An article on the original concept characters we’ve received in Masters of the Universe Classics line is not going to be a long one because we haven’t received that many. I’m still waiting for Evil Robot and Horde Mummy, two things that need to exist yesterday. However, the ones that did manage to squeak out have added a new depth to the franchise that I really dig. I’m of two minds about this toyline. On one hand, I absolutely want the improved versions of toys I had when I was a kid, so I can understand the blind panic (to an extent) that cause the “vintage only” crowd to obsessively pound their drums. But on the other, and more important, hand, I also like the fact that the line is extending a line that met its end a few decades ago. How many of us would love one more wave out of our favorite toyline? New concepts, new versions of old concepts, or never before done versions of actual concepts is what makes this line so exciting. Every new figure is one more link in the long chain that is Masters of the Universe.
When the line was in a fetal stage, there were several ways that the designers were planning on going. Ordinarily they’d be consigned to the trash can of history, but with the resurgence of the brand, we are now lucky enough to be getting those figures in actual plastic form, bringing the line full circle to its roots. Plus, new toys!
Before He-Man was blond and looked the way we know him now, there was a very different interpretation. The design that would become Vikor was about as close to Conan as we’re going to be getting in this line: raven hair, sullen expression, so on and so forth. Vikor looks like a character that the first wave may have brought us way back in the beginnings before action features and gimmicks superseded the stripped down, hard-edged word, sorcery, and Sci-fi.
Vikor would never have been a Filmation character. This is a character who lives hard, with blood on his hands. It’s always slightly strange to me how neutered He-Man has become in the eyes of a large faction of fans because of the way cartoons had to treat him. I always go back to the roots. He’s a dude who came with a sword and an axe. Vikor, in a way, represents the purity of the concept: barbarian, warrior, badass.
The idea behind what has come to be known as Vykron is one of those things I didn’t know existed, but once I did, I had to have it. Called the “Roger Sweet trio,” Vykron represents the three original figures mocked-up for the initial brainstorming behind the line, which really shows how broad the idea was. This line could have been anything. It could have been a futuristic space line, it could have been a bizarre military line, or it could have been a straight sword-and-sorcery line. Obviously it initially landed on the sword-and-sorcery side of things, but it very easily could have gone any other way, and it eventually expanded to be a little bit of all of them.
Personally, of the three, I had to have the Tank Man. It was love at first sight when I saw a dude with a tank turret for a head. The great thing about these (or any toy, actually) is that you can imprint your own ideas on them because they haven’t been rigidly set in stone by other media, or any media, actually.
Of course, there was a bio when they debuted in Masters of the Universe Classics, but those are just suggestions, at least the way I see them. Some things I agree with, some I don’t. I do like how the name Vykron carries over the theme set by Vikor. And the tank-headed guy I think of as the last of the Tank Men; cybernetic soldiers spliced with tank technology to create an army of unstoppable war machines, all of which rusted and flatlined except for one who refused to die. He roams Eternia unaware of who he might have been in a previous life but searching for a purpose with his new one.
Plus, he has a tank turret for a head.
The main guy, Vykron himself, has a goblet on his head, but I hear that’s quite fashionable in his land. Frankly, the more variations on the barbarian we can get, the better. There’s a hole in the toy world that these types of figures fill, and even if you don’t consider them “Masters of the Universe” (snob!), Vykron himself is still a great-looking barbarian figure that has plenty of play value on his own. But if it comes under the “Masters of the Universe” banner I love folding them into the universe, and on Eternia there’s no shortage of these types of hard-living axe-wielding guys.
Finally, there’s the one usually called “Space Ace,” but I like to think of him as Afterburn, one-third of a group of flying mercenaries called the Jet Set, keeping the pun-worthy type of name but fitting it more in my world. Doesn’t hurt that there’s a Boba Fett quality to his helmet.
There have been numerous complaints over the snap-on quality of his armor, but I think this was the only viable way to pump out a concept that really didn’t have to be created at all. It’s a nice acknowledgment of the roots of the franchise and still makes for a trio of excellent toys if you don’t get too caught up in the technicalities.
The final of the original concepts puts a different spin on what would eventually become Skeletor: Demo Man. There’s still a skull thing going on, mixed with demonic overtones, but Demo-Man is a completely different creature. With his snazzy bright green that makes him look as if he’s glowing from some inward light, Demo-Man is one of the coolest-looking figures in the line, which is crazy if you consider that he might not even exist if the line were slavishly faithful to the original toys. A line like this needs as many demons and monsters as it does barbarians.
There are plenty more concepts in the vault that haven’t been made yet. This line needs to finish plowing through the vintage figures so the vintage-only guys can breathe easily, and then make some room for those of us who want everything that’s ever been on the table, whether it exists on some random sketch that may have ended up in the trash or not. I want to still be collecting in 2020.
But maybe not with Digital River still running the shots…
