How ‘Masters of the Universe’ emerged from the biggest IP blunder in movie history

I can recall feeling a little betrayed when I learned the backstory of my favorite cartoon. He-Man and the Masters of the Universe didn’t get its start as the brainchild of a television writer or a comic book artist. No, the muscle-bound toy came first—which meant my preferred entertainment was essentially a 30-minute commercial for action figures. (Battle Cat sold separately.) But even though He-Man’s origins seem crass and capitalistic, there’s real pop culture affection for him and his franchise; otherwise, there’d be no live-action Masters of the Universe in 2026. Creating He-Man may have been motivated by nothing more than profit, but Mattel’s decisions garnered lifelong, generation-spanning attachment to the character. And businesses and entrepreneurs can learn from Mattel’s example. Here’s what Mattel’s creation of He-Man toys, the Masters of the Universe cartoon, and the world of Eternia can teach us about marketing. The history: Recovering from a missed opportunity In 1976, Mattel famously turned down the opportunity to license Star Wars toys, which turned out to be the kind of mistake that keeps a CEO up at night for decades. In the wake of that disastrous decision, Mattel asked toy designer Roger Sweet to come up with a toy line that could compete. The company conducted market research on what boys ages 5 to 10—its target market—were most interested in. That demographic wanted futuristic military technology (like in Star Wars), current military, and barbarian fantasy. So Sweet created a line of toys that included all three. He-Man looks and dresses a lot like Conan the Barbarian (to the point where Conan Properties sued Mattel . . . and lost) and he lives in the magical world of Eternia that is full of skull-shaped castles, mystical swords, and shape-shifting sorceresses. But one of He-Man’s most trusted allies is Man-at-Arms, a soldier and weapons expert who wouldn’t look out of place next to G.I. Joe. He-Man’s mother is an astronaut from Ear