Masters Class: Masters of the Universe
In the year 1981, the landscape of action figures was dominated by soldiers, spacemen, and dolls. Mattel was in search of a new toy to take the world by storm. Something unique and original that would bring about a new surge in sales and introduce a new generation of toy collectors to their product. Enter, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe!
The residents of Eternia made their grand debut through 5.5 inch figures with accompanying mini comics and a smash hit cartoon series. The main focus of the franchise centered around the never ending conflict between the titular blonde muscular hero He-Man and his blue skinned evil doer enemy, Skeletor. Each side of good and evil had its teams of unique teammates for each, creating a vast collection of heroes and villains to wage war against one another. The series had wild success in comics, books, television, and even a feature film. However, the action figures were still the greatest source of success for the franchise.
The Masters Class is proud to be bringing you two amazing artists to the Masters of the Universe to give you their tips and tricks of action figure photography as well as their takes on MOTU in general, @GuitarGarth and @Toyetic40s! So mount your giant cat steed, don your war armor, and prepare yourself to take notes, because The Masters Class is now in session.
When getting ready to create a masters of the universe shot, what are some key elements you like to include as far as effects or props are concerned?
TE- “For me personally, it all goes back to the original art you’d see on the packaging for MOTU back in the day. They reminded me so much of the Frank Frazetta covers I’d seen on my Dad’s pulp novels and shows this sort of barren world but with huge castles and magic-filled battles. I try to evoke that feeling by attempting to make sure my shots FEEL like that same Eternia from my memory. Nine times out of ten, Castle Grayskull is in the shot, and on the occasions it’s not I try to put in MOTU vehicles that show you immediately where you are in the universe.”
GG- “I am absolutely addicted to my fog machine, $40 off of Amazon, best money i’ve spent in this hobby. It really makes pics come to life for me, adds an organic element, especially in fantasy shoots like MOTU.”
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| Garth’s shot for the collab puts his smoke machine to work with some amazing lighting to make his Mastersverse figures pop. |
What is your typical lighting set up when preparing your MOTU shot?
TE- “I have a four lamp setup with colored bulbs and for MOTU I always turn the greens, purples and reds all the way up, just like in that vintage art I loved so much!”
GG- “ I am not super fancy, I’ve had pretty good results from my small ring lights, about $15 apiece from Walmart. I typically use two, one coming from each side of the subject, along with a blacklight (party city blacklight bulb in a gooseneck lamp), and recently added a rectangular flat light in front on the lowest setting to help with detail. I put both ring lights in color mode, and shift around until I like the mood, usually two opposing colors. This also helps play off of my fog effects. I also try to make sure that the ring lights are making the details stand out, going across details instead of directly at them.”
MOTU has a long history of action figure lines, going back to 1981. What line(lines) of figures do you enjoy shooting the most?
TE- “Of the modern lines, I really have to love the articulation and look of the Masterverse line. I wish I’d been collecting MOTU at the time when Classics was coming out, as I love the look of those figures, but Masterverse is still evolving and I like their selection so far. I do want to shoutout MOTU: Origins which is a brilliant line of toys that manages to mix the vintage MOTU aesthetic with much better articulation, but I feel like I can take better pictures with Masterverse.”
GG- “Masterverse is the first MOTU line I’ve actually collected. I’ve been a MOTU fan since I was a kid in the 80’s, but my mom thought it was evil, so I didn’t have any of the toys until I was an adult. I am really loving the direction of Masterverse, especially as they move into more classic styles of characters.”
In the action figure photography community, fandom for a specific franchise can be relatively flexible for the artists we all follow and enjoy. Had you been a MOTU fan prior to your photography? Or did photographing the figures turn you into a fan?
TE- “I was born in the late 70s so I was at the PERFECT age for MOTU when it came out in the early 80s. Star Wars was my first love, but I remember how huge MOTU was and how important it was to me when I was 5 and 6. Almost nothing hits me with the nostalgic wallop that MOTU does, and when newer lines like Mythic Legions and MOTU Origins throw those same primary colors from my childhood into my eyeballs I can’t help but be taken back to those memories of opening up Beastman and Man-At-Arms.”
GG- “ Definitely a MOTU fan since I was a kid in the 80’s. Funny story, I remember very clearly when I was little, around 4 or 5, playing outside when an older boy came up the sidewalk with his castle Grayskull up on his shoulder like a boombox, looking for kids to play He-Man with. Me and a neighbor kid sat there on the sidewalk having an absolute blast. I am still in love with that castle.”
Arguably one of the most popular tropes in the world of action figure photography is crossovers and multiversal mashups of figures from different franchises. What would be one of the most interesting crossovers to happen to pit against the characters from MOTU?
TE- “Well I’ve mentioned them already but I LOVE crossing over MOTU and Mythic Legions. So many of them have the same color schemes as Masters characters that is makes it fun to mix and match! As far as major franchises and licenses go though, I plan on actually doing some MOTU and Thundercats crossovers very soon! I recently purchased my first set of MOTU Classics and I can’t wait to see how they pair with Super 7’s Thundercat Ultimates! Thundercats almost feel like a successor to MOTU anyway, with its mix of fantasy and sci-fi so I’m really excited about the possibilities of mixing the two series together. I imagine Skeletor and Mumm-Ra fighting amongst themselves as much as fighting He-Man and Lion-O. The possibilities are endless!”
GG- “ You know, I think 60’s style Batman characters would be fun to cross paths. Batman’s Rogues teaming up with Skeletor’s Minions would be a lot of good cheesy fun.”
The MOTU toy franchise has had more than its fair share of releases of vehicles, animals and play sets. Do you have any of these, and if so what is your favorite piece to include in your action figure photography?
TE- “I still own a vintage Castle Grayskull, and for my money you still can’t beat it for use as a background fixture in MOTU shots. Obviously, He-Man is also very important, but that iconic visage of the castle is second to none when creating the feeling of Eternia for me. For my money, it’s the best play set ever made and will never be replaced!”
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| Toyetic’s shot for the collab is a stunning battle taking place on Eternia |
GG- “ I don’t have a lot of vehicles and such yet for my MOTU (other than a couple of Origins ones) I do love my Masterverse Battlecat. I have a hand carved Grayskull that I made and am proud of, and am desperately hoping for a Masterverse Grayskull! Come on Mattel, Gimme Gimme!”
What are some editing tips and tricks you could provide for producing your MOTU figure photography for anyone who may be getting into shooting the figures?
TE- “For me, it’s about making the images as colorful and larger than life as possible. Fill your shots with big epic fights, magic, lightning and whatever you can do to get across the majesty of that universe. There should be no shortage of colorful mist and lightning!”
GG- “ I try to stay light on hard editing, I use Lightroom, and mainly adjust the lighting levels and color temp, adding a little vignette and cropping the picture as needed. I try to keep most of the work in camera. I think the key is getting the lighting and focus right there, then the editing is just the icing on the cake.”
And lastly, what is your most favorite figure from your MOTU collection that you enjoy to shoot for your photography?
TE- “This is so tough! I have such an emotional attachment to so many of the characters (especially the villains I owned as a child) that I would have a hard time picking between various versions of Beastman, Skeletor, Faker or Hordak that I own. When I talk about how the primary colors of MOTU hit me with nostalgia, I’m mostly talking about that Beastman orange or Skeletor’s mix of blue and purple, or how Faker mixed all their color schemes together! With all that said, and I honestly hate to be so basic, but my all time favorite has still got to be He-Man himself. I have such a personal fondness for the big guy with so many childhood memories of various figures that I’ll never get over the big muscled bound boob, as Skeletor would call him. He’s still one of the biggest symbols of that specific time in my childhood and if they keep putting them out, I’ll keep buying them. If you need me to name one particular He-Man figure then I’d probably go with the new 40th Anniversary version, with its mix of modern articulation with that nostalgic look of the original champion of Eternia that makes him the perfect subject for my MOTU photos!”
GG- “ I keep going back to Masterverse Scare-Glo, He has such a cool color scheme and vibe. I roughed up his cape and modded him with some real chain, and he is so photogenic.”
Until next week, Class is dismissed.
~The Curator
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