Tag: Power Play Trade Ad

MOTU History

Masters of the Universe “Power Play” Trade Ad (1982)

Posted on by Adam McCombs

Written by Adam McCombs

As a kind of sequel to my previous article about the Masters of the Universe Power Promo that I wrote last year, I’d like to talk about a similar document I came across, the Masters of the Universe “Power Play” trade ad. Like the Power Promo, it gives a preview of Mattel’s marketing campaign for the first year of the Masters of the Universe line. The point of this information was to assure retailers that if they bought MOTU products for their stores, Mattel would be providing plenty of marketing to help make the line a top seller.

Unfortunately I don’t know where this was actually published – I’m sure it was in some industry magazine (perhaps Playthings Magazine?). The seller doesn’t divulge where these things come from, as they make their living on finding and selling rare vintage ads.

First Page

The first page of the Power Play trade ad shows the cover for DC Comics’ Fate is the Killer, which was released as an insert/preview inside other comics on August 26, 1982. The previously mentioned Power Promo didn’t have any artwork for the DC Comics despite mentioning them, so I’m guessing this “Power Play” trade ad came out a bit later, when some of the early DC Comics artwork had been completed. The colors on this art are a little different than on the actual published comic – the main difference being Skeletor is holding a gray Power Sword. By contrast the published comic showed him with a purple power Sword. This unique version of the cover did appear later in a digital edition of Fate is the Killer.

Second Page

This page is very similar to a page in the Power Promo, except photographs have been replaced by drawings. The ad talks about some of the planned promotions, including TV ads, national print ads, the free mini comics included with figures, something called a “Power Sword National Sweepstakes,” shelf strip marketing, and cash rebates.

There is also an illustration for the Power Sword National Sweepstakes, which appeared on a different page in the Power Promo. The page says that the Sweepstakes was to be promoted in a Sunday comic strip advertisement. However the actual comic strips that came out in 1982 don’t say anything about a Power Sword National Sweepstakes, and instead they give readers the chance to win free copies of the DC Comics MOTU issues, or to even appear in them. Incidentally, no fans appear in the DC Comics MOTU issues to my knowledge.

I think the Power Sword promotion must have been cancelled, since it has never turned up outside of a marketing plan, as far as I know.

Third Page

Most of the third page text content also appears in the Power Promo document mentioned earlier. It covers DC Comics, Halloween costumes by Ben Cooper, and the Western Publishing Pop Up Game. This time a redrawn illustration from the Alcala mini comics is included, as well as an illustration of the MOTU Pop-Up Game. However, the part shown above about Merchandising Displays appeared on a different page in the other promo. It shows an illustration of an end cap display for Masters of the Universe, which also shows how the toys would be arranged in the display

Below is the actual final art by John Youssi for the shelf talker/shelf strip promo that was shown in the third page of the ad (image courtesy of John’s son, Andy Youssi):

Because the art is so wide and short, I’m chopping it up into two pieces to make the art easier to appreciate:

Here are pages 2 and 3 combined:

Fourth Page

This final page is an illustrated version of a toy photograph page that appeared in the Power Promo. I had actually seen this illustrated image years ago out of context, posted to Facebook without explanation. It’s nice to finally learn where it came from! This version includes an inset illustration of the back of the castle, which wasn’t in the photo this was taken from.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this look at the interesting “Power Play” trade ad and Mattel’s marketing strategy for the first year of Masters of the Universe. See you next time!

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