Written by Adam McCombs
In this post I’d like to take a closer look at the Battle Ram prototype. For a more exhaustive treatment of this vehicle, see the toy feature.
Designed by Ted Mayer and sculpted by Jim Openshaw, the Battle Ram prototype was in some ways more impressive than the final toy.
Here is the prototype Battle Ram, from various angles (also shown is the prototype helmeted He-Man figure):
Images 1, 4 and 5 are courtesy of Ted Mayer; images 2 and 3 were retrieved from He-Man.org.
The overall profile is very similar to the final toy, but when you look closely, there are many subtle differences. I’ll go over each photo of the prototype and compare it with a similar photo of the final toy, noting some of the differences in each:
Notice in the fifth prototype image, the front half of the Battle Ram seems to have a greenish tint (in most images it looks grayish-blue). Perhaps the paint took on that tonality depending upon the lighting. That might explain the greenish coloration of Rudy Obrero’s illustration for the Battle Ram packaging. On the other hand, his color choice may have been determined by the lighting in his landscape.
Speaking of which, Rudy’s illustration is also based on the prototype Battle Ram, although it features the reptilian sticker on the front section from the final toy, as well as a modified missile:
As you can see, his illustration is quite faithful to the source material, although he did elongate the front half of the vehicle. He also gave it a jet engine nozzle at the rear, visible when in flight mode:
Alfredo Alcala’s Battle Ram cross sell art is also based on the prototype vehicle:
The prototype also shows up in the 1981 “Fast Male Action for Licensees” kit:
It was also featured in issue 90 of Tomart’s Action Figure Digest:
The prototype was very likely based on this control drawing dated May 28, 1981, drawn by Ted Mayer. It matches up almost perfectly with the prototype Battle Ram.
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Andy, I just saw your “quick facts” video about the Battle Ram, and your mention of the Sky Sled being released by Mondo. (I must have the worst timing in the world, as I was just talking to a 3-D artist about how to extract the Ram’s prototype shape from the 0.3 gigapixel Youssi photos you provided!) The Mondo version looks to me like a blend of different takes on the vehicle — e.g., the front gun is on a pivot (like the prototype), but also has a tubular shape (like the toy). Do you have any insight into what the sculptors were aiming for, or what references they used?
I recall Emiliano (who did the initial concept drawing for the Mondo Sky Sled) mentioning it was influenced by the prototype Battle Ram. Actually I’m planning on interviewing him and Peer Brauner (the sculptor) about it for a future article
D’oh! Adam, not Andy. He’s Youssi, you’re McCombs. My brain hurts.
Comparing Youssi’s “MOTU_LOP_prototypes03.png” with the Mondo site’s “SkySled_PP-033.jpg” gives a really good side-by-side of all three: the prototype, the final toy, and the new Mondo piece. I notice that the Mondo design leans heavily toward the toy look, but uses elements of the prototype as guidance on where to embellish. For instance, the upper gun has the slanted slots of the toy, but adds a pivot somewhat like that of the prototype. The underside guns take most of their detail from the prototype, as they’re little more than confusing reliefs on the toy. The foot area has the extra bend of the prototype. The control pylon has a hump in the middle like the toy, yet it also seems to add the small box from the prototype, rotating it to face forward. The various raised panels and wires are shaped more like the toy’s. Then there are obvious additions such as the headlight, which I’ve not seen anywhere before, and a coat of plates on the figurehead instead of a strip down its neck, as was on both the prototype and toy. (I’ve not studied the Classics vehicle, though, so perhaps the influence can be found there.)
Adam, I replied to your e-mail on January 14, after you sent me access to the slides, then tried again on February 13 to discuss my Battle Ram prototype project. I’ve been told by Gmail users that rarely do my Proton e-mails get through, so I want to make sure that you received my thanks from before, as well as the current details on getting the aforementioned project underway.
Hi there, I missed the first email. It didn’t go to spam, it just got lost in the shuffle (I get a lot of emails in my inbox). Let me read through both and get back to you!
Is it alright to share the Youssi slides download link with the guy I’m in talks with to do the 3-D model?
Yes, but I think I deleted it from Dropbox because I needed room. Do you need me to upload a new one?
Nah, I’ll just put the Youssi slides on my Proton Drive instead. The artist I’ve been talking with is going to do a rough draft to show that he can accurately translate the 2-D images to form a 3-D model, at which point we can start talking about crowdfunding the model files for free release to the public.
Adam, I’ve got some good news and some bad news…
Good news: I found Jim Openshaw, he and I chatted at length, and he’s got a lot of stories.
Bad news: Openshaw doesn’t want to be contacted by fans, have his info passed along for an interview, or even look at photos to identify the parts used in creating the prototype Battle Ram. Moreover, my phone’s call recorder doesn’t work any more, so what details he did provide are mostly lost.
It feels as if I screwed up your chance to get the stories from him. I didn’t go into this thinking to do a real interview, just track down someone who could give me some details on the front gun of the prototype Battle Ram. (I asked him if he’d heard of your ‘blog — and I suggested, twice, that fans would love to hear what he has to say — but no.)
As for the prototype, Openshaw said he thinks someone else, possibly even another department, may have built it. Or at least that’s what I came away with. (He was a bit hedgy at the start, because he didn’t know my intent; plus, the call woke me up, so I didn’t have my head on straight enough to ask to reschedule for when I could actually record it.) He suggested that I watch a documentary in which Mark and Ted were interviewed, as that might provide some leads.
I know convention folks got Mark to speak, and some of the artists/fans got together privately with him and Ted, so I’m wondering whether it would be possible to get a whole bunch of former Mattel/MotU guys together for a full-on reunion. (Would be nice for them to be able to drive around on the life-sized prototype Battle Ram project, but I’m always coming up with ideas a little too late!)
Interesting, I wonder if it’s Ted who misremembered or Jim? Probably impossible to say.
Don’t worry about it, if he doesn’t want to be contacted then there’s not much anyone can do about it.