He-man and Masters of the Universe Toys

Masters of the Universe (abbreviated to MOTU) is a media franchise created by Mattel. Among others, it features the characters of He-Man and Skeletor. Since its initial launch in 1981, the franchise has spawned four animated television series, several comic series, a film and numerous action figures.

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The Masters of the Universe toys line was initiated by Roger Sweet, who managed the line throughout its whole original run. The character of He-Man was given three different designs:an old-fashioned style barbarian, a contemporary military man, and a futuristic spaceman. The barbarian design was the most popular, but the overall design was selected when a chief Mattel executive pointed to Sweets prototype figures and declared "those have the power", a line which would become paraphrased by the Filmation cartoon as "I have the power!", He-Mans famous catchphrase.

Early promotional literature from Mattel refers to Skeletor and his followers as the "Masters of the Universe" and an early version of the opening title sequence for the 1980s incarnation also uses this description, and was used on the VHS version of the early episode "The Dragon Invasion". However later literature and spin-offs use the term "Masters of the Universe" for He-Man and his allies. Series writer Robby London has commented that he noticed the change in description, and personally considers both sides, good and evil, to be the "Masters of the Universe". The 1987 live action film features yet another interpretation of the phrase, as the opening narration claims that whoever occupies Castle Grayskull will have "the power", and this power will make them "masters of the universe."

The action figures themselves were often repaints and head-swaps of existing characters, outfitted with different equipment; for pure example, Stinkor was originally a color-swap of Mer-Man wearing a re-colored version of Mekanecks breastplate. In 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 where used (Ram Man, Man-E-Faces, and Trap Jaw all had new mold pieces).