To add to the celebration of MOTU’s 30th anniversary there’s a new box set edition of He-Man’s various animated incarnations. I wasn’t sure if I wanted this new collection, but the extras were just too tempting. I gave it a try, and I’m actually pretty happy I did.
This review is mostly going to be a breakdown of the packaging and contents. But for those of you who aren’t familiar with this box set, it includes: all 130 episodes of the original Filmation MOTU cartoon, the top 20 “fan favorite” episodes of the New Adventures series, and all 39 episodes of the MYP series. There are also plenty of documentaries, character profiles, scripts, audio commentaries, and featurettes. Some of these bonuses we’ve seen before on previous DVD sets. Others, like the Fans of MOTU documentary, are entirely new.
I’m actually looking forward to seeing some of these new featurettes, especially the one on the fans. It’s also great to have all of the original series and 200X in one place, I just wish New Adventures would have gotten the same treatment. I know that series gets a lot of flack, but it definitely has its merits. These may be the best episodes of that series, but it still feels wrong not having the complete thing.
The entire set comes packed in a clear plastic case. This serves the purpose of protecting the inner box and keeping it a nice square, since the castle on the front sticks out unevenly. The clear plastic on this outer case is a bit brittle, and unfortunately one of the inside flaps came broken on my copy.
The inner box is a very nice piece of work. I couldn’t tell from the original promo pictures, so I was surprised to see that the Castle Grayskull on the cover is a raised plastic mold. This definitely gives the box a neat effect. The version of this Grayskull is also very similar to the prototype we’ve been shown for the new playset. So I guess we’re getting a bit of a sneak peak at a plastic version of the castle.
The sides and back of the box feature some of that new fantastic art by Alvin Lee. There’s also a Limited Edition sticker with the individual number of the set. Mine’s 1135 of 15,000.
The box itself opens up like a treasure chest revealing a neat new piece of art of various characters in battle. I’m not sure who the artist is though. (Anyone have that info?) There is also a nice bit of artwork with Grayskull’s shield, helmet, and crossed swords on the bottom edge of the package. Continue to page 2…
Can you tell me if the 200X come dubbed in spanish? Well at least separate seasons of original MOTU were but I’m not sure with this pack and the New Adventures best of…
Hey Buff,
The original two Filmation seasons and the New Adventures episodes come with the Spanish audio. Unfortunately the 200X series and the bonus disc are only in English.
I’d like to know if 200X has a Spanish track… The only things I’m kinda interested in are the swords and watch the videos from a few friends who made it to the SUPER FAN thing… sadly I did not make it in there.
Same here… too bad about the New Adventures… I wish they released it in Blu-Ray too, I hate the DVD’s with scratches from those packs
Also, since I’m on a Christmassy mood here’s a roughly translated version of the Spanish theme. (The long version, not the one minute version that’s used as the intro for the cartoon… I will mention where the song ends for the series intro as well.)
(he-Man chorus)
The universe is protected
by the Power of Grayskull
a Castle shines with secret powers
and He-Man will fight till the end!
(He-Man chorus)
With his magic sword by his side
and friends that will not fail.
Evil forces will try to kill him
and they will never rest.
——-(Cartoon intro version ends here)—–
Our castle gives us strength
and he’ll protect Eternia
Alongside his great friends,
he’ll overcome Skeletor.
(he-Man chorus)
The universe is protected
by the Power of Grayskull
a Castle shines with secret powers
and He-Man will fight till the end!
With his magic sword by his side
and friends that will not fail.
Evil forces will try to kill him
and they will never rest.
(He-Man chorus)
haha I did the same without knowing about yours… it seems that there is another LONGER than longer version (version larga en youtube)
Hey Mullet,
Sorry, the 200X is only in English.
Thanks for posting the lyrics! They’re awesome.
shame about the lack of alternate tracks for 200X… Looks like I MAY skip this one… Can’t pull the trigger on just a power sword…
Vault I write here the translation for the spanish song (I hope you like it as I do, the Spanish version for Latin America is way better because the newer version for Spain in Castilian Spanish doesn’t include the song or the same dubbing… the spanish DVDs does have the 3 versions: Englis, Spanish and Castilian Spanish). Here we go:
HE-MAN!
The Universe is protected by The Power of Grayskull
With the secret powers of this great castle He-Man will fight till the end
HE-MAN!
Having by his side The Magic Sword and friends that won’t fail
The Evil Forces want to finish him and won’t stop
HE-MAN!
If anyone wants to enjoy this version search in youtube “He-Man version larga español” 😀
Thanks for the lyrics, Buff! I really like the Spanish opening. I was surprised they could make it even more fun than the original.
Has the box got subtitles? Please, reply to this message!
Sorry Tony, none of the discs have subtitles. That seems like something they definitely should have included.
Come to think of it, I don’t think I only own ONE kids’ cartoon-show that has subtitles on the DVDs, and that’s good ol’ TrannsFormers Animated. G1 TransFormers, TF Beast Wars, The Tick, Filmation He-Man, Inhumanoids, Millennial MOTU, G.I. Joe . . . none of the rest have subtitles. Not even sure about Danger Mouse or Bananaman.
Very weird, and a crying shame.
Unfortunately I’m Italian. I understand English language, but usually I prefer the aid of subtitles. Anyway, thank you very much 😉
Nothing unfortunate about being Italian, mate. (Unless you want to cross a road in Rome safely, in which case, that IS unfortunate.) The unfortunate bit is that Americans won’t allow anyone else in the world to have their great entertainment . . . or at least, not without difficulty.
No, no… Usually Italian editions sucks! They’ve got poor extras or they’re totally incompleted! The Italian version of Filmation’s MOTU was stopped in the first season!
Filmation MOTU didn’t go beyond Season 1 here in England, either, mate, so I can sympathise!
Really? I didn’t know!
Yeah, pretty much anywhere outside the USA gets half-hearted DVD releases . . . if they even get the DVDs at all.
Ordered this months ago as soon as I saw it in the scrolling ads on the sidebars of your site. According to Amazon, it’s on the way to me now, and I’m SO looking forward to getting it, because Region 2 is obscenely underprivileged when it comes to cool cartoon DVD releases. (We’ve only got Season 1 of Filmation He-Man, The Movie, and the Christmas Special, and that’s it. Don’t get me started on Batman: The Animated Series, Beast Wars, or any of the other sweet cartoons I loved that nobody brings out over here.) As you say, I hope they do the same deal for She-Ra as they did for the He-Man cartoons.
I’ll have to watch it all on my computer instead of on a proper TV, but hey . . . them’s the breaks when you don’t live in the U.S. of A. anymore. Serves me right for being a filthy foreigner, I guess.
Thanks for ordering it through us, Beedo! We really appreciate it.
I think you’ll like this set. The cartoons are always fun, and the new features look interesting. Now I just have to find the time to sit down and watch it.
Hells, Vault, if it weren’t for this site, I wouldn’t have KNOWN about it!
I have been back and forth on this set…on one hand I really really really want that sword..on the other I have almost all of the dvds already (Including NA) so it kinds of seems like a waste to spend 100 on a sword.
Don’t you have a nap to take is awesome!
Thanks, Doc!
Yeah, I have a couple of the other DVD sets but I never finished the collection. That made ordering one a much easier decision. I’ll probably just sell off the first couple of DVD sets now.
The raised castle is nice, but the art does zilch for me. The vintage paintings can just not be topped.
I definitely agree that the original paintings were the best, but I like seeing new art also. I always find it interesting to see different artist’s take on the characters.
what do you mean “similar to the prototype we’ve been shown for the new playset?” there haven’t been any prototype photos yet… are you referring to the mark taylor castle photos being used as reference? unless i’ve missed a huge announcement…
I just think he meant the vintage mark taylor prototype they were showing around. You’re not going crazy!
even though i already the regular boxsets of all the MOTU i have to purchase this sets for the new color Sword of He & the CG.
On a MOTU related note, I got my Granamyr and Procrustus yesterday. I thought these were delayed?
I suppose that if you were right there placing the order the minute they went on sale, you were at the front of the shipping queue, and got first crack of the few that were already in stock. My Procrustus got shipped with my subscription, and I got notification of my Granamyr shipping within a couple days of my ordering him.
Still waiting on those, but I’m on the other side of the Atlantic, so that’s to be expected.
Winner, winner, chicken dinner then I suppose. God knows I’m certainly not complaining to have the big dragon under my tree. 🙂
And he IS big. The mailer box (I have yet to open it) is MASSIVE.
Interior art done by yours truly. I did the battle scene, the CD cover, the shield and sword spot illustrations, and I did the texture for the 3-D Grayskull. 🙂
Hope y’all like it!
What about picture and audio quality? How about screencaps of the menu and episodes? How’s the pixelization during transformation sequence on this set? How can you do a DVD review and review just the packaging?!
I was looking for some info on the special features!
Great review, and thanks for posting! I was hoping you guys would review this set, and thanks to the pics and article, I’ m going to cave and buy myself one.
Is the booklet just an episode guide, or is there any additional content inside?
Well, hello! Just a quick word. The singer of the spanish track is “Capitán Memo”. Here in Chile, and in some other countries of South America, he is a very talented artist. He created the songs used in the intro of many old series. Check him out on Youtube!
Just got this today. Working my way through the discs. Slightly disappointed. No interviews with any of the voice actors (except Erika), a lot of previously-released extra material, and the soundtrack is woefully sparse. Out of a mere 11 tracks, you get three versions of the “HE-MAN!” theme, three versions of the Orko theme, and no villain music. Plus, my CD sounds a bit warped, but that may just be the player I used.
While this set is damn’ nifty and I’m happy to have it, I think it could’ve been done a bit better, considering how much time they had to put it together.