One thing I’ve never heard discussed about MOTU is the lack of children characters. Creators always assume that kids need to see other kids on screen to relate. I don’t believe that’s true and He-Man proved that. As a kid, I was never drawn to the “kid” character. It was always the hero. It was Batman, not Robin.
A very good point I saw raised a long time ago is that if kids were playing on the playground, nobody would want to be Robin, as he'd bee seen as weaker, inferior, and the character that exists to get tied up.
The additional arms make this figure feel a lot taller than his counterparts (Megator/Tytus) in the "giants" category. I love what the team did with this figure, and the hand sculpted to hold the Star Seed does so perfectly. It was a terrific move to let him keep his only accessory without it rolling all over the place!
I actually bought that rock monster at 3:30, from a line called Creatures of Eldrador, to display with my vintage MOTU as it had similar body proportions and looked like creatures they ran into on Eternia all the time, as well as the similar-looking ice monster and a two-headed vine monster from that same line.
When I started collecting the classics I avoided the giants and some other things. At some point on ebay I ran into this figure! I noticed the God like look and the four arms. I said I have to that! Glad I got the procrustus figure, really different looking and came out super awesome!
That's the only Classics figure I own (others were too expensive here abroad) and the reason is "Magic Stealer" was my first and only minicomic along with the lonely He-man figure for a few years ( before I could have others ) and he caused a huge impression on me as an 8yold kid. Thanks, Scott, for letting him come to plastic form years after.
Procrustus is a tragic character to me, reminds me of Atlas. If it wasn't for Hordak, he'd have a normal (or what passes as normal for giants) life. And yeah, I can see how MOTU used a good deal of Greek myths. Honestly, I always thought that Procrustus was named that way because he's holding a planet and part of the planet was called the crust.
I love the lore of this character, so much story could be traced back to him. Like showing each of the items that have touched the star seed and there being some kind of test to pass to gain access to the seed. So much possibly
Love this figure. It seems to me that the MOTU story is so convoluted that the only way to make it interesting is to stop trying to make sense of it. Some things are better not to know...
Captain America: Meets two gods, still a Christian. Iron Man: Meets two gods, still an Atheist. Hulk: Meets two gods, beats the crap out of them. He-Man: Meets a god, shoots him with tank lasers and bosses him around. I loved this figure, and this was one I'd been wanting since 1983. I ended up getting two: one to keep as-is, and one to see if I could customise him a bit. In the mini-comic, he looked slightly greenish. Was he done in a sandstone colour for Classics to distinguish him more from Megator?
Real nice video, and for someone who's not deep in the lore of MoTU, very informative. I think that the thing that binds so much together here is the allure. There's an allure to the fantasy Frazzata style paintings, to the giants, and to rock monsters. It's why I'd spend time in a store staring at album covers that were for bands I'd never heard of. It's why the big toys that get to have the big action scene on the packaging have an extra allure. What is this crazy stuff, and how do I find out? For a giant toy, another thing that just adds to it is how it interacts with smaller ones, and for a giant character, being able to pick up smaller figures is just such a simple, and great feature. Procrustus has it, and it adds to him. The Titan Class Scorponok and Ark for Transformers made sure to show this off in the gorgous boxart they had, picking up Optimus Prime and Megatron respectively, and scaled so if you've got the right toys you can recreate it, which I'll admit I've done. It just adds to the allure, and the sense of power for a big character figure. I mean I ever do a giant skeleton action figure for example, I would very much try to make his ribcage open up, and serve as a cage for smaller figures. Because that would give an amazing form of interaction, and a sense of mystery and allure. Is he an evil construct created for the villain to use to drain the hero's power once he captures him? Or an animate guardian, made to capture the villain and guard him? It would have an immediate visual allure and sense of mystery you'd want to learn more about.
I wonder if somewhere out there there's a Lubic from the MOTU movie action figure. He could double as Strickland in another franchise some of us might know. haha Keep up the great videos, Scott!
Giants are part of most mythologies and religions, as far as I know. You mention Greek mythology, but they are also part of all the Abrahamic religions, Goliath, and also Nordic Mythology. And I think your idea of kids seeing grown ups as giants is a good observation. Like it is something that lies deep in all of us. And this also why people have love / fear of them.
Hey Scott, With the current WWE line of figures they reused Classics dragon blast skeletors dragon mold, in trans orange like the star seed, I have it on my classics shelf but wondered where you think he could fit in lore wise since you wrote most of the classics bios and since im a stickler for my own head cannon, Cheers
How are things like the Sword of He made where it's a crystaline look on one end and looks like the regular sword that He-Man has on the bottom half? Is it a trick with the injection molding or is it just cleverly applied paint on the bottom half etc? Thanks!
Cool, learned about the comics, Greek myths and Eternian geography/history. I especially didnt realize that later mini comics looked like actual comics. same quality of art that I loved in comics. Any chance of doing a video on the MOTU readalong books (records/tapes)? I think those are what I falsely remembered everytime minicomics were mentioned in recent years.
1. can rock monsters include Callix? 2. the pyramid , magic stealer, in the mini-comics kinda looks like the pyramid (that contains the magic orb) inside Castle Grayskull in Revelation. 3. Procrustus rocks!!!
Yea, as a kid I liked the FF's Thing & other "rock monster" toys, so I had to get the MOTUC fig (although I hate the legs & the fact that he didn't come w/ a weapon accessory). I always thought Procrustus was based on the titan (Atlas), but now I'm going to look up the story of "Procrustes". That's what I love about these vids, they're very informative. I just wish the cartoons went to these lengths to better explain the MOTU lore, because it would've made the brand stronger.
I can see He-Man holding Eternia together for a while so Procrustus can take a break, sort of like that myth where Hercules does so for Atlas, only Pro would willingly resume his task.
Also, the iron bed of Procrustes was no good if you were too short to fit perfectly. (nobody fitted perfectly) Procrustes would stretch you to fit, by hammering you out. Procrustes was killed by the Greek hero Theseus, who made him try the iron bed. Didn't fit, obviously.
Did you ever use tools from other lines for classics like original line ? Would of thought cheap 12 inch figures were simple barely a inconvenience Wish classics had been available but got origins now
Just wanted to mention that in the title you have "If" rather then "Of"..... I case you might not have knowticed and would want to make a correction to it. ..
This giants concept would see the light of day in The Powers Of Grayskull. Rock monsters are awesome… just ask Inhumanoids and Rock Lords. When you said “living rocks” well there’s two versions of it I just mentioned!
@@shenglongisback4688 As I understand the designer for the Inhumanoids actually owns the rights to them, so Hasbro would have to pay him to use them, and just doesn't feel it's worth it.
@@brettwood1351 oh.. 1st thank you for replying.. I loved Inhumanoids as a child watch it alot of times .I was like 8 when i watched it,would of been noice if The Owner and Hasbro would come too arrangement too renew the franchise.Hell the owner kickstart it there are collectors out there would be nice too renew them were so unique.
