Battle Tank from the Masters of the Universe 200x Modern Series toy line.

The four-wheeled, armored Battle Tanks were produced in large quantities by Man-At-Arms in his workshop. Their primary function was to serve as a war machine for the Royal Eternian Guard, protecting the Royal Palace from attackers; however, they also proved useful in reconstruction projects repairing damage to the palace and the city. While Battle Tanks served primarily as fast-moving, single-seated transport vehicles, they concealed a sizable cannon under the front hood. The energy cannon appeared only briefly when the vehicle transported Teela and the Masters of the Universe across the Sands of Time. Other, larger tanks served as mobile artillery, brought to bear against Tri-Klops’s army of bone warriors, and then later to defend against the rampaging snake god Serpos.

Toy Line

In 2002, Mattel launched a new Masters of the Universe toy line most commonly referred to today as the MOTU 200x or MOTU Modern Series. The figure sculpts featured the talented designs by the Four Horsemen who remained faithful to the original Masters of the Universe toy line. The figure design was a modern version of the classic figure that featured sharp angles and sculpts that were unique to each figure.

Animated Series

Accompanying the toy line was a new animated series that featured only 39 episodes in total from August 2002 to January 2004. This version of He-Man featured a young Prince Adam that was physically smaller in stature, height, and appearance and was part of a group called the protectors known as “The Masters.” Man-at-Arms headed up this team and consisted of He-Man/Adam, Battle Cat, Teela, Orko, Stratos, Ram-Man, Mekaneck, and Man-E-Faces. In later episodes, traditional with most animated series that have toy lines, later characters were added, which included Buzz-Off, Roboto, and Sy-Klone. King Randor, now a general, was pronounced ruler of Eternia by the Elders of the Hall of Wisdom, which have gone into hiding inside the depths of Castle Grayskull.

You see the transformation fans have been waiting for when Skeletor, now confirmed as Keldor, heads up the charge with his evil forces. Evil-Lynn, Beast-Man, Mer-Man, Trap-Jaw (now a cybernetically repaired henchman, formerly known as Kronis), Tri-Klops (now an inventor/scientist, somewhat akin to an evil Man-At-Arms), Claw-ful (now a very large and extremely dim-witted thug), and Whiplash (now also of larger size and of the subterranean Caligar race) are the main evil forces in the series until Skeletor is sidelined in favor of the leader of the Snake Men, King Hiss. The reptilians consist of Kobra-Kahn, General Rattlor, Tung-Lashor, Snake-Face, and Sssqueeze, with He-Man and many of the characters now bearing a new “Snake-Armor” look. Hordak and the Evil Horde were to be the main antagonists for the third season if the show had continued, but it was not renewed, unfortunately.