Written by Adam McCombs

Okay, leaving off from my three part series on US gift sets, it’s time to move on to the Canadian and European gift sets. As a reminder, a gift set is any set of two or more toys sold together in the same packaging. Many US Mattel gift sets were, of course, sold outside of the US in packaging that included non-English text. For this article, I’m only including gift sets that were exclusive to Canada and Europe.

It’s entirely possible that there were other sets released in these countries that I’m not aware of. If you know of any that I didn’t cover, please let me know! Most of the pictures in this series come from Grayskull Museum and are old/low res pictures. If you have better images to share, please let me know!

Canadian Gift Sets

Battle Armor Skeletor, Orko and Battle Armor He-Man

Battle Armor Skeletor, Stinkor and Webstor

Roboto, Hordak and Sy-Klone

Thunder Punch He-Man and Orko

Thunder Punch He-Man and Roboto

Ram Man and Zoar (Consumers Distributing)

Trap Jaw and Screeech (Consumers Distributing)

Battle Armor He-Man and Dragon Walker (Consumers Distributing)

This one appeared in the old Grayskull Museum site, labeled as a Canadian gift set. I would be a bit skeptical of this one, though. There is apparently no mention of Battle Armor He-Man on the packaging, and it would have been easy enough for someone to put the figure in there through the broken cellophane window. In fact, He-Man looks a bit too tall for the packaging.

European Gift Sets

Battle Armour He-Man and Battle Armour Skeletor (UK)

There was supposedly a US version of this set – it was advertised but I don’t know if it was released. In the picture below, the spelling on “Battle Armour” and the absence of French text indicate that it was probably released in the UK.

Grizzlor and Spikor (Austria)

Moss Man and Two Bad (Austria)

Stinkor and Moss Man (Austria)

He-Man and Skeletor with audio cassette

Check out the full series of Gift Sets articles!

• Gift Sets of MOTU
  • Gift Sets of MOTU (1982-1983)  
  • Gift Sets of MOTU (1984) 
  • Gift Sets of MOTU (1985-1986) 
  • Canadian and European Gift Sets 

Thank you to the following individuals who are current Patreon supporters or Facebook subscribers!

• Adam A.
• Allison T.
• badtaste®
• Ben M.
• Chupakaibra
• Cory from Make Shape Create
• Elsmasef – The MotU Channel
• Eric H.
• Erik B.
• Gianluca V.
• J Man
• JackieX
• João S.
• Jon E.
• Kris K.
• Kory C.
• Lyca
• Max I.
• Michael M.
• Mike G.
• MotuOriginsCork
• Nate B.
• Orion W.
• Ove K.
• Øyvind M. (Patreon & Facebook)
• Philip O.
• Rich S.
• Robert B.
• Scott B.
• Steven K.
• Tate W.
• tupalev

Want to support the blog? Consider becoming a Patreon supporter or Facebook subscriber. You’ll also gain access to exclusive content and early access to posts on the blog. Thank you!

Written by Adam McCombs

Continuing on, here is the last article in my series on US Masters of the Universe gift sets. What is a gift set? It’s any boxed MOTU item containing two or more toys. Some of them, like the He-Man and Battle Cat set, are very well known. Others are much more obscure. Some of these were produced in quite low numbers, and so are very hard to find today.

Unfortunately I don’t have good images for every gift set. In some cases I don’t have any images at all. If you are reading this and are able to contribute better images of any of these sets, please let me know! It’s also possible that there were other gift sets I’m not aware of. If so, please let me know. The nicer images I have tend to come from auction houses like LCG, Heritage and Hakes.

One note on the standard Mattel sets – some of them were reissued in subsequent years, and so they had updated cross sell art on the back to reflect the latest toys. To keep things clean, I’m just going to visually represent the original release for each of these sets

Other articles in this series:

• Gift Sets of MOTU (1982-1983)
• Gift Sets of MOTU (1984)

Mattel MOTU Sets (1985-1986)

Jitsu and Night Stalker (1985)

Approximate release date: 09/18/1985

Hordak and Grizzlor (1985)

Approximate release date: specific date not found.

Battle Armor Skeletor and Land Shark (1985)

Approximate release date: 08/01/1985

Heroic Warriors 3 (1985)

Approximate release date: 08/18/1985

Evil Warriors 3 (1985)

Approximate release date: 08/18/1985

Battle Armor He-Man and Battle Armor Skeletor

Edit: this is one I missed. It’s from the old Grayskull Museum site, reportedly from 1985. There is a catalog scan showing it with US spelling and then a photo of a fan’s set with Canadian/UK spelling. Would love to learn more about this one – I’m not sure if it was actually released in the US or not.

He-Man and Jet Sled (1986)

Approximate release date: specific date not found.

Flying Fists He-Man and Terror Claws Skeletor (1986)

Approximate release date: specific date not found.

Hordak and Mantisaur (1986)

Approximate release date: 11/01/1986

JCPenney MOTU Sets (1985-1986)

JCPenney offered sets of two figures in a rather plain cardboard box, with uncolored cross sell artwork on the front. Inside the figures were poly bagged, and included all of their accessories and minicomics. I should also add that I believe Montgomery Ward also offered these gift sets, but I’m not sure if there is any difference between them, packaging wise.

Hordak and Grizzlor

Mantenna and Leech

Moss Man and Sy-Klone

Roboto and Mekaneck

Stinkor and Spikor

Two Bad and Tri-Klops

I should also make note of some advertised sets that I’ve never seen packaging pictures of anywhere:

• Stinkor and Moss Man (Montgomery Ward)
• Spikor and Sy-Klone (Montgomery Ward)
• Two Bad and Roboto (Montgomery Ward)
• Zoar and Screeech (Montgomery Ward)
• Evil Horde Four Pack – Hordak, Grizzlor, Leech, Mantenna (Montgomery Ward)

Update: one more mystery set appears in this catalog, which would have included Hordak, Leech and Mantenna:

Check out the full series of Gift Sets articles!

• Gift Sets of MOTU
  • Gift Sets of MOTU (1982-1983)  
  • Gift Sets of MOTU (1984) 
  • Gift Sets of MOTU (1985-1986) 
  • Canadian and European Gift Sets 

Thank you to the following individuals who are current Patreon supporters or Facebook subscribers!

• Adam A.
• Allison T.
• badtaste®
• Ben M.
• Chupakaibra
• Cory from Make Shape Create
• Elsmasef – The MotU Channel
• Eric H.
• Erik B.
• Gianluca V.
• JackieX
• João S.
• Jon E.
• Kris K.
• Kory C.
• Lyca
• Max I.
• Michael M.
• Mike G.
• MotuOriginsCork
• Nate B.
• Orion W.
• Ove K.
• Øyvind M. (Patreon & Facebook)
• Philip O.
• Rich S.
• Robert B.
• Scott B.
• Steven K.
• Tate W.
• tupalev

Want to support the blog? Consider becoming a Patreon supporter or Facebook subscriber. You’ll also gain access to exclusive content and early access to posts on the blog. Thank you!

Written by Adam McCombs

There used to be an excellent resource for MOTU Gift Sets at Grayskull Museum. Sadly that website is no longer available (you can see the archived Gift Sets page here). I think it’s valuable to have a guide to the gift sets, so I’ll be putting out a series of posts covering them all, starting with the US versions. I’ll address Canadian and European sets in separate posts. This article is the second in the series. Update: apparently Grayskull Museum has been archived at a mirror site! However, I will also be covering some sets not listed at Grayskull Museum.

What is a gift set? It’s any boxed MOTU item containing two or more toys. Some of them, like the He-Man and Battle Cat set, are very well known. Others are much more obscure. Some of these were produced in quite low numbers, and so are very hard to find today.

Unfortunately I don’t have good images for every gift set. In some cases I don’t have any images at all. If you are reading this and are able to contribute better images of any of these sets, please let me know! It’s also possible that there were other gift sets I’m not aware of. If so, please let me know. The nicer images I have tend to come from auction houses like LCG, Heritage and Hakes.

One note on the standard Mattel sets – some of them were reissued in subsequent years, and so they had updated cross sell art on the back to reflect the latest toys. To keep things clean, I’m just going to visually represent the original release for each of these sets

Other articles in this series:

• Gift Sets of MOTU (1982-1983)

Mattel MOTU Sets (1984)

Battle Armor He-Man and Battle Cat (1984)

Approximate release date: 10/27/1984

Battle Armor Skeletor and Panthor (1984)

Approximate release date: 10/27/1984

Battle For Eternia 2 (1984)

Approximate release date: unknown, sometime in 1984

Battle Armor He-Man and Road Ripper

Approximate release date: 11/05/1984

Battle Armor Skeletor and Screeech (1984)

Approximate release date: 10/03/1984

Fisto and Stridor (1984)

Approximate release date: 09/04/1984

Heroic Warriors 2 (1984)

Approximate release date: 09/23/1984

Evil Warriors 2 (1984)

Approximate release date: 09/23/1984

JCPenney MOTU Sets

JCPenney offered sets of two figures in a rather plain cardboard box, with uncolored cross sell artwork on the front. Inside the figures were poly bagged, and included all of their accessories and minicomics. I should also add that I believe Montgomery Ward also offered these gift sets, but I’m not sure if there is any difference between them, packaging wise.

Mekaneck and Ram Man

Buzz-Off and Fisto

Jitsu and Clawful

Kobra Khan and Whiplash

Prince Adam and Orko

Man-E-Faces and Battle Armor He-Man

Webstor and Battle Armor Skeletor

I should also make note of some advertised sets that I’ve never seen packaging pictures of anywhere:

• Webstor and Jitsu (Montgomery Ward)
• Battle Armor He-Man and Kobra Khan (Montgomery Ward)

Check out the full series of Gift Sets articles!

• Gift Sets of MOTU
  • Gift Sets of MOTU (1982-1983)  
  • Gift Sets of MOTU (1984) 
  • Gift Sets of MOTU (1985-1986) 
  • Canadian and European Gift Sets 

Thank you to the following individuals who are current Patreon supporters or Facebook subscribers!

• Adam A.
• Allison T.
• badtaste®
• Ben M.
• Chupakaibra
• Cory from Make Shape Create
• Elsmasef – The MotU Channel
• Eric H.
• Gianluca V.
• JackieX
• João S.
• Jon E.
• Kris K.
• Lyca
• Max I.
• Michael M.
• Mike G.
• MotuOriginsCork
• Orion W.
• Ove K.
• Øyvind M. (Patreon & Facebook)
• Philip O.
• Robert B.
• Scott B.
• Steven K.
• Tate W.
• tupalev

Want to support the blog? Consider becoming a Patreon supporter or Facebook subscriber. You’ll also gain access to exclusive content and early access to posts on the blog. Thank you!

Written by Adam McCombs

There used to be an excellent resource for MOTU Gift Sets at Grayskull Museum. Sadly that website is no longer available (you can see the archived Gift Sets page here). I think it’s valuable to have a guide to the gift sets, so I’ll be putting out a series of posts covering them all, starting with the US versions. I’ll address Canadian and European sets in separate posts. Update: apparently Grayskull Museum has been archived at a mirror site! However, I will also be covering some sets not listed at Grayskull Museum.

What is a gift set? It’s any boxed MOTU item containing two or more toys. Some of them, like the He-Man and Battle Cat set, are very well known. Others are much more obscure. Some of these were produced in quite low numbers, and so are very hard to find today.

Unfortunately I don’t have good images for every gift set. In some cases I don’t have any images at all. If you are reading this and are able to contribute better images of any of these sets, please let me know! It’s also possible that there were other gift sets I’m not aware of. If so, please let me know. The nicer images I have tend to come from auction houses like LCG, Heritage and Hakes.

One note on the standard Mattel sets – some of them were reissued in subsequent years, and so they had updated cross sell art on the back to reflect the latest toys. To keep things clean, I’m just going to visually represent the original release for each of these sets.

Mattel MOTU Sets (1982-1983)

He-Man and Battle Cat (1982)

Approximate release date: 07/02/1982

He-Man and Wind Raider (1982)

Approximate release date: 08/08/1982

Skeletor and Panthor (1983)

Approximate release date: 09/02/1983

Battle For Eternia 1 (1983)

Approximate release date: unknown, sometime in 1983

Teela and Zoar (1983)

Approximate release date: 11/02/1983

Skeletor and Screeech (1983)

Approximate release date: 10/21/1983

Heroic Warriors 1 (1983)

Approximate release date: 08/14/1983

Evil Warriors 1 (1983)

Approximate release date: 08/14/1983

JCPenney MOTU Sets

JCPenney offered sets of two figures in a rather plain cardboard box, with uncolored cross sell artwork on the front. Inside the figures were poly bagged, and included all of their accessories and minicomics. I should also add that I believe Montgomery Ward also offered these gift sets, but I’m not sure if there is any difference between them, packaging wise.

He-Man and Teela

Man-At-Arms and Stratos

Skeletor and Beast Man

Skeletor and Mer-Man

Man-E-Faces and Faker

I should also make note of some advertised sets that I’ve never seen pictures of anywhere. I’m not sure if they were all made, but someone on Facebook mentioned to me that they remembered getting the Beast Man and Stratos set.

• Stratos and Beast Man (advertised as “Winged sky baron and his savage henchman!” by JCPenney)
• Beast Man and Mer-Man (Montgomery Ward)
• Ram Man and Skeletor (JCPenney)
• He-Man and Trap Jaw (JCPenney)
• Tri-Klops and Trap Jaw (JCPenney)

Check out the full series of Gift Sets articles!

• Gift Sets of MOTU
  • Gift Sets of MOTU (1982-1983)  
  • Gift Sets of MOTU (1984) 
  • Gift Sets of MOTU (1985-1986) 
  • Canadian and European Gift Sets 

Thank you to the following individuals who are current Patreon supporters or Facebook subscribers!

• Adam A.
• Allison T.
• badtaste®
• Ben M.
• Chupakaibra
• Cory from Make Shape Create
• Elsmasef – The MotU Channel
• Eric H.
• Gianluca V.
• JackieX
• João S.
• Jon E.
• Kris K.
• Kory C.
• Lyca
• Max I.
• Michael M.
• Mike G.
• MotuOriginsCork
• Orion W.
• Ove K.
• Øyvind M. (Patreon & Facebook)
• Philip O.
• Robert B.
• Scott B.
• Steven K.
• tupalev

Want to support the blog? Consider becoming a Patreon supporter or Facebook subscriber. You’ll also gain access to exclusive content and early access to posts on the blog. Thank you!