As an early adopter into the MOTU brand, I remember reading the mini comics and then being confused with the animated series. My dad came up with the explanation that once He-man was able to claim and secure Greyskull, the right to rule Eternia fell to him. Feeling he was not yet wise enough to rule he passed the Kingdom to his father who was the leader of the village He Man leaves. He takes on the persona of Adam his birth name. Having the full power sword allowed him to draw on the magic of Greyskull to make him more powerful. It’s cheesy I know but my dad and I would do this a lot just talk and patch up backstories that were different from one form of entertainment to the next. I love your videos, because they bring up memories of my dad I had forgotten, thank you.
my parents had a mutt miniature collie they never punished who relished in using my toys as chew toys.... ive always hated dogs after because their destructive BS
@@integratingkali1607 It took itself a bit more seriously, which was a bit rare, for a Saturday Morning cartoon. And, the acting was more straightforward & less dramatic than the Hanna Barbera stuff. He-Man sometimes tackled serious topics, but it always felt more like a Kid's cartoon.
I have a feeling someone at Mattel caught a few episodes of Blackstar on Saturday Mornings 1981 (it did come out a year before any inkling of MOTU)...... Also, the Blackstar toyline didnt come out until a few years after MOTU was already out. The show had been cancelled by then (it was only 13 episodes long)- but it was Galoob's way of scooping up a property on the cheap that they thought could compete with MOTU.
@@TheRockinDonkey the average person on the street does know He-Man nine times out of ten, I would say they know lion o three times out of 10. My wife knows all about He-Man and the swords because girls watched She-ra. She knows nothing about thundercats.
The nerd in me has to make a fast correction. Aragorn’s sword is actually Andruil “the flame of the West.” It was reforged from the shards of Narsil. 👍🏻
Somehow my He-Man lost his sword early on. He was always borrowing a weapon, or a pencil, or a hairpin, or whatever to jimmy open the Jawbridge. The original weapon pack with the blue sword became the default weapon for my He-Man as he could finally open the door without feeling like he was breaking in.
Of course the biggest flaw in all this was that either half of the sword the original He-Man and Skeletor came with could open the jawbridge. It may have been designed to combine both halfs to unlock the castle, but in function it was far easier to stick either half of the sword in and unlock it. It's also interesting that with all the variants in the original run Mattel never bothered to design a new complete sword, the always used the half sword mould.
I found my Skeletor staff in the trash can, and when I asked why it was there my step dad said, "Because I thought it was a coffee stirer, and I hate coffee stirers." Yeah, he's was a real gem.
Coffee should be drunk in it's true form- black, bitter and strong. Any other way is heresy unto the Bean Demons. Unless it's from a chain. And there is a special hell reserved for people that think what Starbucks and their ilk sell is coffee.
Creating characters (or re-imagining characters) and telling stories is so much fun! I can imagine how fun it was for many of the people working on the Masters of the Universe toys, cartoons, artwork, stories, etc.! Imagine someone gave you He-Man and Skeletor toys with no storyline and let you create the whole Eternian universe! Wow, you had a fun job dude!
@@spectorcreative1872 And I am grateful for your videos talking about and sharing the experiences you had at Mattel and with the Masters of the Universe toy line! I love hearing your insights about how the characters and stories were created. For someone who grew up with the Filmation series, it's a fascinating behind-the-scenes look!
I watched "the power of grayskull" documentary on netflix and was blown away by this just for the fact that, as a idea for toy, back in that time period, this was GENIUS. It makes sense that filmation would make grayskull he man's lair considering you can't have it changing hands throughout the series, further cementing he-man's ownership of the castle by putting it into one of his catchphrases for the cartoon. but it's interesting to see it's origins as just two groups of warriors playing capture the fort with each other.
This is interesting to my 80's kid self. I always wondered about the swords when I was a kid, once I noticed that they tabbed together I'm fairly sure I left them together and had He-man wield it from then on. I got castle Greyskull and a few of the figures second hand at a flea market so I didn't get the comics and apparently many of the accessories for the castle. Flags? Laser cannons? I guess I'm lucky it had both halves and the gate. I had lots of fun anyway but I think I'm glad I didn't know what was missing back then. I had no idea the swords were the key either. I kinda wish I still had them to mess around with now.
I do wonder if the new Origins Castle will include these elements or just be more of a castle. Glad you liked the video and it brought back great memories!
@@spectorcreative1872 Obviously you are entering hyperspace, whenever you talk about your (our) favorite childhood toy. So, your point becomes a line, a long, blurred line. Great videos, though. Thanks! :)
I had He-Man and Webstor as the only official MOTU figures. Rest were bootleg including Wundar. Anyways, the Axe was always his weapon during play and the castle was viewed as belonging to Skelly since it had pretty much his face on it. Thanx for the video and the work you put in for MOTUC; I’m still looking for Scareglow to complete the line.
@@ilikethecokev2 yes! I had the Tiger guy. I did not know what line he was from til much later because we often got second hand figures out of package. Wish I could find him now...
In the 2002 He Man series, Skeletor had a double-sided sword that he would split to surprise his opponents during combat. I wonder if this is where the animators got the idea from?
Actually, yes. The sword for 200X was designed by the Four Horsemen. Their original concept for the series/story was that Skeletor had acquired both halves of the sword and He-Man had to have a replacement made. This concept was dropped but the two Keldor/Skeletor swords remained as just his weapon of choice.
Also before the rise of MOTU there was a little known cartoon called BlackStarr and the Hero and Villian of this story each had half of the fabled star sword. And I do believe this cartoon had influence on the creation of Masters of the Universe as both are properties of Funimation.
This is some deep MOTU lore here, and actually that new Revelation show does address this sword splitting thing, which was in the comics and was canon. Cool they did a throwback to that.
The mini comic stories were much cooler than the cartoon. I always went with then being more canon than the cartoon. But I made up a bunch of my own stuff for play as any kid should. Prince Adam's sword(magenta?) could be combined with Faker's sword(orange) since they were all the same molds just different color plastic. You could make four different versions of the Power Sword depending on which halves you combined. I wrote two pages listing the different powers and abilities each "power sword" had with the He-man/Skeletor version being most powerful and Prince Adam/Faker being least powerful. My friends thought I was crazy at first for spending so much time on it. But after reading it they all made copies of it so they could use it lol.
I had the same. One half was the grey sword like the cartoon, other half was yellow and, yes, it did glow in the dark. I also had the Sword of Omens with the light up Eye of Thundara. Good memories!
I had two of these swords as a kid. If I remember correctly they were released in conjunction with the 2nd cartoon... Which was actually titled He-Man and was set in the future
I still have the story book and my original He-man from 1982. I loved the story and the characters. I remember being very disappointed by the Filmation reboot. Reboots were not common back then. It ruined MOTU for me and I moved on other toy lines. Only warmed up to MOTU years later as a toy collector, sadly. Thank you for educating people on this rather forgotten aspect of MOTU.
What you described in this video was exactly how I played with my figures and Castle Greyskull. I loved MOTU before I saw the cartoon and my play was based on the origins and storylines in those mini-comics. It felt so good to combine those two halves of the sword and unlock the jawbridge for the first time on Christmas morning way back then. ♥️
When I was a kid me and my neighbor played with the comic stories in mind, when the cartoon came out we liked it but thought the comics were the true story, in fact we never played with prince adam, in our mind he-man always had the power and it didn't come from grey skull. Most of the time we played with Skeletor controlling the castle and he-man used his battle axe more than the sword as it was just a key in our minds.
Seriously, who didn’t watch the video didn’t already know this? *checking notes for first two series of mini comics* Only Skeletor gets both halves of the power sword and enters the castle in the first series. The first time we see He-Man with his half is when he and Skeletor have to defeat Trap-Jaw in issue 2.4, “The Menace of Trap-Jaw”. The last time we se He-Man’s half is on pages 12 & 13, the later they actually duel, of 2.6, “The Magic Stealer.” I still don’t own “The Tale of Teela”, so I don’t know on that one.
From what I have seen in the comments, this channel gets both super MOTU fans and VERY casual fans. Some of my videos are aimed much more at the casual fan, or even the pop culture fan in general without much MOTU knowledge.
Well, it was an original idea that was quickly dropped from the line. It was sort of brought back in that Skeletor had a sword that could separate into two in the 2000 era relaunch. But it wasn't He-man's power sword.
@@cheeseburger12 Did you notice that the new HeMan toys almost resemble the old 1982 toy line? or are they Mattels version of the Vintage Collection that Hasbro has for Star Wars?
I think they may have borrowed from Blackstar, which was an earlier Saturday Morning Cartoon series created by the same people. The PowerStar was a mighty magical weapon that was split in two through unknown events, with Blackstar and the Overlord each possessing one half. Blackstar's weapon, the Star Sword, is able to absorb, store, and reflect any external form of energy, and is virtually indestructible. It can also produce blasts of pure energy capable of destroying a target
Actually, you're dealing with TWO different creators, Kenner (who made the toys) and Filmation (who made the TV show - and had made Blackstar just a year or two earlier). One of the reasons, I think, Filmation didn't use the two-halves of the sword thing Kenner had created for the toys when Kenner tapped the to do the TV show, was because it was something of a rip-off of Filmation's Blackstar series from a year or two before. They were still, at the time, trying to get Blackstar back on TV and a toyline to go with it (they actually did get a toy-line, but never got Blackstar renewed). I think they intentionally didn't go with Kenner's story from the minicomics precisely because it was too similar to their Blackstar IP.
@@liljenborg2517 ah, very interesting. Filmation was notorious for using the same format, animation style, music and sound effects for many of their series. Since Blackstar came first, just an assumption that many ideas from that story line was transferred to The Masters of the Universe series.
Even as a kid in the 1980s, I always thought that the half-sword idea was interesting and hated that Filmation abandoned that entirely. I also feel like Skeleton owning half of the power sword makes him a more credible threat.
Filmation also overpowered He-Man a little bit. Even as a kid it bothered me that Skeletor never posed a real physical threat to He-Man. DC and Marvel do this to their characters, too. Way too powerful. There are probably a handful of characters in both companies that could actually withstand nuclear assault. Yawn.
Had an argument with a friend over this a few years back, well not really an argument but he only remembered the Cartoon but didn't collect the figures while I had all the little mini-story books when I was young. He didn't believe me when I told him about the deal with the two swords. Now the flag, that I do not remember and that is another cool detail to rub in his face LOL Thanks!
I knew that the sword was represented differently between the show and the mini comics, but I really don't ever remember questioning it as a kid. I remember more thinking I wish they made a gray sword opposite half that I could make He-Man's sword look whole and it annoyed me that if you put Skeletor's half in his right hand the "ugly" side of the sword faced out.
My parent gave me this castle as a Christmas Present from Santa one year as a kid. That was the year I knew he wasn't real. I saw them put it next to my bed at night, and thanked them the next day for it.
i would love to combine the two ideas. The He-man is actually an ancestor of prince Adam. Adam is his reincarnation and with the sword Adam is able to pull his ancestor into his present to fight his mortal enemy. So the story of He man in the comic are those prior to Adam being born with the filmention cartoon are the one after.
@@domls1317 I don't know. Perhaps when Prince Adam pulls the ancestor into his present like the op suggested they have to combine (Greyskull sort of has to possess Adam in a sense) and the result is the He Man we know. I'm just kind of spitballing here. I just thought it would be interesting if King Greyskull was the ancestor of Marveryn's idea since he is Adam's ancestor. Figured it would be an interesting tie in.
Great channel! I recognized your voice after a few minutes because I used to work with with Bill and Terrence on your team at JAKKS and we all came to Mattel within months of each other. Nice to see you using your powers for good!
Awesome! So glad you found the channel. Drop me a line if you want through Spectorcreative.com! Always great to catch up and keep the toy industry focused on "the good"!
I remember as a kid trying to pull out the little parapet floor and trying to clip the flagpole to the inside of it in order to show the other side of the flag. The flagpole only had a clip on one side, so you couldn't actually reverse the flag. It would be stuck in place. Eventually the sticker loosened and it could be reverse, but then it would just slide down the flagpole. Weird how these videos can bring back such vivid memories of when I was like, six years old. I love that you're continuing on with these.
The original story ( before the cartoon ) was that He-Man’s strength did not come from the sword. He was already naturally the most powerful man on Eternia. The vest thingy ( given to him by the sorceress ) amplified his strength.
My He-man and Skeletor both came with the male connection piece on their swords so as a kid I had no idea they were supposed to connect and always wondered why they were sculpted to only half look like a sword.
Dude... He-Man may have some weird homoerotic undertones, but the sword of omens is literally wielded by a 13 year old in an adult body It's a one eyed sword that grows when things get exciting... The jokes write themselves.
I like how everybody seems 2 forget that they stole certain aspects of a earlier cartoon "Blackstar" whereupon both the hero and villan also had halves of one sword......but no one talks about that cuz he was native american...
I don't really think the idea was stolen from Blackstar, especially as the MOTU series from Filmation came years later. But they are very similar I will give you that.
Blackstar was Native American? I don't remember that. I think you're getting him confused with Bravestarr who was definitely a Native American dude, in another Filmation cartoon. A very underrated cartoon if you ask me!
In the mini comic I recall Tri-clops saying Beast Man's pelt would look great hanging on a wall. Seems he had every intention of taking it until Skeletor stopped him. I miss being a kid.....
Scott , your vids are on the money. I miss your energy when you revealed a new toy. Glad you’re still a big part of the MOTU fan verse. Keep it up mate
Amazing, I remember having only two figurines of that playset and that was He-man and Skeletor, and I never knew their swords clicked together to form one. Imagine that!
I would say the Lightsaber is by far the most recognisable sword ever in pop culture, then maybe the Sword of Omens far behind and then He man's sword. I'm into he man more but I feel the muscular figure and castle gay skull are more recognizable than the sword itself. Idk.
Of course I can only speak for myself, but to me the sword is pivotal to He-Man and I can't see how anyone wouldn't know the sword if they know about He-Man. The one thing that is stuck on peoples mind, and what people think of when they hear the name He-Man, is the Filmation transformation scene, and it's all about the sword. It's in focus for the whole sequence and it's made abundantly clear that it is very special. I just can't see how you would know He-Man but not the iconic looking sword as well.
I just stumbled across this video- loved it! When I saw the parts with those original included “mini-comics”, it brought back so many memories. Things I hadn’t thought of since probably 1984! Thanks for the video- I really enjoyed it 🙂👍🏻
@@spectorcreative1872 Oh, you bet! I’m actually subscribing right now after watching a few more of your videos- About re-posting, I’m a bit computer-illiterate (a “neo-Luddite technophobe rube”, an old friend called me), so the only thing I know how to do is share videos with my wife- the only person I really still talk to- but I’ll certainly do that. Thanks again for your content!
5:29 Skeletor has his lap covered with that robe, because he was literally so happy he finally got in Castle Grayskull, he had to hide his MASSIVE Purple... uh.... Bone... lol, Skeletor, Bone...perfect. Then Teela saw what was going on and wanted to Climb his.... SNAKE MOUNTAIN!
@@michaelpayton9164 The lightsaber might be more iconic, but it's a series of weapons, not a specific single particular weapon as the power sword is. As to the sort of omens? I'm pretty sure He-Man has Lin-O beat out there. (though I did prefer the Lord of The Thundercats to the Prince of the Eternia when I was a kid.)
@@AustynSN wrong weapon the hammer is named after the Sword, Stormbringer the black blade, the OG daemon weapon and one of the most powerful pieces of personal equipment in fiction, welded by the eternal champion Elric
I feel like there almost HAS to be some connection to the cartoon Blackstar, which featured a powerful magic sword, The PowerStar, that was split into two, each wielded by the hero and villain of the show, and which the villain always tried to possess by combining both together! The fact that Blackstar was also made by Filmation makes this being a coincidence unlikely...tho not impossible. EDIT: Full eps of Blackstar are up on TH-cam, check `em out and let us know what you think! (and I see that the voice actor of Skeletor also voiced Blackstar's main villain, The Overlord! Hmmm...!)
Oh I am very familiar with Blackstarr and while it is possible the double sword influenced the designers of the 1982 line, I don't have any insight either way.
@@spectorcreative1872 Fair enough! Speaking of comic/storybooks, I swear I remember having a comic or picture book where Superman found himself in Eternia and Skeletor used his magic sword to control him into fighting He-Man...did I imagine this, or have you seen it too?
Hand -of-Omega DC Comics Presents 47 www.comics.org/issue/36483/ Then a few months later there was a free 16 page motu stand alone story inserted into various dc comics. And then a few months later a 3 issue mini series by DC. This was all pre filmation.
my cousin was a huge fan of the series and had almost every toy. i can say, with all confidence, that the swords did not clicked together. the mold used for both swords was exactly the same and the holes and inserts were in the same place. we were always puzzled what the purpose was for the swords to look unfinished and flat on one side.
I had both the swords and actually combined them together. The tab on one of the swords was just a small, curved, tab. I think your cousin had a production error, might be worth money.
@@spectorcreative1872 I wouldn’t consider myself a toy/comic fan-I collect neither-and I remember the Sword of Omens pretty clearly. I didn’t even know He-Man’s sword had a name.
More people know of He-man and respectively more people know that the Sword of Power exists (knowledge of the existence of the Power Sword is increased by She-ra, but the Sword of Omens is more recognisable.
I had both He-Man and Skeletor as a kid and I didn't realize at the time the swords could fit together. It took the kid next door - a girl - to show me that.
i liked how they kind of retconned it later on, with there still being two swords but one sword now belonging to he-man and the other one belonging to she ra, granted her sword changing from the 'purple' sword to one similar to he man's but still being the "twin" sword for the twin heirs to Eternia.
Everybody's forgotten the Skeletor Arena, where he would put heros into fight. That was coolest one, with entrance, thorns, etc. Comic book that comes with Clawful is one just a bit about those tournaments.
I'd read years ago that He-Man started out as a completely different idea, and this just re-confirms it. Though I didn't know specifically about swords being part of Greyskull, so thank you for that.
I grew up in Hungary, we didn't have access to the cartoon series, we only got the mini-comics to build the setting for our games. There were also some German MotU magazines that helped, but those were a kinda strange mix of fantasy and weird horror.
This was a small detail that carried over from Blackstar that Sword was split into two halves. In Blackstar one half John Blackstar's half was called the Star sword and Overlord's half was also called the Power sword.
Cool to see fans paying attention to the details. I admit I vaguely remember this stuff, but I cared enough to get myself a well done fan-made power sword years later. Thanks for the work and sharing this information.
Gonna go with the master sword as the most recognizable sword in pop culture. I really feel like there was a lot more play to be had with the original conception of castle Greyskull. I guess that’s the difference in toy makers and television producers.
The first time I saw MOTU come out with this (dual halves of the power sword" storyline, the first thing I thought of was the old Saturday Morning cartoon (also a Filmation production, I think?), Blackstar, where the hero Blackstar possessed half of a power sword (which was the name of his half), and the main enemy/villain possessed the other half, which was called the "star sword", and the two halves were said to be combined for ultimate power, and the warriors were constantly battling to get the other half from the other.
I remember having all this stuff as a kid. I also remember ignoring all of it. Taking all the figures and putting those little plastic football helmets on them and lining them up. And that's how the Greyskull Bowl was started.
I was 4 when He-Man started and was enveloped by the cartoon. My reading comprehension wasn't very good at the time, so the written story in the mini comics were a little beyond me. I loved the art work on the packages and the mini comics, I appreciate the toy line story way more than the cartoon now. I really wish there was a way I could go back and replay that time in my life.
I was born in '72 and I wholeheartedly agree, little boys had GREAT cartoons and toys back then. Kids these days seem to care very little for such things. They just want to be adults, while I wish I were a kid again
The locking mechanism on the original castle greyskull jawbridge was light grey (the same color as the weapons that came with the included weapons rack) not “yellowish orange” as stated in the video.
You got to love gimmicks, by getting both He-Man and Skeletor, it gave you both parts of the sword in order to unlock the main feature of Castle Grayskull. They still do that with today's figures, where you have to buy the whole set to create the villain. But back then it was a little more creative. I like the fact that it takes both parts of the sort of power to unlock the gate. Nowadays you just make a mold that has both parts together and you can just have the complete sword. I think I asked my parents were both figures because I wanted to unlock the castle myself. A friend got both figures and discovered by putting the swords together it unlock the gate. It took me two Christmases, but I did combine the swords. Of course by then, the Skeletor figure was on discount. I was a little bit of completionist, so I didn't care that it wasn't as popular anymore. I still have the toy set and all of the swords on a Shelf today. Sometimes I still play with them, considering that they are now loose toys. Of course I kept 1 set in the Box as a backup when they were on clearance, so if I ever broke the original set I was playing with. Luckily that never occurred. I just don't have the heart to get rid of them.
*The only way to reconcile the introduction of Prince Adam in the minicomics,* with the older minicomics, is to state that Prince Adam is He-Man's alter ego in the minicomics, just like Clark Kent is Superman's alter ego. This is different from the cartoon, where Price Adam is the default setting, and He-Man is his alter ego. Thus, in the minicomics, He-Man's half of the Power sword, does not grant super strength, but allows the already super strong He-Man, to quickly discard his Prince Adam disguise. Also, in the minicomics, Prince Adam/He-Man must have been the adopted son of King Randor and Queen Marlena, as he is clearly shown to have originated from a barbarian tribe, and not as a royal family member. Before the introduction of Prince Adam in "Dragon's Gift" minicomic, we see He-Man sat at the dining table with the King and Queen in both "The Magic Stealer" and "The Ordeal of Man-E-faces". This could be the precursor to him being adopted as their son, in his disguised form as Adam. As a side note, the Queen seems totally unaware that Adam is He-Man, in "He-Man and the Insect People", yet King Randor must be aware of this fact, because He-Man calls him "Father" to his face in "The Search for Keldor". Thus, we can conclude that He-Man/Adam's relationship was closer with the King than with the Queen, leading up to him to being adopted as their son.
Always been a He-man fan and still have the original toys I got as a kid (although missing a LOT of pieces) and remember the swords being halves, but I never really knew why! I also vaguely remember the keyslot and flag of Greyskull, but didn't know their purpose either. I have no idea how I got the jawbridge open back in the day.
I still have my 80s Grayskull castle playset i can garantee that, even if the lock was made to be open by the combined swords, you could do the trick with only half of them if you wanted. Actually anything that was thin enough to get in the hole could open the draw bridge. Even the ordinary sword that came in the armory of the playset. But i dont remember if Mer-man sword could open the door. It was thicker than the other swords, and i dont remember if i ever tried. But i opened it with other things like paper clips and matches.
The two sword concept was scrapped because of Blackstar. I thought Prince Adam was created by filmation? The timeline I'm familiar with is the toy came first the mini comic was created to help pitch the toy followed by the cartoon and the DC comic was last.
Skeletor's sword in the 2002 series was a reference to this as the original story in that series is that skeletor got both half of the power sword so duncan and the sorceress had to create a new power sword for he man so he could transform, they changed it before the show came out as a reboot instead of a sequel
As an early adopter into the MOTU brand, I remember reading the mini comics and then being confused with the animated series. My dad came up with the explanation that once He-man was able to claim and secure Greyskull, the right to rule Eternia fell to him. Feeling he was not yet wise enough to rule he passed the Kingdom to his father who was the leader of the village He Man leaves. He takes on the persona of Adam his birth name. Having the full power sword allowed him to draw on the magic of Greyskull to make him more powerful. It’s cheesy I know but my dad and I would do this a lot just talk and patch up backstories that were different from one form of entertainment to the next. I love your videos, because they bring up memories of my dad I had forgotten, thank you.
I’m sure your father would be both proud and touched that you remember him so fondly.
@@DrDavidReilly for sure. Dads like this are awesome.
If these videos do nothing else, I am SO glad they bring back happy memories!
Your dad sounds like a great guy. My dad while not quite as creative in story work alway followed the shows and toys with me and my brothers.
@Ryan Sargent That's actually a pretty damn good backstory!
Love how that first pic of Skeletor had a chewed sword
Those swords were so chewable
Provides essential vitamins too.
Don't judge me! I was only 7!
my parents had a mutt miniature collie they never punished who relished in using my toys as chew toys.... ive always hated dogs after because their destructive BS
I accidentally pulled a milk-tooth out with that chewable sword.
That reminds me of "Blackstar". There was a Starsword that was split in two, and Blackstar & his foe each got a half of the sword.
Check out more here! th-cam.com/video/jCI8WOomeaI/w-d-xo.html
Which was also made by Filmation.
Blackstar was a much better cartoon.
@@integratingkali1607 It took itself a bit more seriously, which was a bit rare, for a Saturday Morning cartoon. And, the acting was more straightforward & less dramatic than the Hanna Barbera stuff. He-Man sometimes tackled serious topics, but it always felt more like a Kid's cartoon.
I have a feeling someone at Mattel caught a few episodes of Blackstar on Saturday Mornings 1981 (it did come out a year before any inkling of MOTU)......
Also, the Blackstar toyline didnt come out until a few years after MOTU was already out. The show had been cancelled by then (it was only 13 episodes long)- but it was Galoob's way of scooping up a property on the cheap that they thought could compete with MOTU.
I was huge into He-Man and Thundercats as a kid. I *actually* remember this part of the story, and was confused why it never came up again as a kid.
It really is odd how much it changed from the original intent.
I found out the swords combined strictly on accident but I remember only using He-Men's half to open the draw bridge, I guess I was cheating it lol
Someone named Lion-O and his Sword of Omens would like to have a word with you about more iconic sword of the 80s
I might argue that. While iconic, I don't know if the average person on the street would know it. But hey, it is a valid point
@@spectorcreative1872 This average person on the street doesn't know either of these swords. And I grew up in the 80s
Yeah… Y’all are forgetting a certain movie called _Excalibur._ 😉
I agree with you. I think it was equal in being iconic.. I also do not believe the average person in the street nowadays would know he-man's sword.
@@TheRockinDonkey the average person on the street does know He-Man nine times out of ten, I would say they know lion o three times out of 10. My wife knows all about He-Man and the swords because girls watched She-ra. She knows nothing about thundercats.
And Skeletor victorious, with both halves of the Power Sword, opens the Jawbridge, and is promptly killed when the thing fell on top of him!
Well yeah pretty much
"Youngling Killer 2000" is my new steam name now
muhahaha.
An instrument of maximum plot point...
Awww. It's like one of those friendship pendants that you split in two and give to your bestie.
Just like that. But more weapon like.
I want the alternate He-Man backstory where he and Skeletor used to be besties.
The nerd in me has to make a fast correction. Aragorn’s sword is actually Andruil “the flame of the West.” It was reforged from the shards of Narsil. 👍🏻
Oh yes, I even apologized for that in a later video!
Andúril
You put them together to open the drawbridge to Castle Grayskull of course...
Exactly!
@@spectorcreative1872 Well yeh, that was the whole point of them.
Really?
The 80's were the golden age for animated swords; He-Man, Lion-o, & Voltron
A big reason for that was a supreme court case that changed the way companies could do animation and toys. I've got a video in the works on this.
@@spectorcreative1872
Awesome!!
I remember all of these and im 13
Don't forget Thundarr the Barbarian
And Quazar!
Somehow my He-Man lost his sword early on. He was always borrowing a weapon, or a pencil, or a hairpin, or whatever to jimmy open the Jawbridge. The original weapon pack with the blue sword became the default weapon for my He-Man as he could finally open the door without feeling like he was breaking in.
Yeah, amazing how a toothpick can have the same ability of the Power Sword!
@@spectorcreative1872 Funny thing I had Castle GreySkull as a kid but nobody in my family had HeMan or Skeletor. LOL
@@michaelbenjmitchell1 in my house Castle Greyskull was also used by Action Force as a base of operations.
Of course the biggest flaw in all this was that either half of the sword the original He-Man and Skeletor came with could open the jawbridge. It may have been designed to combine both halfs to unlock the castle, but in function it was far easier to stick either half of the sword in and unlock it. It's also interesting that with all the variants in the original run Mattel never bothered to design a new complete sword, the always used the half sword mould.
Yeah you would have thought eventually we would have gotten a "full sword" with a He-Man.
I found my Skeletor staff in the trash can, and when I asked why it was there my step dad said, "Because I thought it was a coffee stirer, and I hate coffee stirers." Yeah, he's was a real gem.
Wait, it's not a coffee stirer?
Coffee has No Need for a stirrer. Lol grind, brew, drink! ☕️
“By the power of Starbucks... I HAVE THE CREAMER!”
@@JSteez5024 no sugar?
Coffee should be drunk in it's true form- black, bitter and strong. Any other way is heresy unto the Bean Demons.
Unless it's from a chain. And there is a special hell reserved for people that think what Starbucks and their ilk sell is coffee.
Creating characters (or re-imagining characters) and telling stories is so much fun! I can imagine how fun it was for many of the people working on the Masters of the Universe toys, cartoons, artwork, stories, etc.! Imagine someone gave you He-Man and Skeletor toys with no storyline and let you create the whole Eternian universe! Wow, you had a fun job dude!
I really did and remain so grateful for the experience I had!
@@spectorcreative1872 And I am grateful for your videos talking about and sharing the experiences you had at Mattel and with the Masters of the Universe toy line! I love hearing your insights about how the characters and stories were created. For someone who grew up with the Filmation series, it's a fascinating behind-the-scenes look!
I watched "the power of grayskull" documentary on netflix and was blown away by this just for the fact that, as a idea for toy, back in that time period, this was GENIUS. It makes sense that filmation would make grayskull he man's lair considering you can't have it changing hands throughout the series, further cementing he-man's ownership of the castle by putting it into one of his catchphrases for the cartoon. but it's interesting to see it's origins as just two groups of warriors playing capture the fort with each other.
Yeah what a different storyline and play pattern it had in the beginning!
This is interesting to my 80's kid self. I always wondered about the swords when I was a kid, once I noticed that they tabbed together I'm fairly sure I left them together and had He-man wield it from then on. I got castle Greyskull and a few of the figures second hand at a flea market so I didn't get the comics and apparently many of the accessories for the castle. Flags? Laser cannons? I guess I'm lucky it had both halves and the gate. I had lots of fun anyway but I think I'm glad I didn't know what was missing back then. I had no idea the swords were the key either. I kinda wish I still had them to mess around with now.
I do wonder if the new Origins Castle will include these elements or just be more of a castle. Glad you liked the video and it brought back great memories!
The dual combining sword gimmick was originally found in MOTU's predecessor Blackstar. This was an extremely fun video, thank you!
Yes, but I think this is more of two ideas that are similar developed separately.
I’m really hoping Kevin Smith does a crossover with Blackstar and Bravestarr
@@spectorcreative1872 that's fair.
In terms of execution MOTU's toy story was actually more interesting than the animation turned out to be.
@@Getloose360 I agree, much more
I remember Blackstar. Do you remember Bravestar?
Imagine me many many years later finding out the swords clip together..... my childhood was a lie!!!
Everything is a lie. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something.
Same, had both, never even clicked to stick em together
Almost 40 years later, today - I had a childhood question, finally answered. 🤣
Thank you!
Well you are most welcome! Please do share with anyone else who might enjoy!
Four minutes in an I"m constantly screaming "Get to the point!"
Ah yes the point. What was I trying to say again?
@Airock the Atheist Thank you!!!
@@spectorcreative1872 I just wanted to add that I never thought that. I was enjoying all of it since I had no idea about the mini comics.
It means he's doing his job well👀
@@spectorcreative1872 Obviously you are entering hyperspace, whenever you talk about your (our) favorite childhood toy.
So, your point becomes a line, a long, blurred line.
Great videos, though. Thanks! :)
I had He-Man and Webstor as the only official MOTU figures. Rest were bootleg including Wundar. Anyways, the Axe was always his weapon during play and the castle was viewed as belonging to Skelly since it had pretty much his face on it.
Thanx for the video and the work you put in for MOTUC; I’m still looking for Scareglow to complete the line.
With Halloween coming up now is a good time to look for Ghosts.
Did you ever get any of the figures from the Galaxy Warriors series?
@@ilikethecokev2 yes! I had the Tiger guy. I did not know what line he was from til much later because we often got second hand figures out of package. Wish I could find him now...
@@geechie-don7157 Ah, so you had Tiger Man. I semi recently got a figure of Spikes (the one with the Spartan helmet)
In the 2002 He Man series, Skeletor had a double-sided sword that he would split to surprise his opponents during combat. I wonder if this is where the animators got the idea from?
Actually, yes. The sword for 200X was designed by the Four Horsemen. Their original concept for the series/story was that Skeletor had acquired both halves of the sword and He-Man had to have a replacement made. This concept was dropped but the two Keldor/Skeletor swords remained as just his weapon of choice.
Watch the Skeletor origin story on YT, pre-skeletal Skeletor/Keldor has a splittable sword.
Also before the rise of MOTU there was a little known cartoon called BlackStarr and the Hero and Villian of this story each had half of the fabled star sword. And I do believe this cartoon had influence on the creation of Masters of the Universe as both are properties of Funimation.
Ah! Common misconception about the influence. I just did a video addressing just this topic. Look for it to be posted soon!
This is some deep MOTU lore here, and actually that new Revelation show does address this sword splitting thing, which was in the comics and was canon. Cool they did a throwback to that.
Yeah that is one thing I liked about Revelations was they incorporated a lot of lore from way back in the day
I still have those storybooks. As a kid, I would read them every night.
I treasured mine too!
The mini comic stories were much cooler than the cartoon. I always went with then being more canon than the cartoon. But I made up a bunch of my own stuff for play as any kid should. Prince Adam's sword(magenta?) could be combined with Faker's sword(orange) since they were all the same molds just different color plastic. You could make four different versions of the Power Sword depending on which halves you combined. I wrote two pages listing the different powers and abilities each "power sword" had with the He-man/Skeletor version being most powerful and Prince Adam/Faker being least powerful. My friends thought I was crazy at first for spending so much time on it. But after reading it they all made copies of it so they could use it lol.
Maybe some of this will wind up in the origins line?
I remember having a HeMan handheld toy sword that came split, I'm pretty sure one side glowed in the dark
I don’t recall a glow in the dark one, but I am wrong all the time
I had the same. One half was the grey sword like the cartoon, other half was yellow and, yes, it did glow in the dark. I also had the Sword of Omens with the light up Eye of Thundara. Good memories!
Yep you are correct. I had it as well. It was awesome. I’ve tried to find one on eBay for a long time.
Yep, half silver, half glow-in-the-dark. it was excellent, but not as good as the Sword Of Omens with the light-up logo.
I had two of these swords as a kid. If I remember correctly they were released in conjunction with the 2nd cartoon... Which was actually titled He-Man and was set in the future
I still have the story book and my original He-man from 1982. I loved the story and the characters. I remember being very disappointed by the Filmation reboot. Reboots were not common back then. It ruined MOTU for me and I moved on other toy lines. Only warmed up to MOTU years later as a toy collector, sadly. Thank you for educating people on this rather forgotten aspect of MOTU.
What you described in this video was exactly how I played with my figures and Castle Greyskull. I loved MOTU before I saw the cartoon and my play was based on the origins and storylines in those mini-comics. It felt so good to combine those two halves of the sword and unlock the jawbridge for the first time on Christmas morning way back then. ♥️
Cool right? I kinda hoped Origins would bring this concept back
When I was a kid me and my neighbor played with the comic stories in mind, when the cartoon came out we liked it but thought the comics were the true story, in fact we never played with prince adam, in our mind he-man always had the power and it didn't come from grey skull. Most of the time we played with Skeletor controlling the castle and he-man used his battle axe more than the sword as it was just a key in our minds.
Hey any way we play with toys is the right way!
Seriously, who didn’t watch the video didn’t already know this?
*checking notes for first two series of mini comics*
Only Skeletor gets both halves of the power sword and enters the castle in the first series. The first time we see He-Man with his half is when he and Skeletor have to defeat Trap-Jaw in issue 2.4, “The Menace of Trap-Jaw”. The last time we se He-Man’s half is on pages 12 & 13, the later they actually duel, of 2.6, “The Magic Stealer.” I still don’t own “The Tale of Teela”, so I don’t know on that one.
From what I have seen in the comments, this channel gets both super MOTU fans and VERY casual fans. Some of my videos are aimed much more at the casual fan, or even the pop culture fan in general without much MOTU knowledge.
I didn’t know about the part about the flag and the swords thing though.
@@kilroywashere513 I actually forgot about it it's been 38 years since I had the greyskull set when I was a kid.
Well, it was an original idea that was quickly dropped from the line. It was sort of brought back in that Skeletor had a sword that could separate into two in the 2000 era relaunch. But it wasn't He-man's power sword.
@@cheeseburger12 Did you notice that the new HeMan toys almost resemble the old 1982 toy line? or are they Mattels version of the Vintage Collection that Hasbro has for Star Wars?
cool. I actually prefer the inferred toyline's story over what the He-Man cartoon established.
It does have a lot of merit.
I thought everyone preferred OG barbarian he man.
@@ddeleckijr I do for sure.
@@goldenage i need to find all the comics and golden books that lean heavily into the two halves being the key to greyskull. It was perfect.
@@ddeleckijr Dark Horse comics put out a really nice hard cover of all the mini comics in one collection. I want to say 5 years ago. It's amazing!
I think they may have borrowed from Blackstar, which was an earlier Saturday Morning Cartoon series created by the same people. The PowerStar was a mighty magical weapon that was split in two through unknown events, with Blackstar and the Overlord each possessing one half. Blackstar's weapon, the Star Sword, is able to absorb, store, and reflect any external form of energy, and is virtually indestructible. It can also produce blasts of pure energy capable of destroying a target
I've heard the Blackstar comparison made, but I think this may have been more of two ideas generated separately.
Actually, you're dealing with TWO different creators, Kenner (who made the toys) and Filmation (who made the TV show - and had made Blackstar just a year or two earlier).
One of the reasons, I think, Filmation didn't use the two-halves of the sword thing Kenner had created for the toys when Kenner tapped the to do the TV show, was because it was something of a rip-off of Filmation's Blackstar series from a year or two before. They were still, at the time, trying to get Blackstar back on TV and a toyline to go with it (they actually did get a toy-line, but never got Blackstar renewed). I think they intentionally didn't go with Kenner's story from the minicomics precisely because it was too similar to their Blackstar IP.
@@liljenborg2517 ah, very interesting. Filmation was notorious for using the same format, animation style, music and sound effects for many of their series. Since Blackstar came first, just an assumption that many ideas from that story line was transferred to The Masters of the Universe series.
Not about the swords but I remember He-Man riding a pink version of Warlock in one episode. As a kid I thought that was so cool
Even as a kid in the 1980s, I always thought that the half-sword idea was interesting and hated that Filmation abandoned that entirely. I also feel like Skeleton owning half of the power sword makes him a more credible threat.
It really does. The original concept does have a lot of merit
Filmation also overpowered He-Man a little bit. Even as a kid it bothered me that Skeletor never posed a real physical threat to He-Man. DC and Marvel do this to their characters, too. Way too powerful. There are probably a handful of characters in both companies that could actually withstand nuclear assault. Yawn.
Blackstar already did the two half sword thing in 1981.
"Every hero has his sword."
Thor: " *Hammer Time* "
Great video btw 💪
Point taken.
Had an argument with a friend over this a few years back, well not really an argument but he only remembered the Cartoon but didn't collect the figures while I had all the little mini-story books when I was young. He didn't believe me when I told him about the deal with the two swords. Now the flag, that I do not remember and that is another cool detail to rub in his face LOL Thanks!
Well now you can show him this video! It be true says I!
Ah yes, He-Man, my favourite Kingdom Hearts spin-off
Oh come on, we all now He-Man was a spin off of Happy Days like all other shows.
Oh come on, we all know Happy Days was a spin off of Shakespeare's works like all other stories.
Oh come on, He-Man is a rip off of King Arthur. Some magic lady giving him some magic sword. So original.
I knew that the sword was represented differently between the show and the mini comics, but I really don't ever remember questioning it as a kid. I remember more thinking I wish they made a gray sword opposite half that I could make He-Man's sword look whole and it annoyed me that if you put Skeletor's half in his right hand the "ugly" side of the sword faced out.
Yeah as a kid I never questioned it either. Interesting though when I was an adult and learned the full back story it made more sense.
@@spectorcreative1872 that is interesting. Because you are obviously no smarter than you were back then.
My parent gave me this castle as a Christmas Present from Santa one year as a kid.
That was the year I knew he wasn't real.
I saw them put it next to my bed at night, and thanked them the next day for it.
Well at least you had wonderful play memories!
Omg same thing happened to me, but I found it and all my presents in garage lol
That was the greatest Christmas for me as a kid. I got both castles and a load of other MOTU toys from various family members.
I didn't even watch he man yet this is so interesting. You really got a passion!
I have been very blessed with amazing opportunities to work on brands I love.
i would love to combine the two ideas. The He-man is actually an ancestor of prince Adam. Adam is his reincarnation and with the sword Adam is able to pull his ancestor into his present to fight his mortal enemy. So the story of He man in the comic are those prior to Adam being born with the filmention cartoon are the one after.
Hey not a bad take on the mythos at all!
Perhaps to expand it and tie in other stuff you could have the ancestor He Man be King Greyskull.
@@JSBrown303 so where does that leave He-Man?
@@domls1317 I don't know. Perhaps when Prince Adam pulls the ancestor into his present like the op suggested they have to combine (Greyskull sort of has to possess Adam in a sense) and the result is the He Man we know.
I'm just kind of spitballing here. I just thought it would be interesting if King Greyskull was the ancestor of Marveryn's idea since he is Adam's ancestor. Figured it would be an interesting tie in.
@@JSBrown303 King Grayskull kind of is He-Man.
Ah yes, my favourite kind of video, videos on a subject I know almost nothing about, but watch because it looks interesting.
Well glad you enjoy! Please do share with friends online, it helps the channel a ton
This smells of Blackstar. You know John Blackstar, with the power sword and the star sword becoming the powerstar.he
While it is similar, I don't think it was related. I'll do a video just on this as there has been so much interest
I had the original toys when I was a kid, and never new this aspect of it. Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed. Amazing how the concept was there in the toys, but from the story it was dropped pretty quick
People forget the golden books version and the Ladybird versions of witch I have both
I'll need to get to those too!
Great channel!
I recognized your voice after a few minutes because I used to work with with Bill and Terrence on your team at JAKKS and we all came to Mattel within months of each other.
Nice to see you using your powers for good!
Awesome! So glad you found the channel. Drop me a line if you want through Spectorcreative.com! Always great to catch up and keep the toy industry focused on "the good"!
@@spectorcreative1872 -Most Def!
I remember as a kid trying to pull out the little parapet floor and trying to clip the flagpole to the inside of it in order to show the other side of the flag. The flagpole only had a clip on one side, so you couldn't actually reverse the flag. It would be stuck in place. Eventually the sticker loosened and it could be reverse, but then it would just slide down the flagpole. Weird how these videos can bring back such vivid memories of when I was like, six years old. I love that you're continuing on with these.
Glad you are enjoying them! And yes, for a flag that was supposed to be reversible the clip only worked one way! Epic fail.
The original story ( before the cartoon ) was that He-Man’s strength did not come from the sword. He was already naturally the most powerful man on Eternia. The vest thingy ( given to him by the sorceress ) amplified his strength.
Yup. See this video: th-cam.com/video/hKeh_QN3b90/w-d-xo.html
I"d put that at a close # 2. But that is me
My He-man and Skeletor both came with the male connection piece on their swords so as a kid I had no idea they were supposed to connect and always wondered why they were sculpted to only half look like a sword.
Wow that is weird. The Skeletor was supposed to have the female half. I guess mistakes happen and look how that throws things off
@@spectorcreative1872 I think in some countries the swords was reverse version. I hear about reverse Skeletors sword before.
@@spectorcreative1872 It was in the UK so I'm not sure if all Skeletors released here were like it or if mine was just a one off mistake.
I would say that The Sword of Omens is a better known sword...and cooler looking.
Its a toss up
It by far is
Dude... He-Man may have some weird homoerotic undertones, but the sword of omens is literally wielded by a 13 year old in an adult body It's a one eyed sword that grows when things get exciting...
The jokes write themselves.
Bringing back some great memories with this one. I had forgotten about a lot of this, especially about the Sword/Key.
Crazy right!
There is no more iconic sword in all of pop culture...
Excalibur: hold my ale
Yes, but it does not have a clear visual
Not really pop culture
Mead
I have many heroes in life, but you, sir, are my new hero. This...was....awesome!
Nice to hear! Please do feel free to share these videos with others, it helps the channel a ton!
I like how everybody seems 2 forget that they stole certain aspects of a earlier cartoon "Blackstar" whereupon both the hero and villan also had halves of one sword......but no one talks about that cuz he was native american...
I don't really think the idea was stolen from Blackstar, especially as the MOTU series from Filmation came years later. But they are very similar I will give you that.
Blackstar was Native American? I don't remember that. I think you're getting him confused with Bravestarr who was definitely a Native American dude, in another Filmation cartoon. A very underrated cartoon if you ask me!
@@RedSiegfried John Blackstar was native american,it's wasn't a well known fact considering it the time it aired but it's true....
I was trying to think of the cartoons name thanks
@@RedSiegfried I like BraveStarr too.
30/30 is the shit.
So funny how He-man is just Adam with a tan and less clothes🤣
Animation is expensive!
This is the He-Man I remember...getting storylines from the mini comics instead of the cartoon.
Many people feel the same way
In the mini comic I recall Tri-clops saying Beast Man's pelt would look great hanging on a wall. Seems he had every intention of taking it until Skeletor stopped him. I miss being a kid.....
Scott , your vids are on the money. I miss your energy when you revealed a new toy. Glad you’re still a big part of the MOTU fan verse. Keep it up mate
Thank you much! Having a blast doing these and always open for feedback and topic suggestions
4:25 Men , this is Gorgeous
Glad you like!
Amazing, I remember having only two figurines of that playset and that was He-man and Skeletor, and I never knew their swords clicked together to form one. Imagine that!
And in doing so it was the key to the castle!
@@spectorcreative1872 But I never had the castle so I couldn't have known. :-)
I would say the Lightsaber is by far the most recognisable sword ever in pop culture, then maybe the Sword of Omens far behind and then He man's sword.
I'm into he man more but I feel the muscular figure and castle gay skull are more recognizable than the sword itself. Idk.
Not discounting the Lightsaber, I was talking more of an actual metal sword vs an energy blade.
Wel the Atlantian sword of Conan is most likely one of the more recognised swords from 80's cult movies.
Of course I can only speak for myself, but to me the sword is pivotal to He-Man and I can't see how anyone wouldn't know the sword if they know about He-Man.
The one thing that is stuck on peoples mind, and what people think of when they hear the name He-Man, is the Filmation transformation scene, and it's all about the sword. It's in focus for the whole sequence and it's made abundantly clear that it is very special.
I just can't see how you would know He-Man but not the iconic looking sword as well.
I just stumbled across this video- loved it! When I saw the parts with those original included “mini-comics”, it brought back so many memories. Things I hadn’t thought of since probably 1984! Thanks for the video- I really enjoyed it 🙂👍🏻
Delighted to hear you liked it! Tons more like it on this channel and any reposts of videos are most appreciated.
@@spectorcreative1872 Oh, you bet! I’m actually subscribing right now after watching a few more of your videos- About re-posting, I’m a bit computer-illiterate (a “neo-Luddite technophobe rube”, an old friend called me), so the only thing I know how to do is share videos with my wife- the only person I really still talk to- but I’ll certainly do that. Thanks again for your content!
Mer-Man's "ear of corn" sword almost worked as a key to the castle.
I wonder if it would work on the Classics playset?
I had the original castle and yes hemans sword was the key to the door of castle.
5:29 Skeletor has his lap covered with that robe, because he was literally so happy he finally got in Castle Grayskull, he had to hide his MASSIVE Purple... uh.... Bone...
lol, Skeletor, Bone...perfect. Then Teela saw what was going on and wanted to Climb his.... SNAKE MOUNTAIN!
Oh dear
No more iconic sword in pop culture? Uhm... Excalibur.
I was thinking that too. Actually, I think the lightsaber and Sword of Omens might be more iconic as well.
@@michaelpayton9164 The lightsaber might be more iconic, but it's a series of weapons, not a specific single particular weapon as the power sword is. As to the sort of omens? I'm pretty sure He-Man has Lin-O beat out there. (though I did prefer the Lord of The Thundercats to the Prince of the Eternia when I was a kid.)
Stormbringer
@@mrspeigel3593 That's a hammer, not a sword.
@@AustynSN wrong weapon the hammer is named after the Sword, Stormbringer the black blade, the OG daemon weapon and one of the most powerful pieces of personal equipment in fiction, welded by the eternal champion Elric
Skeletor's portal plan sounds like the plot of the modern she-ra.
I haven't seen the Netflix She-Ra show, but I don't doubt ideas get recycled.
I feel like there almost HAS to be some connection to the cartoon Blackstar, which featured a powerful magic sword, The PowerStar, that was split into two, each wielded by the hero and villain of the show, and which the villain always tried to possess by combining both together! The fact that Blackstar was also made by Filmation makes this being a coincidence unlikely...tho not impossible.
EDIT: Full eps of Blackstar are up on TH-cam, check `em out and let us know what you think! (and I see that the voice actor of Skeletor also voiced Blackstar's main villain, The Overlord! Hmmm...!)
Oh I am very familiar with Blackstarr and while it is possible the double sword influenced the designers of the 1982 line, I don't have any insight either way.
@@spectorcreative1872 Fair enough! Speaking of comic/storybooks, I swear I remember having a comic or picture book where Superman found himself in Eternia and Skeletor used his magic sword to control him into fighting He-Man...did I imagine this, or have you seen it too?
Hand -of-Omega DC Comics Presents 47 www.comics.org/issue/36483/ Then a few months later there was a free 16 page motu stand alone story inserted into various dc comics. And then a few months later a 3 issue mini series by DC. This was all pre filmation.
my cousin was a huge fan of the series and had almost every toy. i can say, with all confidence, that the swords did not clicked together. the mold used for both swords was exactly the same and the holes and inserts were in the same place. we were always puzzled what the purpose was for the swords to look unfinished and flat on one side.
Sometimes the swords may have been produced incorrectly.
I had both the swords and actually combined them together. The tab on one of the swords was just a small, curved, tab. I think your cousin had a production error, might be worth money.
@@d.l.9517 i hope he still has them...
@@spectorcreative1872 perhaps... he bought the first line that came up. i am sure they produced them in a hurry.
c'mon, lion from thundercat's sword is waaaaaaay more iconic than he-man's will ever be
Is it though? To mass people who are not toy and comic fans?
@@spectorcreative1872 I wouldn’t consider myself a toy/comic fan-I collect neither-and I remember the Sword of Omens pretty clearly. I didn’t even know He-Man’s sword had a name.
More people know of He-man and respectively more people know that the Sword of Power exists (knowledge of the existence of the Power Sword is increased by She-ra, but the Sword of Omens is more recognisable.
Thank you. I've been wondering about the half-swords for about 35 years.
And now you know! And knowing is half of the sword.
I had both He-Man and Skeletor as a kid and I didn't realize at the time the swords could fit together. It took the kid next door - a girl - to show me that.
Pretty much everything in life takes a woman to make things make sense.
Simp
She was used to inserting
So the girl next door showed you how to properly insert the sword into the hole? Makes sense. XD
i liked how they kind of retconned it later on, with there still being two swords but one sword now belonging to he-man and the other one belonging to she ra, granted her sword changing from the 'purple' sword to one similar to he man's but still being the "twin" sword for the twin heirs to Eternia.
I suppose that is a good way of playing it out!
One of the greatest villains ever!
Way more evil compared to the Hamburgler. .
Everybody's forgotten the Skeletor Arena, where he would put heros into fight. That was coolest one, with entrance, thorns, etc. Comic book that comes with Clawful is one just a bit about those tournaments.
Regarding the intro, Jack Sparrow's iconic weapon was arguably his flintlock.
True. But also not a sword
His jar of dirt.
I'd read years ago that He-Man started out as a completely different idea, and this just re-confirms it. Though I didn't know specifically about swords being part of Greyskull, so thank you for that.
OH yes his history is full of all sorts of changes. See this video here: th-cam.com/video/Ri3_1AZEQmc/w-d-xo.html
Lion-o’s sword is more iconic. Fight me!
Where? Behind the school yard or next to the ice cream shop?
@@spectorcreative1872 😂😂😂
I got your back
@@niccoloandretti5681 Hell yeah brother! We’ll practice karate in my garage beforehand! 😂
I still have a box of these action figured stored away. Loved them as a kid.
Worth playing with!
This is exactly how I played when I was a kid, Greyskull was always the thing we tried to take
It did work so well as a "way to play"
Aragon?
Yeeouch.
Also: Excalibur.
Yeah, I am in shame land.
I grew up in Hungary, we didn't have access to the cartoon series, we only got the mini-comics to build the setting for our games. There were also some German MotU magazines that helped, but those were a kinda strange mix of fantasy and weird horror.
I know Germany had audio plays too. Did you ever listen to those?
@@spectorcreative1872 Nope, but you've got the point, I think the magazines were done by the same team, so they might be worth checking out.
Thundercats Sword of Omens is more iconic than He-Man's sword.
With the general public, I'd put that at recognition level #2, but that is just my opinon
This was a small detail that carried over from Blackstar that Sword was split into two halves. In Blackstar one half John Blackstar's half was called the Star sword and Overlord's half was also called the Power sword.
Actually, this came well before Blackstar. See here: th-cam.com/video/jCI8WOomeaI/w-d-xo.html
Sword of omens being a close second.
Close second yes.
He-man and Lion-O need to fight to find out which sword 'shwings' better.
Big ups on the Wu bro.💯👐
@@SK4Madhi_Freal yes my fellow wu brethren. I see you there with the cappadonna logo.🙌
@@antfrancis9941 ive got loads of WU logos bro. This one my Fave. Wu4eva.💯👊💯👐
@@antfrancis9941 ive subd to ya bro. You got some sick playlists there my G.💯👊
Cool to see fans paying attention to the details. I admit I vaguely remember this stuff, but I cared enough to get myself a well done fan-made power sword years later. Thanks for the work and sharing this information.
You are most welcome. And thanks for taking the time to comment.
I had the castle greyskull playset with the trapdoor. Loved that set it was very cool
One of the best toys ever!
Gonna go with the master sword as the most recognizable sword in pop culture.
I really feel like there was a lot more play to be had with the original conception of castle Greyskull. I guess that’s the difference in toy makers and television producers.
From Zelda? While I am a fan, I don’t think the public at large would know that
The first time I saw MOTU come out with this (dual halves of the power sword" storyline, the first thing I thought of was the old Saturday Morning cartoon (also a Filmation production, I think?), Blackstar, where the hero Blackstar possessed half of a power sword (which was the name of his half), and the main enemy/villain possessed the other half, which was called the "star sword", and the two halves were said to be combined for ultimate power, and the warriors were constantly battling to get the other half from the other.
Check more out here:
th-cam.com/video/jCI8WOomeaI/w-d-xo.html
I remember having all this stuff as a kid. I also remember ignoring all of it. Taking all the figures and putting those little plastic football helmets on them and lining them up. And that's how the Greyskull Bowl was started.
The Grayskull Bowl? Awesome!
I was 4 when He-Man started and was enveloped by the cartoon. My reading comprehension wasn't very good at the time, so the written story in the mini comics were a little beyond me. I loved the art work on the packages and the mini comics, I appreciate the toy line story way more than the cartoon now. I really wish there was a way I could go back and replay that time in my life.
Memories and Time Travel are the best options.
You and me both, brother. I was born in '79, so around the same age. Magical time. Only way I can describe it.
I was born in the 78 so that's hapen to Me too my friend. You're not allone lol
I was born in '72 and I wholeheartedly agree, little boys had GREAT cartoons and toys back then. Kids these days seem to care very little for such things. They just want to be adults, while I wish I were a kid again
The locking mechanism on the original castle greyskull jawbridge was light grey (the same color as the weapons that came with the included weapons rack) not “yellowish orange” as stated in the video.
Point taken!
You got to love gimmicks, by getting both He-Man and Skeletor, it gave you both parts of the sword in order to unlock the main feature of Castle Grayskull. They still do that with today's figures, where you have to buy the whole set to create the villain. But back then it was a little more creative. I like the fact that it takes both parts of the sort of power to unlock the gate. Nowadays you just make a mold that has both parts together and you can just have the complete sword. I think I asked my parents were both figures because I wanted to unlock the castle myself. A friend got both figures and discovered by putting the swords together it unlock the gate. It took me two Christmases, but I did combine the swords. Of course by then, the Skeletor figure was on discount. I was a little bit of completionist, so I didn't care that it wasn't as popular anymore. I still have the toy set and all of the swords on a Shelf today. Sometimes I still play with them, considering that they are now loose toys. Of course I kept 1 set in the Box as a backup when they were on clearance, so if I ever broke the original set I was playing with. Luckily that never occurred. I just don't have the heart to get rid of them.
Nice! Yeah it is interesting how this forced one to collect em all!
*The only way to reconcile the introduction of Prince Adam in the minicomics,* with the older minicomics, is to state that Prince Adam is He-Man's alter ego in the minicomics, just like Clark Kent is Superman's alter ego. This is different from the cartoon, where Price Adam is the default setting, and He-Man is his alter ego. Thus, in the minicomics, He-Man's half of the Power sword, does not grant super strength, but allows the already super strong He-Man, to quickly discard his Prince Adam disguise. Also, in the minicomics, Prince Adam/He-Man must have been the adopted son of King Randor and Queen Marlena, as he is clearly shown to have originated from a barbarian tribe, and not as a royal family member. Before the introduction of Prince Adam in "Dragon's Gift" minicomic, we see He-Man sat at the dining table with the King and Queen in both "The Magic Stealer" and "The Ordeal of Man-E-faces". This could be the precursor to him being adopted as their son, in his disguised form as Adam. As a side note, the Queen seems totally unaware that Adam is He-Man, in "He-Man and the Insect People", yet King Randor must be aware of this fact, because He-Man calls him "Father" to his face in "The Search for Keldor". Thus, we can conclude that He-Man/Adam's relationship was closer with the King than with the Queen, leading up to him to being adopted as their son.
Always been a He-man fan and still have the original toys I got as a kid (although missing a LOT of pieces) and remember the swords being halves, but I never really knew why! I also vaguely remember the keyslot and flag of Greyskull, but didn't know their purpose either. I have no idea how I got the jawbridge open back in the day.
Glad you still have such great memories of this line! That is the most important
I still have my 80s Grayskull castle playset i can garantee that, even if the lock was made to be open by the combined swords, you could do the trick with only half of them if you wanted. Actually anything that was thin enough to get in the hole could open the draw bridge. Even the ordinary sword that came in the armory of the playset. But i dont remember if Mer-man sword could open the door. It was thicker than the other swords, and i dont remember if i ever tried. But i opened it with other things like paper clips and matches.
Oh yes, you didn't HAVE to have the swords. The power of a Q-tip or a finger often did the trick!
Nice Daredevil figure with castle grayskull
Good eyes!
The two sword concept was scrapped because of Blackstar. I thought Prince Adam was created by filmation? The timeline I'm familiar with is the toy came first the mini comic was created to help pitch the toy followed by the cartoon and the DC comic was last.
DC created Prince Adam, Filmation made him famous
@@spectorcreative1872 thanks I didn't realize
Skeletor's sword in the 2002 series was a reference to this as the original story in that series is that skeletor got both half of the power sword so duncan and the sorceress had to create a new power sword for he man so he could transform, they changed it before the show came out as a reboot instead of a sequel
Yup. But that reference went away and Mattel went with a different direction. It was a cool nod though!
Congratulations you made me look at the door on my castle grayskull. It was in the open position. Lol
Made you look.
@@spectorcreative1872 yes you did.