He-man Quest

The FRENCH He-man

2007-08-14T18:16:00.000+01:00

This He-man was found by my pal Dave. It's a strange variant from Europe. Not only does he have a cheap head with bright yellow hair, but the box calls him by his European name: Musclor.

The DADDY He-man

2007-07-31T18:10:00.000+01:00

My good friend Laurence once suggested that one could restore He-man figures. Well, she was quite right you know!

Here is my first attempt. King Randor is Prine Adam's pops, now shhhhh don't tell anyone, but Prince adam is He-man.
I repainted King Randor's face and hands using Tamiya XF-15 Flesh paint.

Check out these before and after shots:

Off with their heads!

2007-07-20T13:22:00.000+01:00

Following from a comment on my last post, I decided to form the perfect He-man by swapping the heads of the Honey-blond with the dishwater He-men.

You can see my efforts and sudden bemusement in this video:

THESE ARE TWO DIFFERENT HE-MEN!

The Honey Blond (left) has lighter skin, lighter hair, and on removing his head - I found he has a pink mounting pin

The Dishwater Blond He-man has darker skin and hair and a small black mounting pin. See below:

Both have the same Mattel 1981 Taiwan mould marks.

Waves
The basic He-man design was released with two waves of figures (Wave - Mattel would release new products in waves about a year apart (to fit in with Christmas). Each wave included: a set of around figures, vehicles and a playset each time). In boxed ones, you can tell the second version as it has a yellow "pizzazz", saying "The Original".

See He-man.org for more on He-man waves

I wonder which is which of these figures is which?

The Bobo in Hanley He-man

2007-07-20T10:22:00.000+01:00

eBay seller's rating: good condition armour and weapons rare
My rating: TBC
Current bid: £6.80

I'm currently bidding on this He-man and Battle Cat listed by Bobomonkeyfish.

The user ver kindly sent me some more pictures, but equally bad quality to the one on eBay. I can just make out some toe rub. Still, might be worth bdiing another couple of quid.

Here are Bobo's answers to the He-man Perfection Checklist

slight rubbing on hair and right toe no discolourationperfect punch action, very clean hands, very firm legs no chewing fraying or even nibling arms match, send me your email address and ill send some closer pics if you want hope helpful

The Cumbria He-man

2007-07-18T18:30:00.000+01:00

eBay seller's rating: Immaculate condition
My rating: C8.5 - Pretty good, some marks and fading (may have faded at factory)
Price paid: £13 (inc. P&P and Battle Cat)

This is the "dish-water blond" He-man - as if there weren't enough possbile flaws to spot!

I was VERY EXCITED when I cracked this bad boy open. He arrived from eBay a few hours after my paypal went off.

On first inspection, I was hard pressed to see any flaws, although he was a little dirty. His boot tips were almost unworn.

However, as I placed him in line with my earlier He-man purchases, I noticed his hair was a more muted, dishwater blond instead of the vibrant warm yellow of the Yorkshire He-man's bonce.

This may be a factory flaw though. No sure.
As you can see... the Cumbria He-man's hair (right) is not as resplendent as the Yorkshire He-man's barnet! (left)

The Sun-tanned He-man

2007-07-06T13:54:00.000+01:00

I saw this poor He-man on eBay. I've asked the seller for a better picture, I didn't say what it was for!!!

Apperently, the sun on Eternia isn't as strong as on Earth, so the He-men who arrived here have suffered terribley over the years!

As I explained in my last post, the plastic used on He-man's upper torso was made of a different plastic to his arms and legs. The legs arms and particularly the head (I think it's called a rotocast head?) tend to fade to a greyish tone, whereas the body goes distinctly yellow.

The same thing is happening in my bathroom with my shower fittings!

If you're really interested in Plastic - try this Wikipedia page

The Taunton He-man

2007-07-05T16:33:00.000+01:00

Price paid: 50p
My rating: C5 - Apparent damage and wear

Not a bad "boat-race" on this one, though his hair is faded colur-wise and a bit rubbed. His "mascara" (eye and brow paint) is pretty good though.

This He-man belongs to my friend Dave, who is a fellow toy-fiend and owner of the Moss Eisley toy store site. Dave is the ideal collector; he has some amazing rarities in his collection but will wait for the best price, preferably the car-boot-sale-hidden-in-a-box price!

I'm not so patient!

Now, I recalled seeing a rather handsome He-man atop a Battle Cat in his vast collection of 70's and 80's toy wonders. So I sneakily enquired as to it's value to him.

"Not for sale!" He declared.

However, he kindly sent me some pictures of this poor fellow, dragged from his loft, as he is a good example of many of the classic He-man flaws.

Regardez...

"Crotch-rot" - as you can see above, the rubber band that joins the legs has corrupted the plastic from within. This may be due to rubber rot, overheating or dampness. I don't know.

"Hand chew" - This He-man has been in the mouth of a nervous child!

"Foot rub" - He-man has been kicking so much that his boats have rubber away. It's nigh on impossible to find a loose He-man with a fully painted pair of boats.

"Sun tan" - The colour of this He-man's torso and arms match - so we can tell he has not been left in the sun. The torso plastic was made of a different substance to the arms and was prone to yellowing in the sun.

The Huntingdon He-man

2007-07-04T12:48:00.000+01:00

ebay seller's rating: VERY GOOD CONDITION HAS BEEN DISPLAYED NOT PLAYED WITH
My rating: C8 - Visible flaws but not too worn (needs a good clean)
Price paid: Didn't bid

This was the beach bum He-man!
The eBay seller said he had not been played with, however... he was covered in sand - so either he's lying or He-man had been coming to life "Toy Story" style and had been off on his own adventures. Thing is Huntingdon isn't even near the sea.

Perhaps He-man and chums went off to that lab there to free some monkies and rabbits? Good for you He-man.

Seller's response to my "He-man condition checklist" questions (see right column):

Hi I will try my best paint rubs : very small amount on hair 1 very small bit on boot , halter ? legs ok , he stands fine torso very slightly a differant shade to his arms, has he got a punch action? ,right hand not as clean as left not chewed , send me your email and I will post you some more pics

Still, not for my collection. Sorry to say the picture the seller took of his face was too blury to judge:

You can see he is also sufering from "chop kneck" syndrome - caused by naughty kids trying to pull the head off.

The Stoke-onTrent He-man

2007-07-04T12:22:00.000+01:00

ebay seller's rating: Rare! EXCELLENT! mint! (My arse!)
Mt rating: C5 - Very warn features and heavily marked
Price paid: £2.00 (£4.99 p&p!)

OK, so this isn't an first issue He-man, but a Thunderpunch He-man - that fires caps, loaded into his backpack, at the twist of his waste.

Now, these Thunderpunch numbers had a design flaw... the part of the body where the cap pack clips in was very thin and week, and the lugs would snap off pretty quick.

As the one in my collection had met this fate (I only fired the caps once and it broke), I want to get a 'mint one'. Boy was this seller a joker trying to palm this off as mint.

The figure arrived with the tell tale lugs broken off - godammit - and lots of lovely marks and a very scratched chrome chest plate. What a rip off!

Judge for thy self...

The Glaswiegen He-man

2007-07-03T20:19:00.000+01:00

eBay seller's rating: "a superb condition He-Man"
My rating: C5 - Very worn features
Price paid: Didn't bid

This sad He-man was from Glasgow.

Now armed with my "He-man Perfection checklist" (see right), I was able to get more information of the seller. He also kindly sent some pictures back. When I saw this He-man's sad lack of mascara - I decided not to bid. But it show's how, even in this poor condition, eBayers view their items with rose-tinted-specs.

Here is his more detailed description:

Having read the questions below and given him a full inspection, I'd have to say "Nearly".
Any paint rubs especially hair: a wee bit, face- a wee bit on eyebrows,
Toes: a wee bit, the red cross on his halter? - a tiny bit
Any dark discolouration at the tops of his legs where the rubber joins the plastic?none Does his punch action work stiffly?- If I remember rightly, a lot of figures were a wee bit stiff and punched only once, but this guy punches smooth as I've seen... punching with his left fist 3 times when you let go of him Do his legs stand firmly? Yes Are his hands clean, and not chewed or frayed.- His left Thumb is frayed Is his main torso the same colour as his arms? - It's sometimes goes more yellow in the sun.- Exactly the same, not much sun here in glasgow Any pen marks of other marks?- nope

Here are some more pics that the seller sent:

I love it that he put He-man on a towel for his confort ;-)

It looks as if skeletor got a good chop at He-man's neck here - probably after he'd cunningly removed his eyebrows with the dark magic from his Staff of Havok!

The Yorkshire He-man

2007-07-03T18:19:00.000+01:00

eBay seller's rating: "very good condition"
My rating: C6 - Apparent flaws
Price paid: £5.90 (came with a crummy battle cat)

This was the first arrival from eBay in my attempt to find "The Perfect HE-MAN" figure.

This He-man comes from Yorkshire and was described as "very good condition for his age". When he arrived he looked in fairly good nick paint-wise, as he has a full head of hair and eye details were crisp. However, his halter was broken, he doesn't stand very well, his punch is limp and he has pen scrawled on the soles of his boots.

Also, he seemed to have some "dirtiness" on the back of his thighs. Perhaps Battle Cat's was dirty on the last escapade?

So not a bad first attempt!

The pictures below show Yorkshire He-man are as he arrived: