Garvey, Tommy :: Toy Art

1983 Skeletor Masters of the Universe He-Man unproduced toy vehicle concept art

Artist: Ed Watts (Painter)

2 Comments - 1,625 Views - 1 Like

1983 Skeletor Masters of the Universe He-Man unproduced toy vehicle concept art Comic Art

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Artwork Details

Title:	1983 Skeletor Masters of the Universe He-Man unproduced toy vehicle concept art
Artist:	Ed Watts (Painter)
Media Type:	Mixed Media
Art Type:	Illustration
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views:	1,625
Likes on CAF:	1 2
Comments:	2
Added to Site:	8/20/2021
Comic Art Archive:

Description

Original concept art for an unproduced Masters of the Universe Skeletor vehicle from 1983: the Canyon Hopper. Mattel was always looking to expand their He-Man toy line, and this is one of the vehicles they considered. This art was done by Ed Watts, and you can tell he put a lot of time into it, so that it would look really good for the higher ups at Mattel. This thing is incredibly detailed, which I�m not used to seeing in toy concept art. Parts of it look finished enough to use as an actual illustration somewhere, which is impressive for art of a toy which apparently never went further than this stage. The back is stamped "confidential," and has Mattel's internal info about the proposed design.

I'm not sure if this toy was static or had some kind of action feature. Looking at the design, it seems like that central vertical beam in the middle of the legs has teeth along the inside edges. I�m guessing that if you turned the gun turrets, the central cabin would have been able to go up and down along that beam on a gear, changing the vehicle�s height off the ground. I�m not sure how that would have impacted the actual play of the toy though. And its little feet are clearly jointed, which would have been an unnecessary tooling expense if the feet weren�t required to move in some way. Perhaps the legs were hinged and opened and closed by a motor around that central beam (like am umbrella opening and closing), producing some kind of �walking� motion? MOTU vehicles were really into mechanized movement, so that would make sense. I don�t know how they would have made it move *forward* though, I would anticipate that the vehicle would just sort of� jiggle, unless there was some way to ensure that the back/front feet had more traction than the opposite. But I guess they were able to control the balance on the Dragon Walker and get it to move, so anything is possible.

I�ve been really interested in MOTU lately. I�ve never really collected it before, but I loved the line as a kid, despite the fact I was barely alive when it first hit shelves. But in the late 80s, MOTU was my jam. My 5th birthday party was entirely He-Man themed and I still have my signed She-Ra poster from a personal appearance she did at a local toy store soon after. Since then, I�ve checked in on the franchise every few years, but never more than dipped my toe in. I�ve been on a bit of a nostalgia kick lately though, so I thought this was an excellent opportunity to finally pursue something awesome from a line I�ve always wanted to collect.

I can�t tell you how happy I am with this thing. :)

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About the Owner

	Tommy Garvey
Joined:	August 2006
Last Login:	August 2025
Website:	https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQx0LrI5XV1yBfaUi4mlS_w
Country:	UNITED STATES
On CAF:	Tommy's Want List Artworks Commented On Liked Art Site Activity on CAF

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Comments on this Artwork

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Marcus Wai
Member Since 2005

Posted on 8/20/2021

This would have had to be massive and too much plastic used to enclose MOTU Skeletor.

Tommy Garvey
Member Since 2006

1 - Posted on 8/20/2021

Marcus Wai wrote:

This would have had to be massive and too much plastic used to enclose MOTU Skeletor.

Especially since his knees didn't bend. He couldn't really sit in the cockpit like that, because his legs would either need to be going straight forward or he'd have to stand up in it. My guess is that's one of the reasons why the design wasn't used.

It's not *THAT* far off from the Spydor though, so maybe the spindly legs of this one inspired something else later on in the line.

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