Written by Adam McCombs
One of the best things about getting new He-Man toys as a kid was the box art. The toys were of course amazing and fun, but personally I spent almost as much time staring at the boxes as playing with the toys. I remember being pretty heartbroken when my mother made me throw away my Castle Grayskull and Battle Ram boxes. She saw them as clutter, but for me they were almost stories in and of themselves. You could see whole adventures unfolding in a single painted scene.
Unfortunately, good photographs or scans of the original art are not available for every piece. If you happen to have a nicer images than I do (higher resolution, better composition, etc), please do feel free to share, and I’ll make an update! For pictures of the packaging itself, a neutral (white or black) background is preferred. High resolution scans of the artwork, where it appears without logos, would be ideal. Bottom line – if you have better images than I do, please share them!
One final note: I’m defining box art as the front-facing painted artwork that appeared on boxed Masters of the Universe toys. The illustrations on blister card packaging, then, are outside the scope of this series.
Part Four: 1985
Name: Bashasaurus
Year: 1985
Artist: William George
Description: Battle Armor He-Man attacks Battle Armor Skeletor using the Bashasaurus’ “basher ball” as a small dragon-like creature looks on. In the distance, Clawful and Trap Jaw run down the winding path from Snake Mountain.
Name: Battle Bones
Year: 1985
Artist: William George
Description: Battle Armor He-Man, Teela, Fisto, Man-At-Arms, Man-E-Faces, Buzz-Off, Battle Armor Skeletor, Beast Man, Kobra Khan, Jitsu, Whiplash and Evil-Lyn pose next to Battle Bones. In a separate scene, Battle Armor He-Man, Fisto, Man-At-Arms, Man-E-Faces, and Mekaneck use Battle Bones to attack Battle Armor Skeletor, Tri-Klops, and Beast Man.
Name: Dragon Walker (Euro Edition)
Year: 1985
Artist: William George
Description: Battle Armor He-Man pilots the Dragon Walker over rocky, volcanic terrain. Beast Man and Tri-Klops are ready to attack but seem unsure how to proceed. In the foreground, a small pterodactyl-like creature seems ready to take flight. In a separate scene, Battle Armor Skeletor (riding in Land Shark) and Beast Man lurk in the background.
Name: Fright Zone
Year: 1985
Artist: William George
Description: In the fearsome Fright Zone, Battle Armor He-Man fights the dreadful dragon, while Hordak snares Battle Armor Skeletor with his tree trap. Buzz-Off is held captive in Hordak’s prison. Dead trees and craggy mountains surround the lair of the Evil Horde, and twin moons hang in the sky.
Name: Hordak Grizzlor
Year: 1985
Artist: William George
Description: He-Man approaches Grizzlor and Hordak, his sword and shield at the ready. The sinister Fright Zone stands in the background.
Name: Jitsu & Night Stalker
Year: 1985
Artist: William George
Description: in the middle of a desolate and rocky landscape, Jitsu and Night Stalker attack Fisto, who seems to have been caught without backup.
Name: Land Shark
Year: 1985
Artist: William George
Description: Skeletor drives Land Shark over a cracked and rocky desert. A vicious looking dragon-like creature looks on.
Name: Land Shark & Battle Armor Skeletor
Year: 1985
Artist: William George
Description: Battle Armor Skeletor, driving Land Shark, races across the cratered desert floor. From his vantage point on a rock, Man-At-Arms seems ready to leap into battle. A vicious-looking winged dragon creature watches from a gnarled tree branch.
Name: Modulok
Year: 1985
Artist: Unknown
Description: Modulok is shown in fifteen body configurations and poses.
Name: Night Stalker
Year: 1985
Artist: William Garland*
Description: Charging down the narrow path from Snake Mountain, Battle Armor Skeletor and Night Stalker attack Battle Armor He-Man and Mekaneck. A reddened sky and strange rocky formations are the prominent features of Skeletor’s domain. (*Artist name not confirmed for this particular piece, but the art seems to match the style of the Panthor illustrations.)
Name: Spydor
Year: 1985
Artist: William George
Description: Battle Armor Skeletor looms large over Battle Armor He-Man as he uses Spydor to attack the most powerful man in the universe. In the background, tooth-like volcanoes belch smoke. Three moons hang in the alien sky.
More in this series:
- Part One: 1982 | Part Two: 1983 | Part Three: 1984 | Part Four: 1985
- Part Five: 1986 | Part Six: 1987 | Part Seven: 1988
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Man, more great memories. I don’t remember the Battle Bones art work being so surreal with them puting the carrying clips into the art and having the heroes run with it into battle.
Surreal is a good word for it!
The artwork of the Fright Zone is really amazing. One of my favorite. There are three great leaders of MOTU. I like the dissident position of Hordak. William George’s illustration shown perfectly this point. Hordak seems to be powerfull in his environment.
Thanks Adam for your work about box art, it’s always a great pleasure to see again this wonderfull illustrations 🙂
Battle Ram,
I recently came across your site and have been engrossed ever since. Prior to coming across this site, I frequented He-Man.org so it is great to have another awesome fan site. I find all of your articles interesting and extremely informative.
I also wanted to write to you with a suggestion: I have been to NY Comic Con the last 3 years and during 2014 & 2016 I had the pleasure of meeting Tom Cook, animator for Filmation. Both times I talked his ear off for at least an hour (and for multiple days). It was just such a pleasure to meet one of the people responsible for bringing the characters I grew up to life. I picked up some personalized signed prints and he has signed my MOTU He-man pop vinyl and the brand new Dark Horse MOTU Episode Book, all which are proudly displayed in Man-topia (think of a Man Cave but better lol).
Anyway my point is, it would be great if you could look into doing an interview with Tom Cook from the animator/Filmation side. He is a super nice gentleman and very down to earth. I think he would like being interviewed because whenever we would talk, he was just oozing with pride for Filmation and MOTU. Just a thought. Thank you for all of your contributions and please keep the great content coming!
Best Regards,
Ken Klobus