Roger Sweet, the creator of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, is in financial need for medical care. Marlene Sweet, Roger’s wife, organized a GoFundMe to seek donations for the high bills they are accruing.

He spent over 15 years designing toys at Mattel and is best known for his work on the He-Man series. He designed and named the original characters and collaborated with other designers to create all the toy line’s characters and playsets.

Sweet is now nearly 91 years old and is suffering from dementia. According to Marlene, he recently went for a walk and was gone longer than expected, returning with bruises from an injury that he didn’t remember sustaining. At the hospital, it was discovered that he had two brain bleeds and significant bruising on his side.

He spent a week in the hospital, and has been trying to walk without a walker, which is dangerous because he is at high risk for falls due to the brain bleeds. It was determined that he should now live in a memory care facility so that he can be more closely monitored for his safety.

On the GoFundMe page, Marlene wrote that the cost of the facility is $10,200 per month, well beyond their monthly income. Donations will be used to help pay those bills.

Masters of the Universe is a toy and media franchise situated in both fantasy and science fiction that began in the early 1980s. He-Man is a super-strong hero who defends the power of Castle Grayskull and the planet Eternia from his dangerous nemesis Skeletor. Both hero and antagonist are joined by allies whose looks are just as creative and distinct as the leads.

It didn’t take long for the toy line to branch out into a popular animated TV show, comic book series, live-action movie, and merchandise beyond the toys. The franchise continues to thrive over 40 years later as original series toys continue to grow in value, there have been multiple TV shows, and a big screen live-action film is on the way in 2026.