Masters of the Universe - A Collector's Guide to 1982 

When I got my first He-Man, the sword was missing from the package. I got 2 battle axes. I wrote Mattel and they sent me an entire new figure complete with the weapons and another sword for my first one. So cool.

I don't understand very good English but thank you for this video great memory i buy musclor in 1984 when I m children 😢

I'm drawn to videos like this because they make me remember the last time the world didn't feel actively hostile to me. True story.

Man, I'm fucking crying! I was dumb enough to store all my old toys in a basement space of my old apartment building and got cleaned. My dad bought them all for me when I was two.

Zero thumbs down. Deservedly. Great vid.

Brings back so many memories. Have all of them to this day.

I got em all except twistoid, rotar, laser he man and skeletor...I was 6 in 1982... greatest time of my life. Mer Man was my first figure and my favorite!!!

Such memories, When I opened 'Snake Mountain' for Xmas I think I reached the pinnacle of happiness ..... Time moves to fast....

I was born in The 80's.. Its like taking a trip back to the past ❤️. The best of toys.

Excellent video! I had one of those original He-Man figures and you want to know who his greatest enemy was at that time for little me? The Wampa figure from The Empire Strikes Back. To be a kid again with that imagination...

what a wonderful trip to my childhood. These were so great. Perfect size and something to look up to. No Rey, Rose or Holdo around back them. What a time to live

It's incredible kids around the world shared the same memories playing with these toys. Sadly, I lost mine during the war in Croatia in the 90's. Would give anything to feel, smell and play with those action figures once again.

HE MAN my Favorite toy in the 80s , 👍 SUPER VIDEO!👌 Greetings from Germany😉👋

Always wanted the castle playset. Alas my mother wasn't forward thinking enough to allow her daughter to play with "boys toys". Got to play with the set once with a boy who had it that I grew up with.

When I was little I saw a kid bring Castle Grayskull to a high school basketball game. That's just how some of us rolled back then.

I had a Six Million Dollar Man, some planet of the Apes stuff and some Megos - but I was already watching Basket Case by 82, He Man had no impact on me other than ... My Brother was partial to this line - anytime i see folks into this they're all like like my kid brothers!! Cool video.

Yes, action figures that helped us children growing up somehow. Thank you

Back in the day, the first two MOTU items I got were Stratos and the Wind Raider. I still remember quite vividly when I got those after a trip to a department store with my Mom. Eventually, I would end up getting everything mentioned in the video except for Teela; Mom always saw the female action figures as "dolls" and "boys shouldn't be playing with dolls".

I'll be turning 45 in August I remember those toys well

Awesome video man !

I got all these figures at the time, I also got most of the Star Wars figures and vehicles too, and loads of Action Man stuff (one of the few benefits of divorced parents!). Loved them all and played the hell out of them! I've still got a lot lurking in the attic, all play-worn! How many forty-somethings, like me, wish they could go back in time and tell their young self to buy two of each: One to play with and one to keep mint on card? I get cold sweats when I see the value of those carded Star Wars figures.... Still, they gave me a huge amount of joy at the time. Thanks for this blast from the past!

I am a younger guy and I didn’t grow up with he man but when i was 8 i got a dvd of season one and loved it immensely even at that young age i knew the show was cheesy but it was still great it wasn’t until later when i went on to RU-vid that i realized there were toys but I really think that shows how timeless and attention grabbing the motu world is

My name is Gabriel from Argentina. My Best friend Rodrigo, He had all the dolls, i was poor, he wasn't and i went hes house we played with everyone doll from the Masters of the Universe!!! thank you for bringing us that videos!!! Congratulations

I was born in 82 and just loved to play with MOTU figures as a kid and we had a lot of them... kinda miss those days...

Tony, another great review!😁👍

I was a kindergartner (5 years old) when MOTU came out in '82. Perfect age!

The Wind Raider is awesome! Of course I still have both that and the Battle Ram. So dope.

Yes, Trap-Jaw was an AWESOME one, which I also had. Had Cyclops too😎😎👌🏼

Excellent video, Tony!

My younger brother had Snake Mountain with the microphone voice activation you can talk into which was cool. I remember the He-Man commercial in '81, with the Castle Gray Skull, wow did it brought me back at age 4 watching it on television. I've used to have He-Man, Ram-Man, Skeletor, the Moss-Man with the green fuzz on his body (don't remember his name), Manny- Faces, the battle chest damage He-Man and few others i can't remember. But those were the toys back then that were one of the hottest toys at the time next to the Thundercats, Silverhawks and TMNT, in the '80's.

My old Castle Grayskull is now one of my 6 yr old’s favorite toys. She loves it.

if youre going for true 82, skelly had "half boot" paint, merman had a green belt, teela had brown hair, not red, and man at arms had red dots on his helmet

Awesome Video Tony!

Walking down an alley in Bangkok 3 years ago, found all original Hordak, Beast Man, Prince Adam, Skeletor, and Ram Man. $2/each. Bought them all!

This is single-handedly the best video regarding these toys I have ever seen in my life. THANK YOU!!!!!!

"you didn't have one of these (Castle Grey skull) you missed out." Pouring salt into my wound. Lol.

I remember getting castle grayskull for my birthday when I was 5 years old. Those were the days man. Thankyou for this 👍

Thank you. I love MOTU and any videos of them is most welcome.

I have almost the entire line of Motu-I spent many a day prowling the aisles of Toys-R-Us and Children's Palace finding the newest releases for my son. I still have the original box for Castle Greyskull down in the basement, along with numerous big tubs with all the figures and vehicles carefully packed inside.

Old school. They are still making cool MOTU toys.

When I was 17 in 1994 I happened into an old store in my little farm town. The ancient woman who owned it hadn't updated prices...ever. Basic digital calculators were still $65, the price they were decades before when they were just released and "high tech". But the brand new un-opened He Man and Star Wars toys were each $5. When I bought out her stockroom she informed me that everything was now half price. I still have them un-opened to this day.

Another great history lesson

Love the video greetings from Sweden

You and Pixel Dan need to do a Motu collab! Would be totally epic!

Great info thanks for sharing

MOTU has some of the most toy set designs and box art worthy of staring at for hours.

I missed out on owning Castle Grayskull as a kid so as an adult I have Two. One I restored and the other I customized.

Can I just say how much I love your chill theme music, Tony?

I had these figures. 😎😎👍🏼

When I was a kid, we called Merman's sword, the corn sword.

I grew up on the Masters Of The Universe toy line. This is my list: What I Had: He-Man Prince Adam Man At Arms Teela Stratos Buzz-Off Ram-Man Fisto Mekaneck Man E Faces Battle Cat/Cringer Zodac Skeletor Beast-Man Evil-Lyn Tri-Klops Whiplash (only my brother owned it) Rattlor (only my brother owned it) Zoar Road Ripper Wind Raider Castle Grayskull What I Never Had But Wished I Did: Rattlor Whiplash Moss Man Jitsu Stinkor Trap-Jaw Orko Rio Blast Screeech Panthor Sorceress King Randor Queen Marlena Mer-Man Attak-Trak Point Dread Night-Stalker Faker Sy-Klone Clawful Spikor Roboto Stridor Dragon Walker Bashasaurus Battle Bones Snout Spout Jet Sled Blaster Hawk Laser Bolt Scubattack Tower Tools Cliff Climber Beam Blaster Artilleray Megalaser Stilt Stalkers Granamyr Clamp Champ Extendar Ninjor Scare-Glow Eternia Snake Mountain What I never Had But Glad I Didn't Two-Bad Webstor Hordak Leech Mantenna Modulok King Hiss Tung Lashor Kobra Khan Horde Troopers Dragstor Mosquitor Sssqueeze Snake-Face Blast-Attak Spydor The Slime Pit The Fright Zone

It's fascinating how the good guys came with vehicles first. It's just like how G.I. Joe debuted.

We had that little plane vehicle,but ours was used,so it was missing the wings and the tail piece. It seemed to have all the other parts. Only had a used Castle Greyskull which was missing most the of accessories. Just had the draw bridge/door and that cage pit sticker inside of it,but I did get a brand new Snake Mountain for Christmas one year.

Cool video! My favorite Masters of the Universe action figure is Skeletor!

My younger brother had all of those back in the 80s. Plus castle greyskull and snake mountain. All the vehicles. I was into him voltron and transformers and gi joe.

My mother was a single parent. Never really expected much other than meals and clothing. One day she bought me a He-Man.. the one that came with the battle cat. That action figure captured my imagination like nothing else.

When I was a kid my favourite He-Man figures was Stratos because as he had a mask on and his face was obscured it was easier for me to pretend that was me. Same for Star Wars figures, my favourites were the AT-AT Driver and the Tie Fighter Pilot because they wore helmets I could pretend they were me. Consequently in my Star Wars figure battles they were on the side of the Rebellion. Lol

Yes, outstanding!

Very knowledgeable sir. Great video, wished I'd kept those toys as a kid.

No wonder I became a Gym nut later in life. I had all these toys and never realized how jacked He-Man was lol I remember getting my hair cut as a kid and always asked for the "He-Man" hair cut. I ended up with some sort of bowl cut and because my hair was super blonde the combo made me look like a little girl lol

I always forget about Telas cobra armour, which is a shame, its pretty awesome.

As a kid in 90s I have spent hours and hours at my older cousin place playing with his Masters of the Universe "toys". He had all of them including gear and castle but as far as I remember, He-Man sword was thinner and longer than one showed here.

Cracking selection. Truly some legendary toys. 😁 It's easy to forget how experimental this series was back in the day, between bodging together themes and concepts, shrinking from the 12" scale and reusing parts in such a creative way. Pretty much invented *the modern action figure.* I grew up with the *2002 incarnation of MotU.* What little of the '02 TV show I watched (weird schedules), I liked it, but I didn't get the toys 'cos I probably wasn't aware of the TV/toy line catch-22. Seriously wish I grabbed the Skeletor of that line. He was a nightmarish, Frazettan masterpiece. ☠ Got into the '80s He-Man in my teens watching reruns of the cartoons. Haven't looked back since. 😆 I got _the Art of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe_ book a few years back. Really got me interested in toy development and, well, it's also a nice art book. Must hunt down the other books of MotU lore and mini-comics. I like these collector guide vids. Hope to see more, Tony! 👍

8:35 That was my childhood!

The 80's were a great time to be a child. He-man, Transformers, Voltron, and M.A.S.K were some of the things I highly enjoyed. I enjoyed GI Joe as well, but some people don't much care for the smaller toys. I had the original He-man, as well as castle GS. I had a lot of the characters, but the years have not been kind to my memory. I know I had several versions of He-man, lacked an original Skeletor, though I had a later version of him. I always wanted a Prince Adam for some reason. The one I hated the most was Ram-Man.

:) great video, well delivered and excellent information! I will add to my channel as a recommendation...

I never got any MOTU figures. I was obsessed with star wars, but these toys look like a lot of fun. If I ever turn into a kid I'm gonna buy MOTU toys.

2007 kid here Though I was not around when masters of the universe toys were selling I still LOVE THE FIGURES and there pretty darn cheap sure getting He-Man was a pretty penny and so will getting SKELETOR but I’m excited to expand my collection

Oddly enough, Stratos was my favorite of the collection. Even without accessories, I thought he looked very cool.

This is the sledgemaster. You do a wonderful and professional job. And it clean and the whole family can set and watch ur videos. Thank u and god bless for u and ur family. Have a happy new year

Thank you very much h for making this video!

I think I had to go to Toys R Us to find a Teela figure. The only He-Man I ever had was a slightly used Thunder Punch He-Man,which was missing his sword,shield and the caps you put in this backpack thing. I had a used Prince Adam figure as well,but by the time I started collecting,the original He-Man figure was near impossible to find.

Man I miss my 1982 He-man collection

I loved MOTU when it was released. I had Castle Grayskull and most of the figures. However, of all the great 80’s toy lines, MOTU hasn’t aged well with my nostalgia; though I will say that Castle Grayskull is definitely one of the top playsets of all time.

Give u 👌👍 I back 35 years 1st figure I had Nice video

Excellent video Tony. As I've commented previously, Masters of the Universe was my toyline as a child - I still have all of my original figures (around 25); about 20 years ago I collected the complete line, nearly twice over, but later sold it 'when times got hard', but kept my originals which I could never part with! Some thoughts (my typical long post ahead!): * He-Man has a perfect head sculpt, no later incarnation of He-Man has ever nailed that look, IMO. I believe he also came packaged with the 'He-Man and the Power Sword' mini-comic, though my original was actually an early second wave re-release packaged with "The Magic Stealer!" from that wave. He-Man was the first figure I had of the line, and I can remember excitedly rushing to my grandparents house to show them, and my grandfather sitting reading "The Magic Stealer!" to me. * Man-At-Arms looks good, with his colour scheme. I prefer the early 'war-hardened' take on MAA over the 'fuddy duddy' inventor of most later portrayals. * Teela's face sculpt is lovely; she's also one of the figures with the most variations. Originally she, confusingly, "represented" two different characters - Teela without the cobra armour, and The Goddess (later to became the Sorceress) with the armour. All very confusing, partly explained in he (rare) second wave mini-comic "The Tale of Teela". * Stratos did indeed seem cool at first but was in reality kinda boring. It's like all the elements were there but they just couldn't quite pull it off. I've always thought his drab grey colour didn't help (a lighter, silvery-blue colour woulda worked better), and his armor just looks uninspired and on back-to-front - the prototype/boxart armour looked far more impressive! He also really needed a weapon. Although you're not covering variants, it is worth noting that Stratos was readily available with both red wings/blue armour and blue wings/red armour combination. * Skeletor is indeed awesome and the second figure I bought. I've actually identified the actual DATE I purchased him, and can remember buying him in Owen and Owen's late one afternoon just before they closed - placing my hard-saved bag of half pennies on the counter to pay for him and the girl on the till sighing. * I'm ashamed to admit I never had Beast Man as a boy; I certainly wanted him, but could never find him on the shelves as subsequent waves came out. He looked really good, though I found his arm armour a bit clunky. His whip was good but over-sized (due to it being recycled, like Battle Cat, from the Big Jim line). * Ditto I never got my hands on Mer Man originally. A decent figure, although the head sculpt didn't capture the excellent look on the boxart. * For some reason I DID have Zodac despite never owning the far better Beast Man / Mer Man; Zodac was rather dull and my least favouerite of the original 8. The character was actually a last minute replacement after Teela/The Goddess were merged into one. His box was confusingly listed as 'EVIL Cosmic Enforcer' (I guess there was no place to list a 'neutral' character), but I've always thought that this evil cosmic bounty hunter looking villain is actually a far more exciting concept than the bland 'watcher' than faded into the background for most of the line. * Battle Cat and Castle Grayskull I both had (have) and love; have covered those on past posts. * Never had Wind Raider or Battle Ram; Wind Raider is better as a display piece than as an actual toy; I do like how it mirror's inventor Man-At-Arms' colour-scheme. It was actually designed as a airship / landship / sailing vessel all in one, but was only ever really portrayed as an air vehicle. * Battle Ram seemed particularly uncommon on the shelves 'round my way, never got to see it until many years later. I totally agree that the first wave nailed it; in fact the first two waves I consider to be superb and were never topped in the line. (IMO the second wave was very much an add-on from the first wave; the first distinctive 'break' in releases came with the start of the third wave). These early barbarian, pre-Prince Adam characters are perfect, I far prefer them over the "anything goes" (gimmicky) tone of later waves. Really looking forward to the second wave - along with the first, I consider it the best of the entire line!

Cool video, I really like it with a lot of informations about this iconic toy line, Thank you !

I had all of these figures except Stratos. I saw him in the store but decided to get another figure instead, I never saw Stratos in stores again after that. He's the one that got away. I didn't have Castle Grayskull or the vehicles. But I did have two Battle Cats.

Hello from the UK, motu will always be my favourite toy line! Im loving your Action man & Action force videos! Keep up the awesome work, your channel is ace!

Ooh, Stratos was one of my favorites. Check out the original mini-comics and of course, the animated series. Both show him shooting energy beams from his hands. No need for weapons! :)

I like the collector's case shown in the beginning. Vintage awesomeness! :-)

Skeletor has the best insults in the '80s.

Very interesting video. I still have Castle Grayskull after more than 35 years my favourite playset ever, and of course Skeletor in one of the iconics evil master of the 80's.

Another excellent one, Mr. Tony. Appreciate it. Hope you'll consider similar yearly guides for other toylines like Transformers & G. I. Joe. Had several MOTU figures, or rather my little brother did. The real disappointment was the Man-at-Arms figure; he looked nothing at all from the cartoons. Also, the Sorceress should've been added as a bonus to Castle Greyskull. I think a reason why you didn't get Teela was similar to a LOT of kids; their parents wouldn't believe a boy would WANT a female figure, even if its Scarlett from G. I. Joe or Princess Leia from Star Wars. Zodac is indeed confusing as the figure was described as a Cosmic Enforcer in the toyline, yet in the cartoons, he was like Marvel's Watcher, he observes but cannot intervene, even when Orko once asked him to assist He-Man. I think Zodac was an ally of the Sorceress in the cartoon.

You are such a dad!

I thought Ram-man was part of the original line. Then again it was so long ago that I don't remember the details. I definitely don't remember if my man-at-arms figure was a leader issue or if it had the red dots on the helmet, I remember getting He-Man, Teela and Ram-Man together in a three pack for Christmas. in fact the only one in this video I never had is Beastman.

Lol I always thought every wind raider I played with was broken. The grapple was so weak & clicked whenever there was tension.

Wow! The whole thing is extraordinarily interesting.

There were three vehicles in the first wave here in Spain: Battle Ram, Wind Rider and Attack Track.

I never had any of them, I never really got into the figures. Loved the animated series though. But in retro-spec, I really think that if I had gotten them as a child I probably would have like them. My thing as a kid was Joe's. Legos and Matchbox/Hot Wheels, lol, I remember playing little cars in the back yard for hours..anyway, thanks for the great video Tony!!

Everybody talks crap about zodak and stratos but we loved them as kids and still do their as cool as the rest of them to alot of people

This is a great start to an amazing toyline. Man-At-Arms is still the best!

Great video!

Awesome video man 👍😎

I think Stratos is awesome and he was always my favorite. Many collectors and reviewers discredit Stratos and rank him lower than the other MOTU characters. I liked him so much as a child that I eventually got the Red Winged, Blue Jet Pack Stratos to enhance my collection. I continued to collect MOTU through much of the early 80s and have all of my collection in remarkable condition. The least important action figure, or poor excuse for an action figure, in my collection is of course Ram Man. What a piece of crap!

WE HAD A SUPER CHILDHOOD

great video. thanks

I have most of these still. My favorite is my faker and scareglow

I collect loose MOTU, TMNT as they are still fairly affordable and quite easy to find complete and in a working state compared to other 80's toylines. The only real break point for MOTU is the legs.

I never had my own He-man, it was always a cousin or a friend that had him but my first motu figure was Zodac…I remember magic markering a mustache on Man at arms face like in the cartoon