I went from "no" to "yes" pretty quickly with the mutant He-Man from Turtles of Grayskull. While I wish they released it back in the era of punching limb attacks, it's still pretty great as a partially transparent blue He-Man with "my dye job got hit with chlorine" hair, a TMNT-style gnashed-teeth mouth, and one ripped-open boot. Playmates did a great job making big, bulky figures with weird poses and ripped clothing, creatures gripping on their feet, or other details - Masters of the Universe tend to be rather clean. The ripped-open boot here is very unusual for Mattel's flagship figure, as is the rotating bandanna on the back of his head. This is a fairly fun toy.
Eagle-eyed fans may notice publicity images of the figure at online retailers show a render of the left hand open, unlike the final toy. The released figure has two "gripping" hands and no alternate hands are in the package, despite big clawed hands on the painting on the cardback. Also after seing pegs and pegs of Ice Armor HeMan sit unsold 20 years ago, this is a better new way to do "the hero, again" as a product.
In the mini-comics, He-Man is captured by Krang, Skeletor, and Shredder and mutated in some sort of mutagen slime pit which replaces the creature skull with Shreder's mask. The He-Man that comes out is a hulked-out rage monster with blue skin, which is somewhat clear for the final product. Conceptually, it's nothing new - there was a clear green He-Man figure before, from the mini-comics from the 1980s where he also got slimed.
This time he's covered in green lightning bolts, with blue plastic just clear enough to make it seem like some sort of power is surging through him. It physically manifests in his arms - the biceps are bigger than ever, and while I don't know if they're unique to this figure, I hope they find a place to reuse them down the road. He-Man also has a spiked belt and spike bracelets added to his costume, and a new spiked harness on his chest. He really doesn't look that much like He-Man, thanks to his lack of a sword and new coloring. I recommend handing him your Keldor sword, with a green tip it's very on-brand.
The club is just Spikor's, in silver. It's nothing special but it works with his spiked apparel, which gives him the air of an angry junkyard dog or a kid who got a new belt at Hot Topic. All of this stuff is removable if you don't like it, too.
We can't leave without looking at the TMNT-style dynamic head. It's got messy green hair, it has red eyes, but it also has a black bandanna that can be posed. It's great for making him have a greater sense of "motion." Playmates' figures felt like they couldn't ever sit still with huge muscles and dynamic poses, something we saw other companies embrace as the 1990s went on that kids seemed to like but the then-new adult collector market just hated. He-Man walks the line with a figure that has a lot of articulation so you can pose him any way you like, which lets you tone down a little of the "extreme" baked in to this one.
I assume collectors are going to have a hard time with this one, but it's such a fun idea compared to "Smash Blade" or "Jungle Attack" or "Stealth Armor." It's different, it tells a story. When it comes to nostalgia lines, we're usually in a death spiral from the school of the three "R"s - repetition, repetition, and repetition. As someone who, as of writing this, is new to Origins I think it's worth it on the cheap. Here's something you can mess around with that doesn't carry the baggage of a story whose conclusion you know yet, but is also a familiar character. Also you'll probably be glad to have a spiked bat handy when Target gets the exclusive Demogorgon (Beast Man body with a new head and feet) later this year. It will be a surprise if the aging Generation X baby and elder Millennial customer base embraces this, but I'm sitting here hoping kids see it and get on board with the idea of Donatello beating up a Hulked-out He-Man. That actually sounds like fun.
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