“By the power of Hellskull, I have the power!”
Anti-Eternia is a DARK place. I mean, the champion of that realm invokes “Hellskull,” which, I guess, is that realm’s twisted take on Castle Grayskull, but the regular Castle is intimidating enough, I don’t think I would want to spend one second in a burg called “Hellskull.” What is this Anti-Eternia, and Hellskull I speak of? Well, they are the setting for one of the more obscure characters to ever make it into the Masters of the Universe Classics line: Anti-Eternia He-Man. A multi-verse-esque version of the champion of Eternia, this character originated in the 1980s as a part of a series of audio-plays released, I believe, exclusively in Germany.
Now, we all know that MOTU has a long history of several canons that all have various weight in terms of what is generally accepted into Masters history. While more obscure to American audiences, the audio-plays have been well-regarded and proselytized for several years, so I am glad to see some of that start to come over to the Classics canon, which has been combining multiple histories for years now. I will admit that I do not personally know a great deal about the audio plays as a whole, but I have several German friends who are trusted He-Man aficionados, so I take their praise to heart when it comes to those, so I need to find a way to absorb them all.
However, I have known about Anti-Eternia He-Man for some time (he is my “yes, I know the audio plays” cue card), and without even thinking on it, I could tell he would eventually be figure fodder for Mattel because he would not require any new tooling to produce. Well, the annual “chase” figure is the perfect execution for that, so even after all this time, it is good to see him, and the plays are now formally integrated into Classics continuity. I say this knowing full well that he does not have a card back bio or any new Classics background to mention, but since MOTU has always been about picking and choosing my own adventure, that works really well. Plus, this might open the door for more of the audio play stars, which is great because I am all about getting new characters.
I was surprised how fast this guy showed up on my doorstep after ordering him, he was only up via Early Access late last week (sold out, but more will be available), so while ordering him might have been a bit of a pain, I cannot complain about the turnaround time. Normally, I don’t look forward to seeing a new figure on the card as such, but since this guy has a unique packaging deco, I was excited to see it. Now, MOTUC doesn’t do packaging changes very often, which is why I mention it, but the color change in the art is perfectly befitting the black and red scheme of the figure. Frankly, and I am not taken with packaging all that often, I think the card is amazing. Sure, the art has not changed, but the red and black makes it so much more bad ass, and I LOVE it. I might, *might* actually try for another figure down the road, just so I can keep on the card.
Furthermore, black and red make for a power color combination because it makes the standard He-Man figure exponentially more imposing as well. Like the Spirits of Hordak and Grayskull that came before it, this figure has NOTHING new in terms of figure sculpt. Nothing. At all. Everything from the original He-Man has been put back together, and repacked. However, much more so than the Hordak and Grayskull, the new paint deco makes this figure pretty damned amazing. Like, the other two are nice to have, but in terms of a viable variation on an existing sculpt, Anti-Eternia He-Man blows them away. I get it, we already have a long-tenured He-Man repaint in Faker, but all things being equal, AEHM makes Faker look like, well, a Faker. He is much more striking, and thus, the character seems much more intimidating.
Because of this repaint status, I do not have a lot to say about the construction other than it is solid with tight joints, and the plastic is strong. If I was going to nitpick, I would bemoan the non-use of the vintage toy He-Man head here because I think it is better than the standard Classics He-Man head, and it is terribly underused. That is really reaching though, and everything in terms of the figure construction itself is great. This mold has gotten a lot of miles, but even after 8 years, it still looks great and really captures the look and feel of the vintage toy, with the Horsemen’s modern sensibilities.
Unsurprisingly, it is the paint that makes this figure, and man, for being a remold, this guys certainly has got it where he needs it. The base body is cast in the essential black plastic, so that takes most of the color in the figure, but the paint hits are pretty damned awesome, especially for a two-toned character. Sure, it would be easy to hang this guy as a black figure with some red highlights, but looking closely, you start to see that there is so much more. There are several different paint hits with different tones and sheen. Sure, there is some bight flat red in eyes (around the only swath of white), but the hair is a dark wash read, and the harness and belt have metallic qualities to them. Additionally, the black accents on the armor pieces have that metallic shine as well, so I really appreciate the diversity in making the most out of the established color scheme.
Finally, what this figure lacks in new parts, it makes up for with accessories. Sure, none of those are new either, but we get matching red and black decos of the standard He-Man Power Sword, shield, and axe, as well as the Alcala sword in black, and the Castle Grayskullman shield, too. That is a LOT of weaponry, and while AE He-Man cannot handle all of them at once, it is nice to have the option. The diversity of shades and tones of the reds and blacks from the figure are carried over here as well.
Well, this figure will be an absolute black hole on your shelf, and I mean that in the best way possible. Anti-Eternia He-Man looks really evil and the black and red make this basic mold very imposing. It is funny that after all these years, we don’t have a figure that resembles this scheme, so he is very unique even in a class of freaks and weirdos. I am pleased the German Audio Plays are now “in play” for Classics, so I will be interested to hear who else might be figure-worthy from that collection.
Like I said, this is the chase figure for 2016 so he is currently unavailable, but look for him to turn back up at Matty Collector at random times throughout the year.
