I am VERY late to the He-Man party. :) Just picked up He-Man, Battle Cat, Skeletor and Panthor this weekend. And they are fantastic. I would like a better head for He-Man but I am VERY pleased overall.
Apparently there was a 92 year old, partially blind man in a remote part of Russia who did liked the head sculpt for about 25 minutes but then he changed his mind.
I grew up with the original He-Man and Battle Cat as well. I do like them but the new ones are just wow. Not sure if kids these days will go for action figures over phone/tablet games, but man, the ones that do are going to enjoy these new versions.
I agree on all points Dave. The biggest letdowns were definitely He-Man’s head and the lack of ankle joints on Battle Cat. I’m still a bit baffled as to why they made such dramatic changes in He-Man and Skeletor’s heads and none of the others with the exception of Man-At-Arm’s mustache which was sorely lacking in the original. Thank you for the great review as always!🙏👋
I bought 2 of the Origins MOTU He-Man figures ... one to open, and one to keep carded. I have to say ... my favorite new feature is the clip on his back that can hold the Sword of Power. The Battle Armor version has this as well ... can't wait to find one.
I love the original HeMan face that I grew up with. He looks nothing like the tv HeMan though. This one is much closer. Also,we could have had the perfect, poseable battle cat, but it would have cost twice as much.
After ordering my kitties, Battle Cat & Panthor from Target, I went through a bit of a hassle but, I have my cats with me which makes me happy. The thing with Target is that, when you order the UPS is the choice of delivery, me of course hate UPS we all know why. I'd rather deal with FedEx because they never failed me, yet. But all in all, I'm super happy with my purchases. Love the MOTU Origins BC n Panthor. I like Roboto too. These are the only ones that I send for from the Origins line. I like the Super 7 Filmation accurate toyline better than the new one. 👍
Excellent comparison video. Battle Cat minus ankle joints? may as well be static again. Slowly warming to Origins, especially after seeing the new 7" line....
From the looks of it, they were trying to imitate the original Filmation style but with better details. I may not own one of these, but the only He-Man I ever owned was the 2002 MOTU fiugre. I was 11 at the time when that reboot came around and I was hooked. The main man and Man-At-Arms were my faves and still are.
Yeah, the newer head sculpts and certain color choices have been most people’s problem with this line. Especially with the He-man of the line. The new head is apparently based on how He-man looked in certain printed media, but I guess it doesn’t completely look right in 3D. I may not mind it as much as others, but I would have preferred the more vintage style head. The alternate vintage style head that comes with the new Battle Armor He-man definitely looks better in comparison. They definitely aim for a more cartoonish look with the color scheme in this line, somewhat Filmationish. Especially on the new Prince Adam figure, with the pinkish vest and all. The lack of ankles is definitely the main flaw most have with the new Battle Cat. You can’t even recreate the pose of the vintage figure like the rest of the figures in the line. Also is it me or is the helmet on your Battle Cat a bit warped? The sides of the helmet on yours don’t look even. Especially compared to the others I’ve seen online. Maybe that’s why it looks a bit weird and doesn’t sit well on yours. Nicely done review overall. You left almost no stone unturned in this video.
Wish I can get my hands on these, we got a very limited amount in South Africa, think we have about 49 Toys R Us stores in the country and not all even received stock, but it also seems that scalpers are going from store to store and buying up all the Origins figurines.
I don't find the figure disappointed, it's a different take on a retro figure, but like you I like better the original head sculpt and thankfully the deluxe battle armor He-Man comes with a extra head that it's like the vintage so that's fix that problem to me, I just ordered that and the battlecat and I can't wait to get them.
Can't disagree with anyof the points you made Dave. The easy way for Mattel to have remedied the sword issue was to either not have the "clasp" piece on the hand grip or He-Man holds his sword in his left hand, Skeletor hold his in his right.
The new head sculpt makes him look more like Rahan (Rahan is a French comics series about an intelligent prehistoric man, that appeared first as part of Pif gadget magazine).
I suspect Mattel wanted to distance this collection a bit from the vintage one to entice those of us who already own a full 80s collection. The result is pretty cool overall, but the colors are too flashy in my opinion, and the sculpting is laking in depth. While I am enjoying this new iteration as a whole, I must say that they have managed to mess up with the heads / faces of both main characters: He-man amd Skeletor, and they seem to be clueless as to how to improve the situation (they are now adding an extra head to Battle Armor He-man and Skeletor and, while that is great, BA He-man looks absolutely awful to the point of looking like a design lamp). Also in my opinion, not having given ankle articulations to Panthor and Battlecat, which are arguably two of the most recognizable pop culture beasts from the 80's, in a collection that supposedly distances itself from the original precisely because of the posability, is an extremely cheap, unforgivable move on their part (no pun intended, and I would have gladly spent 5 more dollars to be able to really pose those cats).
I think the headsculpt looks good - like a cross between the original figure and the Filmation cartoon. The sword is appalling though - should have come with a two-sided version, so you can display them as you want. Lack of ankle joints on Battlecat is a shame. Could have given him more shoulder articulation and foot articulation with ball and socket joints, and a waist diaphragm would have been good - then you could get him in a really cool leaping maul pose like in the illustration on the back of the box, front legs splayed wide to grapple with his prey (which is how real Tigers and all cats attack). You'd probably have needed a stand to do it, but it could be done. I'm not sure why they did Skeletor with his mouth open. Some spare heads for him and He-Man would have been good, so you had the choice of how they look. You could have had an original style Skeletor age He-Man, a Filmation version, and a 3rd version - for He-Man, I'd wavy something like the Masters of the Universe Classics look, and for Skeletor, a Keldor head. Not sure how long this series will go on for, as Mattel will loose the licence to He-Man in a few years (they don't actually own the IP anymore - they just have first refusal on toy rights, and the right to make whatever ties they want during that time, hence why the last few years, they've been putting out multiple versions of Masters of the Universe different scales.
I got mine just yesterday, had to buy it online cause stores are out of it in my area, had to pay double, it was already opened and was missing the comic. Last time I checked online, the cheapest He-Man I found was $150...this people that think they are experts on toys justify selling them at such high prices 😓 I know this material, it’s the same one Mattel has used for it’s DC Classics line, I it’s not bad but I know it needs lots of care, to have displayed and posse it every now and then I think I rather pay $30, if I can get the original cheap I will, till then this will have to do
Your wrong about people not recognizing He-man's head. Origins He-man looks far more like the original animated series. I know know the toys came first but Mattel has done several minutus changes with some origins figures to bring them closer to the animation incarnations. Try and find them all. Lol. I fine this new heman to be the best of all retail versions. Yes yes I grew up with the originals I was born in the late 70's.
I was going to purchase the he-man figure(it was finally available again in Amazon)two days ago. But the wtf detailing displayed out facing part of the power sword killed that buying impulse.
I know they have released the European version, with multiple languages, I wonder why they didn’t just release the US version in the U.K. I’m guessing they would have to release a multi language version (well French at least) in Canada
Mattel always treat the UK as part of Europe, so multilingual packaging is standard for the UK figures. I think it must be easier for them to ship toys from their European distribution centre. Hasbro do the same thing.
I remember exactley when I bought this He-Man and Battle Cat. It was on August 20, 2020 in my local toy store. I like this he-Man very much. His head is inspired by the look he had in the original days of MotU, when Alfredo Alcala was making the first minicomics. Minicomics without texts are rubbish and I don`t like them at all. On my last trip to the UK i learned, that Motu Origins are not very popular anymore and they are hard to find.
I have to say I found both figures very underwhelming. As you said the head on He-man looks just like a compleatly other figure. Also over all I find him to be very pastelly in the collors, I find them very unpleasing to the eye. Also I have a second gripe with the ax, it basicly lack every thing the original one did, very meh looking now. Battlecat I also found looked very meh. Mostly becaus his natural pose, and probably only one that you can get to look remotly ok. Seems to be very undynamic. The original battlecats pose is much more dynamic. I did like the mouth tho, being able to open and close it is nice. But as you also pointed out the lack of a footjoint is just strange. While they thought lets put two joints into the tail, so now you can have happy tail waggin battlecat in a undynamic meh pose... But I find the biggest mistake with him is that they painted Cringers eyes green. So without the helmet it looked like it was just two black dotts. =/
For legal reasons, they would have to have the comic book in multiple languages so removing the speech bubbles is the only way to do it if they want to keep the comic book. Lots of companies are removing a lot of info from packagings in Europe for the same reason.
I would have had more respect for Mattel if they rereleased the original line kinda along the lines of the recently released Kenner Ghostbusters classic where they used the original moulds. These releases look cheap. It’s disappointing.
Have to disagree for once, Dave. I absolutely love these figures! He-man looks fantastic!!!! The head looks like a hybrid between the Toy and cartoon and with modern articulation! The colours of all these figures are so vibrant! Nostalgia aside this new He-man blows the old one out of the water! Battle Cat looks great too, but the lack of ankle articulation is really disappointing!
Yeah Mr. polloi will need that other head sculpt lol. The Battle Armor version is garbage thou besides the extra head sculpt; body is hollow it’s weird. Nothing beats the original line thou.
I think the only reason why they did it cause in some countries in Europe some words me something different They even do it with video games Leg for an example grand theft auto San and dress if you get the Japanese version H really different from the European version and American version Close day you slang And in Japanese players will not understand the slang
They aren't peg warmers. They are selling really well, stores just ordered A LOT of them. Buy them while you can, because they will be really expensive on the after market when they sell out.
I have to say that I am not a fan of this new line of figures. They just seem to be a very cheaply made product, and the sculpts are rather soft looking on the whole. They just look rather dull to me, especially where the head sculpts are concerned. They just don't seem to capture much expression or attitude in the faces, and the features just seem generic or bland. The hair on He-Man has that Lee Press-On Nails look to it, and it's very wig-like. I would have preferred just a straight head sculpt with the hair sculpted in with the face, instead of hair that was glued on. It just looks rather cheesy to me. I can tell that the creative folks behind this line were trying to find that "sweet spot" between the look of the original toy figures and the look of the characters in the animated series, but I don't think that they quite pulled it off. The Origins line just seems a bit generic or something. I don't hate this line of figures, but I'm a bit underwhelmed I guess. The original MOTU toy line figures are just superior in almost every way. The head sculpts have more character, the bodies are more dynamic, and the original figures are just more visually appealing. I certainly did enjoy your review, Dave. I think you were very fair, and your thoughts echo my own.
He-Man? More like Who?-Man. Vintage looks so much better. Still can't believe they cheaped out with only 1 mini comic version and then completely ruined it by taking all the text away.
They didn't ruin it, the dialogue adds to nothing to the story. You can see the art more easily, and the story is so simplistic that it works as purely visual storytelling.
These figures are awful. From the head sculpts to the odd knee joints, they're just...I don't know...weird! Just like Hasbro with their recent GI Joe line and Star Wars line, these companies are trying to recapture the nostalgia, but are missing the mark. Too bad. Fans are doing a better job with 3D printing at home and making the figures they want with beautiful results!
I am VERY late to the He-Man party. :) Just picked up He-Man, Battle Cat, Skeletor and Panthor this weekend. And they are fantastic. I would like a better head for He-Man but I am VERY pleased overall.
Apparently there was a 92 year old, partially blind man in a remote part of Russia who did liked the head sculpt for about 25 minutes but then he changed his mind.
Without ankle joints Battle Cat might as well be a solid casting like the original. Damn fools!
I grew up with the original He-Man and Battle Cat as well. I do like them but the new ones are just wow. Not sure if kids these days will go for action figures over phone/tablet games, but man, the ones that do are going to enjoy these new versions.
When you put them side by side, The origins He Man and Battle Cat look like what a cartoon version based on original He man would look like.
I agree on all points Dave. The biggest letdowns were definitely He-Man’s head and the lack of ankle joints on Battle Cat. I’m still a bit baffled as to why they made such dramatic changes in He-Man and Skeletor’s heads and none of the others with the exception of Man-At-Arm’s mustache which was sorely lacking in the original. Thank you for the great review as always!🙏👋
Vintage is definitely better. Sculptures actually cared back then
This Battle cat is purrfect ,with he man on its back its pawsome.must haves.
I bought 2 of the Origins MOTU He-Man figures ... one to open, and one to keep carded. I have to say ... my favorite new feature is the clip on his back that can hold the Sword of Power. The Battle Armor version has this as well ... can't wait to find one.
I agree, the head sculpt is strange. Battlecat is cool though.
Nice video, Dave. Thanks for sharing.
I love the original HeMan face that I grew up with. He looks nothing like the tv HeMan though. This one is much closer. Also,we could have had the perfect, poseable battle cat, but it would have cost twice as much.
After ordering my kitties, Battle Cat & Panthor from Target, I went through a bit of a hassle but, I have my cats with me which makes me happy. The thing with Target is that, when you order the UPS is the choice of delivery, me of course hate UPS we all know why. I'd rather deal with FedEx because they never failed me, yet. But all in all, I'm super happy with my purchases. Love the MOTU Origins BC n Panthor. I like Roboto too. These are the only ones that I send for from the Origins line. I like the Super 7 Filmation accurate toyline better than the new one. 👍
Excellent comparison video. Battle Cat minus ankle joints? may as well be static again. Slowly warming to Origins, especially after seeing the new 7" line....
They did a pretty good job.
Nice review
I'll be looking forward to getting these myself!.
From the looks of it, they were trying to imitate the original Filmation style but with better details. I may not own one of these, but the only He-Man I ever owned was the 2002 MOTU fiugre. I was 11 at the time when that reboot came around and I was hooked. The main man and Man-At-Arms were my faves and still are.
Yeah, the newer head sculpts and certain color choices have been most people’s problem with this line. Especially with the He-man of the line.
The new head is apparently based on how He-man looked in certain printed media, but I guess it doesn’t completely look right in 3D. I may not mind it as much as others, but I would have preferred the more vintage style head. The alternate vintage style head that comes with the new Battle Armor He-man definitely looks better in comparison.
They definitely aim for a more cartoonish look with the color scheme in this line, somewhat Filmationish. Especially on the new Prince Adam figure, with the pinkish vest and all.
The lack of ankles is definitely the main flaw most have with the new Battle Cat. You can’t even recreate the pose of the vintage figure like the rest of the figures in the line.
Also is it me or is the helmet on your Battle Cat a bit warped? The sides of the helmet on yours don’t look even. Especially compared to the others I’ve seen online. Maybe that’s why it looks a bit weird and doesn’t sit well on yours.
Nicely done review overall. You left almost no stone unturned in this video.
Wish I can get my hands on these, we got a very limited amount in South Africa, think we have about 49 Toys R Us stores in the country and not all even received stock, but it also seems that scalpers are going from store to store and buying up all the Origins figurines.
I don't find the figure disappointed, it's a different take on a retro figure, but like you I like better the original head sculpt and thankfully the deluxe battle armor He-Man comes with a extra head that it's like the vintage so that's fix that problem to me, I just ordered that and the battlecat and I can't wait to get them.
Can't disagree with anyof the points you made Dave.
The easy way for Mattel to have remedied the sword issue was to either not have the "clasp" piece on the hand grip or He-Man holds his sword in his left hand, Skeletor hold his in his right.
The new face does look more like Sam Jones' Flash Gordon.
I think he looks like Ken from Street Fighter. 😄
Great video comparing the 2 versions. I still have my original he-man and battle cat
"New He-man...now with a constipated hasn't pooped in a fortnight facial expression!"
Not a lot of fiber in Eternia.
The new head sculpt makes him look more like Rahan (Rahan is a French comics series about an intelligent prehistoric man, that appeared first as part of Pif gadget magazine).
U can also swap heads on Every figure I love this line
The deluxe He-Man (Battle Armor) comes with an extra head that looks almost exactly like the original.
I agree Dave this series is not perfect but overall to me an absolute hit! Great review like always!👍😁
I suspect Mattel wanted to distance this collection a bit from the vintage one to entice those of us who already own a full 80s collection.
The result is pretty cool overall, but the colors are too flashy in my opinion, and the sculpting is laking in depth.
While I am enjoying this new iteration as a whole, I must say that they have managed to mess up with the heads / faces of both main characters: He-man amd Skeletor, and they seem to be clueless as to how to improve the situation (they are now adding an extra head to Battle Armor He-man and Skeletor and, while that is great, BA He-man looks absolutely awful to the point of looking like a design lamp).
Also in my opinion, not having given ankle articulations to Panthor and Battlecat, which are arguably two of the most recognizable pop culture beasts from the 80's, in a collection that supposedly distances itself from the original precisely because of the posability, is an extremely cheap, unforgivable move on their part (no pun intended, and I would have gladly spent 5 more dollars to be able to really pose those cats).
The knee articulation was a huge mistake. The Mega Contrux Battle Cat & Panthor have ankle joints instead of knee joints, and it works so much better.
I think the headsculpt looks good - like a cross between the original figure and the Filmation cartoon. The sword is appalling though - should have come with a two-sided version, so you can display them as you want. Lack of ankle joints on Battlecat is a shame. Could have given him more shoulder articulation and foot articulation with ball and socket joints, and a waist diaphragm would have been good - then you could get him in a really cool leaping maul pose like in the illustration on the back of the box, front legs splayed wide to grapple with his prey (which is how real Tigers and all cats attack). You'd probably have needed a stand to do it, but it could be done.
I'm not sure why they did Skeletor with his mouth open. Some spare heads for him and He-Man would have been good, so you had the choice of how they look. You could have had an original style Skeletor age He-Man, a Filmation version, and a 3rd version - for He-Man, I'd wavy something like the Masters of the Universe Classics look, and for Skeletor, a Keldor head.
Not sure how long this series will go on for, as Mattel will loose the licence to He-Man in a few years (they don't actually own the IP anymore - they just have first refusal on toy rights, and the right to make whatever ties they want during that time, hence why the last few years, they've been putting out multiple versions of Masters of the Universe different scales.
I got mine just yesterday, had to buy it online cause stores are out of it in my area, had to pay double, it was already opened and was missing the comic. Last time I checked online, the cheapest He-Man I found was $150...this people that think they are experts on toys justify selling them at such high prices 😓
I know this material, it’s the same one Mattel has used for it’s DC Classics line, I it’s not bad but I know it needs lots of care, to have displayed and posse it every now and then I think I rather pay $30, if I can get the original cheap I will, till then this will have to do
I still need to get Battlecat, and waves 2-whatever they pushed out.
I would like to see a custom he-man video
The battle are our he-man has a vintage styled head and parts are modular....the head as well as limbs are swappable on origins figures
Your wrong about people not recognizing He-man's head. Origins He-man looks far more like the original animated series. I know know the toys came first but Mattel has done several minutus changes with some origins figures to bring them closer to the animation incarnations. Try and find them all. Lol. I fine this new heman to be the best of all retail versions. Yes yes I grew up with the originals I was born in the late 70's.
It would be interesting to see how easily a retro head fits on a new He-Man body
I was going to purchase the he-man figure(it was finally available again in Amazon)two days ago. But the wtf detailing displayed out facing part of the power sword killed that buying impulse.
I know they have released the European version, with multiple languages, I wonder why they didn’t just release the US version in the U.K. I’m guessing they would have to release a multi language version (well French at least) in Canada
Mattel always treat the UK as part of Europe, so multilingual packaging is standard for the UK figures. I think it must be easier for them to ship toys from their European distribution centre. Hasbro do the same thing.
I remember exactley when I bought this He-Man and Battle Cat. It was on August 20, 2020 in my local toy store. I like this he-Man very much. His head is inspired by the look he had in the original days of MotU, when Alfredo Alcala was making the first minicomics. Minicomics without texts are rubbish and I don`t like them at all. On my last trip to the UK i learned, that Motu Origins are not very popular anymore and they are hard to find.
I have to say I found both figures very underwhelming. As you said the head on He-man looks just like a compleatly other figure. Also over all I find him to be very pastelly in the collors, I find them very unpleasing to the eye. Also I have a second gripe with the ax, it basicly lack every thing the original one did, very meh looking now.
Battlecat I also found looked very meh. Mostly becaus his natural pose, and probably only one that you can get to look remotly ok. Seems to be very undynamic. The original battlecats pose is much more dynamic. I did like the mouth tho, being able to open and close it is nice. But as you also pointed out the lack of a footjoint is just strange. While they thought lets put two joints into the tail, so now you can have happy tail waggin battlecat in a undynamic meh pose... But I find the biggest mistake with him is that they painted Cringers eyes green. So without the helmet it looked like it was just two black dotts. =/
The sword thing I find unfortunet as well. But I think the fact it looks so of is mostly due to how they chose to put them together.
Hey Dave- He-Man should have came with a solid sword too.
Great review btw :)
I remember in 2003 McDonald's They were selling human action figures
They use the same body for the vintage ones too
For legal reasons, they would have to have the comic book in multiple languages so removing the speech bubbles is the only way to do it if they want to keep the comic book. Lots of companies are removing a lot of info from packagings in Europe for the same reason.
A simple fix would be to add a QR code to the book so you could go online to view the comic in multiple languages.
@@toypolloi *IF* it's already been translated in multiple languages, otherwise it's extra costs. ;) I agree though.
Translation of something short like that doesn’t cost much. So it would be great if they made the effort.
@@toypolloi As they used to say : "You can tell it's Mattel" ;)
There is variant boot version for battle armour heman 😯✌🏻
I would have had more respect for Mattel if they rereleased the original line kinda along the lines of the recently released Kenner Ghostbusters classic where they used the original moulds. These releases look cheap. It’s disappointing.
Nice video review. I put a vintage head and weapons on mine it looks better. The pains are simple on these
I aways wnted a decent Cringer figure will it ever arrive? The Battlecat without the armour never really cut it for me.
It would be nice. As you say without the armour this still doesn't look cute enough. I guess that would be tough to do.
New battle cat is definitely better but like the old school He man
Hey Dave🙂
Need a USA carded variant
He-Bro has a video tutorial for how to customize Battle Cat to add ankle articulation: ruclips.net/video/qHkn98sYuZU/видео.html
OG 4 me!
Have to disagree for once, Dave. I absolutely love these figures! He-man looks fantastic!!!! The head looks like a hybrid between the Toy and cartoon and with modern articulation! The colours of all these figures are so vibrant! Nostalgia aside this new He-man blows the old one out of the water! Battle Cat looks great too, but the lack of ankle articulation is really disappointing!
Fair enough!
My MOTU Origins He-Man's sword got bent in the package. :(
Hot water should straighten that blade for ya
The original Motu figures also had bent weapons. It's how I learned the boiling water/ice cold water trick.
Yeah I with u dave. Dont like the hair
Yeah Mr. polloi will need that other head sculpt lol. The Battle Armor version is garbage thou besides the extra head sculpt; body is hollow it’s weird. Nothing beats the original line thou.
I think the only reason why they did it cause in some countries in Europe some words me something different They even do it with video games Leg for an example grand theft auto San and dress if you get the Japanese version H really different from the European version and American version Close day you slang And in Japanese players will not understand the slang
Get new heads in next wave
A comic book with all the text removed...who on earth thought that was a good idea??
Extra head to swap
the netflix show is gonna suck
Vintage are better !!!
These are peg warmers. A dozen on the shelf unsold.
They aren't peg warmers. They are selling really well, stores just ordered A LOT of them. Buy them while you can, because they will be really expensive on the after market when they sell out.
I have to say that I am not a fan of this new line of figures. They just seem to be a very cheaply made product, and the sculpts are rather soft looking on the whole. They just look rather dull to me, especially where the head sculpts are concerned. They just don't seem to capture much expression or attitude in the faces, and the features just seem generic or bland.
The hair on He-Man has that Lee Press-On Nails look to it, and it's very wig-like. I would have preferred just a straight head sculpt with the hair sculpted in with the face, instead of hair that was glued on. It just looks rather cheesy to me. I can tell that the creative folks behind this line were trying to find that "sweet spot" between the look of the original toy figures and the look of the characters in the animated series, but I don't think that they quite pulled it off. The Origins line just seems a bit generic or something. I don't hate this line of figures, but I'm a bit underwhelmed I guess. The original MOTU toy line figures are just superior in almost every way. The head sculpts have more character, the bodies are more dynamic, and the original figures are just more visually appealing.
I certainly did enjoy your review, Dave. I think you were very fair, and your thoughts echo my own.
He-Man? More like Who?-Man. Vintage looks so much better. Still can't believe they cheaped out with only 1 mini comic version and then completely ruined it by taking all the text away.
They didn't ruin it, the dialogue adds to nothing to the story. You can see the art more easily, and the story is so simplistic that it works as purely visual storytelling.
These figures are awful. From the head sculpts to the odd knee joints, they're just...I don't know...weird! Just like Hasbro with their recent GI Joe line and Star Wars line, these companies are trying to recapture the nostalgia, but are missing the mark. Too bad. Fans are doing a better job with 3D printing at home and making the figures they want with beautiful results!
The new toys suck