He-Ro Masters of the Universe Revelation Masterverse In Hand Review
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Check out our hands on review of He-Ro from the Masters of the Universe Revelation Masterverse sub-line!
We have another exciting Masterverse figure review for you today with He-Ro. Revealed back in Mid-March, 2022, the Masterverse He-Ro design which was under the Revelation sub line given he appeared in the Netflix series. His design is molded after his look in the animated series, which continues the line of Revelation figures which we have not had in a while. Revelation He-Ro carries a staff that opens to reveal a magic green gem! He-Ro as a character has some special significance to Toyhabts.com which we will explain later below, so this special review is brought to you by both Michael and the Toy Sorceress, so enjoy!
Box and Art
Up until now, we’ve only seen official images of the figure, so it is great to finally have him in hand! He-Ro looks great packed in the Masterverse window display box. You also see the side art that has an image of He-Ro holding his famous staff as if he is ready to attach. The rear box art shows He-Ro standing in a meadow of Preternia with his green gem staff opened, and you can see the three towers of Eternia in the background. This is straight out of a scene of the Netflix Revelation series. We also get to see the crosser sell for the rest of the wave, which includes Battle Armor He-Man, Sun-Man and Jitsu.
Source: @manuel_eduardo_caritas • Instagram photos and videos
Source: @manuel_eduardo_caritas • Instagram photos and videos
Box Bio:
The new package reveals both the amazing box art, but we also get to take a look at He-Ro’s bio as well. His bio gives us some history of Pre-Eternia and hopefully opens the door for some more Powers of Grayskull characters. His bio reads:
Heroic Cosmic Warrior! Armored with the Magical Sword of He and cosmic armor from the Temple of Power, He-Ro protected Eternia from both the Snake Men and the Horde Empire. This ancestor of He-Man fought alongside the other heroes in the Ultimate Battleground, and sacrificed himself to save King Grayskull.
Roy Juarez (@manuel_eduardo_caritas) • Instagram photos and videos
He-Ro Video
We took a short vide so you can see all of the angles on He-Ro so check it out!
History of He-Ro
He-Ro was a character that Mattel came up with that was supposed to be the new lead heroic leader in the late 1980’s Powers of Grayskull Line to take the place of He-Man. By that time in the line, interest in Masters of the Universes was waning and kids’ attention was now going elsewhere. Well, the Powers of Grayskull line was very short-lived with only a couple of Dinosaurs and Giants being produced in the oversees markets. Only a prototype was made of He-Ro, with gorgeous gold colored vac-metal armor, but sadly, the He-Ro figure was never produced.
According to He-Ro | Wiki Grayskull | Fandom:
He-Ro is the name of two fictional characters in the Masters of the Universe franchise, both linked to the main character He-Man and both achieving only a “prototype stage”, until 2009, when the initial version was finally released as part of the Masters of the Universe Classics line.
He-Ro was planned to be a new character introduction, the centerpiece of The Powers of Grayskull, a spin-off line of Mattel‘s Masters of the Universe toy line in 1987. The Powers of Grayskull was to be set in Eternia’s prehistoric past, called “Preternia” to differentiate, and promised to reveal secrets about the source of He-Man’s power, through the adventures of He-Ro, a young but powerful wizard who lived in that time.
In Mattel’s license guide it stated that Gray (the original alter ego for He-Ro) could, “by placing one hand over his heart & flexing the other into a muscle & saying, Magic & strength tempered by heart… I stand for peace!”, he would become He-Ro of Grayskull, the most powerful wizard in the Universe.
However, the line was cancelled in early 1987, and none of this came to fruition. The 1987 Mattel Toy Catalog published pictures of the proposed toys from the line, including an action figure of He-Ro. Three of the dinosaur toys from the line actually made it to stores, and the two “giant” action figures saw release as exclusives in Italy, but He-Ro was never released as a toy.
He-Ro | Wiki Grayskull | Fandom
The Powers of Grayskull
As we mentioned above, the Powers of Grayskull was a short lived off shoot of the Masters of the Universe line in the late 1980’s. Set to take place in the pre-historic land of Preternia, only a couple dinosaurs were made and of course our famous two giants Megator and Tytus.
The packaging of the three dinosaur toys that did see release before the line’s discontinuation bore the following text:
“Travel back in time through a secret time portal–and discover the ORIGIN of THE POWERS OF GRAYSKULL! Learn how He-Man became so strong! And explore the magical world of Preternia–home of HE-RO, the Most Powerful Wizard in the Universe! Monstrous dinosaurs and fierce giants–both good and evil–struggle for control of this strange & hostile land! The dinosaurs in the time of Grayskull–Tyrantisaurus Rex, Bionatops and Turbodactyl–each possess a fantastic mechanical power! Can HE-RO master all the good magic of the Ancient Wizards, and protect future Eternia from forever falling in the claws of evil? Look For HE-RO and The Powers of Grayskull coming your way in 1987!”
He-Ro | Wiki Grayskull | Fandom
This brief overview set the stage for the Powers of Grayskull storyline, and was elaborated upon in the mini-comic The Powers of Grayskull: The Legend Begins!
This book was intended to be the first of a three-part mini-comic mini-series, revealing the whole He-Ro story to the toy-buying public. However, only this first installment appeared, the last mini-comic produced.
As the story opens, the Sorceress uses the power of Central Tower to take He-Man on a fact-finding tour into Eternia’s distant past.
When the Sorceress and He-Man arrive, followed by Skeletor, they find King Hiss leading a Snake Men attack on a village in the hope of drawing out “The Elders”, using some of the cybernetic dinosaurs to their advantage. Hiss serves an “unnamed one” and agrees to unite with Skeletor on the basis that he might be an emissary. Seeing Skeletor’s interference, the Sorceress allows He-Man to enter the battle but “for reasons that will be made clear to you in the future” he had to be disguised. He finds himself overwhelmed, but then a shadowy figure appears who turns the odds with a powerful wand. The stranger then sends the Snake Men back to their base and all the time travellers home. The Sorceress describes the intervener as “the Greatest Sorcerer of all!” and He-Man is left asking “But who is he?
He-Ro | Wiki Grayskull | Fandom
Finally He-Ro in Action Figure Form!
MOTU Classics He-Ro
We finally got the very first action figure produced of He-Ro in 2009, Mattel brought us He-Ro as part of the Masters of the Universe Classics line as a San Diego Comic Con exclusive! He was sold in limited quantities and also was latter available on Mattycollector.com.
He came packed with 3 different color gems, green, purple and red. They were randomly packed in, and you would not know which one you were going to get until you opened the package. Funny enough, that little gem was how the Toy Sorceress and Michael met! The Toy Sorceress was looking for the green gem, and Michael had one he was willing to trade, a few email exchanges later, the two became good friends and partners on the ToyHabits.com website and the rest is Toy Habits history! It only seems fitting that they are now both co-authoring this review!
Super7 He-Ro
Fast forward the clock to 2018, and here comes Super7 with their awesome retro style 5.5″ Masters of the Universe figures. They did what Mattel was unable to do nearly 35 years earlier, they actually produced a stunning He-Ro action figure, shiny gold vac-metal armor and all! He included his staff of power. When you pressed down on the top of the staff, the staff opened up like a flower petal and revealed a beautiful translucent green gem inside!
The Packaging for this figure was also modeled after the short-lived vintage Powers of Grayskull line with that gorgeous new logo and illustrated art of He-Ro holding his staff on the front, and an illustration of He-Ro battling Megator on the back.
He-Ro in the Revelation Cartoon
He-Ro was famously seen for the first time in animated form in the 2021 animated series Masters of the Universe: Revelation; episode The Forge at the Forest of Forever. In this story, He-Ro appears in Preternia, a kind of afterlife where the heros of Eternia go to spend their afterlife. Here, He-Ro was one of the two sons of King Grayskull.
This is the appearance that the new Masterverse figure is modeled after, and I think Mattel did a wonderful job capturing the likeness of his animated version.
Masterverse Figure
When He-Ro was revealed back in March, we could not be more excited and could not wait to have him in hand! He-Ro’s face sculpt features a younger looking He-Ro than we’ve seen since he debut in the Masters of the Universe Classics line, with long flowing brown hair, a head band with a red jewel in the center, and an angular face design. He has silver and blue forearm bracers with brown leather like straps that are removable! The waist piece reminds me of Roboto for Masterverse, so we could see that same style coming down the line for more figures. He also includes a nice red soft goods cape, similar to that of She-Ra. The boots and shin armor match his gold chest armor, which features an H that resembles two arrows pointing away from each other. Finally, He-Ro’s staff has a basic visual design but can open up to reveal a green gem! I love how this figure turned out, but my only wish is that he can with either vac-metal chest armor and boots, or that they made his chest armor and boots a more shinny gold color somehow. Super7 was able to do it, and Mattel has been incorporating vac-metal into their Origins line, so Mattel has no excuse.
Here you can see how the cape attaches to his arm, which is basically snapped in under those silver rectangular parts, which keeps the cape on nice and tight. It also looks seamless, so they really executed the cape attachment well.
Head Sculpt
He-Ro’s face design is molded after how he appeared in the Netflix Revelation animated series. His face sculpt features a younger looking He-Ro than we are used to. His brown hair has a lot of beautiful detail and looks like it is flowing in the wind. He is wearing a gold head band with jewel in the center. Also, since this is supposed to be closer to the animated look, his face has a more angular design.
Chest and Back
He’Ro’s chest armor is a rather simple design but has some very nice added details that make it feel a bit more premium. His chest armor is a gold-colored plastic that features a red H that resembles two arrows pointing away from each other. He also has a blue circular accent at his collar area. Then there are some nice leather like looking straps and silver buckles that make up his shoulder area where his red soft goods cape attaches to. If you lift those up, there are two pegs that hold the cape down thru to holes. Mattel did a great job with how the cap attaches to the armor.
Waist
The waist is probably the only place where I have a small grip about this utterly great figure. Since the chest armor doesnt go all the way down to his belt, they painted his belly area front and back in a gold color to match his chest armor, and this looks a little odd if you look at it close up, but from a distance overall, the figure still looks good. The waist piece reminds me of Roboto for Masterverse, which is a verey similar design, so we could see that same style coming down the line for more figures. He has a red belt with rivets molded into it, a silver belt buckle and blue shorts.
Arms
His arms look to be the standard Masterverse buck, but he has on some very cool wrist bracers. They are silver with blue accents in an angular design, and some very nice-looking brown leather like straps on the back. I like how they kind of guard his hands and come up past the wrist, like he is ready for battle! Mattel, that was a nice touch! They are removeable when you remove, He-Ro’s hands.
Legs
His legs are also the standard Masterverse buck, but he has on some very cool new gold boots! His boots are an all-new design, similar to that of the MOTU Classics figure. They come up past his knee for a knee guard look and have some angled blue accents on them. There is some nicely sculpted detail on the shin guard and foot areas.
Weapons and Accessories
He-Ro comes packed with his staff of power and a pair of swappable hands He Staff when opened up, reveals a beautiful translucent green gem inside. Again, this is where I wish Mattel used a more shinny gold color plastic or vac-metal because the color to me looks a bit too matte. He includes a right fist and flat palm left alternate hands.
MOTU Classics figure comparison
To quote the great Pixel Dan, “It’s comparison time!” We compare the 2009 MOTU Classics He-Ro with the new 2022 Masterverse He-Ro figure. The MOTU Classics figure’s gold armor, boots and staff are much more shinny and metalic looking color than the more flat look of the new Masterverse figure. Don’t get me wrong, I really like this new version of He-Ro, but the MOTU Classics figure executed the gold armor much better.
The MOTU Classics He-Ro has a more older and wiser look on the face sculpt, it is a bit more broad and stronger looking. The Masterverse figure has a slimer and younger looking face, perhaps beacuse it has an animated feel to it. Their waist designs are very similar with the same color scheme, but again here is where the MOTU classics figure has more detail and paint apps then the Masterverse figure. The same thing can be said for the boots as well.
Where the Masterverse figure beats out the MOTU Classics is in the design of the arm bracers. I like the larger design and more detail, plus the thicker leather like straps look great. Another place where the Masterverse figure beats out the MOTU Classics is in articulation! The Masterverse figure is made of pin-less joints where the MOTU Classics figure has those huge pins in the joints that can sometimes be distracting.
In the end, I (Toy Sorceress) am very partial to this 2009 He-Ro Classics figure as it helped to forge a beautiful friendship, but I think that the details, armor color, extra translucent blue sword and over all look of this figure outshines the new Masterverse figure. Thanks again Michael for the trade!!
Photography fun
These Masterverse figures are great fun to set up and take cool photos! The great thing is with so many characters now in the Masterverse line, you can have a blast setting them up in scenes and taking photos of them! If any of you follow our Toy Habits Instagram page and The Toy Sorceress Instagram page, you will see the Toy Sorceress loves Toy Photography, so here are some photographs for your enjoyment and inspiration!
Official Images & Product Description
Product description be Entertainment Earth:
Masters of the Universe Masterverse He-Ro Action Figure – Exclusive:
Brought to animated form for the first time in the Netflix Original series Masters of the Universe: Revelation, Mattel’s He-Ro is here in 3D as this exclusive 7-inch Masters of the Universe Masterverse He-Ro Action Figure. This He-Ro stands roughly 7-inches tall and features 30 points of articulation. He comes with a staff and a pair of swappable hands. Order him today so you don’t miss out! Ages 6 and up.
By the Power of Grayskull! Mattel’s Masterverse collection brings Masters of the Universe to life with 7-inch scale action figures designed with a high level of detail fans love. Featuring heroic warriors like He-Man and villainous foes such as Skeletor, the character figures have a minimum of 30 points of articulation and come with accessories – like a battle piece or extra hands – for epic storytelling and display. For collectors and fans who treasure the MOTU legacy and its expert revitalization, these Masters of the Universe figures are must-haves. Fans will want them all, and they make great gifts to help start or build a collection.
Where to Buy:
You can buy Sun-Man and the rest of the Wave 6 characters at:
You can find the convenient links to purchase the rest of the Masterverse figures at our MOTU Masterverse Shop page
