Amph Masters of the Universe: Castle Grayskull

Yeah and mentioned in the link by @darth-sinister, it was one of the last action action figures to be released in the original toy line as it came out in 1987. Not only did I not have it, but I don't remember anyone else having it either. And we had a ton of He-Man toys. Between myself and my friends, I think we had almost everything. Heck I even had the Three Towers aka Playset Eternia

https://he-man.fandom.com/wiki/Three_Towers

While the Nintendo NES will always be my version of the Red Ryder BB Gun Christmas gift growing up (and for those who don't know how popular and desired that 8-Bit system was back in the day, they made a very underrated movie on HBOMax a few years ago called 8-Bit Christmas which is well worth the watch, especially for us who either grew up then or have kids that you want to show what it was like back then), the Playset Eternia is most likely the runner up. The funniest thing is I didn't even ask for it that Christmas. My parents just decided to get it for me as a surprise. I found years later that thru a bunch of different ways my mom got it for under $10.00 which even in today's money would be under $30.

I guess that should been the first sign that He-Man was on his way out. That was an absolutely massive toy yet couldn't sell it. Had tons of stickers and assembly required to put it together. Took myself and my brother hours to put it together as I asked him for a favor. My dad sweetened the deal by picking Little Casears so he wouldn't have to help me, back when it came in a paper covering with two pizzas:



Yes I am old and being nostalgic! I just got done sitting thru a homecoming pep rally with kids now 30 years younger than me and it's getting harder to get their references. Need to reminisce a bit.

 

The great thing about the streaming age is cartoons no longer have to be made to sell accompanying toy lines and don't have their fates decided by the success of that toy line.
Now the story and character development can be the focus.

 

I’m fairly sure Scare-Glow is the last Masters of the Universe figure I got as a kid. That final wave of figures sat at my local K-Mart. I got Scare-Glow as soon as I saw him. I assumed I’d get King Randor, the Sorceress, and Ninjor eventually but never did.

I played using the figure as dead Skeletor returned from the future to undo his defeat.

That’s amazing you had the Eternia playset. I saw a few of them boxed and on the shelf once at Chidren’s Palace toy store. Huge box. I’ve never seen one in person setup. To get that as a complete surprise is even more exciting. That’s was some Christmas you had. Bravo.

 

I had a comic with Scare-Glow

 

I'm curious what Skeletor will look like in this new season, considering at the end of last season he got...converted?

 

I'm more curious about Lyn. IMO she's the most interesting character of the new series.

 

This was the lead in to the spinoff series "The Powers Of Grayskull".



That was when we would learn that Skeletor was Keldor, and thus He-Man's uncle.

My last figure was Battle Armor Skeletor, who I got in early 89, when Shopko was trying to get rid of their unsold product. I only got him to replace the Havac Staff from my original Skeletor that I lost. I would have loved to have the Eternia Towers, but I could guess how difficult it was to assemble. And it would have been difficult to move if I had gotten it in 86.



If I had all three instead of just Grayskull, I would have never had enough room for them.

 

MOTU as a toy line collapsed spectacularly in ‘87. The drop in profits between ‘86 and ‘87 is astounding. It’s popularity was over.

Mattel thought they had created the equivalent of Barbie for boys. They had begun making a long term plans for years of product and story after ‘87. There would be a rebranded Powers of Grayskull line with new more in-depth lore and new characters. Other than a few dinosaur toys and international releases it was all stopped dead and scrapped.

There is a retro line of MOTU toys currently made by Mattel that is shocking complete. It appears it will successfully recreate the entire vintage toy line before it concludes in 2024 or 2025.

 

I definitely owned plenty of MOTU toys from the original 80s line. I actually found an opened toy from the line not long ago during cleaning. Not sure what ever happened to Castle Grayskull, which I owned.

 

This current retro line of MOTU by Mattel ran a kick starter about a year ago to remake the Eternia playset. I thought that was astounding for the company to remake this huge and obscure playset. It’s a white whale for collectors of this series.

https://creations.mattel.com/products/masters-of-the-universe-origins-eternia-playset-hgw42

Really it’s surprising the toy line is so expansive. The figures are the same size, detail level, and proportions of the original MOTU figures with added articulation. They have the same packaging as the original toys. There is a Castle Gray Skull and Snake Mountain that are roughly 1 to 1 equivalent to the originals.

There was a knock off line of MOTU figures in the 80s called Sun-Man and the Rulers of the Sun. It’s purpose was to make protagonist He-Man looking characters to give more kids a hero figure who looked like them. Mattel bought the rights to that long dormant toy line and has included them in their MOTU retro line and made all of them.

 

think it's that one I have (they collect many of the short comics into anthology issues in my country), it introduced Ninjor and Blast-Attack.

My issue had nothing about Keldor

 

There is a mini-comic packed with the toys and an actual comic book telling a similar story. The full comic doesn’t mention Keldor and has Blast Attack.

The mini-comic doesn’t have Blast Attack. Keldor is in the mini-comic in name only.

It’s told for the first time King Randor had a magical brother named Keldor who vanished one night searching for the lost Eternia Towers Playset.

There is a cosmic event each year on the anniversary of the night Keldor vanished. This year the Eternia playset has emerged from deep under the ground at the spot Keldor vansished and King Randor is hopeful for answers or to even find his lost brother.

At the same time Skeletor is on his way to the location. Skeletor declares if the secret of Keldor is ever discovers it would destroy him. Skeletor summons two new henchmen - Ninjor and Scare-Glow to help him stop King Randor. He also brings Faker along.

A fight ensues. The heroes win in the end but the cosmic event is over and it will be another year before they can again search for Keldor.

 

I was very much into MOTU and it's two spinoff series. The Towers and the Snakemen were released in 86, setting up their roles for the next series. Looking at it, I can imagine my aunt putting it together like she did Grayskull. I certainly didn't help matters. We used live next to my maternal grandmother and every evening I would go over for chocolate milk. My aunt had to quickly move everything into the bedroom to keep me from finding out. As to what I had....

Spoiler

Original He-Man.
Original Skeletor.
Battle Armor He-Man.
Battle Armor Skeletor.
Flying Fists He-Man.
Dragon Blast Skeletor.
Prince Adam.
Man-At-Arms.
Beast-Man.
Man-E-Faces.
Mer-Man.
Teela.
Evil-Lyn.
Ram-Man.
Tri-Klops.
Stratos.
Trap Jaw.
Buzz-Off.
Whiplash.
King Randor.
Faker.
Orko.
Webstor.
Moss Man.
Stinkor.
Sy-Klone.
Spikor.
Fisto.
Jitsu.
Clawful.
Zoar.
Screech.
Battle Cat.
Panthor.
Meckaneck.
Blade.
Saurod.
Gwildor.
Roboto.
Two-Bad.
Clamp Champ.
Sorceress.
Kobra Khan.
King Hiss.
Rattlor.
Stonedar.
Rokkon.
Rio Blast.
Hordak.
Mantenna.
Leech.
Grizlor.
Modulok.
Dragstor.
Mosquitor.
Horde Trooper.
Extendar.
Snout Spout.
Megalaser.
Weapons Pack.
Attack Trakk.
Laser Bolt.
Land Shark.
Castle Grayskull.
Battle Bones.
She-Ra.
Bow.
Catra.
Crystal Swift Wind.
He-Man (1990).
Skeletor (1990).
Thunder Punch He-Man (1990).
Flying Discs Of Doom Skeletor.
Lt. Flipshot.
Slush Head.

 

I only had two friends that I played with at each other's homes. I outclassed both them. They only had a few and the one that I was friends for years wasn't as into it as I was. But he had Both Night Stalker and Stidor, as well as the Blaster Hawk. The former, however, betrayed me by stealing Ram Man in January of 86. What happened was that I went to the movies with my sister and my mom's high school friend came over with her youngest kids. They were in my room and he decided to pocket him. I didn't realize that was missing until May, after we had moved. Nothing like that was ever left behind in the moves and while I did take toys on long road trips, Ram Man was never taken.

I replaced Original Skeletor, Adam and Hordak because the cord used for their legs snapped and a leg came off. Dragon Blast Skeletor was what my mom could find and I just swapped armor. My grandfather bought a duplicate of him. He would do that again with Dragstor.

I had gotten Battle Armor He-Man first, before Original. The peg on the armor broke off, so I took the electric toothbrush armor off and used it as a replacement until it broke. I finally used the Weapons Pack Zodak armor, which was black.

I lost Buzz Off's helmet early 86. A few months later when we moved again in October, I found a discarded helmet right outside the house we were moving into. And before anyone sa6s something, this helmet was caked in dried mud on the inside and the paint on the insect eyes was faded. Mine wasn't. The odds of someone else living there, having the same toy and losing the same part as myself was astronomical. Okay, maybe an exaggeration.

 

I remember how excited I was when my parents first got me the original Orko back during the 80s for Chanukah. That was my Holy Grail among the MOTU toys to that point.

 

I think that Grayskull was mine since it was the first playset that I had and I was just so surprised to have gotten it. I also had three of the coloring books, one watercolor paint book, two sticker books and one poster.



My aunt bought me this in September of 85, but it got lost in the move of May of 86.



I also had a few issues of the magazine and this poster was the concept art for the Thanksgiving parade, which I remember watching.

 

Yep, that's the one. 85 was a banner year, with the first spinoff debuting and the Horde adding a new wrinkle to the mix. I had gotten Hordak first and the other 1985 members on Christmas. But the damndest thing was that Modulok was missing one leg.



I only gotten the one. The matching one was missing. Had all the other parts and both guns.

 

The Horde members were divided into three waves. The ones in the above poster, with wave two including the Horde Trooper, Multi-Bot, Dragstor, Hurricane Hordak, the Slime Pit and the Mantisaur. Buzzsaw Hordak and Mosquitor were wave three in 87. Catra and Entrapa were sold in the "She-Ra: Princess Of Power" line. The Snake Men were appearing in the POP cartoon series as members of the Horde, except for King-Hiss, who would debut in the next series.

I got Moss Man after getting Stinkor, both in 85. I think my friend who stole from me had him. The funny thing about both characters is that in order to really smell their oder, you had to smell their crotch. Crystal Swift Wind didn't require getting that close.

My mom had trouble finding He-Man in 83. When she and my stepfather visited his family during the summer, she found the Battle Armor version and also nabbed Man-E-Faces and Ram Man. I already had Skeletor and Battle Cat.



The "Warlord" figures from Remco were designed to interact with MOTU figures.



I also got this weapon pack from another line, prior to getting the MOTU version in 85. There was also a helmet in my version which replaced the top row club next to the snake staff.



I also had this.



And this bad boy. The tusks broke off quickly.

 

Damn @darth-sinister

You’re bringing back memories. I had that two headed dragon in blue. It was a major part of my playing with the MOTU figures,

And I had the Remco Hercules, a gift from my grandfather who assured me Hercules was stronger than He-Man.

Thanks for the post.

 

I assume that you mean this one?

 

How’d you get into my parents basement? It’s even missing the horn!!! (Haha - joking)

That’s the one.