He-Man & Skeletor MOTU Origins Sketch Book Series 2-Pack Speculation

With the reveal of the Evil-Horde 2-pack that kicked off the Masters of the Universe Origins Sketchbook Series, we’ve been waiting to see if there would be easter eggs that might tease a future set. Bringing to life Mark Taylor’s early concepts of the Masters of the Universe figures was a brilliant move by Mattel as we get a peak into an alternate reality as the early concepts very well could have been green lit for production and the figures and characters we know today could have looked very different. Mark Taylor is a former toy designer who worked for Mattel in the 1980s, during the development of the Masters of the Universe toy line. Taylor is known for his contributions to the early development of the franchise, including the creation of many iconic characters such as He-Man, Skeletor, and Battle Cat.

Given what we know about the MOTU Origins line, the teases and easter eggs could signify future figures and it is highly likely that we will see a 2-pack of He-Man and Skeletor in the MOTU Origins Sketchbook Series in the future as they are the prominent hero and villain in the Masters of the Universe. Before we dive into the sketches for Skeletor and He-Man, I want to give kudos to Mattel for kicking off the Sketchbook Series with Hordak and Grizzlor and not simply going with the two that seem to kickoff everything, He-Man and Skeletor. In a magnificent piece of art, illustrated by fetch.franciscoetchart, we can see a battle scene in front of the concept Fright Zone that features Hordak and Grizzlor as he trys to take a piece out of He-Man. In the Fright Zone holding cell, can see an early version of Skeletor clutching the bars as he looks on.

He-Man Tease

This version of He-Man has evolved since the early years before He-Man was officially called He-Man. As

He-Man Early Concept

To see the evolution of how He-Man came to be, we highly encourage you to visit the Battle Ram Blog, the most comprehensive MOTU resource out there for the history of the Masters of the Universe. We are only featuring a handful of He-Man concept illustrations that most resemble the art from the Evil-Horde 2-Pack and shown below is an early concept sketch of He-Man, after he had gone through several years of iteration. This more barbaric version of He-Man featured a spiked helmet, and axe, and the traditional harness we have come accustomed to.

The illustration shown below would eventually become the basis for a prototype figure that Roger Sweet would eventually pitch to Mattel.

Three weeks prior to the Mattel Product Conference, Roger Sweet began turning the concept of He-Man into something physical. Working many hours of unpaid overtime, he modified an existing nine-and-a-half-inch Big Jim figure. Even though Big Jim possessed an athletic build, Sweet applied modeling clay to add an immense amount of muscle mass to the figure. The end result was an incredibly, almost ludicrously proportioned, muscle-bound action figure. He also gave the Big Jim figure a battle-ready pose, so that it appeared the character was ready for action.
Using the now-modified Big Jim figure as a mold, Sweet created five action figure casts. He would modify three for the presentation while two were kept back as spares should the need to use them arise. Sweet dubbed the three figures he prepared for the presentation the “He-Man Trio.”

As the Battle Ram Blog states: “As Taylor tells the story, Mattel was looking for a new boy’s action figure line that could be produced without paying licensing fees to a third party. The company had passed on making Star Wars toys, and of course Star Wars had become enormously successful in the meantime. Mattel’s existing boy’s lines (Clash of the Titans, Battlestar Galactica and Flash Gordon) could not compete with Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. As part of the initiative to create a new male action figure line, Roger Sweet (a designer at Mattel), used some of Mark Taylor’s drawings to assist in developing a pitch for a new line of action figures. For a presentation to Mattel CEO Ray Wagner, Sweet created three rudimentary action figures, which were really Big Jim figures packed with extra clay muscles. In Roger’s concept, the character could be a generic hero, outfitted with science fiction, barbarian or military costumes, and would have access to science fiction vehicles.”

Skeletor Tease

We can see the early concept of Skeletor as he is contained in the Fright Zone in the holding cell, over the shoulder of Hordak as he commands Grizzlor to attack He-Man.

Skeletor Concept

The original concept for Skeltor featured a similar, yet different, design aesthetic to the Evil Lord of Destruction we know today. In fact, the working name for the character below was Evil Incarnate and this illustration was part of the design process for the character that would become Skeletor.

Fright Zone Concept

As a bonus, we are throwing in the concept for the Fright Zone as seen in our copy of The Power and The Honor Foundation book! Back in 1983, Ed Watts illustrated what was then called a “Villain Playset” as Mattel was interested in developing a trap-filled playset. In the artwork, you can see the idea of a giant beast and the concept of imprisoning a figure in a cage, which were the focal points of the concept. It is highly unlikely that we will see a concept playset come to the line but it is great to see the history and evolution. The giant beast was eventually turned into a hand puppet and the playset eventually evolved into the Fright Zone we know today!

The Fright Zone playset was released by Mattel in 1985. More of a diorama piece, the Fright Zone was a simple looking playset that consisted of that famous green colored craggily stone, a rustic dungeon door, a tunnel for a puppet snake to come thru and a scary looking tree complete with scarecrows.

This playset was a huge departure for the vast environments that Castle Grayskull and Snake Mountain brought, but I think it holds a special place in the hearts of Evil Horde fans. It didn’t resemble the techno-future location depicted in the Filmation cartoon at all, but it was still cool!