And the power. Did I also mention I AM SHE-RA!
This week’s theme takes on a special meaning for me. I’ve done theme weeks surrounding things I’ll be doing over the weekend (or the very night of either Throwback Thursday/Flashback Friday). This weekend, I’ll be attending a convention. Those are nothing new or novel for me – I went to five Stargate Conventions between 2012 and 2016, six Wizard World Cons (five in Philadelphia between 2014 and this year, and one in Chicago in 2017), and Monster Mania in August of this year. But this is a different Convention for me, and one that is totally up my alley.
That’s right, I’m going to a convention based all around my geekism, nostalgia! The Con is RetroCon, it is in suburban Philadelphia (Oaks/Valley Forge), and I’m going to be meeting Samantha Newark (Jem/Jerrica Benton from Jem – duh!) and Larry Kenney (Lion-O from Thundercats). I was supposed to be meeting Melendy Britt (She-Ra/Princess Adora from She-Ra Princess of Power), but she unfortunately cancelled.
Which is unfortunate for me. Because I bought this sweatshirt.
That’s not me (obviously), but it looks good on me too.
Having this isn’t a total loss, since I do need something for Halloween to wear to work. Oh, and it will be about 60 degrees at its highest on Saturday, so I’ll need something to wear early in the day.
Heck, I’ll wear it without the cape anytime I want to feel like a badass.
I would have gone with full She-Ra costume, but it is a little more skin and boobs than I ever feel like showing outside of wearing a bathing suit. Which, by the way, covers up said boobs.
I don’t say all this to give the menfolk the idea that I’m going to wear a full She-Ra costume, but that today’s commercial – er, commercials – from the archives feature the Princess of Power and her twin brother, the Master of the Universe.
So, anyway, fabulous powers were revealed to me the moment I held aloft my magic sword and…
Ok, that really didn’t happen. But, fabulous memories were forced out of the subconscious of my mind when I clicked play on a video on Amazon Prime and…
Ok, fine, I’ll stop being all nostalgic and geeky. That’s the aim of this blog, but whatever!
Anyway…
These commercials come to us from the compilation of 80s Saturday morning commercials I found on Amazon Prime (I referenced it last week as well).
Included in this set:
She-Ra…and Swift Wind!
Castle Greyskull (your parents put it together AND get to watch you play with it!)
Spikor!
Dragon Blaster Skeletor!
FREEZE!
Not you, the action figure you’re playing with! Stop overacting!
And Spydor…with a catchy commercial jingle!
Sounds great, right? Go on and witness it, by clicking play!
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe saw its first toys released by Mattel in 1982, with animation studio Filmation creating a backstory for the title character. The resulting television series aired in barter syndication on weekday afternoons from September 1983 until 1985 (total of two seasons and 130 episodes), and continued to air in reruns until 1990 on USA Network (beginning in 1987). She-Ra Princess of Power claimed her stake in the power of Greyskull beginning in September 1985 (but her introduction began with Secret of the Sword in March 1985) and airing until December 1986, for a total of two seasons and 93 episodes. Reruns of this series aired until 1989 on USA Network, and She-Ra was not mentioned in any other He-Man series (of which there are several).
To this day, the characters have a cult following. I actually own Funko Pops of He-Man and Skeletor, and She-Ra was my first Funko Pop ever, purchased right as it was being discontinued in 2014 while I was at my first Wizard World Convention. I’m also really aiming to get a She-Ra action figure at this convention I’m going to on the weekend, because she’s the first character/toyline I really took full notice of in the 1980s. I definitely have some attachment to her, and I know I’m not the only one that feels the pangs of sentimental value.
So I guess you can say He-Man and She-Ra have the power?
All jokes aside, the cartoon was very cheesy, but for 80s kids, it holds up well as a memory. If you can look past the innuendo-laced dialogue in the cartoon, the franchise as a whole is pretty cool in concept.
On that note, let’s end it here. But tomorrow, I’ll be back with another popular character, quite possibly one of the other characters that really made me take notice in the mid-1980s. He (yes, he) will be by tomorrow to show you why!
Have a great Throwback Thursday! May we all have the power today!
