February 2009 Recap

Below is a recap of all the post we've covered in February 2009. If you missed any, or simply want to see them again, click on each "title" to be taken directly to that post. As always, thanks for reading.

Masters of the Universe

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Masters Of The Universe (Mattel)

Masters of the Universe
Mattel
1981 - 1986

In 1981, Masters of the Universe, also referred to as He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, or abbreviated as MotU took the world by storm when it was first introduced as an animated show. The series was followed in 1982 by what would soon become one of the best action figure line of all time.

Rather than go with the 3 3/4 inch figure style that lines such as Star Wars and G.I. Joe had found huge success with, the MotU figures were a larger, five to six inch line. This in turn meant that vehicles and accessories would also be larger than your common toy line was producing.

The figures are the bread and butter of the line. Mint on card figures go for astounding amounts on the secondary market, especially the ones which were only made available in Italy, which can go for several thousands of dollars each.



With each year that passed, Mattel seemed to only raise the bar higher and higher. While several variants of He-Man and Skeletor were made available, each one always remained unique from the last. Unlike most lines that relied on simple repaints, the MotU line added new armor, weapons, and features.

For example, He-Man was made available in his original version, but later a Battle Armor He-Man included an armor set that would transform to show three versions of damage. Then there was Thunder Punch He-Man which utilized caps. This creativeness continued on throughout the line.


To accommodate the accessories for the Thunder Punch He-Man and Dragon Blaster Skeletor, Mattel produced oversize blister packs. This style of cards would continue throughout the series for the "special" figures released.


1985 also saw the release of a new sub series of figures called "The Evil Horde." The Horde figures were based off of the characters as seen in the new Filmation cartoon She-Ra: Princess of Power, and while they didn't make often appearances in Masters of the Universe, they were still widely accepted by fans of the cartoons.

Modulok was a unique figure. Rather than come in a blister pack, the figure came boxed in a small rectangular box. Even more unique was that the figure came in pieces, which allowed for kids to create various versions of the character. The box art itself showed the various versions of the figure.

1986 saw even more expansions to the series. A subset of Comet Warriors were produced, along with the Snake Men, and more additions to the Evil Horde.



1987 was the last year of the vintage series of Masters of the Universe figures. With it came two final sub series, Cybernetic Warriors and figures from the live action film.



Creatures were a big part of the line. Several of the toys were also common characters seen in the show such as Cringer, Panthor, and Zoar.





Meteorbs were introudced in the final year of He-Man.


Greyskull was a line that Mattel launched in a final attempt to keep the series alive. It sadly wasn't enough to keep kids intersted, and the sereis was officially cancelled shortly after their release.

The majority of the vehicles were featured predominantly in the carton, and thus were identifiable to kids. This helped to ensure that merchandise would move off of store shelves at a pretty good rate.





The accessories for the line were typically Mattel's own creations, and were not seen in the show. However, they were priced affordably, and had a lot of playability to them for kids. Thus, they still sold well.

The only purpose the package of caps served was to replenish the used ones for Thunder Punch He-Man. While these He-Man brand caps were priced reasonable, there were other brands, all compatible with the figure, which were cheaper.

Like most toy lines of the 80's, MotU incorporated "slime" to incorporate into play with the Slime Pit playset.


The playsets, like most playests in the 80's, were a major treat for children. They were typically expensive, and thus, a real gem in anyone's collection of toys.

These days, they're even more sought after by collectors. Finding a complete, mint in box playset is an expensive endevor.





In an effort to sell more toys, Mattel produced several gift packs. They comprised of toys that had already been produced already, so while it was a convenient way to get multiple figures, there were no exclusives that required you to buy them.









Since the original 1982 to 1986 line of toys, He-Man has seen six lines of action figures, and four different TV incarnations. The future of He-Man looks as bright as ever these days. With new figures being produced on a regular basis, and older figures continuing to be chased down on secondary markets, He-Man has withstood the test of time, and etched its way into the history of great toys.

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January 2009 Recap

Below is a recap of all the post we've covered in January 2009. If you missed any, or simply want to see them again, click on each "title" to be taken directly to that post. As always, thanks for reading.

G.I. Joe 1982
G.I. Joe 1983

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G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero 1983 (Hasbro)

G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero
Hasbro
1983

In 1983 the popularity of G.I. Joe grew ten fold. Demand for the toys was way higher than the supply could ever keep up with. The first series was virtually impossible to find.

Though what was cool about Hasbro was that the mail away figure released with the first series would find its way to store shelves on a card back. While they did this for a little while with some of the other mail away figures, they eventually became just that, and were not offered in stores. But, this wouldn't happen for while.

The second series launched with seven new "grunt" figures which included; Airborne, Destro, Doc, Gung Ho, Major Bludd, Snow Job, Torpedo and Tripwire.

Backed by the cartoon series, kids were being introduced to new characters with each episode, so while some of the figures were virtually unknown just yet, this didn't stop children from high tailing it to the stores to swoop them all up.

New to this series was also the swivel arm battle grip. Meaning that the arms were now capable of swiveling not only up and down, but also side to side, giving the figures a more realistic “feel” to them. Kids ate this concept up, and over time, every toy making company went this way for their action figure lines. The swivel arm would be in place from now until the series end.

Seven vehicle drivers were also released with this series and also introduced fans to the second female character in the series, Cover Girl. The seven figures included were; Ace, Cover Girl, Grand Slam (sporting a new silver chest plate as opposed to the original 1982 version with the red), Grunt (now sporting a tan pair of fatigues as opposed to the green ones from the original 1982 version), H.I.S.S. Driver, Viper Pilot (essentially a Cobra Soldier with a silver Cobra insignia as opposed to the red) and Wild Bill.



Again most were only available with the purchase of specific vehicles, but some were available carded by themselves.

New to the mail away game was the Joe leader himself, Duke. While Duke would later be available carded, and in the more rarer JC Penny and Sears "bubble" versions, this particular release was sent in your usual mail away bag which included his stat card.
An accessories pack and figure carry case was also made available this year. But, the downside to the case was that it only held 12 figures - Far from enough space for all your toys.

Hasbro released a wide variety of vehicles this time around. A Joe base was also produced for the second series of toys.

The vehicles released in 1983 are as follows; A.P.C., Cobra Viper Glider, Command Center Headquarters, Dragonfly XH-1, F.A.N.G., G.I. Joe Falcon Glider, H.I.S.S., Polar Battle Bear, Skystriker XP-14F, Wolverine, J.U.M.P. (rereleased with Grand Slam figure), PAC/RAT (flame thrower), PAC/RAT (machine gun), PAC/RAT (missile launcher), S.N.A.K.E. and Whirlwind.




Hasbro also did something that many children loved. They re-released the entire first series, but updated them with the new swivel arm concept. Not only did this make those hard to find figures easier to obtain, but also made them fit in with rest of your Joes. Not only that, but Hasbro also included the mail away Cobra Commander on a card.

They were all back for another go (left to right, top to bottom); Breaker, Cobra Soldier, Cobra Commander, Cobra Officer, Flash, Grunt, Rock N Roll, Scarlett, Short-Fuze, Commando (now officially dubbed "Snake-Eyes"), Stalker and Zap.

While they didn't fly off the shelves as quickly this time, supply was at least able to keep up with demand. With most action figure lines, one could always find an abundance of female characters on the shelves, but some of the cooler male looking figures were always a little tough to get a hold of. That's just how it was back then. Guys played with guy figures.



To add even more icing to the delicious Hasbro cake, Hasbro also re-released all the original vehicle drivers and vehicles.

It basically felt like while the first series came out in 1982 that the series didn't begin until 1983. All the figures were readily available, and children could pick and choose with glee. It also helped that at this time in the world, collecting action figures was still a child's joy, so kids could find what they were looking for without paying outrageous prices or more than likely, doing without.

But, now-a-days, collecting action figures has become more of an adult hobby. Toys are marketed specifically towards adults because toy companies know that they're the ones with the money...or credit cards.

For the rest of you who have moved on from plastic toys, you'll always have our memories, and that's really what counts.

Stay tuned for our look at Masters of the Universe!

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