Space Ace action figure from the Masters of the Universe Classics toy line.

Bio

Blissfully unaware of his own arrogance, young Tristram literally stumbled upon advanced jetpack armor near Mount Eternia. Scarcely knowing how to use the gear, he dubbed himself “Space Ace,” boasting that he was “unstoppable.” Space Ace entered the arena of Lord Choloh, challenged Vykron, and was instantly defeated, losing his armor in the contest. Even decades later, the aged Tristram reassured fellow tavern patrons that he “let Vykron win.” During this time, the magical being Woock grew bored of testing He-Man and turned his attention to Tristram. Woock made the Heroic Warriors disappear, and restored Tristram’s youth and armor. Telling him that he was Eternia’s champion, Woock decided Space Ace needed “noble warrior allies” and conjured up the understandably confused Chef Allen, Crackers the clown, and Relay the Manchine puppy. Annoyed over being “saddled with losers,” Space Ace nevertheless relied very heavily on their assistance when Plundor invaded Eternia. The unlikely heroes somehow managed to defeat the leporine villain, and a delighted Woock returned everything to normal. Only Space Ace and Relay retained memories of these strange happenings, although Woock left Space Ace with his youth and armor.

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.