Power Sword

Power Sword
Masters of the Universe element
First appearanceHe-Man and the Power Sword (1982)
Created byMattel, Filmation
GenreMinicomics, Animated television series
In-universe information
TypeMagical sword
OwnersHe-Man
FunctionTransforms Prince Adam into He-Man and Cringer into Battle Cat
Traits and abilitiesAble to cut through various substances, endows its wielder with vast cosmic powers

The Power Sword, also referred to as the Sword of Power or the Sword of Grayskull, is a fictional sword from Mattel's Masters of the Universe toy line.[1] In the original mini-comics produced with the toyline in 1981, the Power Sword was a mystical object split into two parts, which Skeletor tries to obtain and put together in order to gain control over Castle Grayskull. In these early stories, He-Man uses an axe and a shield, rather than the magical sword.[2]

With the arrival of the 1983 He-Man and the Masters of the Universe animated series, the Power Sword became the means by which Prince Adam transforms into He-Man, and his pet tiger Cringer into Battle Cat.[1] The weapon kept the same basic shape during most of the 1980s, but then it was radically redesigned twice: for the 1990 series The New Adventures of He-Man, and the 2002 remake, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.

In addition to the action-figure-sized Power Sword packaged with the character, full-size "He-Man Power Swords" were a favorite Christmas gift for decades, allowing children to role-play the barbarian hero.[3][4][5] Some of these kid-sized Power Swords have been electronic, making a variety of battle sounds.[6] Power Swords have also been sold as accessories for He-Man Halloween costumes.[7] In the unsuccessful 1989 relaunch of the toy line, the electronic Power Sword reportedly sold better than the entire rest of the toy line put together.[8]

  1. ^ a b Baer, Brian C. (2017). How He-Man Mastered the Universe: Toy to Television to the Big Screen. McFarland. ISBN 978-1476665900.
  2. ^ "Masters of the Universe Mini-Comics (Mattel): He-Man and the Power Sword". He-Man.org. Retrieved 2016-08-02.
  3. ^ Dawson, Victoria (April 21, 1987). "Small fry fall in a big way for Masters of the Universe". The Washington Post. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  4. ^ Cromer, Ed (December 5, 1984). "Gentle Mister Rogers Is Tasting the Awesome Power of Grayskull". The Nashville Tennessean. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  5. ^ Jurgensen, John (December 5, 2003). "Toy Stories: Choices to Help You Avoid the Rush". Hartford Courant. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  6. ^ Franckling, Ken (December 4, 1989). "'Tis the season for toys, toys and more toys". United Press International. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  7. ^ DeNike, Lisa (October 20, 1984). "Garments galore to garb your goblins". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  8. ^ Sweet, Roger; Wecker, David (2005). Mastering the Universe: He-Man and the Rise and Fall of a Billion-Dollar Idea. Clerisy Press. p. 153. ISBN 978-1578602230.