Tag Archives: he-man

Jul 5 2024

Masters of the Universe Origins (Cartoon Series): Prince Adam and Cringer by Mattel

Mattel has been cruising with the new releases of the MOTU Origins Cartoon Series. I’ve had four more carded figures hit my door over the last couple weeks, but I decided to bump this lovely boxed set up to the front of the line because… well, it’s Adam and Cringer and how could I not? We did get a Prince Adam in the regular Origins line and he came bundled with a Sky Sled instead of Cringer, because I don’t think Cringer ever made it to the vintage line. But now that the Mattel is exploring the Filmation cartoon we can finally get Prince Adam’s cowardly cat companion.

The figures come in a window box, which shows off the goods quite nicely. You also get an extended backflap with some absolutely bitchin vintage-style art of Adam and Cringer lazing about on an idyllic Eternian afternoon while three evil bastards spy on him from the foliage. The explosive exposition bubble announces the set is based on the 80’s Adventures and you get the Cartoon Collection sticker on the window, which mimics the rainbow lettering of the Filmation cartoon logo. Flip the box around and you get one of the most iconic pieces of MOTU art of all time, as Adam holds aloft his magic sword and says the words. Meanwhile the jaws of Castle Greyskull dominate the backdrop and Cringer cowers, knowing full well what comes next.

On a side note, I can still remember asking my friend who had nearly all the MOTU toys why he didn’t have a Prince Adam figure and his reply was “because that’s just something they made up for the stupid cartoon.” Yup, he had been playing with the toys for years before the cartoon came out and he was having none of it. It just didn’t fit into the canon he had spent years building in his head, and he had no interest in owning Prince Adam in his collection. Meanwhile, I had my first handful of Transformers before ever seeing the cartoon, but once I saw it, I adopted the cartoon as law pretty damn quick. Funny how that works. Anyway… Let’s get this duo out of the box and start off with Prince Adam.

Prince Adam appears to be an entirely different sculpt from the first Origins release, but some aspects are still extremely close. As we’ve seen, the Cartoon Series uses new bodies, which are slightly taller and less crouched. The vest is very similar to the vintage style vest, but it lacks the sculpted line around the edges and has softer cinching around the belt. The sleeve cuffs are smoothed over and the belt is also simplified to convey that toon look, but you do still get some nice detail in the furry fringe around the tops of his boots. The color changes are most notable on the vest, which goes from a reddish pink to now being a pale mauve. The tights are a little darker, while the boots and furry diaper are a little darker, but both changes are subtle.

The stock head sculpt is lifted directly from the Cartoon Series He-Man. It was a great portrait than and it still is. I think it fits the Prince Adam persona so much better than the Origins He-Man head did on the vintage-style Adam. The facial features here are well defined, while still keeping the animated style. The paint on the eyes and eyebrows is perfect, and the hair is certainly on point. The expression doesn’t fit Adam’s usual buffoonery, but it certainly works for that moment when the shit hits the fan and Adam is ready to change into He-Man.

The alternate head is a lot more Adam’s style with the eyes closed and a big smile, as if caught in mid chortle or perhaps getting a sloppy kiss from Cringer. It’s admittedly designed for a very specific look, but I could see myself maybe going with this head in the display from time to time. It’s just fun!

If you go back to my review of the Cartoon Series He-Man, I really lamented the lack of a hinged sword hand that would let him hold the sword properly for the transformation sequence. That is to say one that is hinged to bend forward and back, rather than the standard side to side. I also called on Mattel to do the right thing and give us that hand with Prince Adam. And low and behold, they did! We get the same Power Sword we got with He-Man and it looks fantastic held straight up in the air, calling on the Power of Greyskull to grant him the might of He-Man. And yes, that hand can be swapped with He-Man’s to do the same. I still think it should have been included with He-Man too, but I’m just glad we finally got it. OK, let’s move over to Cringer.

We did get Cringer in the Classics Series, but he was mostly static with just some articulation in the neck. He also wasn’t based on the animation, so I was really excited to get this kitty and he does not disappoint. For starters he is a fully articulated figure with each leg having multiple rotating hinges to get him into all sorts of scaredy-cat stances. You also get a ball joint in the body, a double ball jointed neck, and the tail is attached to the body with a rotating hinge. Plus, I love the way it curls into a friendly hook at the tip. He’s completely smooth to give him that toony look, so no sculpted fur, but he does have some adorable toe beans sculpted into the bottoms of his paws. The bulk of the body is green with his familiar orange striping. This cat looks great, and he is super fun to play with!

Like Prince Adam, Cringer comes with two heads, and in this case they are basically scared and more scared. Both faces are just brimming with personality and they capture the character perfectly. The second head even has an articulated jaw. I will say that based on the initial pre-production images, I was not impressed with what I saw, but I’m happy to say that the final toy turned out great.

I can’t say enough positive things about this set! Mattel nailed the Filmation look on both figures beautifully, and I am so very glad to see us finally get that perfect hinge on the sword arm so he can make that most iconic of poses with the Power Sword. And at $29.99, this set actually feels like a total steal, especially considering how much articulation they put into Cringer. I am absolutely digging this Cartoon Series line and I’m willing to bet Adam and Cringer will be hanging out on my desk for a little while, because they are so much fun to grab and play with.

Mar 27 2024

Masters of the Universe Origins (Cartoon Series) Teela and Trap-Jaw by Mattel

If you aren’t up on your MOTU Origins news, the regular line has gone exclusive to Mattel Creations and that’s where that line and I parted ways. Hovering over pre-order buttons and hoping to get lucky is a young man’s game. I’ve done my time in the trenches of Matty Collector and I’m more than willing to give it up to collectors with more time and patience than myself. But, for the rest of the retailers, Mattel has re-launched Origins with figures based on the Filmation cartoon. So we get to do it all again! How far am I willing to go? I honestly don’t know, but I’m definitely in for all the main characters that were regulars on the cartoon. These figures are shipping in assortments of only two characters per wave with one hero and one villain. So far we’ve had He-Man and Beast Man, Skeletor and Man-At-Arms, and now Teela and Trap-Jaw. Let’s go…

Oh sweet lord, do I love these cards! They’re so colorful and pretty and the figures look simply amazing on them. Each figure includes a mini-comic and an episode-specific accessory from the cartoon, as well as their regular weapon. I hate to mangle such beauty, but I have to rip into these so we can take a look at the figures. Let’s start with Trap-Jaw.

Easily one of my favorites of Skeletor’s minions, Trap-Jaw’s gimmick of exchangeable arm attachments is just such a great play gimmick. Sure he was a blundering idiot like most of the villains of Snake Mountain, but he looked good doing it and he kind of talked like a pirate. This cartoon version is a total rework of the Origins vintage style figure and it looks glorious! The torso and left arm are standard reuse colored in bright blue plastic, but you get the black cap covering where his right arm would be and acting as a connecting piece for the artificial arm. His thigh armor is much larger than the vintage style with lime green segmented pads and his lower legs have red armor with some black cut outs. The lime green belt is smoothed over and omits the skull and crossbones from the vintage style and has a slot to store his spare arm attachment. This is a glorious transformation to the cartoon style and such a colorful figure!

The head sculpt is also fantastic, making the vintage style head look like a lumpy mess by comparison. The cartoon likeness is spot on and you get an articulated jaw. The creepy soulless eyes from the previous release have also been reworked to the more normal Filmation style. The zipline ring at the top of the helmet is a bit more pronounced than I remember it being in the cartoon, but I’m guessing Mattel had to enlarge it to keep that play gimmick viable and that’s cool!

On the downside, you only get two attachments for the artificial arm: The hook and the laser gun. The arm attachments are straight recolors of the ones from the vintage style figure, so it kind of sucks that Mattel couldn’t include the claw as well. I guess, you can still use the vintage-style attachment, if you don’t mind the colors not matching. Each can be attached to the end of the articulated arm, or you can plug the laser directly into the shoulder like he did on the cartoon.

The cartoon-based accessory is a piece of Eternium Rock from the episode Double Edged Sword, where Trap-Jaw chomped down a piece of Eternium to get super strong and take on He-Man. But it just kinda wore off and he got his ass beaten for his troubles. Oh, Trap-Jaw, when will you learn? It’s not the most exciting accessory in the world, but it does go well with the character. Let’s move on to Teela!

Teela gets one of the biggest transformations from vintage-style to cartoon, which can be good or bad depending on your preferences. Don’t get me wrong, this is a pitch-perfect homage to the Filmation look, but it results from smoothing out and omitting a lot of the excellent sculpted detail on the vintage-style figure. Teela’s golden armor covers her chest and shoulders and features the familiar ram’s horn motif, a high collar, and a bit that hangs down toward her nether regions. This whole piece is cast in gold plastic and looks really nice. Her white one-piece can be seen under it, and she has sculpted bicep rings, each painted gold, and white bracers on her forearms. Her red boots have some sculpted crisscross patterns and have sculpted white furry fringe at the top edges.

As for the portrait, well holy hell, Mattel did a fantastic job on this one! I think this is hands down the best Filmation style Teela head we’ve seen so far. The hair and tiara are both great, but it’s the facial features that absolutely nail this look. The eyes and eyebrows are just beautifully done, as is the perfectly sculpted nose and and lips. She is gorgeous!

Teela comes with her sword and shield, both of which are solid accessories. I like this no-nonsense sword design with the needle-like point to the blade. It’s cast all in a silver-gray palstic. The round shield is cast in a reddish-brown plastic to match her boots and it is super-shiny! There’s a simple grab bar on the inside for her to hold it.

Her cartoon-based accessory is a sparring droid, which I think turned up in a few different episodes. It’s cast in gray plastic and has some basic articulation where the arms connect to the body. As much as I dig the idea behind this accessory, it’s kind of useless wtihout some kind of stand. I wish Mattel had at least given it a peg hole in the bottom so I could make use of some of the stands I have around here.

Damn, this Cartoon Series is really hitting hard, and this duo is another strong addition. I think this is the best cartoon version of a Teela figure we’ve seen yet, and Trap-Jaw is no slouch either. The Classics toon versions of these characters were great, but it’s cool to get them in these more affordable option that lean in more toward being toys rather than collectibles. If I had one nitpick it would be that I wish Teela were a little taller, but it’s just a personal preference. The prices on the Cartoon Series seem to be $19.99 each across the board. Sure, it’s higher than when Origins started, but I still think that makes them a pretty decent value on the pegs these days. This catches me up on the Origins Cartoon releases, but we’ve already seen a bunch of new figures teased, including Evil-Lyn, Prince Adam and Cringer… bring them on!

Jan 29 2024

Masters of the Universe Origins (Cartoon Series): He-Man and Beast Man by Mattel

Here we go again! As the vintage-style MOTU Origins line winds itself down the Filmation off-shoot is just starting with more cartoon accurate versions of the characters. The last time we saw this phenomenon was when Matty Collector’s MOTU Classics gave way to the Club Grayskull’s cartoon style figures and eventually handed the whole shebang off to Super7. I really wanted to collect that line, but coming off of dropping untold amounts of monies on the superb and expansive Classics line, I just couldn’t bring myself to start all over again. Well, it doesn’t seem quite so daunting a task this time, as the figures are smaller and aren’t terribly expensive. Also, I’m not going to be aggressive about hunting down the remaining releases from the vintage-style Origins line, especially if they’re going to be Mattel Creations exclusives. So, I decided to dip in with the initial releases and see how deep I’m willing to go. The first two figures are He-Man and Beast Man, so let’s see what we got!

The cardbacks get a complete redesign, and as much as I loved the vintage-style cards, these are even more spectacular. The logo is now reflective of the cartoon’s title as HE-MAN and the Masters of the Universe and you get some very colorful and Filmationy artwork. I’m guessing there was some licensing issues with putting FILMATION on the bubble, so they did a work around with the word CARTOON in the Filmation logo colors. These packaged figures look absolutely amazing and it’s almost a shame to tear into them. I may wind up doing what I did with the vintage-style figures and pick up an extra He-Man and Skeletor to leave carded. Each figure also comes with a comic book behind them, and it’s the same comic for both figures. Let’s start with The Most Powerful Man in the Universe…

He-Man’s redesign does indeed make him look like he ready to jump off the TV screen and spout pithy PSAs at the children of the Earth. And I’ll say straightaway that I did not expect this much difference between the vintage and cartoon versions of this line. You get a whole new body that’s designed to stand taller, eschewing the squat poses of the vintage toys, while at the same time simplifying some of the details found on the original figure in favor of animation accuracy. The boot sculpts look pretty close, minus the yellow fringe, but the belt and wrist bracers are now lacking the studs. The chest harness is also smoothed out, and the red panels on the upper straps are gone. The new figure comes with two grippy hands instead of the open slap left hand, and you get a brand new scabbard for the Power Sword on his back. The articulation points are identical to the regular Origins figures and these are still modular if that sort of thing interests you. And while the size change is quite notable, it isn’t enough to prevent these new figures from using the old Origins vehicles.

I really dig the new Filmation portrait. I thought Super7’s was pretty good, but I think this simpler version nails the animation look just a bit better. The expression is fairly neutral, which is great when you’re only getting the one head. He looks determined but not mean, just like cartoon He-Man should look. I think they could have added just a bit more sculpt to the hair, but it still looks fine the way it is.

Naturally He-Man comes with his Power Sword, but not his Axe or Shield, because he didn’t use those in the cartoon. I love the fact that this is the whole sword and not the ugly vintage-style half-sword. I’m pretty sure this is repacked from one of the exclusive Origins sets and that’s fine because it looks great with this figure.

What’s not great is that Mattel didn’t include a second right hand with a hinge that would allow him to hold aloft his magic sword and say the words. I mean, for crying out loud, how hard could that have been? Instead of being able to hold it pointing straight up it can only go at an angle. It’s not a complete deal-breaker for me, but the fact that it’s such a small thing to make the figure near perfect to me, I can’t help but be frustrated by it.

You do get a second accessory, which is The Sword of Ancients, which appeared in the episode Masks of Power. Now, this is a really nice looking accessory, and I love the idea that we may be getting episode specific accessories with each figure. But, I would have gladly traded this for an extra right hand so he could strike his transformation pose. It would have used less plastic, and would have probably been cheaper. OK, I’m done bitching about that. I promise. Let’s move on to Beast Man…

Put on your shades, everyone, because we’ve got some retina-scalding orange plastic coming at ya! The cartoon version of Beast Man didn’t really have any furry detail on most of his body, so Mattel was able to use regular He-Man parts for a lot of him, and that’s fair play. It’s kind of like how I was never sure if the ThunderCats were supposed to be covered in fur or not. He’s also got the same belt and wrist bracers devoid of studs and very simple boots. The shoulder armor sports less detail and his furry chest harness is all smoothed out as well with a simplified blue emblem in the center. I think the orange plastic used for the body should have been closer to the regular Origins version, but it’s not that bad. The added blue and yellow paint accents really make this figure pop even more. If I stare at him too long I can still see him when I close my eyes.

The vintage Beast Man will never not be funny to me, because I think that figure had one of the dopiest and ugliest heads ever put on an action figure. It actually looks like it’s a bootleg of itself, and don’t try to figure that out, because it doesn’t make sense. The cartoon design took the train wreck of a face they had to work with and made it look good and the sculpt is wonderfully executed on this figure. The colors on the other hand, needed a more fleshy tone for the face and ears. It’s there, but my eyes can barely make it out among all that bright orange.

Like He-Man, Beast Man comes with two accessories, the first of with is this bugle with a string on it. I kid… it’s his whip and I really hate this accessory. It’s just a recolor of the one included with the original Origins figure. I was willing to accept that as an homage to the vintage toy, but the accessory for the Filmation style figure should have been redesigned.

On the other hand, you also get the Hover Ray that Beast Man used to move dragon eggs in The Dragon Invasion, and I love this! I have a weird affection for Filmation-style tech, whether it be from He-Man, Flash Gordon, or even Ghostbusters. I just think it all looks so cool and I hope we get a lot more of it. I actually can’t wait to get The Stasis Ray bundled with Man-At-Arms. This device really isn’t a weapon, but rather an anti-gravity field for lifting stuff, so it’s probably not as exciting as it looks, but I sure do dig it!

I picked these figures up for $20 each and I have to say I’m excited to be starting this line. I have Man-At-Arms and Skeletor in hand and I think Teela and Trap-Jaw will be next. I think He-Man is the better figure in this pair, only because Beast Man could have used a little color tweaking, but I’m still really happy with both. As for the extra sword hand… Mattel can easily fix that by putting one in with a Prince Adam figure, so let’s hope they do the right thing.

Sep 22 2023

Masters of the Universe Origins: Dragon Blaster Skeletor by Mattel

There’s been a lot of Masters Origins stuff piling up here, folks, not the least of which is Skeletor’s homestead, Snake Mountain. I really wanted to jump ahead to that, but I have to do some logistics on how I’m going to photograph it. Also, it seems only right to try to knock out some more figure reviews beforehand. And with that in mind, today figure is one I’ve been waiting to open for quite a few weeks, so I’m excited!

Oh yes. After trying and failing to defeat He-Man with everything from giant mechanical claws to chomping shark cars, the only thing left is to just strap a baby dragon to your back and hope it hocks a flaming loogie right in He-Man’s face. As always, the packaging here is just superb with the enlarged card and extra bubbles for the Deluxe figure and accessories. You also get the additional Snake Men artwork taking over the top of the card. If only all this were collector friendly, but alas, I’ve got some ripping and tearing to do!

There’s a little bit of assembly required here, but nothing too bad. The dragon is sculpted as part of Skeletor’s back plate, which attaches via plastic straps that tab into the slots on the shoulders and under his arms. I was a little worried this wasn’t going to be all that secure, but the dragon actually holds in place remarkably well with no issues at all. Next, you attach the wrist cuff and thread the chain through the slot in his chest piece bring it around the back and attach it to the jumbo green padlock, which hooks into the dragon. The chain is actually metal, which is awesome, although I really don’t know what good it’ll do. If that dragon wants to take off it’s probably just going to drag Skeletor behind it.

As with most Origins figures, this release takes all the beats from the original vintage figure with the main difference being the added articulation in the elbows, knees, wrists, and ankles. The coloring is bright and vibrant, especially on the dragon itself, which has a cool gradient from red to pinkish-purple going on. The pale blue of Skeletor’s skin plays off the mauve and red armor and purple boots nicely, plus you get that neon green to make things really pop. MOTU has always been a delightfully colorful toyline and this figure represents that well!

We’ve had tons of variant Skeletor heads in the Origins line and each one has had its own charms. I do really like this one a lot. It has something of an animated look to it and he’s smiling as if he is jus so damn proud of his new reptilian backpack. The coloring is very nice and the lines for the teeth are sharp. This head is a winner!

The dragon also just oozes vintage charm. It’s head is super goofy and I think it has almost a Chinese Dragon design vibe going on. The teeth are painted white, the eyes are painted black with gold irises and he’s got sculpted scales all over his little body. What’s also great is that Mattel kept the original play gimmick in tact, so you can pop off his head, fill his body with water, and press down on the head to shoot disgusting dragon spit and those damn do-gooders.

Skeletor also comes with his sword, which is a nice bonus, as Mattel probably could have gotten away without it. There’s no Ram Staff, but hell we already have a ton of those! This sword is fantastic, as it isn’t the shitty half-sword we’ve had several times, but the one that’s fully sculpted on both sides. I can never have too many of these!

With something like a half-dozen Skeletor variants in the Origins line, you’d think I would have had enough. but I’ve been excited for each and every one. And this Dragon Blaster version is pretty much peak Skeletor pulling out all the stops. It’s a love letter to the original toy and I’m so happy to have it in my collection. But… these last bunches of Origins figures that I’m opening are also a little bittersweet. The news is that Origins will be leaving retail (and online retailers) and going to Mattel Creations Exclusives in 2024 and I’ve decided not to follow. I’ve had terrible experiences with the few figures I’ve tried to get from Mattel Creations and I’m not going through all that shit. I don’t need flashbacks to Matty Collector and Masters Classics. I’m too old and I’ve got too many other toys to spend money on. I was hoping Origins would still be sold through big online toy retailers, but that’s not the case so I’ll be calling it a day. But that’s fine… my Origins collection is big enough as it is and I’ve got plenty more figures and toys to open and spotlight here.

Jun 9 2023

Masters of the Universe Origins: Roton by Mattel

It’s been a couple of months since I last reviewed anything from the Masters Origins line, and that’s just wrong! My backlog for this line is pretty severe, so let’s dig back in with a look at a vehicle! Because if there’s anything that’s more wacky than the inhabitants of Eternia, it’s the crazy vehicles they try to kill each other with. So far Skeletor’s evil garage already has the Land Shark parked in there, and now it’s time to make room for The Roton!

The Roton comes in a glorious window box with some lovely vintage style art and the 40th Anniversary foil sticker on the right hand corner of the back flap. This vehicle started life as a Walmart Exclusive and I dropped my pre-order the moment it went live. Then my order sat in limbo until Walmart decided to cancel it. Holy shit, do I hate Walmart Exclusives! The toy spent a while going for double on the secondary scalper market before it started turning up at some other online retailers and I was eventually able to get one. And thank God for that, because I was getting ready to feed the scalpers on this one! The basic vehicle comes out of the box all ready for action, so let’s see what we’ve got.

What do you get when you combine a bumper car with a buzzsaw and then give it some creepy monster eyes? The Roton, of course! The vehicle’s black glossy body features a partially sculpted spinal column on the back and a hideous monster face on the front. Stickered panels adorn the sides with what looks like green reptilian skin fused with circuitry and dark magic tech from the bowels of Snake Mountain. The driver’s cabin is just one big bench seat with two joysticks, and there’s a pair of red laser guns, which can each swivel to fire in just about any direction. If I had one nitpick, I wish there were some dashboard stickers in there showing a few control panels.

Around the center of this devilish dodge-em car is the red buzz saw blade, which spins as you push the vehicle along, while also making a nerve-racking clicking noise, which is probably the last thing a lot of Eternian do-gooders hear before being diced into pieces by this engine of hell. And then there’s the eyes. The stickered eyes are just generally unsettling with red bloodshot pupils and fibrous veins protruding from the corners. Are these just the Eternian version of nose art, or is this thing actually a fusion of machine and monster? No, don’t answer. I don’t want to know!

The seat has plenty of room for most Origins figures, but Skeletor is the obvious choice. It’s no secret that the Origins figures aren’t all that great at sitting down, but it works pretty well. There’s something about Skeletor sitting in this thing that just scratches that toyetic itch so brilliantly. It’s just a glorious pairing of blue and purple Skeleton Lord with black and red killing machine. Roton was an inspired toy in the vintage line, and it still is today in the Origins revival. But we’re not done yet!

The designers went back to the vintage Monogram model kit and added the armored face plate and driver’s cage and boy is this going above and beyond! Both pieces are cast in beautiful red plastic and you get some white pate on the face plate for the eyes and teeth. Both pieces peg in securely and just add a wonderful display option or even a way to create variations if you happen to have more than one Roton for your collection. Sure, I would have rather had a Skelcon figure like the one included with the Classics Roton, but recreating the pieces from the Monogram model makes this release all the more unique.

The Classics vehicle came with a stand, which is sadly lacking from this release. Now, you could argue that this is a ground vehicle so why include a stand, but I’d like to think this is capable of flight too. For what it’s worth, there is a socket underneath the Roton that is compatible with the stand that came bundled with the Wind Raider.

“Myeaaah! I’ve got you now you muscled boob! Taste the blades of Roton!”
“Wait.. what are you doing? Where’s reverse???”
“STOP IT!!!”
“You’ll never get me in here…”
“Trap-Jaw… you said this thing was He-Man proof!”
*MYEAAAHHHing Intensifies*
“ARGHHHHHH!”

I got my Roton for $35, which feels a little pricey compared to some of the other Origins vehicles, but then I was so happy to be able to finally get one, I didn’t hesitate over the price. I was hoping this one would eventually get down to the Wind Raider prices, because that hits below $20 every now and then on Amazon and I have about half dozen of the damn things. I’d love to pick up at least one more, but only if it went on sale, and that doesn’t seem likely at this point. Either way, this is a fantastic toy and a welcome addition to Skeletor’s crazy fleet of attack vehicles.

Feb 27 2023

Masters of the Universe (Masterverse) ’87 Movie Skeletor by Mattel

Last week I checked out He-Man based on the 1987 film from the Masterverse series, so it’s only fitting I swing back around and have a look at his nemesis Skeletor. Mattel did a few figures from the movie as part of their Classics line, but sadly the line came to a close before they could get to those versions of He-Man and Skeletor. Super7 stepped in to release them, but now Mattel has finally served up these versions as regular retail release action figures. Skeletor had two distinct looks in the movie, regular and golden God all hopped up on power. This is the former version. Super7 did both, and I sure am hoping that Mattel will too. But that’s getting ahead of myself. Let’s have a look at the packaging…

Skeletor is a Deluxe release, which means he comes in a bigger than normal window box with some extras. The Masterverse packaging does a great job of showing off the figure and all the goodies, but the art styling doesn’t strike me as being very evocative of the MOTU brand. It’s not ugly or anything, but I found it surprising that they didn’t at least go with green stonework for the backdrop. But that’s fine. It used to make me shed a tear every time I ripped into those beautiful MOTU Classics packages. And while these are collector friendly, I don’t feel bad about tossing them after I open them.

As much as I loved He-Man’s redesign for this film, I think I dig Skeletor’s even more! It’s an even bigger departure from the classic design, but it looked great on the big screen and it looks pretty damn good as an action figure too. There’s a lot of layering here, with the partial skirt being cast in plastic, as well as the two strips of plates that run from his shoulders to his ankles. You get some beautifully sculpted armor on his chest and shoulders, which I can only describe as having an organic techno-skeleton vibe to them. The metallic purple paint used for these pieces is really snappy too! The lower skirt also has a series of square plates sculpted onto it, resembling brigandine style armor. Skeletor has some really cool bracers, and I dig the silver paint on the backs of his gauntlets that reminds me of a circuit pattern. It’s a bit more pronounced here than on the actual costume, but that’s fine. The cape is light cloth with a triangular plastic piece jutting down, probably intended to be leather, and punctuated with a single bronze painted medallion. The layering and textures of the costume combined with the ornate sculpting makes for an awesome looking figure.

In terms of portrait, Skeletor fares a lot better than He-Man did. You only get the one head sculpt, but I guess Mattel’s thinking was if you get it right the first time, you don’t have to offer a second option. And wow did they get this right! The definition of the skull features mixed with what looks like lumps of malformed flesh makes for a sinister look and a downright superb bit of sculpting. The waxy gray coloring of the skin works too, although I sometimes wonder if a greenish tint would have been the way to go. The hood is sculpted in plastic as part of the head, which looks great, but does curtail his head articulation quite a bit. The rest of the articulation points seem to be identical to He-Man, but you do get a little more restriction in the hips because of the plastic skirt. It’s also worth noting that the shoulder pieces are designed to pop off if you exceed the range of movement up there.

What would Skeletor be without his Havoc Staff? And this iconic accessory got a pretty cool redesign for the film as well. The ram skull motif is a lot more elaborate here with a design resembling a burst of powerful rays behind the skull, and a horn on top. This is a beautiful piece and pretty damned intimidating. In addition to his right fist and left flat hand, Skeletor comes with a pair of accessory holding hands to work with the Havoc Staff and sword.

The sword is quite impressive! There are hints to the design that make it a little similar to He-Man’s, but I can’t remember whether there was supposed to be any connection between the two swords in the movie. At least I don’t remember there being any. The hilt is beautifully sculpted, and the blade is broad and straight. Alas, it is left as unpainted gray plastic, and I wish Mattel had given us some silver paint on the blade. Unlike He-Man, there is nowhere for Skeletor to wear the sword, which is a bummer, but probably more a fault of the movie costume design than the figure.

And finally, you get the Cosmic Key! Mattel gave us this accessory with the Classics version of Gwildor. This time around, the key is in its dormant state with the tuning forks closed. The device is painted in brown, silver, and purple and it looks OK, but I feel like the detail could have been a bit sharper. There’s a plastic loop on the side, so the Key can be held by passing Skeletor’s flat hand through it.

I think both of these figures turned out excellent, but I have to give the nod to Skeletor for not having to make any apologies for the head sculpt. It’s a shame we never got these versions in the vintage line. I would have loved to see at least a couple waves of toys come out branded specifically for the movie, as opposed to stuffing Gwildor and Blade in the regular line. Then again by 1987, I was 15 and almost completely drifted away from toys to pursue other interests. But it’s nice to have these two on my shelf now, and I’m hoping that at minimum we get the golden armor Skeletor, but even better, I’d love to see Mattel use Masterverse to get us a bunch of movie figures. When I get back to Masterverse again, we’ll start checking out some of the Princess of Power figures!

Feb 13 2023

Masters of the Universe (Masterverse): ’87 Movie He-Man by Mattel

When Masterverse was revealed it seemed to be focused on the Netflix series and I wasn’t interested. But then it grew to be a giant melting pot, including all the classic characters. Still, I managed to resist because I already have those figures as part of the MOTU Classics line, and I’m also re-collecting them in Origins. But when they started doing Princess of Power, I began collecting those, and now I’ve added two more with the ’87 movie versions of He-Man and Skeletor. While I haven’t gotten around to reviewing any of those PoP figures, I decided to push these two to the head of the line. So let’s check out He-Man!

I’ll go on record by saying that I’m pretty fascinated by the 87 MOTU movie. I was 15 when it was released, so I didn’t have too strong an attachment to it back then, but I re-watch it from time to time. It’s a bizarre movie with some great highs and lows, an interesting behind the scenes history, and about 90% of it feels like its a struggle between ambition and reality, with reality winning the day. We got a few movie characters in Mattel’s Classics line, and Super7 did some as well, but this is the first time we’re seeing this version of He-Man as a mass release in the toy aisles, and that’s pretty cool. Movie He-Man is a Deluxe release, which means he comes in a wider window box and has some extra goodies. The package design is surprising to me, as it doesn’t go for the obvious green stone Grayskull motif. What we get is certainly fresh and new, but just doesn’t feel all that iconic. The figure comes on a clear plastic tray against an illustrated gray stone backdrop, and everything is collector friendly.

Here his is out of the box and ready to take on whatever 20th Century Earth and Cannon’s limited budget has to offer. And I do really like a lot about what Mattel did with this figure. This reimagining of He-Man is definitely one of the high points of the film for me, and this figure conveys that look very well. I particularly love how layered the figure is, with most of the costume being sculpted as separate pieces and attached to the body. Only the undies, leg and bicep straps, and boots are part of the body itself. This gives the figure a lot of wonderful depth. There’s some excellent detail sculpted into the armor grieves, shoulders, and that left wrist bracer. All of these pieces are cast in a rich bronze with some wash to bring out the detail. You get similar fixtures as part of the belt buckle and the medallion on his chest. The sculpted muscles are well-defined, although they look a bit awkwardly pinched at the elbows, which was clearly done to improve articulation, so I’ll take it. He-Man’s cape is made of a very light red cloth, connects at the shoulders, and has a gold ornate pattern across the bottom edge.

Behind the cape is a scabbard for his sword, and this is an interesting design. The scabbard itself only houses the last quarter or so of the sword’s blade, with the top portion being secured through a loop up near the top of his back. It works well, and since it’s covered by the cape, it sort of creates the illusion of being a full scabbard. He-Man also has a pistol holster on his left hip, and two dagger sheathes attached to his right leg, so he can comfortably carry all four of his weapons. Although, I think I have the daggers switched in my photos. They will each fit in either sheath, but I think the more ornate one is supposed to go up high.

OK, so let’s talk about these heads. You get two, and I think this one is supposed to be an approximation of Dolph Lundgren and I’m going to guess that Mattel didn’t have his likeness rights, because I refuse to believe this is the best they could do. Now, accepting that this is not Lundgren, I don’t dislike this head, as it looks like it could have been based on concept art for the film. It kind of looks like they wrote an algorithm to see how much Lundgren they could infuse into the portrait without getting smacked down by lawyers. The hair sculpt is similar to what we saw in the movie, and if I’m being honest, the portrait just works fine for me. I think it looks good on the figure, although I’m willing to bet most collectors will be disappointed at not getting the real thing.

The other option is more of a classic He-Man noggin, and I like this one too. The face is very traditional, as is the poufy coif of hair. In the end, I’ll likely display the figure with the first head, just because the hair sells it as the movie figure, even if the face doesn’t. But I’ll still alternate heads a bit for the pictures in this review.

The articulation here is pretty good, although I have a few little gripes. The upper body is all great, with a pretty good ball joint under the chest and a ball joint in the neck. I especially like what we got with the arms. There are rotating hinges in the shoulders, swivels in the biceps, double-hinges in the elbows, and hinged pegs in the wrists to swap out between the two sets of hands. You get one set of accessory holding hands, one left fist, and one right flat hand. I really wish we had gotten a full set of fists and a set of relaxed hands, as just one of each feels kind of weird. The legs have decent ball joints in the hips, swivels in the thighs, double-hinged knees, and hinges and lateral rockers in the ankles. The lower hinges on my figures knees are fused, so that’s a bummer. My guess is I can free them with some heat, but for now they’re useless.

I am very pleased that the arm articulation allows He-Man to double-hand his sword! And speaking of swords… let’s check out them weapons!

The two daggers are cool little pieces, and they look great paired up on his right leg, as either last resort weapons, or just to throw at Karg’s ugly face. One is very simple, with a utilitarian gold hilt, no guard, and a double edged blade. The other has a more ornamental hilt and guard, and looks like it could be some special artifact from the bowels of Grayskull. These fit well in either sheath or gripping hand.

Next is the laser pistol. I’m not sure if having He-Man carry a gun in the film was controversial or not, but I loved the idea. Eternia is all about that mix of swords, sorcery, and tech, and I’ve always adored fantasy-sci-fi like Flash Gordon where laser guns coexist with swords. The gun has a cool sci-fi design, but sadly He-Man does not come with a trigger-finger hand, and this gun has a really pronounced trigger guard, so he looks kind of weird holding it. I suppose we can chalk it up to Trigger Discipline, and maybe that’s part of a lost PSAs planned for the end of the movie.

And finally we have his trusty sword, and this is a beauty. It’s a huge departure from the design seen in the toyline and the cartoon, and it looks more like it’s patterned after Conan’s theatrical blade, but I love it. The grip is ribbed, and the guard and pommel are painted in an aged bronze to match He-Man’s armor pieces. The blade is left as bare plastic, and while I would have loved some silver paint here, it still looks fine.

I don’t have the Super7 figure to do a direct comparison, but having looked over some pictures, I think this one holds up remarkably well. Indeed, if you forget about the head for a moment, I’d say I like this one better than what I’ve seen of Super7’s. And to be fair, I don’t think Super7 did all that great a job with the Lundgren likeness. Either way, I am really happy with how this figure turned out. A better selection of hands would have really boosted him a lot higher in my eyes, but even as he is now, I think he’s a great figure and lots of fun to play around with. Next week, I’ll circle back and check out his nemesis… Skeletor!

Dec 2 2022

Masters of the Universe Origins: 200x He-Man and Skeletor by Mattel

Happy Friday! And what better way to bring on the weekend then by opening some new toys! Mattel’s MOTU Origins line continues to pump out the content at a record pace, leaving me behind on reviewing these magnificent figures, but I’m doing the best I can to get caught up! Today I’m checking out two more variations of He-Man and Skeletor, this time based on designs from the 200x toyline.

The figures come on the same gloriously retro designed cardbacks that we’ve been seeing all along. You get the 40th Anniversary logo in foil up at the top left corner fo the card, and a rather spiffy MOTU logo sticker on the front of the bubbles. What you don’t get is any actual reference to the Mike Young Production cartoon or 200x series. And that’s fine. For any kiddies out there who are into this line without any context, these are just cool new versions of the two main characters to play with! I should note that I never collected the 200x toys, although I did run into them a lot back in the day when I was making my weekly trips to KayBee Toy Outlet, and I was often very tempted to pick some up. Ultimately, I reasoned that the line was too far along for me to start collecting from the beginning, and so I resisted the temptation. I did, however, get into the MYP cartoon BIG TIME, and I still consider it to be one of the absolute best cartoon reboots ever made. Needless to say, I was pretty excited to get these figures in the Origins style. Let’s start with He-Man!

One of the things that characterized the 200x figures were the somewhat stylized proportions, and since these figures retain the usual Origins bodies, a little of that flavor is lost. What we have left is mostly a costume change, but I really like it. The arms and legs are left unchanged, with the boots all painted brown and the wrist bracers in silver. The pelvic piece is new, with a silver belt and red and gold circular buckle. The sculpted furry diaper is still present, but trimmed back quite a bit. The chest harness features a hexagonal plate with another red and gold motif. The silver border looks great and there’s a nice hammered texture to the background. This design is different enough from the classic look to stand out, but not so much to be jarring. Were I a kid playing with these figures, I could easily see this one becoming a regular stand in for the more classic He-Man on my adventures. It just looks fantastic!

As for the head sculpt, I like it a lot, but there have been so many He-Heads in this line so far, I’d be lying if I could keep them all straight. Is this new? Is it recycled? Without digging through a tote for my head bag, or scrolling through my past reviews, I’m not going to say for sure, but I’m guessing it’s a repack. I will say that it is emphatically not designed to look like the 200x figure, and instead retains that very vintage look. I think this head would work on pretty much any Origins He-Man we’ve seen so far. Either way, I think the head looks really good with this costume.

As for weapons, He-Man comes with the 200x redesign of the Power Sword. I’ve never been a big fan of this design, as it just way too clunky and impractical. I do, however, appreciate the attention to detail in the sculpt. It’s more machine now than sword, but that really gave the sculptors something to work with. There’s a loop in the back of He-Man’s harness so he can wear the sword on his back. I will point out that the figure’s grip is a little loose on the sword. I’m not sure if that’s a problem with my figure in particular, but it helps to squeeze it tight so he doesn’t drop it.

You also get his battle axe and shield, and I absolutely love these! The axe has some techno-gizmos sculpted into it to resemble the same tech that went into the sword, but here it doesn’t really make the weapon look unwieldly or cumbersome… just futuristic!!! The shield also has a little mesh circuit pattern on one of the arms of the cross, and some really nice texturing in the red field areas. These accessories look great together, and I’ll likely display He-Man with the wielding these and with the sword on his back. OK, let’s move on to Skeletor!

To me the 200x version of Skeletor looked extra stylized to me, and there was something about him that made his limbs look extra long and his head extra tiny. As a result, this Origins version looks a lot more like its doing its own thing, and boy do I love it! The armor pieces sport some excellent detail, like leather texturing in the hip and groin armor, organic designs in the grieves, and the shoulders and gorget look awesome! In addition to the purple plastic on the armor, you get red jewels painted on the knees and in the center of the crossed bones on his chest, as well as black for the shoulder guards. The wrist bracers are painted purple, and his feet are left pale blue. The fastener on the armor tends to slip out of the loop on my figure from time to time, but even when it does the harness and shoulders stays put. All in all, I love the way Mattel adapted this design to Origins, and this is a great version of Skeletor!

And then there’s the head sculpt! Hot damn, is this outstanding! The skull face is nestled in the center of a purple textured hood, and boy does he look pissed! The angry, downturned brow looks very expressive along with the red dots in the center of his eye holes. I also really love the paintwork on the face, with the way the yellow transitions to the green at the edges. This portrait is a little work of art, and one of my favorites that this line has produced so far!

Skeletor comes with the 200x version of his sword, which I believe was two swords joined together, which is why it has what looks like two grips. I suppose one could be a knuckle-guard, but either way the design of the hilt makes it kind of awkward for him to hold. Like the 200x Power Sword, I think this is well sculpted, but it just looks completely impractical. I wish they had given Skeletor a loop on his back to tuck the sword into like they did He-Man. I guess I could tuck it under the strap, but with the way it likes to come loose, that’s probably not going to work.

And you also get his trusty Havok Staff, which I think is just a repack of the one we’ve seen a bunch of times before.

I usually get tired of toy lines constantly churning out variants of main characters, but in the case of Origins I haven’t minded so much, because they’ve all been really good. And this pair may be the best yet. Normally, I would take the classic look for these guys over the 200x designs any day, but I’m shocked at how great these look adapted for the Origins bodies. Both figures get high marks from me, but I’m leaning toward the Skeletor as being my favorite of the pair. The armor just looks outstanding and the portrait is perfect! What’s even better is right now both of these figures have been turning up online at pretty good sale prices. Last time I looked Skeletor was going for $10 on Amazon, and boy is that an absolute steel for such a remarkable figure! Do I get another to keep carded? Nah… but it is tempting!

Jul 26 2022

Masters of the Universe Origins: Stridor by Mattel

My MOTU Origins backlog may not be nearly as bad as other lines, but there’s still a few things I’m behind on. Case in point, poor Stridor has been waiting to be opened for a while now, and it’s well past time we let this mecha-horsey out of the stable. And boy am I excited! I love animals, and I love robots, so it stands to reason that I love robot animals like Stridor!

The packaging for this line continues to kick all sorts of ass, thanks in no small part to the vintage-style artwork on the extended back panel. It shows He-Man charging into battle atop Stridor while Fisto gets ready to lay down some righteous fist on Skeletor, who approaches in The Roton! Oh yeah, baby! The Origins Roton is coming! Ah, but let’s not take any thunder from Stridor, because he looks all sorts of awesome on display in that window box! Give me a sec to carefully open this box (because it’s a keeper!) and let this electric equine out to trot!

Stridor comes out of the box more or less assembled. You really just have to attach his front guns and he’s good to go. The design is very faithful to the original vintage toy, but with a bit more detail in the sculpt, and now fully articulated legs! You still get the mostly brown body with some lovely silver paint on the neck, head, and ass. You also get some additional silver paint picking out the joints and hydraulics on the legs, which looks quite nice! The orange here looks a lot brighter than what I remember from the vintage toy, and I certainly dig that. The tail, front guns, and head armor all add some bright red to the colors, making this figure’s deco pop brilliantly! What a fantastic looking toy this is!

In addition to the sculpted vents and mechanical bits and bobs, the toy makes use of some well placed stickers to add some detail. These include the vents between the legs on the front, the instruments on the back of the seat and in front of the ass-cannon, the dash board controls, and the heraldic images on each side of the body. I’m not sure what the collector consensus is on the stickers, but I really dig them. They evoke the feel of the vintage toys, and I’m sure they help to keep the cost down on these toys as well.

Stridor comes with the vintage-style armor for his head, which can be removed and swapped out with a more modern look. The modern armor covers more of the head, encompassing the nose and adding holes for the robot horse to… breath? I dunno… maybe that’s where he expels exhaust. There’s a lot more sculpted detail in this armor, including interlocking scales around the top of the neck, and overlapping plates on the snout. The longer spike and the shape of the eyeholes conspire to make him look a lot more aggressive. I like them both, but I think I’ll go with the vintage one for display.

The added articulation in the legs is a welcome treat, with three joints in each leg: At the top, knees, and ankles. The back legs are also ratcheted, so they can easily hold Stridor as he rears up on them. The figure is also balanced well enough to pose like this without any support, which is pretty damn cool. There’s a little articulation in the neck, but not a lot of movement there. Stridor’s jaws will open and snap shut again, so watch your fingers when you’re feeding him sugar cubes, or energon cubes, or whatever! The ass-cannon can turn left and right, and the two front guns can raise and lower a little. I do have a bit of a gripe with the front guns, as they have a habit of falling out when rotated.

Naturally, Stridor has room for a rider, with the rider’s legs going into the body, more like a car than a horse. It works really well, and Stridor can pretty much handle any of the normal Origins figures. Sorry, Ram Man… Not you! You have to walk! Or bounce, or whatever the hell it is you do! Stridor comes with a set or reins, which are made out of rope and has a plastic bit that goes in his mouth, and two handles for the rider.

You also get some blast effect parts to go over the three guns. These are cast in translucent blue plastic, and they’re kind of big. It’s nice to have display options, but I just don’t know about these. I doubt I’ll use them much.

And finally, Stridor comes with a little stable, which consists of a green stone floor and a couple of hitching posts. It’s a cool extra, but I wish they had added a computer or something to make it look like Man-At-Arms could run diagnostics on him or program him or whatever. Maybe I’m being greedy. It’s fine.

The base also has an optional stand, which can hold Stridor in action poses, and that’s very cool!

I paid $30 for this magnificent robo-steed, which I think is the actual MSRP, and I think that’s a damn fine deal considering his size and all he comes with. Indeed, Stridor encapsulates everything that’s fun about the Origins line. He’s a big and satisfying toy, with plenty of display options. He’s a great figure all by himself, but he also interacts really well with the regular figures, giving them yet another option for riding into battle against Skeletor and his minions of evil. Now, bring on Night Stalker! God, I love this line!

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!