Original Art From He-Man Scene That Launched a Thousand Memes Is Up For Auction

To any collector, there are perhaps no better bragging rights than having something in their collection no one else does. This appeal has driven the popularity of original animation cells and drawings, each of which is literally one of a kind. Heritage Auctions’ ongoing “The Art of Everything Cool” auction series has allowed animation fans to own art ranging from Space Ghost concept art to original Astroboy animation cels.

Very few of these auctions give fans the chance to bid on an iconic scene or moment. This cel from My Neighbor Totoro sold for more than $32k and depicts a shoe in a pond. But for this edition of “The Art of Everything Cool,” Heritage has given one lucky bidder the chance to own a piece of internet history. 

What is the “Laughing He-Man” Meme?

The production cel in question is taken from a 1982 He-Man and the Masters of the Universe episode, “Dawn of Dragoon,” and depicts Prince Adam throwing back his head and laughing hysterically with a rainbow background. But chances are, that’s not where you’ve seen it before. In 2005, the scene was remixed by animators Ryan Rothenberger and Jay Allen of Slackcircus Studios and set to 1990 one-hit wonder Four Non-Blonde’s “What’s Up.” Entitled “Fabulous Secret Powers,” it became one of the earliest viral videos of the YouTube era. 

The meme’s pop cultural impact is far-reaching enough that Mattel even made a San Diego Comic-Con exclusive “Laughing Prince Adam” figure for its Masters of the Universe Classics line. Most recently, there was an explicit call-out to the meme in the newly released Masters of the Universe movie. 

Heritage Auctions is in on the joke: the majority of the auction’s description focuses on the scene’s place as “one of the most famous pieces of internet culture.” Only in the listing’s penultimate sentence are the item’s bona fides as a “rare treasure” to animation and He-Man collectors established. The listing notes that this cell is a “multiple-use stock cell,” recycled across several scenes and episodes. Because of this reuse, finding such animation cells in display-worthy condition is made exponentially more difficult. 

The auction provides a rare chance to see the tangible, monetary value of an internet cultural phenomenon. Eleven days out from its close, bidding for the lot is already up to seven hundred and fifty dollars. Other He-Man animation cells on offer – even those depicting iconic characters and scenes from the series – are only commanding bids of a couple of hundred dollars (or less). Given its rarity and iconic status, it should be no surprise that the bidding for He-Man and his fabulous secret powers has already dramatically outpaced the other Masters of the Universe items on auction.

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The Masters of the Universe Toy Almost No One Could Afford Will Now Cost You $50K