Mattel reported its second quarter on August 5, 2026, and buried inside a solid but unspectacular set of numbers was the loudest thing the company has said about Masters of the Universe in forty years. The brand has more than tripled its sales this year, and Mattel says the movie is the reason.
Net sales for the quarter came in at USD 1.13 billion, up 10 percent year over year as reported and 9 percent in constant currency. North America rose 12 percent, international 9 percent. The category that carried it was Action Figures, Building Sets, Games and Other, where gross billings surged 35 percent to USD 358 million, the largest increase of the quarter. Toy Story 5, WWE and the relaunched DC line all contributed. The biggest single winner came out of Eternia.
What Kreiz actually said
Pressed on the film’s soft theatrical run, Mattel Chairman and CEO Ynon Kreiz did not retreat. He pointed out that Masters of the Universe was the number one streaming title on Prime Video at launch and the number one streaming film across all platforms globally, then framed the toy performance as the real scoreboard.
Because of the movie, we expect Masters of the Universe to be a massive action figure brand for Mattel going into the future. This will be an important brand for 2026 and beyond. We own the IP. We own the underlying rights in all categories for the IP. All we need is to ignite and delight fans. We capture value across multiple verticals.
And later, on the shape of the next twelve months:
2027 is shaping up to be a big year for the company. 2026 has been an investment year. And to be clear, we’re not stopping there. This is the beginning.
“We own the underlying rights in all categories” is corporate for “nobody else can stop us making more of this.” Paired with “this is the beginning,” it is the strongest signal yet that Mattel intends to keep the live action universe going, whatever the opening weekend looked like. No sequel has been announced. But a studio and a rights holder do not talk this way about a property they are shelving.
We have seen this exact movie before
In 1982 the Masters of the Universe toy line launched and sold respectably. In September 1983 Filmation’s He-Man and the Masters of the Universe went into syndication, five days a week, and the toy line stopped being a toy line and became an empire. The cartoon was the engine. The figures were the business. That is the whole story of why this site exists.
What Mattel described on this call is the same machine, restarted. The film underperformed in theatres, went to number one on Prime Video worldwide, and the money landed in the toy aisle. Tripled sales is not a marketing adjective, it is a reported number, and it arrived in the same quarter the film hit streaming.
The difference in 2026 is that Mattel owns the whole stack. In 1983 the cartoon existed to sell the toys and Filmation was a partner. Today Mattel owns the IP, owns the underlying rights in every category, has its own film studio arm, and has just watched the flywheel spin once. That is the argument for more film and television, and Kreiz made it out loud.
The rest of the quarter, for context
It was not a clean quarter. Gross margin fell to 48.2 percent under tariffs, inflation, higher royalties and unfavourable currency. Mattel posted operating income of USD 11 million and a net loss of USD 18 million. The company held its 2026 guidance and reaffirmed its USD 400 million share repurchase target.
Elsewhere, Hot Wheels stayed the engine of the whole company with vehicles gross billings up 14 percent to USD 463 million and a ninth consecutive record year in sight. Dolls fell 5 percent to USD 318 million on softer Barbie and Polly Pocket. Infant, Toddler and Preschool fell 11 percent to USD 128 million. Next year brings Mattel’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles collection, Frozen 3 product and a full year of DC.
What it means for collectors
Expect more product, not less. A brand that just tripled and that the CEO is publicly calling a future pillar does not get a thinner 2027 line plan. The Origins Cartoon Collection strands are still expanding, MOTU Chronicles is now the primary modern collector line, and the 2026 film product is still shipping. Our full catalogue runs to more than 1,000 figures across every line Mattel and its partners have made.
If you came in through the film, the movie hub has the full breakdown, and Movie vs the Cartoon covers every change from the 1983 version. The vintage line and the cartoon archive are where the empire started.
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