Limited Edition Masters Of The Universe Heroes Vs. Villains Gummies - Huer

While walking through my local Safeway, I came across an endcap that caught my eye. Mainly because of its familiar package from my youth. I knew right away it was Masters Of The Universe related, but what, I wasn't sure. As I got in closer, I discovered that what was before me was a display full of pouches housing Huer brand gummies.

Naturally I wanted to take a bag (or ten) home with me, but that was when I noticed the price. Regularly priced, these were $4.99 a pouch. Safeway was feeling "generous" and had them on sale for 2 for $7.00.

Getting the bags home, I popped one open to see if the gummies looked just like they showed on the package. I mean, kind of. The Evil-Lyn and Power Sword are probably the most accurate. Though I'm not honestly understanding why they would do Evil-Lyn. It would seem more appropriate to cast Skeletor's Havoc Staff to mirror the Power Sword of He-Man.

What kind of miffed me was that there was only one Skeletor in the pouch, but five of all the others. That's bogus!

Flipping the bag over, it gives you information on each of the gummies flavor, He-Man being orange, the Power Sword being strawberry, blueberry for Evil-Lyn, and grape / lemon for Skeletor. While He-Man definitely had his flavor going on, the Power Sword tasted more like cherry to me, and Evil-Lyn more like grape. As for Skeletor, I unfortunately didn't get to try him. More on that below.

What I will say is that they have a very thick syrupy flavor, laden with sugar. It leaves a rather unpleasant aftertaste in the back of your throat. Overall, pretty awful. I can't believe I used to eat this type of stuff as a kid.

The other side of the back of the package tells you just how unhealthy these are for you. With three servings in each container, this isn't what we'll call good for you (on any level). Further, with how bad they are, it's not worth the calories. I definitely would not buy these again.

Being a collector first, I did do what collector's do. I collected. My second, unopened bag, got vacuum sealed, and the set of four gummies from the bag I opened also got that treatment. Will these last on my shelf? Well, time will tell. But as you can see, this is why I ultimately didn't get to try the Skeletor one.

Collectors gonna collect!

If you're a He-Man fan, I would definitely recommend grabbing come bags for your collection. However, if you're looking for a tasty snack with a nostalgic flare, while these hit the latter mark, the flavor is horrible. Still, this was fun to pick up and add to my ever expanding and overstuffed shelves.

Being limited, I'm not sure how long these will be around, but I don't suspect it will be long past the movie's release in theaters. For now, the Safeway near me had an entire display full of them. They're not exactly flying off shelves, and I suspect that's mainly driven by the price point. They're far pricier than they should be, and don't really deliver on the value.

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Masters of the Universe Day 2023 - Part II

 

Welcome back to Masters of the Universe Day here at The Toy Box!

This next figure I've been holding onto for even longer than the movie figures showcased in my first post. I was hoping that further figures in the 40th anniversary would follow, but sadly that never came to be - Unless of course you paid out the nose for the SDCC exclusive two-pack.

I actually pre-ordered two of the 40th anniversary He-Mans, and when they arrived my plan was to put them in a case, one sealed, and one opened, with my Alan Oppenheimer signed complete DVD collection of the original series. Unfortunately, Mr. Oppenheimer ended up cancelling his appearance at Retro Con 2022, making me have to rethink what I was going to do. Ultimately, I decided I no longer needed both, and sent one to Alexis with my annual box o' stuff.

I also wanted a Battlecat for my He-Man, but didn't want to pay retail for the Origins version that was out. Patience paid off, and Entertainment Earth recently had a massive sale on them. Long story short, I was able to get two for the price of one, and sent one off to Alexis with the figure.

This is a solid figure, and I love the nod to the vintage accessories. The sculpt on the power sword is immaculate, down to the finest detail. Love it!

The inclusion of a holster for the sword was an appreciated detail.

With the exception of articulation, Battlecat hasn't evolved much from the original version. The joints were also very flimsy, and it often fell over as a result.

I clearly didn't take into consideration the size difference between the 40th anniversary He-Man figure versus the Origins ones. These scales are definitely off. Seeing this photo (below) just makes me wish all the more that Mattel made a 40th anniversary Battlecat.

Oh well...It's good enough (for now).

I've got one final post coming in the mid-evening, so check back for my final entry in celebration of Masters of the Universe Day!

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Masters of the Universe Day 2023 - Part I

 

Masters of the Universe Day is upon us again, and with it, I've curated three particular posts for the day. The first is what you have before you, and the other two will follow in the early afternoon and mid-evening.

I've been sitting on these items for quite a few months, waiting for the month of April to hit to finally open them.

Starting it all off are these two great figures from the Masterverse series from Mattel. 

I absolutely treasured the 1987 Masters of the Universe film from my childhood, and all I wanted at the time were the figures from Mattel to play with. While a few were released, Gwildor, Saurod, and Blade, because the film essentially tanked, that was all that came out.

When Masters of the Universe Classics came out, I completely missed grabbing the movie related figures, opting instead to stay out of the world of current toy lines. I've been looking at those figures ever since wishing I had taken the plunge on them. It didn't help that Mattel made the series incredibly frustrating for people to get.

Fortunately, Masterverse has me covered, well, at least with He-Man and Skeletor (for now). When I saw these figures announced I immediately pre-ordered them. I'm hoping beyond hope that they produce the remaining movie related characters, and even give us a Beast Man, Man-At-Arms and Teela this time around.

I like how the packages fit together to make a mural. It's too bad I have no interest in keeping packages.

Well, that's about it for the packaging. Let's bust those babies loose!

There's plenty of accessories here, and all the weapons have a place in various holsters.

Man...That head. So bad. Definitely not Dolph Lundgren. While I can appreciate them including an "original" head to swap out, that version simply doesn't go with the figure at all. So, unfortunately, we're stuck with what we have.

The details on the cape are impressive.

I had a bit of trouble getting the arms to move. The joint connected to the body simply doesn't want to move all that much.

Skeletor came with some great accessories. However, unlike He-Man, there are no holsters or hooks to put any of them on. That's such a downer when toy makers do that. Like we just want a bunch of loose accessories sitting around.

The details are fantastic, but the colors are all wrong. The films costume was black and blue, not brown and red. I would have much preferred that Mattel stay true to the source material.

Still, that head sculpt is pretty spot on. Of the two, it's the best feature.

Let this be their final battle!

Oops...Look's like Skeletor brought a knife to a gun fight!

Like I said, I hope we finally get a complete line of movie themed figures, screen accurate or not. It's been a long time coming, and I hope Mattel doesn't ditch the concept with just these two. I'm tired of lines that tease, but never fully commit.

But, for now, that wraps up this post. Come back later for my next post.

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Form New Voltron Blog!

 

You a fan of all things Voltron toys? Then check out the newest Blog that just came to fruition, 1984 Panosh Place Voltron Card-Back Guide. Though still in its infancy (hey, we were all there at one time), the author has a passion for the content. As such, I'm sure many more posts are on the horizon. Check it out!

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Mousegetar (Mattel / Carnival)

 

Mousegetar
Mattel / Carnival
1955 - 1998

Even if they aren't musically inclined themselves, one of the greatest things I think a parent can do is purchase toy instruments for their young children. Even if it doesn't develop into a passion for the real thing, getting exposed to these forms of creative outlets at a young age have nothing but benefits for children.

As a child, I had many plastic instruments before "graduating" to the real things and expanding from there. One such toy was the funtastic Mousegetar from Mattel and Carnival.

The original Mousegetar was built specially for Jimmie Dodd to use on the Mickey Mouse Club show. It was a four-string instrument, which Jimmie called a tenor guitar. It was based on this that Mattel first produced children's toy versions in 1955. Two different versions to be exact; The standard Mousegetar, and Mousegetar Jr. for toddler sized kids.

Not being a child of the fifties, I naturally didn't have the original versions shown above, nor the 1960's version below.

No, it wouldn't be until around 1980 that I would receive the Carnival brand version, originally released around 1978 / 1979. Based on the pictures I've been thumbing through as of late from Christmas's and birthdays of my childhood, it appears that I had the white version, and my brother received the brown one shown just below it.

Though i know I talked in a recent post about receiving the Muppet's Trap Drum Kit from my grandmother, in looking at pictures, it appears that this particular guitar came first in my life. In fact, I also apparently even received a smaller guitar a year before this one. However, in looking through pictures I can't tell what brand it was.

Carnival released quite a few iterations of the Mousegetar, and sadly, despite the numerous ones shown here, it's not all of them. I simply couldn't find the other two version I know of, one being a boxed version of the above guitar I had as a kid, and the other being a boxed version of the one below.

Truth be told, between the Mattel and Carnival brand ones, I don't honestly even know how many different styles have been released. Heck, there's even Canadian versions which are different from all of these USA released versions.

The last releases I know of where these two (above and below), released by Mattel around 1998. What's interesting to note is how both boxes contradict each other. One says it's the original based on the 1955 version, and the other says it's the original based on the 1957 release. Clearly, it's the same guitar, so I'm not too sure what happened here.

Having been released numerous times over the course of multiple decades, it's understandable that this guitar is not only readily available, but also somewhat affordable. Naturally, the older the model gets, the more expensive it gets, but you can still grab one of the latter releases loose for under ten bucks on a good day. Older ones with the box can garner around sixty dollars, but that's still not a terrible price for something released so long ago.

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A Toy Box Custom - Prince's Little Red Corvette Hot Wheels

 

No, I didn't make the actual toy, just the package. 

Why are there no Prince action figures? Looking at you, NECA!

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Computer Warriors (Mattel)

Computer Warriors
Mattel
1989 - 1990

Computer Warriors! Evil viruses are released in a top secret government computer and it's up to the Computer Warriors to track them down and stop them! Disguised as everyday household items, the Computer Warriors and Viruses transform into deadly attack machines.

Transformers with tiny pilots? Sounds cool...Until you realize in their transformed versions they're things like calculators, pencil sharpeners and books...Hmm...Lame. Granted they do reconfigure into things such as tanks, rockets and other attack vehicles, but still...That's about as fun as Perceptor turning into a Microscope. In other words, there's just some toys I don't want to play with - One that promote education.


Even the boxes didn't help sell these things with generic names representing what they are; Book, Flashlight, Clock...yawn. No wonder these things didn't fly off the shelves.

"Okay, Johnny. You can get one toy. Do you want Optimus Prime or Pencil Sharpener?"

The choice seems kind of obvious, doesn't it?

Book

Calculator

Clock

In representation, the computer playset looks pretty cool. It's massive, which is always fun in any playset.

Computer

Flashlight

In addition to the larger boxed versions, the series included carded PC boards which transformed into aerial ships. The cardbacks get points for having a unique style to them in terms of shape.

PC Board

PC Board

PC Board

PC Board

Because I clearly wasn't going in any particular order, here are some more of the boxed items.

Pencil Sharpener

Out of all the Computer Warriors toys, the Pepsi Can is the one which intrigues me the most. I don't know what it is about this particular thing that makes me want it so much. Probably the nostalgia of the branded can.

Pepsi Can

Soccer Trophy? Um...That's a soccer ball.

Soccer Trophy

Mattel produced a pilot episode for Computer Warriors which...Is just awful. It's no wonder the series didn't get picked up for syndication. The one and only episode can found on VHS cassettes which were released in conjunction with the toys. Additionally, you can watch the full episode on Youtube.

These toys seems to come in spurts on secondary markets - Typically from one seller offloading the entire series. In the box they're going to set you back considerably, so this is not the type of toy line for the faint of heart. Be prepared to spend around $200.00 for the boxed ones (not including the computer which will set you back even more) and around $25.00 for each carded PC board.

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