He-Man Characters: Figures From the Original Mattel Line

The main He-Man characters got their first Mattel figures between 1982 and 1984. The 1982 first wave had He-Man, Man-At-Arms, Teela, Stratos, Skeletor, Beast Man, Mer-Man and Zodac, plus Battle Cat. Evil-Lyn, Trap Jaw, Tri-Klops and Panthor followed in 1983, and Orko in 1984. Each figure’s first release is the one vintage collectors chase.

This page belongs to our He-Man and the Masters of the Universe hub, which covers the toy line, the 1983 Filmation cartoon and the playsets. Here the focus is the characters themselves and when each one first came out as a figure.

Heroes and villains at a glance

The vintage line split its cast into Heroic Warriors and Evil Warriors, the faction names collector checklists still use. The table below lists the main characters with the year of their first Mattel figure. Years come from the wave lists of The Toy Collector’s Guide and agree with the ActionFigure411 checklist.

Where a character was made more than once in the vintage line, the table shows the first figure, not later versions such as the 1984 Battle Armor He-Man and Skeletor. Skeletor has a page of his own; the rest of the cast is covered here and on the He-Man hub.

Who was in the 1982 first wave?

Mattel shipped the first figures in the spring of 1982. On the heroes’ side were He-Man, Man-At-Arms, Teela and Stratos. The villains were Skeletor, Beast Man and Mer-Man. Zodac rounded out the eight. He is listed among the Evil Warriors on some checklists but described as a neutral character.

Most first-wave figures have a twist-waist action feature: turn the waist and let go, and the figure throws a “power punch.” He-Man.org records six points of articulation on the 1982 He-Man and Skeletor. With such simple figures, the armor and weapons do much of the work, so missing accessories make a large difference to a loose figure.

What did He-Man and Skeletor come with?

The two leads came with matching halves of the Power Sword, which fit together into one sword. He-Man.org’s figure records and The Toy Collector’s Guide list the rest:

Each figure also came with a mini-comic. Small parts such as Skeletor’s Havoc Staff and the sword halves are the first things to go missing from a loose figure. Our Skeletor figure guide covers his first figure, its paint variants and his later releases in detail.

How do you check a loose character figure?

Loose figures are where most character collections start, and the questions are the same for each one. Before buying, match the figure to its character and year, then work through the parts:

1. Compare the accessories with the first-wave list for that character, and treat anything extra as a part from another figure.
2. Look at the paint on the face, chest and boots, where play wear shows first.
3. Twist the waist and let go. On figures with the power punch, the waist should spring back.
4. Check the rubber or plastic on the legs and arms for splits around the joints.
5. Ask whether the mini-comic is included if the listing says “complete.”

A figure that fails one of these checks can still be worth buying, but the listing should say so up front, and the price should reflect it.

Which version of a character should you look for?

Many characters were made more than once, so the year matters as much as the name. Mattel’s 1984 wave brought Battle Armor versions of He-Man and Skeletor, and the vintage line kept adding new versions of He-Man and Skeletor in the years after. Mattel has since made modern figures of the same characters in several lines.

He-Man and Skeletor were in the first wave of Masters of the Universe Origins, sold at Walmart in the US from 2020, and in the first Masterverse wave in 2021. Origins figures copy the 1980s look with more joints. Masterverse figures are 7-inch collector figures. Both are licensed and worth collecting, but neither is a 1980s original.

To tell an original from a modern figure, check the date and maker on the figure and the packaging, and compare the accessories with the first-wave lists above. An original first-wave figure should match the weapons and armor named on this page, with no extra parts beyond them.

Vintage He-Man and Skeletor figures on eBay

Shop vintage Masters of the Universe→

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• He-ManBrowse →
• SkeletorBrowse →
• Battle CatBrowse →
• Beast ManBrowse →

Where to go next

Back on the He-Man hub you will find the playsets, the cartoon and the lines Mattel makes now. The Skeletor page shows how to identify the 1982 villain. For other 80s lines, start with our vintage action figures guide or the 1980s section.