This is my non-official, non-commercial site about the beloved Masters of the Universe. My intention is to spread and share my enthusiasm about this fantastic toy line that accompanied my childhood.
Hefarts goes online today! You will find fan art in written and drawn form about an almost 40 years old toy line that has influenced a whole generation of kids around the globe. My focus is on the original toys and the cartoon from the 80s. This blog will also document my development as an artist, beginning from absolute beginner. How did I start drawing? Read my story here!
For serious investigation on the history of He-Man, his relationship to Conan the Barbar and Big Jim, there’s plenty out there e.g. here. For all the newer lines like MOTU classics, 2002, and the new coming MOTU Revelations find information here! The Wikipedia article is also very informative.
The second 80s toy line and cartoon with high impact on me is MASK, the Mobile Armed Strike Command. I have lots of ideas for fanart around Matt Trekker and the others too!
The original Leech toy from the 80s was never my favourite, but I always liked it. It might have been the enormous size, or the dark green color in combination with the red Horde symbol, and the orange rings around what must be the leeches wrists.
Mattel gave Leech a unique body, like Two-Bad, Extendar, Grizzlor, Mantenna and some others. The huge round feet make a stable stand, though my Leech had always a bit wobbly legs. The photo is taken under uv light, and the worn off area in his inner legs fluorescent pretty strong for some reason. His arms are strong, but his muscles not as defined as the more human figures, they kind of remind me of Bud Spencer. His hands are real working suction cups! In the 80s She-Ra: Princess of Power series Leech would use these hands to drain energy from enemies by holding their head between the hands. On the original box, Leech holds Man-at-Arm up, using his mouth, not his hands. It says ‘Leech sucks the power from his enemies ‘. Because neither the hands, nor the mouth of the toy were made to hold another figure, it never really worked for me that he sucks energy. The mouth was a more sophisticated suction cup. It was flat, painted teeth on it, with a soft seal, the lips around it. A button on the back allowed us to pump a vacuum, when you pressed Leech against a flat surface. That worked well on glass, you could hang the heavy green horde member for some seconds. The hands wouldn’t hold him.
For the longest time I thought the flat mouth of the toy would be a compromise for the production. In fact the toy looks more like a leech than the more reptile-like cartoon version. Too bad I haven’t had a close-up of a real leech in the 80s! Making a leech one of the bulkiest members of the universe, with strong arms and legs, that’s what I love MOTU for!
It is the only green horde member, but he’s in good, green company. Mossman, Whiplash, Merman, Triclops, Man-at-Arms, Kobra Khan, and King Hiss are all very green.
Quality wise Leech is a great toy without flaws. The rubber is very durable, and the color rock solid. There’s a tiny bit of black mold on his hands, that’s it.
Man-at-Arms’ brother is kind of a permanent No 2. A bit younger, a bit less skilled, and and and. To all overflow, he is wearing a fist made by his brother since he had that stupid accident in the factory.
But he is strong as three horses, has the iron amboss punch, is fearless and brave.
Blast Attak one the other side is a mystery who doesn’t belong anywhere. Sometimes fighting for the Snakemen, sometimes with Skeletor, and often enough doing his own thing, whatever that is. What is confirmed: he is a ticking bomb. Scans brought an image of enough explosives to destroy a castle and the village around it too. But what is the trigger? Who has the red button on his desk? No one can, or is willing to answer. And the heroes never got the chance to take him out. Even without the bomb thing, Blast Attak is a proven sniper, fighter and survivor.
So is this fight his stage to blow up Eternia? Is Fisto the perfect hero to punch the bomb?
Blast Attak vs. Fisto, 30 points, 2.1m, 150kg vs 33 points, 1.8m, 100kg.
Round 1: Fisto is too smart to just hammer-fist-bump this bomb, isn’t he? Ok he is waiting, that’s a good sign. Blast Attak is active, walking around, murmuring, observing. Like a maniac, a scary stranger with a well known secret.
Then he makes a move. He activated a grid of green laser, covering the whole fighting area. We have never seen that before! Fisto doesn’t move. Is that the trigger? Blast Attak comes closer, no sign of fighting, no attack. The laser grid moves around him as he walks. What the hell? Fisto is overwhelmed, by the little knowledge he has about this guy and by the scenery he creates. Only 2m distance now. Another tool, a stick, no, four, standing straight. He places them in a square around Fisto, who is in a weird cage like set up now. The bomb man starts smiling devilish as a huge iron fist hits his head and knocks him out. No explosion, no further happenings. Still mysterious though. Fisto knocks and wins.
When I got this idea, I had to draw it immediately, because it fits so well. The famous and beautiful Russian dolls are a great way to display all three faces of Man-E-Faces. His strange helmet has just the right voluminous shape to make him a doll. Let’s hope for him that the human part is the biggest one! MOTU’s Man-E-Faces as Russian dolls.
This project was a good chance to use some tools. I used the symmetry tool from Sketchbook. The line prediction caused some effect I think is beneficial, it simply rounded the corners. I also finally learned to copy and paste objects. It’s a while ago that I drew it, but it will always be one of my favourite drawings.
Triclops is maybe the least evil looking villain in Eternia. In fact I would sometimes call him three-eyed Heman. The entire body is just a slightly different colored Heman, he’s more tanned, but a bit grayish. Many figures use this full-muscle-with-straight-fingers shape: Man at arms, King Randor, Mekaneck, Prince Adam and Faker. Triclops’ color variation is just darker boots and pants compared to Heman. The straight fingers were always an indication for the side the MOTU character was fighting for. Evil warriors with straight fingers are rare: I can only think of Faker. Things weren’t 100% thought-through in the 80s I guess, so I wouldn’t interpret too much into that hand.
Triclops’ head makes the difference, and a well-done difference it is. A rotating ring instead of eyes is a proper science fiction feature. They managed to make it look kind of natural, without the cheap 80s robot design. The fact that Triclops’ color is a natural looking green avoids any confusion with an Android. 80s MOTU toys had a much higher level of quality than other action figures, and Triclops is a good example. His face is rich in details, even though the eye-ring covers most of it. His three eyes are not only printed on, or even stickers. They are embroidered, and colored. The color lasts until today, and the whole ring rotates without any problems. Well done guys!
Triclops’ harnish looks very tribal, as if he’s from a group of people from a savanna or rainforest. It is made from elastic, durable plastic that lasts till now.
I can’t remember any original story being told about his background. His box said that one eye is for day, one for night, and one to look around corners. And all three are to spy for Skeletor. Mattel really left us room for fantasy. On the other hand they produced such great material for stories, and just left it blank. Find my version in the titfortat tournament!
Triclops’ sword is very different from Hemans. It is green, very narrow, and soft. It bent easily, and looked a bit funny when it pointed to the side. There is a holder on his back, which worked well. He hasn’t had any other weapon, but he had a glowing-in-the-dark ring. The ring was big enough to fit his arm, or a child’s finger. It had a secret compartment, and a black scull printed on it. A skull with three horns, that doesn’t resemble any other symbol of MOTU. So almost 40 years later I found a video on YouTube, explaining that so-called warrior ring. We haven’t had Trapjaw, otherwise we would have had two rings. The ring was meant to be for fan club members, but in the end was just for everyone who bought the right figure.
Ever wondered why Jitsu has the massive, golden hand?
And why he is not a renowned martial artist as Ninjor is? Why he cannot sneak like Ninjor? Isn’t he reduced to his golden hand now? What happened? Here’s hefarts version.
Years ago, when Jitsu was an independent master of martial arts, and by the way Ninjors master as well, he was an adventurer. Travelling Eternia, seeing it’s wonders and meeting the people and creatures, was living his dream. An accident involving a giant crocodile-monster-man, ended not only his tour, but also his beloved martial arts, and the harmonic live he lived. He was curious, he loved nature, and he’d never seen a swamp before.
It was, one more time, Skeletor to so-called repair a broken man, and take his life in exchange for that.
Chance for Jitsu now to take revenge on Whiplash, the crocodile monster that bite off his hand!
Human fighter, 1.8m, 100kg, 31 points, meets 28 points for 300kg crocodile-human, 2.6m high.
Ding ding ding: Whiplash stays still, waiting for the right moment to attack. All eyes on Jitsu’s golden hand, that destroyedso many lives before. He lost quiete some agility due that heavy hand, but he has unbelievable strength in his arms.
How to attack such a huge monster, able to strike deadly within tens of a second? Look at that! Whiplash is mean! Starring at Jitsu’s other hand starts the action here. Freaking out is the right term here! The crocodile is provoking Jitsu, his eyes say “Let me eat your other hand!”
Swinging his golden hand like an axe, Jitsu lands some solid punches on the monster. But it shows no reaction! Seems to not even feel a thing! Then the counter: An incredible fast whip with his massive tail towards Jitsu, who manages to jump high enough to elude. He is able to get another punch landed on Whiplash’s back, and that has in impact! Now the green beast is in rage, snapping after him, following him… and eventually getting tired! Jitsu must have hit the right spot to get Whiplash in the offense. That was his luck, the green evil did not seem to be bothered by the golden hand.
The rest of the story is that of a master of martial arts using his experience to win this fight against a giant, tired Whiplash. Revenge done.
The horde trooper is a very controversial character to me. I’m a huge fan of the evil horde, and I have many good memories of the 80s cartoons. But, the horde trooper is none of the real MOTU characters. It’s a soldier from mass production, more or less a walking bucket with no strength except for the shear number Hordak produced them. As a toy, it didn’t make sense, if you haven’t had dozens of them.
So all my childhood this figure was a gap filler unfortunately. And it’s quality didn’t help.
My problem was, or his problem was the instable flap. The Hordak-embodied button was cool, but the mechanism was not stable, so that the lid would open uncontrolled. You lift an arm, an the flap drops. Turn the head, drop.
Apart from that issue this figure is a cool looking toy. It has a fierce face, and a nice combination of pale grey, red and black. Other grey figures are few, Hordak and Stratos basically.
In terms of aging the Horde trooper is pretty good. Mine shows some yellowing on the legs, and the button made of soft rubber looks a bit worn off, but otherwise the material is pretty stable.
The grumpy, selfish, but also kind of self-confident 80s cartoon-cat Garfield had a very different relationship to his hooman John compared to Cringer and Prince Adam. While John was a truly innocent guy, who was more or less abused by Garfield, Adam with his two identities had full control over Cringer. I would say both John and Cringer were poor creatures under the control of a strong character.
As well as the crossover of roles worked in this sketch, the crossover of both cartoons has worked out well too. I managed to draw a warm back-light, suggesting a cozy TV evening. Both Warfield and Adam seem very happy and peaceful. Adams boots were replaced by slippers, and the pink sword is unnecessary. I guess they might transform to He-man and Battle cat to go for more-action activities?
Hefart’s titfortat goes into the next round! MOTU Snakeman vs. Horde, we thought that is just history. But now this battle?! Hordak couldn’t be banned for long obviously. He definitely pulls some strings.
But this fight very much looks like the snake King himself wants to send a message. Of course to Hordak. The old enemy.
No way that Tung Lashor, the anaconda, the muscle man of the snake warriors, would seek the battle with Hordaks mysterious red thing. The two headed, or two one-headed, six, five, four or less legged set of living pieces.
30 points, 2.5m high and 190kg of pure strength vs. 31 points for the living meat bits. What can possibly go wrong?
Fight! Tung lashor is a squeezer, even his poisonous tung is made to squeeze.
But how Modulok is gonna fight is so hard to say. Usually you only see him shooting from a hideout. Is he a fighter at all?
The snake immediately runs towards Modulok, grabs him and pouw! the red devil seems to explode! Is that it?
For sure not. His parts, all over the area, start crawling towards the irritated Snakeman. Arms grab, mouths bite and the power snake doesn’t know how to squeeze. Tiny opponents are not his’. He starts stepping on the parts, but this is not how he is used to fight. His legs are now covered, he tumbles! Falls! But then he uses his tung, green, and poisonous. A few seconds of contact and the pieces turn dark and seem to die. He throws, licks, smashes, until finally nothing moves. Modulok is beaten.
What a miserable fight. What a mess. #tunglashor #modulok #snakemen #evilhorde #motutitfortat
Michelangelo’s master piece, part of the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling, painted c. 1508–1512, remastered, showing the creation of Prince Adam, not as a biological act, but as a logical act, the King nominating his successor. King Randor demonstrates a fierce face expression, the crown perfectly in place, his cape broad-shattered. It is subject to the viewer to decide whether the king’s arms appear weaker than we are used from the toyline, or is this a plumb try of the painter to bring some perspective into the painting? His right hand, ugly deformated, with tiny pinky and ring finger.
Supported is the king in this DIN A4 sized coloration by no one less than the Scorceress, who seems to take a central role in this act. While the original only fringes the creator, we here find much more prominent support for the Creator. Stratos, another hero with the ability to fly, appears to be abnormal large, accessing the scene from a point behind the king, if the artist considered perspective, than even larger compared to the king. Where lies the importance of this usually low significant character? Does he carry the King? His strained face could implement this thought. But over his right shoulder, we can see a bit of Buzz-off’s wing, and looking further down we can see another wing a parts of his torso. The bee man obviously has a task to do behind the king. It must be holding him, since the king is the only character on the creators side, that cannot fly. Perhaps Stratos’ and Buzz-off are in a fight of whom is the one to carry the king.
In the King’s left, maybe only 4 fingered hand, we find the, as loyal as clumsy, Orko. Half of it we see, making clear that he is of no significance here. His role is to not mess it up, from his position, unable to carry the creator, but we are left alone with the imagination that Orko’s left hand holds the hand of another hero. Could it be Extendar reaching over from a close by pinnacle?? We don’t know.
On the other side is Adam, resting, and maybe disturbed from frolicking, cleary unimpressed by the posse that showed up. Remaining in frolicking pose still, resting the holy arm on his knee, and none of his weapons around. His face speaks to us, and it hits us like a tree, he does not glance at his creator in the act of assigning him to the task of his life. Not sure if he doesn’t care, but the painter wanted us to see that Adam resignates. Wrinkels of his mouth pointing down, we must acknowledge that Adam here accepts, without any enthusiasm.
The attentive spectator will see that not Cringer is with Adam, and Orko is not even close. But Stonedar, usually nothing but a hop-in character, is closest to Adam. Even joining him on his pinnacle. But in what position, almost kissing his foot, face away from the posse around King Randor, is he hiding? Or did he sneak up the hill to convince Adam to accept? Or is Stonedar`s proximity to Adam a menace, a proof that no one can escape the assigned role as Master of the Universe? We don’t know.
Grizzlor is in my opinion one of the MOTU masterpieces! They managed to draw a fine line between a scary monster, and a furry funny toy. Grizzlor is one member of the Horde, which I found all very well done and unique. He has a lot from a gorilla, except that a gorilla is black, and Grizzlor is brown. I would say he doesn’t share any obvious parts with other MOTU figures. The most prominent feature is of course his fur, which is of excellent quality and never came off or went smelly or anything. The shape of his torso is hidden under that dense fur, and I wasn’t able to find a photo of a stripped Grizzlor. So it remains a secret to me, how his torso looks, and I guess that’s for the better.
His arms and legs are also brownish, but without real fur. Instead the arms have an embossed fur-like structure. His hands are a bit plain, clumsy, shapeless, without any hint of claws or anything.
The legs are more standard shaped, but with the same structure of the surface. He is wearing black boots.
The head is not really distinguished from the body, there is just the mask of a face placed at the top of the torso.
He’s got the same crossbow as most horde members, his is green. I think no other crossbow was green. It goes well with yellow straps of his armor, which in this case is only a huge horde bat.
The combination of colors is well done, the brown fur with lighter brown arms and legs make him look like a creature that lives outdoors, and can take it cold, but also sunny.
The yellow straps are a nice eye catcher, while the bat is not that obvious. The dark green crossbow supports the idea of a gorilla living in the forests.
I can’t help myself, but the fur, and its color, remind me of another toy of the 80s, but luckily Mattel mastered the art of designing a serious horde member despite the similarities. You might remember the Monchichi? That slobby thumb-sucking monkey-hedge hock thing? It’s fur is a bit darker and lesser reddish, but else I see some similarities.
What I find most irritating on Grizzlor, is the fact that the body has no shape. He is from the top of his head to his hips just a hairy egg. No neck, no waist. That egg shape could easily result in a funny looking fur monster, but the long legs, and the really great, powerful face make him look awesome. I wouldn’t even see him look funny if someone would do his hair, but I won’t encourage anyone to do a make over with him! Grizzlor!
I always missed that kind of fur on Beastman. He would have deserved at least a bit of it, in orange of course. For all the other figures, even Battle Cat and Panthor, I’m glad they didn’t get “real fur”.
The UV only showed the dust on this Grizzlor, otherwise he would have looks pretty cool.
