Toy Review: Masters of the Universe Classics He-Ro Review

For a lot of reasons, Masters of the Universe Classics He-Ro is an exciting figure. First, he is the first of this new line that was never produced in a previous Masters of the Universe toy series. He-Ro was originally envisioned as character that was to have appeared in a prequel series called The Powers of Grayskull, in which he would have been He-Man’s ancestor in the distant past of Eternia. There exist some photos of a prototype that give you an idea what this character would have looked like had he been produced but the line was canceled early in its conception and, consequently, He-Ro has had an air of mystery about him for over twenty years. So it is very exciting for MOTU fans to finally have a toy version of this character produced in the new collector line. It is also nice to see that Mattel is looking beyond just the obvious characters for this new series and that they are willing to dig deep into the long and rich history of Masters of the Universe to give us unexpected and surprising characters. This speaks well for the longevity of Masters of the Universe Classics.




As with the other figures in this line, He-Ro features a bio that seeks to reconcile the various conflicting Masters of the Universe continuities and it has become entertaining each month to see how Mattel ties all of these disparate plot elements together. References to He-Ro were very rare and little was known of him beyond the fact that he was He-Man’s ancestor and a powerful wizard. He had no counterpart in the 2002 series, although King Grayskull replaced him in that continuity as He-Man’s powerful distant ancestor. therefore, in the MOTC continuity, he becomes a of Grayskull in ancient Eternia, and upon his death he bequeaths the sword of power to Grayskull who adds his own power to it and it is then passed on to He-Man many years later. So, He-Ro becomes a pivotal character in this continuity.

The figure itself is very much in keeping with the aesthetic of this line, in that it is a modern makeover of the original prototype figure. With that said, the figure has a very retro design with its golden armor, 1980’s coif, and Xanadu-looking headband. The overall deco is a choice that to me is a little campy, but also very much honors the original design of the figure. I get the feeling that Mattel and the Four Horsemen wanted to finally give us a He-Ro as close as possible to the one for which many of us had waited for so long.

Like most in this line, He-Ro comes with a good amount of accessories. He features a large golden staff with a split-apart top, revealing one of three different colored gems. The gems are randomly packed and sculpted in translucent plastic of green, purple or red, with green being the most common color. Both of mine were purple. It is difficult to see which stone you have until you open the pack although, you might be able to tell by shining a flashlight through the packaging and looking for a spill of color near where the gem would be attached to the staff. He-Ro also includes a see-through version of the power sword, painted blue with flecks of silver or grey paint, in an apparent reference to a sword included in one of the old accessory packs. The armor is removable and if you bought the San Diego Comicon exclusive there will be a SDCC logo on the figure’s chest under the armor. The version sold on Mattycollector.com does not have this logo.

I’ve been reading online that there have been some quality issues with the paint on this figure, particularly around the eyes. On my opened copy, the only quality issue is in the magical staff, which apparently is supposed to have a male and female connector but my copy had two male connectors which, in retrospect, was obvious as the staff was wide open and the gem visible in the package.

Although he is not my favorite MOTUC figure in the series by far, I’m happy and surprised to have He-Ro included in the line, if only to populate the “Ancient Eternia” segment of my collection. He-Ro is a sentimental choice which shows that the people running this line have a lot of love for the brand. With He-Ro finally produced, I’m hopeful may see more obscure Masters of the Universe characters like Eldor, Horde Supreme, Dekker and Prahvus in addition to the already announced fan-favorites Scare-Glow, Zodak, The Green Goddess and Wun-Dar.

Patrick Garone
Staff Reviewer