Happy Birthday, He-Man: 40 years of Masters of the Universe

Mattel is celebrating the 40th birthday of He-Man and the other Masters of the Universe and Evil Warriors, Man-At-Arms, Teela, Skeletor, Evil-Lyn and Beast Man worldwide.

“We are so excited to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Masters of the Universe. The He-Man brand and everything it represents—including the principles of courage, heroism and friendship—are more relevant to children than ever,” said PJ Lewis, vice president of global marketing portfolio leader at Mattel.

Masters of the Universe: Relaunch successful

The successful relaunch of Masters of the Universe shows that He-Man still has the power!” said PJ Lewis, vice president, global marketing and portfolio leader at Mattel.

It's been 40 years since He-Man first proclaimed, "I have the power!" and the ensemble cast of Masters of the Universe introduced their battle against the evil Skeletor to the toy and action figure world. In 1982, the MOTU brand was launched in the USA and a year later it also entered the German market. It has since grown into a $2 trillion toy and consumer products franchise, cementing the brand's role as an iconic pop culture element since the '80s.

The collection began with eight main characters, He-Man, Man-At-Arms, Stratos, Teela, Beast Man, Mer-Man, Skeletor, and Zodac, and expanded to 62 figures by the series' climax. Since the creation of the MOTU brand, the morale of the series has been passionately built around the message of becoming the best version of yourself. The brand was reimagined and reintroduced on Netflix as a full 360 franchise featuring multiple toy lines, digital games, publishing titles, sold-out global collaborations and critically acclaimed animated feature films.

In 2022, the MOTU franchise has evolved and modernized into the digital space, including activations in Roblox, Fall Guys, and Cryptoys.

Celebrations include the introduction of Sun-Man and the rulers of the sun into mythology. There will also be crowdfunding for the Eternia playset, available from Mattel Creations. 

And the fans are celebrating too. Mattel will conclude the anniversary year at ComicCon in Dortmund on the first weekend in December. There, many of the approximately 40.000 visitors will be able to enjoy MOTU for the first time at a German ComicCon.

Mattel's MOTU Anniversary Promotions

TOYS OF THE YEAR: The year begins with the Toy Association presenting the Toy of the Year Award for Character of the Year for the Masterverse line of action figures.

San Diego Comic-Con: The first He-Man and the Masters of the Universe action figures hit stores in 1982. 40 years later, Mattel celebrated this milestone with a strong presence at this year's San Diego Comic-Con, complete with autograph sessions, giveaways and Mattel's first fan panel in Hall H, announcing William Shatner's participation in Masters of the Universe: Revolution.

MOTUesday: Mattel launched a weekly social campaign called MOTUesday that informed fans about product releases, artist collaborations, new content and more. The campaign spanned the period from San Diego Comic-Con to He-Man's birthday on October 12th.

Super Bowl LVI: The Rocket Mortgage Commercial starring He-Man and Skeletor (in addition to Barbie) topped USA Today's poll for the Favorite Super Bowl Commercial of 2022.

Masters of the Universe: Revelation - He-Man, Skeletor and their motley crew returned to screens last summer in Masters of the Universe: Revelation, a sequel to the classic story from the '80s television series. The series has been accompanied by top-flight voice actors such as Horst Stark as Adam/He-Man, Robin Brosch as Skeletor, Céline Fontanges as Teela and Holger Mahlich as Man-At-Arms to name a few. The episodes are now airing on Netflix.

Masters of the Universe: Revolution - Announced at Geeked Week 2022, Netflix, Mattel and Powerhouse Animation are bringing an all-new story centered on He-Man vs. Skeletor like fans have never seen before. In the next epic chapter of the Battle for Eternia, He-Man and the heroic warriors battle against the evil forces of Skeletor and their deadly threat to the planet - technology versus magic. The season's release date and star cast are yet to be announced.

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, a new CG animated series about the legendary hero, starring Yuri Lowenthal, Kevin Conroy and George Takei, premiered its third season on Netflix. Re-release of the 200X Series from the vault - available at Mattel Action on YouTube.

DIGITAL GAMING - In April 2022, Mattel launched He-Man & Masters of the Universe on Roblox. This fall, MOTU introduced digital game collaborations with Fall Guys, as well as Cryptoys, the revolutionary new NFT platform that connects toys, games and entertainment into one comprehensive playable universe.

ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION IN NOVEMBER IN BENSHEIM: With film documentation on the Mattel Design Center, live panel on the audio book, HE-MAN quartet and a fine exhibition on 40 years of He-Man. All of this made for a varied birthday and made Masters fans big and small happy.

MUSIC - Complementary soundtracks for Masters of the Universe: Revelation Volume 1 / Volume 2 and He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (Season 1) are now available on streaming platforms.

Last updated on 9.02.2023/XNUMX/XNUMX / Affiliate Links / Images from the Amazon Product Advertising API. * = Affiliate links. Images from Amazon PA API