These were simply regular Taiwan carded figures with a Takara sticker on the back. Japan was not a source of manufacture but did have a very limited release by Takara. Hong Kong Vintage Variants || From the Collection of James Reid Japan Another interesting piece of MOTU history, the Meteorbs were made in Macau which is now also back under the control of China. This is a clear indication of 2 separate factories, perhaps working together, with excess Hong Kong cards being used by China with sticker in place. Some cards outright state “Figure made in China, Accessories made in Hong Kong”. It is my belief that Hong Kong and China did have separate production. Having opened several MOC from both China and Hong Kong of the same figure to do a comparative analysis, I can say there are small differences, but whether these are production changes within a factory or changes due to being made in a different factory I cannot say for certain. Was this a political issue of the time or were there in fact two separate factories? Mattel has no archives of which factories they used so we can only go by the information from carded evidence. No vintage figures were marked China and only a few were ever marked Hong Kong with cards initially printed made in Hong Kong, then with a sticker that covered over the top of Hong Kong that said made in China. The only figures marked China were the Commemorative series released in the year 2000. It appears that Hong Kong and China had very similar, if not the same production. Malaysia Vintage Variants || From the Collection of James Reid Hong Kong/China (29*) They were released again with 1982 markings along with other figures being added to production over the years. The original 8 figures, known as 8 backs, all had slight differences when they were re-released, usually a change in paint application and armor strap length. The very first releases came from Taiwan. There are however differences between these countries and even production changes in the same factories. Sold in the US, UK, Canadian and Australian markets. Mexico/USA, Malaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China are considered the Mattel Standard, although there are variations, these are not considered international variants. European Production, Spain, France, Italy, and Greece all contributed to manufacture for release in European countries.Factory errors that were released in significant numbers. International Production for release only in a specific country- Rotoplast, Leo, Top Toys.Production differences between multiple factories ie Malaysia, Taiwan, Mexico all had a version of He-man for the same market.Production changes, deliberate, within the same factory.Much of this is due to various country import taxes, trade laws, and tariffs in place to promote or protect local manufacturing. Molds were shared and shipped around the world to different factories, sometimes altering the COO markings and sometimes not. The only known factories that didn’t produce any figures were in Australia, where a few of the larger items, Castle Grayskull, Snake Mountain, and Battle Bones were manufactured for local sales, Canada which is known to have made the Battle Bones and Castle Grayskull, and Korea which produced the Beam Blaster and Artilleray. Some of these figures became even further away from the Mattel standard paint applications and this is where arguably some of the best and rarest variants came from.Īlong with the figures many vehicles, playsets, and other accessories were all made in the same factories. While Mattel stopped production completely in 1988, companies with licenses such as Top Toys in Argentina and Leo in India continued well into the 90s. Mattel claims that no production records were kept from this time period so knowing which factories produced which figures has been up to research from collectors such as myself. No factory produced every figure, and there is no consistency in which factories produced which figures and continued to manufacture as the line progressed through the years. The exception was the giant Megator which was only made in Italy. Every figure, bar one was made in at least 2 different factories. (IG to the world of Masters of the Universe variants, where at least 18 countries are confirmed to have had factories that produced toys for the line.Ī total of 72 individual figures from 1981-88 including 4 European exclusive releases in the 2 Giants and 2 Laser Figures were created for the Masters of the Universe toyline.
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