Later figures have the boot color applied by dipping the legs in paint. If they are painted all the way to the top, there is usually some uneven overspray in some areas regardless. It’s very common to see the boots not painted all the way up to the top in these early figures. The straps on the back of his harness have short tabs on them – they were lengthened in subsequent releases to make it easier for children to hold when putting the armor on.Įarly versions seem to have a tighter fitting latch in back as well, and intense yellow hair. Some of the early accessories seem to be slightly blue-tinged. He has a belly button, which was eventually removed from the mold starting in 1983 (although some 1983 figures seem to still have it). The very first versions of He-Man tend to have a certain coloring – dark orange belt (later versions could range from light orange to mustard yellow to coral), brick-red boots and loin cloth, and dark gray accessories. However, as these Taiwan figures were released in subsequent years, they often retain the 1981 date, albeit sometimes with a slightly larger font. These figure were released in 1982, but most MOTU figures are stamped the year before they were sold in stores, when the tooling was being created. This stamp can also be found on the undersides of the male heads. On the lower backs of the figures (or in Teela’s case, the lower part of the back of the head) they are stamped © Mattel Inc. Since this seems to apply to all the early figures (or at least those with painted boots), I won’t mention this when I talk about each individual figure. Later figures seem to use a dipping method. The earliest figures tend to have boots that are painted on using spray paint and a paint mask, which sometimes shows up as unevenness at the boot tops. Subsequent releases tend to cut down on the paint applications and sometimes on the sculpted detail. The early Taiwan figures tend to have the sharpest detail and the finest paint applications compared to later reissues. The research of Mantisaur82 and Tokyonever has also been invaluable. Much assistance for this article was given by John Oswald. A common term for the very earliest figures in the line is “test market figures”, although the term isn’t usually used for the vehicles or Castle Grayskull. All of the 1982 lineup was manufactured in Taiwan, except for Castle Grayskull, Battle Ram and Wind Raider, which were initially manufactured in the US. They tend to have the nicest paint and plastic applications, in my opinion. In my own collecting, I’ve always gravitated toward the earliest figures released in the US, particularly for the first wave of figures. Masters-of-the-Universe-Piece Theatre Pride Month Special: “Ambush in the Mystic Mountains” | Cora Buhlert on Whiplash: Evil tail-thrashing warrior (1984)īecause Masters of the Universe figures were produced over many years in a number of different countries, there is no shortage of production variants, some subtly different and some radically different from the norm.Vykron: The History Behind the “He-Man Trio”.Jack Kirby’s Influence in MOTU: Overblown?.
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