The Best of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (10 Episode Collector's Edition)

When I was four years old I was totally in love with He-man. I had He-Man bedsheets, He-Man curtains, He-Man action figures, He-Man play sets, a plastic He-Man sword... you get the idea.The one thing I didn't have was any He-Man videos, and believe me, I would have bought them. The world loved He-Man, but the world has a short attention span, and gradually He-Man began to age.But you know how this story ends. Mattel, after 20 years, has finally decided to release He-Man on DVD, just as they are now releasing every TV show you have ever heard of (and some you haven't). I stared, slack-jawed, upon the box labeled "The Best of He-Man". It was the ten best episodes. I knew at once, I had to have it.Actually, I come to find out, He-Man was fairly revolutionary. It was the first five-day a week children's cartoon, and it was also the first such show run by a toy company. It was perhaps the most genius marketing idea I've ever heard of; design the toys, and then make up a TV series around them. It was little better than having a half-hour long commercial for toys.But, you see, it worked. I didn't know this at the time; I didn't even know the company that had brought you Barbie was trying to get away with doing something for the boys, which might have crushed me when I was four. I just wanted He-Man.And now, Matel returns with a possibly even greater genius move. The release of these DVD's was tactful. They knew they had to wait a long time for the generation they had once exploited to stand up and ask to be exploited again, but this time it was even easier. Every Master of the Universe, every single one of us, no longer had to beg our parents to buy us He-Man. Like myself, every single one of us woke up one day to find He-Man staring us in the face, and we remembered what was missing in our lives.I'm not saying it's perfect. The character's lips never match their voices, and watching Battle Cat roar is downright laughable. Considering this was probably the best they could do in the early 80's, I'm impressed. But the soundtrack, I have to admit, is pretty cool, and that's something I couldn't have appreciated back then.Nor would I have recognized the subdued incestuous themes when Teela hints at her attraction to He-Man, even though Prince Adam is like a brother to her.That's not her fault, though. The series also plays host to the classic superman error, where He-Man wears nothing to conceal his identity, and yet his own parents and sister seem unable to recognize him. In fact, all holding the sword over his head really does is give him less clothes.Which isn't to say their weren't some very mature themes. In one episode, Prince Adam undergoes an identity crisis when he thinks his father likes He-Man better than him. The 60-second moral at the end of that one is that parents sometimes forget to tell their children they love them, but that really deep down they do. That's a lesson we needed then as much then as 20 years later.In the episode where they need to convince Skeletor to help them fight the evil Dark Seed (who appears to have a bustle sprout for a head), Skeletor continually cries "don't you ever get tired of being a hero. Don't you ever feel like doing something evil." It's totally ridiculous, and yet when he finally lifts his staff to help explode the giant ice ball, everyone cheers anyway.It's also funny to watch the series creators speak in deadpan about it, as though it were the most serious thing in the world. And yet, I don't blame them. I was a series creator too, or at least I was part of what made the series work. The fans were what it was all about, and the fans are what it is still about now.And for just a half-hour, I felt like a Master of the Universe again.

This cartoon was and still is one of the best for kids and adults alike. Hopefully the "She-Ra, Princess of Power" series will follow on DVD. I know that full collections of season one and two of the "Masters of the Universe" cartoon are due out within the next year and a half, and I will surely be buying them from this company. They have done a wonderful job from package design to picture quality. The sound/cartoons are ever so slightly sped up due to conversion from the old style in which they were filmed/kept, but it is hardly noticeable, and after one or two episodes, it was forgotten. I love the episodes that were chosen... the Entertainment Rights actually did what Mattel wouldn't do with relaunch in 2002 of the toy line: listen to the fans. They sought out the fans' opinions of the 5 best episodes from season one and from season two. They used a poll at He-Man.org - so what you get in this collection are great examples of why fans love this property so much and will continue to do so. The documentary segments are very interesting - not only do they provide some interesting background on the stories, but they also give us a glimpse at the people behind the development of the cartoon and Filmation, the company that produced it (along with "She-Ra")... I hope there are more segments like this on the full season collections. I also hope that the She-Ra cartoon will be given exactly the same treatment. Incidentally, I showed my 4 year old niece the box and she immediately wanted to watch it. We also watched a DVD of the movie, "The Secret of the Sword," in which She-Ra is introduced. She loved them ALL. She was terrified of Skeletor at first in the episode "The Diamond Ray of Disappearance," but she quickly saw that the good guys win and the bd guys are not all THAT evil... after all this WAS a kids' show in the 1980s. She asked me for more cartoons about He-Man, and I said I would get them as soon as I could. She is the same age I was when I started playing with He-Man toys and watching the cartoon :) I gave her a Teela figure and a She-Ra figure from the 2002 toy line... she loves them... she also LOVED the Sorceress character... she is a great role model and there a quite a few episodes on this collection that feature her and the character, Teela... so this in not just a collection for boys. It's a world for both genders.

This powerful collection of He-Man episodes makes for a classic, five "gold star" DVD release! I was most pleased with the packaging of the DVD, the picture quality of the episodes, and the other extras, trailers, and special features. What a way to start off the He-Man series being released on DVD!"Into The Abyss" was the episode that moved me to tears ... Very emotional story!The only criticism I had is that the tail-end of Act 1 and opening scene of Act 2 of "Diamond Ray of Disappearance" is missing ("And now for you!"/"Stop him! The little one's getting away!"/"Help! Help! Somebody get this thing off of me!"). I hope that the missing footage will be restored, come the release of the boxed sets. Fortunately, the full version of "Origin of the Sorceress" appears on this release, not the "butchered" version from the original home video release.For me, it would be nice if the other ten episodes that were considered among the best of the series (that did not make it to the Top 10 list in the online poll) would also be released on a collection of their own. It could be called "He-Man Classics" or something like that. Episodes like "Double Edged Sword," "The Dragon's Gift," "Pawns of the Game Master," "Not So Blind," and "The Rainbow Warrior" are just as good as the episodes from this release, and should be showcased as well, IMHO. :)A fantastic job to all who contributed to this DVD release ... Keep up the wonderful work! Thanks for reading. Take care, and God Bless! :)

They love watching this

My grandson

il dvd e' in ottimo stato ma e' regione 1.il dvd e' in ottimo stato ed e' arrivato subito. tuttavia e' regione 1 e in italia i lettori non lo leggono. puo' essere letto sul pc con particolari programmi che "sorvolano" sul lock della regione. il prodotto e' arrivato nei tempi previsti.

Einmal Fan immer Fan!!! Ist super diese Serie und ich bin stolz sie mein eigen zu nennen!!!Und ein muß für jeden der He-man mag! Die DVD's sind brandneu und noch in der Folie wenn sie geliefert werden.Versand ist auch superschnell. Also worauf warten???