Amusing Articulations: Is He-Man
the Chocolate or the Peanut Butter?





As you may have heard ’round the net, ToyFare #152 (on sale today!) seems to be chock full of pre-Toy Fair reveals. One piece of information that took a little longer to spill out was about TRU Exclusive MOTU 2pks. On Monday, images of a He-Man painted with DC Comics colors surfaced. Then, word of the ToyFare reveal that matched the eBay figure’s paint scheme was followed by some detective work that discovered the sku in the TRU system and confirmed the DCU vs MOTUC 2pks. The first one? He-Man vs. Superman.

Yeah, I’m not sure how I feel about that either – especially at $29.99. The He-Man is mostly the same with some minor paint changes and the Superman is the same one from the Gotham 5pk. I admit that the packaging looks cool. It’s a great mashup of the two styles with some art from DC Comics Presents #47 (featuring Superman & He-Man).

He-Man is sporting an ax & the silver & black-studded shield shown at the Gallery 88 Show. While the eBay auction shows He-Man (and a Skeletor, possibly for future DCU vs MOTU 2pks) both holding the gold power sword from the show, this doesn’t appear in the package pictured in ToyFare. It could be hidden, but a gold sword doesn’t appear in that issue of the comic either. I suspect we haven’t seen where that sword ends up yet.

30 thoughts on “Amusing Articulations: Is He-Man
the Chocolate or the Peanut Butter?

  1. That’s interesting, though since there isn’t a Toys R Us anywhere near me, trying to pick up these 2-packs will probably end up costing me as much as a single MOTU figure (except I won’t have an extra DC figure lying around afterward).

    The only MOTU figures I’m interested in are Skeletor and Man-at-Arms. I have a funny feeling that no matter who Skeletor is packaged with, I’ll already have them or passed them up in DCUC.

    Still, it’s a neat idea to get MOTU back into retail…though I don’t think figures that constantly sell out online would need “help” from DC characters to survive on the pegs.

    1. I am glad for our one TRU even if it’s not the greatest.

      I don’t think so either. I worked at TRU back during the commemorative days and we couldn’t keep those figures in stock. But, MOTUC starting to end up at retail could really gum things up, so I don’t know what I want.

  2. Lol, I swear, you guys could make a funny comic about almost anything.

    Here’s an idea, I was going to write an article about it, but I think you guys would do a more sophisticated job.

    “Is it too much to ask for a little crotch?” – Regarding Mattel’s reluctance to put a bulge in their DCUC male figures’ pants.

    1. 😀

      The problem, Doc, is that some bulges are small, others are big, and there’s only one buck to rule them all. And it just so happens that the buck is a eunuch.

  3. Okay, since I’m sure new tooling on this isn’t a feasible option, this won’t happen – but I’d totally support the first two 2pks if the third one gave us DC Teela.

    Also, this 2pk would be infinitely cooler if Superman were in MOTU Classics style. But I wouldn’t want any other DC figures in the style, so that would ruin the little theme they’re playing at here.

    And will other toy companies follow this model? Will we see Spider-Man & Duke? Shrek & Captain Kirk? Optimus Prime & Han Solo? Mattel might have a gold mine with these random crossover two-packs…

  4. good piece, man that two pack is pricey but that makes it about average price for a DCUC figure and a bit cheaper for a the current MOTU figure so I guess its ok? Great comic

    1. It’s a few dollars more than ordering one He-Man and you get a bonus Superman! LOL

      But at the same time, should MOTUC retail be less than $20? I don’t think so – I think Mattel is selling He-Man with their standard MSRP formula, I just don’t think it would work at a retail setting.

      I have a feeling these 2pks will probably sell pretty well.

      1. dude, he absolutely should be less than 20 bucks if he goes to retail… reasoning? every single reuse of that mold brings down the cost per piece of production… so the more they make, the less each fig costs… at some point, we should see the better of that! we’re on our fifth buy of that exact mold as of april… and that’s before you factor in this piece… it’s time to see costs come down…

        and truthfully, not only should the retail cost be lower, but the cost of ALL pieces should lower because of this heavier production run on existing molds. remember how MM came back down to 15 after hitting 20 when it moved online? the price reduction was because they were “so popular that they’re returning to retail!” well? here we are again…

  5. I’m not sure I’d pick these up (I never go to Toys R Us so I probably won’t see them anyway), since the Supes is a re-issue that I already have and the changes to He-Man aren’t very exciting, but I will admit that the packaging is pretty awesome.

  6. Well If this is hitting retail I’d be getting a He-Man by paying 16 cents more than I would normally pay Mattycollector.com PLUS I won’t have to wait 20+ days for the fig AND I’m geting one free Superman… It’s a Win Win for me… (That sucker is going to get a small paint job to look more Filmationlike)

    1. I screwed up the math: It’s $2.14 more…

      Matty’s He-Man: $20 + $9.95 Shipping= $29.95
      TRU 2 Pack: $29.99 + (7% tax)= $32.09

  7. Your comic is funny, but He-Man doesn’t need a comic nook character to sell him. This 2pk is dumb for that very reason.

    1. Well, you’re probably right in that he could sell on his own, but Superman isn’t just a “comic book character” – he’s a globally recognized icon. He-Man can’t claim that… yet.

  8. I love this idea, and since I don’t want to buy that version of Superman for $14.97 at Walmart, I’d rather buy this pack to get my Superman and a spare He-man. I even like the colors on this He-man.

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