
I was HUGE fan of He-Man! I had almost all of the figures. My friends 


and I loved them. Here are a few random thoughts --



He-Man: Was always the leader of all our fights. We had an army,


and it was called "He-Man Force", even though we used GI Joes and


even Ninja Turtles and stuff like that. One of the major "battles"


was whether or not to change the name; I actually paid someone


a dollar to let me keep the name.


Recently, I took out all of my old He-Man toys, and


set them up in my room. I have so much stuff! We also had a new battle,


between the archnemeses of Skeletor and He-Man.



Skelator: One of the best villians; ranks right up there with Darth


Vader, IMHO. We used to pretend that his Havok Staff gave him weird


sorcerer powers.


We had Skeletor give his armor to He-Man, as a way to show that he was


truly a penitent sinner. This made He-Man trust him enough to allow him


to study with the Sorceress the secrets of Castle Grayskull. Of course, that


wily Skeletor was just pretending to be good, and used the opportunity to


take over Castle Grayskull.



Teela: We lost her helmet and stuff really quickly. As we got older


and crasser, she lost some of her . . . feminine qualities, shall


we say.



Man-At-Arms: Called "Duncan" on the show; we always made him act pissed


off if someone called him that. Instead of being a great inventor, like


on the show, we had him be more like a sergeant; it seemed the figure


was more suited for that.



Orko: We made him a much more powerful magician than he was on the actual


show; if only because his role on the show was so weak. The coolest


thing about Orko, of course, was his ripcord spinning ability.



Two-Bad: A really cool character-- maybe! We always used to make him


punch himself in the head. It was cool, because you could pull


off one of his heads, and it would go back on.



Faker: He lost both his legs, and I believe we made him chef of He-Man


Force (that's what all the legless/headless figures did-- cook). Nowhere


near as cool as He-Man himself.


In our recent story, we had Faker pilot the Talon Fighter with Two-Bad, and 


they attacked He-Man Force base from the air.



Ram-Man: Was awesome; We used to set him up on top of Castle Grayskull


and shoot him off with that tank that worked with the Sky Sled.



Mer-Man: Since we didn't have any sea creatures, his power couldn't


be used too well. Also, our Mer-Man was broken a little. He had a cool


sword, but it didn't really fit in his hand!


We gave Mer-Man Klawful's armor, which means he was EASILY twice as powerful!



Beast-Man: We had 2 Beast-Man figures. We let him get beat up, although


occassionally one of my friends would make him into a berserker type character


and he'd beat everyone up.


Interestingly enough, we used the new knowledge Skeletor gained from Grayskull


and had him use it to make Beast-Man MUCH more powerful.



Try-Clops: He was OK; we used his eyeballs to designate what emotion he was


feeling. The coolest thing about him was, obviously, his vest.



Evil-Lyn: Skeletor's wife, and more - much much more.



Mechaneck: The sole purpose of the Mechaneck figure was to jerk his


legs around and use his head for a battering ram. He had a cool club


weapon, though.



Extendar: Another cool one; we used to pretend that when he was extended,


he was "invincible". We had Hordak take Extendar and shove him into the


Horde Lair's jail.



Hordak: The Horde was just OK; you better believe we had the Pit, or


whatever it was called. Hordak's bat was cool.



Grizzlor-- In the comic he came with, he was suppossed to be scared by his own


mirror image. I didn't think that concept was too cool; but we went along with


it for a few battles.



Man-E-Faces: I really liked Man-E-Faces; I bought a second figure when our


first one broke. He was so cool, that we rarely used him in battle-- h


just kind of chilled during fights.



Snout-Spout: He was suppossed to be a firefighter; if there was a fire


on He-Man Force base, we'd have him put it out-- but more often


we pretended he was the "Elephant Man" John Merrick. We also


used the Star Wars figure Ree-Yees for this purpose.


Our Snout Spout has a broken head, so we have figures punch it RIGHT OFF


HIS BODY!



King Hiss: The snake figures were cool, but they all had that same snake


staff weapon (kind of like how the Horde all had the same crossbow). King


Hiss was awesome, though-- until you lost his armor!



Rattlor: The snake figures were king of gimmick-y; I thought Rattlor


was cool, though-- we'd make him "strike" people.



Tung Lashor: Another awesome guy; We'd have him lick Teela to "French


Kiss" her.



Fisto-- My brother really liked Fisto; in the cartoon and books he


was just OK, though. If his fist swinging action broke, it sucked.



Jitsu-- Cooler than Fisto, IMHO, because his karate chop hand was more


like real gold.



Ninjor-- not nearly as cool as Jitsu; it seemed that Mattel just


couldn't capitalize on the ninja craze. We had an elite ninja


team on He-Man Force, mad up of the TMNT, Ninjor, Fisto, Snake


Eyes from GI Joe, etc.



SSSqueeze-- We's pull his arm back and forth, often making one "long" arm


in order to allow him to "strangle" victims.



Roboto-- THIS was a cool figure; I thought-- but, naturally, we lost


his arm pieces. He was cool because you could see the gears working inside


him.



Mosquitor-- A Horde figure; I thought he was neat because you could see


the "blood" flowing through his body.



Sorceress-- From the show. She was pretty cool; We would have


her fly behind our backs on one side, and bring out Zoar on the other


side-- cool trick, eh?


Can you believe Sorceress was stupid enough to fall for Skeletor's trick with


the vest?



Battle Cat-- One of the coolest toys ever made. Never mind that he


wasn't poseable-- just a FIEROCIOUS toy!



Panthor-- Not as cool as Battle Cat, but he DID have fur.



Screech-- Skeletor'd pet; just OK.



Zoar-- a great toy, which came out before Sorceress. Naturally, neither


Zoar or Screech could stay on those damn posts!



Rio Blast-- actually one of my brother's favorites. In the little comic


book, he was famous for making great chili. He did this for us,


and also was a sharpshooter.



Snake Face-- a gross figure, but still cool-- although the red things


coming out of his face were NOT snakes, no matter what you say! =)



Stonedar-- kind of wussy in the comics; we had him be an old sage


kind of character.



Rokkon-- cooler than Stonedar, not because he wanted to fight (BTW, if


Stonedar didn't want to fight, why did he have that gun?), but because


he was shinier. Still, when he transformed, everyone knew he wasn't really


a rock.



Buzz Off-- The Bee figure; his arm broke off early on. I wish I had saved


the warranty! His weapon never stayed on, and always slipped down to his


wrist.



Stinkor-- A Mer-Man ripoff; we always used to say that his "farts" were


deadly (juvenile, yes, but no end of fun to us).



Moss Man-- A Beast Man ripoff that smelled like Pine-Sol. We had him


be a big-time environmental type.


We had Moss Man and Stinkor square off in a big battle of the scented action


figures.



Leech-- a Horde figure; pretty cool-- If you worked at it,


you could make him stick on the refrigerator.



Whiplash: he was pretty cool-- we got him at the same time as Buzz-Off.


We sometimes had him be a torturer, but most of the time had other


figures kick his ass because that's what happened on the TV show.



Dragstor: A REALLY cool figure. He had a ripcord that you would pull, and


then you would put him on the floor to race. But, what we used him for was


this: we'd pull the ripcord, and put the rapidly spinning wheel on someone's


skin for a friction burn. I think this toy was recalled.



Stratos: An obvious omission from my previous post. My grandmother got


this one for us. She said it was the only one on the shelves, and she'd had


to kind of sneak away with it because it was Christmastime, and people


basically were jumping on one another for this toy. He could fly, if


you threw him across the room.



Webstor: An unbelievable guy. He vame with a backpack that had a hook


attached to a string. You could put the hook on a door and pull the


string to make Webstor climb! Our Webstor lost both his legs. Come to


think of it, most of our toys were handicapped in one way or another!



Trap-Jaw: How could I have forgotten this? He was a great original figure--


our figure lost the stiffness in the jaw and head, and we could shake him


to make his head sway in a nervous tic.



Kobra Khan: One of three water-squirting figures; he was the first. We


lost our first copy of him, and the second one broke. We used him


as cannon fodder for the tougher He-Man figures.



Gwildor: From the movie. He came with the Cosmic Key, which is a good


thing, because otherwise he REALLY sucked. Everyone on He-Man force


took turns kicking his ass one day. That was a fun day.



Blade: also from the movie. He was cool because: if you poised his


sword at the edge of his fist, you could pull it back and make it


fly out at someone. You know, Mattel didn't really test their toys too


well, did they.



Sauron: also from the movie. If you pushed a lever on his back, sparks would


come out of his mouth. I thought this was pretty neat. If you did it


long enough, you could smell burning metal. It's too bad he died after


like five minutes in the movie.



Modulok: One of the Horde's 2 take-apart figures; after playing with


him for a month we lost most of the parts, and kind of gave up on him.



Mechalok: Just like Modulok, only came with "robot" parts instead.



Exploding Horde Guard: We did not actually have this, but essentially


it was one of the Horde guards from the She-Ra TV show.



King Randor: We didn't have him either. We always wanted him, though.


They DID make a figure for him.



Prince Adam: This was the figure everyone had, and everyone used as


a punching bag. Let's face it-- he was no He-Man.


In our recent adventure, we has Skeletor use his new-found knowledge to steal


the Power of Grayskull from He-Man, so that he had to lead the troops as


Prince Adam.



Stilt Stalkers: This was a fairly uncommon accessory for He-Man. You


were suppossed to be able to make the figures stand on the stilts.


Good luck!



Weapons Accessory: This was a bunch of extra weapons. It also came with


an extra Beast-Man plastic fur necklace-- which was a damn good


thing, because you needed a LOT of these.



Zodac: One of the earliest figures. In the TV show, he was like an evil


magician or something. He was only in like one episode. We used him


as cannon fodder, although one day we had him take over He-Man


force base. Actually, just about all the figures took over He-Man


force base once in their lifetimes, and then the other figures would


rebel and get rid of the leader. He-Man always gave everyone a Second


Chance (we actually had a rule called the Second Chance Rule), because


otherwise He-Man Force would run out of soldiers.



Klawful: He had a lobster-claw arm that wasn't good for much. He was a cool


figure, though. One of the cool things about He-Man figures was


that you could take off their arms and put them on another figure.


We would sometimes give He-Man Klawful's arm.



Spikor: He had a body covered in spiky armor. He also had an arm called


his "trident arm", which was like a weapon. Not that useful, though.



Psyclone: He had a little knob on his waist that, when spun, allowed him


to "knock down evil foes with a whirling cyclone". He had removable


headbands, legbands, and wristbands, and of course we removed them.



Clamp Champ: We got this one because he was the only black He-Man figure.


He came with a clamp/claw weapon that was actually pretty cool.



Roton-- a black thing with a red rotating wheel. It, like most of the


He-Man vehicles, only seated one figure. It was cool because you could


turn it over sideways and run over people.



Dragon Walker-- Probably the coolest toy ever built. You could fit


a guy in the seat. What was the Dragon Walker's greatest ability? IT


COULD PASS ANY ABYSS!!!! Wow. He-Man engineering sure had something


going for them. This was cool, though. Unfortunately, if you put


batteries in it, and turned it on without proper supervision, you


knew it was eventually going to fall all the way down the stairs.



Sky Sled-- part of a tank-like contraption that seated three figures.


You could put one guy in the Sky Sled, one guy on top of the tank, and


one guy, a contortionist, would cling to the back. I don't know why


Mattel decided to put those hand grips on the back of the Sky Sled. Were


they sadistic or what? The coolest thing about this was, of course, when


you put Ram-Man on top of Castle Grayskull and shot him off with the tank's


cannon.



Battle Bones: Quite possibly the most useless toy ever made. Let's face it:


if He-Man and crew went into battle with the Battle Bones, they'd get their


asses kicked. The worst part was that the box showed both good and evil


He-Man guys riding the Battle Bones. Like that would ever happen. The Battle


Bones' ribcage pieces broke really easily, as did its legs and jaws. I guess


part of that is because my brother and I would smash figures into the Battle


Bones at such high speeds.



Attack Trak: This was a red vehicle with blue tank treads. It was really cool.


When it stopped working, my brother and I used it for a "super bomb". That


means we threw it at the other He-Man toys, who would then have to run in fear


of the "Super Bomb". I guess I wish we had taken better car of our toys.



Mantisaur: This was a Horde vehicle shaped like a praying mantis. When its


legs broke off, it sucked. It was pretty cool, though-- it had a gun that fit


right into its butt. Now, wouldn't that come in handy!



Spidor: Apparantly, Mattel believed that every boy wanted lots of toys that


had legs that would break off and become useless. At any rate, they sure


marketed a lot of them. Spidor walked pretty well, until one of its legs


fell off, when it would writhe around the ground in a funny, drunken


stupor.



Bashasaurus: This vehicle had a button on its back that, when pressed, allowed


a big, deadly bashing ball to annihilate any enemies. It was cool. One day, my


brother and I had the idea that the Bashasaurus should take over all


of He-Man Force base. That was a fun day.



Land Shark: Obviously, a rip-off of Saturday Night Live. This was cool:


Do you guys remember the song from the commercial? It went: "Land Shark,


Land Shark, Mighty Land Shark, Mighty Warrior, Mighty Vehicle-- Land


Shark!" It was pretty awesome. You could make the Land Shark "eat"


other enemies. Also, it had a removable engine cover, so there.



Stridor: This was meant to be Fisto's horse. He had a red thing to cover


his eyes, and it's a minor miracle that my brother and I have not lost


this.



Night Stalker: Built from the exact same mold as Stridor, but no helmet


thing. Stupid cheap Mattel bastards.



Wind Raider: This came with a grappling hook/anchor/thing that easily


got pulled offf the first day you got it by your younger brother. It was


a classic vehicle, and pretty awesome.



There are so many He-Man vehicles that I just don't remember the names


of. For example, what was that one where you pushed down on it,


and it zoomed forward? It had guns that the figures could use. Also,


what was the name of the Laser-Tag thing where He-Man had a little


plane that shot like an infrared beam or something? And, what was the


name of that Dragonfly thing?






Castle Grayskull: One of the best toys ever, and I mean EVER,


created. This things was incredible. Where to begin? Let's start with


outward appearance. The thing looked classic. The coarsely carved stone


blocks making up the edifice, the towers, and, of course, the elaborate


carved skull in the fornt. Remember the "Jaw Bridge"? The mouth of


Castle Grayskull opened up when it was unlocked by He-Man's Power Sword.


Inside the castle were even more awesome features. The sticker of the


beasts trapped in the dungeon is cool. Castle Grayskull came with a weapons


rack and a bunch of weapons. This, as well as a kind of booby trap


which was a pigs' head on one end of a pole and a lever on the other


that fit horizontally on a stand, and could be used to knock over


enemies, sat on the floor of Castle Grayskull. The second floor was


also awesome. One section had a trap door which was activated by turning


the throne which came with the Castle. The other section could also


be used for displayong accessories. The Castle Grayskull could be closed


for display and easy transportation. When closed, you could set up the


laser gun on one turret, and the Talon Fighter (see below) on another turret.


Some of my and my brother's best scenarios took place in Castle Grayskull.


For example, we'd have a bad guy take it over, and then have He-Man do


a flying kick or something to take out the entire castle! The Castle Grayskull


played a large role in the cartoon, too.



Talon Fighter and Point Dread: The Talon Fighter was a winged vehicle


that looked almost exactly like a bird. One wonders at the level


of safety technology at the time of He-Man, because the sticker fitting


inside the Talon Fighter depicts an axe, a first-aid kit (complete


with red cross), a fire extinguisher, a set of socket wrenches, etc. The


coolest thing about the Talon Fighter was that it came with Point Dread.


Point Dread consisted of two pieces: one, the upper part, had a "roost"


for the Talon Fighter to sit on, which could FIT ON TOP OF CASTLE


GRAYSKULL!!! I don't remember reading about this feature on the box


of the Talon Fighter, and recall that my brother and I tried to


do this of our own volition. At any rate, it's really cool to do.


The bottom half of Point Dread we always used for a bunker, and


also the top part of Point Dread fit on this, making a cool castle


scene.



Snake Mountain: Cool. Cool. Cool. Snake Mountain is AWESOME. Let's see


if I can remember everything. The front of it had a weird demon face,


not as daunting as Grayskull, but you could work a lever in back to


make the demon's mouth move. Snake Mountain also had a trap door,


slightly different from Grayskull's. It was located on top of the


Mountain, near a doorway (which doubled as a handle when Snake Mountain


was shut) with a door having a wolf's head on it. You put a figure


on the trap door, turned a lever, and Whammo! The figure was gone.


Whammo! I felt that needed to be said twice. Near the door was a snake,


also moved by a lever. We called this the Snake Of Snake Mountain. Do


we get points for creativity? We had the snake "sic" guys before they


fell into the trap door. Also on Snake Mountain was


a little access tunnel from the outside to the inside. But, of course, the


COOLEST part of Snake Mountain was the Wolf Microphone. This


was a wolf's head with a long neck, attached to a speaker/amplifier.


You talked into the wolf's head, and your voice came out all hollow.


the best thing about this, was that even without batteries it still


worked fairly well. "HE-MAN! I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ASS!" was an often-


heard phrase at the Hebert mansion (and maybe still is, for all I know:


I'm in college). The inside of Snake Mountain was cool. There


was an alligator sticker on the floor, and I _believe_ a net


to catch guys who fell through the trap door. Anyone want to clarify this?



Horde Lair: This came out along with the entire Horde series. It was pretty


cool. It wasn't as portable as Castle Grayskull and Snake Mountain,


though. It had, on one side, a "jail" that could fit exactly one figure


and he could be released by a little orange lever. What did Hordak do if


he had more than one prisoner? Why, stick him in the branches of an Evil


Tree, naturally. The Evil Tree had to levers in back so you could make the


tree shake people. At least, that's what we used it for. The other


side of the Horde Lair was dominated by a tunnel for the Horde Beast, a


latex hand puppet that you could fill with water. This was neat. The floor


of the Horde Lair had a little trap door, biting jaw thing. It was just OK.


Overall, the Horde Lair was pretty neat, but no Castle Grayskull.



Slime Pit: OK, who begged their mom for one of these? In a word: incredible.


I don't know why Mattel stopped making He-Man figures and things: the


Slime Pit showed that they had a lot of creativity. The Slime Pit has


been one of the most copied toy ideas in the industry. It was basically


built like a pit, with a wall in back. A figure would stand in the Pit,


held in place by a dinosaur's fossilized arm. They wold be pressed against


the back of the pit, and slime would ooze out on top of them through the


jaw of a dinosaur's fossilized skull. Awesome, awesome, awesome. It


was fun to play with, and a whole lot better way to keep a figure


locked up than a conventional jail. The only setback was that the slime


quickly hardened, and then smelled absolutely disgusting.



Eternia Playset: I WANTED one of these, but never got it. From what I


ccan remember, it was gigantic. It had three towers connected by a monorail


system, and a lion's head was on it somewhere. It had guns, too. I would


have killed for one of these.


This is the best part. A few weeks ago, my brother and I were shopping at tag


sales. When we got to one yard, both of our jaws dropped. There, among a big


pile of useless plastic, was the object of our desires. ETERNIA. The lion


castle, the mini-Grayskull castle, the mini-Snake Mountain castle, the monorail,


the elevator-- everything. It was great. AND, I only paid five bucks for it 


(the guy also threw in an extra Dragon Walker, Battlebones, Battle Cat, Baroness


figure from GIJOE, a GIJOE gun, and a few other toys). It was fantastic.


