• Home
  • TV & Movies
    • Star Wars
    • Battlestar Galactica (1978)
    • Indiana Jones
    • Star Trek
    • Planet of the Apes
    • The Real Ghostbusters
    • The Six Million Dollar Man
    • Universal Monsters
    • Doctor Who
  • Comic Book Heroes
    • Kenner Super Powers
    • Mattel Secret Wars
    • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
    • The Uncanny X-Men
    • Spider-Man
    • Batman
    • Superman
    • The Incredible Hulk
  • Mego
  • MOTU
  • G.I. Joe
  • Transformers
  • Wrestling

Vintage Action Figures

Reviews of collectible action figures inspired by comic books, TV shows and movies from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Skeletor – Evil lord of destruction!

July 24, 2012

Vintage Skeletor action figure

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.

Skeletor - It's not easy being mean!

Skeletor – It’s not easy being mean!

This chap may be a lovely shade of Smurf-blue, but that’s as close as this turquoise terror gets to cute – Skeletor, arch-enemy of He-Man, is hell bent on capturing He-Man’s mysterious power base Castle Grayskull, conquering Eternia…and the entire universe…MWAHAHAHA!

The very first Skeletor action figure by Mattel appeared as part of the first wave of figures in 1982. Collectors, however, will be aware of the existence of numerous variations associated with Skeletor: differences in skin colour, types of head hardness, as well as rare paint applications, such as the famous “half painted boot” variant.

Skeletor - copyright info and date

Skeletor – copyright info and date

My figure is marked 1981 on both his lower back and on the back of his head. He is a bright blue, with a dark purple full paint job on the boots, black underpants (rather than purple), and a hard head (rather than the soft and squeezable variety), with the face painted in bright, almost clown-like colours. Being a loose figure, however, he is tricky to identify with 100% accuracy. He may well be a first wave issue Skeletor, but looking at the brightness of the blue he may also be a third wave 1984 reissue, described as “Skeletor – The Original” on the card, but still carrying the 1981 copyright date.

My market stall find is missing his accessories of course – he was issued with a Havok Staff and Power Sword, and should be wearing a harness and belt – but his MOTU action gimmick of a twist-able waist, which powers a swing punching action, is still working fine. Even minus his weapons, he is nevertheless a fabulous vintage action figure, and a must have for any Masters of the Universe collection!

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Filed Under: Masters of the Universe Tagged With: Masters of the Universe, Skeletor

Comments

  1. actionfig says

    July 25, 2012 at 11:49 pm

    Fellow blogger Jason Vorhees sent me a Skeletor fig a while back and i just love it.Just need to find his accessories to complete it.Great find!

Action figure search

Recent Posts

  • Ghostbusters Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man …signed by Sigourney Weaver!
  • It’s Clobberin’ Time with The Thing by Mego!
  • Up, up and away! Comic version 12-inch Superman by Mego
  • Remembering Princess Leia Organa
  • Indiana Jones, the daring archaeologist and world adventurer of the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark!
  • Stunning C-3PO sixth scale figure by Sideshow Collectibles
  • It’s Alive! The Monster Frankenstein from Mego’s Mad Monster Series
  • Wonder Woman the Amazing Amazon – Kenner Super Powers
  • Grrr…it’s Grizzlor! The Hairy Henchman of the Evil Horde
  • Ming the Merciless – The evil emperor of Mongo by Mego

Archives

Copyright © 2009-2023 · VintageActionFigures.net · All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective owners. Comments are owned by the Poster and opinions expressed are those of the Poster and do not necessarily represent the views of VintageActionFigures.net · Please read our Privacy Policy, GDPR Compliance Statement, Affiliate Disclosure and Cookies Policy - We know...Zzzz!!