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Roger Sweet
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Mastering the Universe: He-Man and the Rise and Fall of a Billion-Dollar Idea Paperback – July 1, 2005

by Roger Sweet (Author), Wecker David (Author)
3.9 out of 5 stars 30 ratings
Mastering the Universe illuminates the creation, rise, and fall of one of the top-selling product lines in what is arguably the world’s most competitive industry, toys—and it does so from the perspective of Roger Sweet, the man who originated He-Man for Mattel. He-Man and the product line that grew out of it, Masters of the Universe (MOTU), created a fantasy world for boys that, at its height in 1986, reached $400 million in U.S. sales, only to plummet to $7 million the following year. During its six-year run, the MOTU line sold $1.2 billion worldwide and spawned a syndicated cartoon series and a major motion picture—a feat not even the venerable Barbie can claim. Mastering the Universe explores the phenomenon of He-Man’s popularity, as well as the shocking reasons behind the toy’s rapid decline.
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  1. Print length
    240 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Clerisy Press, Emmis Books
  4. Publication date
    July 1, 2005
  5. Dimensions
    6 x 0.25 x 9 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1578602238
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1578602230
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Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

MASTERING THE UNIVERSE is a must-read for members of the "I-love-the-80's" generation as well as for toy collectors, pop culture enthusiasts, and anyone interested in the drama of business history—as bloody a battleground as anything He-Man ever faced.

About the Author

Roger Sweet has a Master of Science degree in Product Design from the Institute of Design in Chicago. He worked twenty years doing general consumer product and graphic design and twenty-five more years doing toy product and graphic design. Companies for whom he has designed products include Boeing, Procter & Gamble, Rubbermaid, Hamilton Beach Scovill, Hoover and Mattel. He is currently researching and developing new product concepts. Roger resides in the Pacific Northwest.

David Wecker is a columnist for both the Cincinnati Post and the Kentucky Post. He is also co-host of Brain Brew, a weekly on-hour radio program distributed by PRI, Public Radio International and co-author of Jump Start Your Brain. He lives with his wife and children in a 200 year-old log cabin in Kentucky.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Clerisy Press, Emmis Books
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 1, 2005
  • Edition ‏ : ‎ First Edition
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 240 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1578602238
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1578602230
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.25 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.9 out of 5 stars 30 ratings

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Roger Sweet

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3.9 out of 5 stars
30 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book well written and appreciate its detailed insights into Mattel. However, the readability receives mixed reviews, with some finding it interesting while others say it's not a great read.

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InsightWriting qualityReadability
4 customers mention "Insight"4 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's insights into Mattel, with one customer noting its great detail and another highlighting how it provides an inside look at the company.

"...And The Rise And Fall Of A Billion-dollar Idea' is a great insight into the world of Mattel and the creation of my favorite toy line...." Read more

"...He-Man creator, Roger Sweet, provides us with an insightful look at Mattel during his nineteen years at the company...." Read more

"...The book also gives the reader an inside look at the toy making industry." Read more

"Very well written. The author of this book goes to great detail explaining the thoughts and ideas that went into creating and marketing He-Man...." Read more

3 customers mention "Writing quality"3 positive0 negative

Customers praise the writing quality of the book.

"A well researched and well written account of Mr. Sweet's time at Mattel and involvement in creating He-Man...." Read more

"Very well written. The author of this book goes to great detail explaining the thoughts and ideas that went into creating and marketing He-Man...." Read more

"A Good Read But Not What You'd Expect..." Read more

7 customers mention "Readability"4 positive3 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the book's readability, with some finding it interesting while others say it's not a great read.

"...Overall, it is a good and interesting read." Read more

"...He also tends to use this repetition as filler, alongside a very boring Chapter 2 about the history of toy soldiers...." Read more

"...Like any book. Some of it does Gets a little old. It sure is entertaining 2 read-through. It could definitely be a much much shorter / smaller book" Read more

"Interesting book..." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Stanton Hubbard
    5.0 out of 5 stars Good Book on He-Man
    Reviewed in the United States on July 16, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    Seems to be a good history of the creation of He-Man.
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  • Brian C. Abramczyk
    4.0 out of 5 stars Insight into a childhood love!
    Reviewed in the United States on September 30, 2005
    Verified Purchase
    'Mastering The Universe: He-man And The Rise And Fall Of A Billion-dollar Idea' is a great insight into the world of Mattel and the creation of my favorite toy line. As a child I would spend hours playing with Masters of the Universe toys and watching the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe cartoon on TV. Because I love the toy line so much, it disappoints me a little that there seem to be mistakes in the book. One such error is that Mr. Sweet states that Tri-Klops was a heroic toy. Any MOTU fan worth his/her own salt knows that Tri-Klops was an evil warrior. If he was intended to be a heroic toy, then this needed to be explained in the book. These kinds of errors can be chalked up to fading memory. If that is not the case, it is just laziness. Overall, it is a good and interesting read.
    5 people found this helpful
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  • Kent
    3.0 out of 5 stars A Good Read But Not What You'd Expect
    Reviewed in the United States on August 18, 2005
    Verified Purchase
    Just like with William's Tsutsui's book: Godzilla On My Mind, I had waited a long time for this book to get published and to hit store sheleves. But like Tsutsui's book (which does more injustice on Godzilla than justice & I highly recommend you read my review of the book here at Amazon) the book fell kinda short of my expectations. Sure the description on the book says it will talk about the cutthroat toy industry, but what it doesn't tell you is that it takes up the biggest portion of the book and He-Man, and the creation of him and his cohorts, practically play second fiddle here.

    He-Man creator, Roger Sweet, provides us with an insightful look at Mattel during his nineteen years at the company. Telling us every little gritty detail from management changes to the behind-the-scenes look at how Mattel made their toys. He also clears up that he was the headman behind the creation of He-Man but also doesn't shy away from giving credit where it is due. He also goes into some details about the cartoon and some ideas for some the toys there were, or were not, released into the line for one reason or another.

    But the book does have its problems. As stated earlier, the creation of He-Man and the Masters is really, more or less, a backdrop for Roger Sweet to use to tell his story of working at Mattel. I consider it more of a small portion of an autobiography than anything else. One problem here is that Roger tends to go on and on about the people he worked with and describing people and how Mattel restructured its corporate ladder. Not to sound mean, but who really cares? We want the inside scoop on the creation of He-Man and how he was conceived. And that is another problem; Roger doesn't go into much detail about how he conceived certain characters nor how he came up with some of the character names; or how he coined the franchise name: Masters of the Universe. In the end, the book leaves more questions unanswered. Another problem was that he seemed to get some of his facts mixed up. For instance, he talks about how Courtney Cox played Teela in the 1987 Masters of the Universe movie. Courtney Cox did not play as Teela. Other screw-ups are such things like him saying Tri-Klops was a good guy. Now many Masters of the Universe fans have wondered if he was talking about the creation of the characters and ment for some of them to be good or bad, but ended up the other way around. It is unclear, but nevertheless, they are screw-ups.

    He tends to repeat A LOT of the same information throughout the book. This makes for a, somewhat, boring experience here and there. He also tends to use this repetition as filler, alongside a very boring Chapter 2 about the history of toy soldiers. What does the history of toy soldiers have anything to do with He-Man? Well, after you read the chapter, you will realize it has nothing to do with He-Man. It's just Roger trying to fill his book. There were some grammatical and spelling errors along the way as well. It's not a really big deal, but it's just annoying to see that so many errors got past the editors. For instance, I ran into several sentences that went along these lines, "In 1986, Masters brought in $400, but 1987, it dropped to a measely $7 million." He obviously ment $400 million, but million was seemingly omitted several times for reasons I do not know.

    But the book does go into depth as to how certain ideas were conceived and how they were created. He also talks about some of the toys and vehicles in the appendix of the book and it offers some neat info.

    All-in-all, none of the information seemed groundbreaking, and I am by no means a Masters of the Universe genius. Although it was interesting as to how the public responded to Masters, but Roger tend to move through many of that stuff very quickly. He talks a little about the cartoon shows and about the revival of Masters of the Universe in the early 1990s and in 2002. But, sadly, this book suffers from lack of information on He-Man and his rise and fall from immortality. Roger spends too much time talking about the rough times he had at Mattel and how everyone was taking credit for inventing He-Man; while interesting in its own right, a whole hodge-podge of this kind of information isn't needed. I still recommend the book to Masters of the Universe fans despite the fact the whole story on the creating of He-Man is really a backdrop to Roger's story at Mattel. An interesting read to say the least but it definitely is not completely about the creation of He-Man. It's something that may be of interest to those of you who are Masters of the Universe fans.
    5 people found this helpful
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  • SimbasGuard
    5.0 out of 5 stars Review of Mastering The Universe
    Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2009
    Verified Purchase
    The Book is an amazing read for fans of He-Man as well as people who would like to know more about He-Man's creator Roger Sweet. The book also gives the reader an inside look at the toy making industry.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Honest E
    5.0 out of 5 stars Roger Sweet: The Original Master of the Universe!
    Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2020
    This is the best book written about the creation of He-Man. It's very insightful and fair. It needs a digital re-release. The people who said it's facts are wrong are mistaken. Roger Sweet is the sole creator of He-Man. That's an indisputable fact. I've seen the internal Mattel documentation. Nobody else got involved until after Ray Wagner approved Sweet's pitch with the three original prototype figures (a barbarian, a space marine, and a military man with a weird tank head).
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  • prowl
    4.0 out of 5 stars Fun
    Reviewed in the United States on January 20, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    I still love this book even though there are obvious errors in it, errors in grammar Etc which I'm not even good at. That might add to its entertainment. Rodger sweet is quite interesting . All the verbage really trying to convince people that he's the one who came up with the idea is kind of fun. It really makes you think what is completely true, little true or exaggerated. Like any book. Some of it does Gets a little old. It sure is entertaining 2 read-through. It could definitely be a much much shorter / smaller book
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • S P Mead
    4.0 out of 5 stars interesting - but limited
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 5, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    This is a book aimed at fans of He-Man - and, if you are someone who enjoyed (or still enjoys) the 'Masters of the Universe', this is an account of the goings-on during the 1980's in terms of the conception, design and manufacturing of the billion $ toyline. It's written by someone who played a key role in ensuring that He-Man was produced. Unfortunately, this is a one-sided account ... moreover, it's only about the toys - not the brilliant animated show.

    Author Roger Sweet presents two stories. On the one hand, he outlines the events that saw He-Man go from an illustrated sketch to a global product. On the other hand, he offers a tale in which he was, in all essentials, the driving force behind every innovation concerning the toyline - and how he has been hard done-by in terms of not getting the credit he thinks he's due.

    While the claims he makes regarding the latter issue may be correct, they're somewhat boring to read. Too often the book comes across as a plea for recognition. However, it's those aspects of the book dealing with the history of the development of the toys that's fascinating. As such, I have a somewhat mixed opinion regarding this book. Nonetheless, I do think that any kid who was mesmerised by the toy figures in the 1980's will, as an adult, enjoy reading parts of this book - as it has plenty of nostalgic value.
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  • Nicole W. - lilstar.de
    3.0 out of 5 stars Der Untergang von He-Man und den Masters of the Universe
    Reviewed in Germany on September 14, 2009
    Verified Purchase
    Wer kennt sie nicht noch? "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" - DIE Spielzeugserie für Jungs aus den 80er Jahren.

    In dem Buch "Mastering the Universe - He-Man and the Rise and Fall of a Billion-Dollar Idea" erzählt Roger Sweet, damaliger Produkt-Designer bei Mattel, die Geschichte, die damals im Hintergrund ablief.

    Im Vorfeld vielleicht folgendes: Masters of the Universe war in den 80er Jahren wirklich ein unglaublich großer Erfolg für Mattel. Jahrelang stiegen die Umsätze bis 1986 mit einem Jahresumsatz von 400 Millionen Dollar der Höhepunkt erreicht war. Und dann kam der Fall. Nur ein Jahr später, 1987 betrug der Umsatz plötzlich nur noch sieben Millionen Dollar. Ein Bruchteil des Vorjahres. Das Ende der erfolgreichen Toyline. Aber woran lags?

    Im ersten Teil des Buches geht Roger Sweet auf die Entwicklung der Toyline ein. Den interessierten Fan erwarten ein paar wirklich interessante Fakten darüber, warum Mattel eine solche Line überhaupt entwickeln wollte, was die Motivation war.
    Dabei nervt es ein wenig, dass Roger Sweet es nicht dabei belässt die Fakten anzuführen, er verliert sich auch gerne mal in Selbstbeweihräucherung und schwingt sich zum eigentlichen Erfinder von He-Man auf. Ein wenig übertrieben, wenn man eigentlich 'nur' Produkt-Designer war.

    Im weiteren Verlauf des Buches erklärt Sweet, inwieweit die Toyline kaputt gewirtschaftet wurde. Nach einem unglaublichen Aufstieg, einem Milliarden-Geschäft, an dem natürlich gerne alle mitverdienen wollten, kam nämlich der tiefe Fall. Gründe dafür führt Sweet zu Hauf an und am Ende kommt er auch noch auf die Nachfolgerserie "New Adventures of He-Man" zu sprechen, die Ende der 80er den großen Erfolg der Serie fortsetzen sollte, was aber total in die Hose ging.
    Obwohl Sweet zu diesem Zeitpunkt schon nicht mehr bei Mattel war, kommt er schließlich auch auf die sogenannte 200xer Serie zu sprechen, die seit 2002 neu aufgelegt wurde, und kritisiert diese.

    Insgesamt ist dieses Buch empfehlenswert für jeden, der speziell an dieser Toyline interessiert ist oder war, denn das Buch beinhaltet neben einigen wirtschaftlichen Fakten auch noch viele interessante Hintergrundinformationen.
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