80'S ACTION FIGURE CORNER PART 2: MOSS MAN

I didn't want to get too MOTU-centric with the first 2 'Action Figure Corner' posts, but I "figured" (pardon the pun) I should round out the "scented action figure" subject by posting on Stinkor's heroic counterpart, Moss Man. Released in 1985, Moss Man was given a "pine" scent by the brilliant manufacturers at Mattel, in addition to having a body covered in some sort of velvety green substance ("moss"). He was sold in a three-pack with Buzz-off and Mekanek (see below), which resulted in the other two guys reeking of "pine" for weeks after the packaging was initially opened.
Although he only appeared in two episodes of the He-Man cartoon (as well as a brief cameo in the He-Man and She-Ra Christmas Special), he was portrayed as a very powerful and mysterious character who had the ability to talk to plants and camouflage himself against any background.


I'm not really sure why the higher-ups at Mattel thought scented action figures were such a great idea (to me, it seems as though they were venturing into some majorly girly Strawberry Shortcake/Purple Pie Man territory), but they did, and Moss Man's existence is a tribute to the fact that kids (or rather, their parents) in the 80's would buy just about anything. And another thing: Apparently, no one at Mattel ever spent anytime in the Pacific Northwest, because moss DOES NOT smell like pine. At all.
Nice try, though.


Above: The "new" Moss Man, released in extremely small quantaties in 2002. Another example of modern toy manufacturers pooping all over my fondest memories. This is even worse than those "Calvin-pissing-on-a-49ers-logo" bumper stickers. WEAK.