He-Man Most Powerful Man in the Universe! Masterverse Masters of the Universe 40th Anniversary Basic Figure Item No.: Asst. ??? No. HJH58 Manufacturer: Mattel Includes: Power sword, Axe, Shield, Fist, Open Hand Action Feature: n/a Retail: $19.99 Availability: August 2022 Other: I got it for $5.00 at Five Below in 2024
PREVIOUS	RSS	NEXT

I completely skipped out on Masterverse - not because it isn't neat, or doesn't do anything new, but because Masters of the Universe Classics exists and is amazing. Priced about the same as those figures, you get a 7 1/2-inch figure with considerably more points of articulation. Origins does a slightly better job masking the joints, but you get double-jointed elbows and knees in this line, plus nicely integrated (and hidden) ab joints. For a mass-market larger-sized figure for collectors, it ticks all the boxes - and Mattel can reuse the body for lots of other figures. For $4.99 at Five Below or roughly that at Ross or Ollie's or another discounter, this is an amazing figure. But at full price... OK I admit that it shows off the value quite nicely. It's just that the Matty Collector and Super7 line had incredible paint, good sculpting and decent articulation - and you may already be happy with another scale. If you aren't? This is a nice scale too.

Click here to check availability at Amazon.

Click here to check availability at eBay.

The figure includes a shield, sword, and axe inspired by the original toy - or really, your memories of the original toy as colored by the TV show - plus a punching right fist and an open left hand. It's a decent suite of accessories which he can hold, or stow the sword on the back of his armor.

Mattel's embracing of He-Man since 2020ish is a departure, especially after over a decade where it felt like their company line was "I don't know her." Mattel are doing a good job making sure there's a Masters of the Universe product for nearly any kind of fan. There are Hot Wheels and Mega Bloks toys. There's this line aimed at an adult fan (and of course the Netflix series), Origins which seems to be more driven to collectors who are dads with kids, a too-brief smattering of She-Ra dolls from the excellent new Netflix show, and figures licensed out to the likes of Mondo for the high end, Funko and The Loyal Subjects on the lower end, and others I can't even remember right now. Point is, they're going to find a way to make a He-Man for everybody. There's "the original, with joints" over in Origins, and this Masterverse figure is the original, reimagined and less chubby.

The older figures tended to have exaggerated heads and hands, plus a giant chest and a small waist. This one has slightly better human proportions with rock-hard abs, we;;-defined muscles, and a skin texture I could only describe as "plastic." It's like a toy - you've no doubt had any number of hard plastic toys with a similar pattern, so it's not smooth like most of Mattel's other lines. The boots and loincloth are a reddish brown, with a black wash over them that I don't particularly like. He has armor on his wrists, and of course the harness over his chest, all colored to recall the original 1982 action figure.

The head sculpt does its best to update that old toy. The teeth shine that white smile you no doubt remember, with slightly better painted eyes and much nicer hair. The head spans multiple generations and as such doesn't quite nail "1982 head" or even "modern head." It's He-Man-esque, but it's not quite the update I would have expected. I guess that first Origins head wasn't either - but at least Mattel made sure they all have a flavor of that original character. His noggin seems a little small on the body, as his arms are a bit bigger than his head.

The range of motion is good, but the beefy arms mean you can't get a pose with two hands on his sword's hilt. He can hold it above his head, and there is a good range of "I have the power!" motion, plus he has cuts in his furry briefs that should allow him to better sit or ride on something. The joints are a little wobbly in spots on my sample - nothing terrible, but not quite as tight as on most of the Origins figures. He doesn't sag or flop over, but you'll definitely feel a little looseness on some of these. It gets the job done, unless the job is having a vehicles or castle, because this line ceded that to other scales.

This is a good $20 figure and an amazing $5 figure. If you just want a toy He-Man, it's a marvelous thing to display on your desk as a fidget toy or display piece. Mattel did a good job making a mass-market collector figure at a price that isn't bad, but I can't say there's anything that this scale has other than size and better pricing due to recent availability that makes it seem particularly amazing. Since this scale doesn't have a complete roster of Filmation or classic toy figures (yet), nor guest-stars of a mutant turtle variety, I don't think I'll collect much more deeply in it. Mattel has given us too many options, even a little Hot Wheels car with a super-deformed He-Man driving a Wind Raider, so I assume you're going to find something to appeal to your Eternian desires in a toy aisle this year.

Additional Images

Click here to see more Mattel figures in Figure of the Day.

Click here to see more Masters of the Universe figures in Figure of the Day.