Written by Adam McCombs
Slushhead, or Kalamarr as he was known overseas, is one of the most well-known of the Evil Mutant figures in the 1989 He-Man line. In fact he is the only figure from that line (aside from He-Man or Skeletor) to be remade twice in two separate modern lines (MOTU Classics and Masterverse).
Design & Development
Slushhead was designed by David Wolfram, with the original working name of Kalamari. Although I know of no surviving concept art for the figure, the Spanish Mattel corporate office appears to have preserved what looks like drawings of many New Adventures characters that were derived from original concept art. The image below was shared by Dani Ramón Abril on Facebook several years back. It does look similar to the actual figure, but there are some differences. The chest armor has more prominent tech details on it that actually kind of resemble what his backpack would eventually look like. The claws at the end of the mechanical tentacles are smaller than on the final toy, and he carries a trident gun that resembles the weapon that actually came with Hydron (or “Scuba Steve” as I always think of him in my head).
A similar concept version of the character appears in full color on some merchandise (journals and folders) that were released in Europe. From the artwork below, it appears that his armor was originally going to be copper colored. Metallic copper was one of David Wolfram’s favorite colors for his character designs.
By the time we see a hard copy/prototype figure, Slushhead has the final design and color scheme all in place, with the exception of his clear helmet. This version has a more rounded top, while the production figure had a more pointed helmet.
And here is the cross sell art for the character, from Mattel’s 2009 SDCC art book:
Figure & Packaging
Slushhead, as far as I know, only appeared as Slushhead in packaging when sold in a two pack with He-Man. On the front of the packaging he actually had the label “Evil Mutant,” because the packaging would be reused for a two pack with He-Man and Skeletor and He-Man and Flogg. On the back of the packaging, he was called out as Slushhead:
Slushhead was sold on a single figure card, but as far as I’m aware in that format he only appears under the name Kalamarr, on a multilingual card.
The first release of the figure actually came with a silver butt. That sounds funny, but some of the mechanical detail on his posterior were painted silver. As was in the case of many MOTU figures like Mer-Man and Tung Lashor, that extra paint was cut to save costs. The version below also has the more rounded helmet. It does seem to be a factory sample rather than a hard copy.
You can read more about the silver butt variant at the excellent He-Man-NA site.
Slushhead had green skin covered with suction cups and webbed fingers and toes. As mentioned before, his head was covered by a clear helmet that was filled with liquid. I’ve heard before that the liquid used was mineral oil, although I can’t confirm that. In any case, it has held up very well over the years, with no breakdown on the face paint and no yellowing of the clear plastic.
He had a removable backpack with two plug-in mechanical tentacles, which are fragile and tended to break over the years. His weapon is called a “trident laser-axe” on the packaging, although it’s not actually a trident. Perhaps the name was a callback to the weapon he had in his concept art. In any case, he had a spring-loaded chopping feature on his right arm, which allowed him to attack his enemies with the weapon. It worked as a gun when held at one end, and as an axe when held at the other end. The two-in-one weapon was a pretty common theme throughout the New Adventures line.
Bio
A bio for Slushhead was written for the Jetlag He-Man series Bible. In it we learn that he came from the Quagmi Swamp (probably a take on the word quagmire), and wears a helmet filled with swamp water. He’s described as clumsy on land because he is more at home in an aquatic environment.
The bio on the back of his packaging was somewhat similar, although in the packaging he’s described as a moron:
“Evil mutant moron and goon squad member from the Quagmi Swamp on alien planet Denabria! Has suckers on his arms and water on his brain!”
Comic and Cartoon Appearances
As one of the principle characters in the New Adventures of He-Man series, Slushhead made frequent appearances in comics and in the cartoon. I’ll provide an example from each of the major series.
The New Adventures of He-Man (Jetlag)
In The Bride of Slushead, we get a look at Felca, Slushhead’s fiance. After Sagitar saves Felca from being harmed in an accident, Slushhead invites the heroes to his wedding. Skeletor uses the temporary truce to plan an ambush on the heroes. It’s a pretty silly episode. In other episodes he serves as a Mutant Mothership copilot, serving under Flogg.
Minicomics
There were only four minicomics made for the 1989 He-Man line. Slushead appears as either a background character or bumbling henchman in them. He shows up in Battle For the Crystal, Skeletor’s Journey (as a comic relief character), and in The Revenge of Skeletor. Images are courtesy of Jukka Issakainen.
1990 UK Annual
The 1990 UK MOTU Annual featured a story called The Drumskalan from the Denebrian Swamp. In the story, Skeletor has a terrified Slushhead (called Kalamarr in the story) lead him to a monster called the Drumskalan so it can be made to attack He-Man.
The same annual features another short bio for Slushhead:
German Bastei Comics
Issue 2 of the German Bastei series features Slushhead as well (images courtesy of Ben Massa):
Ehapa Verlag
Slushhead appeared in many issues of German Ehapa Verlag comic. Here’s an example from issue 6:
He-Man Magazine
The German He-Man Magazine used toys instead of illustrations to tell stories, which was kind of charming:
Magic Boy
Slushead appears in issue 15 of the 1989 Magic Boy series. This is actually the same story as the German Bastei example, only in Italian!
UK He-Man Adventure
We get some Slushhead appearances, in both story and pinup form in issues 19 and 20 of the UK He-Man Adventure Magazine. Issue 20 is the same story I featured in my German Ehapa Verlag example, but in English:
CGI Promo
Slushhead appeared in a computer animated promo for the line. Here is a screenshot courtesy of Skysled:
You can watch the whole promo here: https://www.instagram.com/p/DElT_4hNAAP/
And finally, Slushhead appears in the background of this illustration published in a newspaper promoting an appearance by He-Man characters at Knott’s Berry Farm:
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