5 Masters of the Universe Characters the Classic Cartoon Left Behind — and What Their Action Figures Are Worth Now

The new Masters of the Universe movie is doing the thing fans have begged for: it is leaning hard into the vintage cartoon look. The CinemaCon behind-the-scenes reel even flashed He-Man's transformation and a brawl with Skeletor, and the costumes and designs feel straight out of the old Filmation playbook. Which got me thinking about a very specific deep-cut corner of this franchise: the characters who got official 80s action figures but never actually appeared in the original cartoon. There are five of them. Here is who they are, why they are interesting, and what their vintage figures are pulling on eBay right now.

• 5. Stinkor (villain)

  Yes, the toy really smelled. Stinkor's whole deal is weaponized stink: he can blast a toxic odor that paralyzes enemies. He is from a race of skunk-like humanoids called the Peleezeans and is essentially the foul counterpart to Moss Man. Mattel actually baked a semi-gross scent into the 1984 figure as a feature. Despite that… or maybe because of it… sealed vintage Stinkors are hovering around the $200 range right now. You will see higher-priced listings, but the ones at about $200 tend to have more watchers.

• 4. Ninjor (villain)

  One of the final figures in the original line and somehow never used in the cartoon, which feels like a miss considering the 'The Search for Keldor' minicomic describes him as one of the most evil beings across time and space. The all-black-and-red look still pops. If you are hunting one, there are plenty on eBay, but sealed is pricey: expect north of $400, with at least one U.S.-based listing sitting at $715. Loose or pre-owned is the cheaper, saner play.

• 3. Clamp Champ (hero)

  Hands-down one of the best names in the line. Clamp Champ is a Royal Palace guardsman and bodyguard to King Randor and Queen Marlena, famous for his, well, giant clamp weapon. Like Ninjor, he was part of the tail end of the toyline and picked up his lore in 'The Search for Keldor' minicomic. Loose or pre-owned figures are generally around $100. Sealed climbs fast: one listing at $466 has 31 watchers; another at $424.95 has 11 watchers.

• 2. Rotar (hero)

  One of the strangest, most fascinating additions to Eternia. Rotar does not have legs; he is a spinning top. That makes him ridiculously fast and hard to hit. In the 'Energy Zoids' minicomic, he is critically wounded in battle and Man-At-Arms saves him by turning him into an energy zoid. Collecting him is not cheap: even loose or pre-owned (with most accessories) tends to clear $300, and there is a sealed vintage listing floating around at $895.

• 1. Twistoid (villain)

  Rotar's evil mirror. After Man-At-Arms uses a special machine to rebuild Rotar, Skeletor steals the tech and cranks out his own version: Twistoid. Same spinning-top lower half, but with a neon fever-dream paint job in bright pink, blue, green, and orange. At the moment, sealed Twistoids are not popping up, but mostly complete loose/pre-owned figures are landing between $225 and $375. He is one of the tougher ones to nail down.

If the new movie really is embracing those classic silhouettes and toy quirks, do not be shocked if some of these deep cuts start bubbling back up. And if you are collecting, you might want to make your move before nostalgia tax kicks in even harder.