Toy Designer and He-Man Creator Roger Sweet Dies
In yet more sad news, significant to pop culture and fandom, Roger Sweet, the Mattel toy designer credited with creating He-Man, has died. He was 91.
According to The New York Times, Sweet passed peacefully at a care facility after a long battle with dementia. His struggle with the slow and fatal disease led to a health decline worsened by brain bleeds that resulted from a fall. The cost of Sweet’s care eventually had to be covered by a GoFundMe started by his wife, Marlene. Ardent fan support raised about $94,000 for the campaign to pay his bills.
He is renowned for toys and action figures to this day, but Sweet’s career began in industrial design. Graduating from Miami University in Ohio and the Institute of Design in Chicago, he went to work for major firms that conceived the design for the inside of a Boeing 747 and the packaging for Scope mouthwash and Downy fabric softener.
Sweet joined Mattel in 1972 and initially went to work on small motorized toys and designed accessories for Barbie before he was eventually promoted to lead designer in the Preliminary Design Department, responsible for dreaming up “seed ideas” and rough prototypes for new toys that were sent to the engineering team.
His big He-Man moment came after Mattel balked at making Star Wars toys. When that proved to be the biggest mistake in history, the company counted on Sweet’s department to create a competitor. By 1980, he had three prototypes to pitch to executives — a barbarian, a spaceman, and a soldier similar to G.I. Joe.
While Sweet is recognized for creating the core concept, there is some dispute with Mattel over who really deserves credit for creating the character. After all, his world — that of Eternia and the Masters of the Universe — is bigger than one powerhouse icon. Others (from Teela to Skeletor to Beast Man) were designed by the late Mark Taylor, who’s credited as co-creator.
Of course, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe is more than just a toyline. It’s an expanded media empire that was given layers by the legendary animated series, its various follow-ups, and Cannon’s film adaptation. Numerous writers, filmmakers, actors, and artists facilitated going beyond Sweet and Mattel’s “core concept.” Still, without Roger Sweet, we wouldn’t have the core of the upcoming film he won’t get to see.
