"By the power of Grayskull!" 20 years ago, on September 5th 1983 He-Man and the Masters of the Universe debuted on television screens across the world. For the first time, the words of the transformation were uttered by Prince Adam, the soothing voice of the Sorceress was heard, and the cackle of Skeletor's laugh rang in our ears. Little did Filmation or Mattel know at the time that their new cartoon series would influence the lives of millions of impressionable young children.

Today, those of us who were impressed the most are celebrating He-Man's 20th birthday on the Internet. We all owe He-Man a big thanks for teaching us morals, giving us years of action-packed entertainment, and for fighting evil wherever it presents itself. When He-Man began in 1983, it started with 65 syndicated episodes, a television market move unheard of at the time. When production ended in 1985, 130 episodes of He-Man were on the air, and dozens of copycat series were competing to become the next He-Man.

For all of us who grew up in the 1980s, He-Man was a big part of our childhoods. The characters, settings, and stories will not be forgotten. Twenty years later we still hold He-Man dear in our hearts.

To celebrate 20 years of He-Man, the Episode Review Website is honoring the most powerful man in the universe with:

The He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Series Guide - a book largely based on the content of the Series Bible, that was sent out to channels wanting to pick up the show, containing lots of long character histories, and episodes that were never made.

The completion of all 130 He-Man synopses - for the first time in six years the Episode Review Website has ALL the episode synopses on the site! The reviews will start appearing soon, along with the multimedia content in the next month. At this moment you will be able to see the new episode review structure.

The opening of the Animation Art section - Busta Toons’ near-ridiculous collection of artwork from the Filmation He-Man and She-Ra series will be showcased here - Hundreds of pieces to come!

Over the next few days you will see a lot of content appearing in the above sections! For now we wish He-Man a joyous Happy Birthday!!

It's 1:25am here in Los Angeles. I'm staying up extra late tonight, working on Nickelodeon stuff from home.

I just wanted to thank you all again for your continued support and passion for the Masters of the Universe. It is and forever remains the most important male action brand in the history of the play pattern.

Seriously... who else can compete?

GI Joe: ok. I'll give you that. GI Joe was a manifestation of a country that just faced a major world war and was starring down the barrel of many wars to come... Korea, Vietnam. What GI Joe wasn't - it wasn't a superhero. It was more of a statement of the day that wouldn't end. GI Joe was obvious.

Transformers: Transformation + Robots as a play pattern... completely revolutionary and on-point with kids. Remember, however, Transformers came after MOTU.

Turtles: After MOTU

Batman, Justice League: Great stuff, limited on shelf.

Masters: Masters was it. A billion dollar boy action figure brand.... not based in reality, but completely from a new world, where bees, mosquitos, humanoid creatures, beasts, underwater minions, skeletal monsters, and elephant heads (what tha??) all lived side by side... all lived with 1 thing in common... a propensity for being pumped up and ready for conflict. The original Masters series embodied all that is right in kids television and toys. In turn, kids (you in 1984) embraced the brand.

I never took this for granted. Mattel knows how important the MOTU brand is to the adult collector. That's precisely why we spend so much time listening, promoting to, and conversing with the collector. We know how important the brand is to you.

The struggle, after the 1st year of the launch, has been to continue momentum with today's kids... kids with tons of choices between internet, tv, video games and many, many other distractions, not relevant to 1984. The Snakemen has been an important element in recruiting a whole new MOTU generation.

Anyway, thank you again for the opportunity to work with you over the last 2 years. I will never forget it. The brand, in Brad Wood's hands, is exactly where you'd want it to be. Brad is the most competent person I know.

And, of course I still read the boards!

Thanks again for everything,
Jeremy Padawer