Masters of The Universe - Mattel MOTU Action Figures, Accessories & Playsets Listing of The 1980s

Mattel MOTU Action Figures, Accessories & Playsets Listing of The 1980s

The action figures themselves were often repaints and head-swaps of existing characters, outfitted with different equipment; for example, Stinkor was originally a color-swap of Mer-Man wearing a re-colored version of Mekaneck's breastplate. For much of the original line, there were limited molds. Two chests, hairy and smooth, one belt/pair of shorts, and three sets of arms and legs (smooth muscular, evil 'claw' fingers/toes, and hairy). Teela had her own mold, which was later duplicated for Evil-Lyn. When the second wave appeared, several new molds were used (Ram Man, Man-E-Faces, and Trap Jaw all had new mold pieces). Wave three incorporated the same torso for Whiplash and Buzz-Off. New legs were shared with Whiplash, Buzz-Off and early released of Clawful. Wave Four saw the introduction of more unique body parts (i.e. Leech, Mantenna and Sy-Klone) with Moss Man and Hordak being the only character to use entirely old body parts. Wave 5 was entirely new body parts for all but one character (Tung Lashor) whilst the final wave returned to the "classic" look.

Each action figure featured 5 points of articulation (possible head, arms and legs), removable armour, a weapon accessory and a spin loaded "Power punch". All 8 characters featured the spring-loaded twisting waist, but it was Wave 2 that saw additional action features unique to the character such as Tri-Klops's rotatable visor and Ram-Man's spring-loaded legs. Each figure would also come packaged with a mini comic. The line debuted in 1982 with just four figures to begin with: He-Man, Man-At-Arms, Skeletor and Beast-Man. Later that year the remaining four characters from Wave 1 were released. They were Stratos, Teela, Mer-Man and Zodac. Each figure came with removable armour, a weapon and mini-comic. Mekaneck was the first character from Wave 3 to appear in shelves at the tail end of 1983. The rock warriors, Stonedar and Rokkon arrived in the UK a full year before the rest of their wave 5 counterparts. This may have been due to their appearance in the UK Masters of the Universe fortnightly magazine in 1986. Originally Beast-Man was meant to be He-Man arch rival, Stratos was an evil warrior and Mer-Man and Tri-Klops were both intended to be heroic warriors. This changed by the time of their release.