The Rhinoman Masters of the Universe Origins Concept

Going way back into the archives, xxx has created a very deep cut custom concept. Created by bombstaroutkast, Mr. Home Arcade was gracious enough to photograph this MOTU Origins Rhinoman concept for our viewing pleasure. If you recall, way back in the day, the Rhinoman was featured on Panthor’s box art and you may be wondering where this figure concept actually came from. We’ll answer those questions plus show off the Rhinoman concept, which is a very deep cut Masters of the Universe character originally sketched by Mark Taylor himself!

The Rhinoman

In an unproduced sketch from Mark Taylor, the Rhinomen was supposed to be a totally new character with a unique sculpt. With a Rhinoceros body and a human torso, this concept would have added a very cool character to the vintage Masters of the Universe line.

The figure was to have a ramming feature, like Ram Man but due to the new tooling and entirely new body sculpt, the figure design was rejected. As described in the Power and Honor Foundation book, “the connection to Ram Man can be clearly seen in the shape of the characters helmet, especially around the face. As an action figure, Ram Man was fortunate in that his unique action feature won Mattel over when it came to the cost-savings reuse of existing body parts!” In an early box art tease, it was amazing to see the Rhinomen in a fill color illustration on the MOTU Origins Panthor’s box art.

Customizer extradonaire, bombstaroutkast, sent was work in progress pics as he was designing the Rhinomen figure. A Rhinoceros figure was used as the body base and Ram Man was used for the upper torso. A tremendous amount of clay work and prepping was poured into this custom, which he dedicated to the late great Mark Taylor.

The Rhinoman MOTU Origins Concept

In Mr. Home Arcade‘s hands, the final Rhinoman concept figure came out stunning! The melding of the Rhino body, Ram Man, and all of clay work that was poured into this figure yielded a result worthy of becoming a Mattel Creations exclusive. The MOTU team has created MOTU Origins figures out of Mark Taylor’s designs and he would make an amazing addition.

The horned helmet surrounds the face sculpt that has a ton of emotion in it! He used an old Incredible Hulk face sanded it all down and did some re-sculpting on it to create the face we saw on Panthor’s box art. The way that the face sculpt was painted was truly lifelike and all of the facial features standout, which is great for a sculpt that just shows through the helmet. The shoulder armor features 3 large spikes on each side and the chest armor has a layered design with a jewel in the middle.

From the side, you can see the Rhino body as it seamlessly flows into the torso.

Getting a shot of the back, you can see how the Rhino body and the torso flow nicely into each other.