Recommended music: Marilyn Manson – The Beautiful People
Happy Monday, MOTU fans! Hope you all had a great weekend. For this #MastersMonday, let’s check out another 1985 release from the vintage Mattel Masters of the Universe line: Two Bad!
When the “Double-headed evil strategist” showed up in playground MOTU adventures in early 1985, he was an instant favorite. Back then, I was into some of the weirder toys like Mad Balls or the creepy ghosts from the Kenner Real Ghostbusters line, so Two Bad’s look alone made him one of my favorite Evil Warrior figures. Even though orange armor had already appeared in the vintage line, I really liked his striking blue and purple body, which reminded me of a tougher version of the Two-Headed Monster from Sesame Street.
Two Bad only came with a simple orange shield, but the rest of his sculpt was brand new, except for the usual fuzzy shorts crotch piece. His arms were special, as you could pull them back and let go for a strong punch. The arms were tight enough to grab onto some enemies, too. The figure had a running change so that his big, rounded back was flattened, and his arms were lowered, making it harder for him to punch himself in the face—an oversight I really enjoyed as a kid. Two Bad came with the mini-comic ‘The Battle of Roboto,’ but not many other mini-comics. He appeared in four episodes during season two of the Filmation He-Man and the Masters of the Universe cartoon and even made a quick appearance in He-Man and She-Ra: A Christmas Special.
After the original toy line, Two Bad appeared in eight episodes of the 2002 He-Man and the Masters of the Universe animated series, where he got a backstory as bounty hunters Tuvar and Baddrah before being renamed Two-Badd. He also made a brief appearance in the first episode of the Netflix Masters of the Universe: Revolution series and in the Revelation prequel comic.
Kids who got Two Bad in the J.C. Penny 2-pack with Tri-Klops missed out on his cardback art by Errol McCarthy, which shows Two Bad facing off against Battle Armor He-Man, Man-At-Arms, and Teela. Mattel has released more Two-Bad figures over the years, but this original version is probably my second favorite after the Classics version, since the punch-yourself-in-the-face action feature has yet to be duplicated.😄
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