In 1982 a bold new line of Mattel action figures hit the toy stores. At 5 1/2 inches tall they towered over Kenner’s 3 3/4 inch Star Wars figures and Hasbro’s more articulated but similarly sized GI Joe reboot. They were not just taller, they were primed for action. No ram-rod straight poses were to be found among the line of ripped warriors. Crouched into action positions, they came armed with swords and axes. Even the name was aggressive: The Masters of the Universe. Led by the mighty He-Man, these toys were obviously ready to fight out the eternal struggle of good versus evil, which was represented by Skeletor, every bit as shredded as He-Man and sporting a ghoulish yellow skull face. The Masters of the Universe (MotU) were like nothing else on the shelves.

They were a huge hit.

There is a bit of confusion at best, disagreement at worst, about the origins of MotU. The Toys That Built America (History, 2022) and The Toys That Made Us (Netflix, 2017) have both featured MotU as did the entertaining documentary By The Power of Grayskull (2024). All three sources agree Mattel was in trouble after passing on opportunity to license Star Wars and then throwing in heavily on Battlestar Galactica. Whether because of poor ratings or the backlash after a child died due to injuries caused when one of the plastic projectiles shot by the Battlestar toys ended up in his lung (https://www.vintagetoyemporium.com/post/the-tiny-red-missile-that-shook-up-the-toy-industry-in-1979), Mattel was not saved by Battlestar Galactica toys.

Looking for something new and different, Mattel settled on a barbarian hero theme although science fiction elements were mixed into the fantasy from the beginning. The barbarian theme may have been stumbled upon because they were avoiding another space or military toy. It is also said by some the development of barbarian toys was due to a preliminary agreement to produce a line of toys based on the upcoming Conan the Barbarian (1982, directed by John Milius). There definitely seems to have been talks to license Conan at some point (which ulitmately broke down when it was learned Conan would be rated R) but whether these talks were before or after MotU was on the drawing boards is unclear. It is agreed Frank Frazetta’s (1928-2010) art was an influence on the development of MotU. Frazetta worked on many projects but his paintings were featured on the cover of Conan paperbacks from the late 1960s through the 1980s.

There are other seemingly obvious inspirations for Masters of the Universe not mentioned in any the documentaries. Conan was the star of a Marvel published adult comic magazine and barbarian stories were often found in the pages of Heavy Metal (probably the influential adult oriented comic magazine). Richard Corben’s Den, for example, ran periodically throughout the 1970s. It was one of the stories selected to appear in the Heavy Metal animated feature (1981). Meanwhile, DC offered sword and planet style barbarian adventures of their own throughout the 1970s with titles such as Warlord. In the realm of children’s entertainment Hanna-Barbera produced several cartoons which seemed to pave the way for He-Man. From 1966-1968, the adventures of Dino Boy (part of Space Ghost and Dino Boy) featured Ugh, a heavily muscled and scantily clad caveman, who teamed with a modern age boy lost in a prehistoric world. Zandor of The Herculoids (which debuted in 1967 and returned with new adventures in 1981) is slimmer, but his pageboy haircut and loincloth were a harbinger of He-Man’s look. The Herculoids also offered a take on sword and planet with the primitive Zandor and his family defending their planet from a slew of technologically superior enemies. Also premiering in 1967, Moby Dick and Mighty Mightor brought the adventures of another caveman, this one named Tor, who would lift his magic club towards the sky and transform into Mightor, the world’s first superhero. A decade and a half later He-Man’s alter-ego Prince Adam raised his magic sword to transform when He-Man and the Master of the Universe cartoon hit the airwaves in 1983. All of these characters’ designs were credited to Alex Toth. He also created the main character designs for an immediate predecessor to MotU which seems a direct inspiration for the series: Thundarr the Barbarian.

Premiering in October of 1981 on ABC and running for two seasons (which were later re-run on NBC), Thundarr brought justice to a post-apocalyptic future Earth with the might of his “fabulous sun sword,” basically a light saber. Most humans and mutants lived a primitive, Stone Age existence under the heel of wizards whose powers blurred the lines between magic and technology. Despite being set on Earth, it was pure sword and planet adventure. Thundarr was another ripped proponent of the page boy hairdo and loincloth later adopted by He-Man (although Thundarr added a fur vest and boots to his look). Although much darker in tone than MotU and not associated with a toy line (at least not until speciality toy makers turned out action figures for adult collectors years later) it is very easy to draw a line from this Ruby-Spears cartoon to Masters of the Universe.

It is worth noting Masters of the Universe did not originally have an after-school cartoon. In fact, the lack of an established storyline was a concern of corporate toy buyers when Mattel first offered He-Man. Mattel countered the action figures would come with mini-comic books. There were no comics planned until spontaneously promised to buyers as a way to provide a storyline for the first release of toys. Once MotU was successful and a second wave of figures was on the drawing board a deal was struck for DC to produce the mini-comics. This led to appearances in DC titles and a limited comic series in 1982. He-Man’s adventures also ran in newspaper comic strip pages from 1986 to 1991. A resurgence of interest brought MotU back to DC for a comic run which lasted from 2012 to 2020. In 2021 Dark Horse picked up the license and continues to produce Masters of the Universe comics to this day.

Of course, most fans recognize He-Man from the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe cartoon which introduced Orko, Prince Adam (He-Man’s pink vest wearing secret identity) and the distinctive voice of He-Man’s nemesis Skeletor. The Filmation produced series ran in first run syndication from September 1983 until November of 1985 although reruns continued to air for years. Ironically, the origin of cartoon came when a toy buyer from a major chain informed Mattel they were concerned the MotU target audience would be too young to read the mini-comics so animated specials were promised to back up the line. By the time the cartoon’s original episodes were coming to an end a second cartoon was introduced to support a new line toys aimed at girls. She-Ra: Princess of Power featured He-Man’s long lost (and previously unknown) twin sister on the planet of Etheria. It ran from 1985 until 1987. 

She-Ra: Princess of Power was not the only Masters of the Universe spin-off. In 1987 The Cannon Group, perhaps best known for producing Death Wish sequels, Chuck Norris movies and ninja flicks, released a live action film with Dolph Lundgren and Frank Langella starring as He-Man (there was no Prince Adam secret identity in the movie) and Skeletor. The film, strangely, had very little in common with the familiar cartoon series (He-Man never even lifted a sword over his head and shouted “By the power of Grayskull”). The live action He-Man, Man at Arms and Teela traveled from Eternia to Earth in their battle with Skeletor and his minions. It is perhaps best remembered today for being the first starring role for a young Courtney Cox.

After a couple years of almost unprecedented popularity Masters of the Universe sales crashed in 1987. A planned prequel series of toys was scrapped. There are a variety of theories as to why this happened so suddenly and dramatically. Were little boys upset She-Ra gave their sisters a reason to play with MotU toys? Did the inability to provide stores with enough product keep new fans from developing? Was there too much competition from other toy lines such as Thundercats? Or did the live action movie poison the franchis? Whatever the reason MotU went from $400 million in sales in 1986 to a mere $7 million the following year.

Mattel was not ready to give up on He-Man and his comrades, though.

A new cartoon series, The New Adventures of He-Man (1990) attempted to reboot the toy line by launching a slimmer, pony-tail sporting He-Man into space to fight mutants and Skeletor. It was ultimately not successful. In 2002, when the original fans of MotU were young adults, a new He-Man and the Masters of the Universe series and toy line launched. The cartoon, which ran on Cartoon Network’s Toonami, brought the adventures of Prince Adam and He-Man back to Eternia. Although the new series ran for only a season MotU was not completely defeated. Noted comic book nerd Kevin Smith (Clerks, Chasing Amy) produced a CGI series for Netflix in 2021. His version of Masters of the Universe ran for three seasons, sometimes using the subtitle Revelation and switching to Revolution for the final season. Many of the original fans still follow MotU and new, younger fans have found the franchise. Toys are no longer just being aimed at the adult collecting market. MotU figures are once again on sale in the toy aisles of Walmart and Target. Masters of the Universe will return to live action in 2026 with a new film scheduled for June. 

Starting from a toy line over four decades ago, Masters of the Universe has become a billion dollar multimedia franchise. It has not only been the gateway into fantasy and science fiction fandom for generations of kids MotU has cemented its place among the great sword and planet franchises.