Evil Warriors, Heroic Warriors, Lords of Power

Power-Con 2020 “Lords of Power” Five-Pack

The Masters of the Universe Origins exclusive Power-Con “Lord of Power” five pack was announced in 2019 as an exclusive for the 2020 Power-Con. Little did we know that COVID-19 would cancel just about every large gathering for 2020. Power-Con was, for the first, time held virtually this year. The 5-pack (as well as an exclusive MOTU Origins She-Ra with rooted hair) could be ordered by anyone either through the Power-Con website or through Big Bad Toy Store.

So what’s this Lords of Power business? Back in 2017, a rather incredible set of pictures surfaced, showing early Masters of the Universe prototypes, which were called “Lords of Power” at the time. Shared by Andy Youssi (son of freelance display artist John Youssi) these images come from a collection of slides set in a View-Master-like apparatus. The prototypes were in several cases quite different from the final toys, and were designed by Mark Taylor and sculpted by Tony Guerrero. You can read all about it in the article I wrote about it at the time.

The packaging for the set was gorgeously illustrated by Axel Giménez with colors by Nate Baertsch. It ships in a brown external box, with a scene on the front inspired by promotional artwork by Errol McCarthy. The illustrations on the back are a nod to cross sell artwork by Alfredo Alcala that appeared on the backs of the first four minicomics. Jukka Issakainen notes that the poses of the five characters are also loosely based on Mark Taylor’s original B-sheet concept art.

The internal packaging is based on vintage action figure carrying cases. The front of the packaging is a color version of the front of the brown mailer box:

The back of the packaging shows the other three figures included in the set:

Update 10/29/2022: Axel recently posted an early version of the art that included a concept version of Stratos:

Inside the case, the figures are set in clear plastic inserts, in battle poses. I couldn’t quite capture them adequately on camera due to the reflection from the plastic, so here is a promotional image from Mattel:

Freed from their plastic prisons

The artwork inside is a homage to various panels from the original Alfredo Alcala/Don Glut minicomics. Beast Man’s pose in packaging is even based on that material:

The vehicle in Man-At-Arms’ section is based on on old Mark Taylor prototype vehicle, designed before he brought in Ted Mayer to design vehicles like Battle Ram and Wind Raider:

Image shared by Axel Giménez
Early Alfredo Alcala comic panel, featuring the prototype vehicle.
Mark Taylor concept vehicle. Image source: The Power and the Honor Foundation

The bottom of the case features credits for the various toy and packaging designers who worked on this project:

And now, on to the figures!

He-Man

With He-Man, we’re essentially getting a repaint of the 2019 SDCC exclusive release, but without the boot knife and with fewer extras. For all of these figures there are a few liberties taken compared to the source material. The concept He-Man referenced was a bit paler than the mass produced He-Man, but he wasn’t quite this pale. He had a rather different axe (which was ported over from an earlier He-Man prototype that featured a horned helmet) and a closed left hand and no bracer on the left wrist. Otherwise the colors of his costume here are spot on. The head on this He-Man is probably the most authentic-looking He-Man head in the MOTU origins series so far.

The source material
Mark Taylor B-Sheet. Image source: The Power and the Honor Foundation
Left to right: 2019 SDCC release, 2020 Power-Con release, 2020 retail release
Vintage (left) verses Power-Con release

Skeletor

Skeletor features a few new parts compared to the 2019 MOTU Origins release – he has an all-new head based on the “rotting face” original Skeletor prototype. He also has shin guards that appeared both in the prototype and in Alfredo Alcala-illustrated minicomics. The bat on his armor is painted yellow/green, which follows from both prototype and concept art. Unlike the prototype, this Skeletor features finned forearms (an oversight I assume – smooth forearms were already tooled for some of the Masters of the WWE figures and could have easily been used) and bare three-toed feet (the concept had bare five-toed feet). He has paler skin compared to the retail release MOTU Origins Skeletor, which in my opinion is an improvement.

Lords of Power prototypes
Mark Taylor B-sheet
The early Skeletor prototype, down to the rotting face, is preserved in the 1982 MOTU Pop-Up Game
Retail (left) vs. Power-Con release
Vintage (left) vs. Power-Con release

Man-At-Arms

Man-At-Arms is a fairly close representation of the prototype source material overall. He has newly sculpted chest armor with “fur” around the sides and a closed back, just like the prototype. The helmet is a pretty good representation of the prototype, minus a few stray paint details. His face is based on the vintage toy, where the prototype’s face was actually quite different. He reuses the left hand from Man-E-Faces to represent the extended orange armor on the prototype’s left hand. He also includes the large mace that was originally sculpted for the Masters of the Universe Classics Man-At-Arms. He includes a boot knife, which wasn’t in the prototype but was included in Mark Taylor’s original concept art.

High res face comparison. Image shared by Dušan Mitrović
Mark Taylor B-Sheet
Retail release (left) vs. Power-Con release
Power-Con release vs. vintage figure (right)

Beast Man

Beast Man is quite different from any version of the toy that’s been released, past or present. The Lords of Power slide set was the first time we had seen a physical representation of the design. It’s based on very early Mark Taylor concept art for the character, which seems to have been made with reuse of the Big Jim Gorilla in mind (ultimately it wasn’t used for the prototype).

The overall colors and costume design for the Power-Con release are quite close to the prototype. The main liberty taken is with the feet, which are the quite flat, detail-free feet used in the retail version of MOTU Origins Beast Man. The prototype, by comparison, had sculpted toes. Additionally, the proportions of the prototype head were somewhat different, but the head on the Power-Con release gets the idea across.

Original prototypes
Mark Taylor concept art
Mark Taylor concept art – a different color take (image shared by Rebecca Salari Taylor)
The early Beast Man prototype is preserved in this 1982 MOTU Pop-Up Game
Retail release (left) vs Power-Con version
Vintage release (left) vs. Power-Con version

Mer-Man

Of all the figures in this set, I was the most excited for Mer-Man. We knew of this version from childhood because it appeared prominently in the original Alfredo Alcala minicomics. This concept design has long been one of my favorites, along with the cross-sell art version of Mer-Man, which was a modified version of that original concept. The Power-Con release, sculpt-wise, is quite close to the prototype. There are only a few minor differences.

The first difference is in the hands, which have five fingers rather than four, and reuse He-Man’s hands rather than Skeletor’s (I assume because He-Man’s left hand has flat, splayed fingers, so at least the pose of the original prototype can be replicated).

The armor is also a bit different – the detail over the shoulders seems like a nod to the vintage figure design rather than the concept design. The trunks are the smooth style reused from the Masters of the WWE line. The original had scales all around – this version for some reason has what looks like bubbles printed front and back. Printed scales would have been more appropriate. The original prototype also seems to have had darker coloring throughout the armor.

The difference that stands out the most is the coloring – it’s a dark blue-green, which may be a nod to Mark Taylor’s original B-sheet art. The original prototype had a much lighter blue-green color. Still, he’s a quite striking and beautiful figure (I nitpick my favorite figures the most):

Original prototypes
Mark Taylor B-sheet
Vintage Mer-Man (left) vs Power-Con release

This set certainly wasn’t cheap – as you may know, exclusives are produced in far lower numbers than retail figures, which drastically drives up the cost per figure. Still, if you’re a big fan of early prototypes and minicomics, these are a must have. This was the kind of figure I had in mind when the line was announced (like many others, I had the idea that “MOTU Origins” was a reference to early concept/minicomic designs, especially since the first two figures released in the SDCC two-pack were in that style). A suggestion for a future set: Oo-Larr, Sorceress (aka “Green Goddess”), blonde Teela, red Beast Man, and tan Stratos! A full “Alcala” style Skeletor would also be great!

I hope you enjoyed the review – here are some additional shots to close things out:

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9 thoughts on “Power-Con 2020 “Lords of Power” Five-Pack

  1. personally, for a pricey ‘meant to be highly based on early prototypes’.. this misses the bus way too much for me. But as I’ve said before, they aren’t aimed at the market like me.. In fact, they will probably release a revisited version in a few years time which will be ‘slightly closer’…

  2. Excellent coverage! Thank you! I hope you’re right about them re-releasing these figures individually later down the road, slightly tweaked. That would be amazing. I really wanted this set, but just couldn’t afford it at the time, and I have even LESS chance of affording it now! Maybe when I’m a millionaire . . . .

    1. I couldn’t afford it at the time either! I preordered through BBTS, which required only a small down payment, and then I had some time to save up.

      Thanks for the comments! I hope we get some repaints/tweaks down the road

  3. I really debated on purchasing this, but ultimately didn’t. Mer-Man would have been the reason I did, because I have an emotional connection to that, as you said, through the comics. I don’t really have that connection with the others, and I can’t afford to just buy something because it’s cool. Thanks for another great article!

  4. For overseas fans, this set is a huge amount of money. 250EUR (aprox) plus shipping, plus customs, can easily raise over 300EUR. Near 60EUR per figure.

    Holly Molly!

    I know that this pack is aimed to collectors and not general public, but this is so much money, and we have to keep in mind that in a near future the price of this set will raise like a rocket in the secondary market, for sure.

    However, a few weeks ago, it has been leaked (via German Store) that Mer-Man and Beast-Man could have a loose release. I hope that this rumour becomes true, so more people can have a chance to pick up this guys.

    The review is excellent, as always, covering all the background behind this release. Very interesting that Pop-up Game stuff using the earlier prototipes and designs.

    Good Journey!

    1. Thanks very much! I do hope these get retail releases so more can have a chance to get them. I’d pick up some extras myself for customs!

  5. Should Mattel dare to release these again at 15$ / retail this would be the death for any future Power-Con release. Who in their right mind would ever buy an overpriced “exclusive” again when the only thing exclusive about is the box art?

  6. I’ve wanted exactly such a set for years; even before those amazing slides surfaced a few years ago, I’ve wanted figures based on that B-sheet art, especially for Skeletor, Beast Man, and Mer-Man. So naturally, I wanted this set so very much, but I just couldn’t justify the cost. I could have done the BBTS pre-order and saved up the rest, and I seriously considered doing so, but ultimately, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. The fact is, this set is horrifically overpriced. As with the Classics Snake Mountain, I get why it costs so much, but that doesn’t make it any easier to afford! I just couldn’t bring myself to spend so much of my limited disposable income on figures that I felt should have cost maybe $25 each at the very most. All that said, if these weren’t as compromised as they are– stuff like the inaccurate feet, hands, and heads on several, Mer-Man’s scaly loincloth relegated to a tampo rather than a new sculpt, and such– I STILL might have caved. Those are nitpicky things, but with something as expensive as this, I don’t think it’s unreasonable for people to expect near-perfection. I’ll pick up any of these that may get a retail release in the future, unlikely as that seems, and customize them further. A re-release at retail with scaled back paint apps would sufficiently differentiate them from the original con exclusive versions.

  7. There were some bizarre decisions made here. Like, there straight up is a bracer-less forearm (it’s used heavily in the Masters of the WWE Universe line). Also, this would have been the perfect chance to use more of the imo far superior button based armor styles, which creates a more seamless look (which would make sense because the armor was sculpted on with the prototypes). Additionally, they also have a fist, which was in the SDCC set and included with several wrestlers.

    Also, Mer Man should have had a sculpted loincloth imo, we should have gotten new feet for Skeletor and Beast Man, and Skeletor should have gotten new forearms.

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