{"id":23583,"date":"2013-06-03T01:18:34","date_gmt":"2013-06-03T06:18:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=23583"},"modified":"2013-07-01T01:43:16","modified_gmt":"2013-07-01T06:43:16","slug":"recollect-part-i-re-mastering-the-universe-motu-classics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=23583","title":{"rendered":"ReCollect! Part I: Re-Mastering
the Universe (MOTU Classics)"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>When I moved into my new house at the beginning of this year, I had the seemingly great idea to chronicle moving my collection. I got one article up, about the move itself, and then my life got flipped turned upside down. I didn\u2019t get out to Bel-Air, but my Recollect blog fell completley off my radar. <\/p>\n

Well, to be fair, it wasn\u2019t that my Recollect! Blog never got started, it was that moving my collection never really got finished. It still isn\u2019t as I write this, but I made a big (albeit temporary) leap forward this weekend. It was the first time I\u2019d had consecutive days off since Valentine\u2019s Day (yet I somehow managed to go into work both days) and I wanted to get a big chunk of the toys out of boxes, off the floor, and up on the shelves. Easy enough, I thought, if I start with MOTU Classics. <\/p>\n

Since this is the first ReCollect! entry, I need to cover one thing before we get started. When we moved, I decided I needed a new shelf. While my toy cellar (now my toy garage even though I keep calling it a cellar to my wife\u2019s bemusement) was always embarrassingly too full of toys, I usually only a kept a modest shelf on display. I\u2019ve had the shelf for years; my Dad & I found it when I was in my teens. I originally used it for its true purpose: an entertainment center. It held my TV\/VCR combo, my Gamecube (!!), and a bunch of DVDs. If you look close you can see some toys on it: a bunch of Stikfas claiming the top of the TV as their own. Over time, the toys would end up covering the whole unit. Below is an older pic from 2009. If you look past the shameful amount of dust, you can spot the most recent additions at the time like MOTU Classics Faker & Mer-Man. You might also spot that custom DCUC Mr. Freeze that ended up being the template for Mattel’s later version. That Mr. Freeze is also a big reason why IAT exists, by the way, but that\u2019s a story for another day. <\/p>\n

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Anyway, the old shelf was great, but it was more for a collector who wanted to display a few choice items from multiple lines, not someone that had started amassing giant collections like MOTU & DC Classics. It was time for a change. It took weeks, but I finally found this 12-Cube beauty at Office Max and I got it for a steal. It was finally time to replace my old shelf, setup my toys, and get the ReCollect! Blog started. But, yeah, that was kinda like February and it turns out that, June started the other day? Oops? <\/p>\n

When I decided to setup my MOTU Classics this weekend, I knew it was somewhat futile. Mostly because Castle Grayskull simply isn\u2019t going to fit on it and that\u2019s kinda sorta supposed to be the centerpiece of the line. I decided to not worry about it and go ahead, but, as any collector knows, my space on this new shelf started filling up way too quickly. <\/p>\n

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I ended up giving MOTUC a 4 shelf limit. The first thing that meant was some larger items had to be managed. The Giants. The Beasts. That gorgeous Wind Raider. I couldn\u2019t bring myself to not display the Raider \u2013 heck I couldn\u2019t bring myself to throw away the box. For now, I plunked my TRU 2pk He-Man in the pilot\u2019s seat (my 2nd favorite He-Man) and placed him in the corner of the room until I figure out what to do with it. The Beasts though, some hard decisions had to be made. <\/p>\n

The Cats had to stay of course. Swift Wind got a similar pass, but I\u2019m not as sold on him down the road. I left the giants because the shelves have 14\u201d clearance and I figured they would help with the height until I get some tiered stands to raise up the figures that are towards the back. I can already tell you though that Procrustus will outlast the other two should I need to cut down on the giants (& he also got a coveted spot with the Heroes on the top shelf). <\/p>\n

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Granamyr had to stay too, of course, but I didn\u2019t want to split him off like the Wind Raider. He needs to be with the figures \u2013 even though he did get stuck in the bottom shelf with the Horde & Miscellaneous Villains (At least until the Castle implodes this incarnation of the display). Finally, Gygor made the last cut due to his adding height and his lemon & limey color scheme. Sadly though, the Shadow Beast & the Griffin were the first casualties of limited space. The Griffin just takes up too much space and the Shadow Beast is just too generic \u2013 both are oversized army builders really and this isn’t an armybuilder friendly display. Hopefully, I can figure out a bigger solution to get back to those guys in the future. Maybe a shelf will free up after I figure out what I need in the other 2\/3rds of the shelf? Continue to Page 2…<\/a><\/p>\n

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With the big guys out of the way, I turned my attention towards the figures themselves. My goal was to get every character out, if not every incarnation. I split the shelves into Heroic Warriors, Evil Warriors + SnakeMen, POP & Assorted Good Guys, Horde & Assorted Bad Guys. If I had more room, I\u2019d split off Preternia characters, but this was going to be tough as it is and not everyone ended up exactly where they should be. <\/p>\n

The first thing that had to go was all the multiple He-Men & Skeletors. If you read IAT, you know I love the Battle Armors, so you shouldn\u2019t be surprised those are the two that got to stay. My original, reissue, Thunder Punch, & Preternia Disguise He-Men (again, a Preternia shelf would be cool…) all went to the storage tote along with the original, toothless, TRU 2pk, & Dragon Blaster Skeletors. There are some fun figures in that group, but I\u2019d rather have unique characters in the tight space. On that note, though King He-Man got a squeaky pass, as did Keldor & Adam. Displaying just isn\u2019t fair, kids. <\/p>\n

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Similarly to the He-Men & Skellys, the original She-Ra (and her hand-me-down Bubble Armor), Hurricane Hordak, and TOD Sorceress all ended up in the tote too. I\u2019m not sure what this means for future versions of the big guns \u2013 will NA He-Man be the first MOTUC figure to go straight to storage? I\u2019d like to say no, but the one Galactic Protector we have was already folded in to the Heroic Warriors and BA He-Man already leads that pack. <\/p>\n

Filmation Randor beat out \u201cBattleground\u201d Randor \u2013 I wanted to keep out the original, but I can\u2019t deny that the later version looks great with Marlena (and the original is starting to get \u201cwhite dust\u201d on his loincloth, annoying). Regular Evil-Lyn beat out Battleground Evil-Lyn because I\u2019m into jaundiced girls apparently, but that was a hard decision. BG Evil-Lyn was one of two figures I particularly regretted boxing up. Both Teela & Battleground Teela made it on to the display because I consider BG Teela to be a Vikor-era character and not actually Teela. <\/p>\n

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Also characters with minor deco changes found themselves out in the cold. The gloveless Zodac was done for as was the red-wing Stratos. Figures where I bought doubles to display both heads similarly found themselves out of a job: Moss Man (vintage head), Whiplash (vintage head), Cronis, & Captain Glenn. And, sadly, the lack of room dictated that I only keep out one Palace Guard. Though looking at the immediate future, that Heroic shelf will need some room for Clamp Champ right soon. <\/p>\n

The other figure I regretted storing was the original MAA. I cobbled together a \u201ccool\u201d Man-At-Arms from the original head and the Snake MAA body (& some extra leg armor as I tend to do) and I love that figure; one of my favorite in the line. He got the nod and the original MAA is in the box with a bevy of palace guards waiting to return. <\/p>\n

There was one more exception too. One of my more prized figures, Battle Armor Faker, gets to hang out on the very top of the whole unit, near the center. I always loved Faker, but I feel a special connection with that one because I (wrongfully or not) feel like I had a hand in pushing for him to get done. <\/p>\n

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Part of my ReCollect! Blog was going to be talking about what was being removed and sold from the collection. Well, in the case of MOTUC, I\u2019m not quite ready to do that yet. With the exception of Spirit of Hordak, I have everything publically offered so far (the stands & Weapons Rack are in storage pending the castle too) and I\u2019m not ready to break that up just yet even if not all the figure are out. In future ReCollect! Entries though, expect some stuff on the chopping block. <\/p>\n

To close out, I feel so much better about have a big chunk of my collection out on display. My new shelf is a third full with one of my favorite toy lines of the last few years and I feel like I made a huge dent in the toy boxes in the cellar GARAGE just by getting MOTUC unpacked and out on display. The only problem is that my four shelves are already packed full and the line\u2019s got so much more in store for us. The Castle is one thing, but we\u2019ve got plenty of figures still to come this year alone \u2013 figures I\u2019m going to want to get out. That’s the problem with setting up your toys – there’s always more to come. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \t

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