Toy Review: ‘Masters Of The Universe’/’Thundercats’ He-Man Is Top Notch

We get to continue our look at Masters of the Universe Origins by revisiting the MOTU/Thundercats crossover.

When the Thundercats crossover was announced, there were only three figures I saw as an immediate must-buy- Battle Cat-Man, Lion-O and the new design of He-Man. Each one had a little something that I gravitated towards. (Don’t worry, as soon as I see Skele-Ra and Panthro on clearance, I’m grabbing them too.)

I’ve been a He-Man fan since childhood. In fact, it’s the oldest fandom that I can remember having. I absolutely had the original He-Man figure, and a bunch more besides. One of the few playsets I actually owned was Castle Grayskull, and I had multiple vehicles as well.

I’ve frankly forgotten more about He-Man than most people know. I haven’t been a super-fan, like I generally am with superheroes, but it’s still my first love, and one I come back to frequently. I love all the different designs and incarnations of He-Man, even the ones that are a bit of a deviation (the recent Netflix CGI version is grossly underrated).

So I came into unboxing this figure with a little bit of excitement. This was a unique new design for He-Man. It’s not like the Turtles of Grayskull figures that were mashing together classic He-Man with the Ninja Turtles. This was something new.

Now to back up a little, I do have to explain something. Masters of Universe Origins started as an update of the classic line with modern articulation. As you see in the photo below, the first Origins He-Man was essentially the classic He-Man with modern joints and articulation (which is why they’re less posable than something like a Marvel Legends — they’re striking a balance of the classic design and the modern articulation). But starting with this wave, they’re trying something new.

Now I really like this new design. It feels like an Origins figure, but it’s basically saying “we’ve modernized most of the classic designs, so here’s something new in that scale and style.” The body is a touch slimmer, the head has a new design, with a more natural shape, and the arms and legs aren’t as bulky, while still being muscular. I also specifically like this face- it’s got a distinctive profile, and the hair is totally unique.

Now, this figure is basically two in one: the Thunderan influenced He-Man and the modern take on the classic design. I really like the Thunderan chestplate and helmet (that helmet would have made a great visor for Battle Cat-Man to match his classic helmet/mask). It’s just lacking anything unique to He-Man, such as the stylized H that’s become his emblem. The sword is good too — a great mash-up of the Sword of Omens and Power Sword — and I adore the shield with the cat teeth daggers.

As far as the traditional He-Man chestplate, I dig it a lot. The problem it has is that it’s too simple. It’s just the classic He-Man chestplate. It could have used a single shoulder cape, or the epaulets that the Thunderan armor had. It just needs a little flair. That said, this is a fantastic modernization of the Origins figure, and even looked great with no chestplate at all.

The one issue I had is that even with the stand, he was a little hard to stand up. More than one of these photos narrowly avoided catching him tip over. When I build my displays a little more, I may try a couple different stands for him.

In the end, this might be my favorite He-Man purchase of the last year. It’s such a great release, and it makes me look forward to the 200X Origins figures that are just starting to hit stores.