Masters of the Universe may have been a disappointment at the box office, but its fandom is alive and well. How do we know? Well, someone just spent over $80,000 on a vintage toy from the franchise, setting an all-time record for the most valuable 1980s production action figure ever sold at auction.
At the recently ended Spring Premiere Auction run by LCG Auctions, a 1983 Masters of the Universe He-Man toy, graded 90 by AFA, sold for $80,736. It broke the previous Masters of the Universe record set in 2022, when an AFA 80 of the same toy sold for $32,512. The 90, though, is believed to be the highest-graded He-Man toy in existence. According to the press release, “the figure has remained virtually untouched for more than four decades. The card exhibits exceptional color and surface quality, while the crystal-clear blister has avoided the yellowing commonly found on surviving examples. The absence of a peg-hole punch indicates it likely never reached a retail store shelf.”
Here’s the full image.
But that wasn’t everything. A 1984 Masters of the Universe Snake Mountain, graded an AFA 85, also sold for $78,659, which is a record for that particular set. Here’s a closer look.
(And because you’re wondering, while there wasn’t a Castle Greyskull available in this auction, one sold in 2025 for over $209,000, crushing them both.)
That’s $160,000 spent on two Masters of the Universe toys in this June auction. Which is wild. Especially since, bringing everything back to the present, the live-action adaptation was released earlier this summer and failed to live up to box office expectations. Sporting a budget reportedly around $200 million, Masters of the Universe just recently squeaked by $100 million at the global box office during its fourth weekend. We’ll see what MGM, which distributed the movie, does next with the franchise, if at all.
But at least something from Masters of the Universe made a profit this summer. And it was these insanely well-preserved vintage toys. Toys that, according to the head of the auction house, probably sold for this much because of the movie.
“The response to these Masters of the Universe collectibles exceeded even our expectations,” Mark Montero, founder of LCG Auctions, said in a press release. “The release of the new film has introduced He-Man to an entirely new generation while reminding longtime collectors why these toys became cultural icons. After last year’s record-setting Castle Grayskull sale and now the record-setting He-Man action figure and playset, it’s clear that museum-quality Masters of the Universe collectibles continue to command extraordinary demand.”
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