Masters-of-the-Universe-Piece Theatre: “Peeping Mantenna”

Unfortunately, the epic “various toys posing with the Hugo trophy in exciting scenes” post I’d planned had to be postponed, because my Hugo Award trophy arrived battered and in two pieces. And while I can put it on the shelf, it will fall apart if someone as much as sneezes on it, let alone if toys and action figures lean against it.

However, the Hugo Award trophy was not the only thing the mail person or rather the parcel person brought me on that day. I also received some new Masters of the Universe Origins figures, which ironically arrived with perfect unpunched blister cards and in a box that looked sturdier than the one the Hugo came in. Okay, so it also had a much shorter journey – only 65 kilometres.

So let’s take a look at the three new arrivals. Here we have He-Man and Skeletor in the style of the 2002 He-Man and the Masters of the Universe cartoon (currently streaming here), for which the designs of the characters were updated. I don’t normally buy all of the He-Man and Skeletor variants (and there are a lot of them), but I like these two, since they are quite different from the standard versions, including redesigned accessories. Though I’ll give 2002 Skeletor’s sword to my Keldor figure, since it actually is Keldor’s sword.

The third new arrival is Mantenna, a member of the Evil Horde and the closest thing Masters of the Universe has to a bug-eyed monster. Come to think of it, while a lot of the early Masters of the Universe characters drew on vintage sword and sorcery for inspiration with a bit of cosmic horror thrown in, the later Evil Horde character seem inspired by vintage covers of the less respectable sort of science fiction magazines of the golden age (i.e. Planet Stories, Startling Stories or Thrilling Wonder Stories rather than Astounding) as well as 1950s B-movies. Mantenna is literally a bug-eyed monster, Catra is Irena from Cat People, Grizzlor looks like a B-movie werewolf and/or gorilla monster and Leech is another B-movie monster. Modulok would have been at home on a golden age science fiction cover, ditto for Mosquitor. And Hordak himself owes more than a little to Nosferatu.

200X Skeletor and He-Man and MantennaAnyway, since I had new arrivals, let’s have another Masters-of-the-Universe-Piece Theatre photo story. The name “Masters-of-the-Universe-Piece Theatre” was coined by Kevin Beckett at the Whetstone Discord server. You can check out all the Masters-of-the-Universe-Piece Theatre Photo Stories here.

The inspiration for this one is that in the 2002 cartoon, Teela has a very notable fascination with He-Man’s muscles and tends to touch his abs or bury herself in his muscular embrace. Now all versions of Teela are fascinated by He-Man’s muscles, but it’s really notable in the 2002 cartoon. He-Man BTW usually reacts to having his muscles fingered by Teela with a mix of “This feels nice” and “Why can’t she do that when I’m Adam?” Though Adam does get a cop a feel at least once in the 2002 cartoon, when he and Teela are sharing a Sky Sled.

So let’s see how Teela feels about He-Man’s new look.

In the garden of Eternos Palace:

Teela sees He-Man's new look for the first time.
“He-Man! You… you look different.”

“The Power of Grayskull upgraded my armour and my sword. And my hairstyle, for some reason. Though I admit I had hoped for something a little less revealing.”

“Oh, I think it’s fine.”

“So you like it?”

“Let me take a closer look…”

Teela admires He-Man's abs“Fascinating.”

“Uhm, Teela, that’s not actually my armour…”

“Maybe the Power upgraded your muscles along with the armour. At any rate, this calls for an inspection. A very thorough inspection…”

“I’m all game.”

He-Man and Teela kiss“Maybe we should go somewhere more private and continue this… inspection.”

“I agree. But first, kiss me again.”

Meanwhile, nearby:

Mantenna“Mantenna, go through the portal to Eternia, he said. Sneak into the palace and check out their security, he said. Find Adora and if possible, bring her back, he said. Yeah, right. It’s always Adora this, Adora that, where is Adora, I want Adora. He doesn’t care about me or Leech or Grizzlor or Catra or even Shadow Weaver. Just Adora. Always Adora. Am I not a Phelibian? Do I not bleed green, if you cut me? I have feelings, too, and unlike Adora, I actually want to be with the Horde. Honestly, Hordak, if you want Adora so much, then fucking get her yourself.”

Mantenna spies on He-Man and Teela kissing“Hmm, that was good. Let’s do it again!”

“Oh, what’s that? Not Adora, just some other human female and this He-Man jerk. But what happened to his hair? Looks like he had a run-in with Grizzlor’s claws. Still, this might be of interest to Hordak, so maybe I’d better report back. On the other hand, I should maybe just watch what they’re doing. Yes, I must watch it all or Mighty Hordak will be disappointed. And I certainly don’t want to disappoint Mighty Hordak or he’ll drop me down that trap door again.”

He-Man and Teela kissing.And that’s it for today, because He-Man and Teela would like some privacy now. And unlike Mantenna, we’re not voyeurs.

Finally, just because I can, here are He-Man and Teela fighting Skeletor, Evil-Lyn and Trap Jaw with Mantenna watching from the sidelines:

He-Man and Teela fight Skeletor and his minions, while Mantenna looks on from the sidelines.I hope you enjoyed this Masters-of-the-Universe-Piece Theatre Photo Story. There will be more stories coming in the future, because I’m having a lot of fun doing these.

Disclaimer: I don’t own any of these characters, I just bought some toys, took photos of them and wrote little scenes to go with those photos. All characters are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

 

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3 Responses to Masters-of-the-Universe-Piece Theatre: “Peeping Mantenna”

  1. Pingback: Pixel Scroll 9/26/22 They Sentenced Me To Twenty Years Of Scrolldom, For Trying To File The Pixel From Within | File 770

  2. Lurkertype says:

    You did warn me about how goofy Mantenna looked, and I see you did not exaggerate.

    • Cora says:

      The figure is great. All four legs are articulated, the eyes pop out, etc…

      But yes, he looks very goofy. The She-Ra cartoon also portrays him as something of an idiot who keeps getting dropped through a trapdoor.

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