SUMMARY:
In Argentina, Top Toys produced various He-Man variants. I would classify them in broad strokes as:
- 1st Editions: Soft head, small body (both tall and short necks, as well as Taiwan, marked vs blank heads)
- 2nd Editions: Hard head, small body
- Pre-Reeditions: Hard head, with a mix of small and large parts.
- Reeditions: Hard head, big body reedition (Mattel inc marked or Blank back)
At the start of the line, all He-Mans were soft heads with small bodies. Some had tall necks and others had short necks. The initial soft heads were imports, so they were marked Taiwan until they began production of the heads in Argentina (at which time they removed the Taiwan marking). They are small body mold and "common" mold accessories. All were blank torsos with round arm pegs. The harness can have painted dark maroon highlights, or be unpainted. The shields have 5 rivets in the back, and all come with orange paper inserts.
The 2nd editions share the same mold as the 1st editions, except for having a hard plastic head. The hair color can vary from orange to yellow, and shades in between. The accessories are the same as the wave 1 accessories.
As the line progressed, there was a mold transition at Top Toys, where the He-Man torsos and the limbs transition to a larger size. Legs that were once small but sinewy, become larger and smoother. Arms become significantly larger, and the torso also adopts a much larger size. With this transition, the material changed as well. From a PVC type plastic for the smaller molds to a hard rubber material for the large reedition limbs. The torso is large and can have © MATTEL INC 1981 markings, or it can be blank, but with square arm pegs. The shorts on the re-editions are smoother, with less detail.
The reeditions have many variations from one to the next. Shorts can be red, brown, or many shades in between. Belts can be painted in reddish-orange shades or can be left unpainted. The skin tone can be tanned (tostado), mid-skinned toned, or pale (palido), just like the Battle Armor He-Man. The hair color can be anywhere from vibrant yellow to muted yellow, to any shade in between. If we were to list each color combination seen in the He-Man Reedition, this would easily number over 20+.
The accessories in the reeditions are made of a softer plastic. The shield has 4 rivets (instead of 5) and can come with or without paper, as well as with the interior painted in red. The sword and axe are the same mold as the common but are soft and gummy. The harness is a unique mold. It's very soft and flexible, thinner, with less bevel on the emblem and square details.
Accessories are generally mid-gray, but there exists a much rarer variant of dark-gray accessories.
As with anything Top Toys, we need to acknowledge that inconsistencies abound. That is where the “pre-reeditions” come into play. These are figures that are transitional or a mixture of parts. Some of these figures will have a small blank torso and reedition limbs. Or even reedition legs, but small arms plastic arms.
Another He-Man variant exists in the Deposito / Warehouse figure known by collectors as "Oolar". Warehouse figures were never officially released. They were the last production figures that were never finalized. The Warehouse He-Man has vibrant yellow hair, Zodac arms, unpainted Zodac legs, and unpainted maroon shorts. There's also a version of the Deposito with an unpainted head. The torso is blank big body, with square arm pegs. Limbs are hard rubber.
1ST AND 2ND EDITIONS MARKED: Unmarked.
PRE-REEDITIONS AND REEDITION: Unmarked, and marked © MATTEL INC 1981
1ST EDITIONS:
(Soft Heads, small body)
• Tall neck (May or may not have Taiwan-marked head)
• Short neck (May or may not have Taiwan-marked head)
2ND EDITIONS:
• Hard head, small body
PRE-REEDITIONS:
These come in lots of different combinations of small and large parts, such as:
• Small body, big legs
• © MATTEL INC 1981 big body, small legs
• etc...
REEDITIONS:
• Hard head, big body © MATTEL INC 1981
• Hard head, big body blank torso
DEPOSITO:
• Painted Head
• Unpainted Head
