MOTU DAY 2015: FIVE THINGS YOU CAN LEARN ABOUT THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE FROM THEIR VINTAGE GOLDEN BOOKS ADVENTURES

FOR THOSE WHO CAME IN LATE.......

MOTU Day is April 28th or so it was decreed back in 1987 by Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley.

He might not have meant for anybody to celebrate it in 1988 or ever again, but it's still an absolute fact. 

This actually happened. 

It doesn't matter that it was created for the sole purpose of promoting the POWER TOUR that was running through LA at the time - if it was good enough for Mayor Tom Bradley and the fine people of Los Angeles, it's good enough for you. 

MOTU has an actual day. (See: Los Angeles Times Article April 23rd, 1987 to read it transcribed in print)

So it was declared, so it shall be done. Forever and ever.  He-men.

MOTU DAY 2015 logo by The Toy Box

That's what I said about this time last year. And now it's Masters of the Universe Day again. How time flies, eh? Did I say that last year too? I have no idea. I really need to get myself a home stenographer.

If this is your first year celebrating MOTU DAY, here's a link to the original celebration from the year that MOTU DAY was first successfully re-introduced back into popular culture by the fine folk at Doomkick.com. And there's also last year's MOTU DAY coverage. 

It's also become a thing on instagram. You on instagram? You need to check out #MOTUDAY. 

Seriously. 

Any questions? 

Ok. Great.

Even Dolph Lundgren and Book Release Dates now bow down to the almighty MOTU DAY in 2015.

As originally seen on Dolph Lundren's Facey B page and shared here on Doomkick's instagram.

Now to why we're here: Masters of the Universe!

But not just any old Masters of the Universe. I am specifically taking a look at some of the really weird things that happened in the vintage Golden Books MOTU hardbacks. They were a trip, man.

And they had some of the worst art I've ever seen published in the world. Ever. In anything. Just awful. Nevertheless they retain a certain charm. My profuse apologies to the 6 year old child from 1985 that illustrated every one of these books. 

Some really strange things occur in these stories. Strange things that have not been mentioned before or since. Are they still canon? Who knows. Were they ever? You ask somebody on Eternia if they know what canon is, they think you're talking about William Conrad.

.....which is weird because Eternia never got Cannon over there.

Let's start, shall we?

5. Skeletor's absolute favourite thing aside from "doing evil" is SNAKES.

As seen in "The River of Ruin" from 1985. This was clearly before the Snakemen existed.

4. Madame Razz is 1000 years old.

As seen in "The Queen of the Ball" from 1985.

3. Skeletor used his MECHANO-RAY to create both Spydor and Sy-Klone.

He's so wicked, he sometimes even scares himself.

 

As seen in "I Have The Power" from 1985. So there you go. A Mechano-Ray.

2. The giant snake on top of Snake Mountain? It's alive, bro.

 

As seen in "Teela's Secret" from 1985.

1. Skeletor was turned into a Living Skeleton by a powerful mineral called "Etheramite" and he totally used to have a badly drawn yellow face. 

It's basically just regular Skeletor with added eyeballs and a nose.

As seen in "The Horde" from 1985.

While investigating this weirdness, I also came across these wonderful images of Beastman and Merman that I thought you might like.

They have a pretty average day in "I Have The Power."
As previously mentioned, also released in, you guessed it....1985.
(Who knew Merman had a tongue?)

You can check out more content related to MOTU DAY at #MotuDay on Instagram - both at the Hoard World account and many other Motu-celebrating IGers!

I also have it on good authority that the following websites and blogs are definitely featuring MOTU-specific content:

The Toy Box

Battlegrip

Action Figure Barbecue

Diary of a Dorkette

Nerditis

Needless Things

Toyriffic

Action Figure Adventures

I hope everybody has a wonderful Masters of the Universe Day!!

yr pal,

HOARDAX.