Here is a few questions that I was recently asked by Illya King of "By The Power Of Grayskull".
Q:What does your site offer?
My site is mostly an informative site. So far my site offers a basic character list of Masters Of The Universe, She-Ra: Princess of Power, and the New Adventures Of He-Man. Also the standard Questions & Answer page, Webring, Links, Legal Info, and Welcome pages. But the primary, or the "good stuff", of the site is the various Histories pages, (although I'm still working on the History of Castle Grayskull), as well as a basic genealogy page over King Randor's family. Likewise, there is the Planetary Statistics of Eternia and Etheria, in which I created by analyzing the cartoon features of the planets and comparing them to that of Earth. There is also a Fan Fiction section, featuring works of John Proft, Adain Cross, Henry Giordenelli, myself, and whoever wants me to post their story for them. I'm also thinking of adding a picture gallery, due to some requests for them, as well as a few other projects I'm thinking about adding.
Q:How long have you been a He-Man fan?
I've been a He-Man fan ever since I was in kindergarten. I can still remember my first few figures that I had my mom get for me when I was a kid too. It was this fondness of the story that sparked my idea to surf the internet, and create my webpage.
Here is a few questions that I was recently asked by Scott Sloan of "New York Newsday".
What led you to want to design a Web site to commemorate He-Man and the Masters of the Universe?
I was a big childhood fan of He-Man, and one day I started surfing the internet looking up information on He-Man. It was then that I noticed that there were sites based mostly on the cartoon or toy lines, but not much on the story lines that went behind it. It was then that I decided to create my webpage.
With the new cartoon series and toy line debuting this fall, what are your expectations?
I’m hoping that it will be a good one. I hear that it should be based from the 1980’s Masters of the Universe, so I’m satisfied with the story line. The toy line, from the pictures that I’ve seen in ToyFare magazine, looks pretty good.
What must Mattel do to ensure the He-Man series (both toys and cartoons) is competitive in this new age of children’s programming?
If Mattel makes the new He-Man series similar to the 1980’s version, they should not have much problems. They should place the cartoon on sometime during Saturday morning, that way most children can see the show. As long as they stick to the main story line, and don’t overly hype up the cartoon show, both the toys and the cartoon should be successful.
If you had the opportunity to take part in the creation of the toys or the cartoons, what changes would you make?
I would probably give some of the other characters an up-grade. Such examples would be more (and bigger) guns for Rio-Blast; a more mysterious-looking Zodak; a more sinister looking King Hiss; etc. Also, Mattel might want to bring in some new characters that would fit in well with the cartoon.
Why do you feel cartoons like He-Man are becoming popular again with the masses?
Simply put, kids are not stupid. You can’t force a 9 year old to sit down and watch something that is the same plot for every episode. In the 1980’s, He-Man episodes had other plots besides He-Man versus Skeletor. Children like to hear good stories, but even the most patient child gets bored with the same thing every time.
Why did He-Man remain popular among fans in a time when it was off the air in the United States for around a decade?
I would most likely have to say that it was due to the action, suspense, and the drama of the cartoon show. It has the similar effect that Star Wars had between the “Return of the Jedi” and “Episode 1” movies, even though that was 20 years. He-Man gave us children some universality among each other growing up, and the memories we have now as young adults is what bonds us together. Likewise, Mattel stopped producing He-Man right when they were taking him into an adventure where he meets He-Ro, and that left a lot of children hanging in suspense for a while. So, mostly it would be like reading a book, and not being able to read the last few chapters, which is one reason why He-Man is quite popular.
