LITTLE KNOWN FACT #2: Much of He-Man's initial concept designs were taken from the 1971 toyline "BIG JIM". Check out the many similarities below, thanks to NLogan at RetroJunk (who did all the grunt work for this swiped post):
BIG JIM & HE-MANNo similarities, but here you have the 2 main heroes
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CAPTAIN DRAKE & SKELETORHooded skull heads of villainy
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IRON JAW & TRAP JAWMetal jaws and hook hands
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VEKTOR & ZORAK and MAN-E-FACESMultiple faces, enclosed helmet and tubular chest
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BORIS & FISTOMetal fists of fury
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DR. STEEL & JITSUMetal hands with "Karate Chop!" arm action
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BIG JIM TIGER & BATTLE-CAT and PANTHOR (& Tarzan's "Jungle Cat")
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THE WHIP'S whip & BEAST MAN'S whip---
BIG JIM EAGLE and ZOAR & SCREECH---
BIG JIM VEHICLE & ATTAK TRAK(via Retrojunk)
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14 comments:
Whoa! Great post!
I had a Big Jim when I was a kid. I told some friends a while ago when we were discussing G.I. Joes...none of my friends believed me. NOW I HAVE PROOF! BIG JIM WAS REAL!
He-Man the Barbarian? That's the first I've heard of that one.
Are you familiar with the Wonder Bread/Savage He-Man conspiracy?
http://tinyurl.com/5q87ab
I really think this figure was initially created for general release and later dumped on the mail-away/promo market because it too closely resembled Conan.
The only Big Jim I've heard of is BIG JIM SLADE
In agreement with previous comment...i'd never heard of this Big Jim toyline until today. I was looking up some things on-line about He-Man, the version I grew up watching in the mid 1980's from Filmation and came across this site. Those are uncanny similarities!
Great post! Mattel didn't have imagination.
Also check out a Mattel monster toy called "Krusher" side-by-side with Masters of the Universe's "Whiplash" figure... very similar creature design and coloration.
Great to have those side by side. I'm more of a 1980's kid (born in 1976) and a Masters of the Universe collector. One of my valued item is my Big Jim Tiger and Gorilla, both of which go perfectly alongside my fur-speedoed barbarians.
As of note, a later Master of the Universe figure named Mosquitor (an evil mosquito guy as is name shows) had a transparent chest were you could pump blood in visible "vein" reminiscent of Pulsar, another Mattel creation.
I always suspected Zartan from G.I. Joe ARAH was a rip of Zorak.
Great post! It awesome to see the evolution of toys.
Their design changes and small adaptations from one toy line to the next is just cool to follow.
Not a rip-off.
Big Jim was made by the same company, they simply reused molds and patented mechanisms.
He-Man was never Conan. Mattel had the license to the movie and was working to develop a toy line based on it, but after realizing the adult tone of the movie, all plans was scrapped and they decided to go for their fully owned intellectual property. The similarities are due to marketing research that proved "Heroic Fantasy" was a preferred by children at that time.
He Man was Conan the Barbarian where do you think the brown-headed version came from?
If anything Mattel dumped the old Conan the Barbarian merchandise off on Wonder Bread, to get rid of evidence.
That's kind of obvious, whatever you consider that they won't even acknowledge the existence of a Wonder Bread He Man.
If any of this stuff above proves anything whatsoever.
It is that Mattel obviously does not have much of an imagination!
They borrow heavily from the things that they see around them.
Conan the Barbarian was only one in a long line of victims of Mattel.
Wow, great post, never knew this, grew up w/ MOTU but (like most) was too young to even know about Big Jim. Very interesting.
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