Videos

Eternia Fact Files (1-7)

Jukka Issakainen has created a fantastic series of short, informative videos covering various areas of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and She-Ra Princess of Power history, origins and lore.

The video series Eternia Fact Files Is done thanks to the help from he-man.org and battleramblog.com. It also features the occasional guest narrator. Recent guests so far include:

  • Rob Base
  • James Eatock
  • Daniel Benedict
  • Danielle Gelehrter aka Penny Dreadful
  • Robert Lamb

To see all the latest videos, subscribe to the YouTube channel and bookmark this page for updates! ⭐️

All the videos So far have been collected below for easy viewing:

How Does He-Man Enter Castle Grayskull?

Eternia Fact Files 001 – June 3rd, 2020.

Why Does Castle Grayskull Look Evil?

Eternia Fact Files 002 – June 10th, 2020.

How Long Has Queen Marlena Been on Eternia?

Eternia Fact Files 003 – June 17th, 2020.

Where Did Catra Get Her Mask?

Eternia Fact Files 004 – June 24th, 2020.

Skeletor’s Odd Axe In the Cartoon?

Eternia Fact Files 005 – July 1st, 2020.

What Happened To the Previous Sorceress?

Eternia Fact Files 006 – July 8th, 2020.

Was She-Ra’s the RED KNIGHT Actually KING MICAH?

Eternia Fact Files 007 – July 15th, 2020.

More videos coming in August!

If you have suggestions on topics/questions you’d like to see featured in a future installment of Eternia Fact Files, let us know in the comments below!

Hopefully these can be informative as well as entertaining to all He-Man and She-Ra fans!

Evil Warriors

MOTU Origins Skeletor (2020)

The MOTU Origins line was originally slated to appear on Wal-Mart toy shelves in the fall of 2020. However some figures have already started appearing on Wal-Mart’s website, although finding them in stock seems almost impossible as collectors and resellers are picking them off as soon as they appear in stock.

Skeletor is the first figure in the MOTU Origins line that isn’t either He-Man or a He-Man repaint (minicomic variants of He-Man and Prince Adam were released at last year’s San Diego Comic Con), and he doesn’t disappoint.

Mattel released preview images of the figure several months back. That version had a few differences from the production figure. Those differences included: purple trunks (like the early 1982 release of Skeletor), airbrushed green face paint, and odd purple “socks” that extended up beyond his boots.

MOTU Origins Skeletor pre-final design

The mass produced figure fixed the odd “socks” and gave him black trunks (like the vintage Skeletor figures released later in 1982 and beyond). They also gave him paint masked green highlights on his face, rather than the soft airbrush look. Another new addition to the production figure is a series of black lines around his mouth representing the gaps between his teeth, which were also a feature of the vintage figure:

MOTU origins Skeletor

As you can see, this Origins representation of Skeletor is a pretty faithful recreation of the vintage Skeletor figure, albeit with an open mouth and of course a great deal of new articulation. He also has a great deal more red in his eyes:

Skeletor reuses quite a few parts from Origins He-Man, including the thighs, trunks, chest, and upper arms. He also features a new half-sword, which is the one departure from the vintage Skeletor – it’s based on the minicomic version of the sword, rather than the vintage toy. It fits together neatly with the half sword that comes with the retail release of MOTU Origins He-Man (look for a future review of this figure), although I had to dip the swords in hot water first to straighten them out:

He-Man’s half of the sword

The packaging is based on the classic red and blue “bursting rocks” card from the original 1980s line. The artwork on the back is by Axel Giménez and Francisco Etchart.

The figure is packed with a six-page minicomic entitled Beast Barage. The story is about a plot to kidnap Prince Adam, which is foiled by the heroic warriors. Apparently one new comic will be packed in with each wave of figures.

Interestingly, my Skeletor figure came with the above minicomic, but my 2020 He-Man figure (to appear in a future review) came with a revised version with different cover art and a corrected typo in the story:

As a vintage collector, the new MOTU Origins line is right up my alley. Skeletor especially is a joy to look at and to pose with his vibrant colors and vintage look. Given the interchangeability of the parts in these figures, I hope that future releases will include all kinds of variant heads and boots and other parts for us obsessive collectors to use to create our favorite incarnations of these characters.