Mosquitor

Mosquitor is a fictional character in Mattel's Masters of the Universe toyline, one of the best-selling toylines of the 1980s.^[1]

Character profile

He is a member of the Evil Horde, he was packaged as the "evil energy-draining insectoid." He is a cyborg creature with a long, pointed metal head, with a needle on the end of the nose-piece which he injects into his opponents to drain the blood from them. He has a transparent metallic chest through which the blood of his opponent can be seen, filling him up to charge him with energy.

1980s cartoon

Mosquitor was introduced into the MotU toy line in 1987. He was one of the final figures to be released before the toy line's demise, and as a result is one of the rarest. The action figure's special feature is a switch on its back, which when pressed caused his chest to flow with blood.

The figure came packaged with the mini-comic "Enter: Buzz-Saw Hordak!"^[2] The comic reveals him as a new minion of Hordak, and his main function in the story is draining the energy of the Sorceress, enabling Hordak to create a fake, holographic Sorceress from her life force. At a later stage in the story, he is set upon He-Man, and almost overpowers him. The comic also hints at a tension between himself and Dragstor; after serving as a test object for Mosquitor's ability, Dragstor clearly resents Mosquitor's great power and his value to Hordak.

Mosquitor also appears in the MotU Marvel comics, where he is able to fly and shoot beams from the needle of his nose-piece.

Given that he was released so late into the toyline's run, Mosquitor's exposure was minimal throughout the various story media and he never made an animated appearance.

The action figure first released by Mattel in 1987 is a very rare and sought after collectors item today. Its rare existence can be attributed to being released very late into the toy series original run. The mint condition (known as MOC / Mint on Card) version of this figure can fetch high dollars on auction sites such as eBay.

2002 cartoon

He also did not appear in the updated Masters of the Universe cartoon series, produced in 2002 by Mike Young Productions, or in its tie-in comics. The Horde were intended to be released among the next wave of villains and fill the role of main opposition to He-Man in the show's third season. The second season episode "The Power of Grayskull" features the Horde in a flashback sequence, as an evil force from Ancient Eternia. However, since the toy line and cartoon were canceled shortly afterwards, the third season was never made.

Mosquitor was released by NECA as part of Series 6 of the Masters of the Universe series of ministatues designed by Four Horsemen Studios.

Reception

Mosquitor was voted No.6 in The 10 Most Unfortunate Masters Of The Universe Toys by Io9.^[3] Mosquitor was voted by Mania.com as the second most Crazy Masters of the Universe Figures.^[2] Mosquitor was voted No.9 in The 12 Coolest Masters of the Universe Action Features by Topless Robot.^[4]

References