Masters of the Universe

He-Man Masters of the Universe Action Figures

He Man and the Masters of the Universe was a very popular Saturday morning cartoon  that aired from 1983 to 1985.  The Mattel toy line actually preceded the show (1981), and by the mid 1980’s, He-Man was everywhere.

This cartoon was about a powerful warrior, named He-Man, who masqueraded as Prince Adam during the day (he was the son of King Randor and Queen Marlena).  The action took place on the magical planet of Eternia, and Prince Adam would transform into He-Man by yielding the Sword of Power and proclaiming “By the Power of Grayskull, I have the Power!”  After transforming into the most powerful man in the universe, He-Man would battle bad guys like Skeletor with the help of his pet tiger, Battle Cat, and others (Man-At-Arms, Teela, Stratos, Zodac, etc.).  Skeletor’s main goal is to capture Castle Grayskull, which would subsequently strip He-Man of his powers and allow Skeletor to reign supreme.

The toy line essentially featured the characters from the show, and also included play sets such as Castle Grayskull, Tower of Eternia, the Slime Pit, and Snake Mountain.  Of course there were also one off oddities, like the 1984 He-Man talking tooth brush and the He-Man watch, as well as tons of other merchandising gimmicks.