Roger Sweet, the man who created the He-Man action figure that led to the iconic 1980s cartoon series “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe,” has died. He was 91.
TMZ reported the death, indicating Sweet passed away on Tuesday after a battle with dementia.
Sweet was the lead designer in Mattel’s Preliminary Design Department in the 1970s and 1980s.
Sweet glued a Big Jim action figure into a fighting stance and added clay to its body for bulk – creating a prototype for He-Man.
The action figure officially hit markets in 1982, followed a year later by the Mattel and Filmation animated series that ran for 130 episodes from 1983 to 1985.
The passing of Sweet comes just weeks before the premiere of Amazon, MGM and Mattel’s live-action “Masters of the Universe” film that will reboot the property and opens in cinemas June 5th.
