Grizzlor

Recommended music: T78 – Grizzlor

Happy Monday, MOTU fans! Hope you had a great weekend. For this #MastersMonday, let’s check out another 1985 release from the vintage Mattel Masters of the Universe line. Today, we’re looking at Grizzlor!

Grizzlor was probably the only Evil Horde action figure I didn’t have as a kid. Some of my friends might have owned him, but his furry body made me think of a troll doll or a stuffed animal, not a scary villain causing trouble on Eternia. This mix of grizzly bear and mammoth was likely meant for the original Filmation He-Man and the Masters of the Universe cartoon, but since The Horde didn’t appear in the show, Grizzlor first showed up with the other Horde members in the fourth wave of the MOTU action figure line.

Thankfully, Grizzlor was included right away in the second episode, “Beast Island,” of the She-Ra: Princess of Power cartoon. At first, he was Hordak’s main prison keeper, but later he became more of a general henchman, appearing in 27 episodes. Grizzlor also returned in the 2003 Mike Young Productions He-Man series, the 2018 Netflix She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, and made quick cameos in Masters of the Universe: Revolution and the Revelation comic book.

Grizzlor came on a standard-sized card in 1985, but the “Hairy henchman of The Evil Horde” was also available in a pair of gift sets with Hordak. While a plain brown cardboard 2-pack was available through JCPenney, a deluxe window-box set was also available, which added a cassette tape and artwork by both William George and Bruce Timm.

The “Ferocious figure with fur” itself has a unique sculpt under the hairy overlay with no waist movement. He came with the familiar Horde Crossbow as a weapon, different from his mates in that it was cast in dark green plastic. His face came in a couple of color variants during the vintage line. I have both of these versions in my collection now, but I don’t feel like I missed out as a kid. There were already plenty of creepy Horde characters in my collection, so I didn’t really need another furry Beast Man.

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