BATTLE TANK

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE (2002)

Masters of the Universe was one of the pinnacles of ’80s toylines.  It had all the trappings: gimmicky figures, wacky action features, play sets, and, yes, lots of vehicles for the figures to make use of.  The vehicles were a success in the ’80s, so Mattel gave them another try with the 200x relaunch.  They weren’t quite as successful that time around, but they certainly tried.  Today, I’ll be looking at one of those vehicles, the somewhat mediocre Battle Tank.  Let’s have a look at that!

THE VEHICLE ITSELF

The BattleTank was one of the earliest vehicles in the 200x line, released during the line’s first year.  The vehicle measures 9 ¾ inches long and 6 ½ inches tall.  The Battle Tank is somewhat oddly named.  It looks more like some sort of ramming vehicle and less like what I would think of as a tank.  Of course, I suppose that a more conventional tank might look out of place in Masters of the Universe, so there’s that.  Still, I feel like there could have been a more exciting name for this thing.  As far as the actual sculpt goes, I suppose the tank’s not bad.  It’s a bit rudimentary and clunky, but it’s serviceable.  I think the biggest issue I have with it is how it interacts with the figures.  Their limited articulation means that any vehicle meant for them has to do the heavy lifting in terms of helping them sit.  The tank would be difficult for even a Marvel Legend to sit on comfortably.  The MotU figures look rather uncomfortable, and they all have to do this weird sort of lounging lean.  It’s not exactly an imposing look.  The tank has a pop-out feature, which launches the head forward and flips out two little wing things at the sides, which makes it somewhat cooler looking, but also makes it even less tank-like. There’s not really any paint on the tank, but there are a lot of decals which make up for it. They’re kind of basic, but they look okay.  They stay on pretty well, which is the important part with decals.  The Battle Tank was packed with a basic He-Man, who was the same as the standard Series 1 version, which I suppose isn’t a bad thing, but a unique figure might have been a little cooler.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve never been much into the MotU vehicles, so I never had any of them.  This one was part of the Goodwill find from a few weeks ago.  I found this last out of the bunch, and I honestly only got it because I felt bad leaving it there by itself.  Island of Misfit toys and all that.  I can’t say it was my favorite piece of the find, but it’s enjoyable enough, and certainly worth what I paid for it.  All in all, not bad.