Stilt Stalkers: Heroic Battle Stilts (1986)

Posted on October 21, 2024October 25, 2024 by Adam McCombs

Written by Adam McCombs

Name: Stilt Stalkers
Faction: Heroic Warriors
Approximate US release date: July 18, 1986

Stilt Stalkers were an inexpensive accessory for Masters of the Universe figures that never got onto my radar as a kid. They kind of function as a way of giving any figure the abilities of Extendar, although it’s hard to imagine them having much practical use in a battle situation!

Design & Development

Stilt Stalkers were designed by Ted Mayer as part of a series of low-cost accessories for the line, which also included Jet Sled and Megalaser. The concept art below, dated July 18, 1984, shows the basic idea of a telescoping set of stilts outfitted with weapons.

*Image source: The Power and the Honor Foundation*

The prototype is a simplified version of the concept art, with a similar color scheme (other than the guns), and flattened feet:

The final prototype appears in the 1986 Mattel catalog, below. The design is more or less finalized, but the example below is hand-painted. You can see that two additional clip-on accessories have been added to the “legs,” including a radar dish and a spinning grabber accessory. The feet in this version are closer to the original concept art. The color scheme has been updated to silver, blue and black.

Toy & Packaging

Stilt Stalkers were sold on a blister card. The action art scene on the back was illustrated by an unknown artist. It includes instructions on how to assemble and telescope the Stilt Stalkers, and also how to store them on the included armor piece. The cross sell art is by William George.

*Note that this particular card came from Mattel’s archives and was not available at retail, given the stickers at the top.*

Curiously the Euro/multilingual version of the card featured some nice artwork in front, while the US version did not. This may have been illustrated by either Bruce Timm or William George:

The cross sell artwork for Stilt Stalkers featured only the accessory itself, with no figure. However the 2015 Art of He-Man book showed a draft of the cross sell art that was to feature He-Man:

*Unfinished version of the cross sell art featuring He-Man*

The armor included with the set was similar to armor that came with with Jet Sled, although the back was modified to allow it to store the Stilt Stalkers. It features a stylized version of He-Man’s cross templar on the front:

Øyvind Meisfjord has shared the following media of Stilt Stalkers in action:

Stilt Stalkers appeared in the Mattel Style Guide, with an illustration by Errol McCarthy. As this was an inexpensive accessory, there wasn’t much of a backstory for them. It just says: “Enables He-Man to walk tall on the battlefield. Blasts enemies from above.”

Comic Appearances

Stilt Stalkers appeared in a single page in the 1986 minicomic, Snake Attack, although it is referenced by name in a previous page. He-Man appears to be using them to navigate through the swamp, although of course Extendar doesn’t need them.

Both Stilt Stalkers and Megalaser appear throughout issue 32 of the UK comics, in the stories The Mantisaur parts one and two. Man-At-Arms develops Stilt Stalkers and Megalaser as a way of combatting Hordak’s new Mantisaur (images come from MOTUCFigures.com):

Stilt Stalkers also appear in the German Ehapa Verlag series, in issue 11, 1988. They are used by He-Man, Man-At-Arms and Fisto to traverse a watery cave. In the story they are attacked by an octopus creature while using Stilt Stalkers:

Other Appearances

Stilt Stalkers appear in the 1986 Eternia poster by William George, featuring Moss Man:

The Style Guide art by Errol McCarthy was also reprinted as a poster for the UK Comics:

Stilt Stalkers also appeared in an ad in the 1988 series of Magic Boy magazines, which featured He-Man comics in Italian:

Stilt Stalkers don’t have a ton of cache in the MOTU mythos, as they were a simple set of accessories released late in the line. It was pretty common for toylines to offer such accessories as a means of getting product out at a lower price point. The first example of this in the vintage line was the Weapons Pak, released in 1984.

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Accessories

Cliff Climber, Scubattack & Tower Tools (1987)

Posted on September 3, 2024November 7, 2024 by Adam McCombs

Written by Adam McCombs

Name: Cliff Climber, Scubattack and Tower Tools Power Gear
Faction: None
Approximate US release date: Month and day unknown, 1987

Cliff Climber, Scubattack and Tower Tools were three motorized accessories that came out at the tail end of the Masters of the Universe line. Powered by a common motorized module, they offered three different action scenarios for Masters of the Universe figures.

Design & Development

Scubattack appears to derive from the Sea Man concept below, dating from March 25, 1985. A concept by Alan Tyler, it’s not entirely clear if it was originally intended to be just an accessory or an entire figure with an elaborate aquatic costume. This concept may have lead to both Scubattack and the New Adventures figure Hydron:

*Image source: The Power and the Honor Foundation Catalog*

James McElroy did the designs for both Tower Tools and Cliff Climber. His concept art below is very close to what was actually released by Mattel:

Toys & Packaging

The Power Gear set (they are called out collectively by this name as a group in Mattel’s official materials) first appear in the 1987 Mattel dealer catalog, shown below:

Each accessory (powered by a single AA battery) was able to provide two to three different motorized action features. In a way these sets were adding to figures action features that didn’t exist previously, or at least not in a motorized way.

Cliff Climber

The Cliff Climber, in addition to its powered grappling hook, had a “chest crawler” (basically a rotating drum that could be used to propel the figure when laying on its front) and a powered drill feature.

Scubattack

The primary feature of the Scubattack was to of course propel the figure through the water with its propeller. But it also offered a water blaster function, and, scraping the bottom of the barrel for action feature ideas, hollow “flotation tanks.”

Tower Tools

Tower Tools, aside from its articulated, clamping arm and ability to propel itself across a suspended string, came with a rotating hatchet saw.

Each of the Power Gear accessories came packaged in a closed box, similar to Modulok and Multi-Bot. William George provided the box art for all three packages:

*As I mentioned in my Box Art from A-Z series, this artwork bizarrely shows He-Man and Prince Adam in the same scene! Thanks to Nate in the comments for the reminder.*

The packaging layout for all three Power Gear accessories is shown below (images via Grayskull Museum):

Øyvind Meisfjord has shared some images and videos of each of the three sets in action, to help illustrate what they can do:

Comic Appearances

Like most of the toys that came out at the end of the line, the Power Gear set weren’t heavily featured in comics or artwork. Probably their most effective showcase came in the MOTU Star Comics, issue #8, where all three are worked into the same story. In the story, they are the inventions of Man-At-Arms, and used by the Heroic Warriors:

Scubattack seems to show up most frequently of the three sets, otherwise. It shows up in issues 7 and 9 of the 1988 German Ehapa Verlag comics, used by Skeletor, Tri-Klops, Blade and Jitsu:

It also shows up in issue 1 of the 1989 Magic Boy series, used by Hordak:

Other Artwork

In terms of artwork, the Power Gear set shows up in a few places. The most striking by far is this beautiful poster by Earl Norem for the Spring 1987 issue of the US MOTU Magazine:

The full set also appears in this interesting poster by Esteban Maroto:

Scubattack appeared in this illustration by Errol McCarthy:

The Power Gear set also appeared in a few advertisements toward the end of the line:

I can’t speak to how fun these actually were because I never owned them. I will say that they look awfully earth-like, and a little out place on Eternia. They’ve never been my favorites for that reason, but their action features do look neat!

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Accessories, Heroic Vehicles

Jet Sled: Heroic rocket sled & jetpack (1986)

Posted on September 27, 2023September 8, 2024 by Adam McCombs

Written by Adam McCombs

Name: Jet Sled
Faction: Heroic Warriors
Approximate US release date: July 18, 1986

Jet Sled was one of a few small accessories sold in 1986 to fill a lower price point in the lineup for the year, along with Megalaser and Stilt Stalkers. I don’t personally have a history with any of these accessories, but in my opinion, Jet Sled is the coolest of the three.

Jet Sled was designed by Ted Mayer, who also designed the Battle Ram, Wind Raider, Talon Fighter, and the earliest versions of the Eternia playset. One Ted Mayer concept appears below, which has a somewhat similar look to the Jet Sled. I do not believe that it’s directly related to the Jet Sled.

*Image source: The Power & The Honor Foundation Catalog. Artwork dated Sep 22, 1985*.

The concept below, which shows He-Man riding on a green, shark-themed Jet sled, and carrying another white version of it on his back, looks much closer to the actual vehicle. It dates to July 8, 1984, which means it predates the larger vehicle shown above.

*Image source: The Power & The Honor Foundation Catalog*

The early prototype Jet Sled was white and quite diminutive. The shark theme was been removed from the design, which in many ways makes it seem much less “Masters of the Universe.” Zodac is seen sporting Stratos’ harness in the photo below.

You can see in the cross sell artwork below the final look of the vehicle. It’s been made larger than the prototype, and more sleek looking. It’s been given an orange/red, silver and blue color scheme. It looks similar in overall style to some US military aircraft concepts from the 1960s and 1970s. There are some very subtle “eyes” on the front. The actual toy would also feature some subtle “teeth” which are not visible in the cross sell artwork.

Toy & Packaging

Jet Sled was first advertised in newspapers in July 18, 1986. It saw two separate releases – one as an individual carded accessory/vehicle, and one as more deluxe gift set with He-Man, which included painted packaging artwork. The latter is ultra rare and almost impossible to find.

The Euro card included some artwork on the front of the singled carded vehicle that appears to be by Bruce Timm (thanks to Jukka Issakainen for the correction on the artist):

The vehicle itself came with a new blue chest harness for He-Man, complete with the traditional He-Man cross symbol, which had otherwise at this point been mostly replaced by the stylized “HM” first seen on Battle Armor He-Man. The harness could be used to clip the vehicle onto a figure’s back. The two missiles or jets are supposed to be detachable, although they can be difficult to remove.

One interesting variant is the bootleg Yugo version (Yugoslavian bootleg), which had very different stickers and a much rougher appearance.

The Jet Sled appeared in the 1986 and 1987 MOTU style guides, illustrated by Errol McCarthy, with a brief description of its capabilities:

Comic Appearances

Jet Sled appears in the minicomic story, Rock People to the Rescue. In it we learn the Jet Sled was invented by Man-At-Arms. Mid-way through the story, Skeletor steals it and uses it to attack the heroic warriors. The design in the story looks a bit closer to the original Ted Mayer concept art than the actual toy:

In Enter: Buzz-Saw Hordak King Randor uses the Jet Sled to crash into Hordak (thanks to Beedo Sookcool in the comments for pointing this out):

The Jet Sled appears in the Fall 1987 issues of the US MOTU Magazine. In Rescue King Randor we see it used as a vehicle for the King and for Prince Adam:

Jet Sled appears in the Star Comics story, The Coming of Hordak:

It also appears in issue 27 of the UK MOTU comics, in Attack of the Snakemen:

*Image source: http://www.motucfigures.com/*

Jet Sled makes appearances in several German Ehapa comic issues, both in poster art and within stories:

Other Artwork

The Jet Sled appears in a couple of major posters. We see Sy-Klone riding it in William George’s Eternia poster:

Snout Spout uses the Jet Sled as a water vehicle in this poster by Earl Norem that appeared in MOTU Magazine:

Jet Sled in Action

Øyvind Meisfjord has kindly contributed the following video of Jet Sled in action:

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Accessories

Weapons Pak: Arms & armor for your MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE figures (1984)

Posted on July 10, 2023September 8, 2024 by Adam McCombs

Written by Adam McCombs

Name: Weapons Pak
Faction: None
Approximate US release date: September 27, 1984

Weapons Pak was released in the fall of 1984 as the first low-cost accessory item in the MOTU line, made up entirely of existing parts, but released primarily using alternative colors. I think I may have run into the yellow Beast Man accessories at some point in my childhood, but otherwise I wasn’t really aware of them until I became a collector later in life.

The earliest newspaper ad I could find for the set appeared on September 27, 1984. I’ve never located any copyright or trademark filings for the set – I’m sure it was less of a priority than actual characters and vehicles.

*The Indianapolis Star, December 9, 1984*

The Weapons Pak was included on a standard card, with six small small blisters containing the various accessories. The back of the card featured 12 pieces of cross sell artwork:

The Weapons Pak was featured in the lower left corner on the page below in the 1984 Mattel catalog. The weapons appear to be painted rather than molded in these colors – I’m sure they were painted mockups.

Interestingly, all of the chosen accessories, minus the whip (recycled from the Big Jim line), were designed by Mark Taylor, who had left Mattel in 1982, just after He-Man launched.

The weapons in the pack were divided up into six categories, and included the following:

Shoulder Armor:
Beast Man shoulder armor in yellow

2 “Laser” Guns:
Zodac pistol in black
Man-E-Faces pistol

6 Hand Weapons
He-Man sword in blue
He-Man axe in blue
Castle Grayskull rifle in gray
Castle Grayskull axe in gray
Castle Grayskull mace in gray
Castle Grayskull sword in gray

Shield & Whip
Beast Man whip
Castle Grayskull shield in gray

Body Armor
Zodac armor in black
Beast Man armor in yellow

The Beast Man armor could be used on most MOTU figures, but it’s very common to see it on loose Beast Man figures, used as a replacement for the original red armor:

You sometimes see the armor used on Moss Man as well:

The Man-E-Faces pistol is nearly the same color as the original gun, and so works as a direct replacement for it. The black Zodac pistol and armor are often used as replacements for Zodac’s original red armor:

For a while it was fashionable for owners of Savage He-Man to kit him out with the black Zodac armor as well, but from the contemporary description we have of that figure, he originally came without any armor at all, and a random selection of a couple of the bonus Man-E-Faces weapons, which themselves were recolored versions of the Castle Grayskull weapons:

The Beast Man whip was the same color as the original, and so worked as a direct replacement. The gray Grayskull weapons and the blue He-Man axe and sword were pretty multi-purpose, and could be used by any character.

Incidentally, here is Mark Taylor’s original B-Sheet for the weapons rack from Castle Grayskull. This one came with a Grayskull Con exclusive print that was released several years back:

Top Toys produced its own version of the Weapons Pak, but with a different selection of accessories that tended to use the original toy colors, or colors from “toy versions” of the Grayskull weapons, such as Clawful’s green version of the Grayskull mace, and Webstor’s orange version of the Grayskull rifle. It also substitutes He-Man’s armor and shield for Zodac’s armor and the Grayskull shield:

The European multi-lingual version stuck to the original assortment of accessories:

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