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Catalog Pages: Masters of the Universe from 1985

Masters of the Universe

Boy does this page of goodness take me back to a happy place in time!  I was a huge fan of everything Masters of the Universe as a kid in the 80's, and this page of toys is bringing back a lot of fond memories.

Castle GrayskullIn the top left corner we've got the iconic Castle Grayskull...the must-have play set for all Masters of the Universe fans.  I remember getting my Castle Grayskull for Christmas in 1985 and being so happy that I cried.  I have pictures from that Christmas morning to prove it.  Castle Grayskull opened up and inside you found the throne room with the swivel throne that activated the trap door that dropped unsuspecting foes into the dungeon below.  The working draw bridge was a nice touch as well.  Right at the top of the castle on the right hand tower...the one just below the catalog order number "1", is where Point Dread would attach to the castle.  It was sold separately, but I was fortunate enough to add it to my play time a month later for my birthday.

The second item on the page is Stridor - the half war horse, half war machine.  I had Stridor, but honestly, it wasn't really that fun to play with.  His legs didn't move, and although it was a cool looking toy, I just didn't find that it had much ability other than adding a generic "vehicle" to the Masters army.  Normally, you would see Fisto astride Stridor, but in this catalog page, they've inserted Man at Arms into the role of jockey.

Next up is the Attack Trak, one of the primary vehicle weapons in the arsenal of the Masters.  It had Attack Trakthose cool rotating, tread, oblong, wheel thingies that for some reason was so much fun to play with, and seemed to make a cool sound when they were turning as you rolled it along.  It was also featured prominently in the mini-comics that came packaged with the figures and on the cartoon.  Also in this section of the page is the Road Ripper.  I never had this vehicle, but it was one of those vehicles that you would insert the long plastic stick through, and then pull out quickly and the vehicle would take off on it's own!  It seems like a cool concept to add to the toy line, and I remember the toy being featured in several of the commercials for the line.  The figure placement is intriguing in some of the shots they've used for this, as on the Road Ripper we see He-Man.  I would think he should have been placed on Battle Cat at the top of the page instead of here.

Speaking of Battle Cat, he makes his appearance at the top right of the page, pictured with the Prince Adam figure.  Now this would probably be OK if it were Cringer featured, but no, this is Battle Cat.  Like I said in the paragraph above, Battle Cat should be pictured with He-Man, and maybe Prince Adam could have been figured on the Road Ripper instead.

Battle Cat was another toy from the line that I would consider to be a must have.  If you're gonna play out the adventures of He-Man and the Masters in their battle with Skeletor, Battle Cat is a key figure.  Take the saddle and mask off, and you have a Cringer toy to always be by the side of Prince Adam, but when you've got He-Man in play, he needs his fierce companion Battle Cat to carry him into battle.

Also featured is Skeletor and Panthor.  Another two toys that are must haves for the MOTU fan.  Skeletor was the main nemesis of He-Man, and Panthor made a natural opponent for Battle Cat.  Panthor was covered with purple felt and was a pretty cool looking toy.  As He-Man rode into battle on the back of Battle Cat, Panthor was right there to carry his master Skeletor.

Also pictured are the Roton Evil Assualt Vehicle and the Battle Ram.  I remember the Roton getting some love in the cartoons and in the commercials for the toys, but I never owned it myself.  I remember the reddish-orange "blades" circling around this thing as you moved it across the floor, so it had some cool offensive capabilities for the forces of Skeletor.

The Battle Ram I have little memory of, but it looks like a hefty vehicle for the Masters to take into battle.

Next we come to the action figures themselves.  Starting on the left we have He-Man's most trusted and capable ally Man at Arms.  In the cartoons and the mini-comics, Man at Arms was a man who could build machines and weapons, and the head of Eternia's palace guards.  He was also almost always there in the battles against Skeletor.

Next is Beast Man, Skeletor's right hand man it would seem.  Beast Man had control over animals, and would often call them into battle against the Masters.  Along with Man at Arms, I feel they are two more crucial toys to own back then as the battle raged in bedrooms everywhere.

Now we have Prince Adam, the weaker alter ego of He-Man himself.  The son of the King Randor and Queen Marlena, Prince Adam would have to hold aloft the Sword of Power and spout his catch phrase to turn into the powerful guardian of Eternia, He-Man.  Now while I don't feel Prince Adam was a must have figure in the line, it was pretty cool to have him get captured by Skeletor and tortured a while.  It seemed like that was the only way Skeletor could come out on top in my world.  Prince Adam was a pretty sharp dresser as well with that red velvet vest.

Whiplash is next in line and was a henchman of Skeletor.  The figure had a long rubber tail that you could whip around and nail opponents with, making him a pretty fun figure to have in battle.

Webstor is next and may have been one of my favorite figures to play with from the entire line.  He come equipped with a built on backpack with rope in it and a grappling hook attached.  You could pull the grappling hook out and hook it on something above, then pull the rope coming from the bottom of the back pack and Webstor would "climb" up the line.  He added a lot of play value to the already fun line.

Buzz-Off is next, and he looks like a giant bumble bee.  He too had a fun feature, as the big plastic-rubber wings on his back would spread out and give the illusion of flying.  Buzz-Off was good to add an aerial advantage to the Masters in their battles.

At the end we have Teela and Evil-Lynn.  Teela was the daughter of Man at Arms and a trusted friend to He-Man, while Evil-Lynn was an evil sorceress in the employ of Skeletor.  Until She-Ra came along, if you had a little sister in the house, then you needed these two figures so she could play along with with.  That is, IF you wanted her to play along.

And the last thing on this page was another pretty fun toy.  While not part of the action figure line, the costume set of He-Man featuring the belt, sword, and shield created all sorts of fun on it's on.  My cousin Tim, who was also my neighbor had this set and I was always so jealous, although, I remember his set having a strap on chest plate but no belt.

 We would take turns using the sword, while the other held the shield and tried to stop the blow.  Of course, whenever we were out in the yard role-playing He-Man, he always had both the sword and shield while I carried a stick.  One time I begged him to let me take the set home and play with it.  He did, but I had nothing cool to use it for, so I just put on the chest plate while I played with my Masters of the Universe figures and play sets. It looks like a similar set was available for those kids who wanted to be Skeletor too.

Well, that was a fun look at a pretty cool catalog page.  I didn't have all of the toys featured here, but I had enough of them that this page brought a lot of good memories flooding back when I saw it.  But what about you?  Which of these toys did YOU have and which ones did you really want but never get?  Drop a line in the comments and let me know! 

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Hoju Koolander Posted on Apr 24, 2017 at 05:40 AM

I didn't own any He-Man toys until the 3rd or 4th wave with characters like Rokkon, Spikor and Mantenna. But I had a light up He-Man power sword at one point for my role play fun. Alot of the older kids I knew had these original figures and vehicles, so I did play with them. Buzz-Off's helmet always seemed redundant to me because it had extra Bug Eyes on it, which really bothered me.

NLogan Posted on Apr 23, 2017 at 08:31 PM

I had the belt, sword, and shield set.

Vaporman87 Posted on Apr 23, 2017 at 04:54 AM

I remember often thinking how dumb looking the Attack Trak was in the cartoon. Instead of the wicked red ATV style vehicle it was, the cartoon portrayed it as a giant blue box with a window in front. And not only that, it would talk and even get snarky. LOL.

I recall seeing a storybook that had someone riding the Road Ripper... in the air! LOL. As if it was a flying vehicle.

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