What do you think?
Rate this book
Mastering the Universe: He-Man and the Rise and Fall of a Billion-Dollar Idea
Mastering the Universe illuminates the creation, rise, and fall of one of the top-selling product lines in what is arguably the world’s most competitive industry, toys—and it does so from the perspective of Roger Sweet, the man who originated He-Man for Mattel. He-Man and the product line that grew out of it, Masters of the Universe (MOTU), created a fantasy world for boys that, at its height in 1986, reached $400 million in U.S. sales, only to plummet to $7 million the following year. During its six-year run, the MOTU line sold $1.2 billion worldwide and spawned a syndicated cartoon series and a major motion picture—a feat not even the venerable Barbie can claim. Mastering the Universe explores the phenomenon of He-Man’s popularity, as well as the shocking reasons behind the toy’s rapid decline.
- GenresPop Culture
240 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2005
About the author
Roger Sweet
2 booksROGER SWEET is a psychologist who retired after a 48-year career. In 1969, less than 24 hours after receiving his Ph.D., he was ordered to report for active duty. For the next 2 years, he practiced psychology as a Captain in the Medical Service Corps. He developed procedures for treating what at the time was called Battle Fatigue, Shell Shock, etc. It took at least 10 more years before PTSD became recognized and utilized as the appropriate, treatment-oriented diagnosis.
For the next 8 years, he worked as a civil commitment court evaluator as well as a clinician with the Psychiatric Clinic in Mankato Minnesota. He specialized in the treatment of children and adolescents. However in a small town, semi-rural area, he often had to treat whoever walked in the door.
In 1980 after moving to Minneapolis, he served 2 years as the Treatment Coordinator for the inpatient adolescent unit at the University of Minnesota Hospitals. For the next 3 years he was director for one of several clinics that was part of a local HMO. By the late 1980’s he had developed a full-time clinical and forensic practice. Around 2001 he gradually phased out of his clinical practice in order to devote full time to his forensic practice which included evaluations in the areas of child custody, post-divorce decree mediation, juvenile and adult competency to proceed to trial, criminal evaluations referred either by the county attorneys office or private defense attorneys, and civil commitments (Mental Illness, Chemical Dependency, Mentally ill and Dangerous, Sexual Offenders).
By the mid-1990s he began writing poems, which quickly morphed into writing song lyrics as well as poems. This has continued to the present time and served as the basis for the book. He used to play a lot of tennis and racket ball, was a long-distance cyclist, a 10K level runner, and wilderness camper. He can still play a lousy game of golf, hike up to a couple of miles, lift weights, and do 10 mile bike rides. He remains a blues and hard rock fan as long as it’s played LOUD. Favorite authors are James Lee Burke, Michael Connelly, Cormack McCarthy and Daniel Silva. Roger lives in Arizona with his wife (Gail) of 58 years.
For the next 8 years, he worked as a civil commitment court evaluator as well as a clinician with the Psychiatric Clinic in Mankato Minnesota. He specialized in the treatment of children and adolescents. However in a small town, semi-rural area, he often had to treat whoever walked in the door.
In 1980 after moving to Minneapolis, he served 2 years as the Treatment Coordinator for the inpatient adolescent unit at the University of Minnesota Hospitals. For the next 3 years he was director for one of several clinics that was part of a local HMO. By the late 1980’s he had developed a full-time clinical and forensic practice. Around 2001 he gradually phased out of his clinical practice in order to devote full time to his forensic practice which included evaluations in the areas of child custody, post-divorce decree mediation, juvenile and adult competency to proceed to trial, criminal evaluations referred either by the county attorneys office or private defense attorneys, and civil commitments (Mental Illness, Chemical Dependency, Mentally ill and Dangerous, Sexual Offenders).
By the mid-1990s he began writing poems, which quickly morphed into writing song lyrics as well as poems. This has continued to the present time and served as the basis for the book. He used to play a lot of tennis and racket ball, was a long-distance cyclist, a 10K level runner, and wilderness camper. He can still play a lousy game of golf, hike up to a couple of miles, lift weights, and do 10 mile bike rides. He remains a blues and hard rock fan as long as it’s played LOUD. Favorite authors are James Lee Burke, Michael Connelly, Cormack McCarthy and Daniel Silva. Roger lives in Arizona with his wife (Gail) of 58 years.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 5, 2008
The power of Greyskull has faded away, never to return.
May 9, 2010
An enjoyable read for someone who grew up with the power of grayskull.
I found the bits of information about the toyline more interesting than I did the arguments about who did what, though the political maneuvering within mattel was fascinating at points and probably would have been even more interesting if the book were more well written.
Overall, it increased my view that Mattel never really has had a good idea of how to run a "boys toys" action figure line well.
I was fascinated to learn how heavily female the consumers of the line were in the 80's. --as high as forty percent, according to sweet.
Overall, an interesting if not enthralling look into the toy wars of the 80's (although some of the facts are incorrect - the 3 3\4" g.I.joe line was not on the market until 1982, though sweet several times states it was around when they were originally planning MOTU in 1980.)
I found the bits of information about the toyline more interesting than I did the arguments about who did what, though the political maneuvering within mattel was fascinating at points and probably would have been even more interesting if the book were more well written.
Overall, it increased my view that Mattel never really has had a good idea of how to run a "boys toys" action figure line well.
I was fascinated to learn how heavily female the consumers of the line were in the 80's. --as high as forty percent, according to sweet.
Overall, an interesting if not enthralling look into the toy wars of the 80's (although some of the facts are incorrect - the 3 3\4" g.I.joe line was not on the market until 1982, though sweet several times states it was around when they were originally planning MOTU in 1980.)
April 3, 2008
I was a fan of the He-Man toys and cartoon as a child. I still own some He-Man toys so when my friend Alex gave me this book I was quite excited. Well I shouldn't have been. This book feels less like an insiders guide to the Masters of the Universe and more like a glorified "me-me-me" moment for the author. He barly gets into the meat of the He-Man line instead deciding to spend his time talking about how much of a genuis he was and how everyone was out to get him. In this book you will find various patent numbers for toy patents that the author holds, I guess they are there to impress us as well as let everyone else know that those inventions are his and he deserves heaps of praise. The author repeats the story of the intial meeting which lead to the He-Man line creation ad nausem. This book should not be read by anyone, anywhere, anytime.
August 6, 2014
A pretty good read for anyone who loves the Masters of the Universe toys or cartoon, or anyone who is interested in the cutthroat world of toy creation and marketing.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews