Power Sword.
He-Man has some shared parts with Prince Adam and also has the removable arms and hips, which are swappable with other figures as mentioned above. This figure is more in-line with his classic style of the 80’s, and given a different facial expression than what he was offered in the 80’s. Skeletor and other figures will also be offered in a similar way to refresh the character and give fans something that they don’t already have other than an updated body with more articulation. He-Man comes with a shield that can fit through his open hand sculpt, an axe, three sets of interchangeable hands, a knife that can be stored in his boot, and two head sculpts based on the original toys.
This years He-Man and Prince Adam 2-Pack sold as fast as the Hot Wheels exclusives each day at the show, which had all sold out in 30-45 minutes each day after the floor was open. This is very encouraging for the brand and shows how much interest there is even without a television on the air or another form of entertainment such as the much anticipated movie that’s supposed to be coming. While most people on this line were adults, there were a few kids that hopefully had the opportunity to get this set because of their parents, which means there is life in the brand once more for the long term. Starting next year, the line will be geared to kids just like it was back in the 80’s, but fans of this brand know that the figures are also geared to them because of the updated head sculpts and articulation. In this set, there is a few comic pages that helps kids understand the story, which is a great way to introduce the brand, and starting next year each figure will also have a brief bio explaining the character.
Overall, this is a very exciting time for He-Man and the Masters of the Universe as they make a return to toy shelves since the 2002 series. If you were lucky enough to obtain this set, you will see how much better these are than the original toys, and due to the very high demand of this set at Comic-Con last week, this is a great to hear there is a lot of demand for He-Man once more.
If you attended San Diego Comic-Con, hopefully you were able to purchase one of these at the Mattel booth, or at least took advantage of the pre-sale to get your order shipped after the show (hopefully you remembered to check in at the show). Otherwise, you can only grab this set on eBay as this and all of Mattel’s exclusives were only offered to attendees.
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