The Toys of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe

by Val Staples, Mattel, Dan Eardley

A massive, 700-plus-page, full-color hardcover chronicling the quintessential toys of He-Man, She-Ra, and the other Masters of the Universe!

In the 1980s, the  Masters of the Universe  toy lines shook the world of children's entertainment to its foundations. Now, YouTube influencer "Pixel Dan" Eardley and He-Man historian Val Staples have worked with fans worldwide to cultivate this incredible volume that contains in-depth overviews of every item in several complete toy lines, 1982's  Masters of the Universe , 1985's  Princess of Power , 1989's  He-Man , 2002's  Masters of the Universe  relaunch, and 2008's  Masters of the Universe Classics ! In addition to expertly-researched documentation of the toys' development and unique variants, each entry also includes photographic reference of the heroic figures and playsets from decades of development. This phenomenal tome also features never-before-seen interviews and designer commentary from the toys' creators, offering keen insights into the genesis of a product that inspired millions of young imaginations.

With over 700 pages of lovingly assembled content, this compendium is the perfect addition to any  Masters of the Universe  fan's collection. By the power of Grayskull, you have the power!

Genres: Nonfiction, Collections

752 pages, Hardcover

First published May 4, 2021

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Masters of the Universe came out right in the prime of my childhood. They were the "IT" toy for every 4th grade boy at our school. This book brings back a lot of nostalgia along with the realization there were way more toys than I ever knew existed. Included in this book are references pages for every action figure produced along with information on variants. It's not just the original toy line from 1982 either. It covers all of the MOTU lines through 2020, including the She-Ra lines. There's also multiple interviews with the toy designers included. This 750 page whopper of a book is every MOTU fan's dream.

[Marc *Dark Reader with a Thousand Young! Iä!* · Rating 3 out of 5]

I still own everything shown on the front cover.

This is a massive book geared more towards collectors than general fans, but if you had any Masters of the Universe toys in your childhood you will probably enjoy at least the first sections of the book. Toy collections are presented in historical order by series, with all releases within that line in alphabetical order. Each action figure, vehicle, or separately-packaged accessory gets a full page, with photos of the toy from every side, the unopened package, and demonstrations of any special toy actions.

The descriptions in the early parts tend towards marketing copy, and the interviews in those parts were disappointing. Both of these improve as the collections modernize.

It starts of course with the original toy line, followed by the complete She-Ra, Princess of Power toys “for girls” with copious outfit-only sets, then the abysmal “New Adventures of He-Man” sci-fi line stuffed with bizarre, unlikeable creations. Next comes way more figures than I ever knew existed based on the 2002 rebooted anime-influenced animated series, which was sadly cancelled after 3 seasons just after hinting at Hordak.

The whole second half of the book covers "MOTU classics" re-release and fan-service lines issued between 2008 and 2020. These include a ton of toys that nostalgia-only readers will probably never have seen, with a ton of convention exclusives and subscription-only models, often representing figures or variations only seen a single time in a single episode of the original cartoon, or from original concept art that never before saw the light of day. For hardcore collectors only!

There’s even a MOTU dentist figure, based on a character from a Robot Chicken MOTU skit.

Apparently my personal interest in the action figures ended in 1987, but I had and still have almost everything put out prior to that. Nothing still in box (although I have some of the original vehicle boxes), all lovingly played with. I very nervously allowed my own kids to play with them a couple of years ago. There were a couple breakages, but I'll live. I'm surprised at how hardy most of the toys are after all this time.

If you just want a trip down memory lane or an indulgent re-experience, this is worth flipping through, but I think I'll enjoy Art of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe more overall.

[Online Eccentric Librarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

Perhaps best characterized as a reference book, this 700+ monstrosity is one of the best books on collecting that I have ever read. Roughly 95% of the book is simply listing the various action figures, vehicles and playsets for the countless incarnations of the MOTU: One page for each, with beautiful pictures of the toy and the box it came in, verbal description of what the toy can do and additional pieces of insight. The volume of how many toys are listed is staggering, and the level of detail applied to each and every one shows immense dedication.

I loved MOTU when I was young and still own around 30 action figures, some vehicles and a Snake Mountain (none in collectible condition though). Thus, going into the book I thought I knew quite a bit about the subject, or at least the original run as I had never really paid attention to the revivals. Turns out I know very little. There are a lot more toys than I knew of, and even for the ones I have I learned something new.

While the book is probably best suited for a hard-core collector, it worked great for me as a trip down memory lane. It has been nearly 30 years since I played with these, but going through pages in the book I had constant moments of recollection - from the toys themselves, snippets of the box art or sometimes even the ads for other figures that I used to obsess over. (Also a lot of "Hey I used to have that, where'd it go?").

Interwoven into the toys are short interviews with various designers, artists and other notables from the creators of the toys. If you've watched the Netflix show "The Toys that Made Us", then perhaps 50% is repeated but still enjoyable. Of course all the sections on the newer toys are completely new information.

In addition to He-Man, the book also details She-Ra, which is very interesting right now due to the highly successful Netflix remake. I did not know that most of the characters in the remake had an origin already in the 1985 toy set, and it was much fun to see what the original appearance was, and how the characters were portrayed back then.

All in all, this is an excellent book for any fan of MOTU and if you're a collector it's a must. Highly recommended. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

[T.J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I have the power... to hold this massive book!" Oof!

"The Toys of He-Man" is a muscular 700+page, full-color book, beautifully printed and filled with photos and details of every Masters of the Universe action figure produced by Mattel in the 1980s, including the sister spinoff line Princess of Power and the late 80s New Adventures of He-Man relaunch. Also included are the commemorative figures produced circa 2000, the gaudy hunchback 200X series, and the ridiculous plethora of "adult collectible" figures produced over the last 10 or 20 years. More toys have been created out of nostalgia than were actually produced for children in the 1980s. Obscure characters, "cartoon accurate," swappable heads and hands for proper posing, etc. The book doesn't contain the newest figures ("Revelation" and Retro Action and Eternia Minis and the upcoming kids Netflix show and... ). Perhaps a volume 2 will be published in another 40 years?

I will say, while this book is a love letter to the adult action figure collector, for the casual Masters fan it's missing a few things. I wish the various sections had proper introductions. As someone who didn't collect any figures after 2000, I'm not as familiar with and don't understand all the repetitive lines produced in the last few years - and that's the whole second half of the book! The book does a fine job categorizing the characters' various alliances, but I wish they had put things like vehicles, accessories, playsets, and the dozen or so She-Ra "fantastic fashions" in their own groups rather than alphabetically throughout. Also, the book explains in the introduction that it is only including Masters action figures made by Mattel. Although the action figures were always the centerpiece of Masters of the Universe, other Masters toys that were licensed during the 1980s (stickers, colorforms, coloring books, lunch boxes, sleeping bags, etc.) are left out. So the name of the book probably should have been "Just The Action Figures of He-Man." And for the hardcore Masters fan, I wish the book would have included more international variants, prototype sketches, packaging artwork, knockoff figures, and behind-the-scenes stories. There are some nice interviews with various Masters toy designers included, but I'm not sure I learned anything that wasn't already on "The Toys That Made Us." Still, it's a great book about the action figures and is sure to satisfy the audience it's intended for.

[Chase · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is TOTALLY AWESOME. “The Toys of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe” is a massive book, just slightly passing 750 pages, which covers essentially the Mattel line of He-Man toys and accessories starting with the original 1982 figures through various incarnations as well as the more recent nostalgic classics lines. (She-Ra is here as well!) Flipping through the pages felt like waves and waves of nostalgia from revisiting toys and characters remembered. For me, it reminded me of looking through the Christmas catalogs after Thanksgiving dinner at my grandparents circling which toys I wanted in hopes they would see them and would know what to buy me that year. One of the most fascinating features of the book was the interspersed interviews with various toy designers who worked on the figures, playsets, and vehicles over the years. (If parents knew that the majority of the characters were either the same figures repainted or shared the same parts as others – well, my dad would’ve said, “I’m not paying money for the same doll. I’ll paint it for you.”) Another thing I love about the interviews is when they use toy industry jargon to describe how kids play with toys – phrases like “hair play” and “fashion play” crack me up. “The Toys of He-Man…” proves that 80s kids had the best toys ever!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would like to thank edelweiss and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. I grew up with these characters in the early 80s, and while partial to She-Ra, I also enjoyed He-Man and all his adventures. This book is over 700 pages long and encompasses the entire Masters of the Universe universe. It is chock full of beautiful full colour photos, information, interviews, and little tidbits of information that wasn’t available before. A must for an He-Man and She-Ra fan.

[Simeon Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having been a follower of the online Toy reviewing community, a collector of other toy lines and an on again off again viewer of Pixel Dan Eardley for years, this is something I was very curious about almost since it's announcement, despite never having more then a casual interest in Master of the Universe growing up. I picked it up from the author at a toy show back in November and have been reading a handful of pages a night and thanks to that, this book has definitely done it's job of being an informative and engaging guide to the various MOTU toy lines that made me into a fan who's interested in going back and getting some of this stuff. The page layout with wonderfully clinical feeling photography of nearly every aspect of the toys you could want to see and for the most part fun and concise descriptions are very well done and give an air of respect and professionalism to an often wild and out there franchise, treating each item with almost the same care as a museum piece. The book is not without it's faults though, I did notice a handful of spelling errors and one case where a description for an entirely different product was repeated onto the one before it, but that's somewhat forgivable with a project of this size in my opinion. I do also have a couple of stylistic disagreements with the format of the book as well, mainly the decisions to order everything alphabetically within the lines instead of chronologically and to split up most of the figure two packs and figure/vehicle packs. I understand the mentality behind ordering things that way is probably to make the book function better as a reference guide collectors and dealers can easily thumb through, but putting things in proper release order would just make more sense to me for that as well. It doesn't ruin the book though and other then the fact that I would have liked a bit more detail on the 2002 stactions, I have no more complaints. Overall I think the book does what it sets out to do very well and has not only reignited my interest in MOTU, but in more books like this in general. I know Eardley has said he's working on one for the original TMNT line and I have a fairly good G1 Transformers book from around the time of the first live action movie, but I really hope this starts a new trend of more coffee table style books like this for toylines of all kinds, because I'll gladly buy and read them all!

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can’t argue with the sheer amount of content, though the size of the book is also the source of its only real flaw. The original line of figures is given equal space (per figure) as lesser known, less popular lines. There are hundreds of pages devoted to much more recent lines that I don’t think many people asked for. It would’ve been great to exchange these pages for bigger and more numerous pics of the original line of toys. Instead everything is squeezed into one page per figure regardless of a figure’s popularity or significance. Play sets and the like are given exactly two pages each even when it’s clear they could use more.

This book was no doubt a massive undertaking though, and I understand why they went the route of simply being as thorough as possible. It’s a fantastic book that just reads a little more like a reference book than I prefer. Tons of nostalgic fun though and the people behind it did an amazing job.

[Luke Milton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This beefy boy is a desert island pick for sure. While I starved and shrivelled I would lovingly thumb through the billion information and image-strewn pages of hyper-colour plastic crack. I love a dense book that is an absolute wall of sound, and with toy images, package images, sketches, background info, variants etc this book goes deeper than I could have possibly imagined. That fool Skeletor is all like, "Oh, I gotta get all the secrets of Castle Grayskull!" Buddy, just get on Amazon and get this book!

[Fernando · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un libro excelente que recoge todos las figuras de las diversas colecciones de la línea Masters del Universo, con imágenes de alta calidad, descripciones pormenorizadas e incluso enumeración de variantes desde los primeros juguetes hasta justo el comienzo de la actual línea Origins. Bien editado y de peso. Satinado. Un catálogo repleto de nostalgia y detalles. También con textos de apoyo y entrevistas, resulta imprescindible si adoras este mundo de tecnobarbaros y espada y brujería.

[I. · Rating 5 out of 5]

750 pages of pictures of every He-Man toy released up to the publication of the book. If that is up your alley then this is perfect despite the few typos and printing errors. The best part is that it supplants your need to collect the toys and therefore saves you money in the end! Unless you have fomo and feel a need to track down all of these after seeing them in the book. Which would end up costing you waaaaay too much money.

[Lucas Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was written by one of my favourite YouTubers, Pixel Dan. I got it for that reason but also because I love He-man and MOTU. I collect the vintage and new MOTU action figures so this was a must buy for me. If you grew up with He-man or want to read a good non fiction book, I recommend reading this! Hopefully P Dan writes another MOTU book.

[JKR · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars since having this book helps me resist my periodic urges to collect the figures themselves - I imagine THAT would escalate quickly! Except now I want God Skeletor, having first seen him here!

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must have for any fan/collector. I got the book and read it cover to cover in 1 day. The detail and images took me back to my childhood. This is a nice coffee table book too.