This month
I am joining many other Masters of the Universe fans worldwide to
celebrate the 35th anniversary of this great toyline in Spain. A friend of mine
with a few other colleagues is writing a book about this topic that will be
published soon. The title is "Yo Tengo el Poder: La Historia de los Masters del Universo en España", haven't you heard about it yet? Visit their Facebook site for all information regarding this topic, and don't miss the release!
The
New Adventures of He-Man started with a big set of figures and
interesting vehicles in sizes ranging from small (Bolajet / Shuttle Pod)
to huge (Starship Eternia). But that first wave also included two small
accesories sold in blisterpacks, whose price was approximately the
same than the price of a figure in a single pack. My Rocket Disk
blister is tagged for 1.100 pesetas (6,60 euro), but I doubt this was
its retail price, seems a bit too high for me. The price tag does not
look very professional, so maybe it comes from a reseller or small toy
shop.
Masters of the Universe, the vintage
line, also had some battle accesories, but, again, not many considering
the length and the number of references in the complete collection.
Well, the two accesories made for the He-Man toyline were the Rocket Disk Power Pack for He-Man or whoever heroic warrior was around and the Turbo Tormentor for Skeletor or any of his friends. These were small and cute backpacks that could be attached by means of a plastic harness to the figure and that had some shooting/firing function.
The
Rocket Disk Power Pack could launch discs similarly to the Blaster Hawk
from 1985, only in a much smaller scale. Each blister included 3 orange
disks, that could be carried along: two in a special compartment, and
the third one "loaded", ready to be fired by activating the
corresponding trigger. The design is simple, but includes some kind of
laser cannon on top to make it slightly more interesting (otherwise it
would look just like a box).
The Turbo Tormentor also launches discs, but these fly like a propeller. The blister pack included two disks, either in bright yellow or in greenish yellow. The launcher is located at one side of the figure, with the tip over the shoulder. The backpack has again a slot where one of the disks can be carried, while the second one is loaded. The design is kind of more elaborated, not just because of the unsymmetric way to carry it, but also because the launcher looks like a futuristic cannon (not like a box).
The propeller stuff is a classic feature seen in many toys through the years, and a specially funny one.
While the first accesory
commented in this entry was available worldwide, the Turbo Tormentor
was an euro-exclusive item. I do not know the reason behind it, and it
doesn´t seem to be due to law restrictions or safety regulations about shooting toys (there are later toys with this same feature available).
Then why?
Many collectors claim that
the mechanism behind the Turbo Tormentor never actually worked
correctly, so maybe, after Mattel checked that this was actually
happening, decided not to distribute this reference in the United
States... it is also a possibility since it is also something that already
happened before with Darius. Another posibility is that the propellers are actually too fragile and break easily, like Hasbro claimed when they recalled Roadblock v4. Despite being an European
only release, the prices for this item are low or even very low, being
very easy to find carded even today (30 years after its release). Same
happens with the Rocket Disk accesory, it is also very easy to find.
Another
comment... like the bubbles of the figure´s blister cards, these two
accesories also carried sometimes the sticker promoting the "new"
masters of the universe toyline, but the two carded toys I own unfortunately do not carry them.
Read more about Masters of the Universe in these links!
FACTS and FIGURES:
- Name: Rocket Disk Power Pack (Nr. 3533) and Turbo Tormentor (Nr. 3531)
- Toy Line: He-Man (also New Adventures of He-Man) (Wave 1)
- Year: 1989
- Company: Mattel (U.S.A.)
- Size of the figures: 14 cm, backpacks are maybe 4 or 5 cm wide
