Lord Dactus Masters of the Universe Trademark Renewal

In order for companies to retain the naming rights to their intellectual property, they need to stay current about renewing the trademarks for the characters they produce. In situations where companies lose the naming rights, we’ve seen this played out countless times where they have to rename a character, vehicle, or creature (e.g., Road Ripper —> Ground Ripper).On November 15, 2023, Mattel filed to renew the trademark of Lord Dactus, who is the king of the Speleans. He is a friend of King Randor and he was once allies with the Caligars. What could this mean for the Masters of the Universe line? It could mean nothing other than a simple trademark renewal but if we think back to King Randor’s first release, his card art teased Lord Dactus (along with King Chooblah) from the MOTU Classics line. Since some of the figures that Mattel has produced for the MOTu Classics line are making it into the MOTU Origins line (e.g., Terroar, Fang-Or, and Lord Gr’asp, it’s not that much a leap to think that there could be a Lord Dactus figure in the making for the MOTU Origins line given his trademark renewal and card art tease!

Lord Dactus first appeared as an articulated action figure in August 2013 as part of Mattel’s Masters of the Universe Classics toyline. He was released as the second figure in the 2013 Club Filmation subscription and was also available for day of sale purchase on Mattycollector.com.

Lord Dactus MOTU Classics Bio

Lord Dactus has a really cool bio that reads: Heroic leader of the Bat-like Speleans who live underground in Subternia, Dactus waged a long war against his former ally Ceratus for possession of Hollow Eternia. After a series of attacks by Skeletor and King Hssss, Dactus was convinced by King Randor to put aside his differences with the Caligars and work together as members of his new Eternian Council. A born warrior, he often leaves his diplomatic duties to fight on the battlefield as a Master of the Universe. During one adventure he traveled with Chief Carnivus and Clamp Champ to free Princess Vess from Skeletor’s clutches. Dactus’ massive wings and sharp fangs give him a frightening appearance which he uses to scare off and then attack the evil warriors.

Lord Dactus Card Art Tease

Here we can see King Randor in all his glory, in a commanding pose with members of his court and allies standing behind him. There is a Eternian Palace Guard with King Chooblah next to him. Then we can see Buzz Off and Stratos in the back ground. There is a woman character and a knight character, which are new and we have not seen before. Then we have Lord Dactus standing prominently next to King Randor.

This figure was created for the MOTU Classics line and are seeing more an more figures from that line end up in the Origins line. Having a winged figure buck added to the possible list Origins figures would make it possible for other winged figures to make it to the line, like Draego-Man.