Lord Gr’asp action figure from the Masters of the Universe Classics line.

Figure Sculpt

Bio

One of the Unnamed One’s elite generals, Lord Gr’Asp used his vile cunning to orchestrate his master’s escape from the Nameless Dimension. He first made an alliance with Horde Prime and persuaded him to destroy the Kaydex Crystal, damaging the barrier that kept the Unnamed One trapped. With a legion of Horde-armored Snake Troopers at his command, Gr’Asp then convinced Hordak and King Hssss to join forces on Eternia. Gr’Asp and his warriors escaped defeat during the Second Ultimate Battleground, but later joined forces with Lady Slither to reconquer Eternia after the Unnamed One’s demise. While Gr’Asp is a master of strategy, he prefers to lurk in the shadows and snatch unsuspecting victims in his Captor Claw rather than engage in a fair fight. While he claims to admire the stealth and skill of enemies like Slamurai and Zodak, he also viciously exploits the naïveté of younger opponents like Strobo and Prince Dare. Lord Gr’Asp hopes to resurrect both the Horde Empire and the Snake Men, but only to help him steal the knowledge of Grayskull for himself.

Lord Gr’asp History

Originally one of several unnamed characters planned for the 1988 wave of the Masters of the Universe toyline, the character appeared on unreleased Mattel cardback artwork illustrated by Errol McCarthy. In 2017, the character was given the name Lord Gr’Asp and released as part of a three-pack with Terroar and Plasmar.

The Masters of the Universe Classics line, launched in 2008, is a new line of action figures based on the classic characters from all aspects of the Masters of the Universe franchise. Available solely from Mattel’s website and aimed purely at collectors, the line also includes biographical descriptions of the characters designed to tie the diverging aspects of the mythos together.

Based on the look of the original 1980s MOTU toys, this new toy line was aimed primarily at the adult toy collector market, often available only through subscriptions (from MattyCollector). Sculpted by the Four Horsemen, these toys were updated versions of previous figures as well as characters that never before had an action figure made of them; such as Filmation’s Queen Marlena, Fang-Man, Lizard-Man, Count Marzo, Granamyr, and many others. The toy line featured many redesigned and updated action figures from the original action-figure line from the 1980s, but it also included characters from She-Ra: Princess of Power (Adora, Madame Razz, Scorpia, Shadow Weaver, and others), The New Adventures of He-Man (Mara, Crita, and more), and the Mike Young Productions series from 2002 (Faceless One, Chief Carnivus, King Chooblah, Ceratus, and others). As the line progressed, characters from all versions of MOTU lore were included, from such things such as prototypes and concept art (He-Ro, Eldor, Demo-Man, Gygor, Vykor, and others), box art from vehicles and model kits (Sky High and the Fighting Foe Men), mini comics (the Goddess, Geldor, and Procrustus), and other books, comics, and media (Despara, Strobo, Goat-Man, and more). There were also newly created figures, exclusive to the Classics toy line, such as Draego-Man, Cy-Chop, Castle Grayskullman, and others. In February 2010, the figures of He-Man and Skeletor were available as Toys “R” Us exclusives packed in two-packs with Superman and Lex Luthor, respectively, from Mattel’s DC Universe Classics action figure line; with this dual line expanded to include two-packs featuring Aquaman/Mer-Man, Hawkman/Stratos, Bizarro/Faker, Supergirl/She-Ra, and Green Lantern/Zodac.

Masters of the Universe Classics surpassed the original 1980s toy line in terms of length, running continuously for seven years with more than 150 different figures produced since its launch in August 2008. Along with the Classics series, MOTU Minis and Giants figures were also released in 2014 and 2015. In 2016, Mattel ended production on the MOTU Classics and MattyCollector.com’s Club Grayskull series, with the production company Super7 now taking over the Masters of the Universe license.