FIGURE: © MATTEL INC. 1981 or Blank
SWORD: Blank
SOFT HEADS (1985):
1. Blank back (No COO)
2. Taiwan-marked or blank under head
3. Small body
4. Vest with belt
5. Yellow or orange hair
HARD HEADS:
Same characteristics as soft heads, except:
1. All blank heads
2. Ochre (brownish orange) or orange hair
PRE-REEDITIONS:
1. Stamped © MATTEL INC. 1981
2. Shorts could be purple, black painted purple, or burgundy painted purple
3. Sword is reedition mold in burgundy
4. Common to have a bump defect behind the head
REEDITIONS:
1. Stamped © MATTEL INC. 1981 or Blank back
2. Reedition sword in purple
3. Skeletor shorts (black with purple belt)
4. No vest
5. Skin tones can be pale, mid or dark (tostado)
6. Reedition mold shorts
7. Arms are still small mold
8. Large legs with mid-blue boots
DEPOSITO:
1. Large torsos (Blank back)
2. Large He-Man arms (He-Man color)
3. Large Legs with dark purple boots
Top Toys Prince Adam (Reedition) - Front View
Top Toys Prince Adam (Reedition) - Back View
Top Toys Prince Adam (Deposito) - Front View
Top Toys Prince Adam (Deposito) - Back View
Top Toys Prince Adam (Pre-Reedition) - Front
Top Toys Prince Adam (Pre-Reedition) - Back
Top Toys Prince Adam (Hard Head) - Front
Top Toys Prince Adam (Hard Head) - Back
The Top Toys Prince Adam figures show considerable variation. For simplicity, we can group them into five main categories: soft heads, hard heads, pre-reeditions, reeditions, and deposito versions.
The line debuted in 1985 with the soft head Prince Adam, which used imported Taiwan heads marked “Taiwan.” These figures feature small blank torsos (no COO), small sinewy legs, and small arms. The vest is a fine felt one-piece (without shoulder stitching) paired with a wide belt and a bronze button. Shortly after production began, Top Toys started molding their own heads and removed the “Taiwan” marking. Soft head variants can have either yellow or orange hair, standard to darker skin tones, and varying degrees of head softness.
The next release introduced the hard head version, molded in flesh-colored plastic with painted hair. This contrasts with the Malaysian and Indian Adams, which were molded in yellow plastic with painted flesh tones. Otherwise, the figure retained the small body proportions and fine felt vest with belt from the earlier release.
Following that came the transitional pre-reedition variant. While similar to the hard head, it has a larger torso stamped © MATTEL INC. 1981. The shorts can vary: molded in purple, black molded and painted purple, or burgundy molded and painted purple. It also includes a purple sword molded in the reedition style, distinguished by the ridging along the blade’s sides and tip, and the pronounced dots on the guard. The limbs remain from the small mold.
The reedition followed more than five years after the original release. This figure features a large torso, either marked © MATTEL INC. 1981 or blank, with square arm pegs, “Skeletor-style” shorts (black with purple belt) in the reedition mold, and large legs with mid-blue boots. It retains the small arms but shows greater variation in skin tone, ranging from pale to medium and dark (“tostado”). The reedition did not include a vest or belt but came with a purple reedition sword.
Finally, there exists an unfinished and unreleased “deposito” version discovered about 7–8 years ago. This figure features a large blank torso, large legs with dark purple boots, and large flesh-tone He-Man arms. Though never sold at retail, it has earned a place of interest among collectors due to its rarity and curious features.
