Scott ToyGuru Neitlich uncovers new hard evidence conclusively solving the Wonder Bread He-Man mystery. Is it a bootleg? A foreign release? Or a Mattel product? The answers here at long last!
I actually did my own design for a Savage She-Ra, only she is called Bre-ad as a continuation of the Wonder Bread naming convention. In my design, I based her off of my own sister and gave her black hair. I also incorporated the reused parts gimmick by giving her a silver cobra mask as reference to toy Teela's headdress. Oh, and I also gave her Wun-dar's color scheme, and a blue cape. I wish there were way I can show it on RU-vid without making an entire video myself. So unless you guys know of a way to show it off to the greater MOTU community, I'm all ears.
That's exactly what I was thinking. Which coincides with that speculation that he was a Mattels running change due to that lawsuit over the Conan similarities. Suggesting they probably had all these left over after manufacturing them but couldn't legally sell them but I guess could give away for free as an incentive. 🤔
@@spectorcreative1872 I take away from is this was Conan (originally) before they decided not to sell toys for a R rated movie, but they had toys already made. Because they didn't own the rights to Conan they couldn't advertise it. So they used it to move products, and give what they had already made free. Can sue someone for giving away something free, even if you know what it really is. Like buying a PS1 for $150, but they give you 50 burned off games for free.
This is one of the examples I give to friends when explaining how easy knowledge is to lose over the span of years. So exciting to find out what the real story is!
@@spectorcreative1872 @Spector Creative Oh it blows my mind. It's like finding actual legitimate proof of Bigfoot. When I read the part of the letter where Ms Hackenberg states "They next suggested painting him in the right color.", that's when my eyes widened and I thought "Holy crap- that _has_ to be the Wonderbread He-Man figure!!". So insane that out of everything in the Mattel archives, a letter from a single customer decades ago would be the lynch pin in solving this case. Well done sir!
This figure was available in two ways. One was the buy3, get one free promo you mentioned. Another way was a summer promotion through Toys R US. It was the same figure, and still came in a bag, but sometimes included a random set of weapons, some more likely than others.
that woman/mother/aunt was very aware of what her kids had in their bedroom ! it s so rare. i think that 99% of our mothers never got into it ! Anyway, it s a very good clue !
1) I think most moms have SOME idea what their kids play with, if not all the details. They ARE the ones buying these things after all and usually picking them up all over the house. Not to mention my mom was a stickler for never buying me the same toy twice... so there were never any mistakes at christmas or birthdays... She had SOME clue. 2) This mom/aunt obviously was listening to these kids whining about how the figure was crap enough to write the letter and complain. She may not have known at the time it arrived, but i get the distinct impression that the kids made her PAINFULLY aware of just WHY it was such a disappointing figure. And really, putting myself in their shoes... free toys are nice, but a naked weaponless figure that's the wrong color and has no name/bio/minicomic?? He-man but no power sword or vest?! Yeah, I'd have been pretty disgusted too. NOW I wish I had one... but if that showed up in the mail back then... I'd have been pretty ticked off ;)
I think my Mom knew who I had back in the day. She knew enough to buy me Prince Adam when she saw him on the pegs and I had NO idea he even existed. But I agree, most parents in the 80s probably had no clue.
Barb would never know about the contribution she’d make to solving one of the greatest mysteries to plague mankind - can we rename him Barba-or as a mark of respect?
How dare you send my children a toy that will become one of the most sought after items in toy collecting history. I threw right in the trash next to the rocket-firing Boba Fett I received from Kenner.
Who does the He-man dopplerganger action figure called the faker, have a strong reference to? If you've said that the faker; has a strong reference to Superman's dopplerganger Bizarro, you've already just answered correctly! Like we've all said it before; what's the difference, it's all the same.
I discovered your channel like a month ago when one of your vids came up on my Suggestions. I've watched all of your MOTU vids since! He-Man got me into super-powered heroes & led to my collecting comics & toys; of which I've amassed an enviable collection! It all started with He-Man. I've been watching vids on RU-vid since it started & this is THE FIRST EVER video that I turned a Premiere Notification on for! Keep doing the AWESOME job that you are doing, Scott!
My guess is that no weapons were not included in the initial mailout (as the letter was asking where the weapons were) - and the 'special' He-Man in the plastic wrap could be from a later mail out where weapons were added (as a result of the complaint letter). Maybe even the armour from the Grayskull weapons pack was included in later mail outs to help quell any reasons for additional complaints...?
Makes sence they stopped sending him out which means theres prolly an even lower number of his toy then we think. Well I can see the cost rising on him yet again thanks scott 😂
(I'm probably going to get in trouble for saying this, but here goes..) I'm thinking that the figure didn't come with weapons because he WAS 'special' and wasn't supposed to be handling any weapons...😎 (I know. I'll go stand in the corner now.)
They came with 2 random reddish brown weapons. I had tomahawk style axe and shield, another kid I knew got the axe a short sword instead of the shield. I was so disappointed I sold mine a couple months later at a yard sale 😩
No, no, I can offer you an answer. The promotion did not work buying any three figures, you had to buy three but one of them had to be Man-E-Faces (mandatory). This was due to an overstock of Man-E-Faces to which Grayskull Castle weapons were added in another color to make it more attractive (it was a poorly sold figure). The only weapon that the Savage He-Man carried was the brown shield, but since that shield fitted perfectly with the three brown weapons that the Man-E-Faces of the promotion brought "as a gift", the natural thing was that the children let's add those brown weapons (originally in the Man-E-Faces blister) to the Savage He-Man. From a rigorous point of view, the Savage He-Man came with only the brown shield in a transparent bag. All the best.
@@spectorcreative1872, but why? Perhaps the boys are still fans of the toyline and would enjoy sharing their memories if they had any. It's not like this is a hit piece on the family, it's just a fun and interesting story about an action figure.
bro i know you regret revealing her name but what’s done is done. somebody’s gonna track her down, so maybe it’s best if you pin an announcement at the top of the comments that you are in the process of politely contacting her for an interview, possibly even as a mattel follow-up to her letter? that way you can contain the awkwardness if she otherwise gets a bunch of unsolicited contact
So now that you've concluded he had nothing to do with Wonderbread but was still a mail away figure, I believe we should now call him Mail-Or, the insufficient He-Man.
I like Wun-darr. It harkens back to Thun-darr the barbarian, who looks suspiciously like a proto-He-Man visually. I actually like Thun-darr more than He-man. Go ahead, fans poor on the hate.
The early 80s were kind of a tough time, as my dad had to work in MD and VA for meager wages, because there was no work at all in WV at that point. My mom also could only find minimum wage employment. They were both 18 when I was born. Somehow, they managed to make sure we had every single MOTU toy that came off the line. That’s a collection I still have to this day. I can put one of the figures in my hand and close my eyes and almost be taken back to the exact moment when it was given to me, as most of them were surprises. I don’t believe I ever had this figure, but it sure seems familiar.
I live in Iowa and my dad had to go to Colorado for work in the early 80s and he always brought me back a new MOTU toy. I still have them but they are very played with. Crazy how similiar our experiences were growing up
@@Tayfrog I'd say the prior consensus was this was Mattel's Conan paint job before they switched to something appropriate for kids - if so it would be to get rid of surplus figures.
This was a time when adult collectors didn't really exist, I mean I am sure there were a few but not like today so as a kid if you expected to get he-man you wanted he-man, not his weird shirtless relative.
@@guitarguru.3572 I know 7yo me would have been PISSED at getting a nekked, swordless He-Man with the wrong hair. Particularly since He-Man was the only figure anyone ever wanted to get me. I had two of almost every He-Man. Not 2 of each figure made, 2 of each run of He-Man himself. I think they were doing it deliberately...
I've been thinking about how it was questioned why a copy of the coupon was included with this figure, but in the time before the internet, if they wanted to perpetuate the promotion, including the coupon with the figure was probably the best way to do so. You were sending it out to someone with a proven track record and interest in redeeming it, and probably didn't have a copy because they'd sent it in to you.
I'm quite surprised that the He-man dopplerganger action figure called: the faker whom was colored teal blue, never carried around an orange 🍊 2-edged axe and shield.
Excuse me, sir. this is the internet. That is just too logical to be correct. Where is the conspiracy, the twist? The secret Illuminati plot? But seriously, that is a cool find, and definitely seems to solve the unsolvable mystery!
This really got me on the edge of my seat. You're going to wait till Wednesday to tell us. I can't wait to hear this and compare it, I've been sitting on two of my authentic Wonder breads and I made a couple custom ones. Can't wait!!!
Love this! One of the greatest toy mysteries apparently solved. It never made sense to me that it was a Wonder Bread promotion. The math just didn't add up.
Makes sense! My moms frequented outlets with used toys etc. No "wonder" we had this, cause kids who got them didn't want them lol. Oh well, he was our Faker :-)
I miss those toys outlets. Remember getting Inhumanoids Tendril and Transformers Jetfire from a Sears Outlet in Quakertown, PA for just $20 each. Same place weird stuff like cardboard Bespins and Cantinas would show up.
@@spectorcreative1872 figure idea.... Stackor, the heroic detective of Eternia....solving murders, robberies and paranormal encounters. Perhaps he was the one who busted Scareglow......and he'd come with sword with a magnifying lens in the hilt, along with cluebook.
This is the video I've been waiting years for. Good work solving a mystery I've lost hours reading, and wondering (or should that be Wun-dar-ing) about. Good work. :)
This is really cool! So glad you found this and we're so much closer to figuring out the truth. I still feel like there may be some things left to sort out in the mystery, but this is really damn close to the end. Thank you for finding the letter!
This 100% confirms my memory on this figure. I never had it, but my close friend growing up got it as a mail away figure....I just didnt know which one. BOOM!! to all the dang naysayers that trolled us!! Keyboard warriors are blessed that we cant reach through the screen and throttle them sometimes. Glad to see some evidence to validate our belief.
I always thought that this particular variant looked *so* much like a PUMPING IRON era Arnold Schwarzenegger, (CONAN himself!), that maybe someone at Mattel said " *No way! We've got to ditch all of these figures ASAP before we get slapped with a lawsuit!* " Maybe that's why they gave the retail release HE-MAN blonde hair instead! 😆😆😆
Sorry, can we just not even discuss politics here? This is about He-Man, and after four years of literally EVERYTHING being about politics, I'm sure many of us who've silently suffered have had quite enough of it. Thanks.
@unclassified Political orientation is like sexual orientation and religious orientation: The majority of us don't care, and it should be kept private or should only be brought up when relevant. And it's not relevant here, and frankly I hope it never is.
I guess we know who wears the fur loin cloth in Barb's house. "Use the weapons from the castle." - "Why don'tcha buy us more, -------?" - "Alright, I will get you a free guy from the company."
@@spectorcreative1872 😄 Lol no, it’s a random ‘80s-style song that thousands of people online are trying to identify. Here’s the song plus backstory & “the search thus far” coverage: ru-vid.com/group/PLg5_FYJzTkK_cDtcEG665jpS5ucB2hubL
I just discovered this channel and have been binge watching with my 7 year old son. I just saw the earlier Wundar video yesterday. Keep up the great work!
Just bought origins He-Man and Skeletor from Wal-Mart. Got home and pulled up youtube to play a video while opening them up. This was the first suggested video, this was very interesting to watch. Thanks for taking the time to put this together.
@@fatihuludagIve collected vintage he-man for decades now and found a couple wonderbread's in the wild in late 90's but never in bag. I remember seeing that baggy photo way back in the early days of he-man.org and thinking it was the most legit sealed one I've ever seen. An i always kept a look out for one in a baggy like that. I'm curious how you came to acquire it? Was it something you found at a yardsale or something. Or was it one you had from childhood and never opened.
@@The82bstewart It is long ago in the 90's I've got this from a toy seller. My Wonderbread was in a baggy with the promo-flyer and the sword only, that looks like incl. Man-E-faces with Extra Weaponary issue. I still kept the baggy. My figure also looks never untouched no any paint wears - really new! I believe it was available in 1983, why same brown weapons put to Wonderbread He-Man and used also for Man-E-Faces. The promo-flyer is definitive printed for the 1983er Mattel collection.
Essentially Wonderbread was blamed for something they didn’t even do and instead it was in fact Mattel that created it and were possibly so embarrassed by this letter that they hid it. But at least you should have credit for it! (Rightly deserved at that, you’re amazing). Glad to say the most conclusive information on the long standing Masters Of The Universe mystery has arrived, I don’t think Barbara wants to be known for He-Man anymore than she was through that letter to Mattel in 1983 though!
@@spectorcreative1872 I was thinking the same thing while watching. Wouldn’t it be wild if she found out her letter was being talked about almost 40 years later? Or her son found out? Maybe he’s still a collector.
The mystery of Wonder *BREAD* He-Man solved? I *KNEAD* to know! Stop *LOAF* ing around and tell us! I'll take any *CRUMBS* of info I can get! This channel and its videos are really on a *ROLL* !
@Bunyon Snipe Fortunately, there is a very explicit list on how to make sure it is real. There are no less than five telltale clues and a whole bunch of miniscule details to confirm it. Some are near impossible to fake.
Thank you so much for shedding great evidence on this mystery. My question is how come Mattel did not recognize the figure as one from their own promotion? I have read several articles that state that Mattel "had no record of this figure nor had any verification that they produced it." Thanks again.
I had that toy! It was one of the contests we actually won as kids. It was just as the lady figured. It didn't have all the armor. I was like 12. My nephew and I had them, and he took the 'Conan He Man' as we named it, but did not call it Wonder Man. After over 38 years, I have no idea what became out it. It was not just in Wonder Bread, but also an ad in Sears and Toys r Us mail in offers. The skinnier carded one was another, but you covered that. Now I have some 2020 classics, 38 years later, He Man and Skeletor and their battle cats. So I get to have my Conan He Man too. Ha. Nah, I will have to buy the reissue.
Thanks so much for this video and your evidence which confirms what many of us knew all along. Im so glad to have my “special edition” on the shelf. And he isnt holding a weapon but I have the sword at his feet.
11:32 clearly states that Mattel did send a special edition figure, but you say at 11:48 that Mattel expects said they should have specified that it was not a special edition figure. Based on the internal documents, and the mother’s letter itself, I think you either misspoke or were wrong in your initial reading. The mother wrote in to Mattel upset because she received a special figure. At 12:59 the mom suggests “painting him the right color” not pairing him the right color as you stated. Mattel rectified this by sending her some comps. I think this is all pretty clear, as you eventually state at the end. Nice finds!
Yeah I think what I was trying to say (and by her words) as she interpreted the figure as a "special edition" of He-Mna (i.e. different colors) but without the vest or weapons
I was kid from the middle of nowhere. And I had this figure. And pretty much the entire line. My mom gave all my MOTU figures away when I was ten or so. So, kid memory... I was sure I did, but then second-guessed myself.
I know they put some of the Man-E-Weapons with savage he-man, but I received a small collector case the other day. It had been left alone mostly since the mid 80's. When I pulled out the top tray to see what was underneath a Man-E-Face and small box fell out with a few other items. Inside the box was all of the Man-E-Weapons and his laser pistol, but there is a mysterious 6th red item that nobody knows what it is. Same material and color as the Man-E-Weapons, but is shape like a plain round spear.. Girth is the size of a sword handle and length is 3 inches, really looks like a stylus we would use today. If you know anyone who can help please let me know, thank you.
Mind = Blown! You cracked it, Scott! You really cracked it! I sincerely hope this is one of your proudest moments as a toy collector. I'm glad you found this before those letters were inevitably destroyed somehow! Hard copy records. So vulnerable.
I really hate I was never able to get my hands on a Wun-Dar from the Classics line. Trying to buy the ones I missed out on now is pure insanity. Have you seen the prices these things fetch on the secondary market lately? I hope you feel the love for what you've been involved in creating. There's still a great interest in Classics. You've really done a great service to the MOTU world!
I definitely had the Castle Grayskull trading card. I also remember a childhood friend of mine having the figure and another guy in College had it. Neither one of them had the black Zodac armor with the figure. This makes a lot of sense.
Not only does this solve MOTUs most long standing figure mystery, but it also explains the earlier dismissal as this figure being from that promotion. After that lady wrote in it seems like Mattel’s response was to stop sending this figure as redemption and start sending another in its place, and being this early on it also explains why most people seem to remember receiving Beast Man
I really enjoyed this installment. It takes you back to a time to when toys were well toys and not collectibles. Not too many people cared about rarity or exclusivity.
I have one of these and the stamp on the lower back is dated 1981 like all the first round of figures. I can't help but wonder if these weren't made early on, but due to the whole legal battle with the Conan movie, they changed the hair color of He-Man to blonde to differentiate the character. The result was these brown-haired figures already made, which they decided to distribute via the promotion.
I want to point out that the first word of the second page of Barbara’s letter is “painting” not pairing. The kids were suggesting it be painted the right color. Which is even more solid evidence.
I'm glad to finally learn the story behind this figure. I knew from other sources it wasn't a Wonderbread exclusive. It makes sense with the "buy 3, get 1 free" ads. It was a good way to get rid of these figures.
My Aunt was a cupon clipper long before there were reality shows about it. Being a family with 5 kids she did mail aways for everything. I remember my cousin getting this with a bunch of weapons. We always called him Conan. I'm pretty sure she also got a Barbie with this same offer.
I sold my "Savage He-man" in the 90s or so either out of Toy Shop or the early days of eBay. I included the Buy 3, Get 1 Free certificate with the sale as I had extras. The one in the baggie could very well be the one I sold. I do not recall if I mailed the figure in a baggie and it would not have been sealed if I did. 100% I received mine from that promo.
Great video!!!! I always love your videos and this one really hit home. A year or 2 ago I was on the hunt for a Savage He-Man/ Windar. I went down the rabbit hole of the supposed history behind him and then how to identify a true vintage version vs a customized figure. Happy to say that my own investigation resulted in an authentic figure!!! Thanks again Scott and keep the videos coming, your fellow toy geeks love them!
Spector Creative makes me want to hunt down another one! I did that with Scare Glow,, one green staff and one glow staff. Then I went down the variant rabbit hole for other MOTU figures.....collecting is a sickness, but a good one!
Great investigative reporting! The interesting thing is this woman was upset. Little did she know how valuable the figure would become. Also they considered trying to “paint” him the correct color. You misread her handwriting at that point. So how many people were disappointed and threw him out or repainted him? So happy I found this. So silly but I have thought about this from time to time for about 8 years.
@@oh-totoro As with anything it will depend on several factors but even poor condition might fetch $300. Nice condition I’ve heard of $1,500 or so. That was at least 10 years back. He is much more well known today because of videos like this. Who knows how that affects things. Will guys find them and put them for sale now that they know what they are. Or will there be many more collectors looking. There are some very rare MOTU stuff where the prices will be more consistent-and would top $1500. This one is just so different it is hard to say.
So, people connected Wonder Bread to this figure because the Wonder Bread trading card promo happened most recently, people had forgotten about the Buy 3 Get 1 Free promo and just somehow connected the two? That's not a ringing endorsement for the popularity of the trading cards.
The reason Wundar never caught on in the 80's series line up is NOT so much that he lacked armor and weapons and/or that he was a mail away figure, even though sending in box tops/proofs of purchase was an inconvenience. Mattels big mistake was: 1) You had to buy 3 specific figures: Man-E-Faces, Tri Klops and Trap Jaw (why only these 3 figures is unknown) and 2) When you sent in your box tops/proofs of purchase, there was NO guarantee that you would receive Wundar, one might've gotten a Barbie or Strawberry Shortcake instead. Mattel felt they weren't obligated to make guarantees to the MOTU Fan Base.
I guess really old mysteries can get solved after all this time. And I guess Mattel really didn’t care enough about that promo, judging from how it was barely in their archives.
Amazing. Only someone with your specific work history could have solved this mystery. Well done. The letter from the consumer was stamped received on August 16, 1983, and responded to from the Marketing VP on September 14, 1983, both dates prior to the premiere of the Filmation syndicated series. So these documents are from the Mineternian days. Wow...
Great work, however... As a purist, I think the nail in the coffin should be tracking this lady down, and presenting her with a few images (all but one, faked) and have her identify the figure. If nothing else, what a neat story to hit her with as being part of the now history of the line.
