MOTU Origins Cartoon Collection Beast Man In Hand Review
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Straight out your old school CRT TV’s, Mattel finally brings us new Filmation cartoon inspired MOTU Origins Cartoon Collection figures! And the first two out of the gate are He-Man and Beast Man. 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! and features 6 figures in it’s inaugural line starting with cartoon versions of He-Man, Beast Man, Man-At-Arms, Trap Jaw, Skeletor and Teela! 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 blue-sky 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. We were lucky enough to get our hands on the new MOTU Origins Cartoon Collection Beast Man for this very special in hand review!
This new Cartoon Collection Beast Man looks like he stepped right out of your CRT tv and into your living room, bringing to life the most loveable Evil Warrior’s henchman! His cartoon inspired head sculpt, simplistic chest armor sculpt, and simplified waist and boots really help to give him an animated look.
Packaging
The new figures have incredible new packaging with a Filmation inspired card back! You can see the classic animated Castle Grayskull on the cardback that comes straight out of the opening sequence of the Filmation Cartoon! It also has a new “Cartoon Collection” sticker in the Filmation rainbow logo style.
The back of the card back features new card art as well as a cross sell featuring the other Cartoon Collection figures in these first two waves. If you want to read more about waves 15 & 16, check out these two articles.
The great thing about these new card backs besides the cool cross sell and card art, they tell you what episode specific accessory the figure comes with as well as which Filmation cartoon episode it came from. Here you can see beautiful artwork featuring Beast Man with using his Hover Ray to take the angry dragon’s eggs, as see in “The Dragon Invasion” cartoon episode! Beast Man comes with his whip in red as well. The cross-sell features He-Man, Beast Man, Skeletor and Man At Arms.
Filmation Cartoon
Filmation He-Man is a character from the popular animated TV series, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, which aired from 1983 to 1985. Beast Man is one of the main antagonists in the series and serves as the loyal henchman of Skeletor, the main villain.
In the show, Beast Man is portrayed as a savage and animalistic warrior. He has enhanced strength, agility, and the ability to control animals. He is depicted as having a humanoid appearance, but with animal-like features such as fur, fangs, and pointed ears. Beast Man often wears furry clothing and a metal harness, and carries a whip to control his animal allies.
As Skeletor’s right-hand man, Beast Man is responsible for carrying out the villain’s orders and assisting in his schemes to conquer Castle Grayskull and become the ruler of Eternia. He is fiercely loyal to Skeletor and is known for his aggressive and confrontational nature, often acting as the muscle behind Skeletor’s plans.
Despite his brutish appearance, Beast Man is not portrayed as unintelligent. He is shown to be cunning and strategic in battle, often surprising his opponents with his resourcefulness. However, he is also depicted as somewhat clumsy and easily flustered, leading to humorous situations at times.
In addition to the TV series, Filmation Beast Man also appeared in various tie-in media such as comics, action figures, and video games. He remains one of the memorable and iconic characters from the Masters of the Universe franchise, known for his distinct appearance and role as Skeletor’s loyal minion.
“The Dragon Invasion”
According to The Dragon Invasion | Wiki Grayskull | Fandom:
In Dragon Valley, Skeletor and Beast Man steal several of the Mother Dragon’s eggs. When the Mother Dragon attacks, Beast Man’s powers prove not to work on her, and Skeletor destroys the ground beneath the beast, causing her to fall into a ravine. Meanwhile at the Royal Palace, Orko is entertaining the royal family during dinner, when a crashing sound is heard outside. The heroes investigate, and find a dragon’s egg within the palace grounds. Before their eyes, the egg hatches and a baby dragon appears, growing to full size in a matter of seconds. and attacking the palace with gouts of flame. Teela takes the King and Queen to safety while Adam transforms, despite the falling debris, into He-Man. He and Battle Cat tackle the dragon with the help of the returning Teela and Ram Man. Man-At-Arms arrives with his new Stasis Ray just in time, freezing the dragon.
At Snake Mountain Skeletor revels in the chaos as baby dragons grow to full size, due to Skeletor’s growth serum, all across Eternia. Teela and Orko take the Wind Raider and use the Stasis Ray to freeze another attacking dragon. Stratos reports that a dragon has invaded Avion and requests their aid. Skeletor and his Evil Warriors journey to Castle Grayskull under the cover of the attacks; upon arrival Skeletor challenges the Sorceress. With the aid of the Dragon Pearl, an artifact which magnifies Evil-Lyn’s magic a hundredfold, they overwhelm the Sorceress and trap her within the pearl.
He-Man and his friends arrive at the castle just in time for Skeletor to seal Grayskull with a force field. He-Man has the idea of uniting the dragons to break the force field, so he and Teela head to Snake Mountain to confront Beast Man; by defeating him, all the dragons are now freed. He-Man sends Teela back to Grayskull with the dragons; the dragons unite and thrust their collective fire against Skeletor’s force field, destroying it.
The Heroic Warriors attack Skeletor, but he escapes through a portal and retrieves the Dragon Pearl from Snake Mountain, where he had hidden it. He-Man confronts him, and the two battle outside the fortress; Skeletor uses the energy of the Pearl to enlarge himself. When, in the heat of the battle, he falls off the edge of a cliff, He-Man grabs his hand and saves his life. A dragon surprises Skeletor, and he drops the Dragon Pearl into Blood Falls. The villain makes a getaway, while the dragon dives into the falls and rescues the pearl. The dragon’s fire burns through the Dragon Pearl and frees the Sorceress. He-Man and Zoar return to Castle Grayskull, where the dragons walk through a portal to return to their home.
The Dragon Invasion | Wiki Grayskull | Fandom
Beast Man up close and personal
Let’s dive in and take a closer look at the Cartoon Collection Beast Man. Here we get to see Beast Man from all sides, and you can see how great his simplified armor, shoulder armor, waist and boots give him a very animated style. He features the new MOTU Cartoon Collection buck that stands a little bit taller and lankier that the MOTU Origins figures that came before them. Also you will notice the new quads design on his legs, that make him look very ripped!
Here we can see how closely the new Cartoon Collection Beast Man captures to the Filmation Cartoon version of Beast Man. They absolutely nailed the face sculpt. I think Beast Man’s orange color however is a bit too pale, and they could have brightened him up a bit and used a deeper orange color.
The chest armor, arm bands, waist and boot design really nailed the animated look!
Head Scuplt
The head sculpt for Beast Man looks incredible and they really captured his Filmation animated look!
Chest & Back
The chest armor design features his simplified red Beasty chest armor, with the blue amulet on the center. The back clasps like most Origins figures chest armor and is made of a soft plastic,
Arms
Beast Man’s arms are also a new buck with a simplified wrist bracer and he is wearing red shoulder armor.
Legs
He is wearing a yellow belt with a blue loin cloth. The new MOTU Cartoon Collection buck stands a little bit taller and lankier that the MOTU Origins figures that came before them. You will also notice the new quad design on his legs, that make him look very ripped!
Accessories
The Cartoon Collection Beast Man comes packed with his classic whip in red plastic. He also comes with the Hover Ray that was featured in the Filmation cartoon episode “The Dragon Invasion” In this episode, Beast Man uses the Hover Ray to lift a bunch of Dragon eggs into the hovercraft vehicle.
The Dragon gets very upset at Beast Man when he takes off with her Dragon eggs!
Beast Man features two gripping hands so he can hold his cool Hover ray with both hands and us it like he did in the “Dragon’s Invasion” cartoon episode! You can also use his red whip in either hand as well.
Mini Comic
Below we have the entire Mini Comic “Mask of the Magi” for your reading pleasure. We won’t spoil it for you, so if you don’t want to read the comic, skip to the next section of this article. All I have to say is that there are some teasers in here!
Figure Comparison
Here we can see on the left, a comparison of the Wave 1 Origins Beast Man vs the new Wave 15 Cartoon Collection Beast Man. Then on the right, is a comparison of the Super7 5.5″ Vintage Style Beast Man vs the Cartoon Collection Beast Man. I really love the new face sculpt and animated design of the new Cartoon Collection figures. As we mentioned before, the MOTU Cartoon Collection buck that stands a little bit taller and lankier that the MOTU Origins figures that came before them. You can see the new quad leg muscle design make him look very ripped! The new Cartoon Collection Beast Man also comes with 2 gripping hands so he can hold his hover ray with hands or use his whip in his right or left hand. Where the MOTU Origins Wave 1 version came with 1 gripping hand and one outstretched hand. The Wave 1 Beast Man is a much darker orange color, where the Cartoon Collection Beast Man is more of an orange sherbet color. The Wave 1 Beast Man is modeled after the vintage action figure and has a hairy body sculpt to him, where as the Cartoon Collection Beast Man is smooth with no hair. His belt, chest armor and shoulder armor is much more implied as well to give him that animated cartoon look.
You can see that the Super7 5.5″ Vintage Style Beast Man is also Filmation inspired but he is a much brighter orange color. The only compliant I had on him was that his finish was way too shiny. Also he only had 5 POA, so the Origins figure is a vast improvement on the Super7 version. But I have to say the coloring on the Super7 figures is much closer to the cartoon version of Beast Man, minus the shininess. The Cartoon Collection Beast Man is much too pale in color for my taste, but he is a really cool figure!
You can also check out our YouTube review here:
Where to Buy
We believe that these figures are going to go up for preorder on Oct 4, as part of the MOTU drop on Entertainment Earth. You can read more about it here: MOTU Origins and Masterverse Preorders October Mystery Drop
You can also place a preorder on The Whole Shebang website:
The upcoming Beast Man MOTU Origins Cartoon Collection figure is also up for preorder. This figure is available to order but always check stock status as these figures tend to sell out quickly! Here is a direct link to where you can purchase the figure:
If you are a Toy Habits Crew Member and you want to check out an outstanding video review by the one and only Michael, you can access this Members only video here:
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!
