Today over on the MattyCollector.com news page Mattel announced the following new contest:

He-Man: The Photography War – Comic Cover Contest

He-Man fans, this is the chance of a lifetime to contribute to the history of the brand and get the attention of the world for your amazing creative and photography skills.  Mattel is hosting a very special MOTU-Create-a-Cover Contest where you can showcase those action figure photography skills you’ve been honing, oh, only since you were 5 years old!

As you may be aware, there is a new He-Man DC Comics series starting in Dec. 2014, He-Man: The Eternity War.  It tells an epic tale of a Ragnarok-ish, Crisis on Infinite Earths-esque war to end all wars on Eternia.  He-Man will lead the forces of good—She-Ra, Man-at-Arms, Battle Cat, Swiftwind, Teela, and Orko, with an army of Snakemen backing them up (yes, you read that last part right). They will be up against Hordak, Skeletor, King Hssss, Beastman, Trapjaw, and Evil-lyn.  It’s an all-out battle royale for control of Castle Grayskull and the fate of the universe!

The subscriber variant of issue #1 of He-Man: The Eternity War is slated to feature an action figure photo tableau that pays homage to this Powerful story line and Mattel and DC Comics want to feature the art of a talented fan photographer.  This is an open call for submissions.

Grand Prize:

There will be one winner who will not only have his work showcased and credited on the cover of issue #1 of He-Man: The Eternity Wars subscriber variant, but the winner will also be rewarded with a year’s subscription to the MOTU Classics Collector Toy Line and the MOTU DC Comic series.

Runners-Up:

There will be two runners up who will receive their art specially featured on the He-Man Facebook and Instagram pages, 3 assorted Matty toys, a year’s subscription to the MOTU DC Comics series, and handwritten feedback from the MOTU design team.

Everyone:

All submissions that are deemed appropriate will appear on the official He-Man Facebook and Instagram pages! Mattel encourages entrants and fans to rally around the hashtag #MOTUCoverContest on social media.

Download the full contest rules here.

The creative guidelines for submissions are as follows:

• It should be epic and full of drama—think this should be an iconic addition to the visual history of MOTU, who knows, it could even end up in the MOTU art book as part of the legacy of the brand
• Design should play off The Eternity War, the Eternian war to end all wars described above
• It should feature the key characters of MOTU with He-Man and Skeletor front and center, and prominently display She-Ra and Hordak as well
• It should further showcase as many side characters as possible while maintaining a pleasing and dynamic composition
• Castle Grayskull should feature prominently in the design
• It should not be in any way mocking or disparaging of He-Man or the MOTU brand, any submission deemed to not showcase MOTU in a brand-appropriate light will be automatically disqualified
• Feel free to manipulate your photography in whatever way makes the image the most awesome, as long as its rooted in action figure photography and looks great, it is in consideration.

Specifications for submissions are as follows:

Your images must be created to the below specs to be considered eligible within the contest. Although we are requesting that you send a jpeg of your cover idea by email as your entry, if selected, you must be able to provide the final file at the specs below if selected as a winner. If you cannot provide the final file at the specs below, your entry will be deemed ineligible.

Official comic cover specs – Final image must adhere to below specs to be eligible as a contest submission.

• 6.625-Width
• 10.187- Height
• Bleed- 1/8 (.125)
• Dpi- 450
• CMYK color

Please use the attached image to ensure that your submission has the proper layout to accommodate the title, DC logo, and other elements that will be laid on top of your image if selected as the winner.

Please send submissions and any question to MattyCollector.com at Matty@Mattel.com with the subject line “MOTU Cover Contest”.

By submitting any artwork to the above email address for this contest, you acknowledge that you have read and understand therules of the contest. Any emails not properly labeled in the subject line as “MOTU Cover Contest” will not be opened or reviewed. Thank you for your time, artistry, and commitment to MOTU.  Best of luck!