More Sun Man Based Characters For The Masters Of The Universe Origins And Mastervers Lines Coming From Mattel

by Jay Cochran
February 01, 2022

Mattel announced today that the Rulers of the Sun, with its multicultural Black, Latino and Asian characters, will be joining the Masters of the Universe Origins line in 2022. The first hero to join He-Man is Sun-Man, one of the pioneering Black action figures, available for preorder today and arriving on shelves around the globe this Spring. As the 40th anniversary of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe kicks off in 2022, Sun-Man and the Rulers of the Sun bring He-Man new, powerful partners in his battle against evil.

The Rulers of the Sun line will be joining the Masters of the Universe across multiple toy lines, including Masters of the Universe Origins, inspired by the original toys from the 1980s, and the new Masters of the Universe: Masterverse which celebrates the evolution of the franchise. Along with Sun-Man, upcoming allies include Digitino, a Latino computer wizard and Space Sumo, an Asian telekinetic ninja. Together they fight for justice against their nemesis, the evil Pig-Head, a devious and spiteful lord who spreads fear and despair around the world.

Created in 1985 by Yla Eason, inspired by her son, who feared he could never be a superhero because of the color of his skin, Sun-Man was a groundbreaking character for Black children and superhero fans alike, who saw a hero who looked like them and whose superpower was actually drawn from the organic connection between his skin-color and the power of the sun.

�When I originally created the character of Sun-Man, it was to show my son that heroes come in all skin colors,� said Yla Eason, creator of Sun-Man and the Rulers of the Sun. �Partnering with Mattel has been an honor, bringing this full circle and making it possible for a new generation of kids around the world to see themselves represented in their toys with the powerful portrayal of Sun-Man and his friends.�

�This job requires one to be a bit of a toy historian, and I always knew of the existence of Sun-Man, and of the high prices that vintage examples would go for in the Masters of the Universe collecting community. Even knowing that, it was only a couple of years ago that I came across Yla�s story, and it really resonated with me as another black toymaker,� said Ed Duncan, SVP � Action Figures, Games and Plush Design, & Inventor Relations at Mattel. �Sun-Man was a carefully crafted toy, designed to add something valuable to Masters of the Universe play back in the 1980s� the value of diversity. That value has only increased with time. Seeing people like yourself represented as strong powerful heroes is something black children were frequently denied through the years. Characters like Sun-Man and the Rulers of the Sun are a great step in the right direction.�

Previously released through Mattel Creations as a special limited edition figure last year, Sun-Man immediately sold out within minutes, showing the passion of fans for the hero. Under this partnership licensing agreement, Mattel is granted the right to produce Sun-Man from The Rulers of the Sun collection. Olmec Toys and Yla Eason retain all rights to the Sun-Man property. Mattel�s purpose across all franchises has been to empower the next generation to explore the wonder of childhood and reach their full potential. As a part of this commitment, the company will continue to find ways that our content and toys can better represent the diverse world kids live in today.

Masters of the Universe was first introduced to the world in 1982 through a line of action figures that quickly became a $2B franchise across toys and consumer products, solidifying the franchise�s role as a pop culture fixture in the eighties. The line consisted of eight core characters � He-Man, Man-At-Arms, Stratos, Teela, Beast Man, Mer-Man, Skeletor and Zodac, that continues to expand. From the beginning, the brand was built upon the message of becoming the best version of yourself. Reimagined and reintroduced as a complete 360 franchise with multiple toy lines, digital games, publishing titles, sold-out global collaborations and critically-acclaimed animated content on Netflix, the Masters of the Universe franchise is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2022.

The Masters of the Universe Origins Sun Man is now available for pre-order at our sponsors BigBadToyStore.com and Entertainment Earth.

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Comments...

Last 10 comments - ( Read All Posts )

Uki - 2022-03-02 @ 1:38 pm

I pre-ordered 4 Horde Troopers; I keep telling myself that I don't need more. (We'll see how long I hold out.)

Looks like the Exclusive Sun-Man is not coming until May, so I will probably grab this version too.

hainrs - 2022-03-01 @ 7:06 pm

Masterverse was never supposed to be the line strictly for Revelations. It's supposed to be a catch all line and it's beginning was Revelations. There's plenty of product coming out for all of the lines.

kILLMonger - 2022-03-01 @ 3:18 pm

On 2/1/2022 at 11:15 AM, Flounnderr said:
Its funny, eventhough these are official Mattel releases... they still feel like knock-offs. Especially the ninja design. Sun man has an odd history and was pretty unknown before the internet. I hope the original makers made a buttload selling to Mattel!

Sun Man was quite well known...in the community. There were articles in magazines and everything. I can agree Sun Man wasn't as well known outside the community...and that was for a good number of reasons. Milestone (as a good comparison) had the same issue. It just wasn't covered by "mainstream" media for the same...reasons (I'll say no more). I'm just happy Mattel is folding the MOTS folks in. I would LOVE to see a Revelations style Sun-Man...even a animated MOTU one from the Netflix series. They were designed to fit right in with MOTU from their inception in the 80s. They just added some much needed color. But HARD to find (I wanted one as a kid and never got/saw them). Glad that won't be a issue in 2022.

Now if Mcfarlane can give Milestone some love lol.....

MagnaPrime - 2022-02-03 @ 2:03 am

I totally support having more of the rulers of the sun officially in MOTU. The villains alone are great! And I like the history.

ChrisMOTUFAN - 2022-02-02 @ 11:15 pm

True. But personally, I'll wait until mattel announces new masterverse figs passed merman and teela. Passed those characters it's been pretty quite for masterverse news. They could just continue the line without a Revelations toon but hard for me to even see that happening since all 8 of my targets don't sell masterverse as well as they do origins. I've bought doubles and triples of most characters to support the line so I hope it does stick around.

Roadpigmaster - 2022-02-02 @ 8:03 pm

2 hours ago, ChrisMOTUFAN said:
Jaaaaaaaay! Hope all is well w ya! Hmmmm. I only heard of Netflix renewing the cgi kiddie one. I'm only guessing and hopefully I'm wrong because I love the figs .....but if I was a betting man I'll be surprised if revelations gets a second season. But hopefully the put out ram man and roboto. I wish mattel put out some news on masterverse. Villians definitely outweigh the heroes on my masterverse section.

I seen new Masterverse figures stocked at my local Target ? so I don't think this is going away anytime soon... I pre-ordered King Grayskull yesterday at target ? online.???

ChrisMOTUFAN - 2022-02-02 @ 5:00 pm

Jaaaaaaaay! Hope all is well w ya! Hmmmm. I only heard of Netflix renewing the cgi kiddie one. I'm only guessing and hopefully I'm wrong because I love the figs .....but if I was a betting man I'll be surprised if revelations gets a second season. But hopefully the put out ram man and roboto. I wish mattel put out some news on masterverse. Villians definitely outweigh the heroes on my masterverse section.

JayC - 2022-02-02 @ 1:05 pm

5 hours ago, ChrisMOTUFAN said:
February should determine the fate of masterverse. Origins seems intact but after decades of target shutting down poor lines it'll be amazing to see if target decides to keep masterverse. I have 8 targets and haven't really seen much support for the line most likely due to the divided fan base. Personally, I hope the line continues as it's my favorite retail line. We haven't heard of any new additions passed masterverse teela and merman plus the heman skeletor variants so been pretty quiet on the masterverse front.

As long as there is entertainment properties pushing the toys Target will likely continue to carry the stuff. We already know the CGI series is getting another season and there is a live-action movie coming to Netfix and possibly another season of Revelations, so my guess is these lines aren't going away anytime soon.

ChrisMOTUFAN - 2022-02-02 @ 7:41 am

Oops forgot about king grayskull target exclusive....wish we had a roboto deluxe too!

ChrisMOTUFAN - 2022-02-02 @ 7:35 am

February should determine the fate of masterverse. Origins seems intact but after decades of target shutting down poor lines it'll be amazing to see if target decides to keep masterverse. I have 8 targets and haven't really seen much support for the line most likely due to the divided fan base. Personally, I hope the line continues as it's my favorite retail line. We haven't heard of any new additions passed masterverse teela and merman plus the heman skeletor variants so been pretty quiet on the masterverse front.

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