A new video detailing the design process behind the forthcoming He-Man figure celebrating Masters of the Universe's 40th anniversary has been released by Mattel.The clip features interviews with Terence Higuchi, Damon Nee, and Roy Juarez, respectively Mattel's Key Lead Designer, Senior Design Director, and Packaging Designer. All three talk about the significance behind working on a new He-Man sculpt that embodies the character's classic look while updating him for a new era of collectors.
"We wanted to celebrate the 40th anniversary of He-Man and look at the vintage line first as inspiration while bringing the character forth into some modern sensibilities of action figure design," Nee said. "...It's about 30 points of articulation, so he's super articulated, you can get him in all kinds of great battle poses."
How Does The New He-Man Figure Pay Tribute To The Past?
Higuchi said the new figure had a larger upper body than recent He-Man sculpts as an ode to the extremely top-heavy appearance of the original 1981 Masters of the Universe toys. The 40th anniversary He-Man comes with the same accessories that he was bundled with four decades ago, including his axe, shield and Power Sword, but Higuchi pointed out one key difference: "My favorite detail is we added [an] articulation point on his wrist so he can hold aloft his sword just like in the cartoon."
This attention to detail and respect towards He-Man's history extends to the packaging, which features the same exploding red lava rocks that appeared on vintage Masters of the Universe figures. The back of the package also boasts a striking illustration of He-Man, Skeletor and Battle Cat, with Castle Greyskull in the background. The art was designed to pay tribute to Frank Frazetta's "Night Winds" illustration, which shows Kane -- a fantasy character created by Karl Edward Wagner -- a horse and a scantily-clad woman in similar positions. He-Man was heavily inspired by Frazetta's sword and sorcery illustrations of Kane, Conan the Barbarian and similar characters, right down to his barely clothed, loincloth-wearing physique.
"It does make me feel like a kid again," Juarez said, adding that working on the figure was a "full-circle" experience. "Not only am I designing the packaging, I'm also getting a second chance at collecting these figures that I wish I had as a kid."
The Masters of the Universe 40th Anniversary He-Man figure has an expected release date of Oct. 2. It is available for pre-order now.
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