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In the first half of the 1980's Mattel® owned two factories in France where the MOTU line was produced.
Most of the French MOTU toys were destined for the entire European market. However, some of the main characters were also released on French single logo cards featuring the big "Maitres de l'univers" logo.
These figures were produced exclusively for the French market and it is rumoured that only four figures from the entire MOTU line were released on this type of card:
| Musclor™ (He-Man®) |
| Skeletor® |
| Le Maitre D'Armes™ (Man-At-Arms™) |
| Stratos™ |
Unfortunately the only two figures that have surfaced so far are Musclor™ and Skeletor®.
Both figures were released on two different types of French single logo cards:
| Regular French single logo card (these cards had a small TV logo printed on them referring to the popular cartoon based on the MOTU toy line). |
| Yellow border French single logo card. |
Front Back
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* According to the markings on the back of the card this figure was produced in 1981. This is very unlikely since the different comics that came with the French 6-back figures known today were printed in 1983 (to accompany the third series of MOTU figures => released in 1984).
NOTE: This picture was taken when I had this item in my private collection. I do not own this item any longer.
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This version of Battle Armor™ He-Man® released exclusively for the German/ Austrian market in 1983 was a promotional offer that came with a free poster.
The set contained a figure that was produced in France. The toy was offered in a big cardboard wrapping which contained an ingenious system to show children what the actual result was when the armour of He-Man® was touched (this way it wasn't necessary to take the figure out of the package to see what it could do).
The left side of the set had a cardboard wheel in it that could be turned. When the wheel was turned the children were able to see all three variations of the armour (dent free, one dent, two dents).
The advertising on the package: "Hier steckt ein tolles poster drin!" refers to the poster of Battle Armor™ He-Man® & Battle Armor™ Skeletor® that was included in the set.
This set is extremely hard to locate these days and only a few specimens are known to exist.
Front |
Back |
Zauberrüstung He-Man®.
NOTE: This picture was taken when I had this item in my private collection. I do not own this item any longer.
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This set was released by Mattel® in 1984 as a promotional offer. The item was produced to be sold exclusively in toy stores all over Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria and France.
The He-Man® figures that were included in this set were produced in Taiwan and/or Malaysia. The Skeletor® figures were produced in Taiwan and/or Hong Kong. Since the figures that were used for the production of this set were manufactured in different countries some sets contained figures with hard heads (made of hard rubber / slightly different sculpt) and/or figures that came with soft rubber heads.
| He-Man® ( Taiwan): Soft Head |
| He-Man® (Malaysia): Hard Head |
| Skeletor® (Taiwan): Soft Head/ Regular Feet |
| Skeletor® (Hong Kong): Hard Head/ Big Feet |
At first these figures (released on EURO double logo cards) were destined to be sold separately on the European market but Mattel® decided to provide several of their warehouses in Europe with the cardboard wrappings and the tapes so that an exclusive gift set could be produced. The top of each card included in this set was cut off so that the cards would fit inside the cardboard wrapping.
The set came with a free 45 min. audio tape (same story/ different language in each country) that was titled: "Stardust". The German version of this set was also available with a tape titled: "Die Höhle des Schrekens" (The Cave of Terror).*
It is rumoured that the Dutch version of this set (BE/NL) was also available with a tape titled: "Het Bliksemkannon" (The Lightning cannon).* A picture of such a set showed up on the internet a while ago but so far nobody seems to be able to confirm the authenticity of this item.*
The cardboard wrappings had the following slogan printed on them:
| BE/NL: "Ontdek de strijd om Eternia" | (Discover the battle for Eternia).* |
| BE/FR/LU: "Découvre la lutte sur Eternia" | (Discover the battle on Eternia).* |
| DE/AT: "Steig ein in die Welt der Giganten!" | (Enter the World of the Powerful).* |
On the back of each set you could find a short description of the battle between good and evil on Eternia™ and some information on the main characters. It also contained the result of a study performed by professor W. Stuckenhoff (department of play & pedagogy) from the University of Dortmund. The study proved that playing with "Masters of the Universe®" action figures stimulated the fantasy & creativity and promoted the social behaviour of children.
This set is extremely hard to locate these days (especially the French edition) and it remains my personal favourite MOTU item of all time!
Dutch set: Front (Belgium/Netherlands) |
Dutch set: Back (Belgium/ Netherlands) |
Dutch set: Back (Standing) |
Belgian Promo leaflet |
French set: Front (Belgium/ France/Lux.) |
French set: Back (Belgium/ France/ Lux.) |
German promo leaflet |
German set: Back (Germany/Austria) |
* The "Lightning Cannon" tape was released with the Belgian/ Dutch promotional He-Man® set.
All the advertisement leaflets from the eighties that were released to promote this He-Man®/ Skeletor® set contained pictures of sets that came with the "Stardust" tape. I have found no proof that this twin pack was available with the "Lightning Cannon" audio tape.
A note to MOTU collectors worldwide
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Beware of FAKE German versions of this item! The so called "selbstgebasteltes"* (costum made) sets frequently show up for sale on the internet.
* Translation.
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After the successful release of the He-Man®/ Skeletor® gift set in Western Europe a similar set was produced by Mattel® Spain. Even though it was based on the same principle than the famous set this item was quite different. The figures and the tapes included in this set were manufactured in Spain. Both figures were released as a promotional offer on one big Spanish "Masters del Universo" Single logo card. The card had the following slogan printed on it:
"He-Man y Skeletor en dos fantasticas aventuras".
"He-Man and Skeletor in two fantastic adventures".*
The other advertising on the card refers to the free tape and the two comics that came with the figures.
The printing on the back of this set is quite extraordinary. The image portrays several castles/ action figures that were available in Spain.
| Castillo Grayskull (Castle Grayskull™)* |
| El Castillo De La Serpiente (Snake Mountain™)* |
| Buzz-Off ™ |
| He-Man®/Armadura de combate (Battle Armor™ He-Man®)* |
| Skeletor®/ Armadura de combate (Battle Armor™ Skeletor®)* |
| Fisto™ |
| Orko™ |
| Principe Adam (Prince Adam™)* |
| Jitsu™ |
| Clawful™ |
| Whiplash™ |
| Ram Man™ |
| Man-E-Faces™ |
| Mekaneck™ |
| He-Man® |
| Teela™ |
| Stratos™ |
| Man-At-Arms™ |
| Tri-Klops™ |
| Webstor™ |
| Trap Jaw™ |
| Evil-Lyn™ |
| Skeletor® |
| Beast Man™ |
| Zodac™ |
| Mer-Man™ |
The set came with a free audio cassette featuring two different stories. One of those stories was titled:
"He-Man y la Venganza de Skeletor".
"He-Man and the Vengeance of Skeletor".*
This item is without any doubt one of the rarest European items ever produced.
Only one remaining specimen is known to exist.
Spanish set: Front |
Spanish set: Back |
Spanish He-Man®: Loose |
NOTE: A personal friend of mine gave me permission to use the pictures of his Spanish set for this website. We sincerely hope that none of these images will be used for any other purpose whatsoever.
* Translation.
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By the end of 1985 the success of He-Man® seemed unstoppable. This encouraged Mattel® to release another version of our beloved Eternian warrior.
A regular carded He-Man® action figure (EURO double logo card) and an audio tape were wrapped in a big piece of cardboard. This time Mattel® used a bigger wrapping to avoid that the tops of the cards needed to be cut off so that they would fit inside the package (this was the case with the He-Man®/ Skeletor® gift set). The He-Man® action figures that were used for these particular sets were manufactured in Malaysia (every single edition that I've seen so far contained a figure with a head made of a harder type of rubber - the so called "Hard Head He-Man®"). Unfortunately most of these Malaysian "He-Men" are now covered with small white spots. This is the result of a chemical process that occurs after several years when the plastic starts to deteriorate.
These items were sold exclusively in toy stores all over Germany, Austria, The Netherlands and Belgium.
The printings on the German edition were quite different from the ones on the Belgian/ Dutch one:
D: | "He-Man/ Der tapfere verteidiger Eternias." "He-Man/ The brave defender of Eternia."* Ein spannendes Hörspiel führt Dich in die faszinierende Welt der Masters. An exciting story for you from the fascinating world of the Masters.* |
BE/NL: | "Help He-Man in zijn strijd om Eternia" "Help He-Man in his battle for Eternia."* Nu extra voordelig/ Met gratis cassette! Now for an extra low price/ With free cassette!* |
The German edition was also provided with a small picture of a red power sword (left corner/ bottom).
On the back of each set you could find the result of a study performed by professor W. Stuckenhoff (University of Dortmund) & professor J. Tramson (University Paris Nord)*.
Both sets were released with a free audio cassette.
The tape that came with the German set was also quite different from the one that was included in the Belgian/ Dutch set.
BE/NL: | "Het Bliksemkannon" (Side A) "The Lightning Cannon"* "Diamantsteen" (Side B) "Diamond Stone"* |
D: | "Die Giganten des Universums" "The Masters of the Universe"* |
Both versions of this set are very hard to find today.
Belgian/Dutch set: Front |
Belgian/Dutch set: Back |
German set: Front |
German set: Back |
* Translation.
* More information regarding this research can be found in the "He-Man®/ Skeletor®with free audio cassette" section.