Written by Adam McCombs
Masters of the Universe, for all its diversity and creativity, was quite an economical toyline, creatively (and sometimes uncreatively) using and reusing the same molds over and over again throughout its run. Sometimes this was done fairly invisibly, and other times it was as plain as the nose on Faker’s face.
In this series I’ll be cataloging the reuse of existing molds, in context of what is known and what is likely about which figures were created in what order. For example, He-Man’s prototype was almost certainly finished before Man-At-Arms, so Man-At-Arms reused He-Man’s legs, rather than vice versa. I’ll also include parts that were reused from other toylines.
Sometimes existing parts were modified for use in new toys. For example, Beast Man’s chest seems to have been based on He-Man’s chest sculpt, albeit with a great deal of hair added to it. This didn’t save money on tooling, but it did save some time and effort for the sculptor. I’ll point this out whenever I see it. Whenever a modified part is used again, however, I’ll refer to it as belonging to the toy that used it first (for example, Stratos and Zodac reuse Beast Man’s chest).
I won’t comment on “invisible” parts, such as neck pegs or waist springs that are normally not seen.
First, the toys from 1984 that had (at the time) all new parts:
Orko
Stridor
Road Ripper
Dragon Walker
Roton
These toys from 1984 reused some existing parts:
Battle Armor He-Man
Prince Adam
Mekaneck
Buzz-Off
Fisto
Battle Armor Skeletor
Whiplash
Clawful
Webstor
Kobra Khan
Jitsu
Snake Mountain
Weapons Pak
Parts Reuse series:
- Part One: 1982 | Part Two: 1983 | Part Three: 1984 | Part Four: 1985
- Part Five: 1986 | Part Six: 1987 | Part Seven: 1988
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