A Look At He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (The Complete First Season)
Growing up in the 80s was a cool time to grow up. There wasn’t any internet, CDs, or MP3 players. Kids were forced to get down with old school toys. And for the most of us, that meant we owned action figure after action figure. Thus insert one of the coolest toy lines of the decade next to G.I.Joe and the LJN WWF Line, Masters of the Universe. In an odd twist, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe was first a toy line by Mattel before it was a cartoon. And let’s be honest, to spite what anyone wants to say, the cartoon was created for the purpose of selling toys. And all in all each episode was a 30 minute (with commercials) advertisement for the toys with a message tossed in for good measure. But at the time, who cared? Not I. When the show debuted in 83, the same year I was born, it didn’t mean much to me (obviously), but by the time it went on into it’s later years, I cared a whole heck of a lot and I had the action figures piled up to prove it. So for people like me, who want to be nostalgic. Or for people who might have missed it or want their kids to experience it. He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: The Complete first season, is a heck of a way to kill a lot of time.
He-man was basically created to sell toys, but there are some fun to be had with this set no matter if you are 3 or 30. If you didn’t know already the series revolves around this dude right here….
That’s Prince Adam. And he and his cowardly cat friend are the protectors of Eternia. When the going gets tough, Adam slips away out of sight from all but the handful of folks that know who he really is (and thus being called a coward by the rest who doesn’t), holds his magically sword on the air, says some magic words, and transforms from Prince Adam to He-man…
Yes, in Eternia you can take your shirt and pants off and have people mistake you for a completely different person. Regardless He-Man is just about the only competent hero. And his crew of good guys are more or less made up of these guys…
Notice that flying dude there? His name is, Orko. He was originally called Gorko. If you didn’t know this series was made really cheap. Meaning the animation uses a lot of repeat animation. By renaming him Orko, they can use the same still and flip it, using it more than once. A “O” (which was on his shirt) looks the same from every direction. A “G” Wouldn’t. Anyway, He-Man gets his powers The Castle Grayskull…
Looks like a lovely place doesn’t it? So more or less all 65 episodes that make up the complete first season shows He-Man battling this guy, named Skeletor, and his rouge gallery of mostly idiotic villains who live on Infinita (Eternia’s sister planet). Let’s get a fast look at the core of this group shall we?
Season 1 of He-Man was the first first run syndicated cartoon show, ever. It was sold and aired daily in 30 minute blocks. And with the ads removed here, you get seven discs of episodes that are around 20 minutes each. He-Man was also the cartoon that broke the mold and allowed violence into cartoons, be it mild violence. So if you aren’t aware of how things work, don’t be looking for He-Man to use that sword as much more than a prop. He seems to punch bad guys a lot and simply toss them. But I can at least assure you that some of these episodes are actually interesting. Just try to ignore the repeat animation and ease that He-Man usually saves Eternia with. Seeing as how this was a live action action figure ad, you do get joy from spotting new characters that come and go, just at enough of a rate to make young eyes want to own them in action figure form. I will however give credit where it’s due, each episode ends with a message that was learned during the show (all G.I. Joe life). That ALMOST makes me forgive them for always repeating the origin of the character at the start of ALL 65 episodes and the theme song that contains such deep lyrics as, “Ddududududud-HE-MAN-ddududu”
TV Flashbacks are the fine folks that bring He-Man and The Masters of the Universe: The Complete First Season to us. And in this set you get all 64 shows made up of 6 discs that have 10 episodes on each and the 7th disc has the last 5. You also have an 8th disc that might be even more fun for us adults. It packs three 20+ minute documentaries that give us behind the scene stories and info on the series. We also get character profiles and scripts of five different episodes. So, no matter if you want a kid to see this, or want it for yourself, it packs something for everyone.
GET IT HERE AT TV FLASHBACKS
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