He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Season 1 Volume 1


This is, quite possibly, the finest DVD set I have ever purchased. Six discs, two art cards, and a beautifully-colored package that lets you know whoever designed it had an obvious love for He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.

I had an update about this a few weeks back, but it disappeared and I can’t recover it. But we’ll try again.

This set encompasses the first 33 episodes of the first season of the Filmation show called “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.” Filmation is a notable company because they were one of the last studios to keep animation in America instead of farming it out to Korea. In order to do this, they need a vast stock footage library, and that is one of the things you’ll notice while watching these cartoons- the repetitiveness of animation.
The animators needed to build this stock footage quickly, so Filmation hired a bunch of bodybuilders to walk around and fight, and the animators basically drew on top of that. I guess it also explains why Teela has such a beautiful ass. Really, it’s a great ass. Proof?




There ya have it. You feckin’ pervert. (I could go on and on about hot cartoon chicks, but that bugs even my kinky ass.)

You’ll also get to see this hot animated ass and stock footage in a beautiful transfer. The colors are bright, vibrant, and possibly look better than they did in their heyday. I understand these are taken from the PAL masters, since they were the ones in the best condition or the only ones that existed. The audio is clear too, though in my opinion, the explosions and thunderclaps are too loud, but that could be more due to my TV. I bet it’s more even on a nicer sound system.

My favorite part was the price. I bought this the first week it came out for $25 at Best Buy. That’s half the price of what I expected to pay. I figured that since the GI Joe and Transformers cartoons retailed for $50 a crack, so would He-Man. I’ll gamble BCI knew MOTU wouldn’t sell at a higher price (there aren’t as many fans out there as people think, proven by the recent toy line’s complete failure) and tried to get them out as cheaply as possible. Well, they succeeded, and they even offered a nicer package than what Rhino did for either GI Joe or Transformers. Or maybe the rights were a hell of a lot cheaper since they didn’t have to deal with an assheaded toy company to release this cartoon.

On the last disc are documentaries and interviews. I suggest checking out the one about the history of MOTU. It details how Lou Scheimer got this idea off the ground and had a unique idea that launched MOTU and his company into the stratosphere.

Season 1 Volume 2 was released about two weeks ago now. I bought it, again for the $25 (the only reason I like Best Buy is their fair first-week prices on new releases) but I have yet to jump into it.

I understand that when MOTU is finished on DVD, BCI will get around to She-Ra. I never watched that as a kid, since it was for the fairer sex, but that had the Evil Horde in it, man! Now I know why I never saw them on He-Man.

There’s plenty of MOTU on DVD right now. Between these and the kick-ass figures we’re getting from NECA and the Four Horsemen right now, it’s a good time to be a MOTU fan.

Here’s some links to Amazon for the other MOTU stuff on DVD…

Not sure you want a whole six-disc set? Well, warm up with the
10 Best set.

More of a She-Ra fan and jonesin' to see Adora? Try the He-Man and She-Ra Christmas Special.

Fan of the 1987 live-action movie? Yeah, me neither.
But you can buy it here for $6.47. I bought it when it first came out, but realized quickly it hadn't aged well. Though Frank Langella's Skeletor does kick all sorts of ass, and if I was ever going to make another MOTU live action movie, he'd be an awful lot like that.

If you're going to buy this set at retail, be sure to look for a sticker on the front that says "Orko Approved" and has the little tard's face on it. There was a problem with the initial sets that had trays that scratched the discs. This included my set. But BCI quickly fixed the problem. For those that had damaged discs, they replaced them free of charge and even included new packaging so the new discs wouldn't get ruined. That's a real class act, in my opinion. Good on BCI.
I checked my Season 1 Volume 2 and I have no scratched discs, so that's not a concern on the new set.

If you like the Masters of the Universe, buy this set. You won't regret it.

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