MOTU Origins Cartoon Collection and Fan Favorite Reissues Wave 16
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The MOTU Origins Wave 16 assortment of figures include Cartoon Collection Skeletor and Man at Arms plus Fan Favorite Tri-Klops and an unnamed character!
Hot off the heals of our Wave 15 Assortment news, our anonymous Toy Habits source does it again with the next wave of MOTU Origins assortments! The 2024 waves will be made up of figures from the newly announced Cartoon Collection and Fan Favorite reissue figures. Since the reveal of the Cartoon Collection at SDCC 2023 and with the Fan Favorite Mer-Man showing up in the display case along side of the Collection, we were wondering how Mattel would handle the assortments for each wave of figures. For the Cartoon Collection, which will be available at retail, the inaugural figures included He-Man, Man-At-Arms, Teela, Beast Man, Skeletor, and Trap Jaw. Furthermore, piecing together preorders for the Fan Favorite MOTU Origins characters, there are figures that could be contenders to fill those coveted slots. We know that two of these figures, She-Ra and Mer-Man, are slotted to appear in the Wave 15 MOTU Origins assortment, which leaves Tri-Klops, Zoda, mini comic Trap Jaw, Ninjor, King Randor, and Webstor. Given that the Cartoon Collection is a new sub-line, we could see Cartoon Collection figures paired with Fan Favorite reissue figures for the next few waves as their are only 6 characters so far in the Cartoon Collection. Also, keep in mind, the remaining “Vintage MOTU Origins” line will be moving to Mattel Creations but it looks like the Fan Favorite reissues might be retail releases. With 3 main MOTU Origins sub-lines, it might be a little difficult to follow as the Cartoon Collection, the Vintage MOTU Origins, and Fan Favorite figures make their way into collector’s hands.
Wave 16 Assortment
According to our anonymous source, Cartoon Collection Skeletor and Man at Arms will be paired with Fan Favorite reissues of Tri-Klops and a figure to be named at a later date.. Like we always say, Mattel reserves the right to change figure assortments, but this is the most up to date information we have right now. For fans that missed out on Tri-Klops, this is a welcome relief, as right now a MOTU Origins Tri-Klops fetches a pretty penny on the after market!
Cartoon Collection Skeletor
Cartoon Collection Skeletor looks really great! The simple designs on his chest armor and loin cloth help to give him that Filmation cartoon look! The look of Trap Jaw really looks like his cartoon counterpart! Teela and Man At Arms round off the rest of the Cartoon Collection Wave and look like they stepped right out of your CRT TV!
Here we can see what Skeletor looked like in the 1980’s He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Filmation cartoon series, and Mattel did an incredible job capturing his cartoon look!
We also got another look at the Cartoon Collection He-Man for the upcoming Mattel Creations Skeletor x VeeFriends Skilled Skeleton 2-Pack. This new set launches Oct 6th, 2023 at 9am PST and will retail for $45.00.
Cartoon Collection Man At Arms
Cartoon Collection Man At Arms looks like he stepped right out of your CRT TV! Complete with his Tom Selleck mustache, this Filmation inspired Man At Arms really captures that animated look!
Here we can see what Man At Arms looked like in the 1980’s He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Filmation cartoon series, and Mattel did an incredible job capturing his cartoon look as well!
Tri-Klops
MOTU Origins Tri-Klops was released in 2021 as part of Wave 4 along with Hordak, Stratos and Ninjor. Now Tri-Klops was very hard to find when he was originally released, which has made his value on the aftermarket skyrocket! He is hard to find on eBay, and is selling for upwards of $100! He is a classic homage to the original 1983 vintage Tri-Klops figure that was part of the original Wave 3 of vintage Masters of the Universe action figures!
The vintage Tri-Klops was released in Wave 3 in 1983 and included the signature spinning tri sided eye visor with the 3 different colored eyes. Tri-Klops was also released in his Mini Comic colors as a Mattel Creations exclusive back in 2021!
Tri-Klops on Walmart
Building on the reissues of Wave 2 released at Target stores and Wave 3 through BBTS, we thought Wave 4 be next as a helpful viewer “Rob” sent us a photo of a Walmart price tag for MOTU Origins Tri-Klops! Tri-Klops was a Wave 4 release that is getting increasingly hard to find and going for almost $100 on the aftermarket and some collectors are yet to have him in their collection. Could we be getting Tri-Klops and a potential Walmart MOTU Origins figure
If you recall, end cap displays with 40th Anniversary logos of Wave 2 which includes Scare Glow, Orko, Man E Faces and Trap Jaw, started showing up in Target stores several months ago. Then shortly after, Wave 3 which included She-Ra, Roboto, Zodac and Mer-Man popped up on BBTS. This could be an absolute possibility because the price tag was dated April 6th, 2023. Also when we scanned the tag it does indeed bring up this listing on Walmart.com.
Tri-Klops Walmart listing is below:
Unnamed ReIssue
The fourth figure in this wave right now is an unnamed figure, not because it is a new character, but because I don’t think Mattel has decided which ReIssue character to go with. Right now, based on what we know about the reissues in Waves 15 & 16, we can narrow down the choices. Thanks to our inside source, we know that the Fan Favorite reissue figures include Zodac, Mer-Man, She-Ra, Tri-Klops, mini comic Trap Jaw, Ninjor, King Randor, and Webstor. Since Mer-Man and She-Ra are in the Wave 15 assortment, and Tri-Klops is named to be in Wave 16, that leaves mini comic Trap Jaw, Ninjor, King Randor, and Webstor as potential candidates for the fourth figure in the Wave 16 slot.
Fan Favorite Reissues
Back on July 29, 2023, an online retailer put up half of the MOTU Origins Wave 3 and Wave 4 assortment up for preorder! We saw, in Mattel’s booth ad SDCC 2023, an image of Mer-Man with the “fan favorite” callout in the upper right of the front of the card. We can assume that the entire Wave 3 assortment could come with the callout but Mer-Man is the only figure we have seen with the added info on the card. We reported, back in April 2023 that Tri-Klops had a new listing on Walarmart so we could see other figures getting the Fan Favorite branding to differentiate them from their first release.
Preorder Dates
Right now, TheWholeShebang has the following preorder dates listed on their website:
She-Ra and Mer-Man are set to arrive in February 2023
Tri-Klops and Zodac are due to arrive in April 2024
MOTU Origins Specialty Wave
Entertainment Earth has put a MOTU Origins reissue specialty assortment preorder that contains King Randor, Mini Comic Trap Jaw, and Webstor. It looks like Entertainment Earth has put up a chance for collectors to get some characters from previous waves so this is great news! The assortment will contain:
- 1x King Randor (UPC: 194735244133)
- 1x Ninjor (UPC: 194735244188)
- 1x Webstor (UPC: 194735244256)
- 1x Mini Comic Trap Jaw (UPC: 194735244317)
We wanted to thank @cowabunga_toyz for the heads up! You can preorder these figures on Entertainment Earth right now!
King Randor
This version of King Randor is a complete homage to the 1980’s version, with his red and gold shinny armor, gold arm bracers, crown, orange pants, and blue boots. Where Mattel diverged from the Vintage was that they decided to go with a plastic cape, rather than the soft goods cape of the original.
From the rear image, you can tell the cape looks similar to that of the Origins Scare Glow and Keldor. King Randor may look like the Burger King, but I think he looks absolutely amazing.
Mini Comic Trap Jaw
We saw Mini Comic Trap Jaw almost one year ago at the 2021 Power Con Mattel Display! And where has he been? It seems that this repaint of Trap Jaw has been teased at and shuffled around in the assortments for some time now. He is pictured with an all new comic book “Mind over Matter” where you can see him coming to attack Digitino on the front cover!
Below is the prototype image that was in the Power Con display at last year’s 2021 convention. You can tell it is a painted sample and not a production run.
Here the official image of Mini Comic Trap Jaw!
Ninjor
This theory stands to reason because the past two waves were re-issued and just recently Mattel used the Ninjor mold to make the new Wave 13 Slamurai figure! MOTU Origins Ninjor was also released in 2021 as part of Wave 4 along with Hordak, Stratos and Tri-Klops. The neat thing about Ninjor is that his vintage figure he was originally released nearly at the end of the line, all the way in Wave 6 in 1987. This late release was produced in small numbers which now makes a vintage Ninjor go for a pretty penny!
Webstor
Webstor is a timeless classic and he looks amazing as a MOTU Origins figure. Hopefully, collectors who missed out on him will get a chance to pick him up!
MOTU Origins Cartoon Collection
The Cartoon Collection will feature 6 figures in it’s inaugural line up! We’ve seen the cartoon versions of He-Man, Man-At-Arms, Trap Jaw, Skeletor and Teela and the loan hold out was Beast Man! The Cartoon collection are still compatible with swappable parts like the rest of the figures. New card back art with the He Man and the Masters of the Universe logo and the bluesky with Castle Grayskull from the opening of the Filmation cartoon. The back of the character description will say what episode the figure was inspired by. The first ones, are focusing on the “Masks of Power” episode.
There is a difference in the bucks between the MOTU Origins and the Cartoon Collection. The legs are more upright that the more squat previous Origins figures. The torso’s have been updated as well to be more proportional to the cartoon as well. The Cartoon collection are still compatible with swappable parts like the rest of the figures.
Here is the line up for the first run of the figures:
The new MOTU Origins Cartoon Collection is a spectacular homage to the 1980’s He Man and the Masters of the Universe Filmation cartoon series! This first wave of figures includes Cartoon Collection He-Man, Skeletor, Man At Arms, Teela, Trap Jaw and one more mystery figure (shown as a black silhouette) which will be unveiled Friday at 1:30pm.
The new figures have incredible new packaging with a Filmation inspired card back! You can see the classic animated Castle Grayskull on the cardback. It also has a new “Cartoon Collection” sticker in the Filmation rainbow logo style. This new sculpt of He-Man looks fabulous! You can see that they gave him an all new head sculpt from the previous release from the He-Man Anniversary 4 pack.
Wave 16 isn’t up for preorder yet, but you can purchase the Wave 15 Cartoon Collection He-Man and Beast Man and the Fan Favorite Mer-Man below! Also be sure to
Complete Your MOTU Collection
Be sure to check out our Masters of the Universe shop pages where we’ve curated figures from MOTU Origins, Masterverse, Classics, Vintage and more so you can find the figures you need easier!
