Mattel’s hugely successful 1980s action figure and TV franchise Masters of the Universe is looked upon with great fondness by many toy collectors today and has proved enduringly popular. I’m writing this post having just returned from a collectors fair in Rome, Italy and can confirm that those chunky, swivel-hipped 5 ½-inch action figures were certainly an ubiquitous presence at every stall. I should confess that as a child from an earlier generation, I’ve always been a little bemused by the whole He-Man Universe and slow to succumb to the appeal of this line. From time to time a random figure will pique my interest, however, like this ugly little fella Grizzlor. (And as every collector knows, that’s a slippery slope to a full time action figure addiction!)
Masters of the Universe
Heroic Human…Robot…Monster? It must be Man-E-Faces!
Masters of the Universe, Mattel’s hugely successful action figure line of the 1980s, has proved enduringly popular. Big sellers back in the day, these figures can still be found loose on flea markets for a fair price, like this classic Man-E-Faces 1983 figure (dated stamped 1982) from the second wave of Heroic Warriors from the Original Series, which I picked up just the other day.
Almost all the figures in this line came with a built in power punch action – twisted at the waist and then released, the torso will swivel round at speed, and land a hefty punch – yet this particular figure went one better.
Skeletor – Evil lord of destruction!
It has been quite some time since we’ve looked at any of those swivel-hipped vintage wonders of the early 1980s – Mattel’s Masters of the Universe. MOTU action figures swept toy aisles by storm thanks to a fiendishly well organised merchandising campaign which saw the tie-in animated TV series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe turn these 5 ½ -inch action figures into the most-wanted toy of an entire generation…until sales eventually slowed down after the arrival of Transformers and G.I. Joe on the scene in the second half of the decade.
Buzz-Off – Heroic Spy in the Sky!
Ever since the news was first announced at the 2010 San Diego Comic Con earlier this year that Mattel would be issuing a Buzz-Off figure in December as part of its Masters of the Universe Classics toy line, the buzz (ahem!) about this figure got louder and louder! It became immediately clear from online forums that the humanoid bee from the race of Bee People was an immensely popular character from the original MOTU line, so with release of the new figure now imminent, let’s take a timely look back at the vintage version.
He has the power! Battle Armor He-Man
Love him or hate him, there’s no doubting that the star of last week’s post – Arnold Schwarzenegger in the guise of Terminator – is a tough act to follow. …
Do I hear hissing? It must be Tung Lashor!
You’ve really got to hand it to Mattel, the creators of He-Man aka Masters of the Universe action figures, in their ability to come up with some of the greatest character names of any toy line ever! There was Moss Man (who was covered with moss – what else?!), the onomatopoeic names Buzz-Off and King Hiss, and of course, those wonderful made up words – Grizzlor, Skeletor and Roboto. This particular 5-inch MOTU action figure from Series 5 in 1986 is called Tung Lashor, probably one of the best of the worst linguistic puns of the series.
What’s that smell? It’s pine scented Moss Man!
The Internet is fairly buzzing this spring with news of the latest Mattel release in the Masters of the Universe Classics toy line – Moss Man. So here’s a timely look back at the vintage version of that figure…
If there were a prize for the most bizarre action figure attribute then surely whoever thought up Moss Man’s gimmick for Mattel with their 1985 Masters of the Universe 5 inch figure would win hands down! As if the the furry coating over what was essentially a green repaint of the earlier Beast Man wasn’t strange enough, Mattel thought that adding a pine scent to the figure would be just the right finishing touch.