Origins Dragstor seen from behind, a hooded Horde warrior in blue armor with orange gloves and red boots, a silver engine pack on his back and a crossbow raised in one hand

THE HORDE ON A RIPCORD

Dragstor

A Horde warrior with a wheel set into his chest and a ripcord in his back, sold in 1986 as a "transforming evil warrior vehicle."

Dragstor is an Evil Horde warrior from Mattel's 1986 Masters of the Universe line, with a wheel in his chest that a ripcord sends racing across the floor.

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1986
The vintage figure arrives
Ed Watts
Designed him
Ripcord
His action feature
Origins
On pre-order at BigBadToyStore

The record

The facts

What he is
An Evil Horde warrior with a wheel in his chest and an engine on his back
Vintage figure
Mattel, 1986
Action feature
Pull the ripcord and he rolls face down on the chest wheel
Screen appearances
None

THE 1986 FIGURE

A wheel where the belt should be

Dragstor joined the Evil Horde in the spring of 1986, a cyborg in blue and black armor with a wheel set into his chest and an engine on his back. Thread the ripcord into him, lay him face down and pull, and he shoots across a flat floor on that one wheel, his smooth elbow pads sliding along behind.[1]

Ed Watts designed him; his concept drawing, dated December 1, 1984, had a reptile's face, fins, and wheels at the knees and elbows in place of the single chest wheel. By the time the figure shipped the reptile was mostly gone, apart from the big eyes behind his mask, and he had gained orange boots and gloves. The ripcord action came from outside the building: Derek Gable worked it out after leaving Mattel and sold it back to the company.[2] Errol McCarthy painted the scene on the back of the card.

Dragstor was never animated. Filmation's She-Ra: Princess of Power put other Horde figures of the time on screen, Multi-Bot and the Horde Trooper among them, but never him, and none of the later He-Man series or films has used him either.

[1] ^ Battle Ram dates the US release to around April 23, 1986. The package front calls him a "transforming evil warrior vehicle," and Battle Ram notes that the transformation amounts to flipping him over.

[2] ^ Battle Ram reports that Derek Gable, Mattel's Director of Preliminary Design, came up with the action feature after he had left the company and sold it back to Mattel through his own firm, West Coast Innovations. The crossbow in the package is a re-release of Mantenna's.

The vintage Dragstor sealed on his red Evil Horde card, with a yellow ripcord packed beside him
The vintage Dragstor on his card, 1986.

THE COMICS

The runner the Horde rebuilt

Dragstor began as a ripcord feature looking for a character, and the stories written for him afterward gave the figure a past. Mattel's minicomics used him sparingly: The Warrior Machine! puts him on show, with the reptile helmet from the concept art on its first page, and he turns up alongside Mosquitor in Enter: Buzz-Saw Hordak!

The fuller story came from Britain. Issue 31 of the UK Masters of the Universe magazine in 1987 and the 1989 UK annual tell of Theydon, an Eternian sprinter captured by the Horde along with Doodon; both were rebuilt as Horde machines, and only Doodon, who became Extendar, kept his own will and got away. Mattel's copy for the Origins figure keeps the name, calling him a former royal athlete brainwashed by Hordak. Mattel's own 1987 Style Guide is far less romantic and lists him only as a Horde-affiliated warrior.[3]

[3] ^ Mattel's 1987 Style Guide lists him as an "Evile Horde affiliated warrior," typo and all.

LATER FIGURES

Back on the floor

Masters of the Universe Classics made a seven-inch Dragstor in 2015, nearly thirty years after the vintage figure. Origins brings back the 1986 look and the working ripcord at five and a half inches, with a crossbow and a minicomic in the box, and Funko has made him as a Pop! Retro Toys figure.

Masters of the Universe Classics Dragstor holding a silver crossbow and an axe on a black cable
The Masters of the Universe Classics figure, 2015.
The Classics Dragstor standing straight on, with his crossbow and cabled axe
The Classics figure, full length.
Origins Dragstor's back, showing the silver engine pack, with a crossbow raised
The Origins figure from behind, engine pack on his back.
Origins Dragstor laid out with his ripcord, a crossbow, two small red pieces and a minicomic
The Origins figure with his ripcord, crossbow and minicomic.
Origins Dragstor rolling face down across the floor as the ripcord is pulled out of his back
Pulling the ripcord sends the Origins figure rolling on his chest wheel.
Origins Dragstor in his window box, with Dragstor painted racing face down on the box art
The Origins window box, with Dragstor racing across the art.
Funko Pop Retro Toys Dragstor, a big-headed vinyl figure with orange eyes behind a gas mask, holding a crossbow
Funko's Pop! Retro Toys Dragstor.

THE FIGURE TO OWN

Origins Dragstor

Origins is the closest thing to the 1986 figure, ripcord and all, and BigBadToyStore is taking pre-orders.

Origins Dragstor

5.5"

$27.99
Pre-order at BigBadToyStore

Pre-order at BigBadToyStore, $27.99

Full details and photos

Prices and stock read from BigBadToyStore on November 2, 2026. In collaboration with BigBadToyStore. #BBTSpartner

IN BRIEF

From a reptile sketch to Origins

1984

The concept

Ed Watts' drawing, dated December 1, gives him a reptile face and wheels at the knees and elbows.

1986

The vintage figure

Dragstor reaches stores in the spring with a ripcord and a crossbow.

1987

Theydon

Issue 31 of the UK Masters of the Universe magazine tells how the Horde made him.

2015

Masters of the Universe Classics

A seven-inch Dragstor joins the collector line.

Today

Origins

Origins brings the ripcord back, on pre-order at BigBadToyStore.

Designer
Ed Watts
Per Battle Ram
Action feature
Derek Gable
Per Battle Ram
Cardback illustration
Errol McCarthy
Cross-sell illustration
William George

Questions

Dragstor, answered

Who is Dragstor?

An Evil Horde warrior from Mattel's 1986 line, built with a wheel in his chest so he can race across the ground.

When did the Dragstor figure come out?

Battle Ram puts the US release at around April 23, 1986.

How does his action feature work?

Pull the ripcord and he rolls face down on his chest wheel. The card calls him a transforming vehicle; the transformation is flipping him over.

Who designed Dragstor?

Ed Watts. Derek Gable came up with the ripcord action.

Which minicomics is he in?

The Warrior Machine! puts him on show, and he appears with Mosquitor in Enter: Buzz-Saw Hordak!

What did the concept art look like?

A reptile face, fins, and wheels at the knees and elbows instead of one in the chest.

Who was Dragstor before the Horde?

In the UK magazine and annual he is Theydon, an Eternian sprinter the Horde captured and rebuilt. Mattel's Origins copy calls him a former royal athlete.

What did he come with?

A ripcord and a crossbow, the same crossbow Mantenna carried.

Can I buy a Dragstor figure now?

Yes. The Origins Dragstor is on pre-order at BigBadToyStore.

Pre-order the Origins Dragstor, $27.99 See the figure

Hordak
The Evil Horde
Extendar
Heroic Warriors
Mosquitor
The Evil Horde
Every Dragstor figure

Compiled by the heman.org desk from Battle Ram's history of the vintage figure (Adam McCombs, April 15, 2020), Mattel's product copy for the Origins figure and BigBadToyStore's current listings.

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Alongside

Characters in the same story

Hordak Hordak The Evil Horde Extendar Extendar Heroic Warriors Mosquitor Mosquitor The Evil Horde