MOTU Wave 4 – 1985

Masters of the Universe Wave 4 – 1985


The fourth Masters of the Universe wave gave us 13 brand new figures in 1985, including new versions of He-Man and Skeletor. A new team was added in 1985, wave with the introduction of the Evil Horde, led by Hordak. Also released were three more vehicles, and a new robotic battle horse, Night Stalker. The Evil Horde also got their headquarters with the Fright Zone. One sign of things to come though was the unexpected end of the animated Masters of the Universe series, ending on November 21, 1985.

For more information about Mattel’s Masters of the Universe line from 1985, see bottom of the page for a complete summary.

Masters of the Universe – Wave 4 (1985): Figures

The fourth wave of figures for the Masters of the Universe line contained a series high 13 brand new figures, which included new versions of He-Man and Skeletor as well.

Dragon Blaster Skeletor

Market Value:
Carded $300 – $450
Loose $60 – $100

Dragon Blaster Skeletor
Accessories: Sword, Armor, Dragon Blaster, Mini-Comic
Years Released: 1985, 1986
Scarcity Factor: Can still be found, but getting tougher each year
Notes: The most popular bad guy from MOTU gets his 3rd variant figure. This version featured Skeletor in his Dragon Blaster Armor, which shot water out when filled up, just like a water pistol.

Grizzlor

Market Value:
Carded $150 – $250
Loose $35 – $55

Grizzlor: Evil Horde
Accessories: Crossbow, Chest Straps, Mini-Comic
Years Released: 1985, 1986
Scarcity Factor: Can still be found, but getting tougher each year
Notes: The MOTU had many strange looking characters but this one was strange because of the design itself. It was covered in hair, like Chaka from Land of the Lost. He was literally a brown fuzz ball with legs.

Hordak

Market Value:
Carded $200 – $300
Loose $50 – $75

Hordak: Evil Horde
Accessories: Crossbow, Chest Armor, Cape, Bat Shield, Mini-Comic
Years Released: 1985, 1986
Scarcity Factor: Can still be found, but getting tougher each year
Notes: After 3 years of He-Man fighting Skeletor, we get another evil leader thrown into the mix. Hordak is the ruthless leader of the Evil Horde. He also had the usual Power Punch feature.

Leech

Market Value:
Carded $125 – $200
Loose $25 – $50

Leech: Evil Horde
Accessories: Crossbow, Mini-Comic
Years Released: 1985, 1986
Scarcity Factor: Can still be found, but getting tougher each year
Notes: Leech was another member of Hordak’s Evil Horde. His special feature was that he could stick to a smooth surface with his Leech head when the activator button was pushed. He could also suction with his hands.

Mantenna

Market Value:
Carded $125 – $200
Loose $25 – $50

Mantenna: Evil Horde
Accessories: Crossbow, Mini-Comic
Years Released: 1985, 1986
Scarcity Factor: Can still be found, but getting tougher each year
Notes: Another bad guy for Hordak’s Evil Horde squad. Mantenna’s special feature was that his eyes would pop out when the switch is activated (not sure how this helped in battle). There is a minor variation to Mantenna’s boots with the bat logo being different colors.

Modulok

Market Value:
Boxed $125 – $200
Loose $30 – $55

Modulok: Evil Horde
Accessories: Laser, Torso, Heads, Waists, Arms, Legs, Tail, Connector Joints, , Mini-Comic
Years Released: 1985, 1986
Scarcity Factor: Can still be found, but getting tougher each year
Notes: Modulok was billed as the “Evil Beast of a Thousand Bodies”. It may not have been a thousand bodies, but this was just plain cool! With all the different parts, you could literally change Modulok to several different creatures, which made for lots of fun.

Moss Man

Market Value:
Carded $150 – $250
Loose $30 – $55

Moss Man: Heroic Warriors
Accessories: Mace, Mini-Comic
Years Released: 1985, 1986
Scarcity Factor: Can still be found, but getting tougher each year
Notes: Moss Man was one of the good guys, believe it or not. He was covered in green flocked hair, like the old GI Joe’s had, with an actual pine scent! So he was the MOTU version of Strawberry Shortcake. Moss Man’s special feature was that he could spin at the waist.

Roboto

Market Value:
Carded $150 – $250
Loose $30 – $50

Roboto: Heroic Warriors
Accessories: Axe, Laser, Claw, Mini-Comic
Years Released: 1985, 1986
Scarcity Factor: Can still be found, but getting tougher each year
Notes: Another good guy for He-Man’s team, Roboto had interchangeable weapon attachments to give him some different bad guy whooping options. Roboto’s special feature was that when you twisted his waist, the jaw would move up and down.

Spikor

Market Value:
Carded $150 – $250
Loose $30 – $50

Spikor: Evil Warriors
Accessories: Spiked Club, Mini-Comic
Years Released: 1985, 1986
Scarcity Factor: Can still be found, but getting tougher each year
Notes: Spikor just looks like a bad guy, so he had to join Skeletor’s team by default. Spikor had a special feature that allowed you to twist his waist and watch him throw a Power Punch with his mighty trident arm.

Stinkor

Market Value:
Carded $150 – $250
Loose $30 – $50

Stinkor: Evil Warriors
Accessories: Chest Armor, Shield, Mini-Comic
Years Released: 1985, 1986
Scarcity Factor: Can still be found, but getting tougher each year
Notes: With a name like Stinkor, you just know he must have a crazy scent, and he does. The scent was actually made of Patchouli Oil. Stinkor also had a special feature that allowed you to twist his waist and watch him throw a power punch.

Sy-Klone

Market Value:
Carded $110 – $190
Loose $25 – $50

Sy-Klone: Heroic Warriors
Accessories: Shield, Mini-Comic
Years Released: 1985, 1986
Scarcity Factor: Can still be found, but getting tougher each year
Notes: Sy-Klone was another of He-Man’s soldiers in his army against the Evil Warriors. Sy-Klone had a special feature that allowed him to spin at the waist, swinging his arms around.

Thunder Punch He-Man

Market Value:
Carded $300 – $450
Loose $60 – $100

Thunder Punch He-Man: Heroic Warriors
Accessories: Power Sword, Shield, Mini-Comic
Years Released: 1985, 1986
Scarcity Factor: Can still be found, but getting tougher each year
Notes: The most popular character from MOTU gets his 3rd variant figure. This version allowed you to put a blast cap into He-Man’s backpack, then twist him around to make the blast cap pop. You could do this as many times as you want, depending on how much ammo you had of course.

Two-Bad

Market Value:
Carded $125 – $200
Loose $25 – $50

Two-Bad: Evil Warriors
Accessories: Shield, Mini-Comic
Years Released: 1985, 1986
Scarcity Factor: Can still be found, but getting tougher each year
Notes: With a name like Two-Bad, he was just born to be a bad guy. Two-Bad’s special feature was that when you twisted his waist, spring loaded arms would shoot out into a death hug (which is much worse than it sounds).

Masters of the Universe – Wave 4 (1985): Exclusive Figures

There were no exclusive figures released for the 4th wave in 1985.

Masters of the Universe – Wave 4 (1985): Accessories

Mattel released a new ammo accessory Pack for the fourth wave of the MOTU line to be used with the Thunder Punch He-Man.

Thunder Punch Ammo

Market Value:
Carded $90 – $140
Loose $20 – $35

Thunder Punch Ammo
Accessories: 27 Red Blaster Caps
Years Released: 1985, 1986
Scarcity Factor: Tough to find on the secondary market
Notes: This pack contained 27 blaster caps to load into He-Man’s Thunder Punch mechanism. The 27 caps meant you had a total of 216 thunder punches for He-Man. These caps were similar to the same ones that would come with cap toy guns.

Masters of the Universe – Wave 4 (1985): Creatures

Another creature figure was released for the 1985 wave to along with Stridor from the year before.

Night Stalker

Market Value:
Boxed $100 – $150
Loose $30 – $45

Night Stalker: Evil Warriors
Accessories: Rotating Laser Guns, Turret
Years Released: 1985, 1986
Scarcity Factor: Can still be found, but getting tougher each year
Notes: Night Stalker was essentially the evil version of Stridor, as Skeletor needed a robotic horse as well. The turret for the laser gun can actually move around. Fun Fact: Night Stalker was originally referred to as Night Mare in early drafts.

Masters of the Universe – Wave 4 (1985): Playsets

After Snake Mountain and Castle Grayskull, it was now time for the Evil Horde to get their own base with the Fright Zone with Mattel’s 3rd large scale playset.

Fright Zone

Market Value:
Boxed $250 – $350
Loose $75 – $125

Fright Zone: Evil Horde
Accessories: Evil Tree Trap, Cage Door, Stone Wall Trap, Dragon Puppet, Mini-Comic
Years Released: 1985
Scarcity Factor: Can still be found, but getting tougher each year
Notes: He-Man and Skeletor both had their headquarter bases, so Hordak got one as well, because you just can’t be a major player in Eternia without one. This playset was pretty creepy looking, which is what you would expect with a name like Fright Zone. There was an evil tree at the top that could capture our heroes with its roots, as well as a couple more traps throughout the playset. This thing was really built to give the good guys a hard time if they made it inside. It even had a real life dragon (puppet) to capture He-Man and friends and bring them back to its hidden lair. This was a pretty nifty playset that offered a ton of playability.

Masters of the Universe – Wave 4 (1985): Vehicles

Mattel gave us four new vehicles as part of their fourth wave in 1985, including the Battle Bones figure carrying case.

Bashasaurus

Market Value:
Boxed $110 – $160
Loose $25 – $40

Bashasaurus: Heroic Warriors
Accessories: Boulder Arm
Years Released: 1985
Scarcity Factor: Can still be found, but getting tougher each year
Notes: The Bashasaurus was a pretty basic vehicle as far as MOTU vehicles go. It had a dinosaur looking appearance with a boulder arm that would extend out and smash whatever you aimed it at when you pushed the button.

Battle Bones

Market Value:
Boxed $100 – $150
Loose $25 – $40

Battle Bones: Heroic Warriors
Accessories: Dinosaur Head, Storage Compartment
Years Released: 1985
Scarcity Factor: Can still be found, but getting tougher each year
Notes: Battle Bones wasn’t actually a vehicle but rather a fancy looking carrying case, shaped like dinosaur bones. The case held 12 MOTU figures by attaching them to the ribs, and allowed for accessory and weapon storage in a small compartment.

Land Shark

Market Value:
Boxed $100 – $150
Loose $35 – $55

Land Shark: Evil Warriors
Accessories: Engine Cover, Seat, Cannons
Years Released: 1985
Scarcity Factor: Can still be found, but getting tougher each year
Notes: The Land Shark was a nifty looking vehicle that featured a shark at the front. When you pushed the vehicle around, the jaws of the shark would chomp open and closed. The faster you pushed the vehicle, the faster the jaws would chomp open and closed.

Spydor

Market Value:
Boxed $175 – $250
Loose $45 – $70

Spydor: Evil Warriors
Accessories: Two Laster Cannons
Years Released: 1985
Scarcity Factor: Can still be found, but getting tougher each year
Notes: Spydor was exactly what it sounded like, a giant scary looking mechanical spider that shot laser cannons at you. When you turned it on, Spydor would actually walk around with a figure sitting atop of it. This thing was just freakin cool looking.

This was another banner year for The Masters of the Universe line with the series hitting its peak. It had a hugely successful animated series and the merchandising side of the line was still immensely popular. He-Man and Skeletor, along with the rest of the gang could be found on everything from lunchboxes and school supplies to clothing and Halloween costumes. Now that the Star Wars line was coming to an end, the MOTU line sat atop the toy market, along with GI Joe and the Transformers as top sellers. One sign of things to come though was the sudden and unexpected end of the animated Filmation Masters of the Universe series, as the last episode would air on November 21, 1985.

The fourth wave of the MOTU line, gave us a new high of 13 brand new figures in 1985. The Heroic Warriors got four new additions with Moss Man, Roboto, Sy-Clone and a new Thunder Punch version of He-Man. Not to be outdone, the Evil Warriors also got four new figures with Spikor, Stinkor, Two-Bad and a new Dragon Blaster version of Skeletor. A new wrinkle was added for the 1985 wave with the introduction of the Evil Horde, which was another group of bad guys for the Heroic Warriors to fight. The new Evil Horde was led by Hordak, along with Grizzlor, Leech, Mantenna and the ultra cool Modulok. In addition to some great new figures, we also got more vehicles and a new robotic battle horse for the bad guys, Night Stalker. The Evil Horde also got a headquarters base for even more MOTU adventures.

Once again, the packaging for the newest wave of the Masters of the Universe line remained virtually identical to the previous waves of the years before. The Masters of the Universe logo sat at the top of the card, just above a red rock explosion that seemed to jump out at you, along with the name of the character above the bubble. The only exception was with the Evil Horde packaging now having the new Evil Horde logo in between the MOTU logo and the character’s name.

Prototype Card Front

Mini Comic Book

Mini Comic Book

Wave 4 Card Back