MOTU Origins Cartoon Collection Man At Arms In Hand Review
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Heroic Master of Weapons, Man At Arms is hear for with this incredible MOTU Origins Cartoon Collection in hand review! Stepping right out of your old school CRT TV, Mattel finally brings us new Filmation cartoon inspired MOTU Origins Cartoon Collection figures! It’s so exciting that we are getting cartoon inspired figures, as there is a deep well of characters from the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Filmation cartoon series that have never been made into plastic form, so to see these come to life is incredible! 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! The first set of figures includes cartoon versions of He-Man, Beast Man, Man-At-Arms, Trap Jaw, Skeletor and Teela! The Cartoon Collection figures are still compatible with swappable parts like the rest of the figures. The card backs feature new 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 Man At Arms for this very special in hand review!
This new Cartoon Collection Man At Arms looks like he stepped right out of your CRT tv and into your living room! His cartoon inspired head sculpt, simplistic chest, and arm armor and simplified waist and boots really help to give him an animated look. Mattel also really nailed the colors on Man At Arms to match his colors on the cartoon!
The Stasis Ray sculpt and paint app came out beautifully! It is highly detailed and pays homage to the device Man-At-Arms uses in the Dragon Invasion Filmation episode. The paint app looks to be more of a metallic blue, similar to the paint app on the helmet. The oversized shoulder armor covers most of the upper arm and you can see the muscle packed forearm!
It’s so wonderful to see the first set of Cartoon Collection figures together and they look incredible!
These new figures look so cool posed together in different action poses! I just love the aesthetic of this new Cartoon Collection line!
It’s the evil warriors versus the heroic warriors!
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.
he 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 Man At Arms using his Stasis Ray against one of the dragons that was attacking the Royal Palace of Eternos, as see in “The Dragon’s Invasion” cartoon episode! Man At Arms comes with his classic mace and his Stasis Ray. The cross-sell features He-Man, Beast Man, Skeletor and Man At Arms. Man At Arms also comes packed with his diagram to show which parts are removeable.
Man-At-Arms Card Art Reveal
Roy Juarez has released the digital card art for the upcoming Man-At-Arms MOTU Origins Cartoon Collection figure! This brand new line, revealed at San Diego Comic Con 2023, brings the characters we know and love from the Filmation Masters of the Universe cartoon to life in plastic form! Today, Roy revealed the card art that is featured on Man-At-Arms card back. What is also great about this new MOTU Origins sub-line is that we get a whole new array of card art teases! Speaking of which, Ram Man was teased on Man-At-Arms cardback!
Man-At-Arms Card Art Reveal Video
You can also view the 360 degree video here!
As Roy states, “As Seen On ‘The Dragon Invasion’ 📺
MOTU Origins Cartoon Collection Man-At-Arms – here’s a close look at the heroic packaging and artwork. PEW PEW PEW”
The usual suspects for Origins:
Packaging Design & Art Direction @manuel_eduardo_caritas
Artwork @fetch.franciscoetchart
Castle Grayskull pencils @axel.gimenez
Toy Design @katanarama333
Story @joshuaskywriter
Packaging Engineer @lpukhrambam
Copywriter @yesreallyrob
Digital Card Art Reveal
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 Man-At-Arms with using his Stasis Ray against an angry dragon, as seen in “The Dragon Invasion” cartoon episode! Man-At-Arms comes with his trusty Mace too!
Here you can see beautiful artwork featuring Man-At-Arms with using his Stasis Ray against the dragon with a little special someone teased on the artwork.
Getting up close and personal with the card art, Roy and team did an amazing job illustrating this whole seen and the best part is that Ram Man was teased on the card art!
We hope a Cartoon Collection Ram Man is in the works and will include his goofy look he always had on his face in the Filmation cartoon.
“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
Man At Arms up close and personal
Let’s dive in and take a closer look at the Cartoon Collection Man At Arms. Here we get to see Man At Arms from all sides, and you can see how great his simplified armor, shoulder armor, waist and boots give him a very animated style. I love how he has shoulder and wrist armor on both arms, just like the cartoon, and unlike the vintage and Origins figure. 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! His helmet design is very cartoon inspired and they matched the colors perfectly!
Here we can see how closely the new Cartoon Collection Man At Arms captures to the Filmation Cartoon version of Man At Arms. They absolutely nailed the face sculpt. The best part of the face sculpt and his mustache and eyes and how they captured that animated look!
The chest armor, shoulder armor, waist and boot design really nailed the animated look!
Head Scuplt
The head sculpt for Man At Arms looks incredible, and they really captured his Filmation animated look! He is sporting his signature Tom Selleck stach and those bushy eyebrows! I love how they actually painted his full eyes with whites around his black pupils which made it look that much more cartoon like.
Chest & Back
The chest armor design features his simplified yellow Man At Arms Filmation inspired chest armor. The armor is a more simplified design and clasps together on each side. It is made of a soft plastic.
Arms
Man At Arms arms are also a new buck as well. They have shoulder and wrist armor included on both arms and seem to attach so much better than the wave 1 Origins version. They form fit with 2 loops that do not have a clasp on them and they stay on so much better. Their sculpted details match that of the Filmation cartoon.
Legs
Man At Arms is wearing a brown loin cloth with a blue belt with a blue loin cloth. They really nailed the proper cartoon colors! 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 Man At Arms comes packed with his classic yellow mace and his Stasis Ray from the Filmation cartoon episode “The Dragon’s Invasion”. Man At Arms features two gripping hands so he can hold accessories with both hands.
Mini Comic
Below we have the entire Mini Comic “Wizard Vizard” 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 Man At Arms vs the new Cartoon Collection Man At Arms. Then on the right, is a comparison of the Super7 5.5″ Vintage Style Man At Arms vs the Cartoon Collection Man At Arms. 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 Man At Arms also comes with 2 gripping hands so he can hold both his included accessories with hands. Where the MOTU Origins Wave 1 version came with 1 gripping hand and one outstretched hand. The Wave 1 Man At Arms is a much brighter green color than the Cartoon Collection, and has a lot more detail to his armor and mace. The Wave 1 Man At Arms is modeled after the vintage action figure, where as the Cartoon Collection Skeletor is inspired by the Filmation Cartoon. His belt, chest armor and shoulder armor is much more implied as well to give him that animated cartoon look. Also as you can see, the Cartoon Collection Man At Arms has shoulder and wrist armor on both arms, just like the cartoon, and unlike the Origins Wave 1 figure. The Super7 one being cartoon inspired also has shoulder and wrist armor on both arms.
You can see that the Super7 5.5″ Vintage Style Man At Arms is also Filmation inspired but has a shinier finish to him and little bit darken tones in color. Also he only had 5 POA, so the Origins figure is a vast improvement on the Super7 version. The Cartoon Collection Man At Arms is a really cool figure and really looks like his cartoon counterpart!
Man-At-Arms Official Images
Man-At-Arms was the most illusive of the figures to locate on preorder day but we eventually pinned him down on Amazon, which we are assuming is an exclusive given he is not on any other online toy website! We are not sure if Amazon has absolute exclusivity or if it will be timed, like some of the previous releases of MOTU Origins figures.
Man-At-Arms looks amazing and we are digging the thick mustache! His helmet and armor also look just like the Filmation cartoon!
MAA comes in his classic yellow chest, shoulder, and wrist armor and his very cool stasis ray and mace!
He looks great raising his mace and it’s great that he has amor on both of his arms!
Where to Buy
You can preorder the first two waves of Cartoon Collection figures at the following retailers:
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!
