50% Off Masters of the Universe in 1986

As we learned in Mastering the Universe*, Mattel’s Masters of the Universe toys collapsed at retail in 1987. Fortunately, through the magic of hindsight and the Google newspaper archives, we can see that the line was fading fast in 1986. We saw a 1986 ad for the toys at 50% off last year, and now here’s another steep discount on the toys in a different part of the country during the same time period. Poor He-Man, you were devastated that year.