MOTU Classics Castle Grayskull Design & Development

Posted on August 5, 2024September 8, 2024 by Adam McCombs

Written by Adam McCombs

Several years back I did a rather brief review of the MOTU Classics Castle Grayskull, in a small series of articles covering a few items from that line. My blog mostly covers the vintage MOTU line, so modern lines like Classics and Origins have never been a focus. However, I think the Classics Castle Grayskull is extraordinary enough to warrant an in-depth look at the history behind its design and development.

The Origins of Masters of the Universe Classics

For some context, I thought it would be worth writing briefly about the origins of the line itself. The Masters of the Universe Classics line began as a pitch from the Four Horsemen to Mattel. I asked them about it in my interview with them for Pixel Dan’s Toy Guide. Here’s an excerpt:

Q: Can you talk about the genesis of the Masters of the Universe Classics line?

A: (Eric Treadaway) We’d wrapped up the 200X version of Masters of the Universe, but we didn’t want to let the property or the toy line just whither on the vine and die, so we started coming up with a new direction to take the line that we could introduce to Mattel, and hopefully they’d like it. We decided that we should try to bring back the proportions and look of the original Masters of the Universe line, but add in the articulation and technical updates of today.

A: (Cornboy) So, on our own time and without Mattel knowing we were doing it, we created a new He-Man action figure prototype that took the classic look and new articulation levels into account. We took it with us to the San Diego Comic Con that year so we could present the idea and the prototype to the managers and designers at Mattel that we worked with at the time at a breakfast meeting that we have with them there every year. We were surprised that while most of the guys at the table loved the idea and the prototype, none were really interested in jumping in with another MotU line so quickly. That is until the manager of Mattel boys toys at the time, David Voss, spoke up and said that he loved it and wanted us to place it into one of the Mattel display cases there at SDCC without saying anything about it just to see what the reaction was. I guess you know by now that the response was overwhelmingly positive, and we released the SDCC exclusive King Grayskull figure the next year and MOTU Classics was off and running.

The prototype shown at SDCC is pictured below. These images were originally posted on the He-Man.org forums – unfortunately I don’t recall who posted them, and those forums are no longer online. I believe the person who posted it had acquired it for their own collection. The version below was later updated for production – the bracers and belt were painted a more classic orange color, with dark red accents, and the Power Sword was redesigned. The neck articulation was also simplified.

*The Power Sword in this prototype recalls the 200x He-Man Neca “staction”*

The line ran from from late 2008 to late 2020, concluding with the Snake Mountain playset, although the heyday of the line was really from 2008-2015. In 2017 the line transferred over to Super7, which kept it going after Mattel had lost interest in continuing with it. There is actually a nice, highly detailed guide to all the figures, vehicles and playsets of the Classics line created by Wakko, available to download for free here. It’s also covered of course in Pixel Dan’s Toys of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (Dark Horse). I actually wrote about half of the MOTU Classics section in that book.

MOTU Classics stayed alive for 12 years without any significant entertainment (no movies or TV shows), and was mostly funded by a yearly subscription model and fan enthusiasm. I remember in the years where it looked like the line was in danger of failing, many fans bought multiple subscriptions and put out sub drive podcasts, videos and artwork to keep it going.

Castle Grayskull Preorder

Initially the line was very heavily figure-focused. There was one vehicle released early on (the Wind Raider) which didn’t sell very quickly, and that seemed to make a major playset much less of a possibility. However, after the financial success of Mattel’s Hoverboard prop replica, Scott Neitlich, the brand manager for the line, was able to get the Castle Grayskull greenlit, contingent upon getting at least 5,000 preorders for it to justify the tooling cost of $350,000 (note: these numbers were not revealed to fans at the time – it was just said that the preorder had to meet a minimum threshold to move forward).

The plan to do a Classics Castle Grayskull was first announced at Power-Con, in late September of 2012. No images were available at the time, but they announced a Fall 2012 preorder, with an estimated price of $200. The stated idea was to base the castle on Mark Taylor’s original prototype design. More details were to be revealed at the 2012 New York Comic Con in October.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is proto-ext2-good.jpg — *Castle Grayskull prototype, by Mark Taylor. Image: The Power and the Honor Foundation*

*Castle Grayskull prototype, by Mark Taylor. Image: The Power and the Honor Foundation*

The first illustrations for the proposed castle appeared at a Mattel panel at NYCC on October 13, 2012. At this point, the price was revised upward to $250. To support the pitch, the Four Horsemen commissioned their longtime collaborator Nate Baertsch to draw up some concept artwork, which would be shown in order to pitch the playset to fans. His illustrations were intended to communicate the general look of the castle to fans, as well as show off the intended features and accessories:

*Showing the scale and features like a removable “pawn” or “crown” and an optional handle on the side wall.*

*Note: Nate’s exterior drawings here were cleaned up by Mattel’s design team and presented blueprint-style for the fans.*

Key features of the exterior: the ledge and “pawn” or “crown” of the original prototype, but the cleaner teeth design of the vintage toy and its box art. Also it was to have a built-in rocky base.

I’ll just note that later on, some additional concept art by Nate was revealed, showing different angles and all sorts of optional extras for the castle:

*Castle with proposed “Spirit of Grayskull” piece. Mattel made something sort of similar for the MOTU Origins line.*

A view of the interior without second and third floors or elevator, to more clearly show what was featured in the interior walls. Note the two shields next to the entrance, based on the original Alcala comics.

Originally the castle was to have a 3d-dungeon grate. Due to the cost of painting it was cut from the playset and a sticker was used instead. Note the reference to Ted Mayer’s concept dungeon playset and the 200x Grayskull jail/cage. I should also mention that the 200x Castle Grayskull was created by Mattel, not the Four Horsemen.

Concept interior for the castle. Note that the trap door was supposed to drop figures into the dungeon, not next to it. That didn’t work out due to size limitations, however. The triangular weapons rack was costed out as well. The secret door next to the throne was supposed to open using a candle stand as a lever. The door was kept in the final playset, but without the candle stand lever.

*This breakaway wall was proposed* *early on.*

*A proposed 3-d version of Mark Taylor’s Castle Grayskull moat playmat*. *Unfortunately this wasn’t feasible.*

I’ll also note before this project, Nate had designed two previous versions of the Castle, one for the Millcreek 30th anniversary DVD set case (a 2D illustration pushed out to 3D on the box), and the Icon Heroes Castle Grayskull statue, as well as the artwork for the statue’s packaging:

*Icon Heroes Castle Grayskull box art, by Nate Baertsch*

As I recall, Nate worked closely with Eric Treadaway of the Four Horsemen on the Icon Heroes project in terms of figuring out the overall look, and that informed the direction they would go with the Classics Castle Grayskull, if one were to be greenlit.

After the three primary blueprints/illustrations were shown at NYCC, the flat illustration showing the castle from the exterior was blown up and printed on foam to help sell the preorder. You can see that in the image and video below:

The preorder window was opened up October 16, 2012, and was to remain open until November 12, 2012, although due to the success in hitting the minimum on time, the preorder was extended through January 4, 2013. The price point of $250 (plus tax and shipping) was controversial at the time, although it seems quite economical in retrospect, compared to more recent Mattel projects like the recent MOTU Origins Eternia playset. Extra perks were offered for those who preordered – they would get a poster of all of the figures produced in the line to date, and would get to vote on which characters would appear on the box art. Rudy Obrero was slated to do the packaging illustration, just as he had done for the original 1982 Castle Grayskull.

After the prototype was shown at NYTF in February 2013 (more on that later), the preorder window was extended again for a short time, for the increased price of $275. Those who purchased the Castle after the preorder deadline could still get one, but at the cost of $300 plus taxes and shipping.

Here’s a few examples of the kinds of things that fans put together to help drive interest in subscriptions for the castle:

It’sAllTrue.net also had a temporary website (CastleGrayskull.info) up to promote the preorder and track its progress, which is still visible through the Wayback Machine. On this page you can still watch a video featuring Johnny Bilson and Brian Dobson (voice of Skeletor in the 2002 He-Man cartoon) promoting the preorder.

*The Matty Collector site featured a meter that tracked progress toward the preorder goal*

In the end there were approximately 7,500 castles preordered, which was close to the number of subscribers for the entire yearly line at the time (again, these sales numbers were not revealed until much later, after the line had ended). It was a huge success.

Castle Grayskull Prototype

The Four Horsemen sculpted Castle Grayskull over the course of two weeks during the month of January, 2013. Normally the Four Horsemen had about six or so people working on projects at any one time, but for Castle Grayskull they brought in some outside collaborators and had 16 people working on the project. Eric Treadaway actually documented the process for his son, who was fascinated with the castle at the time, and later posted it as The Twelve Days of Grayskull. His original posts are only available on the Wayback Machine. Most of the images are still visible, although not at the maximum resolution.

Thankfully Israel Ramirez, a long-time friend of the Four Horsemen, archived all of Eric’s original posts, including the full resolution of most of the images, on his Power Lords Return site (he also runs the Adam Power YouTube channel). I’d recommend going through and reading it. I’ll summarize the process here as well.

Frequent Four Horsemen collaborator Joe Amaro created an armature (which appears to be 3D printed), upon which the Castle’s façade and stones would be sculpted. The medium used was castilene clay, a wax-based clay that can be softened by heat and even melted and poured into molds. Eric roughed up the surface of the armature and spread some melted clay over the surface to help his sculptures adhere to the plastic. Fun historical note: the original 1981 Castle Grayskull prototype was also sculpted using castilene clay.

Images: Eric Treadaway, retrieved from http://www.powerlordsreturn.com/?p=1675

Joe Amaro talks about his work on MOTU Classics Castle Grayskull in the video below, on the Adam Power YouTube channel:

You can see below in Eric’s next series of images the shape of the face being roughed out in clay. It was important to Eric that the face have a great deal of depth, similar to the original toy and the original Mark Taylor Prototype. The most recent official Castle Grayskull from the 200x era was incredibly flat with very little relief to its features. Eric definitely wanted a return to form for the castle!

*200x Castle Grayskull, with its very flat design, created by Mattel’s in-house design team. Image: Yo Joe Outlet Center*

In the image below, Eric has further sharpened up the facial features and added the raised detail to the helmet:

*Image: Eric Treadaway, retrieved from http://www.powerlordsreturn.com/?p=1675*

In the image below, Eric has cleaned up the sculpt of the facial features (particularly around the eye sockets), and removed the premade ledge from the armature, which would be added back later in clay, made by pouring liquid castilene into a mold.

In the image below, Eric has removed the plastic rock formations at the base and has started replacing them with clay versions. He also continued to add rock textures around the side of the largest tower.

In the image below, the ledge has been added back in with clay, and its shape has been reworked:

In the images below, Eric worked on continuing the rock textures around the side of the smaller tower. He also started adding some clay over the base piece.

In the images below we can see that Eric has rebuilt the rocks at the base of the taller tower, and continued to add clay to the base of the castle. His vision for the structure, as he describes it in Twelve Days of Grayskull, was that part of the castle is carved directly out of rock, and the rest was built up over time around what was carved.

Here is our first look at the other section of the castle exterior. Most of the clay work on this half was sculpted by Shane Dittsworth, and finished up by Eric Treadaway:

Below we see some continued work on the other section of the castle, along with work on the handle section. Some parts of the armature had to be cut down to make it look right when the castle was closed up.

Below we can see a look at the completed second half of the castle, sitting next to the corresponding piece from the vintage Castle Grayskull.

Beyond Eric’s photos, MTV Geek visited the Four Horsemen studios and took some pictures and videos of the process. Here’s a video still of Eric working on sculpting the castle (unfortunately the videos are no longer available):

Below you can see the mold Shane Dittsworth made from the clay prototype:

During the mold-making process, sadly the clay prototype ended up getting destroyed, but not before the Horsemen had the successful mold they needed to make urethane plastic castings.

On the Adam Power YouTube channel, there is a great video of Shane Dittsworth talking about the difficulty of molding and casting the castle:

And here’s a video showing the molds close up, and one unsuccessful casting:

In the images below you can see a successful casting of the front of the castle:

The Matty Collector Facebook page at the time shared some images from the Four Horsemen of Sherri Lynn Cook working on paint masters for the castle:

From MTV Geek again, more images of the paint masters, WIP:

*This image makes me imagine a much larger Castle Grayskull, with towers and walls that stretch for miles in both directions!*

Back on the Power Lords YouTube channel, there are archived video segments about the process of painting Castle Grayskull:

*A still from the MTV Geek interview with Sherri Lynn Cook. Unfortunately that video is no longer available.*

Below are images of painted up castings of the interior elements, also from MTV Geek:

Painted casting of the dungeon entrance. In the original Castle Grayskull, there were no dungeon walls – there was just a sticker of a dungeon grate on the floor. However in the Alcala minicomics there was a dimensional dungeon. The dungeon above was also based on a proposed dungeon playset designed by Ted Mayer.

*Ted Mayer’s unproduced Dungeon playset concept*, *via Tomart’s Action Figure Digest*

*Castle Grayskull combat trainer. This is closely based on Mark Taylor’s original concept art.*

*In this photo from the Four Horsemen, you can see sections of the dungeon, Grayskull’s “attic” and the interior floor extension.*

*An assortment of cast and painted thrones, computer sections, elevator poles, robots, orb holder, ladders, platforms and the jaw bridge.*

Interior platforms, jaw bridge, dudgeon walls, elevator, laser cannon, robot, ladder and jet pack (from the original prototype castle). Fun fact about the ladder – it was made using a combination of real wood twigs and sculpted clay rope ties! *If memory serves, Owen “O-Dawg” Oertling did the ladder. Cornboy would have done many of the internal accessories.*

Djordje Djokovic, often called the “fifth horseman,” was brought in to sculpt the jaw bridge and the dungeon grate. He recently posted some photos of his work on his Instagram page. His jaw bridge was closely based on the original toy and Rudy Obrero’s box art. The Mark Taylor prototype jaw bridge was quite different – it had a stone texture exterior and a slimmer shape. Originally Djordje’s prototype had a vine crawling across the tongue, but it ended up getting removed from the final playset.

You can see the cast and painted version of the jaw bridge in the images below:

Here are Djordje’s images of his prototype dungeon grate. Sadly, this never made it into the castle. The many paint applications required made it prohibitively expensive:

And here is the cast and painted version:

Prototype Reveal

On February 10, 2013, the prototype paint master for Castle Grayskull was revealed at New York Toy Fair:

Actually, shortly before the actual NYTF reveal, a few low-resolution images of the prototype (unpainted) had leaked to fans. At some point in the development of the castle, Mattel had determined that the castle had to be shrunk down a couple of inches from what was shown to fans to meet the price point of $250. Originally it was going to measure about 24 inches from the base to the top of the tallest tower. In the revised size, 24 inches was the height from the base to the top of the “pawn” piece on the helmet. This had a domino effect, and made it so the entryway only just big enough for a figure to stand on the jaw bridge without hitting his head. Of course the unpainted version didn’t look nearly as cool as the paint master version, so seeing this first was jarring for fans.

The size reduction was quite controversial. Although fans were pretty unanimous in praising the overall appearance of the castle, they were pretty upset about the small entrance in the front. Some images of the NYTF prototype display are shown below:

*Image from ActionFigurePics.com*. *Note how He-Man’s head goes right up to the center teeth in the entrance.*

Here is a closeup of the fully painted prototype jaw bridge, with the vine that was later removed:

The NYTF reveal gave fans their first look at the interior of the castle as well. Initially it featured smooth, flat walls inside. Eric had intended to do some kind of sculpted brick walls (as had Mark Taylor and Ted Mayer with the original Castle Grayskull), but it proved to be too difficult to produce that way. It was announced that the flat interior walls would be hollowed out for production, and the interior walls would be a mirror image of the shape of the exterior – just as had been done in the vintage castle.

Nate Baertsch did the artwork for the decals that appeared in the castle. Some of the final decals were a bit different from what was shown at NYTF, in particular the display on the computer screen and the second tapestry hanging on the wall near the space suit.

*Nate created this tapestry as an “evil opposite” to the tapestry to the right*

The size of the entrance was probably the biggest negative reaction from the fans, but second biggest complaint was that there was no way for the Sorceress to sit on the throne due to her tail feathers. In response, Mattel said they would try to make some changes before production, including:

Lowering the base in front of the jaw bridge in order to allow it to sit lower, increasing the size of the entrance
Adding a slot in the throne for the Sorceress’ tail feathers
Adding a slot next to the jaw bridge for the Power Sword to be inserted to unlock the entrance
Adding a key hole to the secret door on the second half of the castle to accommodate the key that came with MOTU Classics Scareglow

A couple of weeks after NYTF, Scott Neitlich also put together a video on the details of the size of the prototype castle:

Pre-Production Model Updates

The updated pre-production model for Castle Grayskull was shown off at San Diego Comic-Con in July of 2013. All of the changes that Mattel had announced were featured in this model.

*Image retrieved from He-Man.org*. *Note that the base piece in front of the jaw bridge has been lowered, increasing the amount of clearance for figures.*

*Image via The Fwoosh. Note that the walls* are the inverse of the sculpt of the exterior. The interior of the tower roof to the left was mistakenly painted brown. This would be corrected in the final production castle. Note also the platform above Skeletor’s head now sits more securely, and has been raised a bit.

*Image via The Fwoosh. Note the added latches to the side*, *which were there to prevent the castle from opening when being carried by its handle.*

*Image via The Fwoosh.* *Note that a slot has been added to the throne, allowing the Sorceress’ tailpiece to be inserted. She still doesn’t sit well due to the rest of her wing pieces, but at least she can sit.*

A factory pre-production model of the castle was shown in the August 11, 2013 video below. The castle is a “test shot” produced in random colors, made by the factory to let the customer (Mattel) verify that everything was on spec and working correctly:

And finally, an image originally shared on the He-Man.org forums, featuring the original Castle Grayskull creator Mark Taylor, being shown the new MOTU Classics castle by Emiliano Santalucia (wearing the red shirt):

The castle started shipping in December of 2013, just in time for Christmas. Pixel Dan got a review sample in late November, and he did an exhaustive review of it:

Final Thoughts

In looking at all of the pre-production images and videos that were recorded during the process of making the Classics castle, it makes me wish that this wealth of information had been preserved back when the original Castle Grayskull was produced! We’re lucky that a few snapshots of the prototype survived. Imagine if Mark Taylor had been making a photo diary of his process during the creation of his original prototype!

To date, five official Mattel Castle Grayskulls have been made. In my opinion, only the 1982 original and the 2013 Classics versions have really done justice to the concept. The 200x version has its charms, but it was far too flat, with a very generic evil skull face that looks like something out of Spirit Halloween. The Origins version isn’t bad, but it’s still a significant step down from the 1982 original, with an Imaginext-like interior and a strangely proportioned, low-relief exterior. The Netflix CGI-inspired playset is a radical redesign aimed at children rather than collectors, and it kind of came and went without much of an impact. The original 1982 Grayskull is of course classic. Most of vintage Grayskulls (unlike the example in the picture below) had rather sloppy paint, and because of the $30 price point, a lot of the interior details were a bit flimsy. Still, it’s an absolutely classic design, a true avatar for the imagination.

In my opinion, the 2013 MOTU Classics Castle Grayskull is by far the best modern interpretation of the playset that has been made to date, and the aftermarket prices seem to indicate that most collectors agree. In terms of the fine sculpt work and features, no other modern Castle Grayskull comes close. It’s really a work of art, the combined creation of 16 artists at the top of their game.

Obviously it’s a shame that it had to be reduced in size due to the locked-in preorder cost of $250. I think if it were being made today it probably would have been offered at an even bigger size. Collectors these days are used to paying a premium for large items like this. I can imagine this being made at 30 inches tall today, for something like $500.

Indulge me while I daydream for a moment about a successor to the Classics version – let’s call it Ultimate Castle Grayskull. What would it look like, and what would it include? Visually there are of course a number of different ways it could go. The Classics version was heavily influenced by the Mark Taylor prototype, but with teeth, canon, elevator and other accessories more like the vintage toy. Arguably its nose and lower teeth were influenced by the original Rudy Obrero artwork:

Nothing from the Filmation Castle Grayskull ended up in the Classics version:

*Filmation Castle Grayskull. Image via Eternian Backgrounds*

So, how could all of those things be integrated together? Modular parts. The ledge could be made removable, swappable with a different piece that was flush with the rest of the surface of the short tower. The “pawn” piece could be removable like the Classics version, as could the handle. The teeth could also be made removable – particularly the canine teeth. On the prototype they were quite short and blunt. On the vintage castle they were a bit longer, on the Rudy Obrero artwork they were longer still, and on the Filmation version they were the length of the entire entrance. All of them were quite fat, and only the Filmation version’s teeth came down to sharp points.

Left to right: *prototype, box art, vintage toy and Filmation Castle Grayskull teeth*

The face itself could also be made modular, with a few different swappable styles. In some versions of the castle the skull face looks like chiseled stone, and in others it looks like an actual bone skull. It would be nice to have options there.

Another possible direction for a new castle: Nate Baertsch’s Castle Grayskull illustration, appearing in the background of the Masterverse 40th Anniversary He-Man packaging artwork. This one has a mix of elements from the original Rudy Obrero box art and the prototype, but with some exaggeratedly-tall towers that give it quite a creepy and mysterious feel.

The height should be something like 30 inches – tall enough to tower over every extant version of the castle. The paint should be generously and carefully applied, with plenty of dark gray shading in the low areas of the sculpture and light green highlights on the most forward surfaces. It would be important this time to have a sculpted 3D dungeon grate, and sculpted areas around the base recalling Mark Taylor’s original playmat, per Nate’s concept art. It would be great to have dungeon walls inside, but they should be removable this time. Original prototype accessories like the triangular weapons rack and the torture rack would be nice, and there should also be included some Filmation accessories, such as the Sorceress’ throne and the various doorways and portals shown in the cartoon:

*Filmation Castle Grayskull throne. Image via Jukka Issakainen*

However, I don’t think the hypothetical Ultimate Castle Grayskull could surpass the Classics version, unless the original design team were brought back for it again. While Mattel currently makes very nice retail-quality toys using their in-house design team, they don’t deliver the same level of artistry and detail that the Four Horsemen are capable of, in my opinion. In general the best quality toys are made by the smaller boutique studios, these days.

Anyway, all of that is just my daydreaming. I think we were pretty lucky to get what we got. It was probably a flash in the pan, never to be repeated again! I hope you’ve enjoyed this look back at the MOTU Classics Castle Grayskull. I’ve certainly enjoyed rediscovering it and learning more about how it got made. Many thanks to Nate Baertsch for answering some questions I had about his illustrations!

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Playsets

Eternia: The Ultimate Battleground Comes To Life! (1986)

Posted on September 26, 2022September 14, 2024 by Adam McCombs

Written by Adam McCombs

Name: Eternia
Faction: None
Approximate US release date: November 23, 1986

Eternia is by some margin the largest playset produced in the vintage Masters of the Universe line. I don’t remember ever seeing it in stores back in the 1980s, and I didn’t know anyone who owned one. My only brief introduction to it was where it was referenced in one of the 1986 minicomics. Eternia is often compared to the G.I. Joe U.S.S. Flagg, a playset that was even larger and more expensive:

Design & Development

The initial designs for Eternia (called Mount Eternia at first) were done by Ted Mayer. In my interview with Ted, he said:

I was given the project to design a playset that would dwarf Grayskull. I just stood at my drawing board and started sketching. I remember for some reason that I wanted to do a big drawing. It came out at 40″ x 40″.

*Early Eternia Playset design.* *Note the flying vehicle on top of this drawing. This was an early version of the Talon Fighter*

*This later update to the design features the Blasterhawk and Fright Fighter vehicles*

Ted continued:

Everyone liked the design, and it was decided, by someone, to do a size mock-up. We started hacking foam and the result was the photo you can see on my website.

According to the Power and Honor Foundation Catalog, Mount Eternia was supposed to be located in the mountains between Castle Grayskull and Snake Mountain. Ted Mayer’s first version featured towers with three creature heads. Each head would open up to reveal a feature underneath – a gun turret, some falling boulders, or dripping slime.

The second concept featured a Grayskull Tower, a central tower with a wolf motif, and a volcano tower, The foam mockup changed the wolf motif to a demon motif; the final playset would feature a lion on the central tower.

Mike McKittrick was an engineer at Mattel who worked on the playset. A recent article at Pop Insider gets some background information from Mike:

“The Eternia Playset was a huge project and I was assigned to it as the lead engineer,” McKittrick recalls. “The project was so big in scope that my manager assigned two other engineers to assist me. At that time, MOTU had already peaked and overall sales were starting to decline. Marketing wanted something big to keep the momentum and increase sales.”

…“Not only was this set meant to be enormous, but it was also meant to expand by having the existing Castle Grayskull and Snake Mountain playsets attach to its sides for an even larger footprint,” McKittrick says.

According to McKittrick, the initial cost estimate was “through the roof,” and the company made its way through a list of more than 20 intended features in favor of replacing them with only a handful of features that were better. Still, the playset was extraordinarily elaborate and ended up with the highest tooling bill that Mattel had ever seen.

“I recall the original estimated production quota in round numbers was 60,000 units and break-even, I believe, was around 40,000,” McKittrick says. “As we progressed with final engineering and started making tools, the quota dipped down to around 40,000. As we approached the start date for production, the quota dropped to 20,000 plus or minus. Ultimately we produced a little more than 4,000 units.”

According to an old interview with Ted Mayer on the Roast Gooble Dinner podcast (sadly, no longer available online), the sculptor working on the Central Tower was taking quite a while to finish the prototype. As a practical joke, a few of the others working on the project hid the unfinished prototype, made a quick rough sculpt copy of it, and then knocked the duplicate into the floor. When the sculptor came back into the room he thought his work had been destroyed!

Update 1: Sean Lehmkuhl recently shared some fascinating concept and prototype images that he got from a former Mattel employee. Below we see some fairly rough sculpted mockups, with a snake or reptilian face on the central tower. Also included are some flat Styrofoam stand-ins for the Fright Fighter and Blasterhawk:

Below we can see a further evolution of the design, with a more stylized face on the central tower and a more defined serpent tower to the right. It also appears to be significantly taller:

In the image below we start to see the final look for the central tower, with the lion motif and grabbing arms:

There was also a “blueprint” drawing by John Hollis, dated to June 19, 1985:

*Many thanks to Sean Lehmkuhl for sharing!*

Update 2: I had forgotten to add these “Mount Eternia” playset attributes from the excellent Power of Grayskull documentary. Among a lot of interesting features, it was also envisioned as having four towers at one point. It was also conceived as a fortress for the heroic warriors, rather than as a battleground for all factions to fight over.

Update 3: MOTU Joe has unearthed a number of concept drawings by John Hollis, who was the designer who took over the concept prior to its production. These images come from Heritage Auctions, where they were offered for sale in December 2023:

Playset & Packaging

The production Eternia playset was enormous. The Central Tower is over 30 inches tall. Three towers are included, along with Laser Blaster, weapons rack, the track, three vehicles and more. You can see the hand painted hard copy in the catalog images below. Also note that the Laser Blaster is gray rather than the red of the retail toy (Update: per Bryce W. the US version was red, but the version available in the UK was flat gray). The paint on the towers looks carefully airbrushed:

You can get a pretty clear idea of everything that’s included by looking at the parts list included in the instructions:

I don’t own an Eternia playset myself, however my friend and frequent contributor to the blog Øyvind Meisfjord has shared a number of videos and images to help give a clear picture of all of the features. To begin with, here is a picture of the playset, flanked by Castle Grayskull and Snake Mountain:

In the above image you get a feel for the playset’s size and also its ability to integrate with the existing major playsets via two connecting ramps.

Below is a nice view of the front of the playset, compete with background and Masters logo:

In the video below, we get a good look at the Grayskull Tower section of Eternia, and we can see how the prison gate can be made to close when the Jet Pak Fighter vehicle passes by on the monorail.

In the video below, we get a better look at the Viper Tower (which bears a closer resemblance to the Filmation Snake Mountain than the actual Snake Mountain Playset), and how the snake head can be rotated by reaching into the back of the tower:

One of the main features of the Central Tower is, of course, the lion mouth and claws. Working together, you can capture a figure, push away a figure, or capture and toss a figure away. Øyvind demonstrates using Tung Lashor as his victim:

The Central Tower features a Laser Blaster turret on top. However, the base can also accommodate the disc-shooting Blasterhawk vehicle, also released in 1986:

The base of the turret allows you to adjust the angle of the Laser Blaster so you can point in any direction:

Of course if you choose you can also display the included weapons rack at the top of the tower, too:

Moving down the back of the Central Tower, there are a few more features, including a working elevator and a movable Command Seat. There are four floors total:

The monorail coils around all three towers. Three separate vehicles can connect to the battery-powered Power Module, and each of the three vehicles has a different look and play pattern.

Battle Tram Vehicle:

Jet Pak Vehicle:

Sky Cage Vehicle:

Another look at the Eternia playset can be found on Pixel Dan’s channel:

The artwork for the packaging of Eternia was done by the late, great William George. There’s quite a lot going on in the battle scene on the front:

*European version. Image source: Deimos*

The three towers of Eternia stand between Castle Grayskull and Snake Mountain. Beast Man scales the central tower and Rattlor and Tung Lashor head toward the lion’s head entrance. Man-At-Arms fires the cannon at the top of the tower. Flying Fists He-Man and Terror Claws Skeletor do battle off to the side. A volcano erupts in the distance.

Battle Cat corners Stinkor at the Grayskull Tower, while several horde troopers rush up the outer stairs toward Snout Spout, who is dodging laser blasts from the Battle Tram. Rio Blast and Extendar stand at the top of Grayskull Tower, as the Fright Fighter flies by. Meanwhile, Moss Man drives Bashasaurus down the road from Castle Grayskull to Grayskull Tower.

Sy-Klone flies Blasterhawk near the summit of Viper Tower, and Megabeast rounds the corner at the base.

Here are shots of each side of the box from an old Hakes auction:

The playset also came with instructions and a very simple black and white comic called “The Eternia Story” intended to demonstrate the play features of the toy (note: Jukka Issakainen comments that it may have been illustrated by Bruce Timm):

Comics & Artwork

Eternia also came with its own minicomic: The Ultimate Battleground! In the story, King Hiss and Skeletor work together to raise the three towers of Eternia from beneath the ground. We learn that the towers, which predated both Castle Grayskull and Snake Mountain, had long ago been sunken beneath the ground by the Ancients. They feared that it would fall into the hands of their enemy, King Hiss. The story is more or less a means of introducing all of the playset’s features to the reader.

In The Search For Keldor, the presence of the three towers of Eternia allows the Sorceress to leave Grayskull in human form, and weakens the veil between dimensions:

In Enter… Buzz Saw Hordak, Hordak manages to enter the Central Tower. Initially it turns him good, but after he leaves the tower he finds that he has the power to shoot a buzz saw from his chest:

In Revenge of the Snake Men, King Hiss is able to use the power of Viper Tower to bring two Snake Men, Sssqueeze (called Tanglor here, an early concept name for the character) and Snake Face (previously known as Medusa Man, but not called by that name here), back from a nameless dimension:

In The Powers of Grayskull, The Legend Begins, He-Man and Sorceress travel back in time within the Central Tower to ancient Preternia, where they find the Snake Men, cybernetic dinosaurs and the three towers of Eternia:

The Eternia playset also shows up in a hidden picture puzzle featured in the Winter 1987 issue of the US Masters of the Universe Magazine:

The Eternia Playset features prominently in the 1986 Eternia poster by William George:

Eternia also appeared in a number of pieces of very fine poster art by Earl Norem:

Ultimately Eternia didn’t get into many fans’ hands. It was a huge playset and it would have taken up a lot of space at retail, which may have played into Mattel’s decision to make so few of them – well under the number they would need to even break even. The track became fragile with age, so it’s quite difficult to find an original that is still intact. It’s something of a white whale for MOTU collectors.

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Playsets

Slime Pit: Evil pit of gruesome ooze (1986)

Posted on October 30, 2018September 8, 2024 by Adam McCombs

Written by Adam McCombs

Name: Slime Pit
Faction: Evil Horde
Approximate US release date: January 11, 1986

The Slime Pit was the second and final small playset released in the original Masters of the Universe toyline (the first was Point Dread, in 1983). Of all the playsets MOTU had to offer, the Slime Pit perhaps packed the most punch for its size. It was all centered around one play feature, but it what a feature!

Design & Development

The Slime Pit was designed by Ted Mayer, from an idea that came out of the boy’s design group’s many brain storming sessions.

In the above illustration, you can see many of the hallmarks of the final playset are in place, including the grabbing hand in the front, the hand around the side and the scroll design near the top. The slime-spewing head is wolf-like in this concept (a frequent theme in Ted’s designs, it seems), whereas the final version seems to have more of a dinosaur skull look.

Mattel more or less invented slime as a commercial product, and it has been a popular seller since the late 1970s. The Slime Pit was a clever way for Mattel to integrate its popular slime products into the world of Masters of the Universe.

Pixel Dan has done some extensive research on the history of slime. Take a moment to check it out in this video:

There is also some great information about slime in this article at Plaid Stallions and again in this piece by Dinosaur Dracula.

Production Playset

The playset was featured in Mattel’s 1986 dealer catalog:

*Image: Nathalie NHT*. *This version appears to be a hand-painted hard copy*

The final play set has a deeper pit area than the concept version. The paint applications are fairly simple, but it does have some well executed red and gray overspray on the gray stone areas and some brown overspray on the skull. These seem more well thought-out than the often haphazard looking paint applications given to the exterior of Castle Grayskull (particular later releases of the playset). Like the Fright Zone, the Slime Pit is adorned with Hordak’s visage (Hordak seems really into branding his image on all things Horde). There is also a sculpted skull near the back wall.

The playset came with a can of Mattel’s Horde Slime. This particular slime mix was much runnier than the kind of slime typically found on toy store shelves today. It was also available for free, separate from the playset, with the purchase of two action figures.

That runniness made it work great for the purposes of sliming action figures, but it also made it hazardous to rugs and upholstery, not to mention any furry MOTU figures like Moss Man, Panthor and Grizzlor. For that reason, there were a few warnings given about what not to do with the slime, which were of course promptly ignored by many enterprising young mad scientists.

*Some kids just want to watch the world burn. Image source: He-Man.org*

Packaging

The box art was painted by the late, great William George. Taking cues from the design of the playset itself, the scene is set in ancient Greco-Eternian ruins.

*Image: The Art of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe*

*Images: The Art of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe*

Minicomics

The Slime Pit came packed with Escape From the Slime Pit, which showcased the mini playset’s power to turn its victims into mindless slaves of the Horde. In the story, He-Man is slimed and is only restored to his right mind by exposure to brilliant light:

Animation

The Slime Pit appears in the She-Ra episode, “Loo-Kee’s Sweetie.” It doesn’t really look like the playset, but it does feature slime and a number of dinosaur-like bones. In the story, the Slime Pit saps its victims’ strength rather than turning them into zombie slaves. It’s easy to see why this less disturbing concept might be preferred for the purposes of an animated kids’ show.

Other Media

The Slime Pit was featured in the June 1986 edition of Masters of the Universe Magazine, as both the cover subject and as a poster by Earl Norem. The artwork features Buzz-Off as the victim and Flying Fists He-Man riding to the rescue on Battle Cat.

It also is the centerpiece in a Kid Stuff audio book called Prisoner In the Slime Pit:

Like the Slime itself, the Slime Pit was a concept that Mattel would revisit over and over again:

*The Slime Pit was planned to be reissued in Mattel’s King Arthur toyline, but never came to be. Image source: Fabrizio Fernetti*

*200x MOTU Slime Pit. Image source: Lulu Berlu*

*Mattel’s Harry Potter Slime Chamber playset*

*Imaginext Ooze Pit, very closely modeled on the original Slime Pit.*

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Playsets

Mark Taylor’s Castle Grayskull: Introduction (Guest Post)

Posted on October 10, 2018September 14, 2024 by Adam McCombs

Upper left: earliest concept art by Mark Taylor (before Mattel employment); lower left: black and white, and color version of the revised concept art by Mark Taylor (during Mattel employment in 1979); upper and lower right: the sculpted prototype by Mark Taylor)

Written by Dejan Dimitrovski

Envisioned and created by Mark Taylor Castle Grayskull is, both literally and metaphorically, the foundation stone of the world of the Masters of the Universe. Like an archetypal image, it has grown from a child’s toy to become an iconic symbol in both pop culture and in superhero mythology of our modern time.

Beginning, creation and original story idea

The concept of Castle Grayskull began with a fantasy drawing by Mark Taylor made even before he was employed in Mattel (sometime about 1975 – the picture on the upper left). Later, working as a toy designer in 1979, he did a revised castle illustration (the lower left picture). It went through many changes and revisions, again and again, until finally Mark sculpted the prototype castle (with a little help of Ted Mayer) based on the latest revised design (two images on the right show the prototype design). All through the design process, Mark insisted on the ancient, eldritch outlook of the Castle, invoking an atmosphere and image of a place that withholds secrets from beyond time and space, and setting it apart from yet another mythical magical castle.

“I wanted it to be organic, it has to look like it weights, like it’s heavy, has a lot of weight to it… like it’s starting to melt”, describes Mark Taylor during a panel on Grayskull Con in 2013.

The Castle was made before any of the toy figures and all through the eighties (and in some world countries the nineties), it undoubtedly became one of the most iconic, most popular and well known play-sets for children across the world. Starting from the original story concept, Castle Grayskull was the connection/conflict point of the hero He-Man and the villain Skeletor; and this concept was stretched to all the later incarnations of MOTU – the castle is always the ultimate fortress that Skeletor wants to conquer and claim its mystic powers. Another concept, started by Mark, that will remain a constant element common to all MOTU canons and story versions, is the concept that the ultimate Power is within Grayskull.

Inspiration sources and symbolism

Besides the idea of a traditional scary medieval castle, Mark mentions several other sources of inspiration for Castle Grayskull, among which are the works of Mark Twain, the 1933 “King Kong” movie (specifically the Skull Island), as well as other places that are skull-associated or shaped. Evidently, most of these inspiration sources seem to rely on the symbol of the skull. This symbol is as ancient and old as humanity itself, and it is a very complex one. Though the most common symbolic use of the skull is as a representation of death and mortality, to some ancient societies it is believed to have had the opposite association – objects like crystal skulls represent “life”, the honoring of humanity in the flesh and the embodiment of consciousness. Thus, it can be viewed as a symbol of extreme polarities of life and death.

Conclusion

Mark Taylor’s Castle Grayskull is a masterpiece that has outgrown the concept of a child’s toy; it served and still serves many purposes on many different levels.
At the time of the genesis of MOTU line, it was a big turning point for the brand. The Castle, together with wave one toys, not only set the specific mysterious feel of the MOTU setting, but was also crucial in the successful launching of the brand, as it became one of the most famous, most recognized play-sets for children across the globe.

From the perspective of Mark Taylor’s world of MOTU, it is one of the main elements that started the whole story. The Castle was where all the power lay for He-Man and Skeletor. Whoever controlled Castle Grayskull, had access to the Well of Souls and basically controlled all of the power.

Finally, in the terms of our modern mythology analysis, I believe it is a complex symbol that represents the battle for dominance of the forces of life (as well as hope and courage, represented by He-Man) and the forces of death (including fear and dread – incarnated as Skeletor) in an ever-present, ongoing struggle. This battle of life and death, survival and demise, creation and destruction, is set in our collective subconscious – a universal experience known to all of us; and it is always shrouded in mystery because it is always challenging and ever-changing, demanding our constant adaptation and creativity. This is how the myth of Castle Grayskull speaks to both the grown up and the child in us, allowing us to relate to the existential battle of the hero and the villain, a battle we have fought and will fight till the end of days.

* * *

I wish to express my gratitude to Rebecca Salari Taylor and Mark Taylor for being willing to help and to reveal and share the information on the original Castle Grayskull with us.
Also, I would like to express my thanks to my friends Jukka Issakainen and Adam McCombs in providing help and information in writing this post.

Sources:

1. Grayskull Con. (Aug 6, 2013). “Grayskull Con 2013 – Panel Rebecca and Mark Taylor”. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kERzI45uluk

2. Mark Taylor audio interview (including transcripts) conducted by conducted by Matt Jozwiak (around 2006.)

3. McCombs, A. (2015). Battle Ram: A He-Man blog. [Blog] Castle Grayskull – Fortress of mystery and power (1982); Available at: https://battleramblog.com/castle-grayskull-fortress-of-mystery-and-power-1982/

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Category: Playsets

MOTU Classics Castle Grayskull Design & Development

The Origins of Masters of the Universe Classics

Castle Grayskull Preorder

Castle Grayskull Prototype

Prototype Reveal

Pre-Production Model Updates

Final Thoughts

Eternia: The Ultimate Battleground Comes To Life! (1986)

Design & Development

Playset & Packaging

Comics & Artwork

Slime Pit: Evil pit of gruesome ooze (1986)

Design & Development

Production Playset

Packaging

Minicomics

Animation

Other Media

Mark Taylor’s Castle Grayskull: Introduction (Guest Post)

Beginning, creation and original story idea

Inspiration sources and symbolism

Conclusion