Action figure:Masters of the Universe Figure: Battle Cat

Begun as a toy line by Mattel, Inc. in the early 1980s, Masters of the Universe (MOTU) featured action figures unlike the popular Star Wars figures and G.I. Joe figures that stood at a diminutive 3.75 inches high. The figures of MOTU stood about 5 inches high and displayed an exaggerated musculature typified by the line's main character, appropriately called He-Man. He-Man, with Man-at-Arms and Teela (his adopted daughter), fought the evil forces of Skeletor on the planet Eternia. According to the Saturday-morning animated TV show that aired from 1983 to1985, He-Man was the son of King Randor and Queen Marlena, a U.S. astronaut whose spacecraft crashed on Eternia. Marlena gave birth to Prince Adam who maintained the persona of a bumbling, lazy, and careless coward until he held a magic sword in his hand that transformed him into the most powerful man in the universe and a more than worthy opponent to villains of the planet. MOTU became a huge media franchise, including not just action figures (six lines in all), but four animated television series, several series of comic books, and a feature-length film.