MOTU Classics.Com:
Man-E-Faces Review

I know some folks were disappointed by the secret accessory being something so obvious, but I was happy to find out about the extra heads and even happier with them in person. Man-E-Face’s (I’m getting really tired of typing his name…) helmet is removable for the first time, allowing collectors and kids alike to pop it off and place another head with three new faces on to the figure.

I’m both giddy and gloomy about this second head. On the surface, I love it. It expands Man-E-Faces range and would’ve been great to have when I was a kid. It’s a little weird to turn him into He-Man, but he’s particularly great as Skeletor. That said, once I had this guy in hand, I quickly found myself wondering what other heads would fit inside his helmet. Now, I don’t really expect anyone at Mattel (or even the Four Horsemen) to have been thinking far enough ahead to make all the head compatible with Man-E-Faces, but think how awesome that could’ve been? With some sticky tack, some extra custom heads (with helmets removed) I was able to have a little more fun…

The figure’s articulation is standard for the line. The only difference is with his head. Since the helmet is removable it’s not as immobile as the original, it can turn a bit and allow whichever of Man-E’s faces you are using to look to the side. Everything else works like you’d imagine.

For paint, I was pretty happy with how the decos were applied. The only slop I noticed was on Orko’s eyes and at the top of the biceps and boots where the flesh tone (see what I did there?) paint didn’t reach the edge and cover the blue plastic. I know I spent a good deal of whining on page one about the deco choices, but I could learn to love this figure – except I really dislike those black eyes. I think I’m gonna need to white those out!

In addition to that secret accessory, Man-E-Faces does include his classic bright orange gun. It’s a nice piece, it always looked a little wonky to me, so I’m still finding it wonky here, but I imagine that’s just me. It’s gotten a little more love this time around and has some added gold paint detail (though they’re hard to see in the images) to flesh it out.

If you also happened to pick up the Weapons Rack (talk about things I haven’t reviewed on-time…), then you would’ve ended up with some weapons in a red deco. These replicate an old 80s offer wherein Man-E-Faces was packaged with five extra weapons from the Castle Grayskull set in a red deco. This figure was dubbed colloquially as “Man-E-Weapons”. It’s a cool thing to be able to put together, but Trap Jaw’s open hand continues to be a pain since it limits what accessories all subsequent figures that reuse it can hold.

Overall, I’m not sure if I ever struck the right tone in this review. I’m ecstatic that Man-E-Faces is finally gracing my shelves and that he did receive a nicely sculpted figure with a cool bonus feature. And I feel like a jerk because I will complain when a figure is “just like we remember” (you’ll see what I mean if my Snout Spout ever ships) and here I am complaining when one isn’t just like I remember.

My impossible to please preferences aside, Man-E-Faces is in the front of my MOTU shelf hanging out with my other childhood faves like Man-At-Arms, Buzz-Off, & Sy-Klone. He’s a major Heroic Master crossed off the list and that’s always a good thing. Plus, I can finally recreate this picture:

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25 thoughts on “MOTU Classics.Com:
Man-E-Faces Review

  1. how hong have I waited for this review..thanks Albert!
    MEF is an awesome figure, I caved and bought 6 of him, just to display all of the 6 heads ๐Ÿ™‚

  2. The exercise bike bit… Is it a reference to the MEF Vintage ad?

    On the Figure: While I hate the Snooki Orange that vintage and 200X toys had, I found MOTUC MEF to be a bit too pale, so I gave him a slight orange wash (Except face and hands) now he looks a tad better. I also painted the eyes white. Skeletor had a visit from yellow paint cause he’s too green!
    I think he kinda looks like Dan Akroyd.
    Other than the few color issues I think he’s an awesome figure!

    1. “He-man, he’s your friend?”
      “Friend and ally. Yeah, he’s just kind of weird sometimes.”
      “Oh.”

      Awesome touch, Noisy.

    2. You are correct, sir! I sometimes think of weird things while taking pictures…

      The eyes being white would have to help sooo much. I’m so tempted, but I don’t usually mod figures I only have one of… He is definitely an awesome figure though!

  3. If it weren’t for Toyguru’s meddling (he wanted the toy colors) that silly vote would’ve never existed.
    NO ONE was asking for a “50/50” mix until that vote happened.
    What fans WERE asking for was 2 separate deco releases.

    Great review! Though it does bear mention how great that He-Man head sculpt looks cast in fleshtone plastic.
    I kinda want to track down a double MEF to turn that extra head into my “go-to” He-Head.

    1. I think the subscription kills that kind of possibility too. I’ve been thinking about that a lot for Poison Ivy and how the fans are split are her deco (and really the different decos need alt heads, but that’s another matter). It would be so simple for Mattel to just offer up the figure in green or flesh, but the subscription doesn’t allow for that. They can’t just change up part of the run like they normally would. I wish there was a good workaround that didn’t screw over the collector.

      1. The easy subscription workaround would be to make the other deco one of the bonus figures the next year.
        Or a “roaming” Con figure like the White Sorceress.

        And again, what I also would’ve done was to make the Weapons Rack stuff all silver “realistic” colors and then put all the maroon ones in the 2nd MEF to have a true Man-E-Weapons release.

        THAT is how you run a “collector’s line” . . . by catering to collectors, NOT trying to shoehorn what YOU wanna see.

        As for Poison Ivy, they could do one in the subscription, and do the other in Batman Legacy or the DCUAS line. ๐Ÿ™‚

        1. For the most part, I agree with you, but if they were to go that route, I’d rather have had the Man-E-Weapons pieces in another Weapons Pak than buy another whole Man-E-Faces figure just to get the red armoury. Still, if they put out another Weapons Pak, there’s the possibility they’ll produce the remaining “Grayskull Rack” weapons for it . . . . Nah, that would make perfect sense.

  4. I had low expectations for MEF and wasn’t planning on getting him at all, but I’m glad I did because he turned out great, IMHO. and I actually voted for the orange deco!

    1. His pale skin is growing on me (just not with the He-Man head, with that one he looks like He-Man is even more into fetish wear than normal! ๐Ÿ˜€ )

    1. That’s awesome! I don’t know if I had too many scary toys. I did have to have a clown toy removed after watching Poltergeist at way too young an age… O.o

  5. Glad you were able to score this fellow at last. Great review, with some pics that are even more excellent than usual! (The “Panthor Leaping” one, in particular.) But the Evil-Lyn head . . . that’s just way too distrubing for me. Sorry. The empty helmet look, though, is good ‘n’ creepy, and the Skeletor head peeking out of that helmet just makes me think “Who turned out the lights . . . ? Who turned out the lights . . . ? Who turned out the lights . . . ?”

    Man-E-Faces (the multi-weapons version) was my first Masters of the Universe figure, which was given to me on my eighth birthday, and started me on this MOTU-collecting kick. Had it not been for this fellow back in 1982, I might have been considerably richer today.

    I’m quite happy the way this version turned out (I couldn’t vote, but still got pretty much the version I’d hoped for), but a few tweaks would’ve been nice. (Properly-painted eyes, left hand capable of holding a weapon, more yellow on the Skeletor head, that kind of thing you and others so far have covered.) Also, a couple of the fingers on my sample’s left hand are stuck together from overly-thick slop. Nonetheless, I’m also happy that this version of the Eternian actor can now be put into a perfect classical declamation pose. “Lo, what light from yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Teela is the sun!”

    And so it turns out that “Secret Accessory” seems to mean “Extra Head” in Mattel Logistics-Lingo. Personally, I’d like to see another spare head for this guy comprised of Beast Man (to finish off the trio of “new disguises” from his Filmation episode), King Hssss, and Hordak. But I’m sure there are better options . . . .

    1. Thanks!

      I didn’t mention it, but I do agree on the Skeletor head being more yellow. Mattel’s been all over the place on that in each release it seems. My favorite has ended up being the all-yellow TRU 2pk head though.

      Spare heads for Man-E-Faces could really go a long away, but Mattel isn’t that far-sighted…

  6. I wish they’d stop using that open hand from Trap Jaw. It sucks, especially in a line where accessories are king.

  7. You know…I dunno why I never noticed it until now, but Man-E kinda looks like some sort of cybernetic male stripper in that outfit…

  8. I absolutely love that last picture; nice reference of the vintage commercial ๐Ÿ™‚

    That said, using Buzz-Off’s face in MEF’s helmet, I do have to say that I can’t get over how much he looks like he’s wearing ’80s shades there.

  9. My recent figures have all had softer plastics for the arms. MEF was by far the worse, as the detailing was squished and I had to help reset it with the water trick. I would’ve preferred the 3rd alt face to be Beastman to be toon accurate. Other than that I love the figure although a version that’s more orange would be really cool…

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