Best Memory of the 200X toyline? :)

[He-Fan]

Hi everyone,

One of the happiest times in my "MOTU life" was when the 200X toyline came out - although I initially didn't like the character design I saw for He-Man (old-timers like me may remember the statue that was unveiled at SDCC in 2001?), but once I saw some of the other figures, and then especially once they started showing up in UK toy stores, I was hooked!

Some of my happiest memories include:

1) Getting the Target 2-pack of He-Man & Skeletor for my 21st birthday in 2003 - my favourite present that year!

2) Buying Mer-Man from a UK toy store, the first MOTU figure I'd purchased "off the peg" since 1990! Better even than that, I remember buying Mer-Man and then getting home in time to watch "The Courage of Adam" on Toonami - it felt like being a kid again!

3) When a friend of mine helped to get SDCC She-Ra - I know lots of folks didn't like the 200X She-Ra figure, but I loved her and she's still a treasured part of my collection!

4) Getting the 200X Castle Grayskull (the European version with the lights and sounds) and putting it together with my Dad. I absolutely L-O-V-E that playset, it's in my top 5 favourite toys of all time! Again, I know some collectors didn't like the look of it, but I love the lights and sounds and loved playing with it. (Yes, you did read that correctly!)

...However, unquestionably my best memory is Christmas Day 2003. Ever since hitting adulthood I've always lamented not playing with toys any more - I kept playing with my action figures right up until I was about 16 and only got out the way of it because I started getting busy with playing music (gigs, etc.). After a while, I kind-of forgot how to lose myself in a game with my figures and also started to feel self-conscious trying - this made me sad, but I shrugged my shoulders and thought "Oh well"...

Christmas morning 2003, I got up and waiting for me to unwrap was the 200X Stratos figure. I opened him up...and something came over me...I started pretending that he was flying, and before I knew where I was, I'd got out my other 200X figures and was playing a game with them! I think I spent about 3 or 4 hours that Christmas morning JUST playing with my figures. It was a really magical feeling and, even though it might sound silly, it's a memory I've always treasured!

If you guys have made it to the bottom of this very long post - thanks for reading! I'd love to hear your best memories of this exciting era!

Take care...

[Crooked Ninja]

I was pumped for this line to come out. I recall seeing the first figure shots in Toyfare magazine and anticipating the release. Eventually I found a small selection of the initial launch at a Kay-Bee Toys here in the US. I enjoyed most of the line but it died off for me once I could not find most new stuff in stores and the pegs were filled with Spin-Blade versions of He-Man and Skelly.

More Mattel marketing nonsense that I will never be able to understand. It was fun while it lasted at least.

[darkhawk411]

This is the line that really cemented my love of the MOTU world. I had some of the vintage guys but this line gave me a chance at all the main characters. I enjoyed the hunt and managed to get all but Roboto, Zodak, Keldor, Moss Man and Faker. Sadly Mattel Marketing and Cartoon Network killed this line.

[He-Fan]

Chris here...

Very interesting points all round! I suppose one of the reasons I have such fond memories of the line is that here in the UK it proved to be a very big hit - I remember the toys being in plentiful supply on toy shelves (not just the Spin Blade figures - which I agree were a killer for the line in the US) and in fact we got some figures released over here that either never made it to shelves in the US, or at the very least were very rare. If MOTU had carried on for another couple of waves of figures, I think they would have sold.

Something that helped is that, over here, the 200X MOTU cartoon was shown on ITV on a Sunday morning - ITV being one of the four main channels that anyone with a TV license was able to receive, so that would have helped it to reach a wider audience than in the US where I believe it was just stuck on Cartoon Network.

Take care...

[Cocoasmooth]

In 2002 I was loving and hating the hunt for these figs. I was lucky to beat the scalpers most of the time. I was so happy to see Trap Jaw and Triclops in the stores and Meckaneck. It was magical to see the line again alive. I hope one day the 200X style is revisited when making classics assuming it is successful enough to continue post 2015. I just got involved in the org and it was awesome to know that there were other fans out there and we helped each other out and discussed possibilities. I would love to relive that time in my life. Things were a little simpler and I was younger and I didn't go to war yet.

[Dark Horse]

Trap Jaw is the high point of 200X for me. He redesign was just outstanding.

[Mechanizor]

- The announcement of getting a new line!
- The 4HM designs!
- Trap-Jaw and Skeletor.
- MYP.

[Pinch]

So true. Skeletor & Trap Jaw some of the best figures done in the 200x line. The detail was ridiculous with these two figures. I loved "green" Trap Jaw & still do. The cartoon took MOTU to a different level of seriousness as well. Loved it all.

[Mechanizor]

So true. The only major thing that I've hated about 200X toyline (besides all the horrendous issues that took place back then) is the Castle Grayskull set! Yes, I've loved the electronic play features it has, but the design itself was beyond awful IMO.

[Black Zodac]

The hunt finding the figures in stores, as much as I hate to admit it, was a big part of the fun. I still remember finding Ram-Man and Mekanek in stores when they were hard to find, and getting incredibly excited.

[stabby]

I was not a collector at all at this stage. I had very little time to play on the internet, and had never thought to look up my old toys, so I had no idea they were re-doing He-Man. I'm a school teacher, and back when the line launched in Australia I was teaching Prep. We had our annual "sleep over" at the end of the year and I remember in the morning as the kids were waking up from their first big night away from home I put them into the library with the Saturday morning cartoons on. (The sleepover took place on a Friday night). As I was sheparding kids in and out of the library they were watching the BRAND NEW HE-MAN CARTOON! I remember seeing Beastman and Evil Lyn on screen, recognising them and thinking "wishful thinking Caine", so I asked one of the kids what was the show they were watching. They responded with "He-Man". I drove home from camp that morning, went straight on line and looked up He-Man. There I found he-man.org and ebay with all the figures you could buy. I was hooked. Instantly. And I have been ever since. I don't think there's been a single day I don't log on to see what is going on now:-)

[Nankeiro]

The grade of detail that every figure has. It's really great!

[TechTrek]

The details on the toys. So much fun. Crazy that some of these were at the stores with VHS of the episodes!

[pH6]

I literally jumped for joy a few times. When the first box of toys arrived...when I first got the word from the local toy store that 'THEY'RE HERE!'...and the very last time I saw anything of the line on the shelves, last one of the four Battle Stations officially imported here..

[Pinch]

I have to say the greatest thing was buying the entire 1st wave of Snakemen figures at a local Shopko. I thought the line was dead where I lived & didn't think I'd see anything else put out on the shelves. I told her I'd meet her out by the car. So I went out and asked her "Can I buy all of them?" She smiled and said "yes." It was indeed a great day. I can even remember loading up the entire cart & taking it to the car. That was fun.

[Matthew L. Martin]

I have to say the greatest thing was buying the entire 1st wave of Snakemen figures at a local Shopko. I thought the line was dead where I lived & didn't think I'd see anything else put out on the shelves. I told her I'd meet her out by the car. So I went out and asked her "Can I buy all of them?" She smiled and said "yes." It was indeed a great day. I can even remember loading up the entire cart & taking it to the car. That was fun.

That wasn't the Shopko in Onalaska/LaCrosse WI, was it? Because I remember that's the only time and place I saw a lot of that same wave. Unfortunately, at a high price point and with low wages then, I didn't purchase any of them. I regret not grabbing a couple, although I'm slowly building up that part of the collection.

[Pinch]

No. In Nebraska is where I got them. They literally just put them on the shelves. Hadn't been touched.

[Brian Ozone]

The hunt for toys was fun. Making deals with the stock boys. I could always just go to eBay and buy them. But it was fun searching the pegs again. I kinda miss that. We got that briefly when the DCU Vs. MOTUC came out.

[GREP-A-TOR]

Although I did not collect MOTU200X - I really enjoyed seeing the figures on the pegs at stores and picking them up.

[Grayskull's Lost Son]

My favourite memories include:

• the moment when a new line was announced
• actually being able to buy new figures in a toy store again
• watching the pilot episodes from MYP over and over again (my dad asked "are you watching anything else any more??")
• the excitement of new reveals (I still get that nowadays. SDCC is alsways ahighlight for me despite all of TG's bs)
• getting CG for Xmas from my parents (just like the vintage one)

Then of course there were way more disappointments:

• seeing the new character design for He-Man for the first time
• Fisto's sword
• new names like Battöe Fist and King Hsss
• the vehicles and accessories designed by Mattel in-house
• the fact that the Snake Men were based on their MYP character models and not designed by the 4H
• that last SDCC where they basically only showed Snake variants
• etc

[Croc-O-Bite!]

For me there were two top memories of the 200X run. Both involving Trap Jaw.
The first was when I first discovered the 4H pics of the line before it had even started. I made their pic of the Trap Jaw 2 up my wallpaper and was counting down the days until the line hit retail.
My second top memory was going out on a toy hunt first thing Saturday morning and finding both Trap Jaw & Tri-Klops at the first Walmart I checked, then finding them again at the next Walmart I checked, thereby letting me have 1 of each to open and to keep MOC. That was the first, and quite possibly the only time, I found what I was looking for on the first try from any toy line I've collected. Fitting it was for my all-time favorite character Trap Jaw.:trapjaw:

[Guest]

Probably when my boyfriend bought me He-Man and Battle-Cat for my birthday. They were my first 200X items. Then he got me Castle Grayskull.

[Battle Ram Man]

I never saw the 200x line until I reconnected with MOTU in 2012. I did walk into Toys R Us and saw a bunch of the commemorative figs in late 2001 I think. I was blown away and bought the five pack with He-Man, Skeletor, MAA, Beast Man and Prince Adam.

But, I left the country for a while soon after, and didn't connect back with He-Man until I discovered Classics a couple of years ago. I think I would have bought some 200x stuff if I'd seen it.

[Barbecue17]

I remember the line coming out but I was just our of high school and starting college so I didn't have as much time to devote to it. I was also way more interested in Star Wars collecting and the Lord of the Rings line from Toy Biz at the time. I do remember getting a He-Man and Skeletor set from my parents while I was home one weekend, although I'm not 100% sure when. It was probably January of 2003.

[man-e-faces]

I remember the 200X MOTU Art Asylum-sculpted line well. I think I first heard about this circa 2001?!, possibly online (though can't swear to that, since I only had dial-up internet ATT). I do remember seeing a short clip of the 200X MOTU cartoon online, but never saw the actual cartoon until years later (after the DVD sets started coming out).

I did collect some of the figures when they hit retail stores in 2002-2003, and remember being extremely impressed by the sculpts. My favorite figure was probably Trap Jaw; I had liked the original, but the 200X version was incredible - and remains one of my all-time favorite action figures. The character looked more organically machine-like/robotic, and at the same time much more sinister than the original version.

I remember the line being, overall, extremely HTF at retail stores. So, tracking down any of these was an accomplishment. Note these figures were released almost 20 years ago, and online shopping wasn't the "thing" it is now; at the least, I wasn't ordering much online ATT. So, I don't ever remember even considering buying any of these via any online stores.

My favorite memories of the line were finding:

The 200X Man-e-faces at a Kay-bee toy store circa 2003, in another state (when I was on vacation). I never saw the figure before or since that one time. This figure is an improvement over the original, but the differences are subtle. This was definitely one of the more difficult figures to track down, at least in my area.

The 200X Castle Grayskull @ a Tuesday Morning, circa 2004-2005-ish. It was on sale for $30, which I considered a great price for this toy.

[Y2Greg]

My favorite 200x memory was going to Toys"R"Us one day after a college class and seeing 200x re-deco Skeletor there for the first time. Such weird and wacky colors, got him immediately.