“The Greatest Hero of Them All!
In the world of Trefixa, Prince Sunni harnesses the power of the First Sun to transform into Sun-Man! His magical melanin skin gives him unequaled, unlimited and special super strength in his fight against the Wicked Ones for fairness and equality throughout the universe. Sun Power!” – Box art bio
Something a Little Different from the Masterverse – Rulers of the Sun!
Rulers of the Sun? I don’t remember this from the vintage 1980s line! That’s because this was a line of toys inspired by Masters of the Universe but with the idea of making sure characters of colour were fully represented. Bearing in mind the Masters of the Universe roster is overwhelmingly white (well, the humans are anyway), this was a fantastic idea.
The original vintage 1980s Rulers of the Sun line was developed by a Black American mother wanting to make sure her son and other kids like him would feel more represented by their toys. So Olmec Toys and the Rulers of the Sun were born. I think that’s brilliant and certainly makes the Rulers of the Sun line much more than simply another knock off of MOTU.
For more on Sun-Man and the Rulers of the Sun, there’s an official Sun-Man website that gives a lot of information and history on the line.
Fast forward to 2022 and Mattel and Olmec Toys teamed up to bring the Rulers of the Sun to the Origins line. As far as I can tell, Mattel went quite deep into the lore and brought a large selection of characters to the modern Origins line. In 2023, a couple were produced in the Masterverse line – Sun-Man and Pig Head. Pig Head (I think) is the chief villain but in this article I’ll be taking a look at the main hero – Sun-Man himself.
Rulers of the Sun was completely new to me and it’s been fun and interesting reading up about this line. A new figure with a bit of toy history attached.
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Boxart
Once again the box art is superb. The art on the back of the box has Sun-Man soaring into flight. The side art has the sun symbol on Sun-Man’s chest blazing with light.
Note the small typo in the bio though – “… and special super strength in his in his fight…”. Typos do have a nasty way of sneaking in! Also note the beard colour for Battle Armor He-Man in the cross sell section. The final figure had a blonde beard as noted in my review of it.
Nit picking aside, I do like the idea of Sun-Man’s skin being a source of his power. In a world where racism is everywhere, making it a source of power and pride is awesome.
Although Sun-Man comes with a pair of huge wings, the figure and accessories are fitted into a standard sized Masterverse box.
Figure Overview
Once you take the Sun-Man figure out of the box and plastic prison, it becomes clear that the wings are already plugged into the back of the armour. So no assembly required. I’ll cover the wings fully in the accessories section below but do take care when unboxing the figure. The wings are tucked back through a couple of holes in the plastic surround. Something to be aware of when taking the figure out and explains how the large wings were fitted into the box.
Taking the armour off reveals that Sun-Man has the standard Masterverse build. It looks like this figure uses the “He-Man legs” which are a bit longer and chunkier. So Sun-Man stands at about the same height as He-Man (in his Viking guise here) and a little taller than a figure like Man-at-Arms, say.
Articulation
The usual excellent Masterverse articulation is present and correct:
- Ball joint at the neck allowing you to move the head all the way around and back and forwards.
- Shoulder joints are good and although the armour sticks out a little at the shoulders, they don’t hinder the movement too much at all.
- Bicep joints allow you to swivel the arms in and out.
- Double joints at the elbows.
- Wrist joints. So you can spin the hands around as well as swivel them in and out.
- Mid-torso joint isn’t hindered by the torso armour due to the cut off at the mid riff.
- Standard waist joint.
- Hip joints which allow you to move the legs forwards, backwards and out to the side. A bit hindered by the skirt it has to be said.
- Mid-thigh cuts allowing you to move the legs all the way around.
- Double joints at the knees.
- Boot cut on both legs.
- And finally the ankle joints. Not as tight as I found on my New Eternia Man-at-Arms figure, but good and solid, allowing the figure to stand well.
The wings feature their own articulation which I’ll go over in their section below.
Design/Paint Application
I don’t know if this goes back to the original 1980s Sun-Man figure, but into the skin tone has been worked a slight golden sheen. It’s a little subtle and I’m not sure if it comes across in my photos that well. It’s a nice touch and I assume is a call back to his “magical melanin skin”.
The details on the face are fantastic and while I’m not a fashion expert, I do like how the fade (is it a fade? Let’s go with fade!) on the back and sides of the head has been done.
On the rest of the figure, the paint applications are restricted to picking out details. Such as the gold on the armour, bracers and boots. It’s well done on the most part. The boots do have a bit of a darker tone showing through the red. Either that’s an intentional wash or the red wasn’t applied thickly enough.
The green and black skirt replaces the usual furry loin cloth of He-Man and friends. It’s another unique design for Sun-Man and looks great. It does however interfere with the leg articulation unfortunately. It’s made from a surprisingly rigid plastic which doesn’t have an awful lot of give in it. This Sun-Man is certainly not doing any splits while wearing it!
Apart from that, this is a fantastic looking version of Sun-Man. The armour, accessories, skirt, bracers and boots all feature unique designs. The feet of the boots do re-use Trap Jaw’s feet (I think), but the wings above all give this figure a truly stand out look.
Accessories
This version of Sun-Man doesn’t come with a load of accessories but then the wings more than make up for it.
Wings and Armour
As already mentioned, the wings simply plug into the back of the armour. This joint allows them to be moved up and down. Not only that, but each wing is in two parts and where they join together is another point of articulation. Folding the wings out really shows off how big they are:
They’re made from a transparent golden yellow plastic which has a lot of detailed feathers moulded into it. The wings look absolutely fantastic and look much better than the photos I’ve seen of the Origins version of Sun-Man. Here, the wings clip on around the figure’s neck which looks really odd to me. Although to be fair, the Origins version does aim to be more faithful to the vintage version.
The large wings do have a couple of downsides though. They are relatively heavy so they do droop a bit under their own weight. This weight also means the figure is a bit top heavy, especially when the wings are spread out. Nothing too terrible, just something to be aware of when standing the figure.
Secondly, the “mid-wing” joints are hinged by a metal pin. Not too visible at all from the front but a bit unsightly from the back.
The torso armour is pretty simple aside from the wings. It buckles on to the torso under each arm and is nice and easy to remove. It’s moulded in an orange-red with gold details to match the bracers and boots. The gold used is a lot deeper than the yellow of the wings and has a metallic sheen to it. The sun emblem on the front in particular looks fantastic.
Weapon and Shield
The weapon that comes with Sun-Man is a… I’m not actually sure! A bladed stabby thing? A short spear? Whatever it is, it looks unique and has some nice details moulded into the blade. The plastic used is that orange-red again so it fits right in with the colour scheme of the figure.
There are no extra paint applications on this weapon. This is a shame as there are some nice detailing in the blade. These are picked out by a difference of texture but a bit of paint here would have really helped.
In contrast the shield, although moulded in a lime green plastic, does have some added paint. The central, raised design has red and gold paint added and mirrors the design on the torso armour. The lime green ties in with the green of the skirt too so it all looks of a piece.
The shield is made of a sturdy plastic but has pliable straps on the reverse so it can be fitted onto either arm easily.
Hands!
And rounding off the accessories, this Sun-Man figure does come with interchangeable hands:
- A pair of gripping hands.
- A punching fist.
- And an open left hand. This last one makes it easier to fit the shield on the left arm although it can fit over the gripping hands too.
This open hand by the way, is in a more natural pose when compared to the oddly flat hand that can with figures such as Viking He-Man!
Final Thoughts
Sun-Man and the Rulers of the Sun was completely new to me when I bought this figure last year. I really don’t know very much at all about the lore but I suspect this version is riffing on the vintage designs rather than being a faithful reinvention. Certainly the wings are an upgrade over the vintage and Origins versions.
The wings are simply awesome and this figure definitely benefits from being used with a flight stand.
Putting a few niggles about lack of paint applications and loose wing joints aside, this is a fantastic looking figure. I probably use that phrase a bit too much but it is really deserved here.
Where to Buy
Considering how impressed I am with this figure, I am really surprised at how cheap it still is. In the UK at least there are listings on eBay for very low prices. Ditto at retailers too – such as at Comics and Cocktails. Am I the only one who liked it? Or did Mattel massively overproduce it? Either way, I think this fantastic figure is definitely worth picking up, especially at a low price.
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