Rio Blast in Revolution, a mustached cowboy in a blue vest with guns sprung from his shoulders, wrists, chest and knees and a red sight over one eye

THE FASTEST DRAW IN THE UNIVERSE

Rio Blast

A cowboy built as a gun rack: Mattel's 1986 Heroic Warrior hides blasters in his chest, wrists and thighs and wears four more on his back.

Rio Blast is a Heroic Warrior gunslinger from Mattel's 1986 Masters of the Universe line, whose guns flip out of his body. He first appeared on screen in Revolution in 2024, voiced by Ralph Garman.

The episode: Even for Kings
Scroll
1986
The vintage figure arrives
Hollis
John Hollis drew the final design
Blasterpak
Four guns that swing over his eyes
2024
His first episode, in Revolution

The record

The facts

What he is
A Heroic Warrior gunslinger whose body opens up into an arsenal
Vintage figure
Mattel, 1986
Action feature
Guns flip out of his chest, wrists and thighs; the blasterpak swings over his eyes
Screen appearances
None in Filmation's series; Revolution, 2024
Revolution voice
Ralph Garman

THE 1986 FIGURE

A cowboy full of guns

Rio Blast reached stores in November 1986, a Heroic Warrior dressed for a western in a line built on swords and sorcery.[1] He looks ordinary on the card, a mustached man in a blue vest and brown chaps, until the guns come out: they flip out of his chest, his wrists and his thighs, and the four-piece blasterpak on his back swings up over his head to put more guns and a targeting sight in front of his eyes.

He began as somebody else. Ed Watts drew the feature first, for a villain in black and gold called Fire Power Man, and the flip-out guns outlived him; Filmation borrowed the Fire Power Man look for Colonel Blast in She-Ra, while John Hollis redesigned the toy as the hero Mattel sold, labeling his sketches "Bionic Space Cowboy."[2] Bruce Timm is believed to have drawn the front of the card and Errol McCarthy drew the scene on the back.[3]

Mattel's 1987 Style Guide leans into the western. It calls him "the fastest draw in the universe," says he can "transform from normal warrior into an awesome arsenal of fire power," and has him end up as the law on a lost frontier, where he insists he doesn't like to shoot off his own guns.

[1] ^ Battle Ram puts the US release at around November 5, 1986.

[2] ^ Battle Ram reports that Ed Watts' concept was a villain called Fire Power Man, in black and gold, and that Filmation took that design for Colonel Blast, a Horde officer in She-Ra. John Hollis' concept drawings for the final figure are labeled "Bionic Space Cowboy." An early prototype used a Man-At-Arms body with He-Man's head.

[3] ^ Battle Ram believes the card front is Bruce Timm's work; Errol McCarthy drew the back. The Style Guide lines are from Mattel's 1987 Style Guide as Battle Ram quotes them.

The vintage Rio Blast sealed on his red card, a mustached cowboy in a blue vest with a silver gun pack
The vintage Rio Blast on his card, 1986.

THE COMICS

Cattle, snakes and Ninjor

His pack-in minicomic, The Fastest Draw in the Universe, plays the premise straight: Rio talks like an old Texan and uses his guns to stop Skeletor's men from driving off Eternian cattle. Star Comics' fourth issue, "Snakes Alive!," sends him against the newly revived Snake Men, and Battle Ram notes the story makes him scared of snakes, which King Hiss puts to use.[4] He has a cameo in the eighth issue, faces Ninjor in the American Masters of the Universe magazine and turns up in the British one in 1987.

Filmation never animated him, and he is missing from Revelation and from both live-action films, 1987 and 2026.

[4] ^ Mattel's copy for the Origins figure gives the minicomic's title as "The Fastest Draw in the Universe." Battle Ram describes its plot. Star Comics' fourth issue, "Snakes Alive!," is dated November 1986; Battle Ram notes that it makes him afraid of snakes.

Rio Blast with his blasterpak raised stands beside Orko in a green-lit cavern
Rio Blast and Orko in Subternia, "Even for Kings."

REVOLUTION, 2024

Even for Kings

Masters of the Universe: Revolution, Netflix's 2024 sequel to Revelation, is outside this encyclopedia's canon, and it gave Rio Blast his first screen role. In Kevin Smith's "Even for Kings," the first episode, he is one of the heroes fighting Scare Glow and the Shadow Beasts in Subternia beside He-Man and Orko, and the scene uses the toy's gimmick: guns rise out of his shoulders, wrists, chest and knees, a red sight drops over his eye, and he fires everything at once.

When the gate is sealed and the heroes are back on the launch deck, he gets the last word on Adam and Teela: "I think it's dadgum adorable, these two kids finally seeing what the rest of us all seen years ago." The reply, "What have you been saying to people, Dad?", points straight at King Randor. Ralph Garman voices him with the drawl the minicomic wrote for him.[5]

[5] ^ "Even for Kings" was released on Netflix on January 25, 2024. The subtitles tag him as the speaker at 9:37. Revolution's subtitles name him nowhere else.

Rio Blast in a blue vest and brown chaps stands in a dark green-lit cavern, guns rising from his shoulders, He-Man behind him
Rio Blast in Subternia, guns coming out, "Even for Kings."
Rio Blast fires red laser beams from his chest and shoulder guns as He-Man stands behind him
Every gun firing at once, "Even for Kings."
Rio Blast with his shoulder guns raised stands beside Orko, who points across the green cavern
Rio Blast and Orko in the cavern, "Even for Kings."
He-Man, Orko and other heroes gather on a sunlit launch deck, Rio Blast seen from behind with his backpack of guns
Back on the launch deck after the battle, Rio Blast at right, "Even for Kings."
The vintage Rio Blast figure standing loose, a mustached cowboy in a blue vest with a silver gun pack on his back
The vintage figure, loose.
Masters of the Universe Classics Rio Blast in his window box
The Masters of the Universe Classics figure in its box, 2012.
The Classics Rio Blast standing loose in a blue star vest and brown leggings, gloves on both hands
The Classics figure, loose.
Origins Rio Blast sealed on his red card with a Retro Play sticker
The Origins figure on his card.

Rio Blast in the Revolution series, in the green cavern with Orko.

He-Man holds up a shard of glowing ice, and Rio Blast stands beside Orko in the cavern before the heroes line up.

Clipped from our own copy of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, Even for Kings (Masters of the Universe: Revolution, 2024), 7:46 to 9:37, 1 minute 51 seconds. Nothing is added and nothing is sped up. Copyright Mattel.

Concept, as Fire Power Man
Ed Watts
Per Battle Ram
Final design
John Hollis
Per Battle Ram
Card back
Errol McCarthy
Voice, Revolution (2024)
Ralph Garman
TVmaze cast list
Writer, Even for Kings
Kevin Smith

LATER FIGURES

Back on the card

Masters of the Universe Classics made a seven-inch Rio Blast for its 2012 subscription. Origins went back to the vintage scale and the red card as a Mattel Creations exclusive in 2025, and Mattel's copy for it calls him He-Man's quick-draw deputy. Neither is on sale new, so there is no figure to recommend here.

IN BRIEF

From Fire Power Man to Revolution

1986

The vintage figure

Rio Blast reaches stores in November with guns in his chest, wrists and thighs.

1986

Snakes Alive!

Star Comics puts him up against the Snake Men.

2012

Masters of the Universe Classics

A seven-inch Rio Blast in that year's subscription.

2024

Even for Kings

Revolution gives him his first screen role, voiced by Ralph Garman.

2025

Origins

A Mattel Creations exclusive at the vintage scale, back on a red card.

Questions

Rio Blast, answered

Who is Rio Blast?

A cowboy Heroic Warrior from Mattel's 1986 line, with guns hidden in his body and a pack of blasters on his back.

When did the vintage Rio Blast come out?

Battle Ram dates the US release to around November 5, 1986.

How does his action feature work?

Guns flip out of his chest, wrists and thighs, and the four-piece blasterpak swings over his head to cover his eyes with more guns and a sight.

Who designed Rio Blast?

Ed Watts drew the original concept as a villain, Fire Power Man. John Hollis drew the final hero design.

Is Colonel Blast the same character?

No. Colonel Blast is a Horde officer in She-Ra whom Filmation built from the Fire Power Man concept, the same drawing Rio Blast grew out of.

Was Rio Blast in the Filmation cartoon?

No. His first screen appearance is in Revolution.

Which Revolution episode is he in?

"Even for Kings," the first episode, where he fights Scare Glow and the Shadow Beasts beside He-Man.

Who voices Rio Blast?

Ralph Garman, in Revolution, per TVmaze's cast list.

Can I buy a Rio Blast figure now?

Not new. The Classics figure is long retired and the Origins figure, a Mattel Creations exclusive, is sold out.

He-Man
Heroic Warriors
Even for Kings
Snake Face
Snake Men of Eternia

Compiled by the heman.org desk from Battle Ram's history of the vintage figure (Adam McCombs, January 11, 2019), the Revolution episode "Even for Kings" and its English subtitles, TVmaze's Revolution cast list, the Grand Comics Database's index of Star Comics' Masters of the Universe and Mattel's product copy for the Origins figure.

Alongside

Characters in the same story

He-Man He-Man Heroic Warriors King Randor King Randor House of Miro Orko Orko Heroic Warriors Snake Face Snake Face Snake Men of Eternia

On Screen

Episodes to watch

S01E01 Even for Kings