Roger Sweet, creator of He-Man action figure, dies at 91

Roger Sweet, who created the He-Man action figure toy that led to a popular cartoon series, died on Tuesday. He was 91.Read more trending newsSweet died after battling dementia, according to TMZ.Sweet was the lead designer for Mattel’s Preliminary Design Department during the 1970s and ‘80s, Variety reported. The company turned an opportunity to produce “Star Wars” toys, an offer that would pay off handsomely for rival Kenner Products with their product “A New Hope,” the entertainment news website reported.Mattel, scrambling to lanch in the ‘70s and ‘80s. In 1976, Mattel turned down a deal to produce toys for “Star Wars,” an offer that proved extremely lucrative for Cincinnati-based toy maker Kenner Products after line of “A New Hope” action figures was released in 1977. Mattel, scrambling to make up ground, turned to Sweet. He experimented by gluing a Big Jim action figure into a fighting stance and adding clay to give it some bulk, Variety reported. Sweet successfully pitched the action figure to Mattel’s CEO, Ray Wagner, and toy hit the market in 1982, WNYW reported.A year later, Mattel and Filmation launched the “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe” cartoon as a companion project to the highly popular action figure, Variety reported.The show ran for 130 episodes from 1983 to 1985, according to IMDb.com. Sweet received “very special thanks” shoutouts in 65 of the episodes, according to the movie/television database website.The He-Man character will appear on the big screen on June 5 in “Masters of the Universe” and will star Nicholas Galitzine as He-Man, Variety reported.Latest noteworthy deaths:Mariclare Costello, ‘The Waltons,’ ‘Let’s Scare Jessica to Death’ actress, dies at 90 Former NFL defensive end Josh Mauro dies at 35Monte Coleman, 3-time Super Bowl champion with Washington, dies at 68 Gerry Conway, Marvel comics writer, creator of Punisher, Ms. Marvel, dies at 73Hot Chocolate co-founder Tony Wilson, who co-wrote ‘You Sexy Thing,’ dies at 78©2026 Cox Media Group