Laser Bolt: Heroic Road Rocket (1986)

Posted on April 9, 2024April 18, 2024 by Adam

Laser Bolt is one the the smaller, less expensive vehicles released in the Masters of the Universe line, similar to Road Ripper. Stylistically it has more in common with the 1985 and earlier waves of toys, with its traditional Masters creature face design and rugged-looking body and wheels, in the vehicle style established early on by Ted Mayer and Ed Watts.

Design & Development

Laser Bolt as a concept was invented by Roger Sweet. The patent document explains its basic features – it’s essentially a three-wheeled vehicle with the front wheel on a strut that can pivot so that the vehicle can be operated either upright or low to the ground. The front face piece also pivots so it can face forward regardless of the attitude of the vehicle. The vehicle was spring-loaded, allowing it to pop into the upright position.

The visual design for the vehicle comes from Ed Watts. In the images below from the Power and the Honor Foundation Catalog, we can see that the early working name for Laser Bolt was actually “Dart.” The concept looks quite close to the final figure design, although of course it lacks the face design on the front. Watts illustrated the vehicle in both horizontal and vertical modes.

In terms of timeline for the development and release of Laser Bolt, here are the dates that I’ve been able to document:

07/13/1984: Dart (Laser Bolt) concept, by Ed Watts
05/30/1985: Laser Bolt first use in commerce
06/14/1985: Laser Bolt trademarked
09/13/1985: Laser Bolt patent filed
11/25/1985: Laser Bolt copyright registered
01/11/1986: First Laser Bolt Newspaper ad

The final design of the vehicle is represented in its cross sell artwork:

Toy & Packaging

The packaging artwork for Laser Bolt was done by William George, and features his usual indelible style, including one of his little creatures that he so-often inserted into his artwork:

The back of the packaging explained how the vehicle’s action figure worked:

*Upright is called “battle position” while horizontal mode is called “chase position.”*

The toy itself was primarily red, with a yellow front strut. It featured four user-applied decals (the eye decals were installed at the factory) and two removable guns (images via eBay):

Comic Appearances

Laser Bolt appears briefly in The Terror Claws Strike, and is shown in both “chase” and “battle” positions. It’s based on the original Ed Watts concept, as you can see by its lack of face on the front wedge-shaped section:

*Image: Dark Horse Minicomic Collection*

Laser Bolt appears in the UK Comics magazine, in The Eyes of the Serpent (Issue 30), where it is driven by Rio Blast:

It appears in an ad for the Masters of the Universe Club in the following issue as well:

Laser Bolt appears in issue 2 of the Star Comics series story, Falling Stars:

It also appears in the German Ehapa Verlag series, in issue 1, released in 1987:

Update: Laser Bolt also appears briefly in the newspaper comic strip story, The Day of the Comet. Thanks to Dušan Mitrović for the tip.

*Image source: Darkhorse MOTU Newspaper Comic Strips collection*

Animation

Laser Bolt makes a brief appearance near the beginning of the Filmation He-Man and She-Ra Christmas Special. Despite the fact that Laser Bolt is supposed to be a land vehicle, He-Man flies it up to intercept the evil warriors in the Collector:

Art Appearances

Laser Bolt makes two appearances in the Spring 1986 issue of MOTU Magazine, in an introductory page, and in a poster by the great Earl Norem (magazine images courtesy of Ben Massa/Orko’s Keep):

The original version of Norem’s artwork appeared in a auction at Heritage Auctions:

Laser Bolt also appears within William George’s Eternia poster, driven by Roboto:

Errol McCarthy illustrated the vehicle as well, and it appears in both a T-shirt design as well in Mattel’s Style Guide (images via He-Man.org):

Here is the text description from the Style Guide:

Name: Laser Bolt
Group Affiliation: Heroic Warriors
Role: Heroic road rocket.
Power: Speed cycle takes on Evil Warriors in two positions: It rides low to the ground for racing, and springs up into defensive battle position. Mounted laser guns blast barriers out of the way.
Year of Toy Intro: 1986

Other Advertising

Laser Bolt appears in Mattel’s 1986 dealer catalog:

The earliest newspaper ad I found for it is in The Post Star on Saturday, January 11, 1986:

Here it is in the Mattel France 1987 catalog, where it is called the Motosonic:

And here it is in another Mattel France catalog:

Laser Bolt in Action

My friend Øyvind Meisfjord has kindly shared the following image and video of Laser Bolt in action!

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Heroic Vehicles

Blasterhawk: Heroic Land & Sky Disk Launcher (1986)

Posted on March 3, 2024March 11, 2024 by Adam

Blasterhawk is one of the more interesting vehicle concepts to show up toward the end of the Masters of the Universe line. In many ways it was similar in concept to the Battle Ram, with flying vehicle element that could detach from a ground-bound base vehicle. It also had the ability to integrate with the Eternia Playset, which increased its play value.

Design & Development

An early exploration of the concept of a disk-launching toy comes in the illustration below by Ted Mayer for a “Zap ‘n’ Go” vehicle. The illustration dates to September 22, 1983:

Another exploration on the disk-launching theme comes from Ed Watts, in this Disk Blaster illustration, dated September 16, 1984. This is a land vehicle and lacks the flying aspect of Blasterhawk, but the tank treads would find their way in into the toy.

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

We get a look at concept art for the flying portion of Blasterhawk in an illustration for the Eternia Playset by Ted Mayer. The image below dates to February 5, 1985:

*Close up view of Blasterhawk concept art*

We also see a very simple foam mockup of Blasterhawk on top of an early Eternia clay model:

I’m sure there was another more finalized piece of concept art for the vehicle, perhaps by another artist not represented here. Unfortunately it has not surfaced yet. You can see the final version of Blasterhawk in this image from Mattel’s 1986 catalog.

The earliest newspaper ad I’ve found for Blasterhawk dates to June 6, 1986, indicating it probably started appearing in stores around that time:

Toy & Packaging

The packaging artwork for Blasterhawk comes from William George, and features Battle Armor He-Man at the controls:

Blasterhawk came with a removable radar dish and eight battle disks. Like the Talon Fighter, it could be held with a handle on the underside. The trigger was in reach from the handle as well, allowing it be fired like a toy gun as it was maneuvered through the air. The attitude of the top section could be adjusted by pivoting it forward or backward within the curved slot, allowing the user to make adjustments to the angle of fire.

Blasterhawk could be docked onto the turret base that came with the Eternia playset, like so:

In order to dock Blasterhawk, the red Laser Blaster normally connected to the turret base would need to be removed:

Update: Rik from Twitter pointed out that it should also be possible to reverse the above configuration, pairing the Eternia playset red Laser Blaster with the tank portion of the Blasterhawk. Øyvind was kind enough to provide a picture what that looks like (note that he’s customized his Laser Blaster with some additional paint applications):

Comic Appearances

Blasterhawk made a number of comic appearances. In The Hordes of Hordak, Prince Adam makes a big show of introducing the brand new vehicle, which of course works to introduce the toy to children reading the comic. Later on Teela uses Blasterhawk to defeat Horde Troopers, which would be an ideal play pattern.

In The Ultimate Battleground, Blasterhawk is piloted by Snout Spout, who rescues He-Man at one point in the story. We also see Blasterhawk take off from the central tower in the last page of the comic.

Blasterhawk appears in the Fall 1986 issues of the US Masters of the Universe Magazine. It appears briefly in a single panel, piloted by He-Man. The issue also featured poster art of Blasterhawk by Earl Norem, which I will show later in the article.

Issue 60 of the UK MOTU Magazine featured a Secret Files: Vehicles section narrated by Scrollos. There was a full-page section on Blasterhawk, where we learn the vehicle was designed by Man-At-Arms. The disks are described as “energy discs” and it’s described as having great speed and firing accuracy:

Issue 13 of the UK Adventure Magazine featured a very brief appearance of the vehicle:

There was also a Masters of the Universe Club advertisement featuring Blasterhawk firing on a Horde Trooper:

Blasterhawk appears in the German Ehapa Verlag series, in issue 8 from 1988:

It also appears in issue 2 of the 1988 Magic Boy series, in an air battle against Fright Fighter. The vehicle’s handle isn’t illustrated here:

Blasterhawk appears in issue 6 of the MOTU Star Comics series:

Artwork Appearances

Blasterhawk appeared in the 1987 Mattel Style Guide on the same page with Fright Fighter, with illustrations by Errol McCarthy:

*Image source: The Power and the Honor Foundation*

It also appears in an Earl Norem poster included in the US Masters of the Universe Magazine:

Blasterhawk also appears in William George’s 1986 Eternia poster, and on the Eternia box art by the same artist:

Other Advertising

Here are a few other ads for Blasterhawk from publications around the world:

Blasterhawk in Action

The following image and videos of Blasterhawk in action come courtesy of Øyvind Meisfjord:

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Accessories, Heroic Vehicles

Jet Sled: Heroic rocket sled & jetpack (1986)

Posted on September 27, 2023October 13, 2023 by Adam

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, 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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Heroic Vehicles

Bashasaurus: Heroic Combat Vehicle (1985)

Posted on September 20, 2019March 5, 2020 by Adam

I’m sure I saw Bashasaurus at some point growing up, if only in a minicomic or in cross sell art, but it never really stuck with me. In retrospect, though, it’s a pretty great concept. A dinosaur vehicle whose primary weapon is a giant boulder attached to a stick? Yes, please.

Design & Development

The early working name for Bashasaurus was Ball Buster, a name which famously caused Filmation President Lou Scheimer to reject outright the idea of ever including it in the animated He-Man series. As evident in the concept below, the early incarnation of the vehicle (illustration by Ed Watts, Sept 19, 1983) would have had the ball mechanism come down from the center of the vehicle. This early concept is intended for the Evil Warriors, and bears little resemblance to the final toy:

Image source: The Power and the Honor Foundation/Dark Horse

According to the patent (Filed January 4, 1985), Bashasaurus was invented by Granville Crow, Larry Renger and Roger Sweet. The drawings from the patent application (below) show the finalized dinosaur design and modified bashing mechanism. According to The Power and the Honor Foundation, the mechanism was moved to the side to prevent pinch injury during play.

Several years back a Mattel employee sold off a number of molds and prototypes, among them one for the Bashasaurus (thanks to Manic Man in the comments for the reminder):

Production Toy

The production toy was produced in a bright red color with orange and blue highlights. The faceplate features a triceratops-like design, and the theme continues in the back with a spiked tail that looks a bit like a stegosaurus. The bashing boulder is activated via an orange push button, the the ball itself telescopes further out by means of centrifugal force.

The cross sell art for the vehicle is closely based on the production toy:

Ad sheet illustration, which seems to be an uncolored version of the cross sell artwork.

The vehicle includes a tab on the side, which can be used to hold He-Man’s sword and shield, as explained in the instructions that came with the vehicle:

1985 Mattel Dealer Catalog. Image source: Orange Slime

French advertisement, Bashasaurus vs Land Shark. Image source: Antieternia Facebook Page

Packaging

The main packaging artwork, as well as the cross sell artwork was done by William George:

Interestingly, the Venezuelan version of the toy features product photography on the front rather than William George’s box art. The photo that appears in Mattel’s 1985 dealer catalog is used here (images come from MOTU Argentina Blog) :

Other Artwork

Bashasaurus was the subject of a poster by William George, which also highlights Dragon Blaster Skeletor, Thunder Punch He-Man, Two Bad, Land Shark, Stinkor, Spikor, Roboto, Moss Man and Sy-Klone (in other words, all the heroic and evil warriors of 1985):