Masters of the Universe Classics is an incarnation of the property which draws heavily from the look of the Vintage line but has more articulation. The figures are bigger at approximately seven inches tall.

The line was mostly produced by Mattel and sold on the (now closed) Matty Collector website to collectors. A few figures were also made by Super7 under licence. For a non-retail line, Classics did well, lasting over a decade.

Classics was conceived as a replacement for the ill-fated 2002 Masters of the Universe line (often known as 200X). Brand manager Scott Neitlich wanted to resurrect that style, but management at Mattel scuppered the idea.

And that was a wise decision. Its manga look was one of the reasons for 200X’s downfall; it was competing with the reinvigorated enthusiasm for fantasy which the Lord of the Rings films inspired.

Independently, the designers at Four Horsemen Studios had come up with a He-Man sculpt which updated the Vintage version of the figure. Mattel decided to display the prototype figure to judge fans’ reactions.

The response was positive. The Four Horsemen were commissioned to develop the Classics line, and it launched with a limited-edition version of a new character, King Grayskull, at the end of 2008. He-Man soon followed.

Neitlich was an ambitious project manager and realised the potential in bringing together the numerous Masters of the Universe themes and factions which had previously been produced as toys or referred to in media.

It was a bold effort that could never work neatly – not through lack of will but the disparities between the different versions of the property, including the original line, Princess of Power, He-Man (New Adventures) and 200X.

The new background story attempted to reconcile the various canons by writing minicomics and biographies for the characters over extended timelines. Unfortunately it just became too complicated.

Some parts made sense, such as handing the role of the He-Man character across generations. But trying to tie the barbarian roots to the space adventures and cartoon elements was futile and incoherent.

A number of allegiances changed during the telling of the story as well, which makes it harder to definitively place some characters. Others are independent. We’re way beyond the four factions of the original toy line!

Listing the Classics figures by year of release on this site was therefore the logical approach. Photographs of convention exclusives and limited editions are presented alongside the regular collectors’ toys.

The figures themselves represent the most extensive iteration of the Masters of the Universe to date. Well over two hundred figures (plus several beasts, vehicles, weapons packs and playsets) were released.

For the most part, the Classics are celebrated for their detailed sculpts and homages to the Vintage line. That is not, however, always the case. Some of the figures with cartoon origins are decidedly plain.

Even the artistically excellent figures are not without faults. The torso sculpts are noticeably unsymmetrical, and the ankle joints range from locked solid to precariously loose. It’s a mystery why ball joints were not used.

Nevertheless, the Classics are a remarkable set of action figures and the definitive Masters of the Universe toy line. The collection on this site is complete except for a small number of limited edition releases.