Sky High action figure from the Masters of the Universe Classics line.

Canon

Darid, a former palace guard serving under Teela, was Man-At-Arms’ ace test pilot for his inventions. Cocky and brave, Darid earned the nickname “Sky High” because of his willingness to push every test vehicle to its limits and helped upgrade ships like the Wind Raider and the Jet Sled for greater speed and smoother landings. He fought in the Second Ultimate Battleground, leading a squadron of Blaster Hawks into battle against Horde Boa Jets and the new Snake Strike Squad of King Hssss. Later, he flew a Jet Sled during the Third Ultimate Battleground.

Bio

A former palace guard serving under Teela, Darid was best known as an ace test pilot, working alongside Duncan to put his latest inventions to the test. Daring to push the limit on almost any vehicle, Darid earned the nick name “Sky High” and helped Duncan’s team to upgrade the Wind Raider and Jet Sled for faster acceleration and smoother landings. During the Second Ultimate Battleground, he led a squadron of Blaster Hawks into battle combating the Horde Boa Jets and King Hsss’ new Snake Strike Squad. As cocky as he is brave, Sky High defends Eternos from aerial attacks.

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.