King of Castle Grayskull He-Man Custom Action Figure Art - Masters of the Universe Classics

Welcome to the second installment of CASTLE GRAYSKULL WEEK at Insidious Customs! Have you per-ordered your MOTUC Castle Grayskull yet? If not, click here and do it, then come back and check out this cool custom action figure.

The MOTUC figure Mighty Spector has been a source of controversy since his introduction. But when his bio revealed that he "served King He-Man," it added yet another layer to his controversy. Fans who knew only the Filmation mythos were concerned; "Shouldn't it be King Adam? Did Randor die?" they asked on He-Man.org and other message boards.

Then, at San Diego Comic Con 2012, King He-Man was revealed. Somehow Adam was now He-Man full time and he was the ruler of Eternia. I wasn't wowed by the design or the colors.He looked a little too "fancy" with his neatly trimmed beard, silver and gold armor, blue cape, dutch-boy haircut, and silly crown. And the red cross was positioned over his belly instead of his chest. You can see it here.

My vision for King He-Man was always more along the lines of King Conan; he's a older but he's still a fighter first, far more comfortable swinging an axe at his enemies than making nice while he holds court.

As a fan of the original mini-comics, the idea of He-Man as a King is perfectly acceptable to me. You see, it was mentioned way back in 1981 in the fourth mini-comic "King of Castle Grayskull."

In this comic, the future King of Castle Grayskull is shown to Teela in a vision. He is a green figure with a red cape. He is cloaked in shadow and sitting on a golden throne.

On the last page of the comic, it is revealed that the figure in the vision was actually He-Man and that it is his destiny to one day become the King of Castle Grayskull.

The image of that shadowy figure (illustrated by the awesome Alfredo Alcala) has stayed with me since I was a child. Now, thirty years later, I've realized him as an action figure. (Fun Fact: Mattel incorrectly used this image to depict King Grayskull in his MOTUC bio pic.)

As you can see, I took some liberties with his armor. I filled in details obscured by shadow in the illustration while staying true to both the illustration's silhouette and the styling and colors of the original action figure. As I alluded to above, my vision of King He-Man was always more of a "Battle Ready" King so I didn't want to give him a traditional pointed crown that could be knocked-off in a fight and decorative silver and gold armor made more for show than actual combat. 

Instead, he would wear an armored head-band and war-worn armor in the color of his original harness, scarred from repeated use on the battlefield. He is older and wiser, even a little gray, but still at the height of physical powers. So after taking some inspiration from an image of King Conan, I experimented with different interpretations of the crown/head-band and armor details. (See image and sketches below.)



Interestingly enough, my King He-Man was parted-out long before the San Diego Comic Con 2012 reveal and the only parts they have in common (other than the basic body) are the shins. 

Both halves of the combined power sword are weathered to the point where you can barely see their original gray and purple coloring.
I see the green body suit as representing Castle Grayskull so it was only fitting that I combine it with the red, gray, and gold of his original costume. He may be the King, but there is no doubt that he is still He-Man.

I added some very subtle gray/white highlights to his hair and some wrinkles and shading to his face to make him look a little older...but still able to chop you in half with his axe.



I planeed to use the "eagle claw" hand from day-one so he could grasp his sword handle while sitting on his throne but it also works well for posing him in sword fighting stances.

I hope you dig him. If you do (or if you don't) leave a comment. If you really dig him, you can add this piece to your collection via my Etsy store. Click here to purchase him.

Now, I'd like to take a moment to remind you that we only have until next Monday, November 12th to pre-order the Masters of the Universe Classics Castle Grayskull. It's going to be huge and awesome and you know you'll regret it if you don't get it.

If we do not meet the minimum required pre-orders by the 12th, Mattel will not produce the castle! I know it's expensive but you have a whole year to save-up because they won't charge you until it ships next year. So do it for your self. Do it for your fellow fans. But most of all, do it for He-Man; the future King of Castle Grayskull. Until next time, I remain The Insidious One.