REPLIES: 123 comments
I swear I had, like, four of these books. And you can still find them at thrift stores, I'm sure.
Chestnuts roasted by D-d-dave-some @ 03/03/2004 03:13 PM EST
Damn, I reload and there's already a comment :P
Chestnuts roasted by Cyanyde @ 03/03/2004 03:14 PM EST
Great article, Matt. The coloring book reviews are second only to NES reviews for my favorite theme on XE. And yes, every thrift store in America has these lining their shelves.
Chestnuts roasted by Justin @ 03/03/2004 03:24 PM EST
I had that very same coloring book. Good times.
Chestnuts roasted by BaronVonHotPants @ 03/03/2004 03:25 PM EST
Did this book have any "Color by Numbers" pages? I just remembered that some of those activities didn't have actual numbers, just different amounts of DOTS to correspond to their colors. I guess it was for kids who understood, for example, the "concept" of 3, but not the "character" for 3.
Didn't they base "Awakenings" on that disease?
Chestnuts roasted by D-d-dave-some @ 03/03/2004 03:34 PM EST
why is Teela riding Spirit from she-ra?
Chestnuts roasted by prowlus @ 03/03/2004 03:34 PM EST
D-D-D -- no, but I have one of the books you're talking about. :)
Chestnuts roasted by Matt @ 03/03/2004 03:35 PM EST
Hey BeastMan, Get yer Gorilla-Grip off me!
Bwahahahah Yep, that's a keeper!
Chestnuts roasted by Cyanyde @ 03/03/2004 03:41 PM EST
Okay, this is kind of weird. I was going to read the article, but then I realized that I didn't have enough time because I have a psych test in about 1.5 hours that I have to study for. But the strange coloring scheme that some kid had used caught my eye. So, I scrolled back up and Matt had mentioned the coloring, plus Freud was mentioned. Freud is going to be covered extensively in my psych test today. That seemed strange to me, kind of a coincidence. Okay, must study now. I'm hoping this post makes sense. :)
Chestnuts roasted by Andrea @ 03/03/2004 03:57 PM EST
Even waay back then, I thought that some of these books were odd. But fun. That said, I had a pretty cool Batman coloring book that had a fairly decent story in it. The Joker was "cured" and opened a chain of fast food joints. then certain people began turning up dead, with grins. Laughing Boy had also studied ceramics in prison and had sculptures in each location. He was using the piezoelectric qualities of the ceramics to brainwash people into buying his food, and the dead guys were scientists and doctors who could have put his plan in the crapper before it's implementation. Without the vibrating sculptures, the burgers tasted like crap. My nephew has an old Batman coloring book with Catwoman in a costume kinda like a evening gown. The bat gets some interesting books to color.
Chestnuts roasted by kingklash @ 03/03/2004 04:15 PM EST
http://tvshowsondvd.com/dic/
"Later this year UAV Entertainment Corp is planning on releasing episodes of Inspector Gadget and Super Mario Bros in the order in which they aired. Each disc will contain 5 episodes and interviews with Andy Heyward, Chairman and CEO of DIC Entertainment as bonus features.
UAV needs your help! They've asked us to set up this special form so fans of the series can send in questions for Andy Heyward. Andy Heyward was directly involved in the creation of Inspector Gadget, and has been the driving force behind all of DIC's productions.
Feel free to submit questions for either series as many times as you want, assuming you're asking a different question each time.
Note: Questions should be about the shows, not about the technical aspects of the discs, the number of episodes, release shedule or other shows they may release. These questions will be answered on the DVDs; you will not get a personal response. Questions that are not about the shows themselves will be deleted."
I will ask about the Photon show being on Club Mario and how Matt should do commentary for the DVD if Photon is ever released; or any other DIC DVD that could use Matt's expert knowledge.
http://www.dicentertainment.com/dic_shows.html#AShows
Chestnuts roasted by ME @ 03/03/2004 04:31 PM EST
Quality with a capital Mer! This ranks up there with The Worst Witch article! (An astounding feat indeed!)
Chestnuts roasted by Slacker @ 03/03/2004 04:39 PM EST
these were my bread and butterwhen i was a kid. especially good on extended road trips.
Chestnuts roasted by Mikey @ 03/03/2004 04:51 PM EST
I had Go-bots and Donkey Kong activity books back in the day. It seems that, not only are these books written by people with only a passing knowledge of the subject at best, but seem to be written by people with only the slightest grasp of the English language.
Mat, you going to feature any of those "Draw what you think Teela and He-Man see" submissions?
Chestnuts roasted by Rayzak (my website has hostess sushi!) @ 03/03/2004 04:53 PM EST
I found an Eastah egg! I found an Eastah egg!
Chestnuts roasted by trajeal @ 03/03/2004 05:14 PM EST
Bahahaha! Gold! Comedic gold!
Chestnuts roasted by Evin @ 03/03/2004 05:25 PM EST
Phooey! I access on an iMac, and I never get to see a lot of the commercials and junk. Any suggestions?
Chestnuts roasted by kingklash @ 03/03/2004 05:28 PM EST
ok,i almost pissed my pants laughing at this,and i believe i had the cloud story.i distinctivly remember the spirit of greyskull at the end.
Chestnuts roasted by meef @ 03/03/2004 05:45 PM EST
Man, I used to love these when I was a kid...I also had one of the Spider-Man ones, which I colored in religiously. Has anyone seen any of the recent dollar store superhero coloring books? They look like crap!
Chestnuts roasted by Nemesis @ 03/03/2004 05:53 PM EST
Wow! What a great read! Thanx, Matt.... BTW, most of the "odd" things in the book (i.e. Beastman being usefull, two halves of the Power Sword, Spirit of Grayskull) are there b/c these stories are from the time before the toon, if I know my MOTU... And I sure do :).
Chestnuts roasted by Papa_Taz @ 03/03/2004 06:15 PM EST
Matt, I've only read "Cloudy Climbs", but I have to say it is one of the funniest things I have seen from you in some time. Iwas in tears laughing so hard. "Really hates monster feet . . " Dude! Brilliant!!
Chestnuts roasted by Dane E. Coffey @ 03/03/2004 06:45 PM EST
Man, this is convincing me to buy some coloring/activity books and have some fun.
Like the $2 Crash Dummies one I saw a few days ago...
The Law and Order coloring book:
http://www.brandonbird.com/lno_color.html
Chestnuts roasted by RewolfJ @ 03/03/2004 06:48 PM EST
Here is what I thing they saw...
http://rayzak.com/pics/heman.jpg
Chestnuts roasted by Rayzak (my website has hostess sushi!) @ 03/03/2004 07:13 PM EST
The Attak Trak has power that just won't quit? That damn toy broke after like, 10 minutes of normal use. It became just another He-Man toy I would throw and pretend they were flying.
Chestnuts roasted by Rayzak (my website has hostess sushi!) @ 03/03/2004 07:22 PM EST
I thought "Color a Cunt" was odd, but this title takes the cake!:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0736411933/qid=1078359398/sr=1-116/ref=sr_1_116/104-5217531-8826353?v=glance&s=books
Chestnuts roasted by RewolfJ @ 03/03/2004 07:26 PM EST
So lemme get this straight....the ultimate holy grail of skeletor...the SECRETS of castle greyskull was that it had a tv?
Skel wasted every ep of the cartoon just trying to watch tv and when he did, that killjoy, he-man broke the reception.
Poor skel.
Chestnuts roasted by vyle @ 03/03/2004 07:31 PM EST
I want an Attak Trak. At least the colouring book promoted literacy, even if the commercials didn't...
Chestnuts roasted by Gabbylicious @ 03/03/2004 07:33 PM EST
Matt, the Supersize needs an article before it is gone forever.
Would you like to 'Supersize' that? Too bad -- you can't
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-super03.html
Chestnuts roasted by ME @ 03/03/2004 07:37 PM EST
These coloring books could not have been written by the same authors of the little booklets that came with the original he man action figures. They were much more creative. Any chance of getting a hold of one of them matt?
Chestnuts roasted by mike b @ 03/03/2004 07:43 PM EST
Not to disparage the color commentary, but the greatest thing about the article was that little psycho's coloring choices. I can't even begin to imagine the mental deficiencies he was coping with.
Chestnuts roasted by squee4242 @ 03/03/2004 07:48 PM EST
One giant coloring/activity book I remember having was one for Defenders of the Earth,the eighties cartoon/toyline featuring the King Features Syndicate action/adventure comic strip characters (Flash Gordon,The Phantom,Mandrake the Magican) and their battles against Ming the Merciless. The only real thing I remember fromt he book itself was a maze where you had to help The Phantom get back to his Skull Cave in the African jungle.
Chestnuts roasted by Overlord @ 03/03/2004 08:33 PM EST
Matt, was the baseball player all 6'10 of
Randy Johnson?
http://www.spawntoys.com/Baseball/mlb1_johnson.jpg
http://www.ardmoreite.com/images/111699/johnson.jpg
http://www.colosscollect.com/mags/si/si011105.jpg
Chestnuts roasted by She-Man @ 03/03/2004 08:59 PM EST
"Draw what you think TEELA and HE-MAN see."
*cough* Photog *cough*
This was brilliant. Great commentary, Matt.
Chestnuts roasted by Rainbowfeet @ 03/03/2004 09:29 PM EST
I copied one of the pages and well, I used the paint program to color a great picture of Skeletor It was pretty cool. But a complete waste of time. Still I have something to do at work tommorrow if they have no work to give me.
Chestnuts roasted by Rowan Steele @ 03/03/2004 09:30 PM EST
on top of it already rainbowfeet:
http://phocusmusic.com/teela.jpg
Chestnuts roasted by chad @ 03/03/2004 09:32 PM EST
I wonder if these were closer to the *first* MOTU minicomics. This is something I never knew about until I read them at He-Man.org. They were more like illustrated booklets than comics. (Kind of like the Princess of Power minis where Catra was the only villain, whose evil plots involved stealing jewelry and stealing She-Ra's boyfriend.)
The plot of these 3 or 4 are wierd: He-Man is just some cave bumkin who leaves his village to battle evil. He ends up saving the Sorcerous (which I know is the wrong spelling, but my Franklin Spelling Ace declares is an acutal word--maybe I want Sorceress?), sometimes called the Goddess--anyway it's just the snake armor version of Teela. She gives him the Battle Ram and two different harnesses--one giving him super strength and one that projects a force field. (They both looked like the same harness to me, but what the hey.) This would explain the scene where Mer-Man is disrobing him. And you thought he was just a perv. :)
There's no royal palace that I can see. (That would come in the second timeline, just before the toon-like third one. Three continuities in one minicomic toyline. Geez!) Stratos and Man-At-Arms are both hermits who have a shaky friendship with He-Man, who lives in a cave. The Power Sword has been split in half because it's the key to Castle Greyskull.
Teela is just a clone of the Sorceress/Godess that Skeletor once tried to use to take over the Castle, but turned on her so she joins the Heroic Warriors. This is also where the "Spirit of the Castle" comes from.
And yes, these stories are just as odd as the ones in the coloring book. Head to He-Man.org, and look in the comic section.
http://www.he-man.org/primary_sects/comics/html/index.shtml
You'll want "He-Man & the Power Sword", "King of Castle Greyskull" (which was later used as a View Master 3-reel set--I still have it packed away somewhere), "Battle in the Clouds", "The Vengeance of Skeletor", "The Tale of Teela" (which is actually a comic in the DC arcs, but it's an odd story anyway so just read it, darn you!), and then just look around. It's all up there and readable.
Hey, how often do *I* get to act like a know it all and be right? :)
Chestnuts roasted by ShadowWing the Technorganic Autobot @ 03/03/2004 09:57 PM EST
Wow. Just when I was wondering if the 80's revival was going to wipe out true nostalgia of the era, I see a review of some old merchandise that barely made sense when it first came out, much less now. You can really weed out the poseurs from those who were consumed by MOTU as a kid when you whip out this shit.
A friend of mine actually had this book back in the day-- I remember the sea monster's head on the cover being far more disturbing than it had any right to be. Seriously, it's like some lost soul got sent to hell and then turned all scaly and long-necked. Far too human of a monster to easily forget.
As for what He-man and Teela saw... I'm torn between Photog and badger badger badger.
Bitner Bitner Bitner Bitner Bitner...
Chestnuts roasted by Alt-Tab @ 03/03/2004 09:58 PM EST
Sorry for the double post after the way too long response but I forgot to add "Click on "Masters of the Universe". I was going to edit in the preview, but when I went back the whole form was blank I didn't want to retype all that for one sentence. Can you blame me? :D
Chestnuts roasted by ShadowWing the blablabla @ 03/03/2004 09:59 PM EST
Hilarious Article. I had that same coloring book. Boy, that brings back memories.
Chestnuts roasted by Troy @ 03/03/2004 10:05 PM EST
funny shit once again
Chestnuts roasted by Scourge @ 03/03/2004 10:09 PM EST
Mine sucks, but I'll post it anyway.
http://mywebpage.netscape.com/NoEarlOn/4.gif
Chestnuts roasted by Teirusu @ 03/03/2004 10:15 PM EST
Note about mine: Wait a couple of seconds, it's animated (Sorta).
Chestnuts roasted by Teirusu @ 03/03/2004 10:16 PM EST
Hey She-Man, just wanted to say that Matt said "basketball" player, so it wasnt the Big Unit.
Well known? New Jersey? I'll go with Jason Kidd (6'4", taller than the avg. person) or 6'9" Kenyon Martin.
Hope this helps (if anyone else cares).
http://www.nba.com/playerfile/jason_kidd/index.html?nav=page
http://www.nba.com/playerfile/kenyon_martin/index.html?nav=page
Chestnuts roasted by Mizzat @ 03/03/2004 11:12 PM EST
Point Pleasant? As a previous resident of the town, I just have to point out that, if you were at the boardwalk, it's Point Pleasant 'Beach'. And yes, there is a difference. I never met a basketball player there, though. Kathy Ireland, on the other hand...
Picky-ness aside, your captions to this book were hilarious. Thanks for all the great stories and (sometimes embarrassing) memories!
Chestnuts roasted by Lackadaisical @ 03/04/2004 12:06 AM EST
Point Pleasant Beach it is, then. :) My friends and I actually go there quite a bit during the summer. The boardwalk can't compare in sheer seedy joy to the almighty Wildwood, but it's a Hell of a lot closer to where we live and there's lots of bars. Plus, I love that stupid little aquarium. And the fact that the parking lots sometimes become full, necessitating street parking roughly 18 miles away from said boardwalk.
Chestnuts roasted by Matt @ 03/04/2004 12:09 AM EST
Awesome stuff as usual. Good to see a new He-man update, and one of the highest quality at that.
Chestnuts roasted by Rood @ 03/04/2004 12:19 AM EST
Yay Chad!!
:)
Chestnuts roasted by Rainbowfeet @ 03/04/2004 12:28 AM EST
well this is actually what they and what i should only hope to see.
teela and He-Man
Chestnuts roasted by CheyenneWay @ 03/04/2004 12:34 AM EST
im so tired i cant remeberm what i was going to tyope........disneyland trip tommorrow... ^_^ >:O
Chestnuts roasted by heeloyd @ 03/04/2004 02:41 AM EST
It's all pretty funny, but... for some reason... that last page had me laughing at an impudent volume for such an early hour. Especially "The Square Who Acted Like an Oval" and Skeletor's eyes reading "cut out", like he's possessed by the spirit of Dave Coulier as "Uncle Joey", except that the exact quote is "Come on, come on, cut it out!", but I'll just pretend that Skeletor's eyes are giving you the gist of what Spirit Uncle Joey is thinking.
Anyhow, damn, I can't find a picture and don't want to go through my brother's "archives" under the stairs this evening, but, if someone has this, please, please draw in the "Alphabet Pet" from the early 1980s X-Men Coloring Book and add a sign saying "Alphabet Pet: PROPERTY OF MAGNETO!" for the ultimate colouring book crossover!
Chestnuts roasted by Steve Brandon @ 03/04/2004 03:26 AM EST
Oh man, is the kid that's playing with Skeletor in the Attak Trak commercial totally the kid from the Neverending Story or what?
Chestnuts roasted by big pimpin' @ 03/04/2004 04:08 AM EST
Matt, I always enjoy your articles but I can't remember the last one that made me laugh so much. The coloring book was funny but your commentary was funnier. Outstanding work!
Chestnuts roasted by Kit @ 03/04/2004 04:10 AM EST
Amazing how much fun you can have with some deeply disturbed kids old colouring book..
anyways, here ya go
http://www.iivuli.org/roina/he-man2.jpg
Mer-Man also seems to want He-Man and I don't see him putting up much a fight, so Skeletor has his work cut out for him..
Chestnuts roasted by iivuli @ 03/04/2004 04:32 AM EST
Mizzat, I was confused because I was watching "BASEketball" earlier in the day and the "Tell him he's fat" joke has not let my mind work properly since.
Plus, with my limited sports knowledge, I only know Randy Johnson from the Right Guard dodgeball commercials.
Chestnuts roasted by She-Man @ 03/04/2004 05:44 AM EST
Didn't the kid from The Neverending Story die?
I have to admit this does seem to be the artwork of someone insane. Or, insanely angry. I bet this kid got a sleek new He-Man coloring book, and pulled out a sharp lemon yellow crayon to begin his masterpiece. And then, before he could color much more than the feet o' Skeletor, his mommy called him in the other room, and, for reasons unknown, his insanely angry little brother decided to put a damper on big brother's He-Man joys. He grabbed the darkest colors he could find (b/c black, red and purple are about as dark as it gets in an 8 pack) and scribbled out his hidden hostilities. When big brother returned, there was a brawl to end all brawls, and to put the thing to bed, mommy threw the MOTU coloring book into the far depths of the closet, only to resurface 20 years later and be thrown onto the thrift store pile.
That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.
I wonder, though, what kids will talk about 20 years from now? What will spark a shiver of recognition through their spines when they see it? Steve Irwin? Old Mad TV episodes? Hokey Pokey Elmo?
Chestnuts roasted by trajeal @ 03/04/2004 07:42 AM EST
Hey, about the whole "sword will be parted" bit- keep in mind that She-ra had the other part of the sword. Or eventually did. In the case of this colouring book, it seems that they were...storing the other half on a mountain?? I don't know.
Chestnuts roasted by Megan @ 03/04/2004 07:56 AM EST
*Sigh* In Cloudy Climbs, He-Man was riding the Sky Sled, which is the front part of the Battle Ram.
Chestnuts roasted by John @ 03/04/2004 09:01 AM EST
Funny stuff, Matt. Looking at the pictures and the deranged coloring made me want to grab some crayons and right what was wrong.
I must admit, though, I too used to color that badly. Well, not THAT badly, but I certainly wasn't great. It wasn't until I was seated next to beautiful Michelle Adkins in the second grade and watched her carefully color her coloring book with a soft stroke and a hint of shading that made me really focus on what I was doing. I could never get the subtle, even lines that she did, but I certainly improved after that. I hope the diabolical fiend that colored that book finds the same inspiration.
Chestnuts roasted by Stilewalker @ 03/04/2004 09:26 AM EST
Just wanted to say that this was KILLER! I am not even that into MotU, but this was hysterical! Great job!!
Chestnuts roasted by B-Dawg @ 03/04/2004 09:26 AM EST
The Sky Sled looks like an airborn jetski. It's no wonder he wanted to tool around for a while and catch some wicked hang time off of some clouds and thermal updrafts.
Chestnuts roasted by Stilewalker @ 03/04/2004 09:27 AM EST
Holy explosive diarrhea, Mattman! This has been/is a f'in horrendous week at work... I cannot wait for the weekend when I can sit in the quiet of my own home and spend my morning drinking detox tea and reading these coloring book articles. Thank you, Matt! You are the working man's hero.
Chestnuts roasted by Nachokhaki @ 03/04/2004 09:41 AM EST
And bravo to those that have contributed to the "What do Teela and HeMan see" foundation! Please keep the donations coming in!
Chestnuts roasted by Nachokhaki @ 03/04/2004 09:51 AM EST
Hey! I have that X-Men book around somewheres. That Alphabet Pet, he's a regular Johnny Carson! If I can dig it out, I try to e-mail an image of it to you, Steve. Any particular preference of Alpha-Pet portrait if and when I find it?
Chestnuts roasted by kingklash @ 03/04/2004 11:44 AM EST
I am concerned about the fact that this story has created in me a genuine desire to color.
Maybe it will fade by the time I get home. If not, I think I have a Darkwing Duck coloring book that I used for a project in high school.
Chestnuts roasted by Ubu Rex @ 03/04/2004 12:21 PM EST
kingklash: Well, thanks, but I don't remember specific pictures, other than that the Alphabet Pet gets bigger and explodes during the end. Just any picture, preferable a side shot, that doesn't have Alphabet Pet being overlapped by any other character is fine.
Please send it to kiyone at tokyo dot com , and make sure there's "Alphabet Pet" in the subject line, otherwise I'll delete it as SPAM.
Thank you. :)
I'd just draw it myself from memory, but my memories of how the Alphabet Pet looked get all mixed up with the Dream Tapir from the movie Urusei Yatsura: Beautiful Dreamer (soon to be re-released in North America as a "Collectors Edition" DVD, complete with director's and crew commentary track, subtitled in English, for the two of you that have ever seen that movie).
Chestnuts roasted by Steve Brandon @ 03/04/2004 01:15 PM EST
That was hella funny, here's mine.
http://home.comcast.net/~erickprime/he_man.gif
Chestnuts roasted by erickprime @ 03/04/2004 02:05 PM EST
Roger wilco, Steve. Just don't blow that horn. I spent too much time and energy on this dream for that glutton to eat it up this soon!
Chestnuts roasted by kingklash @ 03/04/2004 02:27 PM EST
It's all the rage on the b3ta board:
http://www.b3ta.com/board/#post2834126
Chestnuts roasted by vitamin_x @ 03/04/2004 02:38 PM EST
darn those badgers! This is what He-man and the girl REALLY saw.
http://members.aol.com/OhjiiTanaka/heman.jpg
And yes I AM better at photoshop than the slapped together in 30 seconds picture implies.
Chestnuts roasted by sol_fausten @ 03/04/2004 02:53 PM EST
Teela sure looks hot without that weird crown she wears in the cartoon.
Damn I need a girlfriend...
Chestnuts roasted by servum septum @ 03/04/2004 02:59 PM EST
Man-at-Arms looks cool when can't see his face or hear his voice.
Chestnuts roasted by servum septum @ 03/04/2004 03:07 PM EST
I can see these What do They See pics getting big in an 'All Your Base Are Belong To Us' sorta way.
Chestnuts roasted by Rayzak (my website has hostess sushi!) @ 03/04/2004 04:16 PM EST
sadly i have/had this exact book, the skeletor eyes think psyched me out!!
Chestnuts roasted by Kelvin @ 03/04/2004 04:18 PM EST
I'm sorry, but someone had to do it ;_;
http://rohaq.freewebpage.org/images/he-man.gif
I don't recommend clicking that link unless you have a very very silly sense of humour ;)
Chestnuts roasted by Rich @ 03/04/2004 04:52 PM EST
hey matt, i remember having tha page with the skeletor eyes but i dont remember the rest of the book.
but lately x-e is way back on form and is slapping a monkey with its own arse. i loved that one about the chia pet. hee hee hee.
Chestnuts roasted by the jim'll @ 03/04/2004 05:08 PM EST
Funny, I remember the last page to be something more like this...
Chestnuts roasted by Seth @ 03/04/2004 06:10 PM EST
God, I haven't been to the aquarium since it opened. But if you need anywhere close to park or bar suggestions next time you go, let me know. I've got connections.
Okay, okay, pretty lousy types of connections to have, but I have them. Beats not paying covers for some of the boardwalk bars, though.
Chestnuts roasted by Lackadaisical @ 03/04/2004 06:18 PM EST
whoa..I used to read those..scary stuff. I even had one that came with an audio tape...good times. haha
Chestnuts roasted by Sophia @ 03/04/2004 08:44 PM EST
I say that Teela and He-Man saw a McDonalds, there's one of those everywhere.
Chestnuts roasted by Laurel @ 03/04/2004 08:51 PM EST
I think He-Man and Teela see Matt, their god, who has ressurected them from the lonely hell of the thrift shop, or wherever he got them from.
Chestnuts roasted by Gabbylicious @ 03/04/2004 11:59 PM EST
I used to have a Real Ghosters coloring book (actually its probably still around the house somewhere) anyone else have one of those?
Chestnuts roasted by Lossenelin @ 03/05/2004 12:43 AM EST
I was just wondering if it were at all possible to sanction a "Coloring Contest" for that one page from the coloring book where you basically draw what you think He-man and Teela are looking at.
Chestnuts roasted by King Ghidorah @ 03/05/2004 07:35 AM EST
I think the droopy sleepy eyes for skeletor are weird enough.
Chestnuts roasted by Catherine @ 03/05/2004 11:04 AM EST
Interesting article. I think the MOTU motion picture was a better story than this coloring book.
Chestnuts roasted by The Dragonrider @ 03/05/2004 12:15 PM EST
I had no idea they made coloring books... guess there's no end to the possibilities when it comes to merchandise
Chestnuts roasted by Recoil @ 03/05/2004 12:56 PM EST
Hey Matt,
Love the website, check it out everyday to see what new thing you might have brought up from the 80's basement that day...I was wondering, have you ever seen the "He-Man" T.V. tray? I found one at a garage sale years ago, and have it hanging on my bedroom wall. Still in good shape and waiting to go on ebay one day...just wondering if you had seen one before in your travels...Love the site and will check you out again later!
Chestnuts roasted by superflash68 @ 03/05/2004 01:15 PM EST
I had one as a child -- sort of orange/yellow?
Chestnuts roasted by Matt @ 03/05/2004 01:19 PM EST
No, metal with 2 metal legs that fold up from underneath on the bottom and the top has a battle going on with He-man slapping Skel around, Tella taking on a HUGE Beast-man and Man-At-Arms swinging something around. The ground in the picture looks like a wartorn battlefield, Castle Greyskull is in the background, on the horizon you can see an army of somethings making there way towards the viewer and there is something like Stratos flying in the air, but you can't tell who is is (forced persective type-ofthin). It has a little rust on it, but is still in great shape and just cool to look at. And I think,(I'm at work and can't see it right now) it has a Batman style "BAM" floating in the air by He-man and Skel...real neat! If I can I'll try to take a picture of it and send it to your site. And I think it is from the beginning of the MOTU line because Man-At-Arms doesn't have that Village People mustache that they laid on him from the cartoon.
Chestnuts roasted by superflash68 @ 03/05/2004 01:39 PM EST
Haven't been in the actual PP aquarium in years, but it's pretty much the only beach my family goes to. Yah, parking definitely sucks; usually Dad just drops us off with all the stuff, then goes searching on his own so we don't all have to make the trek. Nice guy.
Anyway, love that beach. (Though I've never actually heard it called Point Pleasant BEACH... it's just Point Pleasant to us.) Yep, plenty of bars, although I've never been the same since they got rid of that one show they used to have in one of the restaurants. You know, the one with the talking tree and the gorilla? Woody and somebody? God, how many years ago was that, anyway? I'm old. After that, the only thing I could really get excited about was that live-action, interactive video game in Martell's, Mad Dog McCree or whatever it was.
Chestnuts roasted by The Lucky One @ 03/05/2004 02:44 PM EST
Matt, I was daydreaming in school when it hit me. There's a movie that's right up your reviewing alley, though it might be excrutiating to watch-I mean in the Nukie way, not the Critters way.
THEODORE REX.
Chestnuts roasted by Behonkiss @ 03/05/2004 02:46 PM EST
"Nice shootin.' Try another one."
You know, I don't think I ever played that game. Seems like most arcades got rid of it as soon as it ceased being hot, so during the times I saw it, it always had a crowd. I was too shy to press my luck. Still, I don't think there's a single game I ever stood in front of to watch others play it more, including any of the SF or MK games.
Chestnuts roasted by Matt @ 03/05/2004 02:56 PM EST
Arcades scared the shit out of me...especially Wizard's castle. I was always facinated by "The Wizard's Rules" list posted nearby the entrance. But there was no wizard...there was just a fat 20-something man sitting in the corner peddlin' quarters.
Chestnuts roasted by Kristal @ 03/05/2004 03:06 PM EST
I think I only played it once, and as I recall I was pretty shit at it. There was nary a "Nice shootin', try another one!" spoken aloud that day, my friends. Damn game still remains one of my fondest memories of childhood, though, because I think the chick who played the mayor's daughter was the first "older woman" I was ever sexually attracted to. God, she was hot. In my memory, anyway. I used to just stand in front of the game, cursing at the old fart to stop explaining how to shoot bottles so she could come out and talk about her daddy again. Mmmmmmm... not really the ideal time for me to be wearing a bathing suit.
Chestnuts roasted by The Lucky One @ 03/05/2004 03:32 PM EST
A few things:
1: I've been reading X-E for quite a while now, and can safely say this is one of the funniest articles to date. Dunno why, but kudos to Matt.
2: One the second page of the "Bridal Path" bit, on the scan where Teela is ripping off her veil, what the heck is that thing on the lower-left-hand corner of her dress, and why is it spewing flowers and potpourri?
And 3: This... thing...
http://www.gfxbank.com/is.php?i=6496&img=heman.jpg
Well.. I tried...
Chestnuts roasted by Uncle Scrotor @ 03/05/2004 07:53 PM EST
Holy crap, i'd forgotten i'd owned that monster book. God, the years of psycho-therapy and thousands of dollars down the drain, all thanks to you Matt!!!! Damn you, DAMN YOU!!!!
Chestnuts roasted by Demonmonkey @ 03/05/2004 10:49 PM EST
As far as Skeletor finding a new line of work...
http://www.geocities.com/alasdairgillis/skelechapel.gif
Chestnuts roasted by Number Six @ 03/06/2004 02:25 AM EST
Whoa!!, i had a lotta fun watching ur review on that He-man coloring book,in fact,i had the same fun watching it now parodied (as a grown up), as i did coloring it when i was 10 years old, good ole fun revisited!
PD. regarding skeletor's dick! i guess he was the one that switched the word "erection" to "boner", and , "sexual frustration" with "blue balls"
Chestnuts roasted by rigormortis!!! @ 03/06/2004 02:50 AM EST
Has anyone seen the commercial for the new Fruit By The Foot? Instead of a piece of red plastic (like the piece that would come with the original Transformer toys), you use the actual Fruit By The Foot to read hidden messages.
Chestnuts roasted by She-Man @ 03/06/2004 08:16 AM EST
Man. I thought I had He-Man face some strange stuff .
Chestnuts roasted by The Dragonrider @ 03/06/2004 02:51 PM EST
King Ghidorah, when we see the Photog entries, then I think it will be safe to request new coloring contests. We've got enough constantly repeated comments with the "First Post", "Post the Photog pics" and "Review Mac and Me" already without opening a new can of worms.
Chestnuts roasted by squee4242 @ 03/06/2004 03:10 PM EST
Damn, Matt, this was one of your better articles. The Teela story seemed like something my sisters and I would have come up with about fifteen years years ago (except we didn't have Teela, so Skeletor would have married one of the She-Ra figures, and He-Man and a few My Little Ponies would have rescued her). That "cloud" thing was truly inspired, though, up to and including the psycho black scribble. I think I have a good explanation of why some of the coloring was decent and some of it was dada - an older sibling or parent must have briefly joined the little kid.
My mom colored with my siblings and I all the time when we were little. We had tons of coloring books for everything under the sun, but the ones I remember most were a "Justice League of America" (or something like that) activity book (I only remember it because the Wonder Twins were in it) and a really cute all-coloring "Chip and Dale's Rescue Rangers" tale about the crew foiling a plot on a cruise ship. We had that book for years.
Chestnuts roasted by starwenn @ 03/06/2004 10:54 PM EST
Great article Matt! This is my first post on your website, but I've been reading your writing for about a year now. So many fun memories have come back to me from the 80's thanks to your archives. Keep up the great work!
Chestnuts roasted by Tama chan @ 03/07/2004 10:53 AM EST
AAFES! That coloring book began it's post-printing life in the military's equivilent of a K-Mart.
Chestnuts roasted by akbarium @ 03/07/2004 06:44 PM EST
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-9/365682/heman.gif
Now all I need is a 3d shark!
Chestnuts roasted by Great Scott @ 03/08/2004 02:43 PM EST
just a random guess about your basketball player, but if it's new jersey a few eyars ago it's probably Jayson williams, from before he broke his leg and killed his limo driver.
Chestnuts roasted by chris @ 03/08/2004 03:23 PM EST
I planned on posting this earlier, but my server was down. Here ya go...
http://www.issue9mm.com/~corwin/lincolnheman.jpg
Chestnuts roasted by Corwin Gibson @ 03/13/2004 05:40 AM EST
Oh my god. i am at work and had to stifle my laughter. i think i am going to throw up. Jesus that was funny
Chestnuts roasted by Vodstok @ 03/15/2004 01:14 PM EST
Genius on the "what they see" page. genius.
Chestnuts roasted by mark @ 03/19/2004 01:19 AM EST
Genius on the "what they see" page. genius.
Chestnuts roasted by mark @ 03/19/2004 01:19 AM EST
This was my first time looking at these books and the running commentary had me pissing myself. It is so damn funny. Its nice to see a site dedictaed to so much of my childhood. Thanks for the memories and the laughs.
Chestnuts roasted by Kevin @ 04/19/2004 11:40 PM EST
I had that book I think, I don't remember the stories too much, but I certainly remember the fun & games, especially the what do he-man and teela see. It was on 2 pages one was stratos filled in black, only with a 'hole' in him and the other page was the same picture, but with a black dot where the hole was. The idea was to stare at the black stratos for a minute then look at the black dot and you'll see a floating stratos appear. Spooky stuff
Chestnuts roasted by English Gaz @ 05/07/2004 07:50 AM EST
lol I think that kid that was coloring this book was mad at boredom. Lol This was totally funny to read. A kid that went beserk on a book. With funny comments after looking at the pages. Good Commenting by the way.
Chestnuts roasted by Matthew @ 05/14/2004 04:39 PM EST
This Stupid comic was fucking funny. Especially when on the puzzle pages where she had to find the right key. And to think that kids back then read these
Chestnuts roasted by Allahwin @ 05/28/2004 09:25 PM EST
You might find this funny as well, for zany He-Man related goodness:
http://www.somethingawful.com/articles.php?a=140
Chestnuts roasted by Adam @ 07/07/2004 02:04 PM EST
The coloring book was actually very cool.
Chestnuts roasted by Crimson @ 07/13/2004 02:15 AM EST
hilarity personified! Even way out in Manchester UK!! Work has never been so interesting
Chestnuts roasted by Punktigger @ 07/15/2004 12:38 PM EST
hilarity personified! Even way out in Manchester UK!! Work has never been so interesting
Chestnuts roasted by Punktigger @ 07/15/2004 12:39 PM EST
hilarity personified! Even way out in Manchester UK!! Work has never been so interesting
Chestnuts roasted by Punktigger @ 07/15/2004 12:39 PM EST
oops
*shame*
Chestnuts roasted by punktigger @ 07/15/2004 12:40 PM EST
Fark.com has just given me a new way to enjoy my day.Count me as a fan. This is your tax dollars at work.
Chestnuts roasted by hope2b2 @ 08/26/2004 02:28 PM EST
gay people
Chestnuts roasted by stone @ 09/27/2004 10:08 AM EST
you people are all gay
Chestnuts roasted by stone @ 09/27/2004 10:13 AM EST
I used to have that He-Man book as a kid. But you really put it together. I laughed my ass off so bad I scared my cat.
Chestnuts roasted by Jess @ 11/07/2004 05:27 AM EST
Looking at the main page, I noticed that I hadn't done a He-Man article in many months. Whoops. Making up for some lost time, here's my review of an insane 
