Mer-Man and Stratos Cross Sell on Trap Jaw MOTU Cartoon Collection Card back

With the next two Cartoon Collection figures starting to show up in collector’s hands, we get to see the incredible artwork and new cross sell for the next wave of figures! As you can see, Mer-Man and Stratos are shown on the cross sell on for the Trap Jaw MOTU Cartoon Collection card back! This confirms that the next two Cartoon Collection figures to come will be Stratos and Mer-Man!

Trap Jaw Card Art

Here we can see a beautiful illustration of the Cartoon Collection Trap Jaw illustrating a scene from the Filmation episode ” Double Edged Sword”, where Trap Jaw eats a piece of Eternium from the of Sands of Time to become as powerful as He-Man. You can also see Mer-Man coming out of the water behind him, giving us another look at the second new figure from the cross sell.

Double Edge Sword Filmation Episode

The Eternium accessory that comes comes packed with the Cartoon Collection Trap Jaw was inspired by the MOTU Filmation episode Double Edge Sword. According to the Wiki Grayskull, “A young boy, Chad, who was under the care of his disabled grandfather, dreamt of joining the Royal Guard and enjoying the glory of battle, until an attack by the Evil Warriors taught him the true cost of war. There was a mad rush by both the good and bad guys to collect the energy source Eternium in the Sands of Time. Both sides invaded a neutral desert country for a rare mineral power supply. The young boy was attacked by a Spidasaur, a sea monster summoned by Mer-Man (despite being at the desert, there was a small lake, but seemingly deep enough for the Spidasaur), and He-Man came to the rescue. Trap Jaw then decided to eat some eternium to become as powerful as He-Man and convinced Mer-Man to help him get the eternium, promising to turn two thirds of Eternia into an ocean.

His strength greatly amplified by the Eternium, Trap Jaw rumbled with He-Man, but his newfound powers wore off and he went in search for more. Chad’s pet Burbie ingested the last piece instead, but it proved to be poisonous to the small creature, so He-Man took it to the Sorceress to help the pet get better. In the meantime, Chad’s grandfather told him that was he formerly a soldier, but once used his Scatter Ray to scare some attacking orcs and his reckless shots made a mountain crumble on him, and that’s what caused his legs to be paralyzed.

Stratos

Stratos appears on the card back cross sell for Trap Jaw, and it’s great that we are getting another iconic Heroic Warrior in the Cartoon Collection. The Filmation version of Stratos has been made in the 5.5 inch scale back in 2019 for the Super 7 5.5″ Vintage Style line, which we will take a closer look at below.

Startos, the Winged Warrior from Avion is protrayed as one of He-Man’s most trusted friends and beloved Heroic Warrior. He appeared on a whooping 15 episodes of the Filmation Cartoon! The most memorable of his appearances has got to be Betrayal of Stratos where Hawke discovers Stratos struggling to repair the generator, and then accuses him sabotaging it. He then struggle to prove his innocence throughout the whole episode. At the end, of course we get a happy ending where the Egg of Avion is returned to its rightful place, and then the Bird People and Stratos cheer for He-Man.

Original Startos Figure (1982): The first Stratos action figure was released in the initial wave of Masters of the Universe toys in 1982. Stratos was depicted as a grey skinned winged creature with red boots, red wings an cloth. He wore a blue jetpack chest harness and carried the staff of avion as his weapon. In the accompanying animated series, Stratos was one of the Heroic Warriors and assisted He-Man in his many battles against the Evil Warriors. As seen below, Super7 made a vintage Filmation figure paying homage to his cartoon appearance.

Mer-Man

Mer-Man also appears on the cross sell, and which is super exciting to see because I have personally been waiting for a cartoon accurate version of Mer-Man in the Origins line for a very long time! As you can see from the illustration below, they captured his goofy fish face and teal body color from the Filmation cartoon! The closest thing we got in this scale figure has been the Super 7 5.5″ Vintage Style figure from back in 2019, which we will take a closer look at below.

Mer-Man was depicted as a member of Skeletor’s Evil Warriors, a group of villains dedicated to overthrowing Castle Grayskull and conquering Eternia. He was often portrayed as a loyal and cunning servant of Skeletor, utilizing his aquatic abilities and commanding sea creatures to aid in their evil plans. Mer-Man’s presence in the Filmation MOTU series added depth and excitement to the ongoing conflicts between He-Man and Skeletor. His underwater abilities and role as a loyal henchman made him an iconic and memorable part of the Masters of the Universe animated universe.

Original Mer-Man Figure (1982): The first Mer-Man action figure was released in the initial wave of Masters of the Universe toys in 1982. Mer-Man was depicted as a green-skinned creature with webbed feet and hands. He wore a chest harness and carried a trident as his weapon. In the accompanying animated series, Mer-Man served as one of Skeletor’s henchmen, using his aquatic abilities to aid in his evil schemes. As seen below, Super7 made a vintage Filmation figure paying homage to his cartoon appearance.

Trap Jaw

Trap Jaw is packed with his hook hand on his right arm! It would be cool if Mattel packed Trap Jaw with a different attachment, like how they packed Mini Comic Man-E-Faces with different faces.

Trap Jaw looks amazing and finally we get a cartoon accurate sculpt that includes all of this accessories. The look of Trap Jaw really looks like his cartoon counterpart!

Trap Jaw looks great as he sports his Laser Cannon and we can see him holding Eternium, which is the most powerful substance on the planet Eternia. Just a little piece can act as a source of energy for the city of Eternos for a long time. It’s almost impossible to find and in one of the episodes, if Trap Jaw eats Eternium, he can become as strong as He-Man, if not stronger, but the substance is poisonous for other beings.

Here we can see Trap Jaw in different poses and it looks like he only one attachment that can fit on his belt at the time. This is great because Trap Jaw didn’t carry any attachments on his belt in the Filmation cartoon so it looks like he is getting an upgrade!

Trap Jaw Filmation Cartoon

Trap Jaw’s cybernetic enhancements have given him an array of interchangeable attachments and weapons. He has a mechanical jaw that can clamp down on objects with great force, hence his name. Additionally, his arm can be replaced with different tools, such as a claw, hook, or laser blaster, making him a formidable opponent in battle.

Waves 1 and 2 Carded Images

With the fury of reveals and preorders for the MOTU Origins and Masterverse lines settling down from the day of (MOTUes)days earlier in the week, we can now focus on the finer details. We’ve discovered carded images of the inaugural MOTU Origins Wave 1 set of figures, which includes He-Man and Beast Man (arriving December2023/January 2024) and Skeletor & Man-At-Arms (arriving March 2024). We secured an early release of He-Man and Beast Man and we’ve reviewed them for your viewing pleasure and are very excited for the Release of Skeletor and Man-At-Arms. On the cardbacks for He-Man and Beast Man, we can see the cross sell of Man-at-Arms and Skeletor.

Where to Buy

Looking for more MOTU Origins, be sure to check out our MOTU Origins Shop page.