“NYEEAAAHHHHHH!”
– Skeletor
Ever wanted to pretend you were a campy, 80’s mess of advertising to children with killer biceps and just as killer theme song? Then look no farther than He-Man & The Masters Of The Universe!
This shit was the bomb back in the day, although I don’t think anyone really took him seriously. I mean, he had a goddamn cowardly lion as a companion and his main rival is a skeleton with…muscles? God, that’s confusing.
But of course in the 80s, every cartoon needed to capitalise on the toys market. Although technically the toys came first, they only were fully marketed once the cartoon was in production.
Now these figures were revised many times and were so plentiful, and a few were simple toys with a movable waist and joints. Though, many had some interesting feature. Such as the Battle Armour He-Man and Battle Armour Skeletor, where you could change the damage they’ve taken with a small wheel in their chest.
There were figures with spring-loaded guns, climbing hooks, one covered in fake moss, one that actually smells weird, a slime pit, even one that doubled as a water spray…wait what?
Seriously, this franchise has such a large, weird and interesting variety of characters that you could create endless stories with them.
Which is exactly what they wanted you to do.
See, ever since the 60s, young boys were encouraged through advertising primarily on television (as it truly hit the mainstream and became accessible in this period) to play with action figures. Clearly created as a direct response to dolls that were marketed towards young girls, these figures helped mould the modern stereotype of a young boy’s obsession with dinosaurs, superheroes, monsters, and all that stuff that (unfortunately) is engraved in the minds of young boys from infancy. But I digress.
Mattel was very much at the forefront of all this (along with competitor Hasbro) with their lines of DC superheroes, and they capitalised on the hero scene.
Also, they did the Back To The Future hoverboard. Neat.
But the freedom young boys got to express themselves and let their imaginations run wild was truly great. It encouraged them to create virtual worlds. You could do anything you wanted! Make He-Man betray his friends. Spray Battle Cat with Orange Juice and have him die cause he’s allergic. Make Beastman make out with Skeletor-
…only me? Okay.
What made He-Man enjoyable and ultimately timeless, is that the world was only limited by your imagination (and by some extension, your parent’s wallets). These days, the culture has seemed to die down a little bit. With the rise of video games, action figures haven’t been as prevalent in our culture, but the heart continues to live on. Especially in open-world and sandbox video games.
Think about how in Minecraft you can create your own story, and even share it with the world. How in The Sims you create lives for your Sims. Choose your own way to play. Let your mind run free with possibility.
To end off, I have a quote from the series that summarises this whole blog post simply and concisely. And it’s a quote from He-Man himself.
“And I cry sometimes when I’m lying in bed.
Just to get it all out- what’s in my head.
And I’m feeling a little peculi-
wait no thats the internet meme dont worry guys lmao
AARDWOLFF 