Wundar Coming to the Masterverse Vintage Collection
I’ve got to say, I’m really fired up about this one because it feels like we’re watching the Masterverse Vintage Collection take its first big swing into fresh territory with a figure that doesn’t have direct vintage-era artwork or roots to anchor it. Wundar is officially on deck for the Masterverse Vintage Collection, and while we don’t have vintage reference material to pore over like we normally would, we can pretty much guarantee that he’ll be a repaint of the most Powerful Man in the Universe using the same figure buck and design as the recent Vintage Collection Faker. It’s funny that we are getting a myriad of repaints of He-Man and he has yet to make his official debut in the vintage collection proper but maybe he is too close his 40th Anniversary release to justify it and it would probably disappoint many collectors. That said, I love moments like this where I get to dig in as a collector and fan because seeing the Vintage Collection expand beyond strict vintage callbacks tells me Mattel is looking to stretch the sub-line in new directions while still honoring that nostalgic presentation. With a classic mail away figure and the MOTU Classics and Origins figure to draw inspiration from, I can already imagine how he’ll look alongside the upcoming releases on a retro-style box and can’t wait to see the original artwork that comes along with him.
Official Details
This Masters of the Universe action figure of Wundar joins the Vintage Collection, designed at Masterverse 7-inch scale and inspired by the original MOTU toy design with 30 points of articulation. This warrior comes with a sword, a hatchet and a blaster with blast effect and a removable glossy helmet. Suitable for fans ages 6 years and older. It comes beautifully packaged in a window box with vintage-inspired graphics, suitable for display.
Wun-Dar Background
There are many theories about where and how Wun-Dar came to be, ranging from an actual Wonder Bread promotion to a buy 3 Mattel figures get one free deal so if you are not familiar with Wun-Dar or his origins, here is more about him:
The figure of Wun-Dar is an homage to the original promotional figure given away through the mail in 1981. In the late 1990s an unusual repaint of He-Man began appearing on eBay. He sported the same color scheme that Wun-Dar would come to have.
For many years there was much uncertainty about the origin of this figure and it was long believed he came from a promotion with the Wonder Bread sliced bread company however more recent research since the release of the Classics figure has disproved this. This He-Man variant was available through a promotion where you could buy 3 figures and get one free in the mail, this figure was savage He-Man.
Wun-Dar
It seems like, after much debate (and time), the consensus is that Wun-Dar was part of the Buy 3 Get 1 free promotion back in the 80’s and Scott Toy Guru Neitlich has made two YouTube Videos on the history of Wun-Dar entitled New evidence comes to light on a 35 year toy-mystery. The Wonder Bread He-Man’s origin solved! and Wun-Dar the Wonderbread Savage He-Man. His remaining mysteries reviewed and solved. Apparently the figure that was shipped was a color variant of He-Man with dark hair, a black belt, and a brown loin cloth. Now, today, there is a president for figures coming without armor (think Mer-Man from the Revelation line) but this definitely would have been a surprise in the 1980’s.
Dear Mattel…
Here is the letter that Scott Toy Guru Neitlich referenced in his YouTube video that helped shed light on the mystery of Wun-Dar and this was from a disgruntled parent who apparently did not know she was getting an “incomplete” figure with some random accessories. Thank goodness this person mailed this to Mattel as the mystery might have been unsolved or the speculation on the bread promotion might have prevailed. Here is what part of the letter says…
“I recently took advantage of your buy 3 get 1 free offer on Masters of the Universe figures. I must say it was a very disappointing experience not only for my myself but my son(s) and nephew too.
What we expected was a complete person, with equipment. For that reason, we made sure not to buy any duplicate figures so that any one that we received would be all right between the boys they now have the Castle, Battle Cat, Mer-Man, Skeletor, Beast Man, Zodac, He-Man, Man-At-Arms. Imagine their dismay with the figure they received. They asked who it was and I explained he was a special edition He-Man…”
MOTU Classics Origins
In the Classics Line, The Wun-Dar figure is an homage to this mysterious He-Man variant and the the loaf of bread and the “savage” descriptor are clear nods fans thinking this had anything to do with Wonder Bread. There is also an easter egg paint app on the back of the armor of figure that pays tribute to this as you can see a a symbol consisting of three colored circles that is very similar to the Wonder Bread logo.
Another curious detail is the backstory given on the card. The premise of a “savage” He-Man saving the Goddess and then being given his weapons by her and tasked with defending Eternia is very similar to the original origin of He-Man presented in He-Man and the Power Sword.
Wun-Dar Mattel Creations Figure
According to Mattel’s product description:
An ancient hero returns! 100 years before Prince Adam was born, Wun-Dar saved the Goddess of Eternia and became one of the first Defenders of Castle Grayskull. This character was a rare promotional figure released in the 80’s. We’re bringing him back as the newest figure in our MOTU Origins line. For savage battle-worthy displays, this Wun-Dar collector figure is articulated and comes with weapon accessories to protect the secrets of Castle Grayskull.
- MOTU Origins Wun-Dar Figure
- 5.5 inches tall, can stand alone
- Comes with a removable chest armor, sword, axe, and blaster
- 16 points of articulation for battle-worthy poses
- Includes mini comic
- An old ally joins the fight for Eternia!
Wun-Dar Figure
Wun-Dar comes in the same type of exclusive packaging as we got with mini comic Tri-Klops, but we will cover that further below, with a brown shipper box with pencil art and a special cart back with front artwork and a full art work image on the back. The figure of Wun-Dar as to be expected, which is basically a re-paint of the vintage head version of He-Man. He has chocolatey brown hair in that classic vintage head style, with a darken, more brown and less orange skin tone then the He-Man Figure. He also comes with the black Zodac chest armor, black wrist cuffs, a black belt, brown shorts and black boots that tie the figure in nicely with the armor too!
You can see that the vintage accessories that came with the Vintage Wun-Dar slightly resemble the ones we get with the Origins Wun-Dar, but are still vastly different. The vintage Wun-Dar came with packed with recolored Grayskull Weapons rack accessories as we mentioned above. Vintage Wun-Dar included an axe, shield, large blaster, mace and sword. The sword is similar but has a different hilt. The axe too has a totally different handle, and the vintage Wun-Dar never came packed with a blaster.
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!
