With all the other magnificent displays of imagination in the Masters Of The Universe world, Buzz Off is another shining example. He is a humanoid that was based in the Mystic Mountains. He is regarded as the King of his race of bee people. These people are called the Andreenids. He is pegged as a supposed good guy because he spies on Skeletor and his minions for He Man. Mattel made an action figure out of him in 1984, complete with wings.
The power for Buzz Off is his relation to the insect world. He can fly. He is tagged as the “heroic spy in the sky” by the people from Mattel. He is able to see, not just like a human but like a bee as well. With his special goggles he has insect vision. The mix of bee and human have a way of making Buzz Off very independent and he and his people do not feel like they need the company of the Masters Of The Universe. The bee people produce a powerful chemical called Ambrosia, which Skeletor promptly steals to make himself more powerful. Skeletor then convinces the bee people to make war with Stratos and the bird people, Buzz Off is finally convinced that yes, they need He Man. Buzz Off refuses to swear an oath to protect Castle Grayskull, though and it continues to cause tension. Buzz Offs extreme independence gets him in trouble time and again, but he seems to advance in later episodes.
Buzz Off and the other 1984 Masters Of The Universe action figures are 5 ½ inches tall. This was a departure from the standard 3 ¾ inch figures of the day. He came with lots of cool accessories. His head has small antenna and big green bug eyes. His legs have protruding scales on them just like Clawful. His chest protection is colored with alternating yellow and black colors, just like a bumble bee. His feet are not human feet, but have a look more like the three toed creations of many evil MOTU figures. He has large yellow translucent wings that are positioned easily. His forearms are sculpted differently and there are no hands, just inanimate claws. His helmet holds some extra lenses and is colored to match his chest armor. The boots, shorts and claws are pure black. He comes with an axe, but does not seem to be able to hold it very well.
Some of the differences in the original Buzz Off and the later versions were easy to spot. The later versions were bigger and the wings were improved. Mattel put them on ball joints and then installed some insect-looking appendages below them, also using ball joints. Later Buzz Offs could also hold their weapons easier and they came with an extra axe. Some say he has the same body as Whiplash, but with different colors and wings added. The original Buzz Off still had the “power punch” feature. This was the ability to twist at the waist and snap back. The feature was powered by an elastic band inside the toy. The band would lose its elasticity after many uses making the “power punch” a weak “tap”.
The series three Mattel Buzz Off action figure did not have different versions in 1984. The back of the bubble package that he was shipped in was a “12 back” which means there were depictions of 12 other Masters Of The Universe figures on the back of the package.
For those who want to take a Mattel Buzz Off home with them he is easy to find in the major online markets. The Masters Of The Universe figures were popular with the kids and many of them chose Buzz Off as one of their favorite figures. Loose he will range from around $15 to $50 dollars. MOC, unopened he will range from $130 to $500 dollars.
