Masters of the Universe 1987 the end of line.

[Werewolf]

The end of an era. The last wave of the original MOTU line in the US.

I don't think MOTU ever really jumped the shark. It was heavy on parts reuse but still a pretty strong wave. Finally figures of King Randor and the Sorceress and Scareglow has become a really popular character.

[PNGwynne]

Honestly, I thought that last wave was great. I was thrilled to get Sorceress and Randor. Clamp Champ was clever and better that Rio Blast or Rokkon & Stonedar IMO. Meteorbs might be jumping the shark, but I don't consider them real MOTU.

Only Ninjor seems strained, I don't like the soft-goods.

[Werewolf]

Clamp Champ was clever and better that Rio Blast or Rokkon & Stonedar IMO.

Never been a huge fan of Rio Blast. The cyborg cowboy thing didn't really click with me.

[powersthatbe]

actually Rio Blast is my second favorite motu, after Man-E-Faces.

[Werewolf]

There's no MOTU figures I actually dislike. I just tend to like the more sword and sorcery type figures the best.

[Werewolf]

The 88 Laser Light figures that didn't see a US release. You can definitely see the origins of the NA line with these two.

[Falstaff13]

actually Rio Blast is my second favorite motu, after Man-E-Faces.

Ah, a kindred spirit--I always liked both of these. Man-at-Arms was my favorite of the originals, even before the cartoon where they had him older, and I remember loving the Man-E-Faces comic. But Rio Blast is one I love, and it's mostly because when I was little, one of the first tropes I noticed personally was blendings of sf with westerns ("Spectre of the Gun" on Star Trek, Westworld, Outland as High Noon in Space, and I'd been mentally tracking them for a while when this space cowboy shows up late in a toyline I already was into. He was the last figure I got from the line (and I really should look into the newer versions). I liked the toy design better than the comic, as the comic made it look like he was holding those guns, but for the toy they were clearly hinged to his body, so I liked the cybernetic concept. And even as I aged out of toys then, I was drawn to Bravestarr and just wished for the toys to be in scale.

I know there was a Colonel Blast on the She-Ra cartoon. Does anyone know if any of the later lines ever made a figure of him?

[Werewolf]

I know there was a Colonel Blast on the She-Ra cartoon. Does anyone know if any of the later lines ever made a figure of him?

Colonel Blast was based on an early concept of Rio Blast. No figure has been made of him.

[Falstaff13]

^^^Thanks, Werewolf. I knew that was the early concept, but I didn't know if they'd made one in one of the more recent lines.

[Earth 2 Chris]

MOTU was the first figure line I dropped out of, I think in early 1986. I guess I felt, due to the Filmation cartoon, it was now skewing too young, for me. I felt (at the time) G.I. Joe, Transformers and M.A.S.K. had more "grit" and were a bit more age appropriate, so I kept buying those.

I had every MOTU item up until I dropped out. I'm not sure how I accomplished that. Lots of Christmas and birthday presents, and lawn mowing money!

I was bummed to learn the FINALLY made Randor and the Sorceress after I dropped out. Especially the Sorceress!

Chris

[hedrap]

MOTU jumped right after Kobra Khan, with King Hiss and the gang, which is the same time She-Ra showed up with horrendous villains.

The more influence Filmation's tone had on Mattel, the more campy were the villains and the greater the sales decline.

EDIT: Chris - that's roughly the same time frame.

[Werewolf]

It's a common misconception that either She-Ra or Filmation caused the sales decline. The cartoons were the driving force of the brand. The sales decline was brought on by Mattel flooding the market with second tier characters when retailers were begging for more He-Man, Skeletor, Beastman, Teela, etc. The characters that were featured heavily on the cartoon sold the best. Another issue was ridiculously over shipping vehicles like Bashasaurus.

[Earth 2 Chris]

^Oh, I don't believe the cartoon hurt the line, but for a kid "aging" out of playing with toys, the younger skewing animated series just kind of showed me the door, in some ways. There were plenty of younger kids there to pick up the baton.

Chris

[Mr.Marion]

There isn't a bad looking figure in the last wave. MOTU is outside of my collecting bubble but I love seeing them. I had more than a few as a kid as well.

[Werewolf]

MOTU is outside of my collecting bubble but I love seeing them.

I also really enjoy seeing stuff outside of what I collect. It's fun to share in others collecting passions