Original MOTU Mini-comic collection HC

I just saw this on Amazon today, released last week... allegedly a compilation of all the original mini-comics that were packed in with the 1980s toys, in a hardcover book of over 1,200 pages... for US$20 (currently discounted from US$30).

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The ... Masters of the Universe .... action figure lines featured memorable pack-in minicomics that aided in playtime for children across the world. This oversized hardcover collection features sixty-eight U.S. releases, including all minicomics from the '80s Masters of the Universe line, the '80s Princess of Power line, and the '80s and '90s He-Man line, plus an introduction to the minicomics in the current Masters of the Universe Classics toy line. Relive the illustrated adventures that fueled your imagination!
Over 1000 pages of minicomics collected for the first time featuring interviews with the original comics creators!

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I ordered it, so hopefully it is as good as it sounds.
If you want this and usually use other book sources like Book Depository, see if they have it as well.


It also means I don't have to keep hunting down the individual mini-comics either. I only have about half of them - they often aren't a spectacular read, but would sometimes be the only time you'd see certain characters in a visual story form.

In the comments section of that Amazon listing there is a review of the contents by one of the contributors...

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The Collection book published by Dark Horse has in its 1232 pages...
- 49 Masters of the Universe minicomics.
- 11 Princess of Power minicomics (+ Fantastic Fashions).
- 04 He-Man (the new adventures) minicomics.
- 03 Masters of the Universe Classics minicomics.
- 02 Booklets "Power of Point Dread/Danger at Castle Grayskull" and "The Power of the Evil Horde".
- The 2002 Target exclusive He-Man and Skeletor comic.
- Two previously unpublished comics ("Return From Terror Island" & 2003 Smash Blade He-Man/Spin Blade Skeletor comic).
- Never-before-seen vintage minicomic script "Ring of Dreams".
- Dozen Interviews as well as some Trivia-notes

SPECS
At first you'll notice its a heavy book but the binding is solid and paper quality is excellent so you don't have to worry about it breaking apart. The minicomics are placed one page per page in the book for more natural reading, instead of having two or four images in a single page. The oversized images are roughly 1.5x bigger from vintage minicomics.

CONTENT
Sadly there aren't really in existence original full minicomics hidden in some dark vault to be utilized. Some b&w pages have come to light from art collectors during the years, so Dark Horse and team of dedicated fans did an amazing job with scanning and restoring the old minicomics.

For example if you've seen the 2001 Commemorative series reproduced minicomics, the quality in this new book is much better.

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL
One of the best things with this Collection Book is for fans to have a chance to read unpublished materials. Especially "Return From Terror Island" is a great addition thanks to James Eatock contributing it. So even to the most hardcore fans and collectors who have spent years acquiring the minicomics, there is something new to discover here. And the 2003 infamous Smash Blade and Spin Blade variants that were planned to have a comic pack-in too, is here for the first time fully (previously only one page was seen in "The Art of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe").

The Interviews are something where I always hope to learn more and they succeed in that. I would wish even more interviews from creators.

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It certainly sounds like a must-have item for original series MOTU fans... a bit like the Transformers Universe guidebooks or the original Generations toy book for original series Transformers fans.

Here's a review with photos I saw a little while ago on a comics forum I frequent.

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Originally Posted by Paulbot

Here's a review with photos I saw a little while ago on a comics forum I frequent.

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That review just makes me even more excited. It really is looking like a better quality product than the $20-30 price tag implies. For a hardcover book with over 1200 colour pages, that's already impressive... but to hear that they have respectfully reproduced the images in top quality (unlike some of the Gen1 Transformers comic reprints that were blown up to give us oversized pixels), I think I will really treasure this book.


The MOTU Mini-comics were like the old Transformers Toy catalogue sheets, that kids like me would obsess over.
And for me, I also think that the early mini-comics are sorta like the Beast Wars mini-comic that came with the Optimus-bat/Mega-gator 2-pack, in that it gives an alternative story scenario, more along the lines of a Conan-type of barbarian... particularly if you weren't a big fan of the Filmation cartoon because it was a bit too cheesy (it had to be very G-rated), or because it had no consistency with plots and guest characters.

Is anyone else here getting this book, or probably want to?

I will have to check it out, have never used amazon though

I did love those mini comics though

The UK Book Depository has it as well, for AU$50 (shipped)... so is a little more than Amazon if you prefer using BD.

Thank you for letting us know about this, the mini comics are something I've always wanted (only had a few as a kid).

The other bonuses in the volume makes this a worthwhile purchase .... bought! :)

Mine arrived on Thursday, and it was more than worth the Amazon price I paid.

The page size is slightly smaller than the Transformers TPBs, but with over a thousand pages makes this thing very heavy and thick.

Flicking through the first few mini-comics was a real flashback to my childhood.

It is definitely one of those archive/reference books that a MOTU toy collector must own.
Now we just need a toy reference book like Transformers had with the original Generations book.

Got my book today. It's chunky! :)

My wife picked me this up for Christmas but I got it early, something to read while I am recovering from my unexpected surgery. it is a lovely tome like book, and brings back a lot of memories of the original comics when I got the figures as a kid.

Such a great addition to my bookshelf