Ram-Man Heroic Human Battering Ram! Masters of the Universe Origins Deluxe Action Figure Item No.: Asst. GVL75 No. GVL78 Manufacturer: Mattel Includes: Alternate head, two axes, alternate hand, Battle Armor Reborn mini-comic Action Feature: Swap heads, push figure down and push again to jump/ram Retail: $19.99 Availability: Spring 2021 Other: A neat twist on the original but not really needing to be a deluxe
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The only figure from the original Masters of the Universe I played with as a kid - not counting Meteorbs - was this guy's inspiration. A neighbor had it. So now I have my own Ram-Man, which has an action feature that's a little less controlled. The original figure collapsed over his legs, and a button in the heel activated his jump - it was great. This new one also collapses over his legs, but you push him down again to activate it. It's weird - I don't like it as much because it's not as controlled of an experience, but it's a decent alternative way to make the mechanism work. The old way would be impossible, because they gave Ram-Man jointed knees. Why? I am not sure - he can't sit and it's really hard to get him to stand when they're moved. Honestly they probably could have shaved out some of the articulation, dropped a head and the second axe, and made it a basic figure. That would have been fine by me, but I assume collectors would complain.

The figure looks a lot like the original, but has a bit more paint slop. He's mostly molded in color except for the armor around his wrists and his belt, which means he shouldn't look as battle-worn as the vintage era figure.

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While not as sharp as the sculpting of the original toy, it's still good. You can see 1980s-style design work - which is limited in the amount of detail - without the cool skull soles on the Classics release. You get a skull belt buckle, and the familiar armor, plus an alternate masked head. And I have no idea why you get this, as it wasn't a part of a previous Ram-Man toy, or the cartoon, and is the kind of thing you saw more of in Transformers toys. The articulation has ball-jointed shoulders (not hindered by the soft armor), swivel wrists, elbows, and knees - it's a lot of joints for a figure that was famously swivel shoulders and nothing else in the 1980s.

Thanks to the swappable left hand, you can have a fist - like the old toy - or a new hand that can hold the second axe. You can join both axes together if you want, but I am not sure why you would. The extra parts don't really add a lot of play value or display value, but certainly help drive the cost (or "perceived value") up a bit. I assume another one of your figures would appreciate the axe - Kol-Darr got one based on the same mold, too.

The head detail is extremely similar to the original toy, making it difficult to satisfy Filmation fans - but it's kind of close. The bigger lips are there, and a customizer who paints some whites in the eyes may achieve satisfactory Filmationification here.

I missed and had to have this figure, so I was glad to see it wasn't too pricey on eBay this year. I don't see any in stores here but I hear Dollarama in Canada supposedly got a ton of them - so keep an eye out, eh. The figure doesn't fit well in any vehicles and mostly is just going to stand around, or butt his head against things. I enjoy doing that. It's not quite as good as my memories of Brian's when I was a kid, but it's still fun to have around to smack stuff. Get it if the price is right.

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