THE CLAWS THAT SWING
Terror Claws Skeletor
The first Skeletor built from nearly all-new parts, in purple armor with a white dragon at his side, sold in 1986 and back in the Origins line today.
Terror Claws Skeletor is a 1986 Mattel variant of Skeletor sold with clawed gloves and a dragon-head weapon. The minicomic in his package, The Terror Claws Strike!, has Spikor build the claws.
The record
The facts
THE 1986 FIGURE
New parts, swinging arms
Terror Claws Skeletor was the first Skeletor variant built almost entirely from new parts. Mattel gave him a sculpted chest of light metallic purple armor with a white skull at its center, new legs with ball joints and bigger toes, and forearms reworked so a pair of oversized claw gloves could slide over his hands. He was in stores by early 1986, on an oversized card that billed him as a "5th Anniversary Collector's Edition."[1]
The card sells one trick: "Evil leader with the claw-swinging action!" Turn his waist and both arms swing, raking with the claws or with the white dragon-head weapon packed beside them, and Errol McCarthy's card back shows the move. Battle Ram's best guess for the designer is Alan Tyler, and early concept art shows the swinging feature planned from the start.[2]
William George painted the card front, and he put the figure front and center on his Eternia poster too. Filmation's He-Man had finished its run before the figure reached stores, so the variant was never animated; his story was told in print.
[1] ^ Battle Ram dates the US release to around February 12, 1986. Mattel trademarked the name on June 14, 1985, and registered the copyright on May 19, 1986. The oversized card calls the figure a "5th Anniversary Collector's Edition," which Battle Ram questions, since the line launched in 1982.
[2] ^ Early concept art in the Power and the Honor Foundation catalog shows the arm-swinging feature, and an unpainted version of the armor turns up in David Wolfram's concept art for the Tyrantisaurus. Battle Ram suggests the armor may have grown out of a Mark Taylor concept for Man-E-Faces, and notes that an early bat motif close to Battle Armor Skeletor's was changed for the final figure.
IN PRINT
The Terror Claws Strike!
The minicomic packed with the figure, The Terror Claws Strike!, explains where the claws come from: Skeletor commissions Spikor to build him a new weapon. Battle Ram's reading of the comic notes that the claws look much like the toy's, while the weapon the comic calls a "beastly pincher" is plainer and more mechanical than the toy's dragon, and that Skeletor wears his animated costume rather than the new purple armor.
The claws turn up again in Escape from the Slime Pit, where a brainwashed He-Man, still dripping slime, goes after Skeletor, and Star Comics drew them in its own Masters of the Universe comic the same year.[3]
[3] ^ Star Comics' Masters of the Universe, in an issue dated May 1986, draws the claws as floppy blue gloves.
LATER FIGURES
Claws on later shelves
Every Terror Claws Skeletor since 1986 is a new figure looking back at the old one, and the bios and comics packed with them tell newer stories that sit outside the classic record this encyclopedia keeps. Masters of the Universe Classics shipped a seven-inch version to its 2015 subscribers in October, with claws that snap over his hands and a robot dragon head that unclips from his back to be held in the right hand, according to Figure Fan Zero's review.
The figure closest to the 1986 one is the Origins Terror Claws Skeletor from 2022, five and a half inches tall in the vintage proportions. The swinging arms come back with it, and Action Figure Barbecue's review lists the Havoc Staff, both claws, the dragon weapon, a second portrait, extra left hands and a new minicomic in the box.
Masterverse took the design furthest with its New Eternia Terror Claws Skeletor, a seven-inch figure with thirty points of articulation, oversized claws joined to the back of the armor by hoses and a removable face visor, in Mattel's own description. Smaller takes include a Funko Pop! of Skeletor in the claws and a limited-edition PIX! figure.
THE FIGURE TO OWN
The Terror Claws Skeletor on shelves now
The Origins Terror Claws Skeletor follows the 1986 figure, claws and dragon weapon included, and it is in stock at BigBadToyStore.
Origins Terror Claws Skeletor
Buy at BigBadToyStore, $10.80 Paid link
Full details and photosPrices and stock read from BigBadToyStore on November 2, 2026. In collaboration with BigBadToyStore. #BBTSpartner
IN BRIEF
From the 1985 trademark to Origins
The name
Mattel trademarks Terror Claws Skeletor in June, months before the figure ships.
The vintage figure
Terror Claws Skeletor reaches stores with The Terror Claws Strike! in the package.
Masters of the Universe Classics
A seven-inch Terror Claws Skeletor ships to Classics subscribers in October.
Origins
A vintage-styled Origins figure arrives with the claws, the dragon weapon and the Havoc Staff.
Questions
Terror Claws Skeletor, answered
When did Terror Claws Skeletor come out?
In early 1986. Battle Ram dates the US release to around February 12 of that year.
What does the action feature do?
Turning his waist swings both arms, so he rakes with the claws or with the dragon weapon.
Who designed Terror Claws Skeletor?
Battle Ram's best attribution is Alan Tyler. William George painted the card front and Errol McCarthy the card back.
Is Terror Claws Skeletor in the Filmation cartoon?
No. He arrived after Filmation's He-Man had ended.
Why does the minicomic Skeletor look different from the toy?
In The Terror Claws Strike! he wears his animated costume rather than the purple armor, and the comic's weapon is plainer than the toy's dragon, according to Battle Ram.
How is Terror Claws Skeletor linked to Flying Fists He-Man?
The two came out the same year as rival deluxe figures, and William George painted them fighting over the Cosmic Key in an illustration that, as far as Battle Ram knows, was never produced.
Where else do the claws appear in comics?
In the minicomic Escape from the Slime Pit, and in Star Comics' Masters of the Universe, which drew them as floppy blue gloves in an issue dated May 1986.
Is there a Masterverse Terror Claws Skeletor?
Yes, in the New Eternia range, with claws joined to his armor by hoses and a removable visor.
Is there a Terror Claws Skeletor figure in stock?
Yes. The Origins Terror Claws Skeletor, styled on the 1986 figure, is in stock at BigBadToyStore.
Buy the Origins Terror Claws Skeletor, $10.80 Paid link See the figure
Compiled by the heman.org desk from Battle Ram's history of the vintage figure (Adam McCombs, October 20, 2019), Figure Fan Zero's review of the Classics figure (November 2015), Action Figure Barbecue's review of the Origins figure (October 2022), Mattel's product copy for the Masterverse figure and BigBadToyStore's current listings.
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