This weekend, the toy community lost a true legend. We are extremely saddened to share news that Mark Taylor passed away on Christmas Eve at the age of 80. His cause of death was listed as “congestive heart failure”. You may or may not know Mark Taylor by name, but any toy collector will be instantly familiar with his work. Mr. Taylor was instrumental in creating the Masters of the Universe toy line for Mattel in the early 1980’s. His wife shared the news via Facebook early on December 24th:
Rebecca Salari Taylor
December 24 at 6:31 AM ·
Mark Taylor passed away peacefully this morning at home.
I felt him say goodbye to this world as I held him in my arms for one final loving kiss.
His designs of a heroic barbarian facing off against mystical evil beings became the heart of the franchise. His influence on the Masters of the Universe (MOTU) brand spanned decades. Over the years, as new designers took on the brand, and new iterations of MOTU were realized, more and more of Mr. Taylor’s designs would be brought to life in new and exciting ways. Masters of the Universe was far from the only toy line that he worked on. He was a key designer for the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toy line for Playmates Toys, and worked on packaging for multiple other lines.
More recently, Mark Taylor was working with Formo Toys. They are scheduled to launch a new line of Masters of the Universe inspired figures known as Lords of Power (one of the original name proposals for MOTU). Announced back in October, the new line of figures will bring to life some of Mr. Taylor’s original MOTU designs.
We send our heartfelt condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of Mark Taylor.
*Images via The Toys That Made Us on Netflix
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