The 40-year-old who grew up with He-Man and the child seeing him for the first time don't shop in the same place – and Mattel's apparel strategy for Masters of the Universe is built around that gap.
As the 2026 remake of the 1980s franchise hits cinemas in Australia, the franchise’s parent company Mattel is finalising a collaboration round-up with local retailers, including Kmart, Target, Peter Alexander and Threadheads. Apparel and accessories make up a large portion of these collaborations, with Caprice Australia helping with a few of the production runs.
Mattel APAC managing director Paul Faulkner tells Ragtrader that the breadth of retail partners – from premium to low-price – is intentional.
“We understand that fan communities want to engage with brands in different ways,” Faulkner said. “Particularly here for Masters of the Universe, anything from that nostalgic collector through to the Dad that wants to take his son or daughter to be introduced to the franchise for the first time – they're very different retail environments, so we wanted to make sure that we are able to connect with fans in those different ways.”
Faulkner says the role of partners is to create unique expressions of each franchise, built to target their own audiences. He also points out that every franchise – from Barbie to Hot Wheels – come with their own unique fanbases.
"We want them to be different. We want them to put their own DNA across the product that they're partnering with us on. That balance between consistency and relevance is important as we continue to grow this franchise in new ways."
For Masters of the Universe specifically, Faulkner says the fan community's four decades of history shapes the apparel brief in a way that differs from other Mattel IP.
"It wasn't simply to extend this brand and IP into new categories — it was doing so to make sure it was authentic to the mythology and to the characters and the heritage that the fans love."
Apparel, he says, has become the primary vehicle for that expression. He says that fans increasingly want to engage with franchises they love beyond traditional products. “Apparel just allows them to brand themselves in some way."
Partner negotiations began around 12 months before the film's release, with Mattel framing the movie as a launchpad for the ranges rather than a finish line.
"The movie is a point in time of the franchise — a very important part — but we want to see momentum come out of this movie across collectibles and consumer products," Faulkner said.
"Masters of the Universe is one of those rare opportunities to connect with that generational fan that can be new to the franchise or was connected to it 40 years ago."
For companies like Kmart and Peter Alexander, these collaborations add momentum to their ongoing growth, with both reporting continued strong sales growth post-COVID despite the overall retail challenges such as rising costs and struggling consumer confidence.
Kmart Group – which includes Target and its private label Anko – saw a $300 million lift in sales for the first half of FY26, landing at $6.3 billion, compared to the same time in FY25, with comparable sales up 2.8 per cent in the same timeframe.
Meanwhile, Premier Investments’ sleepwear brand Peter Alexander saw a 4.9 per cent lift in half-year sales to $312.3 million.
For Mattel, Faulkner says this is a continual evolution for the global company in the family entertainment space – from the Barbie move to now Masters of the Universe – which goes beyond toys.
“Coming up soon is Matchbox, the movie is in partnership with Apple, and will launch through streaming services in October this year. Beyond that, we've got some other really exciting projects that we're bringing to life, which again brings some of these characters and franchises that we've had in our cupboard for a long time to life in different ways.”