The Toy Box: Masters Of The Universe Classics (Mattel)

Update - Now featuring all figures through December 2015

Masters of the Universe Classics was a line conceived by Mattel in an effort to relaunch the He-Man franchise for today's collectors. However, unlike most toy lines which hit local retail stores, Mattel determined that the success of the series would lie solely in the hands of its fans willingness to commit to the line via a subscription based premise.

The series launched in 2008 with the all new King Grayskull (shown left) at San Diego Comic Con. It was there that Mattel announced that future figures would be made available only via their website, and only to those willing to sign up for a one year commitment. As the line grew in popularity, Mattel also incorporated non-subscription based figures as well as chase and additional exclusives. This not only broadened the line, fleshing out more and more characters that fans wanted, but it also helped to draw in new fans to the series who had missed out on the subscription base, but still wanted to start collecting.

All the way through 2015, Mattel worked in conjunction with the famous Four Horsemen to retool every single vintage figure once released as well as all new ones. No stone was left unturned as the covered the basic Masters of the Universe line as well as She-Ra: Princess of Power, Snakemen and 200x lines. Though all the vintage figures will wrap up this year, Mattel has already announced that the line will continue as an all new 200x series. How long that will continue is anyone's guess.

King Grayskull Bronze Chase Edition

Unfortunately for the collector that has to have everything, one figure you'll most likely never obtain is this exact version of King Grayskull Spirit Edition. This particular figure was released in incredibly small quantities, and were all auctioned off for charities. Your chances of finding this figure are slim to none, and we could never begin to speculate what it would cost you.

Mattel will however be releasing a glow in the dark version of this figure in 2015 to commemorate the series. This will most likely be your only chance to get a version of this particular figure.

King Grayskull Spirit Edition

The line officially kicked off in December of 2008 with he-Man and Beast Man. With the exception of the above mentioned King Grayskull, these two would be the only figures released in this year.

He-Man*Beast Man

The line went into high gear as of January 2009, releasing a new figure each month with a handful of special released figures sprinkled in.

Skeletor*Stratos*Faker

Faker was not only released via Mattel's website in March, but also via an exclusive at New York Comic Con. There are no known differences between the two versions.

Faker (New York Comic Con)

Mer-Man*Zodac*Hordak

Man-At-Arms

He-Ro was released in August of 2009 as an exclusive at San Diego Comic Con. There are four versions known to exist. The first one below is the most popular among collectors because it contains a San Diego Comic Con logo painted on the figure's chest below its removable armor.

He-Ro (San Diego Comic Con Logo)

The other three versions contained NO SDCC stamp, but came in a variation of three different staffs. The first had a green orb, the second a red orb, and the last, a purple orb.

He-Ro (with Various Orb Colors)

Tri-Klops*Webstor*Teela

Not to be confused with Zodac as released in May of 2009, Zodak below was released in October of 2009.

Zodak*Scareglow

King Randor*The Goddess

The series ramped up production even further in 2010 offering multiple figures each month as well as the long awaited Battlecat - The first of what would be many "bests" released in the series.

Adora8battle Armor He-Man*Trap-Jaw

Battlecat

Moss Man was released in two different versions. The first had plastic ears, while the second had ears that were covered in the flocked material that covered the majority of the figure's body.

February also saw the first of accessories released for the line - Castle Grayskull Stands.

Castle Grayskull Stands*Moss Man*Moss Man (Flocked Ears)

Evil-Lyn*Wun-Dar

Fans of the vintage line of He-Man know all to well the value of a good weapon's pack. During the line, Mattel released numerous sets.

Weapons Pak

May of 2010 was note worthy for having the first Space Mutants figure as well as the first giant sized figure.

Optikk*Tytus*She-Ra

Keldor*Count Marzo

Orko

Though the card only advertised Orko on the front of it, the beauty to this San Diego Comic Con exclusive was that it also contained a Prince Adam figure tucked in at the bottom.

Two versions of Orko were released. The first was a color changing version, the second a standard painted version.

Orko

Mattel sometimes skewed off the path, and released figures that weren't necessarily a part of the Masters of the Universe realm. The two pack below is actually based on a Robot Chicken sketch by Seth Green.

Mo-Larr Vs. Skeletor

Whiplash*Chief Carnivus*Gygor

Roboto*Grizzlor*King Grayskull

Weapons Pak #2

Buzz-Off

2011 brought with it an interesting set of two packs that would continue for some time throughout the series. DC Universe Vs. Masters of the Universe Classics. Each two-pack was released via a Toys R' Us exclusive and pitted one MotU figure against an iconic DC hero or villain.

Superman Vs. He-Man*Lex Luthor Vs. Skeletor

Aquaman Vs. Mer-Man*Hawkman Vs. Stratos

Vikor*Eternian Palace Guards

Bow*Shadow-Beast*Preternian Disguise He-Man

King Hssss*Battle Armor Skeletor*Sy-Klone

Panthor

Weapons Rack

Catra*The Faceless One*Battleground Teela

A great pack in with Captain Glenn was a kitten version of Cringer - Though he's far from kitten size.

Clawful*Captain Glenn

Bizarro Vs. Faker

Man-E-Faces*Megator*Leech

Hurricane Hordak

Green Lantern Vs. Zodac*Supergirl Vs. She-Ra

Icarus*Snout Spout

Swiftwind

Bubble Power She-Ra*Demo-Man*Battleground Evil-Lyn

December of 2011 saw the first of one of the very few vehicles released to date. When asked why Mattel was devoting so little attention to vehicles, they responded telling fans that more vehicles equals less figures being produced each year. Though fans weren't necessarily happy with the decision, their desire for figures seemed to squash the debate.

Wind Raider

2012 wasted no time in ramping up production. A three pack was immediately made available in January.

Star Sisters - Jewelstar, Starla and Tallstar

Sorceress*Fisto*Fearless Photog

Shadow Weaver*Kobra Kahn*Thunder Punch He-Man

Draego-Man*Stinkor*Slushhead

May of 2012 brought fans a whole new set of action figure stands. This time the focus of the backdrop was on Skeletor and his minions with the all new Snake Mountain Stands.

Mighty Spector*Snake Mountain Stands*Horde Prime

Snake Man-At-Arms*Griffin

Though it's not listed as such in the photo below, Vykron is actually a San Diego Comic Con exclusive for 2012.

Spikor*Vykron

Sir Laser Lot*Mekaneck*Dragon Blaster Skeletor

Snake Men Two-Pack*Frosta

Rattlor*Cy-Chop

In 2012, Mattel began giving its weapons packs (such as the one below) unique names. Though they still didn't figure out how to spell "pack".

Great Unrest Weapons Pak

Dekker*King Randor*Castle Grayskull Man

Temple of Darkness Sorceress*Mosquitor

2012 ended with two large figures, one of which was highly anticipated by fans - Granamyr.

Procrustus*Granamyr

More, more, more was what fans asked for, and more was what Mattel delivered in 2013 with all new clubs such as Quarterly, Filmation, Monthly, and of course more exclusives and chase figures.

Netossa*Jutsu*Ram Man (Oversized)

Fang Man*King He-Man*Strobo

A unique offering from Mattel in March of 2013 was the form fitted protective clamshell. While fantastic for collectors, the price seemed fairly high in contrast to how many figures were already available - Not to mention how many more were on the horizon.

Form Fitted Clamshell*Snake Face*Karatti

Fighting Foe Men

Octavia*Clamp Champ*He-Man (New Adventures)

Stonedar and Rokkon (below) were the 2013 exclusive made available at San Diego Comic Con. Additional supply was also made available at MattyCollector for fans who were unable to attend. However, this supply was very limited.

Icer*Stonedar and Rokkon Two-Pack

Castaspella*Shokoti*Batros

Attendees of Power Con were given the chance to nab a double edged/handled sword.

Power Con Double Edged/Handled Sword

Sky High with Jet Sled*Mantenna

Lord Datys*Nepthu

End of Wars Weapons Pak

Horde Troopers Two-Pack*Geldor

Sea Hawk*Grayskull Tiered Stands

Fans repeatedly asked Mattel to produce an all new Castle Grayskull, and were finally awarded for their patience in December of 2013. Mattel put a lot of effort into delivering fans the ultimate version, and though they had to cut back on some of the initially planned features, the end result was rather amazing.

Castle Grayskull

Mattel found one of the most obnoxious ways to release a figure when they came up with the idiotic scheme to hide the Spirit of Hordak figure randomly around their website. Fans would literally spend hours/days/weeks on the website clicking link after link after link in typically vain attempts to get the figure's purchase link to "pop up". It's no wonder that secondary markets went crazy with collector's who simply got frustrated with the campaign and decided their time was more valuable than their money. Many fans have still not forgiven Mattel for this one.

Plundor*Strong-Or*Spirit of Hordak

Fans seem split down the middle with the final figure released in December of 2013. Standor - AKA Stan Lee gets either love or hate from the community. Those who love it are not only fans of Masters of the Universe, but Stan Lee and Marvel Comics. Those who hate it can't fathom what Mattel was thinking incorporating him into the line. We've even heard fans ask, "What does Stan Lee have to do with He-Man besides nothing?" Well, it's a stretch, but we suppose Masters of the Universe was published by Star Comics in the 80's, and Star Comics was a sub company of Marvel Comics - A company that Stan Lee was, and to an extent still is the face of. Again - It's a stretch.

Standor

The ground got a little shaky for MotUC collectors towards the end of 2013. Mattel announced that the line was going to be determined on how many subscribers they got, not a new concept, but that fans were not signing up as fast as anticipated. It literally came down to the wire that Mattel was able to reach that magical unknown number of subscribers that the line was given the green light to continue.

Two-Bad*Glimmer

Modulok*Hydron

The Unnamed One*Blade*Scorpia

Battle Lion*Extendar

Flogg*Double Mischief

SDCC saw the all new Filmation version of Horak as an exclusive, and even a miniature Imp in Treasure Chest disguise. For those more so interested in a standard Imp figure, he was packed in with the Hordak exclusive.

Hordak*Imp as Treasure Chest

Though fans were happy to receive Loo-Kee and Kowl (below), they felt ripped off by the premium price for two mini figures. Many felt that the figures should have been packed in with an individual full sized character.

Loo-Kee and Kowl Two-Pack*Flutterina*Skeletor (New Adventures)

Madame Razz

Goatman was first released at San Diego Comic Con in August of 2014, but then went on to be released at a circuit of various conventions.

Goatman

Rio Blast*Entrpta*Eldor

Sweet Bee*Light Hope

Battle Ram with (200x) Man-At-Arms

Tung Lashor*Arrow

Galactic Protector She-Ra*Gwildor*Mermista

Spinnerella

As we mentioned at the beginning, Mattel announced that 2015 would be the end of the Classics line due to them finally completing every single figure that was originally produced in the vintage series. However, they have already announced that the series will continue, focusing on the 200x era of He-Man. As of now, it's anyone's guess as to how popular this all new wave will be.

Fans have pleaded with Mattel to end the line on a high note with an all new Snake Mountain, but at this point it doesn't seem likely at all that this will happen.