Mattel’s hugely successful 1980s action figure and TV franchise Masters of the Universe is looked upon with great fondness by many toy collectors today and has proved enduringly popular. I’m writing this post having just returned from a collectors fair in Rome, Italy and can confirm that those chunky, swivel-hipped 5 ½-inch action figures were certainly an ubiquitous presence at every stall. I should confess that as a child from an earlier generation, I’ve always been a little bemused by the whole He-Man Universe and slow to succumb to the appeal of this line. From time to time a random figure will pique my interest, however, like this ugly little fella Grizzlor. (And as every collector knows, that’s a slippery slope to a full time action figure addiction!)
Manufacturers: Mattel
Who you gonna call this Christmas!?
Ghostbusters saw the 30th anniversary of its original release this past year. Sadly, the world also lost Harold Ramis, who played Egon Spengler and was one of the creators of this iconic movie, so this seems like a very good year to remember Ghostbusters at Christmas. In 2010 Toys R Us sold this exclusive set of 6-inch action figures by Mattel, based on a short scene in the sequel Ghostbusters II, where the team ran through the streets of New York wearing Santa hats.
Heroic Human…Robot…Monster? It must be Man-E-Faces!
Masters of the Universe, Mattel’s hugely successful action figure line of the 1980s, has proved enduringly popular. Big sellers back in the day, these figures can still be found loose on flea markets for a fair price, like this classic Man-E-Faces 1983 figure (dated stamped 1982) from the second wave of Heroic Warriors from the Original Series, which I picked up just the other day.
Almost all the figures in this line came with a built in power punch action – twisted at the waist and then released, the torso will swivel round at speed, and land a hefty punch – yet this particular figure went one better.
Lieutenant Starbuck from Mattel’s Battlestar Galactica
Light years before the name “Starbuck” added an “s” and became synonymous with caffè latte, the world’s most famous Starbuck was the fictional first mate of the Pequod, the whaling ship at the heart of Herman Melville’s novel Moby-Dick. In fact, it was in homage to this literary character, that our Lieutenant Starbuck here, the protagonist of the cult 1978 sci-fi television show Battlestar Galactica, was named, although the gambling, womanising, and cigar smoking Viper starfighter pilot, and the Quaker first mate on the Pequod, could not have been more different!
Find and fulfill your destiny: Harry Hamlin as Perseus in Clash of the Titans!
Ahh, who can resist a 1980s blockbuster?! The 1981 version of Clash of the Titans, based very loosely on the Greek myth of Perseus, certainly had it all: epic special effects, Styrofoam sets, stop-motion monsters, and a cast boasting not only the cream of British theatre such as Laurence Olivier as Zeus and Maggie Smith as Thetis, but also a then relatively unknown young actor called Harry Hamlin in the starring role. A box office smash back in the day, it’s a cult classic amongst fantasy film fans nowadays. Watching the CGI effects in the 2010 3D remake, in fact, only made one nostalgic for stop-motion animator Ray Harryhausen’s Kraken in the original movie.
Colonial Warrior from Mattel’s Battlestar Galactica
Don’t worry if this character isn’t familiar to you. His face isn’t likely to ring any bells with even the most die-hard fans of the original Battlestar Galactica TV series from 1978 either! When Glen A. Larson’s short-lived sci-fi show was launched as a somewhat blatant attempt to rival the small screen success of Star Trek, and in the clear hope of cashing in on the cinematic box office success of Star Wars the previous year, Mattel won the license to produce the tie-in action figure merchandising. Whilst their 3 ¾ inch figures offered up recognisable characters from the show such as Lieutenant Starbuck and Commander Adama, their 12 inch hero was this chap, a generic “Colonial Warrior” who had never appeared in the show.
Skeletor – Evil lord of destruction!
It has been quite some time since we’ve looked at any of those swivel-hipped vintage wonders of the early 1980s – Mattel’s Masters of the Universe. MOTU action figures swept toy aisles by storm thanks to a fiendishly well organised merchandising campaign which saw the tie-in animated TV series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe turn these 5 ½ -inch action figures into the most-wanted toy of an entire generation…until sales eventually slowed down after the arrival of Transformers and G.I. Joe on the scene in the second half of the decade.
Farewell to Harry Potter…! Expecto Patronum Deluxe Action Figure
Whilst fans have been gathering for days in London’s Trafalgar Square to see the stars of the final Harry Potter movie Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows:Part 2 walk up the red carpet for the film’s premiere, I thought it might be fun to take a look back at a Mattel action figure release from 2004 – the Expecto Patronum Harry Potter issued as part of the Deluxe Wizard Collection.
8 inches tall and solidly built, this figure was part of the final action figure set to be released by Mattel before NECA took over the franchise. It was also one of the first Harry figures to depict an older Daniel Radcliffe and Mattel did an excellent job of creating a movie-likeness of the actor as he appeared in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, with enormous attention to every last detail – even the soles of his shoes have carefully detailed tread.