MOTU Origins is an updated incarnation of the property from Mattel which resembles the Vintage toys, though the figures are more articulated. After initial distribution to retailers, the line was restricted to collector releases.

Before retail release the line began in 2019 with a limited-edition San Diego Comic-Con Prince Adam and He-Man. Early collector figures were sold by Power-Con. Later on, exclusives featured on Mattel Creations.

The original Masters of the Universe logo was used on packaging, emphasising the closeness to the 1982 line. The word ‘origins’ never appeared on the card fronts or boxes, implying a continuation for a new generation.

The first wave of Origins retail figures appeared in 2020. Circulation was, even then, rather patchy, making it quite a hard line to collect, especially outside the US. Even essential characters like King Hiss were hard to acquire.

The link to the Vintage line is obvious in the roster of characters from the 80s, but Origins is broader in scope as it includes later characters from the Classics line and elsewhere. It is also includes concept versions of some toys.

Mattel wanted to recreate most of the Vintage characters while adding less relevant original or cross-over toys. This created too much product and silos of interest, especially when non-Origins lines were also in production.

Spin-offs include a wrestling set entitled Masters of the WWE Universe, a TMNT-themed Turtles of Grayskull line, a ThunderCats theme and a MOTU × Transformers cross-over. These sub-lines are irrelevant to Vaults of Grayskull.

It’s good to see new artwork to support Masters of the Universe Origins. But there is an obvious difference in style from the Vintage illustrations. The earthy, fantasy designs have been replaced with much brighter paintings.

The toys themselves are interesting and nicely designed. The articulation is quite good, although the elbow joints rotate in unnatural fashion. The figures are, with some odd exceptions, very similar to the originals.

The link to the Vintage line is emphasised strongly through the packaging. The same fonts and logo are used. The blue background and red exploding-rock concept are also employed. New cross-sell art was created.

Minicomics of varying story quality were published. Editions found in non-US releases did not include any text; the story had to be deciphered from the illustrations. The stories were often squeezed untidily into too few pages.

Similarly, non-US packaging lacked the characters’ titles that were printed on the US cards and boxes. This was often to make way for numerous translations of safety warnings and other statements.

Although most regular and collector-only action figures from Origins are featured on Vaults of Grayskull, some toys have been deliberately excluded from the collection, in line with the primary areas of interest of the website.

The reason for excluding the cross-over lines mentioned above should be obvious. I have also avoided sub-lines based on the Princess of Power theme, the Filmation cartoon and a subset of 200X figures in cartoon style.

All these additional elements remind us that the Origins incarnation of the Masters of the Universe property has been dealt with quite expansively by Mattel. That is to be applauded, even if not every aspect is relevant here.

My expectation is that Origins will conclude in 2026. This is partly because most of the original characters will be done, but mostly due to the Masters of the Universe film. Mattel’s focus will be on movie-based lines henceforth.

THE ORIGINS STORY

The story shown above was included on special panels in the SDCC He-Man / Prince Adam box. It makes a good attempt to create a thoughtful canonical link between Adam and an earlier holder of the He-Man title.

The illustrations pay tribute to Alfredo Alcala’s artwork in the Series One minicomics and Rudy Obrero’s box art. Dramatic art has always been part of the Masters of the Universe story; it is great to see that tradition continue.