Custom Torak Review

Custom Torak

Heroic Hero of Pre-History

 

I am a very big fan of the Pre-Eternia, Grayskull Era and I am also a big advocate that all the concept figures should be made into the MOTU Classic Line. I am actually not sure why this hasn’t happened yet. Maybe it’s because of some licensing issues or it’s just that there is so many other more important characters that hasn’t be made yet, and they are getting preference, for example The New Adventures Figures.

It’s for this reason that I decided to go the Custom route to get these figures into my MOTU Collection. I already own a Custom Guerr-Or and I now decided it’s time that I get a Custom Torak Figure.

Here is a little history behind Torak.

Torak was the first hero Mark Taylor had created as the protagonist for a male action figure line. He was a Gladiator / Caveman type feel to him, brandishing a short sword and helmet. He could be viewed as the earliest version of He-Man from a drawing, and could be one of the many “He-Men” that existed between King Grayskull and Prince Adam.

 

1979 – Torak (He-Man) & Early Skeletor Concept, by Mark Taylor

Aug 15, 1979 – Category Management Teams Memo

The early He-Men – Art by grimbot on Deviant Art

 

The prototypes in the pic is one of the 3 original prototypes Roger Sweet used to pitch the idea for the MOTU Line to Mattel's Management, more exactly the one based on Mark Taylor's drawing (Torak). The other 2 were all Roger Sweet's design.

 

MOTU 30th Anniversary Art - Torak by happymonkeyshoes

Original Message from happymonkeyshoes

2012 marks He-man and the Masters of the Universe's 30 years in existence. As many know, I am a huge fan, and wanted to mark it in some way. So Each month I will be celebrating with a character drawn for those who have kept the series going in some form. To start this is a merit of the first drawing before He-Man existed by Mattel creator Mark Taylor and he named this fellow TORAK - Hero of Pre-History. He’ll never see it, but without Torak we may never have had He-Man!

Torak Recipe:

The body that I used was a Vykron body with the Normal He-Man Head. Paintwork and Armor was done and made by the very talented Frikkie Stroebel (Blue Hands Customs).

Weapon: The Sword of Ancients.

I decided that the perfect weapon for Torak will be The Sword of Ancients as it appears in the Mask of Power episode. I think it’s the perfect weapon that fits in the Pre-Eternia Era and Torak will be the perfect hero to wield the Sword of Ancients to defeat the Evil Powers of Skeletor.

 

Even though Torak is a custom figure, I believe that he deserves his rightful place between the Heroic Heroes of Eternia.

 

Together with Guerr-Or, Vikor and Vykron, Torak can now defend the Secrets of Castle Grayskull!!!!