Judging by this year and last, Mattel’s plan for finally having more action figures based on the 1987 Masters of the Universe movie is to release one per year as a shared online retail exclusive (“fan channel,” in industry speak). Last year, we finally got the first ever Meg Foster Evil-Lyn; this year, we’re getting Tony Carroll Beast-Man! At this rate, it may be a while before we get to Skeletor’s troopers, Sky Centurions, Pig Boy, Teela, Man at Arms, Sorceress, and Lubic — can we all wait seven more years?
Power, Multiplied
Beast Man uses the Masterverse body style, but he’s far from alone. We’ll also get Hordak, Green Goddess Teela, and Man-of-War from the recent Revolution cartoon, and Leech in Princess of Power style. From New Eternia, the dominant Masterverse sub-line based on concept art, we’ll see a new Mer-Man, Sy-Klone, Battle Armor Skeletor, Thunder Punch He-Man (with repainted Faker head), and Skeletor on a light-up Bone Throne. (Yeah, we know that name isn’t great, but this is the toy line that invented Fisto, after all.) The throne set is fan-channel exclusive; Mattel Creations will also have an exclusive new Eternia Horde Trooper with removable helmet and pull-apart feature.
The Origins line, which reproduces ’80s figures with more articulation, has nearly run out of ’80s figures to remake, so it’ll include some new faces. Fan-channel exclusives Reptilax and Vypor are Snake Men inspired by the Eternia playset. A Walmart exclusive army builder set includes a Crimson Horde Trooper and Crimson Skeletor Hover Robot. At Target, the Stranger Things tie-in continues as a He-Man in Upside-Down colors takes on a MOTU style Vecna.
The Origins spinoff Cartoon Collection, based on Filmation art, continues apace with its first major vehicle, Skeletor’s Collector. It seats three and fires projectiles. Other cartoon-styled figures include Adam with cringer, Webstor, Evil-Lyn, Spikor, and Clawful.
Yet another Origins spinoff, Turtles of Grayskull, features more mutagenic mashups, among them a Two-Bad style Bebop and Rocksteady hybrid, a Sorceress April, a Mer-Man who’s an actual merman, and a Hordak in Filmation colors with bat wings.
Pixel Dan broke the news first in a reveal video, but you can also look at some official images below:
