The first half of the 1980’s was a golden age for toys and action figures. Toys and action figures were comparatively popular with kids because there was really less to do than there is now. TV was limited. Home video was just becoming a thing and there was a lull the popularity of home video games. Under these conditions, the boys action figure market exploded with dozens of popular lines, some truly massive with vehicles and large complex playsets which would be unthinkable in today’s limited environment.
Star Wars was still massively popular and its revolutionary 3 3/4” line was going strong into 1984. GI Joe is another iconic toyline that became very popular at the time, with its super-posable action figures and perhaps the most impressive vehicle fleet ever created in an action figure line including a legendary 6' long aircraft carrier. The Transformers series had been cobbled together from a few different Japanese toy lines and brought intricate, ingenious toys to the US, most of which were both action figures AND vehicles.
You can argue that any of the above are the greatest of the ‘80’s, but for my money, Mattel’s Masters of the Universe beats them all as the most iconic toy property of the decade. MOTU was wild, diverse, and unabashedly ‘80’s with its decidedly chunky figures, funky color schemes and messy, all-inclusive approach to genre. To paraphrase the SNL character Stefon, this toyline has everything: Spitting snake people, cowboys, patchouli oil, citrus gorillas, an elephant firefighter, and a witch with jaundice. I can't overstate how weird it was.
However, Masters of the Universe started much less weirdly as Mattel’s attempt to create toys around the Conan the Barbarian property but when they could not get the rights they created their own line of fantasy toys. The Conan influences were very heavy in the early MOTU line which had a dark fantasy aesthetic fueled by the evocative paintings on the package art and the novel “minicomics” that were included with each figure. In this original iteration of MOTU, there was no Prince Adam. He-Man was a jungle barbarian recruited by the Green Goddess, a character who was an early combination of Teela and the Sorceress.
In the year and a half before the popular cartoon came out, these minicomics were the main media associated with the toys and they were filled with monsters and dark imagery. MOTU's villain, the skull-faced Skeletor was a character who was remarkably “metal” for a kids toyline and a lightening rod for 1980’s Satanic Panic. The skull iconography carried over to Castle Grayskull, the location which was the focal point of many of the stories and the larger struggle.
The toys featured a new squat and muscular 5 1/2”inch scale, a unique size that was larger than the then-popular 3 3/4” inch lines like GI Joe and Star Wars but smaller than the traditional 12” scale action figures of yore. While they had only the standard five points of articulation for the time, each figure had a standard feature, a waist that would spring back when turned allowing the characters to perform a punching or swinging motion, which was great because each figure came ready to fight. The original 1980's toy series was notable for the very generous inclusion of interchangeable pieces of weaponry and armor. He-Man, himself, came with a harness with a built in weapon sheath, a sword, an axe and a clip-on shield. As the line grew, it included various weapons packs with recolored weapons and armor that added additional customization and play value. This is no surprise coming from Mattel, the company that gave us Barbie and her endless accessories and costumes.
The original wave of MOTU consisted of seven action figures which give you a good taste of the diversity of the line, and its penchant for strategic parts re-use to save costs. Joining He-Man on the Heroic Warriors side was Man-At-Arms, who instead of being perhaps a medieval knight, has some armor that is relatively high-tech and futuristic, giving us a taste of the sci-fi elements that MOTU would grow to encompass. The Green Goddess was changed to Teela, a female character armed with a serpentine staff and cobra armor, although those last vestiges of the Goddess would fall away when MOTU made the jump to animation. Stratos was a simian character with strap on arm wings and a jet pack, a great example of the "throw everything against the wall" approach to the line's character design. On the side of Skeletor's evil warriors were Beast Man and Mer-Man, two staple fantasy archetypes. Zodac was an odd character, neither aligned with heroes or villains.
In further waves the line's penchant for attention getting gimmicks would be revealed. Heroic warriors Man-E-Faces and Ram Man were defined by their unique action features. Man-E-Faces, had a unique helmet with a knob built into the top and when the knob was turned you could cycle through a trio of different "personalities" such as a man, a robot, and a beast. Ram Man had a unique mold with spring loaded legs and could be launched at other characters. MOTU was the most kinetic of 1980’s action figures.
Like Man-E-Faces, Evil Warrior Triclops featured a play feature with a rotating mechanism on his helmet, showing off different cyclopic eye expressions. Trap-Jaw might be the best action figure of the entire line featuring an articulated jaw and a funky colored pirate-esque design. He always came with a trio of swappable arm attachments including a rifle, a hook and a claw. If that wasn't enough you could run a string through the loop soon his helmet and make him zip down a line.
Another fun element of Master of the Universe is the use of truly terrible character names. These fall into three genres: Lazy, Ridiculously On-The-Nose or Vaguely Dirty. In the Lazy category, most often they would just take the main characteristic and put “-or” or Man at the end, like: Stinkor, Grizzlor, Mosquitor or Mer Man, Goat Man, and Beast Man. In the second category Clawful, Two-Bad, and Evil-Lyn. Of course, Clamp Champ, Mantenna, and Fisto sound Vaguely Dirty.
The line soon expanded to more action figures, creatures, vehicles, and multiple playsets, including two of the best action figure playsets of all time, Castle Grayskull and Snake Mountain. Juxtaposing sci-fi and fantasy, the vehicles in the MOTU line included some of the expected analogues for jets and tanks but also some very outlandish and ridiculous rides, like the hilariously impractical Dragon Walker.
Once the Filmation cartoon began to air in 1983, Masters of the Universe really took off in popularity. The animated series, however, eliminated the hint of violence and danger in exchange for colorful, moralistic storytelling. The animated show also fully embraced the sci-fi elements of the burgeoning franchise, which reflected back in the toys which exploded in diversity of bizarre and sometimes contradictory concepts.
In one toy line you had a ninja, a clockwork robot, a cowboy, a green-flocked ape man that smelled like Pine-Sol, a mosquito man with “blood” in his chest, a dude with a big wheel in the middle of his body, a Medusa man, and some dudes who literally transform into rocks. You could literally throw any concept in there and it would work. This diversity of genres and styles really made MOTU something special. When you played with Star Wars or Transformers, you were locked into the narrow parameters of SciFi. By the same token, GI Joe locked you into a military adventure. By contrast, MOTU was a kind of young boy’s fever dream of adventure and imagination.
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