by Thinus Ferreira
The creator of the He-Man action figure, Roger Sweet, died on Tuesday after a battle with dementia, TMZ reported. He was 91.
Roger Sweet was living at a facility where he was receiving care for dementia, paid for by a GoFundMe.
Very sadly, Roger Sweet wasn't rich from the billions Mattel made from He-Man. He was a "work-for-hire" employee at Mattel and it means he never owned the hugely successful and hugely beloved intellectual property he helped create.
He never received any royalties from Mattel's billion-dollar franchise's ongoing success, including toys, media, or upcoming films.
Roger Sweet was the lead designer for Mattel's preliminary design department during the 1970s and 1980's.
In 1976, Mattel said no to a deal to make a toy line for George Lucas' Star Wars. Roger Sweet then experimented by glueing different parts of different concepts together - specifically, bulking up a Big Jim action figure with a bigger body and a "fighting" stance, which became the prototype of He-Man in 1982.
Filmation and Mattel then launched the iconic He-Man and Masters of the Universe animation series that ran in conjunction with the hugely popular toyline. The animation series ran from 1983 to 1985 for 130 episodes.
The live-action reboot from Amazon MGM Studios and Mattel, Masters of the Universe, will release in theatres on 5 June with Nicholas Galitzine in the titular role.
