Tag Archives: evil horde

Oct 14 2022

Masters of the Universe Origins: Mantenna by Mattel

Life is returning to normal here at hurricane ravaged FFZ Central! It’s nice to be able to round out a full week of reviews again, and hopefully I can keep that going. Today I’m checking out another figure from Mattel’s absolutely amazing MOTU Origins line, and it’s time to add another baddie to Hordak’s Evil Horde with Mantenna!

He’s the Evil Spy with the Pop-Out Eyes! As always, these figures look fantastic on the retro-style packaging, making me forever tempted to pick up doubles to keep sealed. But thankfully I’ve managed to just keep a couple doubles so I can always have an example of the overall presentation here. Despite his extra limbs, Mantenna is carded as a regular release instead of a Deluxe, and you get an Evil Horde sticker on the front of the bubble. At some point Mattel needs to start turning out some more Great Rebellion figures in the Origins line because right now it’s just She-Ra alone against The Evil Horde!

Mantenna is among my favorite Horde figures because he’s that perfect blend of creepy and goofy. The extra set of legs makes him stand out, even among an army populated entirely by freaks and weirdos. And while he does have a certain silliness to his design, if I saw this thing in real life I would shit my pants and run. Granted, I suppose that could be said for a lot of the Masters baddies. Obviously there’s a lot of special tooling for this figure, with the standard MOTU arms being about the only normal recycled parts.

He has a special new pelvic part designed to accommodate his extra set of legs, each of which is wonderfully detailed with sculpted Horde symbols on the front of the boots, ugly bumps on the thighs, and blade-like fins protruding from the upper and lower legs. And each one of these limbs features the same articulation as the legs found on regular Origins figures. The chest and back armor are sculpted as part of the torso, rather than something worn by the figure. I really dig the coloring here too. The body is very dark purple and it contrasts nicely with the bright yellow belt and the bright red chest piece, head, and Horde symbols. The fact that the red for the head is glossy and the chest piece is more matte is another great little touch.

The head sculpt conveys all the kooky and ugly weirdness that characterizes this character. I mean, holy shit just look at him! This guy is pure nightmare fuel! He’s got wide fins that make up his ears, and two tusks jut down from the disgusting maw he calls a mouth. The hole of a mouth is circled with tiny black appendages, and I can’t even imagine what it’s like sitting across from him at The Fright Zone Cafeteria and having to watch him eat.

And then there’s those giant, bloodshot globes he calls eyes. These bug out from his head even under normal conditions, but if you press the lever on the back of his head, they pop out even more. I still adore the MOTU Classics version with its interchangeable parts, but there’s something that’s just so fun and satisfying about being able to make his eyes pop in and out with this gimmick.

Mantenna comes with the usual Horde Crossbow, this time cast in a pale gray color. His right hand is equipped to hold it, while his left hand is just relaxed.

I absolutely love Origins Mantenna, and Mattel spared no expense introducing this delightfully bizarre character to the Origins line. He looks great, the extra legs are fun to pose, and I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of flipping his eyes in and out. Even with as prolific as Origins has been, I’m still in awe of how quickly Mattel has delivered a good chunk of Horde baddies, and Mantenna looks absolutely smashing along side his fellow villains. Now we just need to get some more of Etheria’s gals in the line to fight them!

Apr 27 2022

Masters of the Universe Origins: Horak and Horde Troopers by Mattel!

It’s been a little too long since I last visited with Mattel’s Masters Origins line, and with how many figures have been added lately, it’s past time that I remedy that. Today, I’m switching my attention to the She-Ra side of things with a look at Hordak and his evil Horde Troopers!

I was never a big fan of the She-Ra cartoon, but when I did watch it, I watched it for The Evil Horde characters. Of particular appeal where the Horde Troopers, which sported a badass design and were pretty damn menacing, at least in appearance. In reality they were just there to give the heroes something without a soul that could get trashed, but I still thought they were damn cool. Anyway, let’s start with Horak himself.

I don’t have a whole lot to say about Hordak, other than Mattel stayed pretty close to the vintage original for this one. He has dark gray arms and legs with black boots and gauntlets. You get a painted silver belt with black furry diaper, and a bulky vest worn over the figure buck with the bright red Horde symbol sculpted on the front. There’s a black armband on his left bicep with a smaller Horde symbol, and two more down on his boots. Finally, he has a red cape, which extends down to about his knees. I really dig the coloring on this figure. The dark black and gray contrasts beautifully with the bright red, and little touch of silver that gives it an extra pop.

The head sculpt is solid enough, but it lacks some of the coloring in the original figure. It still looks fine, but feels a little more basic and a slight step down from the source material. Hordak is still an ugly sunovabitch, with pointed ears, a mohawk-like crest running down to his pig nose, and hideous bumps on his bald head. The coloring on the cheeks sort of resemble facial hair, and he has a single top row of red spiked teeth protruding down into his open maw of a mouth. I think I dig the eyes here the most. They appear to be separate from the head and attached from behind, giving them some cool depth and definition.

Hordak comes with his all white Horde Crossbow, which can be clipped onto either arm. I appreciate the use of a clip here, as his left hand is not designed to hold anything. Like the figure itself, the Crossbow is a pretty solid recreation of the vintage accessory and he looks great holding it. Moving on to the Horde Trooper…

The Horde Trooper was one of my favorite figures in the MOTU Classics line, and it looks like history is repeating itself here. I just dig this design so much. There’s something about mechanized suits of armor that just scratches my itch. Obviously this figure required all new tooling, and the attention to detail in the sculpt is excellent. You get all sorts of vents, mechanisms, and bits and bobs scattered about his armor. The Silver finish looks great, and I like it more than the flat gray used for the Classics version. There’s some black used for the boots, gloves, and joints, as well as bright red for the Horde symbol on the chest, and a yellow round cap in the middle of his groin. I don’t want to know what that’s used for! The only downside here is that the plastic shows off some swirling and a few creases from the molding process, but it’s nothing so bad that it detracts from my enjoyment of what is a great looking figure.

For the head, Mattel stuck with the toy design’s big yellow and black boomerang visor for a face. I’ll confess, I do tend to like the animated head design a bit more, but I’m not hating this. It looks fine, and fans of the original toy will no doubt be pleased. Hey, I wonder what that big red button in his chest is for?

Of course, it’s for the break-apart gimmick, inspired by the original toy design. Give it a press, and the Trooper breaks apart to reveal the red interior with some mechanical doodads sculpted onto it. The play gimmick is pretty well done here, and I find that my Troopers don’t break apart under normal handling, just when the trigger button is pressed.

And finally, the Trooper come with his Force Staff, which is cast all in red plastic. There is some nice sculpting on this piece, but it can be hard to make it out, because of the plastic used. It would have been nice to get a left hand that could hold it too, but I do like him having a fist as well.

And that’s two more excellent figures for the MOTU Origins line. I’m very pleased that Mattel has been dipping into The Evil Horde sooner rather than later, as I think it contains some of the coolest and wildest character designs. The Trooper was surprisingly easy to get a few of, at least initially, and thanks to spreading my pre-orders out, I was able to pick up five with no trouble at all. I do hope we get the Horde Jet Machine at some point, as it would be a great opportunity to bundle another Trooper with, and I’d be down for two or three of those!