Artist Stjepan Sejic is a busy man. From working on the likes of Sunstone, Death Vigil, IXth Generation, Rat Queens, Ravine, and covers for seemingly dozens of different books, he somehow also found time to design a new series of statues for Sideshow Collectibles. I can barely tie my own shoes every morning, but this dude found way to digitally draw and paint a half-dozen books a month, and had some spare time to guide the look and feel of a line of Masters of the Universe premium format figures. Wherever this dude is eating, I would like to go to there.

We first got our look at the Sejic-designed pieces at San Diego Comic-Con, but now it appears Sideshow is ready to formally reveal the Masters of the Universe line with it's first piece, He-Man. This statue is just the first of two (the other being Skeletor) that were shown off at SDCC, but Sideshow intimates this could just be the beginning for the MotU series. If this He-Man is any indication, that's going to be a set of statues that even the most lapsed of fans can fawn over.

Sejic's design for the main protagonist of the Mattel toy line stays true to the core, while offering enough artistic interpretation to make it a wholly unique piece. I've always admired Stjepan's style from the moment he took over art duties back on Witchblade with Ron Marz. Seeing it brought to life here in 3D is a treat, though you do lose out on getting a truly expressive He-Man face. While the portrait is appropriately stoic, one of Sejic's strongest points has always been facial expressions. You lose a bit of that here given how strong-jawed He-Man has to be in a singular pose, but there's still a sense of Sejic's touch in there.

There's a lot of great detail in the minimal armor He-Man's wearing, and the rendering of the shield and sword are definitely on point. The Grayskull base is a sharp addition, and the fabric cape gives him an air of regal nobility, even if He-Man rarely donned a cape in the past. There will be weapons to swap out as well, with the inclusion of a battle axe if you tire of the Power Sword pose.

Sideshow hasn't yet announced a release date or price, but the Masters of the Universe He-Man state is set to go up for pre-order next Thursday, Sept. 24. Given the size of the pieces we saw at SDCC, I'd expect these to go for $450+, so if you want to get both He-Man and Skeletor (whenever it's announced), be prepared to pony up a mortgage payment for the set.

 

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