Mattel’s Next Steps With Masters of the Universe

One of the big bits of He-Man related news coming out of Comic-Con is that Mattel is reclaiming Masters of the Universe. For the past few years, the toy giant basically outsourced the license to the more niche company Super7, and was unable or uninterested in doing much with it themselves. But times change. Mattel has a $250 buildable Castle Grayskull playset in their LEGO-ish Mega Construx line, and many expansion sets to come. At their SDCC booth, they showed off a new Point Dread and Talon Fighter set, plus a Sky Sled, Roton, Battle Cat and Panthor and some deep dive minifig variants which included vintage minicomic-style Prince Adam and Stratos.

On the downside, if you’re a fan of the Super7 figures, they’re basically done, all except for 3-3/4 inch Reaction figures. Mattel told us the 7-inch Classics line isn’t dead…but for a while it will definitely be sleeping.

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That’s far from all. In Walmarts nationwide, Masters of the Universe action figures will be relaunched in a new style called Origins. Basically, it takes the original ’80s figures and gives them slightly tweaked sculpts and added articulation. Funko used the classic Masters style on some of their licenses lately, and Mattel plans to show them how to do it right. Initial offerings include He-Man, Skeletor, Teela, Evil-Lyn, Man-at-Arms, and Beast Man. Our friends at Mattel told us that it’s definitely possible for future figures to include features like opening chests or extending necks. Though they may cost slightly more than the basic $14.99.

In a most unexpected brand extension, the Masters mash-up with another Mattel license to create Masters of the WWE Universe! Using the same body style, this line gives us the likes of Sting as Clawful, Rey Mysterio with Stratos wings (not pictured), and Macho Man at Arms (also not pictured). A Man-E-New-Day’s faces change between Kofi, Big E, and Xavier. And for the debut offering this fall, a Grayskull-themed ring with Terror Claws Triple H and John Ce-Man.

While it isn’t advertised as a selling point, these figures — classic and WWE — feature interchangeable body parts. Kids and fans can mix and match to create crazy hybrids.

Check out all the Masters of the Universe offerings in our gallery below. Do you think they still have the power?