Episode 46: Power-Con Isn’t Just for He-Man and She-Ra

Il-wey! August was a busy month for conventions this year and on Saturday, August 17 I attended Power-Con, a convention dedicated to all things Masters of the Universe (MOTU) and Princess of Power (POP) franchises. The two-day event was held at Hilton Anaheim and while I haven’t delved much into world of He-Man and She-Ra, one does not have to be seasoned veteran of the IPs to connect and enjoy this convention (check out my coverage of the con and photo gallery published at the Fanbase Press website by clicking HERE).

I saw many versions of He-Man, She-Ra, and Skeletor, who just looked so cool and menacing.  There were several kits of the omnious Castle Grayskill juxtaposed with the cowardly Cringer.  Action figures of the muscle man were bountiful at just about every vendor in the room.  There was a healthy section of writers and artists either part of and/or fans of the IPs.  Amongst the various exhibitors, I did manage to find several instances of mummies and a few choice pieces came home with me.

Possessed Skeletor: Evil Lord of Destruction

In “The Curse of the Three Terrors” Skeletor becomes “possessed by a fearsome ancient evil” according to the vintage-inspired packaging.  Skeletor was one of four figurines available in this collection representing the MOTU franchise.   Featuring the original Skeletor voice actor – Alan Oppenheimer – this animated short was released in 2016 and is available to watch at Amazon for a few dollars. 

I found an unpackaged mummy, dark tan/antique gold in color.  Matching the size of the packaged MOTU figurines at the front of the photo, I initially thought that it might be another version of the Possessed Skeletor, but perhaps it is a minor character.  If anyone knows, please leave a comment as I would like to know. 

Raph as The Mummy: The Radical Wrapped Turtle! 

This is an unexpected blending of the Universal mummy and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchises.  Based on the font of The Mummy and image of the mummy at the top of the packaging, the Karloff version of the wrapped monster is referenced.  Along with Raph, who glows in the dark, the accessories include two cobra sais, a stone dagger, and a kid-sized Egyptian ring.  The ring looks similar to the ring that Karloff wore in the 1932 classic film.  

According to the Universal Monsters Universe blog, in 1993-94 Playmate Toys and Universal partnered and released action figures known as Universal Monsters Ninja Turtles (check out the blog HERE). Mash-ups include: Donatello/Dracula, Michaelangelo/Frankenstein, and Leonardo/Wolfman.  The vendor was selling Raph/The Mummy for $65. 

Thundercats’ Mumm-Ra

Like most mummies that audiences encounter in popular culture, Mumm-Ra origins are from ancient Egypt where he was known as Wahankh, a loyal adviser to the pharaoh who eventually betrays the king.  Although immortal, Mumm-Ra has to return to his sarcophagus to re-energize his powers. It should not be a surprise, but Mumm-Ra is also the main antagonist in the series.   Mumm-Ra is interesting character and I will be revisiting his story again soon.  Here are two different version of him from the convention. 

Tales from the Cryptkeeper

I’m not familiar with this series that aired for three seasons between 1993 and 1999. The series vampires, werewolves and numerous other monsters, and according to the Wiki entry for this show, during the first season, the eleventh episode – “This Wraps It Up” – incorporated at minimum a mummy curse.  

Mummies Alive! 

This Canadian series only ran for one season of 42 episodes the fall of 1997. Set in San Francisco, the story centers on a pre-teen boy named Presley Carnovan, who learns that he is the reincarnated Prince Rapses XII.  In addition to discovering his royal lineage, guardians are wakened in order to protect the boy from Scarab, the main antagonist.  With a quick glance, it appears that YouTube has some of the episodes available. Amazon has the series available to stream.  There was a nice release in 2001, but it is OOP.  I watched a couple of episodes a year or so ago, so I would like to revisit this series soon. A vendor had four or five figures and while I would have liked to picked up all of them, I settled on Fighting Armon because he looked cool. 

League of Legends: Amumu

I learned of League of Legends while attending Anime Expo a few years ago.  The online multiplayer video game inspired a deluge of cosplayers wearing elaborate costumes at the event.  It took seeing a Funko Pop at a pop culture convention for me to learn that the video game had a mummy character, Amumu, also known as “The Sad Mummy”.  According to Gamepedia, there are a few possible origin stories for Amumu (read the entry HERE), but they all boil down to Amumu being a lonely, cursed character.  Check out the banner photo to this entry to see the Funko Pop I purchased at the show.

Senebti! 

All images by the author.