Orko

Recommended music: Rick Wakeman – Jesters at Court

Happy Masters of the Universe Day! As decreed by Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley in 1987, April 28th is Masters of the Universe Day! The holiday was created in recognition of the MOTU Power Tour, which was visiting LA at the time, but I’m still celebrating the occasion 38 years later!

Flying by this #MastersMonday, we’ve got another 1984 figure from the vintage Mattel Masters of the Universe toy line: it’s Orko!

Orko was a very common sight during the MOTU adventures of my youth. With the magician character appearing in most episodes of the Filmation He-Man animated series, and not just within the main stories, but also the ad bumpers, and many of the closing lessons, I definitely liked to work this guy into my own stories. When most of my collection was sold off to move on to the next toyline, Orko was one of a handful of characters that stayed with me, even though heavy play had caused one of his arms to go completely missing.😄

Even though the figure’s likeness and color scheme vary a bit from his look in the cartoon or even mini-comics and other stories, he does come with some very unique play features. The action feature that likely got me hooked on the toy as a kid was the inclusion of a ripcord that would cause the figure to spin around in circles (or fly on his own if you’re using your imagination). The figure also included a “magic trick,” which was a set of plastic coins that were supposed to do something specific, which my preschool-age brain couldn’t really comprehend. 😛

#MastersOfTheUniverse