Action Figure Licensing and Strawberry Shortcake

The word has been for decades now that Masters of the Universe led the charge in the early eighties as toylines transformed from playthings to brands. I first started to drop this accepted order of events a few years ago while working on two books — Each Sold Separately* and Action Figures Not Included* — as I uncovered bit after bit of info pointing to Strawberry Shortcake as the true pioneer.

Well, I stand by my argument that Strawberry Shortcake deserves the real credit for moving toymakers into IP creators, and this 1982 Starlog magazine supports my argument with a short section on toy licensing. Within the magazine we find:

“The trend began with Mattel’s successful creation, Strawberry Shortcake, and continues with its most recent addition, Masters of the Universe.”

Well, despite the clear error — I suspect Kenner was unhappy with the above sentence when it was first printed — we do see acknowledgment that Strawberry Shortcake was first. I know that isn’t the norm when it comes to the toys as brands storyline, but it’s tough to deny that Strawberry Shortcake was there first.