Princess of Power

In 1985, after the success of He-Man and The Masters of the Universe, Mattel tried to create a character that appealed to girls in the same way He-Man appealed to boys. Using the same ‘Masters of the Universe’ setting, the ‘Princess of Power’ toy-line was created. She-Ra (Princess Adora) was then introduced as the long-lost twin of He-Man (Prince Adam).

While She-Ra was seen as a positive role model for girls, it’s fair to say that She-Ra: Princess of Power never reached the lofty heights that the He-Man cartoon and toys did. The toy-line featured almost entirely female characters, lasting for three years between 1985 and 1987. While She-Ra was considered fairly successful, it never quite matched up to He-Man.

The She-Ra character was intended to play a part in the 1987 Dolph Lundgren ‘Masters of the Universe’ movie. However, the director decided to cut She-Ra from the movie and concentrate on just He-Man instead. The plan was to bring her into later movies, however, only one movie was ever made.

While She-Ra: Princess of Power was created to try and bring girls into the Masters of the Universe world. Mattel also tried to fuse Princess of Power with another popular Mattel toy, Barbie. Many different costumes were released with each wave of toys, allowing young girls to play dress-up with their Princess of Power figures.

Princess of Power

The first wave of Princess of Power toys is fairly one-sided, with a fair number of The Great Rebellion characters but only a couple from The Evil Horde.

Full List: She-Ra, Swift Wind, Bow, Arrow, Angella, Castaspella, Double Trouble, Frosta, Glimmer, Enchanta, Kowl, Crystal Castle.

As you can see, you almost feel sorry for Catra and Storm. For some reason they are completely outnumbered by The Great Rebellion.

Full List: Catra, Storm.

The second wave of Princess of Power toys, much like the first one features numerous ‘The Great Rebellion’ characters but not much from The Evil Horde. A She-Ra figure and her unicorn Swift Wind are released once again, this time under the names ‘Starburst She-Ra’ and ‘Crystal Swift Wind’.

Full List: Starburst She-Ra, Crystal Swift Wind, Flutterina, Mermista, Peekablue, Perfuma, Sweet Bee, Crystal Sun Dancer, Crystal Moonbeam, Sea Harp, Butterflyer, Crystal Falls.

For some reason, The Evil Horde is really lacking in numbers once again in the second wave of toys. Whether Mattel believed girls wouldn’t play with evil characters we simply don’t know, but it’s fair to say they are once again heavily outnumbered.

Full List: Scratchin’ Sound Catra, Entrapta, Clawdeen.

By the third wave of toys it appears that Mattel had all but given up on Princess of Power. Only five ‘The Great Rebellion’ toys were released in total, two of which were She-Ra and Swift Wind for a third time in three years. This time under the names ‘Bubble Power She-Ra’ and ‘Royal Swift Wind’.

Full List: Bubble Power She-Ra, Royal Swift Wind, Netossa, Spinnerella, Loo-Kee.

The third series of toys was once again not kind to The Evil Horde, with only one figure being released.

Unsurprisingly the figure is Catra, for the third time in three waves. Over the entire three waves of toys, only two human Evil Horde characters existed, Catra and Entrapta.

Full List: Shower Power Catra.

By 1987 it was all over for She-Ra, both the animated TV show and the toy-line had come to an end. While it never made the impact Mattel may have hoped for, the crossover between He-Man and She-Ra was one that could never be untangled. Even today, you can’t have a conversation about He-Man without mentioning She-Ra.

Other Princess of Power merchandise was available during the mid-80s, this included everything from bed covers to lunchboxes and books.