It’s time for 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.
I posted this story on Twitter some time ago, but I never posted it on the blog, so let’s rectify that.
This story is called “Honeypot” and the star is not He-Man for once, but another member of the Masters of the Universe (which was originally just the name of the toyline, until the 2002 cartoon made it the name of the heroic warrior team, something most subsequent versions kept), namely Buzz-Off.
Buzz-Off posing with his axe and a Schleich giant ape.
Now Buzz-Off is one of the stranger Masters of the Universe characters, since he’s essentially a giant axe-wielding humanoid bee. As a kid, I always found him silly, because looks very much like Maja the Bee’s Dad. And in fact, I should probably get a Maja the Bee figure to serve as his kid, provided the scale is right.
The 2002 cartoon updated the character design to look less goofy and also gave him more of a backstory, making Buzz-Off second-in-command of the Andreenids, a species of bee people live in the Mystic Mountains and have an longstanding enmity with the Avionians, i.e. the bird people whose leader is Stratos. The Andreenids also produce honey which has healing properties and gives you superstrength, at least if you’re an Andreenid. It doesn’t work with other species, as this episode of the 2002 cartoon shows.
As with any object or substance that supposedly grants you superpowers, Skeletor is of course after the Andreenids’ honey and will stop at nothing to get his hands on it.
Andreenos, deep in the Mystic Mountains:
The honey of Andreenos is portrayed by a jar of honey from the kitchen.
“Come on, my Evil Warriors. All we need to do is steal the magical life-giving honey of Andreenos and then we shall be invincible. Bwahaha.”
“It’s not even guarded either. Like taking candy from a baby. Or honey from a bee.”
BZZZZZZZ…
“Halt, villains! If you want to steal the sacred honey of Andreenos, you will first have to go through me.”
“Oh buzz off, fly boy!”
“That’s Lord Buzz-Off to you, Skeletor.”
“Get him, my Evil Warriors. Squash the bug! Swat the fly!”
“For the last time, I’m not a fly. Or a bug.”
“Feel my spider sting, Buzz-Off.”
“Crap, I could use some help here. He-Man would be great. Or Man-at-Arms. Or Teela. Or anybody really. Even…”
FLUTTER.
“…Stratos!”
“Hello, friend Buzz-Off. Need a hand or a wing?”
“Anytime, Stratos. Just pick one and start smiting. There’s more than enough to go around.”
“So you want to steal our sacred honey, Skeletor. Well, I’ve got news for you. It only works on Andreenids.”
“Oh, I’m pretty sure it works on Arachnids, too. Right, Webstor?”
“Right, boss. Just one taste and I shall be invincible.”
“When Buzz-Off said, ‘Pick one’, why did I have to pick Stinkor. Ugh, that smell.”
“Guess what’s for dinner tonight, boys? Right, smoked turkey.”
SLAM!
“So you think you’re tough enough to taste our magical honey?”
“Think? I’ll show you that I’m tough enough. All people of the Mystic Mountains shall bow before the might of Webstor.”
“Well, think again, itsy bitsy spider.”
STING!
“Just you and me, Skeletor. Like in the olden days.”
“Oh please, Stratos. We never fought. I always left you to Beast-Man to play with, while I dealt with Randor and Duncan.”
“Well, Best-Man’s not here, so feel the fury of Avion.”
PUNCH!
“Retreat, my Evil Warriors. Honey is bad for your waistline anyway.”
“Yeah, run away, Skeletor! We’ll send the Royal Guard after you to mop you up.”
“Or the warriors of Andreenos and Avion.”
“Thanks for the help, Stratos.”
“Anytime, Buzz-Off. Besides, my knuckles were itching for a workout.”
“Uhm, you do know that our people are supposed to be mortal enemies.”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean we have to be.”
***
And that’s it for today, folks. I hope you enjoyed this Masters-of-the-Universe-Piece Theatre Photo Story, because there will be more.
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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He reminds me of the old SNL “Killer Bee” skits. I wonder if that was the inspiration? Give John Belushi the axe and he could have done a cross between Killer Bees and Samurai whatever.
Maya the anime was supposed to look a bit goofy, because it was a kids’ cartoon. Biologically, Maya wouldn’t have a dad, you know how bees work.
I have never seen those Killer Bee skits, since SNL was never broadcast here (which meant people like Bill Murray or the Belushi brothers literally came out of nowhere to star in movies). But I just checked YouTube and they might well have been the inspiration. I’m almost certain they inspired the bee guy from The Simpsons, who was also inexplicable to me, back when I was still watching The Simpsons.
Maya the Bee was animated in Japan, but actually commissioned by a West German TV channel, based on a popular children’s book of the early 20th century. The anime debuted when I was about three and it was a huge success at the time. However, TV executives were skeptical, because there were so many female characters in the show and they were all very competent, while the few dudes were not. The head of children’s programming politely explained to the TV execs that that was because the characters were bees.
The Masters of the Universe bee people do have a queen, live in a hive and have bee children running around, but most of the characters we see are male. It’s implied that Buzz-Off is not only the queen’s second-in-command, but also her lover, which does not bode well for him, if those bee people are remotely like Earth bees.
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