It feels weird, this is the first month where I’m no longer collecting the MOTUC line. The last traditional Sub ended in 2015 and while I have been nothing but thrilled with my collection, I just couldn’t bring myself to sign up for the 2.0 and do it all over again with the Filmation versions. Maybe if display space wasn’t in such high demand around here, it would have been a different story, but it is what it is. I did go on Matty Collector and consider picking up Lord Masque, but with a checkout price of $38, I just couldn’t do it. Anywho, I do still have plenty of unfinished business with the line and today I’m opening up the last single carded figure from December’s sale… It’s Hero II.

And here he is, in package. He-Ro… II? Yes, the II is to denote that this is the second He-Ro figure released in the MOTUC line and both have roots in the original Mattel property. This one, as the tagline on the package states, is the “Heroic Son of He-Man.” His real name is Dare and he is the product of Adam and Teela bumping uglies, at least in the Classics narrative. The character is based on the protagonist from a failed pitch in the 90’s to spawn a new Masters cartoon. So yeah, what we have here is a figure based on a concept series that didn’t get produced, let alone spawn an actual line of action figures.

Dare isn’t so much like a cross between Adam and Teela, but rather He-Man and New Adventures He-Man. He’s got NA’s blue pants and ponytail and a spiffy futuristic version of He-Man’s chest harness and his fur lined boots. There’s so much I dig about this guy’s design and execution, particularly the corny combination of “H” and “M” on his belt buckle and the traditional He-Man crosses on his gauntlets and shoulder armor. Dare also features a belt with a working holster for his pistol and a bitchin’ crystal in the center of his chest harness.

The coloring here is great too. There’s a couple purdy shades of blue along with a metallic blue for the shoulder and it combines with the gold, silver and red to make a dynamic and pleasing color scheme. In fact, this figure is loaded with great little touches to the paint and sculpt that make it obvious Matty put a lot of extra love into him. They just went all out.

The head sculpt is new, but the nod to NA He-Man is certainly there. Besides the ponytail he’s got a younger look and a more angular face. The hair sculpt is particularly great with the tussled bangs.

If you want a little more NA He-Man in your Dare, the figure comes with a swap out vest, which is basically a silver repaint of NA’s gold space vest. It’s a welcome bonus, but I’ll likely be sticking with the blue rig.

In addition to the extra vest, Dare comes with his sword and laser pistol. The sword can be stowed in the loop on the back of either vest. I’m a big fan of mixing swords and laser guns, so this guy’s armament is right up my ally.

There’s no doubt about it, He-Ro II is mined deep from the annals of Masters history and so as a character, he’s only going to appeal to the most hardcore of Masters fans who know the stories beyond the stories about the stories that never happened. But for someone like me, a significant portion of this line has always been more about the figures than the characters, and so I can say that I really dig this guy a lot. And since, I don’t have a New Adventures He-Man in my collection (yet). Dare may just stand in for him on that shelf. Oh yeah, I just realized I never looked at the Classics release of the first He-Ro, so I’ll try to remedy that next week.