Written by During the lead up to the classic 1987 live-action film “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe” staring Dolph Lundgren and Frank Langella, Mattel produced new figures inspired by characters from the movie.
An action figure line-up that would have certainly grown if the movie and toys were more successful… Blade, Saurod and Gwildor ultimately became the only movie-based action figures Mattel produced in the 1980’s line.
Well now thanks to artist Axel Gimenez on Instagram, we have a look at additional movie-based toy designs Mattel planned to turn into action figures: KARG and the SKELETOR TROOPER! Let’s check them out!
1986 VINTAGE KARK DESIGN:
1986 VINTAGE STORM TROOPER (SKELETOR TROOPER) DESIGN:
All illustrated by the talented Alan Tayler in 1986, these designs were never ultimately realized. But now with the Masters of the Universe: Origins action figure line bringing unused vintage figure concepts to life, let’s hope Mattel will finally make these unproduced vintage style Karg and Skeletor Trooper designs into plastic!
We’ll see you next time!
We finally see what is under those trooper masks. It must be Skeletor’s kids! 😂
All the troopers having Skeletor faces seems silly to me.
This is what they do on their vacation days.
If a prototype exists of the Skeletor Trooper maybe we will finally get a figure of him at some point. He is one of my top wants.
Is Skeletor ego maniac enough to clone himself to make his troops? Yes…yes he is.
Oh hell yeah. I am all about finishing the vintage line and not introducing new figures but I would make an exception for these. Bring it.
I would love these in Origins and in Masterverse, I’m sure a lot of people would!
The Trooper’s gimmick reminds me of later NA Skeletors, interestingly!
Face looks different enough that I don’t see it as Skeletor… just some mummified cyborg zombies!
Awesome! I always wondered why they made Saurod, Gwildor and Blade but not Karg. And I agree about getting these figures in Origins and Masterverse, but especially the Troopers!
Karg was designed by production designer William Stout, and Mattel did not have an agreement to turn his designs into figures.
Interesting. Thanks for the info. Do you think we’ll ever get the She-ra designed for the movie or do those same restrictions apply to her too? We got movie versions of Skeletor, Lyn and Beast Man that looked pretty accurate but then a He-Man that looked nothing like Dolph. I vaguely remember hearing something about rights issues with his likeness.
Mattel can likely produce any design that appears in the film, so long as it does not have the likeness of the actor. Anything that does not appear in the film, like production artwork, would probably require a license.