Sep 13 2016

Masters of the Universe Classics: Crita by Mattel

The news has been out for a while now that Matty Collector’s days are numbered. The site as we know it will close up shop at the end of the year and the rest of their stock is now up for grabs. Sadly, it’s mostly the late-game figures that don’t garner a lot of interest. That reminds me, I do need to get me a new Flogg, since the crotch on mine inexplicably exploded while it was sitting bagged in a tote. And in all this turmoil, I completely forgot that I still have a Masters Classics figure from last month waiting to be opened. I better open this one up now, because September is going to be a big month with quite a few figures rolling in.

Her name is Crita and she dances on the sand… no, wait… that’s Rio from Duran Duran. Let’s try that again. Her name is Crita and she hails from the New Adventures cartoon series. I have no idea who she is, other than one of the evil Space Mutants, and since there are no bios on the backs of the packages anymore, I’m no more the wiser. But not knowing a particular character has never stopped me from enjoying any figure in this line before. I just have to do some research. Thanks to the magic of The Yootoobs, I’m off to watch an episode of the cartoon that she appeared in called “Escape from Gaolotia.” BRB!

…And NOPE! I couldn’t get through it, but I saw enough to know that Crita and Skeletor might have had a little sumthin-sumthin going on and she talks like she smokes 30 packs of Marlboros a day.

And here she is in all her glory. I don’t get what they were going for with her design. Most of the Space Mutants each had their own crazy thing going on, but I can’t figure out what that is supposed to be with Crita. She’s a lavender skinned lady in a purple dress, purple boots, and a blue half cape kind of thing that is permanently attached to her arm bracers. At the risk of dropping two 80’s music references in one MOTUC review, this looks like Space Stevie Nicks. Holy shit, now I can’t unsee it. Some of the finer details of her ensemble include a gold belt, a gold amulet around her neck, a sculpted ring on her right hand, and what appears to be a bone necklace. Seriously, what’s going on with this chick?

Have I mentioned this cape thing? Yeah, I did, but it begs further study. Never sacrifice agility for fashion, especially if you’re in a career that demands you fight people for a living. I would have been a whole lot more forgiving of this thing if you could un-peg it from the arms, but you can’t. It’s like some kind of bizarre fashion bondage accessory designed to inhibit her arm movement. Apparently Space Stevie Nicks is a little kinky!

Crita may be a product of the 90’s, but she’s got hair straight out of the 80’s. Forget Space Stevie Nicks, she looks like she should be a backup vocalist for Jem and the Holograms. Or maybe The Misfits, since she’s a bad girl. My point is she’s got a whole lot of hair. The portrait is pretty standard stuff for this line. She’s pretty, but nobody ever sat her down and told her that too much eye makeup makes her look like a whore. The gold tiara is a nice touch.

By now we all know the standard articulation for the MOTUC female bucks, but I’ve only got so many of these figures left, so let’s run it down for old time’s sake. The arms feature rotating hinges in the shoulders, swivels in the biceps and wrists, and hinges in the elbows. Of course, the range of motion is limited, so if you want one arm out the other arm needs to be close to her side, and even then, you don’t get a lot of range of motion here. The legs feature ball joints and swivels in the hips, and hinges in the knees and ankles. Here too, Crita suffers some limitation, this time because of her skirt. Finally, you get a swivel in the waist and a ball joint in the neck.

Crita comes with three accessories. First, you have her gold wand with a rose-colored opaque stone embedded in it. I didn’t watch enough of the episode to figure out what her powers are, but I presume she’s some kind of spell-slinger. Either that or she just hits people with this wand. Actually, it does have a more conventional use…

It transforms into a whip. No, it doesn’t really transform, this is a second accessory presenting the wand in whip form. I kind of like it. It’s different. I mean, rocker chicks from space with magic whips? I can dig that.

And lastly, she comes with what I believe is a fear gas gun. I hate this thing. It looks like somebody 3D-printed it. Seriously, not a single lick of paint on an accessory this big is inexcusable when you consider the price of these figures and getting her to hold it in any convincing manner is all but impossible. Also, I kind of hate that it’s not a keytar.

And that’s Crita, folks. Contrary to how it may sound, I don’t really dislike this figure at all. I kind of hate that I paid about $35 for her when you factor in shipping, but whatever. The rest of this Collectors Choice Sub has been rock solid, and if Crita’s the worst of the bunch, that’s still not too bad. I know quite a few folks were complaining about the QC on this one, like maybe it’s getting worse as the line gets closer to the end, but I don’t have any issues with mine, other than a stray spot of paint or two. Really, in the end my main gripe here is that her outfit is restricting, and she’s just not a lot of fun to play with. But in the end, it’s just nice to have a chick on hand to spruce up my Space Mutant shelf.

Sep 10 2016

ThunderCats Classics: Wilykit and Wilykat (SDCC Exclusive) by Mattel

Yes, folks, I’m sort of cheating on this fine Anime Saturday morning. Obviously this day is set aside for figures based on proper anime, but today I’m bending the rules so I can finally look at this set based on the Thundercats cartoon, which at least counts as animation, and a tenuous hook on which to hang today’s Feature. I was so excited for this set when it was first revealed. I cursed it for being a convention exclusive, but I vowed I would pay whatever price was needed. In the end, I was able to get it off of the soon to be defunct Matty Collector site with little difficulty and since then it’s been sitting in the corner silently mocking me. I should be cherishing this Feature, but I’m more in a mind of just wanting to get it over with…

Of course, the reason for my onset of Thundercats induced depression is because the line may already be dead. With Matty Collector going under at the end of the year and transferring their licenses to indie toy company, Super7, it seems unlikely (albeit not impossible) that Thundercats Classics will survive the switch. That means that after two false starts from Bandai, the dream of getting a full set of Thundercats figures based on the classic cartoon may still be only just that… a dream. With that rousing introduction out of the way, I’m going to try as hard as I can to not let any of the behind-the-scenes politics to cloud my opinions on these Thunder Kittens.

The packaging for this set sure is nice. I don’t know whether it was ever really an SDCC exclusive, few things are these days, but the presentation sure points to it being something special. The set comes in an illustrated black shipper box with the Eye of Thundera logo and the figures’ names below it.
Inside, you get a fantastic looking window box that shows off the figures and their accessories beautifully. The back and side panels feature some rather pretty character art, and the whole thing unfolds into an illustrated display stage with The Cat’s Lair in the background. Getting the figures and all the accessories out can be a pain, thanks to those terrible plastic ties that all these companies seem to be using now. Also, you’ll want to be super careful opening up the stage, which serves as a storage for the hoverboard display stands. Ultimately, Matty went all out for the presentation here and I absolutely respect and appreciate that.

And here are WilyKit and WilyKat out of the package. The figures themselves are special for being really the first time we’re getting proper figures of the Thunder Kittens. I believe LJN originally released them as static PVC figurines. They later got better releases, but still felt a little wanting. Even the 2011 reboot figures were rather insubstantial in the 3 3/4-inch scale and not released at all into Bandai’s 6-inch scale. The sculpts on these kittens are pretty solid. They do a nice job capturing both the character portraits as well as the classic costumes. Kat features his two-tone brown belted tunic and buccaneer boots. Kit features her ragged-cut dress and spats. Both figures have places on their belts where you can peg in the coiled versions of their weapons. Overall, there’s a very nice balance here between detail and adhering to the simple animated look.

The articulation here is identical on both figures, and it’s safe to say these are the best articulated versions of the kittens we’ve yet to see. You get rotating hinges in the shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees. The ankles are hinged, the waists and wrists have swivels, and the necks are ball jointed. Hinges in the wrists would have been nice and the tunic and dress do inhibit the hip movement a bit, but otherwise I really have no complaints when it comes to the pose-ability here.

Unfortunately, the paint quality runs hot and cold. Most of the paint on these are fine, but there are some flubs that have no business being on a pair of $60 figures in this scale. Oddly enough these mostly appear on my Kat, while Kit has escaped largely unscathed. The biggest offender is on my Wilykat’s face, where there’s a large glob of paint on his left cheek just beside his nose. There’s also a lot of paint chipping on his right arm just below his wrist bracer. Some of the lines could also be sharper.

Each of the kittens come with some extra hands. These are all pretty standard with the exception of the one sculpted with an effects part for Kat’s smoke bombs. The sculpt and paint on this piece are fantastic, but if memory serves, the purpose was to throw these and have them burst into a smokescreen, so why would they already be smoking in his hand? Am I missing something?

You also get deployed versions of each kittens weapon. Kat comes with his whip and Kit comes with her pink lasso. It’s worth pointing out that on the back of the box, it mentions Wilykit having a hypnotic flute as one of her weapons. It’s not included with the figure, but then unless I’m mis-remembering the flute was something they introduced in the 2011 reboot. Granted, it’s been a while since I’ve watched my original Thundercats DVDs, so I could be entirely off base on that one. Either way, it probably shouldn’t have been mentioned on the box.

The hoverboards are nice pieces, but the paint on these could have been better. Again, the issue seems to mostly affect Kat’s board and not Kit’s. Kat’s board just looks dirty on the top surface with all sorts of scratches and stray paint marks, and the edging lines aren’t really that sharp. Someone at the factory really had it out for WilyKat that day. If this set were a regular release that I had picked up through a regular retailer, I would have demanded an exchange for another one.

The clear stands secure pretty well to the bottoms of the boards and they hold them beautifully thanks to a pretty strong ball joint. Each stand features a sculpted Eye of Thundera. The figures attach to the boards via standard foot pegs and they look great riding them.

Finally, we have the stage, which folds out from the packaging. Even better, it can be folded back together so the figure can be returned to the packaging without any issues. I absolutely love when companies do this sort of thing and in this case it goes a long way to help justify the price point here. The artwork is beautiful and the figures look fantastic displayed on it. It’ll look fantastic at the back of a shelf with the kittens on the stage and whatever other figures we manage to get posed standing in front of it.

Also, if you’re wondering, the kittens scale pretty well with Bandai’s first pair of Thundercats Classics, Lion-O and Tygra.

If I set aside all the ill will I’m feeling toward Matty and their Thundercats Classics right now, this set really only suffers from some piss-poor paint QC, and I’m willing to concede that issue might be isolated to my particular set. If the paint on my Wilykit figure and board wasn’t such an issue, I’d be free to gush on about how much I adore these figures, the accessories, and the overall presentation. Even if we never do wind up with a complete set of Classics out of this line, it’s nice to finally have decent figures of the Thunder Kittens and knowing that I’ll at least have some of the core team to display them with. Indeed, I’m smitten enough with this set that I’m seriously considering rolling the dice on better paint and picking up a second one. And just because there aren’t enough Uncle Buck references in Thundercats action figure reviews…

“Hey Wilykat… Here’s a quarter. Go downtown and have a rat gnaw that thing off your face.”

Aug 12 2016

Batman (Classic TV Series): Batman, Robin & Batgirl Box Set by Mattel

For today’s DC Friday, I’m pulling out a line that I thought I was done with. As most of you probably remember, the 1966 Batman TV Series was in licensing limbo for a long time. No DVDs, no toys, no nothing. Well a couple of years back some lawyers reminded everyone involved that money is a good thing and managed to break that log jam. The result was an avalanche of toys and merchandise. Mattel scored the 6-inch scale action figure license and produced a couple of series of figures and while they were far from exceptional, they were fairly decent by Mattel standards.“Holy backhanded compliment, Matty, are you going to let him get away with that?” SHUT THE HELL UP, ROBIN, ADULTS ARE TALKING!!! I liked the figures well enough, but let’s face it, they would have been in better hands with just about anyone else. Where was I? Oh yeah… let’s look at this…

Yvonne Craig was one of the last hold outs in terms of likeness rights, Mattel finally got them, but the timing was awkward and unfortunate as the line was already breathing its final breaths. The package even makes a funny little jab at that fact with Robin’s quote: “Holy return from oblivion, Batman!” Mattel managed to get the figure out anyway, but in a typical Mattel dick move, they released her in this three-figure boxed set, making sure that pretty much everyone buying her was going to be re-buying the Batman and Robin figures too. This is actually my third time out with the same Batman figure, because Mattel made us buy him again in order to get Robin. Sheesh! In the end, this set arrived on store shelves around the same time the earlier figures were deep discounted on the clearance racks. I’m pretty sure this set was a Toys R Us Exclusive (that’s where I got mine), but there’s nothing denoting that on the package.

The packaging here is actually quite nice, although based on early promo pictures, I assumed the box opened up to look like this, but nope, it’s just a weirdly shaped three-window box. Presentation was always this line’s strongest suit , and I think that’s reflected here. The colorful artwork is great and the box shows off each of the figures beautifully. The back panel even shows Batgirl’s motorcycle. which would have been a pretty cool vehicle for Mattel to make if this line had lived longer. While the individual carded figures were not at all collector friendly, this set is, so between the Batmobile and these figures, I still have the look of the package represented on my shelf. Anyway, if you haven’t guessed by now I’m really here to check out the Batgirl figure. I’m not going to spend a lot of time with Batman and Robin, because I’ve already featured them here several years back. But let’s take a quick look at them anyway…

Batman is the same as the carded release, which just means he doesn’t have the wire running through his cape. So, I suppose if you only bought the Batman & Robin 2-pack, this figure is new to you. Robin also comes sans cape wire, which means he’s also sort of a new figure and he’s nice to have as he fits in the Batmobile better than wire-cape Robin. The paint on this pair is OK, but the quality seems to have dropped a smidge from the earlier runs. My Robin has a stray mark of green paint on his upper right leg and my Batman has a stray blue mark on his chest. Overall, though, not bad.

The articulation on these figures is pretty good for what are essentially Mattel’s Movie Masters line. The arms feature rotating hinges in the shoulders, swivels in the biceps and wrists, and hinges in the elbows. The legs feature those lateral hinges, which should be familiar to people from the DC Universe Classics days. There are swivels in the thighs and hinges in both the knees and ankles. There’s an ab crunch in chest and the necks are ball jointed. The right thigh swivel on my Batman is fused. It’s probably an easy fix with a little heat, but seeing as I now own three of these, I don’t think I’ll bother. A lot of people loved to shit all over these figures, but I really do enjoy them a lot. If these were available when I was a kid, it would have blown my little mind. Moving on to Batgirl…

I watched the intro of every episode of Batman with baited breath to see if Batgirl was going to drive by in the animated intro sequence. They did that whenever she was going to appear and while I’m not sure I knew why back then, I always wanted her to appear. She made me feel funny in every good way possible. Mmmm… Batgirl. What? Oh, the figure… right. This was a great costume. It was campy and colorful and it really showed off Barbara’s Bat Assets. The costume itself is recreated quite nicely here, but something about Batgirl’s figure is lost in her figure. She just ends up looking a little too boxy in the hips and a little too lanky in the limbs. The same was the case with this line’s Catwoman. Still, all in all, I think the good outweighs the bad here.

The cape is cool, so long as you’re OK with it always being spread out. The stitching is surprisingly well done for a figure in this scale and the fabric matches the purple paint on the cowl fairly closely. It’s definitely going for a singular look, but it displays nice on the shelf, so long as you don’t stand anyone behind her.

The head sculpt is fine, although it really begs the question why Mattel needed the rights to Yvonne Craig’s likeness to make this figure. Sure, it looks like her, but I attribute that mostly to the cowl and mask and hair. The eyes are painted sharp and straight and the extra flare of mascara really sells it, but it’s hard to believe they had to pay out to the actress just for the eyes and the lower half of the face sculpt. If this were a Hot Toys figure or even a NECA release, I could understand it. You’d get more of an attempt at accuracy in the sculpt. This feels more like what we might have had in a vintage action figure likeness.

The articulation here is pretty close to what we saw in The Dynamic Duo. You get identical articulation in the neck, arms, and legs. The only difference here is that the ab crunch on Batman and Robin is replaced with a ball joint under the chest. At least I think it’s a ball joint. Truth be told it only allows for a swivel on my figure. Despite her tiny feet and high heeled boots, she can stand surprisingly well. As for getting her to high kick? Well, as the fine print on the packages often say, that required some additional support.

One of the fun little gimmicks of this line was the inclusion of stands for all the figures, each of which featured one of the comic style fight expletives. In this case, Batman gets “BAM!” Batgirl gets “SOCK!” and Robin gets “WHAMM!!” Each has a foot peg to secure the figure and there’s a slot in the back to stick in the collector card, which doubles as a backdrop. I’ve opted not to remove my cards from the box, but the fronts have animated shots of the characters, and I presume the backs have stills from the TV series. At least that’s how the carded figures did it.

As I mentioned earlier, I really do like these figures and think it’s a shame they get dumped on as much as they do. I would have certainly been all in for another wave of villains. I think one of the big problems is that despite the “Adult Collector” moniker on the package, these feel more like toys to me than collectibles. But that’s fine, because in that sense they’re fulfilling a wish that I had as a kid. There’s no doubt a company like NECA could have done these better, hell they proved that with their one off Adam West Batman release, but I’m all for enjoying these for what they are, rather than lamenting over what they could have been. One legitimate gripe I do have about these was the price. These figures retailed for $20 a pop and these are definitely not twenty dollar figures. Not in any dimension. Fifteen? Yeah, I guess. And here’s where having to buy this whole set to get Batgirl won back a little favor with me. I got mine for $30 on clearance, which means if I factor Batgirl in at $20, I only paid five bucks a piece for the Dynamic Duo.

Jul 26 2016

Masters of the Universe Classics: Despara by Mattel

In case you haven’t heard, there’s been big doings over at Matty’s Castle. Matty Collector is officially closing down at the end of this year and the Adult Collector lines are being handed over to Super7. Right now it seems like Masters Classics will certainly continue under the new stewardship in some form, while the future of lines like ThunderCats, which haven’t even started shipping yet, are a bit more questionable. Either way, as we ponder the future of these lines, it seems only appropriate to be looking at one of my most anticipated figures from the Collectors’ Choice Sub. Let’s check out Despara!

Will Super7 carry over this style of packaging? I hope so! These packages have become so iconic to me over the last handful of years. No more bios on the back, but we do get Despara’s tag line on the front, “Powerful Force Captain of the Evil Horde” and a Horde sticker on the bubble. An explosion on the side panel declares this figure is part of the Collectors’ Choice Subscription. I think there are still two more figures coming in this Sub and I still have one other waiting on deck to review. As I understand it, Despara is the name used by Adora in the DC Comic, when she was a Force Captain for The Horde. I’ve never read it, but I do remember her being affiliated with The Horde in the beginning of the She-Ra Filmation cartoon, although I seem to recall that she was just called Force Captain Adora and that she wore her regular clothes. I think I like the DC version better, because…

Well, damn… just check her out! I don’t know about you, but being told that Force Captain Adora is coming to lay down some Horde law wouldn’t instill fear in me. Nor would I be trembling when some wholesome looking blonde shows up in a tunic and skirt. Now, you tell me Despara is coming to set fire to the village and this bitch turns up? I’m gonna get out my Bank of Etheria checkbook to pay my taxes right quick. This design is just so bad ass. Yeah, it’s basically just She-Hordak, but oh man, do I love it! You get that same sinister black and gray deco on her outfit and a little bit of red. Why no Horde emblem? I’m sure there must be a reason, no?

The stepped shoulder armor is part of the cape, which just lays on her shoulders. If you pop the head you can lose the cape to give her a little more agility for battle. The cape also features a pair of loops for her twin swords, which I’ll get to in a bit. The paint on this figure isn’t quite as tight as what I’m used to seeing on most of my MOTUC figures. It’s by no means terrible, but some of the lines could be a little sharper. Also, it’s just my personal preference, but I wish the outside of the cape was black. But who am I to nitpick the Horde Queen’s color choices?

The masked head is patterned after Hordak’s and it is every bit as ugly as it should be. Actually, it’s a wee bit uglier. The teeth look kind of sloppy in both sculpt and paint. Same goes for the cowl that frames the face. The truth is, we’ve seen better in this line. Just compare this portrait to any of the Hordaks and I think it comes up a little short. Again, not terrible, but I think Matty could have done better.

As we saw in the packaged shot, Despara comes with an unmasked head. It’s basically Adora with a buzz cut and some war paint under her eyes. The portrait looks a little too friendly, but I guess that’s why she has the mask. The paint here is fairly solid. I like the gloss they used on her lips and the bright white for her teeth. There is some unfortunate and annoying mold flashing around the edges of her chin and her ears. I love that we got this extra portrait, but will I be displaying it on the figure a lot? Probably not.

Articulation features the standard for MOTUC female bucks. That includes rotating hinges in the shoulders, swivels in the biceps and wrists, and hinged elbows. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, have hinges in the knees, swivels at the boots, and the ankles feature both hinges and lateral rockers. There’s a swivel in the waist, no ab-crunch, and a ball joint in the neck.

In addition to the extra head, Despara comes with her own Horde staff, which features an array of silver painted blades and a red tip. I like this thing. It’s a pretty cool mix of ceremonial piece and weapon.

Despara also comes with her twin swords and here’s where we run into some problems. The swords themselves are fine. They have silver painted blades and the hilts are black and red to accessorize with her outfit. They look great! No, the problem here is that her hands are clearly not made to hold them very well. The grip is just a little too big and the swords wind up falling out of her mitts. I can squeeze the grips to close them and that works for about a minute or so before they go back to normal and drop her swords. Now is a good time to go digging through the trash and find those clear plastic rubber bands they used to hold them in her hands while she was in the package!

If it sounds like I nitpicked Despara more than I do most Masters Classics figures, you have to understand that I was really looking forward to this one. And what I got is in no way a bad figure. There are, however, a few things about her that didn’t live up to my expectations and I feel some of that has to do with her coming at the end of Matty’s run. I could be totally off base on this conclusion, but the little nitpicks about this figure point to her being rushed. Just stand her next to the original Hordak and the difference in care and craftsmanship feel like night and day. I think the paint could have been a little tighter, the head sculpt a little better, and those sword-dropping hands really are a nuisance. Disappointed is way too strong a word for how I feel. I dig this figure a lot, but I can’t help but believe that had she been released a year or so ago, she would have turned out a little better for it.

Jun 28 2016

Masters of the Universe Classics: Darius by Mattel

Yes, folks, I continue to cling to the Masters Classics line through the tenuous link of the Collectors’ Choice subscription. I want to say this is the third release in this Sub, with another four or five still coming, but the constant delays are throwing off my count. It’s gotten to the point where I’m just surprised to see one of these show up at my door. Today I’m opening up Darius, and this is a figure that sat around for a little while because I honestly had very little interest in him and, mostly because he was not a Mythic Legions figure and right now anything that’s not a Mythic Legions figure can pretty much go to hell.

Of course, you get the same great packaging as always. Maybe not as snazzy and collector friendly as those Club Grayskull boxes, but I still dig it. You get a “Galactic Protectors” sticker on the bubble and his tagline is “Leader of the Galactic Protectors.” Yup, Darius is one of the good guys from the New Adventures of He-Man. To clarify, he is based off the prototype of an unreleased New Adventures figure and was going to be He-Man’s intergalactic mentor in the cartoon, but they ended up not using him. Do I care? Nah, I’m just in this line for the cool and wacky designs. Note how messed up the top of my card is? Despite charging like $12 for ground shipping, Matty continues to rely on just one sheet of crumpled brown paper as packing. Thanks, guys!

So, one of the things I like most about the New Adventures characters is that they allow for a lot more detail than a lot of the MOTU figures, and Darius here is a great example of that. The paint and sculpt on this dude is just totally off the charts for a line where we’re used to just getting a repainted muscular buck. Just look at all the gizmos sculpted into his vest and thigh armor and the straps holding them on. Even the coloring on this figure is outrageously good, with metallic copper and gold armor against a red and blue costume. Many of the sculpted details are highlighted with additional silver paint. Darius is a techno-infused feast for the eyes!

The blue cape is rather bloated and cumbersome. I think the use of plastic for capes on figures in this scale needs to go away. It looks OK from the front, but from the back it’s just a big hunk of plastic. It cries out for some sculpted stitching, or rumples and wrinkles. There’s even an unsightly seam running down the right hand side. Fortunately it is removable by pulling it out of the shoulder tabs.

The result not only frees the figure from a lot of unwanted bulk, but also lets you get a good look at all the beautiful detail on the back of the figure. Look at the individually painted straps and buckles on his leg armor. Check out all the work that went into the back of his vest. Why hide all that great stuff with an ugly blob of a cape?

The head sculpt here is absolutely fantastic. The facial features are very pronounced and he has a slight snarl that gives him loads of personality. The detail work in the beard and hair is great as well. Yeah, my figure has a few stray marks of the brown paint they used for the hair, but I just consider it dirt from the battlefield, or whatever. This is undoubtedly one of my favorite portraits in the entire line.

To protect that wonderful noggin, Darius comes with a removable helmet, something we haven’t seen a lot of the line. In fact, this may be a first, unless you count Flogg. It fits beautifully on the figure.

I wish I could tell you that Darius comes with some suitably amazing accessories, but the sad truth is that his shield and weapon are both disappointing. The shield is just a weird shape with virtually no detail. And the weapon is… well, I guess it’s some kind of flail, but it just looks ridiculous. It reminds me of an Aspergillum, which is a word I only know because I was raised Catholic and it’s a kind of mace that was used to spritz holy water on crowds of people. And a warm welcome, to all you bewildered folks who find themselves reading a Masters of the Universe action figure review because you googled Aspergillum and it brought you here! Anyway, I presume Darius’ ball is designed more for bashing in heads than it is blessing people. Either way, I just don’t like it at all.

It’s a shame to end this Feature on a downer due to some shitty accessories, because Darius really is a great figure. I was not looking forward to this guy, and even when he arrived, I had little interest and tossed him aside. Once I got him open and in hand, however, I found a lot to appreciate. I won’t lie, though. I’m really getting to the point with this line where I’m saying, “Wow, I paid like $37 for this guy if you factor in the shipping.” My conception of any kind of value in this line is beginning to wear thin, and I find myself becoming more comfortable with the fact that the end is drawing near. At the same time, I know there are some amazing figures yet to come!

Jun 14 2016

Masters of the Universe Classics: PowerCon Exclusive Granamyr by Mattel

Sometimes collecting MOTUC Exclusives can be a real ball buster. In the case of this year’s PowerCon Exclusives, you didn’t have to go to the Con, you just had to be willing to pony up big money on a pre-order at one of those well known online scalpers, oops… I mean toy retailers. One of those was a re-release of the large dragon, Granamyr in his green Mini-Comic colors. The price? $140 for a repaint of a toy that was originally $85 back in 2012. Hey, don’t judge me… it’s already selling for a lot more than that on Ebay and it’s still cheaper than what the original red Granamyr is going for these days. Besides, my idea of self-control was not buying the other two PowerCon Exclusives. So hey, let’s take a look at this big-ass dragon…

The box looks very similar to the one used for the original release with his color being appropriately changed from red to green. I absolutely adore the artwork here. It’s very reminiscent of the stuff we used to get back in the vintage days. His tag line on the front reads, “Great Dragon Lord of Darksmoke” and it points out that as big as this box is, he does indeed come unassembled. The box is collector friendly, but it has that weird shape that Matty loves to do on these things, meaning that there’s actually multiple flaps on the side panels, the tape on each of which need to be carefully cut in order to preserve the box while opening him.

The back features a picture of the toy and a full bio. You also get a little headshot from the Mini-Comic, which inspired this new deco for the character. I was really on the fence over picking up the original release of this guy, but I had a lot of other irons in the fire and my resolve actually held out for once. When I saw how great this re-deco looked in green, I just couldn’t resist. Time to open him up!

Dragon parts!!! Inside the box you get two trays of parts, plus the torso wrapped in a plastic bag, and a simple, folded instruction sheet. There are a total of ten parts used to build him: Two legs, two arms, torso, neck, head, two wings, and a tail. If you’ve ever put together a Hasbro Build-A-Figure or a Mattel Collect-And-Connect, than putting this beast together should feel familiar, only on a much larger scale. I was surprised that it looks like he’s capable of being disassembled and returned to the box, which isn’t always the case with these kinds of assembly jobs. I can’t imagine any time when I won’t want this guy on display, but it’s always nice to have options to return a toy to the box, especially when it’s an exclusive release like this one.

Dear God, this thing is gorgeous! GORGEOUS!!! If you already have the original release, most of what I’ve got to say will be common knowledge, but this is my first experience with the figure, so please forgive me, because I’m going to have to do a lot of gushing. Granamyr measures about 14-inches tall in his seated position, and make no mistake, this is a figure that is designed to be sitting. His spindly little dragon legs can indeed be stretched out for him to stand on, making him monstrously tall, but he really looks goofy when standing. He does, however, look right at home seated with his knees drawn up on either side of his chest. Regardless, he’s still fully articulated in his arms and legs, with rotating hips and shoulders and rotating hinges in the elbows, knees, wrists, and ankles. He has additional swivels at his chest and the base of his tail, there are rotating hinges in his wings, and his neck is ball jointed.

The sculpt here is quite extravagant. The body is indeed rotocast, and that sometimes results in softer and mushier sculpts, but that’s certainly not the case here. Every part of his body is covered with sculpted scales, which feature some beautiful definition, making him look ancient. You also get crosscuts in his chest and the bottom ridges of his tail, some nice barbs coming off of his forearms, and a row of beefy spikes running down his spine. You can even make out the muscle definition in his upper legs and the tendons running from his fingers to the backs of his hands. The detail on display here feels worthy of a higher end statue, and it’s really something special to see it on an action figure, albeit a rather pricey one.

Like a great piece of art, the quality and composure of the paint compliments this sculpt brilliantly. That’s not to say the original red version wasn’t stunning, this one is just… different. The multiple shades of green are applied to get the most out of picking out the detail in the scales and muscles and other bits of dragon anatomy, with a lighter lime green used for his belly and some glossy gray paint for his claws.

And then there’s the head sculpt, which is a total knock-out. Sure it helps that they had a great design to begin with, but the quality of this sculpt just elevates it through the roof. The wrinkles, the jagged teeth, those lizard-like creases around the corners of his mouth. The cavernous nostrils and the prominent, imposing brow framing those mystical pupil-less white eyes. Everything here is just so masterfully done giving Granamyr a ton of personality and an ancient and wizened look.

The paintwork on the face is also stellar and arguably even better than the body. It emphasizes every little crease and crevice. The teeth are painted to match his claws, the eyes are now white, instead of the yellow used for the first release, and his helmet is finished to look like worn, cold steel. The horns on the helmet have a realistic ivory finish.

I already walked through the articulation here, and pointed out that this figure is designed with a very singular display option, however, that doesn’t mean the articulation is wasted. Not at all. You can still get some wonderfully expressive poses out of him and he’s still a lot of fun to play with.

I pre-ordered this beauty the day it went up, and I’ll be real honest and admit that when the pre-order finally dropped, I found myself hit with a pang of regret. My list of want-to-buy toys right now is pretty long and I’m already making some painful compromises to accommodate my budget. I needed a $140 dragon hitting my checkbook like I needed a hole in the head. Checking completed listings on Ebay, I had every intention of putting him on the block when he arrived and making a little extra cash on the deal too. But then I opened him and put him together and sat this majestic creature on my desk beside me. It was then I instantly knew that I had made the right decision buying him and that there was no way I could give him up. This is quite simply a work of art and I absolutely love him. What’s more, he’s such a versatile figure, and I can see using him in a whole bunch of different displays besides MOTUC, from Mythic Legions to my LJN Advanced Dungeons & Dragons figures. He’s going to be welcome among many different lines.

Jun 9 2016

Masters of the Universe Classics: Goat Man by Mattel

Masters Classics continues to limp along as I cling to the glory days with my little Collector’s Choice subscription. But since that figure was delayed (again!), today I’m going to open up Goat Man, a figure I picked up during one of the Early Access sales. Goat Man was one of those infuriating exclusives that was available at multiple conventions and eventually put up for sale on Matty’s site with warnings about limited quantities. I don’t recall whether he sold out quickly, but whatever the case, Matty had some more lying around and we got a second chance at him a couple of months back. This was a good thing, because he’s a really obscure character, which must have been like a dream come true for a lot of hardcore fans. For me, seeing him just made me realize that my Eternian shelves lacked a Goat Man and I just couldn’t have it.

Despite being a Con Exclusive, there’s nothing on the package to indicate that. Flipping over the card reveals that he was the days of the line (last year) when Matty still printed bios on the back of the cards. While his tag line, “Horn-Headed Servant of Beast Man” more or less sums him up, reading the bio told me that he also got his ass kicked by Buzz-Off. Jeez. That’s quite the resume.

Goat Man feels like he settled on his name because Ram Man was already taken. There’s nothing terribly goat-ish about him. He doesn’t have hooves for feet. He doesn’t have those creepy horizontal irises, nor does he have a scraggly little chin beard. He does feature a pretty standard MOTUC buck with the usual furry diaper and belt, some blue boots with scalloped tops, and some thigh wraps, that I don’t remember ever seeing before. The torso is covered with a vest that makes him look really puffy, and some criss-crossing black straps sculpted on.

The paint here is mostly good. The combination of blue used for the boots and belt, and the red for the furry diaper, gloves, and vest makes for a colorful deco. There’s even a very subtle difference between the metallic red they used on the flared shoulders and the regular red used for the rest of the vest. I do find it peculiar that his skin is regular flesh tone, while his face is red. The paint on my figure has a few minor flubs, like some chipping on the black straps on the back of his vest, but overall the quality is OK.

The head sculpt here is decent, but nothing much to write home about. It’s actually a pretty scary portrait, with the mouth full of sharp teeth, the black and red eyes, and the curling ram… I mean goat horns. This guy looks like he would be right at home on the cover of an 80’s Heavy Metal album. Again, the fact that his face is red and the rest of the skin isn’t makes it look like he’s supposed to be wearing a mask. If that’s the case, than I have to bring his pedigree as a legitimate Goat Man into further question.

The articulation conforms to the usual standard MOTUC buck. If there’s going to be one positive thing about this line ending is that I won’t have to run down the articulation on these any longer. Right now, I can practically do it in my sleep. The arms have rotating hinges in the shoulders, swivels in the biceps and wrists, and hinges in the elbows. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, have hinges in the knees and ankles, and swivels up near the hips. There’s a swivel in the waist, an ab crunch hinge in the torso, and a ball joint in the neck.

Goat Man comes with two accessories, but only one is intended for him. His is the huge, bitchin’ hammer and I absolutely love this thing. It’s a simple sculpt, with a steel finish and a sculpted, brown wrapped grip. It looks totally appropriate for him and it’s probably one of my favorite MOTUC weapons in a long while.

The other accessory is the Staff of Avion taken from the Mini Comics. For a little while now, Matty has been trying to get extra accessories out to the fans by randomly bundling them with other figures, and this staff is yet another example of that. I can’t say that I was pining to get this into my collection, but I’ll never say no to another accessory. It’s mostly translucent green plastic with a little gold paint, and it actually looks quite striking. It’s ironic, but Stratos originally came with no accessories and now he has two Staffs of Avion (the other coming with Filmation Icer).

Goat Man doesn’t really impress me all that much, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t like him. Hell, it’s hard for me to think of too many figures in this line that I don’t like. He’s certainly a solid figure and a welcome addition to the already colorful menagerie of characters in my MOTUC collection, but I’m glad I didn’t go nuts trying to get him when I missed out on him the first time. And believe me, I almost ended up going the Ebay route on this guy. Hopefully, I’ll be able to look at the Collector’s Choice figure, Darius, within the next week or so as I just got shipping notification on him right here in front of me… TWELVE BUCKS FOR SHIPPING ONE FIGURE… Oh, YOU CAN GO STRAIGHT TO HELL, MATTY, AND I HOPE GOAT MAN IS WAITING THERE FOR YOU WITH HIS GIANT BALL-BUSTING HAMMER!!! I do also have the PowerCon Exclusive Granamyr figure on its way, so it’ll be a race to see which one gets here first. I’m betting it’s Granamyr, because Matty’s twelve dollar shipping takes forever.

May 24 2016

Masters of the Universe Classics: Vultak by Mattel

It’s been almost a couple of months since I last looked at anything from Masters of the Universe Classics. But, last week I got a new package from Matty on my doorstep, so today I’m opening up Vultak, who’s motto should be better late than never. Or rather it seems that should be the motto of the Collector’s Choice 2016 line, since we’re seeing a lot of delays. I’ll confess, I don’t remember a lot about this guy, but with a ton of MOTUC figures now on my shelf, I don’t think there are any surprises left in this line…

…unless Vultak turns out to be an “Evil Flying Zookeeper.” Well played, Matty. I stand corrected. Well, at least there’s nothing new to say about the packaging. It’s the same awesome presentation we’ve been seeing all along, except for the lack of bio on the back of the card. Besides having a ridiculous title, Vultak is a member of The Evil Horde, and unfortunately made an appearance in the She-Ra Filmation cartoon, which meant that I was contractually bound to watch it for this Feature. The episode is called “Zoo Story” and it was about 24 minutes of pure agony. Despite having the word “story” in the title, there was no story, just a shallow mystery surrounding animals disappearing from the ironically named “Freedom Forest.” Who took them? Vultak, of course! Hordak’s Evil Zookeeper! What a cheat! How were we kids supposed to figure that out when we never saw this asshole before?

Anyway, the episode may be terrible, but Vultak is a pretty cool figure. He sports a standard buck, cast in gray, complete with standard belt and fuzzy diaper. The bulk of his costume comes from his black vest with red Horde emblem sculpted on the front and his abs are painted black to give the illusion that it’s part of the vest. He also has webbed reptilian feet, which I thought we’d seen before, but the ankle articulation makes me think they may be new.

Speaking of seeing things before, he’s also wearing the wings from Mattel’s DC Universe Classics Hawkman figure. Not a bad choice for recycling and they look really good on Vultak. The coloring on this figure is pretty basic, but makes for a very pleasing deco. The red Horde emblem combined with the blue paint for the wrist cuffs, boot fringe, and belt, really contrasts beautifully with the gray and black. The wings have a slight purple about them.

Besides the wings, the head sculpt is the real draw here. It’s not only a good likeness to the Filmation character, but it packs a lot of personality all on its own. Keep in mind, Hordak didn’t have this guy run the Zoo for wildlife preservation. He didn’t even do it so he could sell tickets and make a profit. He did it just because he’s a dick and wanted to keep a lot of animals locked up in cages. They literally point that out in the episode. Look into the face of this figure and you are looking at the type of degenerate that would run that kind of place. He looks like a real sicky who is way too proud of himself. Seriously, I love that he’s smiling.

You get all the usual MOTUC articulation, which includes rotating hinges in the shoulders, swivels in the biceps, hinges in the elbows, swivels in the wrists, ball joints in the hips, hinges in the knees, a waist swivel, a ball jointed neck, and an ab crunch hinge. The ankles are hinged and have lateral rockers that I believe are the ones introduced to the Club 2.0 2016 Filmation line. I’m not a big fan of the way they look, but the rockers are nice. Finally, the wings are hinged where they connect to the back and and hinged again to allow them to extend.

Vultak comes with two accessories. You get the ubiquitous Horde crossbow, but it’s a new sculpt with a feathered wing motif. Matty should consider releasing some kind of specialized weapons rack to display all the individual Horde Crossbows. They’ve had some really cool and varied designs over the years.

You also get a pretty cool leash with a collar that opens and then pegs closed. I don’t have any animals to put it on, but it also works for capturing Rebellion scum. Especially when they’re do-gooders trying to free the animals in your zoo.

Will I ever grow tired of collecting these figures? Probably not. Vultak is as solid a figure as they come and he makes me happy that I subbed the Collector’s Choice line. While double dipping on animated versions of characters I have already was too much to ask, I’m glad we’re still getting new releases this way. Especially when they’re Evil Horde members like Vultak. I’ll take all the Horde figures I can get! Plus, getting my MOTUC shipments every other month keeps my Matty fix going a little longer until the Thundercats start shipping.

Apr 8 2016

DC Super Hero Girls: Wonder Woman by Mattel

After many weeks of statues, it’s time for me to get back to action figures on DC Friday, at least for a while. And while I’m setting my sites on Wave 2 of the DC Icons Series, I’m going to make a stop on the way this week to take a look at Mattel’s newest line of action figures… for girls!

There’s been a lot of stir over the last year or so about toys and gender roles: From Target re-branding its toy aisles with gender neutral colors to Kickstarters like IAmElemental introducing empowering action figures aimed at girls. And now Mattel enters the fray with their DC Super Hero Girls. Now, a good part of this line consists of traditional dolls that seem to capitalize on Mattel’s stupendously popular Monster High formula only with DC super heroes instead of freaky girl-monsters. But it’s the 6-inch action figures that got me to sit up and take notice. These figures are exclusive to Target right now, but due to see a wider release later this Summer. Let’s check out Wonder Woman…

The packaging here is colorful and stands out, even in an aisle full of other toy packages. The figure comes on a custom card with character art in the upper left corner and a large bubble that shows off the entire figure quite nicely. I don’t really plan on consuming any of the media surrounding this line, but the blurb on the back suggest that these versions of our favorite DC ladies are adolescents going to Super Hero High. Hmm… based on that, I’m not so sure this is quite the empowering, gender-busting concept that I thought it was going to be, but…

Wonder Woman sports a fresh take on her iconic costume and I really dig what they did with it. Here she’s got a red top with a gold belt and a cool “WW” collar that extends out to form flared shoulders. The costume is rounded out with blue pants, complete with stars running up the sides, red boots with white wings, white short sleeves, and her trusty bullet deflecting bracelets. In this case, maybe they only deflect spitballs.

The coloring on the figure is bright and satisfying, but the plastic quality isn’t the best. It’s a little on the mushy side, and her ankles are a little warped from being in the tray. That last bit is rather ironic since the back of the package actually says, “Action figures stand on their own” and that’s a bit of a stretch with this one. The combination of soft plastic and tiny feet make standing Wonder Woman to be a chore half the time.

The head sculpt features a youthful, wide-eyed, hyper cute take on the character. The tampos used for the eyes are nice and clean and she has her iconic tiara. The purple hair is a little odd, but it’s so dark that it almost looks black. The whole thing had a definite Disney Princess vibe going on and indeed, I’d be surprised if Disney doesn’t jump on this train with young, cute Disney-fied versions of their Marvel gals. I can see it now… super cute, teenage Black Widow sporting her twin Glocks… hmm, maybe not.

Articulation is not bad. You get rotating hinges in the shoulders, elbows, and hips. The knees are hinged and you get swivels in the wrists and boots. There’s no torso articulation, but the neck is ball jointed.

Wonder Woman comes with one accessory and that’s her golden lasso. It looked like string in the package, but it’s actually soft molded plastic. The coiled end has a tab to attach it to her belt. It makes for a decent looking display piece for a limited number of poses, but I’m a little bummed that it isn’t more versatile. I think string might have been better. At the very least they should have included a fully coiled one that she can wear all the time.

While the quality and articulation isn’t up to most action figures in the boys aisles, it’s worth remembering that this is a 6-inch figure priced at $9.99. That in itself is a bit of a miracle in this day and age. Granted, I’m a bit let down by the fact that these figures are wrapped in the same sort of pedantic school drama as Monster High or Ever After High or Whatever-the-hell-other-High. Then again, having not sipped from the cup of DC Super Hero Girls fiction, it could emphasize the adventure and crime fighting just as much, and I hope that’s the case. Without getting tied up in semantics, it’s safe to say that this is still a legit action figure aimed at girls and I honestly can’t remember the last time I saw something like this in the toy aisle. In the end, she’s a fun little figure, and I’ll definitely be picking up some more of these.

Mar 31 2016

Masters of the Universe Classics: Serpentine King Hssss by Mattel

Controversy and Matty Collector seem to go together like PB&J. In this case, the hub-bub centered around word that Matty would be including a newly tooled snake torso for King Hssss in one of the Club Eternia figures for 2015. I try to tune out a lot of this stuff, but I think the plan was to pack it with Buzz Saw Hordak, which admittedly would have made that terrible figure a bit easier to swallow. Whether this was a promise or a loose comment, I don’t remember, but the bottom line was it didn’t happen because it would have been too expensive and despite Matty being fairly transparent on the matter and sending out a letter to the fans, subscribers still went berserk. Matty ultimately offered the piece for sale as its own figure with a bevy of extras at a pretty good price and it arrived at my door last week.

Yup, that’s the same old MOTUC packaging we’ve been seeing for years now. There’s even still a bio on the back, which is missing from the most current figure cards. You get a colorful “Snake Men” sticker on the bubble and Hssss’ tagline is “Evil Disguised Leader of the Snake Men.” To say that he fills out the bubble nicely is a bit of an understatement. It actually looks like Matty just took a pound of snakes and crammed them in there. In fact, it’s such a mess of snakes that I can barely make out most of the accessories.

There’s no doubt that the new torso is the star of this show. It takes the concept of the snake torso that we got with the original Classics King Hsss and cranks everything up. It’s beefier, better proportioned, and it ultimately it makes a pretty goofy idea and makes it look bad ass. Also, someone clearly said, “NEEDS MORE SNAKES!” I actually own two of the first Masters Classics King Hssss, which is convenient to display one human and one half snake. It’s also an odd thing to admit to, since I was never that fond of the original’s snake torso and would probably never display him with it. But this? This I like a lot. If the were coming after me, I would step on old ladies and babies to get away from this guy. Thanks to some bendy plastic and wires, six of the snakes are posable, so while the only two actual articulation points above the waist are the swivels in the waist and the main snake’s “neck” you can still have some fun with him.

The sculpting and paint on display here are both excellent. Hssss is covered in scales quite literally from head(s) to toe and there’s a lovely high gloss finish over the whole figure to give it that illusion of slime that all snakes are burdened with. The bulk of the figure is a sort of ochre color, that feels like a nod to the original snake torso, with green patterns. From the waist down, this seems to be a repaint from the Snake Men two-pack. At least that’s my impression. I never did get my hands on one of those packs. Either way it mates wonderfully with the new torso, although the legs on my figure are somewhat loose.

The main portrait features an open mouth, which offers a grizzly view right down the snake’s gob, and displays a pair of white fangs and a long cascading forked tongue. All the snake heads, right down to the tiniest have solid paintwork for their eyes and mouth and all around this is a great looking figure.

To sweeten the deal, Hssss comes with what is basically a mini-weapons-pack, which includes a shield, a mace, and a sword and spear, both with serpentine blades. These are actually some of my favorite weapons to come out of the line and they go a long way toward building value in this package. The weapons can be held in some of the smaller snakes’ mouths, but it’s tough to make it work and I honestly think these weapons will be better served getting doled out to my Snake Men or just being added to one of my Weapons Racks.

How about a bonus head? Yeah, Matty’s got us covered there too with a mid-transformation snake head for the humanoid King Hssss figure. Now, I presume this was intended for both the original and the 200x versions, but the socket is way too small for my original Classics Hssss. I’m sure I could get it to work if I tried hard enough, but for our purposes here, I’m showcasing it on the 200x figure from the two-pack. Again, it’s a great piece of work and looks fantastic on the figure.

Of course, while Serpent King Hssss is a complete figure onto its own, the torso is also compatible with the legs from either of the previous King Hsss figures, so you can mix-and-match all you want.

Naturally, I’m very glad Matty got this figure out and onto my shelf. It totally blows away the previous snake torso on every level and the fact that they gave him some legs and threw in so many accessories makes the pot all the sweeter. As for the controversy… it doesn’t really interest me. I can see collectors being frustrated when a company can’t follow through on an expectation, but while I am a toy collector, I’m not a child, and I realize these things happen in the grown up world of big business. I can see cause for rage if this individual piece motivated someone to buy in to the sub only to find it wasn’t included, but I can’t imagine that was the case for most. And in the end, the figure went up for sale to subscribers for $20, which quite frankly is a great deal for this densely packed bundle of goodies.

FigureFan Zero

Action Figure Reviews, Toys & Collectibles…

Tag Archives: mattel

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Masters of the Universe Classics: Darius by Mattel

Masters of the Universe Classics: PowerCon Exclusive Granamyr by Mattel

Masters of the Universe Classics: Goat Man by Mattel

Masters of the Universe Classics: Vultak by Mattel

DC Super Hero Girls: Wonder Woman by Mattel

Masters of the Universe Classics: Serpentine King Hssss by Mattel

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