THE KNIGHT WHO STRETCHES
Extendar
Extendar, a pearl-white knight with a gold robot face, sold late in 1986 as the tallest Heroic Warrior yet.
Extendar is a Heroic Warrior from Mattel's 1986 Masters of the Universe line, a knight rebuilt by the Horde whose figure stretches at the arms, legs, torso and neck.
The record
The facts
THE 1986 FIGURE
A knight on telescopes
Extendar came out at the end of 1986, a knight in pearlescent white plastic with gold trim and a golden robot face behind a slotted visor. Pull on his arms, his legs, his torso or his neck and each one slides out, showing sculpted circuitry where the joints should be, until he stands well above the rest of the Heroic Warriors; the card sold him as the tallest of them.[1] He came with a fold-out shield, and the gold paint on his gloves has a habit of turning green with age.
Ted Mayer's early concept already had the stretching body, and John Hollis, who also worked on Rattlor and Turbodactyl, turned it into the knight. Errol McCarthy drew the card art and Extendar's Style Guide page, which calls him a "Heroic tower of power" who can leap over barricades and opponents.[2]
[1] ^ Battle Ram dates the US release to around November 5, 1986, the date of the earliest ad it found. The card called him the "tallest Heroic Warrior ever!", a claim that held until Tytus in 1988. The sculptor left a peace symbol on the back of the neck, and there is another inside the fold-out shield.
[2] ^ Ted Mayer drew an early concept that has the stretching feature but none of the knight styling. John Hollis designed the final figure, according to Martin Arriola.
THE STORIES
Volunteer or victim
Mattel told his origin two ways. In the minicomic The Warrior Machine he goes to Hordak of his own free will, wanting more power, and once the Horde has rebuilt him Hordak cannot control him and he joins He-Man. The 1987 Style Guide makes him a prisoner instead: captured for Hordak's experiments, he escapes before they take full hold, has to stretch every morning, "extending his body length by over 50 percent!", and feels he owes it to a close friend who became Dragstor to set him free.
Britain gave that friend a name. Issue 31 of the UK Masters of the Universe magazine, and a UK annual after it, tell of two Eternian athletes, Doodon and Theydon, captured by the Horde and rebuilt; only Doodon kept his own mind, and he escaped as Extendar. Star Comics used him for a few issues, mostly to pound the Horde with his long arms.[3] He never appeared in Filmation's She-Ra: Princess of Power.
[3] ^ Battle Ram also lists the fall 1986 US Masters of the Universe Magazine story "The Struggle for Eternia" and Earl Norem's poster for it, the newspaper story "Ninjor Stalks by Night" and appearances in German and Italian comics.
LATER FIGURES
Stretched again
The collector versions came long after the vintage line. Masters of the Universe Classics made a seven-inch Extendar for its 2014 subscription. Origins followed with a five-and-a-half-inch figure that Mattel says stretches to eight inches, with a folding shield and a minicomic; it has sold out at BigBadToyStore.
Origins also gave him an enemy. Expand-Or is a purple and gold Horde warrior with the same stretching neck and torso, four limb extenders and a dragon-head spear, and Mattel's copy calls him Extendar's doppelganger and nemesis.
IN BRIEF
From the toy aisle to Origins
The vintage figure
Extendar reaches US stores around November with a fold-out shield.
Doodon and Theydon
Britain's Masters of the Universe magazine tells how the Horde rebuilt two athletes.
Masters of the Universe Classics
A seven-inch Extendar for that year's subscription.
Extendar and Expand-Or
An Origins Extendar, now sold out, and a Horde double to fight him.
Questions
Extendar, answered
Who is Extendar?
A Heroic Warrior the Horde rebuilt into a cyborg who can make himself much taller.
When did the Extendar figure come out?
Battle Ram puts it at around November 5, 1986.
How does the figure stretch?
You pull each part out by hand: the arms, the legs, the torso and the neck.
Who designed Extendar?
John Hollis, per Martin Arriola, building on an early Ted Mayer concept.
How is he connected to Dragstor?
The Style Guide makes Dragstor his friend, rebuilt by the same Horde experiments. British stories name the pair Doodon and Theydon.
Is Extendar in the cartoon?
No. He was never animated, not even in She-Ra.
Is he in either He-Man movie?
No. He is not in the 1987 film or on the 2026 cast list.
Who is Expand-Or?
An Origins Horde warrior built as Extendar's evil double, with his own stretching body.
Is an Extendar figure in stock?
Not right now. The Origins Extendar has sold out at BigBadToyStore.
Compiled by the heman.org desk from Battle Ram's history of the vintage figure (Adam McCombs, May 11, 2020), Mattel's 1987 Style Guide as quoted there, and Mattel's product copy for the Origins Extendar and Expand-Or figures.
Alongside
