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Evening, night-owls! So after the resounding success (in my eyes, at least) of my previous custom - the first of my MOTU Hybrid line, He-Man, champion of Eternia and protector of Castle Grayskull - I figured it was the villains' turn to make an appearance. And who else was I supposed to pick but the Big Bad himself, the master of mayhem, the emperor of evil, the wizard of woe, a villain as iconic as Darth Vader, Ganondorf, Shredder, Bowzer, and Doctor Doom, you all know him, you all love him (and love to hate him), the one and only . . . Skeletor! As I said last update, MOTU Hybrid is my attempt to unify the best of all three MOTU eras. The ideas (i.e. color schemes and concepts) of the original cartoon, the sculpts of the 2002 toys, and the articulation of modern figures, at a far more reasonable cost. Just like his predecessor, instead of replacing Skeletor's poorly articulated body with a new figure, I spliced joints into the Mattel original to preserve the Four Horsemen's spectacular sculpt. In addition to the existing ball shoulders, double-T hips, and rotating wrists, neck, and waist, Skeletor now has hinge elbows, ankles, and knees, plus rotating biceps and shins. Not only does he retain his push-button sword-chop action feature, but as an unintended but fortunate side-effect of the joint-splicing process, Skeletor has a little added length to his limbs, making him slightly taller. He now looks even more emaciated, lanky and, well, skeletal than ever before! Not a deliberate design choice, but a great result nonetheless! Then it was minor sculpting, simple paint apps, and this bad boy was finished! Like He-Man, Skeletor comes with a bunch of goodies: - 2 versions of the Dark Sword of Power: Like He-Man's swords, I made a full and half version. The full uses two purple half-blades, while the half uses one purple half-blade with the second edge sculpted with LocTite epoxy putty. - 1 Havoc Staff, unchanged. Seriously, didn't need any paint, it's fine as-is. - 1 cape: I took a cape from a Marvel Legends Magneto (the same Magneto that became my NECA Shredder figure) and sculpted a slip-on harness to clip over Skeletor's shoulders under his armor and around the action feature button on his back. Viola! A removable cape so Skeletor can be displayed as a lightly armored demon barbarian soldier, or as a cloaked, imperious mage-lord of darkness! You can't have good without evil, and you can't be a hero without overcoming adversity. Skeletor is the perfect counterbalance to He-Man, and these two figures look epic facing off on my shelf. I was overjoyed when I finished building He-Man, but finishing Skeletor was almost a religious experience, I was so thrilled. He's one of my favorite pieces I ever made! By the power of Grayskull!  |
| Strong Guy |  | Submission Order |  | Mysterio |
| He-Man (MOTU Hybrid) | | Masters of the Universe Series | | Teela (MOTU Hybrid) |
| He-Man (MOTU Hybrid) | | Created by Batman1016 | | Teela (MOTU Hybrid) |
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The answer lies in the mini-comics that were packaged with each figure. In the original toy line, before the cartoon got popular, the comics told a story of a completely different version of Eternia, where there was no kingdom and no royal family, and He-Man wasn't a prince with a magic sword, but rather a wandering barbarian with a magic armor harness that made him invincible. He used an axe and shield as his weapons, and his sword was mostly a useless trinket, unfit as an actual melee weapon. It's only value was that it was a key to great power, an interdimensional gateway hidden within Castle Grayskull. The sword unlocked both the castle and the dimensional rift, and so it had to be protected. He-Man possessed half the sword, and Skeletor had the other half. Only combined could the sword's great magical secrets be unlocked, and so He-Man and Skeletor were constantly fighting over the two halves. Thus, each figure came with a complete sword and a half-sword that could be combined with their opponent's weapon. The idea never made it into the cartoon, but it became traditional for every version of He-Man and Skeletor (and all He-Man's ancestors, and Skeletor's He-clone Faker) to come with both blades.
When the Four Horsemen began designing the 2002 figures, they went back to this idea and continued the story by giving Skeletor both halves, signifying that he had won the battle for the Sword of Power. This necessitated that Man-at-Arms build a new sword and the Sorceress imbue it with the magic of Castle Grayskull (hence why He-Man's 2002 sword looks all mechanical and hi-tech) so He-Man could still defend against Skeletor. Mattel, however, ditched the idea of a sequel in favor of a full reboot. That's why 2002 Skeletor's swords LOOK like the old Power Sword, but don't really have anything to do with Castle Grayskull and its secrets.
As for Jitsu (chinese gold-hand dude) . . . I've considered it. Yes, he appeared in the cartoon, in cameo only, and never again. Normally, this would mean I have no interest whatsoever, but the mini-statue is just SO DAMN COOL! And since he has a (tenuous) connection to Fisto . . . I dunno, we'll see. I'd like to, but again, money and time. And unfortunately, the mini-statue is IMPOSSIBLE to find, and really expensive . . . .
As for the future of the line, well that's a little complicated. Although I use the designs of the 2002 series, my focus is the ideas/colors/stories of the '80s series (the show I grew up with), so my intention has always been to make the most important major characters of the *original* show, not ALL the characters. This means, despite their prominent standing with fans, I originally had no plans to make characters like Two-Bad, Man-E-Faces, Mekaneck, etc., because they only appeared in two or three episodes (I may rethink my decision), and I have NO intention of making characters that never appeared, like Clamp-Champ and Stinkor.
HOWEVER, there are a few side characters I AM making, despite their limited exposure. Fisto, for example, is only in a few episodes, but since he's important to the greater canon of the series (being Teela's true father), I'm including him. And since MOTU is such a sausage-fest, I'm making some ladies as well. Queen Marlena never got a figure until VERY recently in the Classics line, so I'm making one based off her 2002 armored appearance. Two female villains, the Enchantress and Shokoti, will also be made.
As for She-Ra . . . maybe? While She-Ra herself got a 2002 redesign (in the form of a convention exclusive figure), all the other heroes did not, and only a few of the villains appeared (all male) in the mini-statue line. I'm PROBABLY making a Hordak, and if I can afford a She-Ra, I'll happily pick her up as well. Beyond that? It's all a matter of my finances and attention span!
do have one question though in the 2002 series isn't the sword of he-man king grayskull's sword from the past, that he imbued it with his power and granted his friends with some of his power to become the elders. and the rest of the power remained in the sword and grayskull, that is why zodak was given power by the elders & grayskull to be a cosmic enforcer to help fight the snakemen.
I loved the old classic cartoon, never got to read the old comics, sounds great though. but 200X MOTU series was my favorite on of the greatest reboots of a series, just like the thundercats series (never watched the original of it). just wish MOTU was never cancelled, it was just getting so much better as it went along.
Mattel nixed this idea, but kept the techno design of the Power Sword, as well as the two-blade design of Skeletor's sword, and the story was written as you described. That's why 2002 He-Man's sword looks NOTHING like the original '80s sword, and why 2002 Skeletor has a dual-saber that strongly resembles the original Sword of Power, while the old Skeletor never had a sword in the cartoon at all.
Also, since you asked for it, I've gone and picked up a She-Ra . . . though maybe not the one you're expecting. All I'll say is, she's gonna be awesome when I'm done. I'm looking forward to posting her!
Also glad you picked up a she-ra and can't wait to see your rendition, for you are living up to mine and others expectations with these awesome customs.
WOW, dude! This is how the 200X Skeletor should have been made...