Masters of the Universe Classics: Battle Lion by Mattel

This week was another Matty Sale Day and that made me realize that I’m still about a month behind on one of the items that I got from the May Subscription. It’s Battle Lion, and the fact that I haven’t opened him until now should give some indication that this figure was not high on my list of wants. In fact, Battle Lion is the first offering of the 2014 Sub that I would rather not have been committed to buy. That’s not too bad, considering we’re already halfway done with the year. Now, in fairness, my disinterest in this figure probably has to do with the fact that I don’t have the King Greyskull figure to accompany him. Anyway, let’s check him out and see if he surprises me.

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Battle Lion comes in a package similar to the ones used for Battle Cat and Panthor. It’s a sort of trapezoidal window box with the familiar green stone Greyskull theme. My particular figure has one of his paw armor parts rattling around inside the box. The back taunts you with pictures of figures you can no longer buy from Matty and there’s the usual bio. As always, I love the presentation here. I was even tempted to keep the package to put him back in until I get him a proper rider. But thrift of space won the day and I pitched it. Let’s get this kitty out of the package…

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So, if you haven’t guessed already, this figure reuses the body from Battle Cat and Panthor. I thought the body sharing between those two figures was pretty successful, even though I still don’t own a Classics Panthor. At least they were different colors and that alone helped set them apart as being rather unique. Here, Battle Lion is still green, albeit missing Battle Cat’s stripes, and so the reuse is a lot more obvious and thereby makes the figure a lot less interesting to me. On the surface it felt more like a a quick cash grab than most of the parts recycled figures that this line turns out. Again, that probably won’t be an issue for someone keen to get this character, assuming such people exist. I’m a fan of the MYP series, but I still don’t remember the episode with Greyskull and Battle Lion, so at some point I should pull out my DVD set and re-educate myself on the matter. Anyway, my own personal well of interest in MOTU lore is about as deep as a puddle, so clearly this figure wasn’t aimed t me. Still, that’s never stopped me from enjoying figures based off of unknown characters before.

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The new bits include the head and tail. The tail is tufted at the end and on a ball and hinge joint for a little poseability. It certainly looks quite lion-y. The head sculpt is absolutely magnificent. The area around the eyes still seems to share a lot with Battle Cat, almost to the point where I’m wondering if this is a resculpt rather than a complete remold. The mane, however, is so majestic and the jaw, while very limited in its articulation looks great as well. Those giant saber-tooth fangs are just awesome and the paintwork on the teeth and mouth is actually better than on my Classics Battle Cat. If you’re going to repurpose a figure, this is how to do it. There’s nothing at all half-assed about this head sculpt. Quite the contrary, from a technical and artistic standpoint, I find it to be of a higher quality than the one used for Battle Cat. So, bravo to T4H for not phoning this one in as a quick-and-dirty project.

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The armor is every bit as distinctive as the new head. It consists of four pieces: The saddle, which straps comfortably around his belly, the face plate, and two pieces for his front paws. Despite having fallen off in the package, I’m impressed at how well the paw pieces stay in place when clipped on. The face plate also stays on quite well and it doesn’t cause his head to droop like the weighty mask included with Battle Cat. In fact, I’d dare say that all this armor fits better. The saddle is very roomy and even has all sorts of controls and stuff sculpted into it and the mix of matte and gloss paint on all the armor pieces is certainly appreciated. Lastly, the two shields on the front of the armor are actually removable.

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As expected from a total body recycle, Battle Lion features the same articulation as Battle Cat. It’s been a while since I featured Cat, so let’s run down the points. The hind legs rotate at the hips, are hinged at the knees and again at that second knee (for lack of a better term), and they are ball jointed at the ankles. The front legs rotate at the shoulders and have ball joints at the knees and ankles. The head can raise and lower and twist side to side and there’s a swivel in the body, just behind the shoulders. As already mentioned, the tail is on a ball joint. The joints are all nice and tight and Battle Lion is quite fun to play with and pose.

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Don’t let my ignorance-slash-apathy for Battle Lion as a character fool you, he’s a magnificent toy. He looks amazing and in the end, I’ll certainly admit he makes for a good use of a recycled body. He even has me lamenting the fact that I don’t have the King Greyskull to ride him and seeing as how he’s going to be in my display anyway, I might as well try to pick up Greyskull for him. Well, played Matty, you will get even more money from me. Actually, you won’t as I’ll have to get him on the second-hand market, so… Haha… I win this round afterall! Granted, had Battle Lion been an optional purchase, I would not have bought him, but I can’t say as I’m pissed off for having to add him to my collection. If someone is going to force toys on me, they might as well be awesome ones like this kitty. My original intentions were to flip him on Ebay without even opening him, but very few MOTUC toys have disappointed me, and Battle Lion continues to press that trend!

Masters of the Universe Classics: Scorpia by Mattel

Like it or not, Matty seems to be focusing a lot on Princess of Power for 2014. I’m perfectly happy with that, not only because they’ve all been great figures, but it’s also nice to see a line put such an emphasis on female action figures. It took us forever just to get a 6-inch movie version of Black Widow out of Hasbro but Masters has been churning out the ladies in droves. I suppose that’s one of the benefits of not having to bend to the whims of retailers. For May, Matty doubled up with both a regular monthly figure and a quarterly beast. Today we’re checking out Scorpia and next week we’ll take a look at Battle Lion.

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You know the drill by now. Scorpia comes in the usual Greyskull-inspired package. She’s mounted inside the bubble on her side to accommodate that tail of hers. There’s a sticker on the bubble that signifies she is a member of “The Evil Horde” and her tagline is “Stinging Horde Enforcer!” The back of the card shows other Horde figures (Damn, I really need that Leech!) and the usual bio card. Wait… Scorpia’s real name is Lynda D’ream? There’s a stripper name if I ever heard one! Let’s get her open and check her out!

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I never watched a lot of She-Ra, but for whatever reason I remember Scorpia really well. Maybe she made an impact on me or I just happened to catch her episodes the most. Either way, I was excited to get this figure and I’m extremely pleased with the way she turned out. Her costume really advertises her Horde alliance what with the black and red deco and the Horde emblem sculpted rather creatively into her belt and the way the wings seem to rise up and cradle her boobs. Even before we get to her scorpion parts, it feels like a lot of original work went into this figure. She just seems really fresh. The scorpion parts are made of textured red plastic and include her shoulder armor, her dainty little claw and that long, lean and sexy tail. Mmmm… nothing does it for me like arachnid parts on a woman.

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The tail itself is surprisingly light. It’s made of very soft plastic and has one swivel cut in the first segment after it comes off her tushie. Some may complain that it isn’t actually articulated more, but I think what’s here works well. You can stretch it out and maneuver it into all sorts of positions and it will snap back to its natural state. It also doesn’t hinder the figure’s balance at all, but I’ll come back to that in a bit.

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The portrait here is fantastic. When I looked at Netossa last week I expressed a bit of fatigue over the sameness in many of the MOTUC lady portraits. That’s certainly not the case with Scorpia. Her face sculpt is as unique as they come. She’s just the right mix of scary and pretty, which is something I tend to attribute to my ex-fiancé. The paint apps on her face are also immaculate and I really dig the look of her exaggerated green eye shadow. Everything about this figure’s sculpt and paint are a homerun.

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Moving on to articulation and yeah, it’s mostly the same old song. But while the points are mostly the same, Scorpia feels like her articulation is a lot more serviceable. I’m thinking it has to do with the fact that there isn’t anything hindering those hips, but whatever the case I had an unusually great amount of fun posing her and it doesn’t hurt that she’s an extremely well balanced figure. Even with a set of high heeled boots and a big tail hanging off her back, she’s still quite easy to keep standing.

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You get one accessory with Scorpia and that’s her Horde crossbow.  Now, I’m quite partial to all the Horde crossbows so I was going to love this piece no matter what, but I still think this is one of the cooler ones. Scorpia may be part arachnid, but she’s also a girl and that means she needs to accessorize. Naturally, her crossbow is a custom piece with a very chic scorpion theme. The sculpt and paint on it are really beautiful and it clips onto her tiny little wrist quite well.

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If you haven’t figured it out by now, I think Scorpia is an awesome figure and I’m happy to have her join Catra and Octavia as a trio of Evil Horde ladies on my shelf. I don’t keep a finger on the pulse of the Masters fandom, so I’m not sure whether those collectors have warmed up to the idea of lots of PoP figures invading their Classics line, but personally, I can’t get enough of these gals. As vintage toys, these were characters were basically dolls and didn’t mesh well with the vintage Masters figures, but to get them as actual action figures is just really cool. It’s no wonder I picked up the Club Etheria Sub too. Honestly, if we got nothing but PoP figures for the rest of the year, and they were all as good as Scorpia, I would be perfectly fine with that.

Masters of the Universe Classics: Netossa by Mattel

This month Matty Collector gave fans another crack at picking up Netossa and I was all ready to be there for Early Access to scoop her up. Then I did a little research and found that I could get her from another seller off Amazon with free shipping and save about seven bucks so I got her there instead. I originally passed on this gal the first time because I was missing a couple of the Princess of Power characters and wasn’t sure whether I’d be able to get them, but now I’m up to date on almost all of Etheria’s rebellious ladies, so I decided to add her to the collection.

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There’s the packaging looking as smashing as ever with Netossa trapped beyond the bubble. Now the tables are turned, Netossa! How do you like being trapped, eh? The only thing worth pointing out here is the Princess of Power sticker on the bubble. Her tag line on the insert is “Captivating Beauty!” Oh, I see what you did there, Matty! The back of the card shows a bunch of other PoP characters available, including that controversial Star Sisters three-pack, which I may have just picked up today for ridiculously cheap. Bow is also missing from my collection, and one of these days I’m going to have to lay out more money to get him than I would like to. Anyway, let’s free Netossa and see what she’s all about.

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Hailing from the far reaches of Etheria, Netossa is a Nubian beauty and her action figure certainly looks the part. I thought that the blue hair with her dark complexion took me a little getting used to, but I find myself digging it a lot. It adds to her exotic charm. Her outfit design is one of the more interesting of rebellion ladies. The flared out tops and the detail work on her tummy give it something of an art deco vibe and I like the long sash part of her skirt that drops down between her legs. The ensemble is rounded out by a pair of white bracers and white boots. A little added silver and blue paint adds just the right touch.

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The portrait here is very good, although I’m starting to feel a sense of sameness with Matty’s MOTUC female sculpts. Netossa’s features are probably the most unique we’ve seen yet and still the cheekbones and somewhat flatness of the face feels very similar to a lot of the other ladies going all the way back to Teela. Maybe that’s not so much a complaint as just an observation. I still like what we got here and I’m pleased to see that Tossa’s expression came out a lot less stern than it looked in the original pictures. Her modern redesign does a nice job incorporating the soft goods hood from the vintage figure into some stylish wings, which I presume are supposed to be part of the cape, but more on that in a sec. The paintwork on the eyes and lips is excellent and the hair sculpt is pretty basic stuff.

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As her name suggests, Netossa’s big thing is tossing her net, which doubles as her cape. Of course, the cape is removable simply by popping off the head, but if you remove it, the wings on her head stay in place as they are sculpted as part of her noggin. I’m sure I’m going to display her with the cape on, so that’s not a huge deal for me, but considering the character is all about removing and tossing her cape, it’s something of an oversight in the design. I’ll also say that it would have been nice if they had incorporated some kind of handle or way for her to hold the cape like she’s tossing it. I tend to just hook her hand around the neck hole and it seems to work OK.

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The articulation here is exactly what you should expect by now from the female MOTUC bucks, but hey, let’s run through it anyway. The arms are ball jointed at the shoulders, hinged at the elbows and have swivels in the biceps and wrists. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, hinged at the knees and ankles, and she has rockers in the ankles. Netossa has a ball jointed neck and she can swivel at the waist. It’s worth mentioning that the knee joints on my figure are pretty loose so this one is probably going to be quite prone to taking shelf dives. I’ll have to make sure that she’s in the front row.

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Seeing how Netossa’s main accessory doubles as her cape, Mattel managed to get away without adding much in the way of extras. You do get a shield, which is a silver repaint of She-Ra’s shield with a blue crystal in it. I don’t mind the re-use here as it is indeed still a nice piece and it matches the figure well.

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All in all, Netossa is a cool enough figure and a nice addition to my Great Rebellion shelf. I find that she stands out nicely among what is already quite a motley crew of ladies. The design of her outfit is really well done and in the end I wound up liking her a lot more than I thought I would. I’m finding myself more and more pleased that Matty are giving us modern action figure updates to the more doll-like PoP toys as it makes me feel a little less self-conscious about collecting them and they do compliment the He-Man side of my collection remarkably well. Next week, I’ll check out the latest villain of the line… Scorpia!

Masters of the Universe Classics: Blade by Mattel

It’s that time again, kids! My monthly box from Matty Collector hit my doorstep earlier this week. Considering the sale was on the 15th and I got my sub figure on the 20th, I’d say that’s record time. It almost justifies the crazy shipping prices that Matty charges. Anyway, this month’s figure is Blade… yes, the bald eye-patch guy from the 1987 Masters of the Universe movie. I have absolutely no idea what the general nerd reception is for that movie these days. I kind of liked it back then, but I wasn’t a hardcore MOTU fan so it probably didn’t offend me as much as some. It’s probably been 20 years since I’ve seen it, and no… I am under no obligation to watch it for this review. I tell ya what, if Matty gets around to doing one more movie figure, I’ll watch it for that review. There, the gauntlet has been thrown down. Now, let’s look at the figure.

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Blade may be from the movie, but you wouldn’t know it from the packaging. There’s no sticker or anything declaring his Hollywood origins. You just get an awesome card and bubble with that glorious Greyskull-inspired green brick deco. The insert dubs Blade as the “Evil Master of Swords” and the bio on the back even gives a nod to the 1987 movie plot. I love the idea of folding all of this stuff into one uniform line of action figures and even if it does mean I have to watch the movie again, I really do hope we get more figures from the film. I’ll also confess that I never knew there was a Blade figure in the original MOTU toyline. Nope, I only just learned that today while poking around the Interwebs to remind me a little bit about the character in the film.

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There he is, and might I say, “Damn, this guy is bitchin!” He’s like some kind of techno-sky-pirate-warlord from one of those late-night Cinemax Post-Apocalypse movies. And I mean that in every way as a compliment. I don’t even know where to begin with this guy. I guess I’ll start with the armor. Blade is wearing a soft, rubbery vest and skirt that’s sculpted and painted to look like chainmail and the effect works brilliantly. If I wasn’t already in the know, I’d have to get in pretty close to see that all those chain links are faked out, especially with the way it falls down between his legs. It’s brilliant! The chain coat is beautifully adorned with a silver medallion in the center. The huge slabs of shoulder armor may be a tad much, but… hell, why not? In for a penny, in for a pound. If you’re going for a high intimidation factor, and I do believe this guy is, you might as well go all out and turn your shoulders into razor tipped walls. The whole ensemble is nicely rounded out with rings of sculpted daggers around each of his thighs and a dart gun mounted on his left bracer. Christ, this is one outstanding battle ensemble!

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The portrait is pretty sweet too. Blade’s bald head sports a nasty scar that disappears under his patched eye and he’s wearing a fierce scowl. His ears are covered with bladed back-swept wings and he’s even got a pair of spikes protruding out from his chin. What the hell are those for? Does he chin butt people? Sure, it’s crazy… crazy awesome! The hell with Eternia, Blade would be right at home in the Badlands, manning a custom gun turret on top of a battle wagon made out of a converted ’76 Ford Torino. Don’t tell me you can’t picture that!

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Blade comes with his trusty swords, each of which fit into loops on his belt for convenient carrying. He has one straight broadsword and one slightly curved cutlass-style weapon. Much has been made by the fan community about the paint operations being nixed from these swords. The cutlass is completely unpainted and the broadsword just has red paint on the crossguard. I get it, they would have looked better painted, but considering how much spectacular work was done on the figure itself, I can live with the unpainted weapons. Besides, they may still turn up all painted up in a weapons pack somewhere down the road. Of course, having to buy the painted swords separately will just give the fans something else to complain about.

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You also get a laser whip. I did not at all remember Blade having this in the movie until a friend set me straight and showed me some pics of He-Man getting the shit whipped out of him by Blade. It’s a cool accessory, but it doesn’t quite live up to the weapon in the film. Plus, I get a bit of a Gummi-Worm vibe from it. I don’t think I’ll display it with the character. His name is Blade not Whip, I want him to have his swords at the ready, not a licorice candy whip.

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Blade is yet another reason why I’m so very happy I subbed Club Eternia this year. Mattel went absolutely apeshit on this guy with all the new sculpting and paintwork and they turned out a truly amazing figure. Even if I wasn’t collecting this line, I think I’d want to have this guy on my shelf just because he’s dripping with 80’s sci-fi badassery. You’re not going to the display shelves yet, Mr. Blade. No, you’re going to hang out on my desk for a while so I can play with you on my downtime. Keep it up, Matty. You’re making 2014 a great year!

Masters of the Universe Classics: Fang Man by Mattel

You can tell I’m running behind because today’s feature was part of Matty Collector’s Early Access from LAST month. In fact, I’m writing this a couple days after getting the shipping notice for this month’s figure. What can I say? I didn’t have the same sense of urgency to get to Fang Man as I did Hydron because Fang Man was a second chance at an older figure rather than a new release. The truth is I haven’t even opened the shipping box until today. That doesn’t mean I’m not really excited to finally get him. I was kicking myself for missing out on him the first time around, and since then I’ve come mighty close to paying too much for him a couple of times from The Ebays. Good thing I held out!

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Hey, it’s the MOTUC packaging. We’ve seen it dozens of times, so I really don’t have anything new to say. What’s that? I have to go watch the episode he was in? No, I only had to do that with the Filmation Sub figures. He’s still a Filmation character so the rule still applies? Crap! Fine… give me about 25 minutes… And… I’m back. Ok, so the episode was “The Time Corridor.” Skeletor goes back in time to plant the Wheel of Infinity on the foundation where Castle Greyskull will be built. I’m a little shaky on the science here, but The Sorceress says it’ll spin really fast and get so big that it will destroy the Castle in the future. Anyway, he takes Fang Man and Tri-Klops back with him, but Fang Man is only in the whole thing for about a minute. He makes a failed charge against He-Man while riding a dragon and he’s never seen from again. I like that the bio on the back of the card suggests that Skeletor just left him in the past. What a prick! Ok, onto the figure!

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There’s a reason I came close to buying this figure at a premium, he’s fantastic. I get a bit of a Don Bluth Dragon’s Lair vibe off of the character design, particularly the outfit. The tunic is layered onto the figure and it looks great. The sculpted spikes underneath the back are a nice touch a the black belt with silver fixtures cinches it at his waist. The way the head protrudes out of the top, front of the torso gives Fang Man a very distinctive hunched over posture. The coloring on this figure is excellent. The pale blue skin contrasts nicely with the maroon tunic and orange collar and bracers. The clasps on his boots are even painted and the metallic silver on the belt is a beautiful final touch.

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The portrait here is also superb. The yellow eyes, spikes, and the snout all look amazing. The tongue that hangs out of the mouth is even articulated so you can swing it left and right. The jaw isn’t articulated, but adding a jaw hinge would have probably messed with what is an otherwise perfect head sculpt, so I’m glad they didn’t try.

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Fang Man features all the usual MOTUC articulation. I’m not going to run through it here because I’ve done it dozens of times and we should all know what to expect by now. He does, however feature two points of articulation in the head. The neck is attached to the body by a ball joint right at the orange collar. It’ll rotate 360-degrees and can look up and down a bit. There’s a second ball joint right behind the ears. Because the head is attached to the front of the torso, Fang Man can’t really turn his head left or right, only cock it like a dog. Also, while I’m sure there’s a ab crunch hinge buried in there, the tunic prevents it from being very useful. None of these are complaints, mind you, just characteristics of the figure design.

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Fang Man comes with a few accessories. First off, you get the Wheel of Infinity, which is a simple little medallion that he can clutch in his hands. It’s nothing amazing, but still a nice nod to the episode. Next up, he has what I think is supposed to be a taser or energy weapon of some kind. And lastly you get what is one of my favorite swords in the line so far. I like it because it’s a very simple and serviceable design and it has a tiny dragon head sculpted into the crossguard. The hilt is also painted a different color from the rest of the blade.

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No doubt about it, Fang Man is one of my favorites in this line. Granted, that’s a long list, but I can’t help but dig the great character design and beautiful colors of this figure. He’s unique enough to set him apart from The Snake Men, but I could see him possibly cozying up to Draego-Man on my shelf. It’s a shame he didn’t get a little more play in the cartoon, but I love that Matty gave him a figure anyway. Just about every one of the Filmation figures has been a hit for me, and I really hope that Matty gets more of them out to us collectors. Line up another Filmation Sub, Matty, and I’ll be happy to jump on board again.

Masters of the Universe Classics: Hydron by Mattel

So far I’ve been mighty happy with my decision to sub to Club Eternia for 2014, but I knew sooner or later that contentment could be shattered and this month’s release looked like it might be the one to do the job. The New Adventures line never meant anything to me as a kid, and I never looked twice at it as an adult collector either. But I never let my ignorance of a specific character mar my potential enjoyment of a figure and there’s no denying that Optikk was a great addition to my collection. And so I try to approach the New Adventures figure, Hydron, with an open mind. Let’s see if he can win me over. Also, apologies for this feature being a little late, but I could only squeeze one Matty figure into the tail end of March and obviously I went with The Unnamed One!

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Gone are the white mailer boxes and in their place are brown ones that look like they’re made out of recycled Shop-Rite grocery bags. Oddly enough, mine also said Grizzlor on the back of the box. But open that sucker up and you’re treated to the same glorious Greyskull-themed package we’ve all come to know and love. Hydron’s package has a “Galactic Protectors” sticker on the bubble signifying that he comes from the New Adventures of He-Man mythos. There’s nothing else new and noteworthy here, so let’s bust him out.

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While Icarus was clearly designed to fight in the skies, Hydron battles evil below the waves. I get a very strong Centurions feeling out of these guys, and that’s not a bad thing at all. Hydron comes fully decked out in his underwater gear, the centerpiece of which is the rubbery chest piece that fits over the figure’s buck. It’s sculpted with various hoses and vents to keep him alive during his underwater doings. In a place as wacky and diverse as the Masters universe, you’d think The Guardians could find someone that can actually breathe underwater to take care of your underwater ops. But nope, that falls on this guy. Other notable points of interest on Hydron’s costume include webbed flippers on his feet and a sculpted knife strapped to his right leg.

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Hydron features a clear dome and a backpack with breather hoses, all of which can be removed to get a better look at the head sculpt. The portrait includes a very retro-looking fin helmet and he has a red breather mask permanently attached to his face. Why wear the breather mask in addition to the dome and breather apparatus? I don’t know, why does the gardener have a giant robotic elephant head? It’s best not to ask these questions. It is, however, annoying since Hydron didn’t always walk around wearing it in the cartoon. It kind of defeats the purpose of being able to take off his gear.

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In addition to his removable gear, Hydron comes with a crazy looking trident gun. It’s a cool design, but as far as MOTUC accessories go, it’s pretty weak. It’s cast in super soft yellow plastic with no paint apps. Hydron can hold it in either hand, but it seems to be designed for his left. On the plus side, it is designed so it can be worn on his belt by passing the handle through the loop.

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I’ll confess, there are plenty of other characters I would have rather had occupy this slot, but that doesn’t mean I’m angry or bitter that Hydron was included in the Sub. At least I have someone to keep Icarus company on the shelf. I don’t know what the general feeling among the Masters community is about New Adventure characters in the sub, but I’m it for the figures and Hydron is certainly a pretty cool figure. I probably wouldn’t have bought him Day of Sale, but considering how much I love Two Bad, Glimmer, Modulok, and The Unnamed One, I don’t have a problem having this one thrown into the mix.

Masters of the Universe Classics: The Unnamed One by Mattel

I don’t tend to venture too deep into the Masters Fandom, it seems to be a pretty angry place these days, but I gather that today’s featured figure was none too popular among those ranks. A mystery figure said to be steeped in Masters Lore and dangled before the fans as a major incentive to get subscriptions in 2014, he is The Unnamed One. Gorpo, The Evil Lord of Chaos, the creator of The Snakemen and one of the major players in the struggle for power in Eternia and beyond is revealed to be… a Trollan Wizard. And a whole lot of Masters fans absolutely lost their shit in the aftermath.

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Yup, there he is. The subscription only figure shipped along with March’s monthly figure. I don’t know what Matty was thinking when they planned this release, especially knowing what a fickle and unforgiving bunch the Masters collectors can be. They must have known that this was going to invoke fanwide butt-hurt on an atomic level. It almost seems as if they are actually trolling their own customer base. Or is that trollan? HA! Anyway, as many of you may know I’ve always been into Masters for the figures first and the fiction a very, very distant second, so if you’re looking for me to fly into a drunken rage over this figure, you’re going to be disappointed. Quite frankly, the idea of getting a figure of an evil Trollan Wizard is pretty damn cool in my book. Let’s bust this little guy out and see what we’ve got.

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I really do love the character design here. Since most of my exposure to Trollans comes from the annoying and blundering Orko, it’s very cool to see a menacing and evil member of the race. The very idea of a spell slinging Trollan Warlord intrigues me. Gorpo comes clad in tattered dark blue robes with some nasty looking trappings sculpted in. The detail on his belt consists of pouches and a dagger, he’s got chest and shoulder armor and a sculpted red skull in the center of his chest. The stock portrait includes a purple hood with a drooping point, long blue ears, and two sinister yellow eyes that peer out above his purple mask. I used to doodle guys like this back in my AD&D obsessed days. In fact, Gorpo would look right at home on the cover of a TSR module, hovering around some lair full of dusty books and summoning an unholy beast from a stone well. I just dig everything about this guy!

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You also get a swappable head with a helmeted portrait. The sculpting on this piece is a lot more intricate as the helmet is rather elaborately decorated with some scrollwork and spikes. There’s a mohawk-style crest on top and Gorpo’s long ears protrude from each side. If I had ears like that I think I’d want them protected a little better in combat! The helmet matches the armor on the body pretty well. It’s undoubtedly a very nice alternative portrait, but I think I’ll stick to the hooded one for my regular display.

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In addition to the extra head, The Unnamed One also comes with a few more goodies. You get the same style flight stand that came with Orko. It’s a little bigger and it just plugs into the socket under the robes and supports the figure quite well. You also get a magic wand and an effect piece. The wand is a far more formidable than the wimpy one that came with Orko and Gorpo can hold it comfortably in his right hand. The green orb in the center of the head catches light pretty well giving it a neat glowing effect. The effect part slips onto Gorpo’s other hand and looks like he’s shooting magic. As far as effect parts go, it’s not too bad, but these generally tend to wind up in my dreaded Tote of Forgotten Accessories.

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You also get a couple of pieces of ephemera. A Mini-Comic is included in The Unnamed One’s package. I know fans go nuts over these, but I gave it a quick read through and it didn’t do anything for me. I think I would have been a lot more interested if it was rooted the more familiar and contemporary period. I wasn’t a big fan of the art either.

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On the other hand, the Horde Map is a very cool bonus. It’s not actually packaged with Gorpo, but rather comes with him as part of the Sub incentive. Matty has been doing these maps as part of the subs all along, but since 2014 was the first time I subbed Club Eternia, this is my first map. I had actually forgotten all about it until I saw it in the box. It’s a big colorful piece of art that I wouldn’t mind hanging someday if can find the wall space.

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To the hardcore Masters fans who are rankled by this release… I get it. I really do. You were expecting something unspeakably bad ass and even if there hadn’t been a long wind up of suspense, most of you still would have found Gorpo here disappointing.  Fans have also been grousing about the price, reminding us that Orko came with a whole Prince Adam figure crammed into the bottom of the package. I’d point out that The Unnamed One is considerably larger than Orko and the sculpt is vastly more intricate. I’ll concede that as a smaller figure he is definitely pushing the envelope when it comes to this line’s price point, but it’s not as bad as everyone is saying. Nonetheless, with expectations running wild, I doubt there’s anything I can say that’s going to swing the sour opinions on this figure. Nor am I out to do that. I think he’s a great release, and I’m glad to add him to my shelves.

Masters of the Universe Classics: Modulok by Mattel

Hot damn, Mattel sure is bringing their A-game to the 2014 Sub! It’s only been a month since the incredible Two Bad graced my doorstep and now we’re getting the mind-blowingly amazing Modulok. This crazy figure was one I never thought would ever happen in the Classics line and I’m so very glad to be proven wrong on that. It’s still hard to believe I’m holding the box in my hands. But with two such heavy hitters lined up for the first two months of the Sub, and Glimmer thrown in there too, I can’t help but wonder… is Matty shooting his entire load too early? Why the hell did I have to go and put an image of Matty masturbating into my head?  Arghh! Get out of my head! Quick, let’s jump straight to the packaging!!!

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With Modulok confirmed, my first ponderings went to how he was going to be packaged. Surely he was going to be too big to fit into the regular card and bubble affair. And yet he wasn’t going to be big enough for a beast package either. The answer is he comes in a totally enclosed box and this made me very happy. I certainly have no complaints about the regular card and bubbles Matty uses for this line, but I’ll happily take any opportunity we can get for a box with some old school artwork. The front of the box has a great rendering of Modulok with all sorts of different combinations of him in the background. The back panel has his bio along with other figures in the line. The only gripe I have with this package is that the flaps are all glued shut and so I had to cut one of the flaps to get it open. I seem to recall a lot of collectors pissed about this with their Back to the Future Hoverboards. Tape, Matty! Ever hear of tape??? I know you have, because you used it on all your other MOTUC boxes. Anyway, this box sure seems rather thin to contain an action figure of Modulok’s bizarre stature.

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And that’s because Modulok comes only partially assembled and with his various parts surrounding a core, humanoid figure. This was a great way to go because it makes you build him for the first time and really explore what Modulok is all about. Even if you just got this guy to stand on your display shelf, you’ll still get the fun of putting him together. It also gives a great sense of just how many pieces and combinations are available. Because of Modulok’s nature, this can’t be any kind of traditional MOTUC figure review because he really isn’t one figure. In fact, as soon as I got him out of the box I started having a ball mixing and matching his parts.

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Of course, Modulok does have an official build, and there he is… creepy as all hell. I don’t remember being nearly this creeped out by him as a kid, but then that was before I was exposed to something called The Human Centipede. There are no instructions on how to build him into this form, but it’s not too hard to figure out if you use the box as a reference. I actually kind of dig the lack of instructions because it’s like Mattel saying, “there are no instructions because he’s whatever you want him to be. There are no wrong answers, kids!” The plastic used here is very similar to the regular MOTUC figures. For some reason I didn’t expect Modulok to fit well with the rest of the line, but he feels right at home on one of my Masters shelves. Building him in this form leaves some extra pieces, but it’s easy to throw on a couple more arms.

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Modulok comes with a pair of guns that can be combined into one big gun. Or is that one big gun that splits into two little guns? Either way, he can hold it best with his regular fingered hands, but if you’re persistent it will also work with his clawed hands… sort of.

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While Modulok’s official build is a great display piece for my collection, the real fun with this figure is found in experimenting. The other day I had a movie on and I spent virtually the whole two hours popping bits off and other bits on. With so many parts and so many combinations I found myself only limited by my twisted imagination. Playing with Modulok is very much like playing the PC game Spore only in action figure form. The fact that you can build him into two figures is pretty damn cool as well.

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As a subber, Modulok set me back $40, which seemed rather high at the time. I think a lot of that was the sticker shock of seeing him plus Glimmer plus shipping and tax hitting $80+. As a result, it’s more accurate to say that I paid about $55 for him when all was said and done. A premium? Yes, but with re-sellers offering him at up to $100, it seems like a bargain in comparison. Even if my plan was just to display him on my shelf, I’d still be content enough with the price. He’s a great looking figure and manages to stand out even on a shelf populated by total freaks. But unlike most of my MOTUC figures that stand on display shelves and get moved around once in a blue moon when I dust or rework the display, Modulok is a figure that I’m going to be playing around with a lot. Like a Rubik’s Cube or a good Transformer, he’s a toy that begs me to fiddle around with him even if my attention is on something else. I was talking on the phone the other day and by the time the call was ended I was barely aware of the fact that I had broken him down into all his parts, and so I gleefully started building him again. FUN!  He may be one of the most atypical MOTUC figures to date, but it also makes him one of the coolest!

Masters of the Universe Classics: Glimmer by Mattel

It’s Matty Collector time again, and this month’s Sale Day came and went without me even noticing. Why? Because I have a subscription this year so I no longer have to fight to get my figures or try to order them with my phone under the table during staff meetings. It sure paid off in February as both Glimmer and Modulok were must-haves for me. Will I still think the Sub was justified at the end of the year? Well that remains to be seen, but so far I have no complaints. Both of these figures just landed on my door a couple of days ago and I decided to feature Glimmer first because exploring the possibilities of Modulok is going to take a lot more time.

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There’s the Greyskull inspired packaging and it is as awesome as ever. I don’t remember anything in particular about Glimmer from the She-Ra cartoon, but the package identifies her as “The Guide Who Lights the Way.” I was planning on queuing up an episode with her in it before doing this feature, but I’m currently out of Jameson and I can’t tackle Filmation cartoons without a some booze in me.

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The back of the package has the usual bio blurb on the bottom and a bunch of figures pictured. I’ve got a fair share of these, but I still need to go back and pick up Bubble Power She-Ra and Bow. I am also missing Shadow Weaver, but she sells for well over $100 so she can go f’ck herself.

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Out of the package and Glimmer certainly is the spitting image of her animated counterpart, as opposed to the vintage doll. Her outfit is pretty simple, which really conveys that unmistakable Filmation style with a bit more detail added to her belt and arm bracers. The bulk of her dress is layered onto the figure, which is something I’ve always loved about the MOTUC females. If there is a heavy reuse of parts here, I’m not picking up on it. I thought the skirt looked familiar at first, maybe it’s Adora’s but when you stand Glimmer beside her fellow sisters of The Rebellion she certainly holds her own.

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The head sculpt here is also quite good. Glimmer features an attractive portrait that leans a bit toward the exotic, although the nose and cheekbones remind me a lot of the She-Ra sculpt. Glimmer’s head piece is part of her head sculpt and behind it flows her copious mane of purple hair. The hair sculpt inhibits the neck articulation a bit, but you can still get some movement out of her noggin. The paint used for the face is all clean and crisp.

Speaking of paint, I really applaud Matty’s use of coloring on this figure. The combination of speckled metallic blue and matte purple certainly makes for a striking deco. The edge striping of the blue and purple areas with darker shades of those colors also adds a lot to the outfit. Glimmer’s skin tone is slightly darker than most of the other ladies in the line, except maybe Netossa, but I don’t have her in my collection yet to do a direct comparison.

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Glimmer offers no surprises in the articulation, at least where female MOTUC figures are concerned, but it’s been a little while since I’ve looked at a Princess of Power figure so let’s run it down. You get ball joints in the neck, shoulders, and hips. The arms feature swivels in the biceps and wrists, and hinges in the elbows. The legs feature hinges in the knees and ankles and also lateral rockers in the ankles. The rockers on my figure were painted shut, but a little finesse got them going. Glimmer can also swivel at the waist.

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You get two accessories with Glimmer. First off, you get her staff. You aren’t anyone in Etheria unless you have a staff! Glimmer’s is cast in metallic purple and features a yellow crystal in the center of the head. I really dig this piece as it feels more like a vintage PoP accessory than anything else I’ve seen with this line, probably because of the shimmery plastic or the flowery sculpt.

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You also get a crystal ball, which is as simple an accessory as it sounds, it’s just a clear marble, and yet so very cool. Glimmer can palm it in her left hand and she looks great holding it. Forget Hordak, Glimmer, you’re going to have to spend most of your time fighting my cat to keep him from taking this away from you.

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I’m sure I’ve said it before, but I absolutely love the Princess of Power figures in this line. It’s probably because they actually present these characters as proper action figures, rather than dolls, and they blend so seamlessly with the Masters characters. Glimmer is a great addition to my PoP shelf. Matty was pretty savvy to release her on the same month as they opened enrollment for the Club Etheria Add-On Sub. If I wasn’t already sold on it, playing around with Glimmer would probably have gotten me there.

Masters of the Universe Classics: Two Bad by Mattel

Holy shit, it’s 2014 and for the first time since the whole Matty Collector madness started I am an official Club Eternia subscriber: Smart move or pure idiocy? Folks, only time will tell. But right now I’m feeling pretty good about it because my Two Bad has arrived and I was able to let Sale Day pass me by without having to worry whether I would be in the middle of a management meeting at work when the gates opened. Of course Sale Day wouldn’t have mattered in Two Bad’s case because he was a Sub Only figure with no stock available for Day of Sale. It was kind of a dick move on Matty’s part, but at this point who isn’t used to it?

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I don’t usually bother with the mailer boxes, but I took a shot of this one because Matty has moved away from the familiar white mailers in favor of these new (and I assume cheaper) brown boxes. To date, I’ve only saved two mailer boxes and those were for the two vehicles, which I keep boxed. As a result I really don’t care about this decision, but I can imagine it might irk some MIB collectors.

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The actual package inside is what we’ve been seeing all along. The only thing I have to say about it is that it corrected my consistent urge to put a hyphen in Two Bad’s name when there isn’t supposed to be one. Sorry, Two Bad… My Bad! HA! I’ll also point out that I found his bio to be of particular interest. I’ve always been familiar with the vintage figure, but I never knew anything about the character. I love the fact that Two Bad was originally two people magically fused together by Skeletor because they failed to take out He-Man. Jeez, talk about a disproportionate response. If Skeletor did this every time his minions failed, he’d just have one giant ball of arms and legs and heads following him around. I also dig that their names, Tuvar and Badra fuse together to make Two Bad. Sort of. It’s like that episode of Star Trek Voyager where Tuvok and Neelix fused to become Tuvix. LOL… Voyager was shit. I’ve been drinking. Where was I? Oh yeah… Let’s rip open Two Bad and check him out.

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My first impression is that I expected Two Bad would be bigger. That’s not a complaint against the figure, just a misconception on my part. He’s actually not much bulkier than your average MOTUC figure and that’s fine by me. With that revelation out of the way, I’ve got to say the next thing that impresses me the most are the colors. I absolutely love the colors on this figure! These particular shades of blue and purple look amazing and when you toss in the silver paint on Tuvar’s gauntlet and boot, the bright red belt and the orange chest armor, it all makes for a very pleasing deco. Indeed, Two Bad’s coloring really gives Mantenna a run for his money and that’s high praise. He’s gorgeous!

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Not to be outdone by the coloring, the sculpt is right up there as well. The contrast between Tuvar’s smooth skin and Badra’s meticulously sculpted scales drives home the combined nature of the figure. I also really dig all the attention paid to the sculpt of Badra’s boot and gauntlet. They don’t stand out much because the dark brown blends in with the dark purple, but there’s some crazy attention to detail there. The boot has all kinds of medieval looking spikes and buckles and the glove has a reinforced band on the knuckles to deliver extra pain in his punches.

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And then there are the portraits! Usually when we talk about multiple portraits on a figure we’re talking about swappable heads, but in this case it’s two at the same time. How cool is that, eh? The head sculpts are each pretty well done, although I’m leaning toward Tuvar’s as my favorite mainly because of the paint. I’m not entirely sold on the orange eyebrow ridge on Badra and it also looks like there might be a bit of mold flashing on his noggin. I’ll also point out that there isn’t a lot of clearance between the heads, thanks to Badra’s ear spike thingies. If Tuvar is looking straight ahead then Badra can turn just fine, but if Tuvar’s head is off to the side there’s some rubbing. No big deal, and I’d prefer it this way than have their heads set tilting away from each other like on the vintage figure.

Unless you count the extra ball jointed neck, Two Bad has mostly the same articulation as any other MOTUC male buck. That includes ball joints in the shoulders and hips, hinges in the elbows, knees and ankles, swivels in the biceps and wrists, a swivel in the waist, and an ab crunch hinge in the torso. Oh yeah, he also has swivels at the top of each boot.   

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Two Bad comes with two accessories. First, you get an orange shield with a really strange clip that’s made to work with the fins on Badra’s gauntlet. I like the shield, but it seems like it could have used some more paint apps. Plus, if you like to mix and match weapons you’re out of luck here because this thing is only going to work with Two Bad. Secondly, you get the two headed mace, which is a really goofy and unwieldy looking weapon. I get it, it’s got two heads just like Two Bad, I still think it’s kind strange.

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Two-Bad is an amazing figure and I love him enough to say he comes close to beating out Mantenna as my favorite recent figure in this line. He’s colorful, quirky, and beautifully sculpted. It’s a shame Matty had to go and make him a Sub only figure because I realize there are tons of collectors without the means or willingness to do a whole sub. That having been said, you can still find him for sale through secondary online sellers and while he’s expensive, he’s still a ton cheaper than buying a Sub just for the one figure. Either way, he’s a great way to kick off 2014 and it’s figures like Two Bad along with the great releases from last year’s Filmation Club that convinced me to go in for a Sub this year. Hopefully I won’t be regretting it by the end of the year.