I don’t know about you, but I could use some distraction today. What better way to distract ourselves from scary people than by watching a delightfully retro animated toy commercial? Being born in 85, I feel like I completely missed out on Masters of the Universe. I never had any of the toys and I only vaguely remember the cartoon. Sometimes I get the urge to read up on the mythology, buy a bunch of vintage toys, and cram every episode of the cartoon just to feel like I know what all you guys are talking about.

Usually I repress that urge before I spend any time or money, but this recently unearthed commercial for MOTU from the early early 80s is really making me want to dive in to Eternia.

Something tells me that actual cartoon doesn’t look this cool though.

It doesn’t matter whether you like sports or not, the Super Bowl is one of the biggest entertainment events of the year. The estimated 111.3 million viewers Sunday night made it the most watched television show of all time.

A big highlight from the night, at least for me, was the commercial presented by MetLife. The insurance company’s “Everyone” ad featured a bevy of classic cartoon characters.

A great aspect of the nostalgia-inducing spot was its use of B-list stars. Sure, the Peanuts characters common with MetLife advertising were present but so too were Saturday Morning heroes long forgotten. You could easily see popular ’70s and ’80s figures like Voltron, He-Man, and The Jetsons. Also on hand were lesser-knowns like Jabberjaw, Hong Kong Phooey, and Magilla Gorilla.

MetLife’s Facebook page has bios of most of them but cartoonist Mark Anderson has an exhaustive list in chronological order. Anderson even corrected MetLife’s mention of Captain Caveman to his doppelgangers Rock and Gravel Slag.

If you missed the ad, watch it below and then seek out the excellent coverage by Anderson. The Facebook page also has a few “behind the scenes” videos to check out. Oh, and see if you can find the numerous inclusions of the stripe shirt-wearing Waldo.