I feel like I get to take advantage of this week’s “Throwback Thursday” in its purest form. Everyone has that one favorite figure from that one favorite line when they were a kid, and if you put me to it, I would say that Mer-Man from the original Masters of the Universe line would be mine. Without hesitation.
I collected a lot of toy lines as a kid (that is not to say that I don’t collect a lot as big kid, too), and even amongst the heavy hitters like Super Powers, Thundercats, Ghostbusters, and TMNT, Masters of the Universe stands atop the pile as my number one line from the 1980s. The design, stories, and characters just clicked with me, and they still do, so I count myself lucky that I get a fantastic modern line to continue the chance to collect these far-out and amazing characters. My first real spark with the mythos came from Mer-Man and it was so strong he continues to be my favorite MOTU character (and one of my favorite overall pop culture characters) of all time.
It is strange because while I have vivid memories of when I received several of my favorite MOTU figures, I don’t remember when I got my first Mer-Man figure specifically. I do remember that I had to get a replacement at some point due to the fact that the original’s legs fell off, but I cannot pinpoint when he first came into my toybox. It doesn’t really matter though because Mer-Man was involved in every single MOTU-related playtime during his run (and some non-MOTU times as well), if I ever went anywhere where I was only allowed to take one toy with me, 99% of the time, it was him.
The other funny/odd thing about Mer-Man is that I do not know exactly why he became my favorite MOTU character/figure as a kid, but looking back on it now, it probably had a lot to do with his coloration and the fact that he is a “water” character. Color has always been a big thing to me in terms aesthetic value with toys and while I spend most of my time in a black t-shirt, I thoroughly enjoy living in a diverse a colorful world. So, several of my favorite toys from childhood were often blue or green or blue-green because those are some of my favorite colors, so Mer-Man fit right in. I think, as adults, we often take for granted the visual sense in children, but the MOTU designers of the 80s were right on the ball because there was nary a bright hue not represented in the line.
In addition to his color palette, his amazing “corn” sword also had a big impact on me as a kid. I mean, I know what it is supposed to be now, but when I was little, I just thought it was a crazy, well, corn sword. I cannot be blamed for thinking that because, well, the vintage sword looks like a corn on the cob attached to the end of a femur. As much as it looks like that, I still always assumed that my mis-read of it was isolated and chalked it up to being a loony kid, so imagine my surprise when this whole internet thing started and learned that lots of other people thought the same thing. People understand me! Hey, at least I wasn’t the kid that thought Mer-Man could fly because he has “wings” on his head. Ah, flying Mer-Man.
Which brings me to a funny point about the head sculpt of the vintage Mer-Man. See, even though I LOVE the figure and always have, I never got my preferred “card back” head for Mer-Man until many years later. I still loved the figure despite knowing that it was not perfect for me and that probably speaks volumes more than anything else. Looking at it now, and after seeing a lot of the design and control art, it is funny how all of that was translated into the final sculpt. I would love to find out firsthand how the drawing became the 3-D figure and what the interpretation did to change that look ever so fatefully.
So yeah, I love Mer-Man. I love everything about the concept of the character and his different figures over the years. While I would consider the Classics figure the perfect take on him for me, it all started with the vintage version and it will carry a soft spot with me forever. MOTU’s uncanny ability to spark imagination and story helped make him so much cooler than he has ever been granted in media (until Benty came along and nailed it), so his status as “Ocean Warlord” with me is uncontested. As an original “8-Back” figure, his importance in the overall mythos is cemented for all time, but that still rates as second place to my own love of the character and this figure did that all on its own.
Oh, and hopefully we will get a MOTU Giants Mer-Man as well because the only way to make this guy better is to make him BIGGER!
