Back at it this #MastersMonday from the archives, we’re taking it back to 1982 with the Mattel Masters of the Universe Beast Man!
This Savage Henchman from the first wave of MOTU figures came with a lone accessory – his whip. This weapon was actually reused from a figure called The Whip in the Big Jim toyline released in 1976!
Beast Man was initially considered for the reuse of a 1974 gorilla mold from the Big Jim line. However, he was ultimately scaled down to fit on the same cardback as the rest of the wave.
Recommended music: Earth, Wind & Fire – Shining Star
Happy #MastersMonday, He-Fans and She-Ravers! Let’s continue discussing the vintage Mattel Princess of Power toyline. Today, we’re talking about Glimmer!
“The guide who lights the way” was a Great Rebellion figure included in the first wave of nine figures for the Princess of Power toy line. The daughter of Angella and princess of Bright Moon, Glimmer had a pretty big role in the Filmation She-Ra: Princess of Power animated series. She was the original leader of the Great Rebellion until Adora came on board and appeared in 45 of the series’ 93 episodes, as well as the Christmas Special.
The vintage figure came with a collar, crown, comb, skirt, staff, and either the “Disappearing Treasures” or “Journey to Mizar” mini-comic. The figure features some shiny prismatic accessories, some glow-in-the-dark accessories, and a pink and silver color scheme. My loose Glimmer figure is missing most of that, as I intentionally changed her from the toy and storybook deco to match up with her appearance in the Filmation animated series. I wanted a Glimmer who looked more like the cartoon character I knew. So she gained a permanent crown, lost most of the figure’s curls from her long hair, and gained some jewels and other decor changes to set her apart from the original figure.
Thankfully, as an adult collector, the Masters of the Universe Classics version of the character looks straight out of the Filmation animated series and is a much more refined version than my custom Glimmer. Also, if you’ve made it this far, I’ve included another (not so) hidden Loo-Kee in today’s picture.
Today on #MastersMonday from the archives, we’re taking a look at the Mattel Masters of the Universe: Masterverse New Eternia Two Bad!
I’ve actually already covered all of the Mattel Masterverse releases from Masters Of The Universe Revelation in my current collection. However, I wanted to include this Two Bad figure as well. I believe he actually fits in with the aesthetic of the Netflix animated series.
Technically, he hails from what Mattel has dubbed “New Eternia,” which features new designs for mostly familiar characters. This is likely going to be the only New Eternia release I cover here, as I’m not a huge fan of the design elements I’ve seen in this sub-line or the newest MOTU comics.
My favorite thing about this new version of the Two Bad is that the belt and weapons are based on the original Mark Taylor’s sketches for the character, which have never before been realized in plastic form during the 40 years of this character.
I’ll be back to cover more Masterverse figures in August 2025, as I need some time to finish the collection of figures released for Masters of the Universe: Revolution.
Recommended music: Bob Dylan with Johnny Cash – Girl from the North Country
Happy #MastersMonday, He-Fans and She-Ravers! Let’s continue talking about the vintage Mattel Princess of Power toyline. Today, we’re talking about Frosta!
Frosta was included in the first wave of nine figures for the Princess of Power toy line. However, she was not included in the crossover animated film The Secret of the Sword, which was later split into the first five She-Ra: Princess of Power episodes. She did, however, appear immediately after in the series’ sixth episode, “Duel at Devlan.” She returned for another seven episodes throughout the series and had a bigger role in the He-Man and She-Ra: A Christmas Special.
The vintage figure came with a cape, comb, skirt, staff, and the “The Hidden Symbols Mystery” mini-comic. While my loose figure is missing all of that, she still looks “cool,” even with her hair and paint needing some work.
Thankfully, as an adult collector, the Masters of the Universe Classics version of the character looks straight out of the Filmation animated series, and Mattel has already included Frosta in their new Cartoon Collection of 5.5″ figures. Also, if you’ve made it this far, I’ve included a (not so) hidden Loo-Kee in today’s picture, so that was fun.
Recommended music: Bear McCreary – Sorceress Under Siege
So this #MastersMonday from the archives, we’re taking a look at the Mattel Masters of the Universe: Revelation Masterverse Sorceress!
Mattel really did a good job incorporating a soft goods cape with an otherwise sculpted outfit. This really helped to cut down on the chunkiness seen in most earlier toy releases of the character.
Masters Of The Universe: Revolution may no longer be a top animated series on Netflix, but that doesn’t mean I will stop talking about it anytime soon.
Recommended music: Eddie Rabbitt ~ I Love a Rainy Night (Live)
Happy #MastersMonday, He-Fans and She-Ravers! Since we’ve covered most releases through 1984 in the vintage Mattel Masters of the Universe toy line, let’s switch it up to Princess of Power. Tonight, we’re talking about Bow!
While the Filmation She-Ra: Princess of Power animated series was a direct spin-off of the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe series, it never appealed to me in my youth the way the original series had. Though the She-Ra series was written with a young female audience in mind, I think there were several other factors for my passing on the show during childhood: I didn’t realize just how well the stories connected, incorporating He-Man and his backstory into many episodes. I didn’t know how much Hordak and other villains from the Masters of the Universe toy line were a major part of the series. The design of the POP toy line, with its soft-goods dolls, was not as appealing to me as the MOTU line. Finally, I’m not sure when it aired, and I know the syndication schedule was not as easy to find the show on TV as the earlier He-Man series.
In the She-Ra animated series, Bow was the only prominent male member of the Rebellion, and he shows up early in the first episode to bring the familiar Prince Adam to meet up with this new cast of main characters. For the toy line, Bow was the ONLY MALE character to get a figure in the entire line, which I guess is only fair, as the Masters of the Universe line only had three female figures out of around 70 figures in that line.
The vintage figure came with a cape, chest armor, a gold bow, a gold headband, and a mini-comic “The Hidden Symbols Mystery.” While my loose figure is missing all of that, he does retain the action feature of a button on his back that makes the red heart on his chest “beat” when pressed. One thing the figure was missing: his signature mustache from the Filmation series.
Thankfully, as an adult collector, the Masters of the Universe Classics version of the character did feature his mustache (see yesterday’s post for a picture of this head). Also, Bow’s horse “Arrow” was cast in solid blue plastic for the vintage toy line, so I had to make him a custom steed in colors more akin to the Filmation animated color scheme.
We’re right on time, this #MastersMonday with another post from the archives. Today, we’ve got the Mattel Masters of the Universe: Revelation Masterverse Roboto!
This look for the character was very familiar, as Roboto was kept in scale with the other heroes, and not oversized like in the 2002 Mike Young Productions He-Man animated series. Roboto was put to good use within the new story, similar to some of the stories told in the 2010s Masters of the Universe comics by DC Comics.
This picture was inspired by Roboto artwork from the Masters of the Universe magazine by Earl Norem.
Masters Of The Universe: Revolution may no longer be a top animated series on Netflix, but that doesn’t mean I will stop talking about it anytime soon.
Recommended music: Colter Wall – Snake Mountain Blues
Happy Monday, MOTU fans! Slithering by on this #MastersMonday, we’ve covered every vehicle from 1984 in the vintage Mattel Masters of the Universe toy line, so tonight, we’re moving on to Snake Mountain!
Snake Mountain was a favorite playset of mine as a kid. The “Evil stronghold of Skeletor” likely held just as many battles in my childhood playroom, or possibly more than my Castle Grayskull playset. I think the exterior depiction of Skeletor’s lair seen on the Filmation He-Man and the Masters of the Universe animated series was not nearly as exciting as the exterior of this playset with little monsters carved into the stone.
This week, I continued using William George’s amazing packaging art as the base for my picture. I did have to leave in more than usual because I forgot to photograph the three characters and the bridge as seen on the box. 😜 I didn’t actually ever have the box as a kid, but I can remember my mother picking this complete playset up at a second-hand store, though I was still amazed by all the play features.
From the big movable snake, to the trap door with a net, to the shackle prison, to the incredible demon artwork inside, I was in love. My favorite feature was probably the included wolf’s head microphone, which would give you an echoing voice that, as a kid, you also imagined was booming and terrifying to your heroic warriors stepping onto Skeletor’s turf.
As an adult collector, I’ve modified a few of these playsets into a larger custom project, but ultimately passed on reincarnations of the playset from the Masters of the Universe Classics line and the Masters of the Universe Origins line, as they just didn’t live up to this original version.
Recommended music: The Crystal Method – Name of the Game
Traipsing ahead this #MastersMonday with another post from the archives. Today, we’ve got the Mattel Masters of the Universe: Revelation Masterverse Trap Jaw!
Like Tri-Klops, it was cool to see something new with the addition of a soft goods cloak that updates the character’s look to fit in with the electronic cult idea seen in Masters of the Universe Revelation. The cloak can easily be removed to reveal a more traditional Trap Jaw figure underneath.
Also unique to this version is the adjustable jaw that can be lowered to reveal a very pink tongue for some reason.🤪
Masters Of The Universe: Revolution may no longer be a top animated series on Netflix, but that doesn’t mean I will stop talking about it anytime soon.
Recommended music: Fred Bongusto – Una rotonda sul mare
Happy Monday, He-Fans and She-Ravers! Right on time this #MastersMonday, we’ve got another 1984 vehicle from the vintage Mattel Masters of the Universe toy line: it’s the Roton!
The Roton was another childhood favorite of mine, but this “vehicle “Evil assault vehicle” was strictly for the Evil Warriors. While the wheel on the flat bottom made for a good ground ride for traveling baddies, the large saw blade made it look so cool as a flying vehicle.
Instead of the typical William George packaging artwork I’ve been sharing, I chose a different approach. I decided to put some toy Rotons into a zoomed-in version of this Earl Norem painting. This painting was included as a poster in the second issue of the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Magazine in spring 1986. While the art on the vehicle’s box was great, this Norem piece contained multiple Rotons, so I was able to include several versions.
That’s right. While most vehicles may have slight color variations due to factories located around the planet, the Roton had very different colors because it was also included in the line of “Snap Tite” model kits produced by Monogram. As a kid, a family friend had a son six years older than me who had one of these versions of the vehicle, which eventually became a strange, fuzzy memory.
Not only did the model kit come with a version that reversed the vehicle’s common colors of red and black, but the model kits also had something my Mattel vehicle did not – a roof! Thankfully, when the vehicle appeared in Golden Books and the Filmation animated series, it did look more like my toy than those other versions. I’m not sure why, but I don’t believe any Rotons ever made it to the mini-comics included with figures.
As an adult collector discovering the extent of the toy line on the internet, these model kit variations definitely made their way into the collection, along with a few extras of the Mattel vehicle. They’re great for army-building, or in this case, I guess you’d call it fleet-building.
#MastersOfTheUniverse #ToyPhotography
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Bonus video the whole family may enjoy (mine did):
Recommended music: Bear McCreary – Teela Joins the Wild Hunt
Kicking off another #MastersMonday with a post from the archives. Today, we’ve got the Mattel Masters of the Universe: Revelation Masterverse King Grayskull!
This version of King Grayskull deluxe figure is based on his design from Masters Of The Universe Revelation. It’s a somewhat different take on the character than the version introduced 20 years earlier, but ended up being pretty cool. The figure’s cape is improved over the Masters of the Universe Classics version. The fur is well-crafted, and the wired cape adds an extra element of posability.
Masters Of The Universe: Revolution may no longer be a top animated series on Netflix, but that doesn’t mean I will stop talking about it anytime soon.
Happy Monday, MOTU fans! On this #MastersMonday, we’ve another 1984 vehicle from the vintage Mattel Masters of the Universe toy line: it’s the Road Ripper!
For vehicles in my childhood collection, this was a favorite! While Battle Bones could carry multiple heroes into battle, the Road Ripper Warrior Carrier got them there quickly and in style!
The idea for the vehicle came from the Evel Knievel Super Stunt Cycle, and used a rigid plastic ripcord that once given a quick pull would “speed your warriors into combat!”
The “powered for speed” vehicle looks great in the packaging art painted by William George, and he also did the art for this Battle Armor He-Man and Road Ripper gift set. As an adult collector reacquiring vintage MOTU items, I’ve stockpiled a handful of Road Rippers, but most (like this one) have lost the connection for the lap belt.
Good morning, another #MastersMonday post from the archives is here. Today, we’ve got the Mattel Masters of the Universe: Revelation Masterverse Mer-Man!
This version of Mer-Man is based on his updated look from the third episode of Masters Of The Universe Revelation, when he shows up with some other Aquaticans (fish people) in the Crystal Sea to cause some problems for our heroes.
Masters Of The Universe: Revolution may no longer be a top animated series on Netflix, but that doesn’t mean I will stop talking about it anytime soon.
Happy Monday, He-Fans and She-Ravers! On this #MastersMonday, we’re moving on to 1984 vehicles from the vintage Mattel Masters of the Universe toy line: it’s the Dragon Walker!
As a kid, and even 40 years later, I still think the Dragon Walker is a silly idea for a vehicle. Even though the Golden Book story The Rock Warriors showed the vehicle carrying He-Man over an “impassible mountain gorge,” I was skeptical. The Filmation He-Man and the Masters of the Universe animated series showed the Dragon Walker carrying multiple passengers, which the toy version clearly could not. If I needed a troop carrier, I still relied on Battle Bones, and any single hero could be transported to battle via cat, a vehicle with wheels, or a vehicle that could fly. 😄
While the “Sidewinding Beast/Vehicle” looks great in the packaging art painted by William George, the physical toy was not as practical. The motorized head/seat seemed to not stay attached to the base very well and had to be separated to change out the C batteries. When you did have fresh batteries in, the gear mechanism was unnecessarily loud in slowly moving your heroes a few feet ahead into battle in the playroom. Like the Road Ripper, the inclusion of a lap belt helped hold your figure in place (and even fits a Masters of the Universe Classics Battle-Armor He-Man after some adjustment).
Recommended music: Metallica – Whiplash [Yes, Devo’s Whip It would have been good here, but I feel like I used that one recently]
We’re up late this #MastersMonday, and we’ve got another worthy 1984 figure from the vintage Mattel Masters of the Universe toy line: it’s Whiplash!
While Whiplash did show up as a semi-competent henchman for Skeletor during the Filmation He-Man and the Masters of the Universe animated series, the character looked a bit different than the action figure outside of both having the large tail and a shade of green as their primary color.
This “Evil tail-thrashing warrior” really appealed to me during my peak childhood MOTU fandom, not just because Whiplash could go toe-to-toe with the heroes in the mini-comics and Golden Books, but partly because of his… gross-out factor.
His ugly face with oversized fangs, spikes on his head, bumpy textured skin, and especially the large rubbery tail that could really whip He-Man and his kin in battle was such a fun combination. He fit right in with similar gross toys of youth, like rubber snakes or Madballs. He included the spear from Castle Grayskull, cast in orange plastic, but seldom needed it, instead relying on the rubber tail in battle.
Dale's Toys 