The Little Differences: Pre-Filmation Alcala Mini-Comic Style He-Man

Vincent: It's the little differences. I mean, they got the same $#!t over there that we got here, but it's just – it's just there it's a little different.

*****

Today's installment of "The Little Differences" features a figure that has been a personal quest of mine since the Masters of the Universe Classics line began; a pre-Filmation mini-comic stlye He-Man as drawn by master illustrator Alfredo Alcala.




As you may have read in previous posts (Blond Teela and Eldor), my preferred version of the MOTU mythos is the one laid out in the first four mini-comics from 1981 where He-Man is a barbarian that leaves his jungle tribe to fight evil. (They call him Oo-Lar on the new MOTUC bios.)



In these books, He-man looks a little different than in other sources. For example; the bracer on his left arm matches his right arm, his skin is a little less bronze, his armor a little lighter gray, and the fur on his boots is a little lighter in color.



The differences are subtle, but to me, they are substantial. Here's the parts break down...

Head = Prince Adam (serious face)
Body = King Grayskull
Arms = Preternia Disguise He-Man
Boots = Preternia Disguise He-Man
Armor = Green Goddess
Trunks = He-Man
Weapons = He-Man

Here's a comparision shot that shows the differences between my He-Man (left) and the standard He-Man (right)

The challenge was finding a body whose skin tone matched the double bracer arms from Preternia Disguise He-Man. The skin tone of this figure is much lighter than regular He-Man. Luckily, King Grayskull's skin is lighter too. Prince Adam's slightly lighter skin tone head also was a good match and the slightly less intense eyebrows offer up a nice change from standard He-Man. (The hair piece was positioned a little high on this particular head and I plan to go back and reposition it.) The boots were an easy boil-and-pop swap. The slightly lighter armor from the Green Goddess was an easy fix. Finally, the trunks were, as always, a challenge to swap from regular He-Man, but nothing a little boiling water and elbow grease couldn't handle.



Based on the parts used, this was a fairly expensive figure to make but thanks to the awesome traders and sellers on He-Man.org and HissTank, I finally have the He-Man I always wanted. (Now I just have to find a good dagger to add to his boot!)



I hope you dig him as much as I do. If you do (or don't for that matter), leave a comment. Until next time, I remain The Insidious One.

***UPDATE 11/18/13***

I made a few changes to my Alcala He-Man including the replacement of the Preternia Disguise He-Man boots with the much more stable and more muted Thunderpunch He-Man boots. More notably, I also replaced the Prince Adam head with the Thunderpunch head. The skin tone is slightly lighter than the Adam head but the deco on the hair was so much better, I decided to make the change.

Below is my new original mini-comic display.


***UPDATE 03/19/15***

It's been a long road, but with the release of Oo-Larr...better known as "Pre-Goddess Meeting He-Man," I finally have my ultimate Alcala He-Man MOTUC figure! This is the He-Man that I wanted since I was a little kid. The only way he could be any better is if Mattel made a pair of boots that had yellowish tops and a removable boot-knife.
Once again...I present The Insidious Kitbash Recipe for Alcala He-Man:
Head = Oo-Larr
Body = King Grayskull
Arms = Preternia Disguise He-Man
Boots = Thunder Punch He-Man
Harness and weapons = Goddess
Trunks = He-Man