Origins of the 1987 ETERNIA Playset! The largest He-Man toy ever made in the Masters of the Universe
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- Опубліковано 15 жов 2021
- Scott Toy Guru Neitlich from Spector Creative reveals the lost history of the playset and in-story fortress for He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. Much more than the largest playset in the line, it contained secrets designed to draw together all of the various faction and even connect heroes and villains over time!
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I'm lucky enough to have had this... a complete surprise for Christmas, as I had absolutely NO idea it even existed until then. Played with that thing till it literally disintegrated. I've been repurchasing it piece by piece since then.
You are lucky!
Nice, that's awesome you had such a grail as a kid, I'm sure the surprise was epic✌
@@oddz-modz1369 it was fucking awesome! It was the hub for all my toy adventures, He-Man or not.
That was pretty much the exact same situation for me. I remember always putting water in the moat but it would get stagnant since it wasn't exactly easy to drain. I think that it may actually still be in a storage facilty of my parents.
@@adamkey6905 oh my God I did this too!
I had an Eternia in my 12-year-old hands in the local Children's Palace, back in the day. Since I stopped collecting "Star Wars" toys in 1984 (I didn't know about POTF until it was too late), I'd saved up lots more birthday money, Christmas money, and allowance than I usually would have. And as I held Eternia in my grasp, knowing that I had the wherewithal to possess it at my whim . . . my parents forbade me from "wasting my money" on it.
>SIGH
Wasting money on a toy is not a phrase I am familiar with
@joshypoo79 Darned tootin'. In 1984, I won a Huffy Speeder Bike in a department store contest around Christmastime. As it was a little small for me (but also quite a large bike), they pressured me to sell it to a second-hand shop, making a big deal about how amazingly lucky I was to get TWENTY WHOLE DOLLARS for it.
In less than ten years, it shot up to $2,000 in value. >SIGH
Put the parents up for adoption
@@itsme-notyou 🤣
@@Beedo_Sookcool Not cool at all :-(
Oh my god… that Fright Zone play set looks _amaaaaaazing._
it even had an add on call the slime pit
Right?
@@spectorcreative1872 can we get an episode about what might have been? And/or with more focus on the other coulda-been play sets?
@@tawdryhepburn4686 I was gonna inquire about the same thing
@@travismiller4320 I feel like he threw that out there as a tease. No way would Scott not realize how tantalizing and provocative that image is; the damn thing is virtually the Pre-pubescent equivalent of pornography.
I never saw anyone own this as a kid...well like you said it came out at the end of the line. It actually looks too delicate for a kid to have without breaking it right away! The Castle Grayskull and Snake Mountain were musta haves if you were a kid in the 80s!
Oh yes, and breakable it was
The London Editions UK Magazines did a great build up and reveal of this over a number of issues. They instilled a lot of care and emotion in a number of lesser known aspects of the Universe, such as Extendar, Dragstor, Snout Spout...
Oh that is awesome
More lost than it was beneath Eternia, to us in 1987!
Very much so
Back in 1990, I saw this complete at a garage sale for $10. My dad was like "No way. You won't have anywhere to put this"
Find a place!!!
Noooooooooooo!
@@spectorcreative1872 LOL my dad made the same excuse for the USS Flagg when I saw it cheap at a flea market
I Saw Eternia in the store once as a kid. This was literally the one that got away. I had Grayskull, Snake Mountain, the Fright Zone, & Slime Pit. Instead I ended up with Transformers Fortress Maximus thanks to my Grandparents. So you win some, lose some, and that is ok.
To be fair, you just made this Transformers kid envious of you.
I never got to see it once!
Dude,I never saw Eternia at any of my store,but did see the USS Flag, it was marked down after Christmas and I didn't jump on it,that's the one that got away.
He said in the video the Fright Zone was never released. Care to comment on how you had it?
@@Moldyvort it was produced! Scott probably meant not produced in the classics line🤷♂️
I bought my Eternia years ago, for 700 dollars, complete. I thought at the time, I was nuts, for spending my whole paycheck on a toy, but now I am thrilled I did. It's worth so much money now, good investment.
Hey as long as it bring joy that is all that matters!
@joshypoo79 sweet lord! .... that's the only bad side to collecting something you love, i never want to sell it =(
Been anticipating this one _hotly!_
Hope it meets expectations
@@spectorcreative1872 only disappointed that it wasn’t longer, so as to allow for the whole story to be told.
Wooow! A friend of my cousin had this and I saw it a couple of times but my memories are a quite blurry (I was like 4 or 5) so I thought I might have imagined it. But now I can finally confirm this playset actually existed!!!
Always a cousins friend!
Oh, Scott. I love your channel, but I always cry and die a little bit inside everytime I hear about the wonderful goodies that we were going to get in Classics, but never came to be. I would desperately love to get an Eternia playset in Origins or even Revelations, for that matter. If at all, I think Origins might be the best shot.
I feel the same way
Did you get one after all?
Yeah, my cousin had Castle Greyskull. She also had the My Little Pony Castle. I never had any castles. But man I was shocked when I saw that set in The Toys That Made Us. It's as crazy as the USS Flag, and more ambitious in some ways. Yeah, an updated version would be soooo expensive, and probably require being released individually.
And hey the time machine totally lets us set up for all the multiverse shennanigans we could want. Love when we get the crazy fantasy sci fi kitchen sink in Masters.
That pony castle was the bomb
From Grayskull Tower - Central Tower - Viper Tower - the Skytraks among other parts (and that beautiful box art which is right up there with Kenner Star Wars, MASK and Transformers) Eternia is the Ultimate Battleground come to Life!
I saw the original painting too. So beautiful
Nice, I've always been somewhat curious about this piece. I learned about it back when the internet was new, but I've never been 100% sold on its design. The three towers are cool, but they always seemed like they could just as easily have been broken up into three separate addons for other sets.
It really is a legendary toy
"A WHOLE LOT OF ASSEMBLY required."
More than I wanted to do
I got Snake Mountain for Christmas when I was in the 2nd grade. Our house burned down the day after Christmas, so I got a day with it and then lost every toy I had. Starting over, my dad bought us the Dungeons and Dragons figures, popular at the time, but different than the cartoon. At least the cartoon versions are finally being released.
Hey hey hey! That’s my castle with the shogun warriors at the beginning of the video. Honestly no idea where you found that photo but honored to be in a toy guru video. Love the videos.
Nice! Always glad to give credit and I can update the description
Love it! Thanks for putting this out, so much fun!
Glad it met expectations! Share with others if you can, it helps the channel a ton
@@spectorcreative1872 not only will I share it, but I will be creating a new playlist on our SpeekyGeeky channel that will spotlight our "geeky friends" and give folks who tune into our channel another way to learn about and organically funnel them over to engage with other incredibly awesome creators, so you'll be on that list as well
I am aware of the Eternia Playset but we didn't really have a lot to go off of. I'm glad you made this video, I learned a lot. I'm getting more and more interested with the comics. I've read some but it hasn't quite hit the spot yet for me
Glad it was informative! Any help sharing it is most appreciated!
Finally got my first Eternia playset 2months ago and I absolutely love it
Jealous!
I got one for Christmas back in the day - and I still have it! Love that thing.
So jealous
The three towers playset was a really interesting concept, and I was excited when I saw it, but I was already done playing with MOTU at that point. It would be a $200-$250 toy today, and had no story tie in that made sense from the box art. Like, wait, Skeletor can just take a monorail to Castle Grayskull?
Oh prob even more
More like $400
@@williamthompson5504 Probably true. Inflation alone would put it closer to $300, and the rise in toy costs I didn't take into consideration. So yeah, more like $400-$500 on today's market if they made a set like that today.
Love all those unrealized playsets. As for Eternia, I like the middle part most of all. If I just had that, I'd be happy.
I tend to agree
Got this for Xmas 1987, was epic!… but soon lost interest in heman, god bless my dad… greatest human ever!
That is epic
Great video, it left me wanting more.
I saw this play set in stores, unfortunately for me, my parent couldn’t afford it at the time. I believe it was close to $99.99 USC. It was the play set I didn’t get. As I had Castle Grayskull, Snake Mountain, and a small play set for the Evil Horde with a gloved monster.
Yeah hard to justify such a big purchase!
This is the video I've been waiting for!
Hope it meets your expectations
I had the Greyskull and Serpent towers when I was a kid. I got most of my he-man stuff second hand from an older neighbor that didn't want them anymore. I remember the weird slots on the sides of the tower, which must have been too attach the monorail supports. I'd never seen the weird catfaced Eternia tower.
I saw it and person and I literally shouted woah when I saw it. and the central tower was incomplete. this is huge
It is pretty breath taking
Getting hyped for the origins eternia!
Now that Mattel is putting this out again, I wish they would have released each other the towers separately like you planned to do in Classics. It would definitely be cheaper that way
I think without the established classics line, this becomes more of a one off then part of an online program. At least what I assume they were thinking
Now I’m going to be looking for one of these
This was the playset I was hoping we would have gotten in MOTU Classics. Also, the 3 Towers was in the Enter...Buzz Saw Hordak! mini-comic.
OH it would have been so great
Never had this set and I've only seen it complete once in my life. Incredible playset! The Flagg still gets my nod as the best playset of the 80's, but it's close!
I'm surprised we haven't had a Haslab attempt at the Flagg at some point.
It is quite impressive
LOL! I just sold a complete set of monorail tracks today. I managed to find a mostly complete Eternia set in the wild earlier this year - all that was missing was the central tower because the guy started to throw away his set before he realized he could sell it. Anyways, I got it all for the price of the monorail motor. I've always wanted a complete Eternia set, but realistically I have nowhere to display it (nor would my wife ever want to see it displayed either). I'm just happy to have owned most of one as a MOTU collector.
Yeah it really takes a full playroom
Super awesome and very nice looking playset...Imagine if there was an Evil Horde section. I had the Fright Zone and that was super cool, had hours of fun with that.
Indeed it is
I had the Fright Zone too.
Great video! 👍
I very much appreciate that!
A former friend had one. I remember it and the G.I. Joe shuttle base were the crown jewels of his collection. I was so in awe of it. I wouldn't be at all surprised if he sold them for a mint since they were in the best conditions.
Those giant play sets we had in the 80s were the best
hey scott! love your videos.
you provide so much info. they are a joy to watch.
Can you make a video on the origins of Two Bad and whiplash???
I'll add it to the list
I'm not sure many toy companies today would commit to such a huge toy today, but... what if it was in a smaller scale? As a kid I loved the Mighty Max series/toys, and one of my regrets was never getting my hands on the War Planets (Shadow Raiders) toys.
I can't help but wonder at the idea of a MotU line in that smaller scale, with each character having a "Pocket Playset" connected to their backstory, and then battleground/castle sets for all the characters to meet at.
In my head, Skeletor and King Hiss' "Pocket Playsets" would be some sort of plug-in throne for Snake Mountain to change the location from Snakemen to Skeletor Era Snake Mountain.
Definitely one of the holy grail toys for those of use who grew up in that era and I was glad to see it properly canonized in MOTU: Revelations.
Yes, Eternia was perfect in Revelation!
Oh it very much is
I never new this even existed until after I was working at wal-mart. There was a co worker who was wanting to sell a bunch of his figures and I said "Okay, What do you have?" He wanted me to come over to look at them and he had 3 boxed of figures with vehicles and playsets. Each box had one line in each. One had TMNT, one had MOTU and I cannot remember the 3rd. So he wanted to sell them all for $300. $100 each. Now these were tall big boxes with tons of stuff. Stuff I used to own as a child and stuff I only dreamed of owning. In the MOTU was the Eternia playset. I am looking at this and Wondered just what this is, because I have never seen it? Of course after I Got home I went to google this and low and be hold there it is. That was I believe 19 years ago. Anyway I never got the Boxes because his dad convinced him Not to sell. I was disappointed and saves $300. I held no grudge against My co worker and life went on. Still wanted those boxes even to this day.
Ah thé toy passed on…
I remember seeing this in a catalog (Sears?) and looking at it a lot before Christmas. I never got it, which is probably for the best. Never saw it in any store.
Few stores ever carried it
I remember when it was on clearance for like 50 bucks or less and still couldn't afford it.
Amazing right!
I had a neighbor who had this toy but had to throw it away after a few years because it was fragile and would fall apart from over aggressive play...the monorail never worked no matter how we tried to fix it--but the detacheable vehicles for were nice enough to be used in their own that my Landshark had an opposing target craft. He kept as much 'salvage' as he could that there were spare weapons/accessories and small vehicles for several of us (siblings, other classmates, etc) playing at his house with our own figures.
Oh no!
God imagine having this, the fright zone, snake mountain and castle grey skull all together in one room.
It would have been sweet
We put ours together on Christmas and after the holiday week ended that pretty much never happened again. We mostly played with the center tower after Christmas as without the monorail set up the other two towers were a little less fun. We'd also fill the moat around the center tower with slime.
Hey I’m just jealous you had it!
I love knowing how the forces of good and evil battle back and forth in the lore.
This is the way
That’s really cool
Every time I watch one of your vids I want to make a dnd campaign based Motu, it just needs a little reskinning and a good dohickey to start the story off
dohickeys are tight
Wow this awesome
When I was a kid I didn't know anything of the backstory of the three towers. Because the playset was called Eternia I thought it was ment to represent the whole planet Eternia and that they just made some random buildings connected with a railway because you can't actually make an entire planet sphere. A few years later Mattel proofed the latter to be wrong with the Nordor playset.
And now you know!
I didn't have but 3 MOTU figures when i was a kid i was mainly into SW and GI Joe... I had the Flagg and that thing took up almost all the empty floor space in my bedroom .... I remember seeing the Eternia set but to be honest it didn't really look appealing to me not the way that the other playsets did , i actually wanted those .....Also i always wondered why the Fright Zone didn't have a "tower" in this set ...
It will dominate any playroom
I was either 4 or 5 when I got this from Santa. I lived it. Can't believe I got rid of it when I got older. 😭
Oh no!
Amazing!
I only knew one rich kid that had it back in the day
Yeah I didn’t know anyone!
I always thought with the horde playset with the snake it should have been to snakeman's place it. I always liked the idea of the Crystal Palace confirmation being the actual Playset for Shira.
Its a shame powers of grayskull didnt get produced before the line died. I would of like to see a younger grayskull castle like in the 200x show as a toy
I know! Such a shame
Nice!
indeed
This also makes me think about the things that make certain toys in a line particularly noteworthy to collectors. Their is of course the biggest, this is where Eternia, The USS Flagg, and Fortress Maximus fall in. There's the most expensive, and the rarest, and of course the iconic must haves, and the firsts. And how all those factors overlap in the minds of fans You can always expect to get a He-Man, a Battle Cat, Skeletor and them. Something like Eternia though is much less likely, and it gives it a certain mystique I think when you learn about it, due to it being kinda obscure among more casual fans. That there was this big part of the line you never even knew existed.
Yeah having a really big item to rally around is a big sense of pride
The first time I saw this playset they had stopped selling MOTU in my part of the world and it was around when I had stopped playing with MOTU or even toys. Went to a friends house who lived in another town and he had it. Can't recall if he got it from a city or from overseas. I was amazed as it was so huge.
It really was
I had this as a kid, but then my mother died and I was moved. This was left behind.
Oh no!
I had 95 percent of the vintage line when it just came to an end. I was missing a few things. But I remember walking into Child's world with my mom seeing that huge box sitting on the floor up against the Motu figures. The sticker price was $ 99.00. My mom said nope! That was it! Never saw one again or knew any of the kids in my nieghborhood that also had the whole Motu collection ever get one!
Oh i miss child’s world
@@spectorcreative1872 Me too man👍
As a kid, I never got into the playset/vehicle aspects of MOTU (since my Christmas/birthday leverage skewed more Star Wars/GI Joe), so always had a case of the “envies” when a friend or acquaintance had a more robust collection. These days, space is a bigger consideration than price, so still haven’t gotten around to buying non-figure MOTU stuff aside from the cats. If I bought a four foot tall tower, chances are I’d have to figure out a way to sleep inside of it.
Wow that is possible!
My cousin had this. I never even saw it in person. He sold it in a garage sale around 1989- apparently it was very fragile. Totally bashed to pieces before sold.
Yeah that monorail wasn’t really a solid way to travel
Never realised how early on in development this playset was. It’s very cool and certainly gets both titles: White Whale and Holy Grail! 4:38: and that’s what gave this it’s hefty price tag. ETERNIA. Now the world you’ve always imagined can be yours. MOTUC version would be epic and massive! So with this time machine, can Tyrantisaurus etc return to the modern time stream?
All toys go into development about three years before they hit shelf
@@spectorcreative1872 Yep.
I bought an almost complete one a few years back and some repo tracks too. The original tracks break at the joining clip. Unfortunately, I still don't have anywhere to put it, but I have it!!!
If I recall correctly, there are variants depending on the country of manufacture. The eye colours are different on the lion and the turret holder was molded in either red or grey.
It does take up a lot of space!
I just managed to get all three towers and a good bit of accessories for £900 (UK) last month. My girlfriend thinks I got robbed. We of course know differently. Thanks for another great video and very timely for me too.
What a score!
I have read that the motu Eternia poster( checklist/battle royal)- an image of it is in the video at 1:36- came with the original Eternia playset. This is used as an explanation of it being folded and its rarity. Do you happen to know if thats true? I did not notice it among the instructions and stickers in the video. Thanks!
THE USS Flagg was epic...nothing ever like it again
Especially not in the state the industry is in now when it comes to playsets!
I remember playing with it all day as a kid. My brothers friend had it in his living room floor and never would have guessed that one day it would be sought after!
@@robd1329 at the time I guess everyone thought it was a giant playing table but Hasbro had other things in mind.
@@robd1329 my neighbor had one and he was basically the coolest kid on the block because not only did he have a toy that was basically the size of a coffin but a bedroom big enough to play with it and all the other massive GI Joe toys.
@@collincutler4992 it was huge! The SkyStrikers fit onboard perfect! They will never make something that big again!
“The planet was split into four zones where four factions fought for control of Eternia, because when you go on long enough every franchise becomes an MMORPG.”
Pretty much
I always wondered why the Classics line never included the three "Ancients" who sunk the Three Towers from the Ultimate Battleground comic. Back in the day I thought they were going to come out as new figures in the original line.
I imagine if thé line kept going we would have gotten to them!
Cousin had it …. I did get to play it a few times. It was huge.
Cousins always seemed to have these things
I honestly didn't know this set existed until well after. Before Classics even came out, I'd been scoping around trying to get Mini Comics when I saw stuff on ebay for it. Actually the mini-comics were also how I learned about classics. Got my first one off Ebay, which was Teela. Missed the first sub by like a month, then went all in all the way to the end.
It's too bad there aren;'t any 3rd party companies making replacement parts for this, or if there is, they're probably ridiculously expensive, but I could see 3rd parties making stronger track with today's resources. OF course you're probably have to have a full set to create the replacements for as well.
Many feel similar
BROVO 👏 man wouldn't that be cool if origins released this and it really wouldn't have to be so massive in my opinion 🤷♂️ maybe the size of 2 grayskulls 👍 great video scott
Wow would that be awesome
I would have liked a coverage of the different action features of the set.
I can certainly look at doing that
I never had this titanic beauty back in the day, but I'm embarking on a secondary market reassembly, piece by piece! So far I have Grayskull Tower, which set me back $150. By the time I die of old age, I may be able to acquire all the myriad pieces of it -- flags and ladders and weapons, oh my! -- and set it up in my office before expiring in the middle of it. 'Twill be a life well-lived!
If only we could get it in Origins or Classics!
In terms of amount of plastic, the Eternia playset probably outclasses USS Flagg. Aside from the island and flight deck the Flagg is actually mostly plastic trusses holding up the flight deck and a thin sheet wrapped around it to make up the hull.
You know I’ve never actually had hands in experience with the Flagg. That is good info!
I had this and sold it about 10 years ago and now I regret that as I was not aware they were so rare. Not even sure how my small town got any LOL
Oh thé toys we regret selling…
i'm looking at this and instead of 'playset.' My mind is going to 'wargame theatre with each zone having different modifiers and specific hazards for armies both defending and attacking.'
Not far off
When you're assembling the monorail is there a chance the track could bend?
Not on your life, my Garin friend...
Monorail, monorail, monorail......
Not at all my internet friend
But Grayskull’s still all cracked and broken...
Sorry Sorceress, the Horde has spoken.
I know Transformers may not be your "specialty, " but... is there a line or a few that you would recommend for collectors or that you think are really fun? Love the channel & keep up the great work! Thank you! 😁
I really like the 86 movie line currently at retail!
I had Grayskull and snake mountain in the 80s but, Eternia playset was a little too expensive back in the day for us.
Usually a bridge too far
How would you obtain a vintage eternia play set
it actually also appeared in enter Buzz Saw Hordak which set up the time travel element of Powers of Grayskull and the Search for Keldor
Point taken!
The first time I ever heard of the Eternia Playset was on Mercari when I set out to rebuild my MOTU collection from when I was a kid. That's also how I found out about the Sorceress and King Randor figures (both of which I have now). Did Queen Marlena ever get a figure?
The only Marlena figure has been in the Classics line
@@spectorcreative1872 Damn. Wonder why Mattel didn't hook her up? Thanks for the response, sir.
It was also in the Search For Keldor and Buzz-Saw Hordak mini-comics
Point taken!
5:17 Everyone is looking at Catra. "What are you doing here???"
5:28 "HEY ADORA!!!! What are "YOU" doing here as well??"
Oh dear...
Why did the Classics line end? Could u do a show on the rise amd fall of classics?
I know you have a video coming about the Mattel Creations Eternia!
Just for the fun of what if, IF the towers had been made for Classics, would they have been bigger than Snake Mountain? As far as layout I know three towers could be spread wide, but I am thinking height and would a monorail have even been possible to connect them?
Oh huge
That "Book of Lore" from the Ultima games is a great Easter egg! Was that from Ultima 4?
I believe so
Never even knew this existed..I had both snake mountain and castle greyskull tho...wish I had kept my toys,,had Transformers,G.I. Joe's, He-men out the ass...when I grew up i became the fool who was too big for toys now want em back..#BigKidStill
Yeah for such a big set, it hardly shipped
I was a huge MOTU fan but think once my parents bought an NES, they said no more MOTU, which makes no sense.
Fun thx
Do you think that Eternia would have been re-freshed or altered in some way as the centerpiece of Powers of Grayskull, had POG received a full release?
I like to think so
Are you backing the new Origins Eternia playset from Mattel Creations?
Mentally yes, but physically, I don't collect Origins and no place to put it
Slime pit and the fright zone should be able to connect to each other if they do it for the origins line
Heck yeah!
With so much masters of the universe lore it’s sad neither show on Netflix touched on any of these these themes effectively I would have love a good story of pre Eternia or explaining the giants
Well their is always a future show!
I know it is not the same as having the playset (which would be awesome) I would love a poster of the box art
Make it happen Mattel!
Now the mightiest heroes of the universe can mightily climb the towers and see how much money you spent.
Weren't the towers in "The Search for Keldor" as well?
No but it set the seeds
Eternia was also depicted in "Enter Buzz-Saw Hordak" mini comic.
Good point!
@@spectorcreative1872 Also in "The Search for Keldor," which introduced Clamp Champ, Scare Glow and Ninjor and finally gave Faker time in a mini-comic and "Revenge of the Snake Men," which introduced Snake Face and Sssssqueeze.