Month: August 2025

Comics, Filmation

Early MOTU canon comparison

Posted on by Adam McCombs

Written by Adam McCombs & Jukka Issakainen

Masters of the Universe has had a multiplicity of competing canons almost since the very beginning. Part of the reason for that is because Mattel didn’t exert consistent, tight control over the story during the course of the 1980s line. Canons have continued to multiply ever since, as the story has been rebooted with each new relaunch, and new writers want to put their mark on things.

In some cases, it’s a matter of different departments working under different guidelines. As a modern example, there are the 2012 Comics by Mattel (through DC Comics) contradicting and/or ignoring the story written for the MOTU Classics toy packaging by Mattel. Both existed as official canons at the same time. Sometimes, as in the case of the MOTU Classics bios, there is an attempt to retcon multiple existing canons together. However, retconning really just adds one more new canon to the pile of existing canons.

We thought it might be interesting to explore some of the early canons for Masters of the Universe, from the first mini story books by Don Glut and Alfredo Alcala to the Filmation animated series a couple of years later. We won’t be including every canon, just the major stories leading up to Filmation. In order to make the differences more clear, we’ve come up with some categories for each different canon of stories, involving how different characters, places and things are portrayed, or whether or not they even exist! That should hopefully make it easier to compare and contrast each one without going into exhaustive detail.

The Fighting Foe-Men – 1981

The Fighting Foe-Men was an early minicomic treatment written by Don Glut for Mattel. After Glut submitted it to Mattel, probably early in 1981, Mattel gave him some feedback for changes they wanted to the story, mainly making Castle Grayskull more mysterious, dangerous and containing hidden secrets, making “De-Man” (Skeletor) the main villain, and making He-Man more heroic. They wanted to write Teela out of the story, which obviously didn’t happen. They also asked that he add the “dimension/warp travel” aspect to the Battle Ram.

Summary

  • He-Man: jungle dwelling tribesman; arrogant, short-tempered, reluctantly heroic; gets extra strength or a forcefield from his costumes
  • Prince Adam: doesn’t exist
  • Sorceress: doesn’t exist; instead He-Man is awarded his weapons and outfit by his Tribal Elders
  • Skeletor: “De-Man,” a demon from another dimension thrown into Eternia when the Great Wars created a rift between dimensions. An underling of Beast Man. Has elemental powers and secretly desires to overthrow Beast Man and take the Power Gem for himself.
  • Snake Mountain: does not exist
  • Beast Man: the main villain, a jungle native at war with He-Man’s tribe. He can wear various costumes to take on the powers of other animals.
  • Teela: Teela is a passive character, playing the damsel in distress role. She is captured by Beast Man, who wants to marry her by force.
  • Stratos: heroic, practical joker. He had various wing options, including bird, bat and insect wings. His sense of humor made him annoying to He-Man.
  • Mer-Man: heroic warrior, last survivor from a world of underwater dwellers. He is even stronger on land than in water, but is vulnerable to heat.
  • Man-At-Arms: a rational, calculating planner and thinker. Master of weapons, who left his people to “right wrongs where he finds them.”
  • Zodac: doesn’t exist
  • Power Sword: doesn’t exist, instead factions fight over the Power Gem, the “product of both pre-war science and sorcery.” The Power Gem will make its possessor all-powerful and the “master of all Eternia.”
  • Castle Grayskull: ancient, ominous, “equipped with all manners of weapons, traps and devices”
  • Battle Ram: not mentioned
  • Other: two unproduced villains are named in the story, Woods-Man and Ka-Man,
  • Battle Cat: not mentioned
  • Cringer: there is no Cringer in this canon.
  • Eternia: Eternia is caught in a time warp, held in a timeless limbo; a post-apocalyptic land that was once technologically advanced, now thrown into war and savagery
  • Spirit of Grayskull: doesn’t exist
  • Orko: doesn’t exist
  • King/Queen/Royal Palace: they don’t exist here

He-Man and the Power Sword – 1982

He-Man and the Power Sword was the first published mini comic/storybook for Masters of the Universe. I’m putting it in a category by itself because it has a Sorceress character, while the rest of the first series of minis do not.

  • He-Man: a jungle dweller who leaves his home to protect Castle Grayskull. He saves the Sorceress from a monster and is rewarded with weapons and armor that grant him great strength or a force field.
  • Prince Adam: doesn’t exist in this canon.
  • Sorceress: a mysterious green-skinned woman, guardian of the Power Sword, and to some extent Castle Grayskull. She is very powerful, being able to remove the combined halves of the Power Sword from Skeletor’s possession.
  • Skeletor: the main villain, a demon from another dimension who unceasingly seeks to gain access to Castle Grayskull. There are others of his kind in his home dimension.
  • Snake Mountain: does not exist
  • Beast Man: Skeletor’s subservient henchman. He doesn’t appear to have much intelligence. In this story he has red fur and red armor.
  • Teela: Although in this story she is captured by Skeletor and Beast Man, she isn’t a helpless damsel in distress, but is instead a brave warrior goddess. She is often seen riding a unicorn.
  • Stratos: an evil warrior serving Skeletor.
  • Mer-Man: an evil warrior serving Skeletor.
  • Man-At-Arms: stoic and heroic. He and his people are masters of weapons and ancient technology.
  • Zodac: doesn’t exist
  • Power Sword: the main McGuffin of the story. Initially the two halves of the sword have nothing to do with entering into Castle Grayskull, but instead provide the owner with additional power. However at the end the Sorceress makes it so both swords are needed to enter the castle from that point onward.
  • Castle Grayskull: mysterious fortress with untold powers.
  • Battle Ram: mainly appears as the Sky Sled. It is mainly used by He-Man as a battering ram and space warp device. Stays low to the ground.
  • Battle Cat: doesn’t appear.
  • Cringer: there is no Cringer in this canon.
  • Eternia: a post-apocalyptic land that was once technologically advanced, now thrown into war and savagery.
  • Spirit of Grayskull: communicates with the heroes, even seems to help thwart Skeletor
  • Orko: doesn’t exist
  • King/Queen/Royal Palace: they don’t exist here

King of Castle Grayskull, Vengeance of Skeletor, Battle in the Clouds – 1982

  • He-Man: a jungle dweller who left his home to protect Castle Grayskull He has two identical harness that grants him great strength or a force field.
  • Prince Adam: doesn’t exist in this canon.
  • Sorceress: doesn’t technically exist (dropped from the story), although Teela sometimes plays this role under the name Teela
  • Skeletor: the main villain, a demon from another dimension hellbent on obtaining Castle Grayskull for himself.
  • Snake Mountain: does not exist
  • Beast Man: Skeletor’s beastial servant. He now has orange fur.
  • Teela: A tough warrior who also takes on the role of guardian of Castle Grayskull. She is often seen riding a unicorn. In one story she wears her snake armor. Her hair is sometimes blonde, sometimes red.
  • Stratos: a heroic warrior – he is flesh colored until Battle in the Clouds, where had his gray coloring for the first time. He lives in a mountain top realm.
  • Mer-Man: a cunning and powerful evil warrior, master of the seas and the creatures within it. He is vulnerable to heat. He is blue until Battle in the Clouds, where he appears with green skin.
  • Man-At-Arms: stoic and heroic. He and his people are masters of weapons and ancient technology.
  • Zodac: doesn’t exist
  • Power Sword: a mystical split sword – both halves are required to enter Castle Grayskull.
  • Castle Grayskull: mysterious fortress with untold powers.
  • Battle Ram: mainly appears as the Sky Sled. It used by He-Man as a flying vehicle.
  • Battle Cat: he lives in the jungle and appears when He-Man calls for him. He does not speak.
  • Cringer: there is no Cringer in this canon
  • Spirit of Grayskull: communicates with the heroes at the end of the story
  • Orko: doesn’t exist
  • King/Queen/Royal Palace: they don’t exist here.

DC Comics Series (full size retail comics), 1982

Note: the characters in this series speak a kind of watered down Early Modern English, similar to how Thor speaks in old Marvel comics. Many important changes were introduced by DC (written by Paul Kupperberg) that later influenced the animated series and stories going forth.

  • He-Man: Hero of Eternia. He is secretly Prince Adam, son of the King and Queen. It’s mentioned that prior to joining up with Battle Cat, he allied himself with a tribe of jungle warriors, as Prince Adam. They know of his secret identity in this story. This seems to be an attempt at retconning this canon with the earlier Don Glut/Alfredo Alcala stories. He-Man has his “power vest” which augments his strength and resilience.
  • Prince Adam: a womanizing prince who can turn into He-Man by entering the Cavern of Power. He has a wry sense of humor.
  • Sorceress: She looks like Teela with her snake armor on, but is a separate character. She uses Zoar the falcon to summon Prince Adam when He-Man is needed, but she does not turn into Zoar. She is called both the Sorceress and the Goddess. She guards both halves of the power sword until the true King of Eternia claims them.
  • Skeletor: the main villain, a demon obsessed with obtaining the power inside Castle Grayskull. It is said that he has caused massive destruction throughout the multiverse and conquered countless worlds.
  • Snake Mountain: does not exist
  • Beast Man: Skeletor’s beastial servant. He comes from a tribe of Beast Men who all have a similar look. He is subservient to Skeletor.
  • Teela: she has a temper in this series, and often trades sarcastic barbs with Prince Adam. She serves in the palace as captain of the guard. In one story only she wears a gold bikini top. She is the daughter of Man-At-Arms and fierce warrior. There is no indication that she was adopted. She has long blonde hair.
  • Stratos: He comes from Avion, home of the bird people. Stratos is their heroic leader and an ally of He-Man.
  • Mer-Man: a cunning evil warrior, who has his own underwater domain and loyal minions. He obeys Skeletor through threats of violence.
  • Man-At-Arms: a fixture in the palace, Man-At-Arms is Prince Adam’s mentor and He-Man’s ally in battle, the “imperial master at arms for the royal house of Eternia.” He is often hard on Prince Adam for being irresponsible. He doesn’t seem to know about Prince Adam’s secret identity. He says that he “deals in science” as opposed to magic. He is the father of Teela – there doesn’t seem to be any indication that she was adopted in this series.
  • Zodac: rider of a the space ways, a neutral cosmic enforcer who comes to keep the balance between good and evil. In one story he fights He-Man, but only to keep him from dying in a later battle, which would have upset the balance between good and evil.
  • Power Sword: a mystical split sword – both halves are required to enter Castle Grayskull. More than that, both halves grant the owner unlimited power.
  • Castle Grayskull: a mysterious seat of power, it can only be accessed by someone who has both halves of the Power Sword. However, in this series, a set of three magical talismans drop the heroes into the castle courtyard, with Zodac’s help.
  • Battle Ram: does not appear.
  • Battle Cat: in this series he talks, and is always thirsty for battle.
  • Cringer: Prince Adam’s pet cat Cringer is transformed into Battle Cat when Prince transforms into He-Man. He talks and seeks to avoid trouble.
  • Spirit of Grayskull: not specifically referred to, but when Skeletor tries to take the Talon Fighter from its perch on the castle, the castle resists, and eldrich green arms appear to try to hold on to the Talon Fighter.
  • Orko: doesn’t exist
  • King/Queen/Royal Palace: Prince Adam’s parents are the King and Queen, both white haired and not resembling the later Filmation versions. However the King still voices disapproval at Adam’s tardiness and unserious behavior, a hallmark of later animated stories. Queen Marlena is established to come from Earth, having landed on Eternia in a spacecraft. The Queen seems to suspect that He-Man is Prince Adam.

DC Comics Wave 2 Mini Comics – 1983

These stories are more straightforward compared to the full-size 1982 DC series. There are fewer plot and character details given. Two major details of this series are an absence of Prince Adam (despite his presence in 1982 DC comics) and the introduction of the one-off idea that Teela was the clone of the Sorceress/Goddess.

  • He-Man: Hero of Eternia. There is no mention of any Prince Adam secret identity. He does seem to hang out at the royal palace.
  • Prince Adam: there is no mention of Prince Adam, despite this coming from DC Comics, who featured Prince Adam in their 1982 comics.
  • Sorceress: She looks like Teela with her snake armor on, but is a separate character. She is called both the Sorceress and the Goddess. She seems to function as a kind of nature goddess. She is tasked with defending Castle Grayskull but doesn’t seem to live there and often warns He-Man of danger to the castle. She often uses Zoar as a messenger, but does not transform into Zoar. We learn that Teela is a clone of the Sorceress/Goddess.
  • Skeletor: the main villain, a demon obsessed with obtaining the power inside Castle Grayskull. He is described to live in a secret lair in caverns that honeycomb Eternia.
  • Snake Mountain: does not exist
  • Beast Man: Skeletor’s beastial servant.
  • Teela: She is the adopted daughter of Man-At-Arms and fierce warrior. She has long blonde hair. In this series she is the clone of the Sorceress/Goddess, something never brought up in the 1982 DC series.
  • Stratos: a flying heroic warrior
  • Mer-Man: a cunning evil warrior.
  • Man-At-Arms: a fixture in the palace, Man-At-Arms is the father of Teela – there doesn’t seem to be any indication that she was adopted in this series. He is the heroic master of weapons.
  • Zodac: he does not appear in this series
  • Power Sword: a mystical split sword – both halves are required to enter Castle Grayskull.
  • Castle Grayskull: a mysterious seat of power, it can only be accessed by someone who has both halves of the Power Sword.
  • Battle Ram: it appears as the complete vehicle. No warping ability is mentioned.
  • Battle Cat: He-Man’s loyal steed. He talks in this series but there is no mention of a Cringer alter ego.
  • Cringer: does not appear.
  • Spirit of Grayskull: does not appear.
  • Orko: doesn’t exist
  • King/Queen/Royal Palace: The king and queen are both white haired and not resembling the later Filmation versions. Although Prince Adam doesn’t show up in this series. He-Man is depicted at the same table with the king and queen, as well as Teela.

Golden Story Books series 1 – 1983

This first series of story books was published on September of 1983, the same month that the Filmation He-Man and the Masters of the Universe series debuted. These were very simple stories, with no Prince Adam and a small cast of characters.

  • He-Man: Hero of Eternia. There is no mention of any Prince Adam secret identity.
  • Prince Adam: is never referenced.
  • Sorceress: She is mentioned as someone who lives in Castle Grayskull and guards it, but she is not shown.
  • Skeletor: the main villain, the Lord of Destruction obsessed with obtaining the power inside Castle Grayskull.
  • Snake Mountain is mentioned as the lair of Skeletor. It is shown from the inside only, where it looks like a cave.
  • Beast Man: Skeletor’s beastial servant.
  • Teela: She is a fierce warrior, shown wearing her red snake armor.
  • Stratos: a flying heroic warrior, the “Prince of the Skies.”
  • Mer-Man: a cunning evil warrior and dreaded “Sea Lord.”
  • Man-At-Arms: a heroic warrior. We get almost no details about him in this early series.
  • Zodac: he is a “wizard” who appears once to help He-Man stope Skeletor from overturning the balance of good and evil.
  • Power Sword: a mystical split sword – both halves are required to enter Castle Grayskull.
  • Castle Grayskull: a mysterious seat of power, it can only be accessed by someone who has both halves of the Power Sword.
  • Battle Ram: it appears as the complete vehicle.
  • Battle Cat: He-Man’s loyal steed. He does not talk but seems to understand He-Man.
  • Cringer: does not appear.
  • Spirit of Grayskull: does not appear.
  • Orko: doesn’t exist
  • King/Queen/Royal Palace: There is no mention of any Royal Palace in this first series.

Filmation’s He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (1983)

Filmation’s earliest scripts were started roughly in November 1982, and the Series Bible by Michael Halperin is dated Dec. 1st, 1982. The Series Bible mentions Eternia’s sister (darker) planet Infinita – though that is not brought up in the show itself. Later by Season 2 the Series Bible had addendums such as “there are no longer two planets”. Writer Robby London also worked on a Series Bible, accordingly acknowledging the DC Comics’ story with a clone Teela, but disregarding it.

  • He-Man: Hero of Eternia. His secret identity is Prince Adam, son of King Randor and Queen Marlena
  • Prince Adam: the son of King Randor and Queen Marlena. He exaggerates a lazy demeanor to hide the fact that he is also He-Man. He transforms into He-Man by raising his Power Sword and chanting: “By the power of Grayskull, I have the power!
  • Sorceress: She is the protector of Castle Grayskull, residing there. She dresses in a falcon costume, and can transform into Zoar the falcon to venture outside Grayskull (though the writers played fast and loose with this “rule”). She is secretly the mother of Teela.
  • Skeletor: the main villain, the Lord of Destruction obsessed with obtaining the power inside Castle Grayskull. He is an evil Demon from another dimension. He has been on Eternia for many years.
  • Snake Mountain: the lair of Skeletor, featuring a large stone snake wrapped around the mountain. Said to have been built by Skeletor with the knowledge he gained from the Golden Disks of Knowledge.
  • Beast Man: Skeletor’s beastial servant.
  • Teela: She is a fierce warrior. She does not wear her snake armor, and often uses a sword as a weapon. She is the daughter of the Sorceress (unbeknownst to her) and the adopted daughter of Man-At-Arms. She has red hair.
  • Stratos: leader of the bird people of Avion, and ally of He-Man.
  • Mer-Man: a cunning evil warrior and lord of the seas
  • Man-At-Arms: a fixture in the palace, Man-At-Arms is the adopted father of Teela. He is the heroic master of weapons and often creates new vehicles and devices for the Heroic Warriors. He knows Prince Adam’s secret. There has always been a Man-At-Arms in the long history of Eternia, one such Man-At-Arms saved the forest in which Skytree (the oldest living being) resides from the Witches of Fire.
  • Zodac: he is a neutral character who appears only rarely to keep the balance between good and evil. He is the last surviving member of the Council of the Wise.
  • Power Sword: the sword is whole, not split. Prince Adam uses the sword to transform into He-Man. It is He-Man’s primary weapon.
  • Castle Grayskull: a mysterious seat of power, it is guarded by the Sorceress.
  • Battle Ram: it appears as the complete vehicle and as the Sky Sled.
  • Battle Cat: He-Man’s loyal steed. He can talk and is eager to fight evil.
  • Cringer: Prince Adam’s cowardly cat, he is transformed into Battle Cat whenever he is needed. Found by a young Prince Adam and saved from a sabertooth tiger. He often complains to Prince Adam about having to be turned in to Battle Cat.
  • Spirit of Grayskull: appears as a red, floating head. He only appeared to He-Man once, when the Sorceress had disappeared and Teela was required to temporarily take her place.
  • Orko: heroic court magician, a child-like friend of the heroic warriors who came from Trolla. He saved a young Prince Adam and Cringer at the Tar Swamp (without him, there would be no He-Man as the Sorceress describes it). His magic is not very effective but he often helps the heroic warriors to save the day. He knows Prince Adam’s secret.
  • King/Queen/Royal Palace: King Randor and Queen Marlena are the rules of Eternia. Marlena was originally an astronaut from Earth who crash landed on Eternia. King Randor is often frustrated with Prince Adam’s behavior. The queen seems to know or suspect that Prince Adam is He-Man.

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5
Customs

He-Man Prototype replica by Snobro

Posted on by Adam McCombs

Written by Adam McCombs

I recently got a limited edition He-Man prototype replica from Aaron (aka Snobro), a customizer based in Germany. It’s a recreation of one of the non-articulated He-Man prototypes sculpted by Tony Guerrero in 1981. Since it relates to the history of Masters of the Universe, I thought it was only appropriate to review it on the Battle Ram Blog.

Tony Guerrero’s He-Man prototype

Tony Guerrero is known by He-Man fans for his fantastically detailed sculptures of the early Masters of the Universe figures. When I interviewed Mark Taylor many years ago, he talked about the process of working with Tony on He-Man:

Tony was a great artist and a really nice man and it was my honor to work with him. I also worked on another project, TMNT with a nice and super talented guy named Scott Hensey. Working with both of these sculptors allowed me to break custom by adding a step to the development process. On the He-Man line we did a looks-like beauty sculpt, non-articulated from my “B” sheet (design sketch) for testing and sales and until we got the first shots from China.  This was Tony’s idea and without this extra step, the confidence in this “weird” concept wouldn’t have happened. I repeated this process with the Turtles.

Mark Taylor

Wax Prototype

Tony sculpted a number of prototype versions of He-Man. One of the most famous is the early horned helmet version, which he sculpted first as an unarticulated “beauty sculpt” (as Mark called it) before it was molded and resin copies were created. At least one of the original wax sculptures still exists, in the collection of Luis Villagomez of The Power and the Honor Foundation. Below are some images of it from Luis and from Pete L. This version had shorter horns than the versions you’ll see a bit later in this article. You can see in the second image that it sustained some damage at one point in its life:

Image source: Pete L.
Image source: Luis Villagomez

This wax version also showed up in an old edition of Tomart’s Action Figure Digest:

Resin Prototypes

A number of resin copies were made. One of the most famous used to be owned by Roger Sweet. As I understand it, several people who worked on He-Man were given copies of this prototype at the time. It was originally unpainted, but Roger Painted his copy in his preferred color scheme:

You can see an original, unpainted copy of the prototype in pictures of the Battle Ram prototype:

Snobro’s custom is based on the unpainted version shown in the Battle Ram Polaroids.

Snobro He-Man Prototype replica

I was lucky enough to be one of about 40 people who got their hands on the replica prototype He-Man created by Snobro. His process was actually to reverse engineer Tony Guerrero’s original sculpture by starting with the Formo Legends of Dragonore Barbaro. Barbaro’s physique was based on the the original Tony Guerrero sculpture, although it had a different costume and head design.

Barbaro with armor
Barbaro without armor

Snobro resculpted the feet, lower legs, forearms, hands and head. The pelvis piece was made by making modifications to a vintage Masters of the Universe pelvis. You can see the final results below:

Here is the prototype replica compared to a vintage He-Man figure:

The replica came packaged on a collector friendly card, with Roger Sweet’s memo related to the development of He-Man on one side, and a black and white version of Mark Taylor’s He-Man B-Sheet on the other. The side with Mark’s B-sheet is signed by Rebecca Salari Taylor, Mark’s widow. The pre-production Masters of the Universe logo (probably a temporary placeholder logo created by Alfredo Alcala) is a nice touch.

Also included inside the packaging is a card designating the production number, with a photo of Rebecca on the reverse side. There is also another replica of the memo related to He-Man, and a picture of one of the unpainted prototypes sculpted by Tony Guerrero on the opposite side.

Finally, there are some of the photos Snobro used as reference for his project, as well as some quotes about Tony from Mark Taylor, Roger Sweet, Martin Arriola and Martin Arriola and The Power and the Honor Foundation. Throughout the project Aaron (Snobro) and I chatted about the history of this prototype, so it’s nice to be able to hold it in person now!

As I understand it, a few extras may be auctioned off later, so if you’re interested you’ll want to follow Snobro on Instagram to stay up to date!

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0
Milestones

10 years of Battle Ram: A He-Man Blog

Posted on by Adam McCombs

Written by Adam, Jukka, and our readers!

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Battle Ram: A He-Man Blog, we thought we would reflect on the history of the site and what we’ve learned along the way. We are also including comments shared by some of our readers. Thank you so much for supporting what we do for so long. Here’s to another 10 years!

Adam’s Thoughts

Battle Ram Blog was kind of a weird thing for me to try to start. I didn’t get back into MOTU until the tail end of 2012. I was sucked in that Christmas when looking for toys for my son, and I started remembering all the fun I had with He-Man figures as a kid. I did some searching online and bumped into He-Man.org. There was this new line called Masters of the Universe Classics. A couple of figures caught my eye immediately – a fan created figure called Castle Grayskullman, designed by Daniel Benedict. He would of course go on to direct the Fall of Grayskull fan film, but that was all in the future. Then there was this other figure called Demo-Man, which was touted as a figure based on an early Skeletor concept drawing (that turned out not to be true – the concept drawing it was based on was an unrelated character by Mark Taylor). For some reason these two figures that never even existed in the vintage line drew me in. I started collecting a few figures from the Classics line and also figures from the vintage line. My son, who was just a few years old at the time, loved both lines and we played with them all the time.

Mattel Masters of the Universe trade ad, featuring He-Man and the Battle Ram. Scan shared by John Oswald, who collaborated with me on research about the earliest 1982 production variants!

I also got into listening to the official He-Man.org podcast, called Roast Gooble Dinner. It featured fan luminaries like Val Staples, Emiliano Santalucia, Pixel Dan and Eamon O’Donoghue. Later on there were additional great hosts like Danielle Gelehrter (aka horror hostess Penny Dreadful), Nate Baertsch, Rob Base and Daniel Benedict. Between the podcast and the forums I was learning a lot about the history of Masters of the Universe. Then I learned about other resources like the Power and the Honor Foundation Catalog, and sites like Grayskull Museum and Masters Unbound, which got me even deeper into the history of these toys.

I was learning a lot, but I was having a hard time figuring out how to catalog it all. No one asked me to do that of course – it was something I felt compelled to do, because the history was so fascinating and I didn’t want to lose any of it. At the time you couldn’t find all the historical information about, say, the vintage Mer-Man action figure from one source; instead it was spread out among many sources. I would email myself information that I collected, or try to save it in Word files, but it wasn’t very organized. A blog seemed like the natural way to keep track of everything. As I recall I didn’t share my articles very widely at first, probably because I had a little bit of imposter syndrome due to my relative inexperience. The first article was about my favorite figure, Mer-Man, published August 11, 2015.

After I started posting links to articles online, it took on a life of its own. Val Staples from He-Man.org reached out to me, wanting to cross promote it on He-Man.org. Jukka Issakainen reached out to me with images, additional historical information, and corrections. At the time I was a newbie and still had a lot to learn, so Jukka’s help was really important. In fact a lot of people reached out to me with information, images, suggestions and other assistance. I am so grateful for their help!

One of the things that Jukka helped me out with at the beginning was to get me out of the habit of too much speculation. Often in discussion boards speculation can be elevated far beyond its value and treated as if it’s true because it sounds good or confirms a bias. But it’s important to stick to verifiable facts wherever possible, and to reign in speculation so that it’s at least historically grounded, following Occam’s razor. Whatever theories we come up with to explain the historical evidence should best account for all evidence, with the fewest extra assumptions required. Even when you follow good historical methodology, it’s still possible to come to wrong conclusions, but more often than not you’ll be on solid ground.

One thing I’ve learned after doing this for ten years is that no one knows the whole history of Masters of the Universe, and it would be impossible for one person to retain all that information, even if all of it could be recovered. The fact is we do better as fans when we pool our expertise and resources together. Unfortunately some of the history is lost forever, but it’s important to uncover and preserve as much of it as possible. Over the years MANY fans have contributed information, corrections and images that have enriched the articles on this blog.

Here’s a screenshot of the site as it looked on March 14, 2016, which was the earliest capture I could find on the Way Back Machine:

Jukka’s Thoughts

I’ve said it before, but it’s worth repeating: the He-Man and She-Ra fan community is one of the most resourceful and supportive groups when it comes to uncovering the history of the brand. I’m just a fan from Finland who first went online as a curious 13-year-old back in 1997, typing search terms like “He-Man” and “Masters of the Universe” into the early search sites (Ask Jeeves, anyone?). Slowly, I began discovering other fans who had similar experiences and connecting with them (and a few professional creators), and it all felt very surreal.

I’m not entirely sure whether I first came across the Battle Ram Blog through the He-Man.org forums or via a Facebook post, but I clearly remember being drawn to Adam’s thoughtful, well-researched approach. He didn’t just write about the action figures, he explored the characters across multiple mediums. That really resonated with me, especially since I had done similar deep dives in my MOTU Character Origins comparison videos, which I always enjoy researching and sharing.

In the earlier days of the blog, the animation sections in some articles were a bit brief, so I often suggested additions to help present a more well-rounded view. I also hope that in some of the articles we’ve managed to bring more light to the importance of early DC Comics’ stories, how they evolved the mythos away from Glut-stories, in a time before there was no cartoon, nor any scripts had been written.

Over the years, my habit of “hoarding” MOTU-related images came in handy, especially as some older websites began disappearing or losing content due to broken links. I was happy to share images with Adam to help illustrate articles more fully. He was always open to collaboration, and when I eventually started co-writing for the blog, he kindly helped polish my writing and clean up typos.

I feel that the Battle Ram Blog is one of the best sources of information about Masters of the Universe, and we try to include sources, original concept images and dates when ever possible. Nowadays its too easy to stumble upon a video by some youtuber, who will say many inaccurate things, or insist claiming how there is a vintage concept art of Trap Jaw depicted with a green skin (yet they don’t show any image in the video as proof, because they can’t).

With the live-action Masters of the Universe movie currently slated for 2026, there’s hope that more fans will rediscover the franchise. Maybe some will return out of nostalgia for the toys or the cartoon they cherished, and possibly discovering this blog because they are curious to know why Mer-Man the toy didn’t look like his cross-sell artwork.

Comments from our readers

Liam Webb: The blog is both interesting factually and appealing visually. I love all the art that he finds; it is one of those things that I love to see but don’t have the time to search out for myself. I am an art collector and have some MOTU portfolios and originals, and hope, one day, to commission Mr. Gimenez. The blog is also something of a comfort; as a man in midlife with many daily concerns and the odd disaster every few years (job loss, divorce, apartment building fire, familial deaths, victim of minor crime) seeing the images and hearing the behind-the-scenes stories of a simpler, happier time in my life has at times reminded me that life isn’t all bad, good times will come again, and there are some things about the 20th century that the 21st century can’t touch (provided I avoid Netflix). Coincidentally, earlier today I finished an academic chapter on transformation and the toyetic in MOTU which is to be published by Peter Lang Publishing in the next year. It is my last academic work for a while, and I only took it because MOTU was a possible subject.

Recently discovered you blog in my feed and followed straight away. He-Man is my comfort banket from being a kid. Having articles every day from your blog gives a little buz of endorphins and make me feel 6 years old again.

Happy 10th Anniversary. Sorry I am late to the party.

Craig

Nigel AKA Beedo Sookcool:

I can’t remember when I discovered your blog, but it has been an amazing resource, tying things all together using rare images that are a treat to see, and painstakingly in-depth research. Very much appreciated!

Hi Adam,

Congrats to 10 years of BattleRamBlog. I’ve been following your amazing blog from day one. I even started a thread on the biggest German MotU-website www.planeteternia.de (see pics) and recommended your blog in October 2015. 😊

Already looking forward to the next 10 years of BattleRamBlog. 🙂

Best regards,

Michael Planet Eternia.de

James Hanson:

Your blog is easily the best history of MOTU I’ve ever encountered in any medium. Most histories of the brand focus on the fad aspect, how it was developed to compete with Star Wars, why is fizzled out, etc. However, as someone who grew up on it, my question was always — how did they create these characters? What inspired them? Who came up with the rich mythology behind the world of Eternia? And so on — this is what your blog answers so well. Articles like “Mattel’s Jungle Man” and “Masters of the Taylorverse” have been so insightful and enjoyable for fans like me.

I’ve long wished the contents of this blog could be turned into a coffee table book a la Dark Horse’s Art of MOTU. Thanks for providing this invaluable service to MOTU fans, it is very much appreciated!

Øyvind Johannes Meisfjord:

Happy Anniversary, my friend! Your blog is the ULTIMATE source of all things MOTU, and I continue to be amazed over the sheer wealth of information you have researched over the years! I’m EAGERLY looking forward to the next ten years of Battle Ram: A He-Man Blog!

Happy anniversary Adam! Thank you so much for all your exclusive and extensive content on vintage masters of the universe. I cannot believe how much information I have learned from you and your site. I have been a vintage MOTU collector for 25+years, and having your content accessible, is a collectors dream. Keep up the great work, and cheers to another 10 years moving forward!

Respectfully, Brian (brian1580 on eBay)

Patrick Fogarty:

Happy Happy Happy Anniversary – your site is one I check regularly and always enjoy going back to over and over again. Such a resource and so incredibly well done. Truly appreciate everything and you! BRAVO and THANK YOU and HAPPY ANNIVERSARY again!!! Keep up the great work!

Lanace from Fulguropop:

For me, the Battle Ram Blog is THE source of information on MOTU-related topics. What a lot of work you’ve done over the years – well done, gentlemen! I can’t thank you enough for answering the many questions I’ve had about this license. I wish you a happy anniversary and look forward to reading about the next discoveries or future protagonists you’ll be interviewing.

Joseph K:

Congratulations on the upcoming 10th anniversary Adam, this blog/archive-site has surely been my online MOTU goldmine. And aside from the valuable info it packs, it’s also one the coziest virtual places from Eternia we have access to if the not the coziest ever when it comes to the MOTU realm, and I’m also glad it holds the name of the coolest fantastical single seater war vehicle ever conceptualized in a toy form I’ve seen to this day.

I have nothing to add at this moment, but please never stop publishing the awesome work.

P.S. Bravo on showing He-Man holding his “axe and shield” as his main weapons of choice. 🙂

Adam Alexander:

When He-Man.org disappeared, I went looking for a new resource for vintage MOTU information online. The Battle Ram Blog was not only the most active and thorough site I found, it had a charm and enthusiasm that was immediately appealing. Thanks for all the great articles, content and personal observations!

Walter De Marco:

A few days ago I saw that the blog’s anniversary was approaching and you had asked that we followers write about the experience. I couldn’t do it before because I’m away for vacation. I want to tell you from the depths of my heart and from this Latin American corner called Argentina that the blog represents much more to me than simple reading or hobby. It is something that connects me with my childhood and helps me spiritually on sad days. Furthermore, it does not remain only in nostalgia, but also investigates the research and production processes of one of the most important toy lines in history. I send you a big greeting and thank you for making the blog (today I think it is the best active site about MOTU)!!!

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