The Pop-Culture E-Zine
Now this is my kind of post! We can all agree that the 80s decade was the best, especially for toys! Yeah, the 90s were ok too, but they take a back seat to the 9th decade of the 20th century.
This video by Rhetty for History takes us right back 40+ years ago when we used to get excited over (awesome!) presents we received for Christmas – if we were lucky enough 😉
source: Rhetty for History
Masters of the Universe Origins Eternia Playset: The Call To Battle ContinuesBah, who needs Kickstarter or IndieGoGo when you can setup and run your own successful crowdunding campaigns!
That is exactly what Mattel Creations have done (and are doing)! Their Masters of the Universe Origins Eternia Playset campaign has reached its funding target in record time, and it still has quite a few weeks yet to run (campaign ends on November 10th). The campaign is fast approaching 7,000 backers, meaning all the bonus tiers are in play to get unlocked!
Early Backers get a bonus King Grayskull figure
We bet these will be unlocked before this campaign ends!
If you are a MOTU collector and need this playset in your life, then be prepared to fork out USD$550.00 (plus shipping)! Considering the original Eternia Playset goes for thousands of dollars, perhaps this isn’t a bad deal after all 😉
If you become an Early Backer (by 11.59PM PT, October 19), you get the bonus King Grayskull figure (see above)! We really really want this playset and are betting that once it is sold out, the scalpers will hit the regular selling sites with ridiculous prices – so the moral of the story is, if you are 100% keen, back it now to save yourself some tears and regret aftewards.
This thing is HUGE!
image source: Mattel Creations
Celebrating its 40th year of existence, the Masters of the Universe has brought a lot of happiness to generations of peeps, including us Gen X’ers.
For those of us with young kids, we need to pass the baton (Power Sword) to the next generation to ensure MOTU lives on for years to come!
source: Masters Of The Universe via Facebook
We still remember the day when we visited Treasureway (defunct now) store in 1982 and seeing He-Man and Skeletor on the shelf for the first time – we were immediately drawn to the action figures and the MOTU universe in general. It would seem that Mattel knew exactly how to market these muscle-bound toys to kids. We begged to get one and after some incessant begging, we were told that we could choose one that day. It was a tough choice, but our very first MOTU action figure was He-Man! Our second one was Zodac, closely followed by Stratos. We didn’t get Skeletor till well after.
source: Masters Of The Universe on Facebook
Over the course of the early to mid 80s, we had a modest collection of MOTU action figures, so when we finally got Castle Grayskull for Christmas in 1984, we felt like we had completed our MOTU journey. Upon hearing that there was going to be a cartoon based on Masters Of The Universe, we couldn’t contain our excitement. The cartoon couldn’t come fast enough! Saturday mornings on the couch with the doona (duvet to our UK friends) over us, watching He-Man battle Skeletor and his evil minions was a perfect way to start our weekend!
40 years on and Treasureway may no longer exists, but we still have our collection of original He-Man and the Masters of the Universe action figures – long live MOTU!
Some of our original MOTU collection
This may not be new news for some, but we thought we’d share it anyway – Masters of the Universe, Barbie and Mattel Games are some of the eye-popping attractions that will be at the new Mattel Adventure Park in Glendale, Arizona (USA)! It’s another automatic bucket list entry for us at Ausretrogamer!
The amusement park, which is a collaboration between Mattel, Inc. and Epic Resort Destinations, LLC, is set to open early 2023. Other recently announced experiences include a Hot Wheels roller-coaster and go-karting, a Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends indoor park. Barbie will be involved by way of a beach house flying theatre, hologram technology and a rooftop F&B area.
But wait, there is more! There will also be a nine-hole mini-golf experience, as well as a Masters of the Universe’s Castle Grayskull that will be transformed into a 4,500+ sq. ft. state-of-the-art laser tag arena where fans “have the power” to fight for Eternia. This all sounds pretty darn good to us. We can’t wait for this adventure park to open!
image source: Mattel
It is no secret that I am a huge fan of Mattel’s original Masters Of The Universe (MOTU) toy series. I have been a fan since I first encountered the MOTU action figure line at my local Treasureway store (similar to Target / Kmart) in 1983. I remember being mesmerised by the He-Man figure in a big blister pack emblazoned with the MOTU logo. However, $15.99 was a lot of money in 1983 and it was going to require a big effort to convince mum I needed this toy. I got to work (in convincing my mum) and just a few weeks later I was the proud owner of my very own He-Man, but on the back of the packaging were the other figures in the series and I knew I had to have more – and just like that, I was hooked!
My ingenious (as I thought at the time) plan to expand my MOTU collection involved the argument that I needed an even split between ‘goodies’ and ‘baddies’ to be able to play out my (imaginary) battle on Eternia (a.k.a. the couch). I continued to collect more original MOTU action figures over the years, and although I never completed the set, I was very grateful for and thoroughly enjoyed playing with the figures I had.
Fast forward three decades, and my original MOTU collection is proudly displayed in the home office. I am so glad I kept the action figures all this time – they provide an important link to my childhood, a time where my imagination took me to wondrous places in the universe, thanks to Masters of The Universe.
The most powerful toy line in the universe!
Yo DJ, spin that MOTU wheel!
Cel shenanigans
In the most powerful club in the universe!
The MOTU story books (latter ones became comics) were damn awesome!
Very hot MOTU wheels
Show-bag full of MOTU weapons of mass fun!
Man-At-Arms vs Skeletor!
The most awesomest books in the universe!
Don’t get bored playing Monopoly. Play to save He-Man!
Laser blasting with the man with Man-E-Faces
Evil lurks in many corners. Watch out Hulk!
Great pants Brutus! Oh wait……
Trouble setting up Castle Grayskull? Don’t worry, this scary looking He-Man will help!
Oh, so that’s how the labels are applied!
The showcasing rig
Giddy-up Cringer! Oops, I mean Battle Cat!
