Tag Archives: 00s

#1063: Morgul Lord Witch-King

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

MORGUL LORD WITCH-KING

THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING (TOY BIZ)

witchking1

My fandom of Lord of the Rings is something that can be described as “moderate” at best.  I’ve seen and enjoyed all three of the films, but never anything but the theatrical cuts (because I though 9 hours for the whole story was enough of my time).  I’ve read The Hobbit (and wasn’t that into it, to be totally honest), but none of the other books.  I enjoy the franchise as a whole and can really appreciate some of the characters and concepts therein, but you start to lose me if you get into the real nitty gritty stuff.  That being said, I did like the movies a lot, especially when they were new, and for me, that usually means a few action figures.  Fortunately, Toy Biz was there for me, producing a rather expansive line of figures based on the three films.  Today, I’ll be looking at one of my favorite designs from the movies, the Witch-King of Angmar, leader of the Ringwraiths, and one of the primary antagonists of the films.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

witchking2The Morgul Lord Witch-King (as he’s dubbed on the box) was released in the second series of Toy Biz’s Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King line.  This was the point in the line where they had switched to the smaller packaging style, and were releasing figures from the entirety of the trilogy, but the Return of the King figures were still off on their own.  The Witch-King is based on his appearance in the third film in the trilogy, after he’s taken on a more unique, armor-clad look in order to lead the Morgul forces into battle.  It’s definitely an imposing look, and possibly my favorite from the whole trilogy.  The figure stands just shy of 7 inches tall (going to the top of his actual head; the tallest spike on his crown adds about an inch more) and he has 18 points of articulation.  Though Toy Biz were articulation nuts when it came to the concurrently running Marvel Legends, the LotR figures were a little more reserved.  The Witch-King has a decent selection of joints, but is admittedly a little hard to pose, mostly due to the heavy robes covering him.  You can still get some decent poses out of him, and it’s worth noting that he’s very steady on his feet, which is more than can be said for a lot of Toy Biz’s figures from the time.  He can also move his head, which puts him above any of the other Ringwraiths the line released.  The sculpt on this figure is very impressive.  There’s a lot of truly phenomenal detailing and texturing, just all throughout.  This guy really looks like a 4000 year old undead warrior.  He’s very imposing, which is what he should be.  Even the interior of his (hollow) hood is fully detailed!  The scabbard for his sword is permanently affixed to this figure, and it’s a little thicker than such a piece would be in this day and age.  Of course, after the issues with the fragility of similar pieces on Funko’s Legacy Collection Game of Thrones figures, I can’t really say I mind.  Perhaps the only real nit on the sculpt is the crown.  Due to safety standards, the points of his crown had to be rounded off, resulting in something that looks more like a deer’s antlers than it does the menacing helm of the Witch-King.  Not their fault, of course, but disappointing nonetheless.  The paint on the Witch-King is quite good, far better than you might think at first glance.  The whole figure has various washes and dry brushing, to help bring out the smaller details of the sculpt.  The end result is a quite realistic looking figure.  Definitely some of Toy Biz’s better work from this period.  The Witch-King included a sword and a mace, based on the weapons he had own the film.  He also had an action feature; when the button on his back (which is quite well hidden, it should be noted) is pressed, his right arm swings up and down, to either flail the mace or slash the sword, depending on how you have him armed.  I myself would have preferred for the feature to have been left out to facilitate better movement on the right shoulder, but the effect is decent.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I always wanted the Witch-King when these figures were new, but he was one of the harder to find figures in the line.  All I could ever find was his less-cool look from Fellowship, which just wasn’t the same.  Ultimately, I ended up selling off pretty much all of the figures in my (admittedly pretty small) Lord of the Rings collection, so I didn’t really think much of it.  This summer, I ended up finding this guy at Yesterday’s Fun, and couldn’t bring myself to put him back, despite no longer owning any of his companions.  He’s actually a really awesome figure, and was definitely worth the wait.  Of course, now I want more figures to go with him…

#1047: Kitty Pryde

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

KITTY PRYDE

MARVEL LEGENDS (TOY BIZ)

KittyTB1

Kitty Pryde is really a marker for change in the X-Men comics. She was the first new mutant to be added to the team following the All-New, All-Different change-up, and represents perhaps the only hopeful note to come out of the Dark Phienix Saga. Almost as soon as she joined, she became a focus point for the series. She’s also noteworthy for being one those rare instances of a comic character who was allowed to grow up, as her quest to become a full-fledged X-Man was one of her major story points. And, above all, she’s pretty consistently a fun character. Unfortunately, she’s had some rotten luck with action figures (if you don’t believe me just look at the last Kitty I reviewed). Toy Biz tried their hand at making her twice, with mixed results. I’ll be looking at that second attempt today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

KittyTB2Kitty Pryde was released in the Walmart-Exclusive Giant-Man series of Toy Biz’s run with Marvel Legends. She was based on Kitty’s then current Astonishing X-Men design. The figure stands a little over 6 inches tall and has 38 points of articulation. For the most part she’s the same figure as the Jessica Alba Invisible Woman that I reviewed a few months ago. That’s not great, because that body had some major issues, including, but not limited to: incredibly obvious joints, an impossibly small waist, and super fragile arms and legs. It’s not a particularly strong body. What’s worse, the details on the body don’t quite line-up with Kitty’s Astonishing design. It’s a weird body choice all around. I’m not really sure why they went with it, but I’m not Toy Biz. I’m also not out of business, so I think that I won this one! Kitty got a new head sculpt, which is okay, but hardly one of Toy Biz’s best.  Like Hasbro’s smaller attempt, she feels a bit old for Kitty, and the total lack of ears weirds me out a bit. Also, her hair is pretty much completely wrong for this interpretation of Kitty, being all around too long and just too bushy. Were it not supposed to be this specific Kitty, that would be fine, but it stands out here. The paint work on Kitty is probably some of the weakest on any of the Toy Biz Legends.  The face is alright, but the eyebrows are slightly off from the sculpt, which throws her whole look off. Also, the color scheme of the costume is totally off. In the comics, her costume was black and a warm shade of yellow. Here, it’s a dark grey/pale yellow combo that looks incredibly boring and drab. It’s not a fun look, and means she’ll tend to get lost in a group. Kitty included her pet dragon Lockheed, as well as the upper torso and head of Giant-Man.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I didn’t find this figure at retail, due to the all-around difficultness of finding this series at Walmart. My dad bought her for me from a reasonably priced eBay auction. At the time, I was really excited to get this figure. I mean, she was my first Kitty Pryde figure, and I’ve always loved the character. That being said, I very quickly found the flaws in this figure, and she’s never been one of my favorites. She’s probably one of the older Legends most in need of an update.

KittyTB3

#1044: Havok

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , , ,

HAVOK

MARVEL LEGENDS (TOY BIZ)

HavokML1

The X-Men are known for their tendency to change up the line-up a lot. Now-a-days, the team is rather large and nebulous (necessitating at least two X-Men titles to be running consistently since the mid-80s, just so everyone can get a fair shake), but when they first started, there were just five members. The team’s first additional member, Mimic, only lasted for three issues, before being de-powered and written out. Eventually, they would acquire their first full-time addition Lorna Dane (later Polaris) in X-Men #49. Just six issues later, the team would also gain Havok, aka Alex Summers the younger brother of Cyclops. Havok’s sort of been a peripheral member of the team for a lot of his career, but has served as team leader for both the X-Men and X-Factor on a few occasions. He also happens to be my personal favorite member of the X-Men, which is why I own just about every figure of him in existence, including the one I’ll be reviewing today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

HavokML2Havok was part of the Giant-Man Series of Toy Biz’s Marvel Legends. It was the first Walmart-exclusive series of Legends, though it would hardly be the last. This is also Havok’s first Marvel Legends figure, though it’s the fourth Havok figure Toy Biz released. The figure stands 6 ¼ inches tall (not counting the headgear), and has 40 points of articulation. Havok is based on his classic Neal Adams-designed costume from the 60s (my personal favorite). The initial prototype for Havok had him in a more modernized design, but that figure was ultimately shelved for this more classic look. The figure is built on Series 9’s Bullseye body, in one of the earlier attempts at moving ML to a system of base bodies. As I noted in my review of Iron Fist (the final figure to be built on this body, released a full ten years after it debuted with Bullseye), this body was one of my favorites from Toy Biz’s run. It’s become a little clunky when compared to the more recent stuff, but it still holds up pretty well, certainly a lot better than some of TB’s other Marvel Legends. The only real issue I have with this particular iteration of the body is the shape of the lower legs and feet. The legs are clunky and tube-like, and the feet are large and sit HavokML3too far forward at the ankle. Havok’s only truly unique piece is his head, which does quite a nice job of capturing the early depictions of Havok’s face. I like that the expression is angry without going too overboard, and I’m especially glad that they were able to make the headgear look okay in three dimensions. Havok’s paintwork is pretty straight forward. The costume is just straight black and white (excepting, of course, the silver collar). There’s no accent work, but I actually much prefer it that way. The face has a nice, clean paint job, with some great little subtleties to the coloring, making it stand out nicely from the costume. Havok included the left leg (but NOT the left foot) of Giant-Man, as well as a copy of X-Men #97, which is one of Havok’s few focus issues during the “All-New, All Different” era (also one of his best appearances). It should be noted that the issue actually rather deceptively uses the cover to X-Men #58, which is the first appearance of the classic costume and the name Havok.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Pretty much as soon as Marvel Legends started doing X-Men figures, Havok was at the top of my list. I even made my own Havok custom (albeit in his ‘90s costume) from a spare Gambit, just to hold me over. I was beyond thrilled when this guy was announced. Of course, then the Giant-Man Series ended up being rather hard to come by, which acquiring Havok none too easy. Fortunately, my Dad just happened to find this guy the day before my birthday in 2006. Words cannot begin to describe how excited I was to open him. Ten years later, this guy shows his age, but still holds up remarkably well. I think I’d still rank him in my top 10 Legends.

HavokML4

#1042: Phoenix

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

PHOENIX

MARVEL LEGENDS (TOY BIZ)

PhoenixTB1

It’s been quite a while since the X-Men got any coverage in Marvel Legends. Back during the Toy Biz run, only 3 of the 16 series released were completely X-Man free, and they even got a boxed set and two different off-shoot lines. Even under Hasbro, the team was pretty well represented. Well, until recently, anyway, since the last time we saw X-Men Legends was two summers ago, and even then they were a pretty hard to find TRU exclusive series (I bought the only one of them I ever saw). Fortunately, Hasbro’s doing their best to make that up, with a new series of X-Men-themed Legends hitting just in the last month, and another on the way early next year. Of course, if you think that means I’m reviewing the new X-Men figures, you’ve got another thing coming! Well, another review coming, anyway. Since this latest set of Legends has a lot of re-released characters from Toy Biz’s run, I thought it might be fun to review the older figures in tandem with their newer counterparts. Today, I’ll be kicking things off with Jean Grey, aka Phoenix!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

PhoenixTB2Phoenix was released in the sixth series of Toy Biz’s Marvel Legends. She was Jean’s very first Legend, and she was only the second single-packed figure in the line, after Elektra (though both Rogue and Sue Storm had beaten her to release as part of larger boxed sets). She was also one of the two short-packed figures in the series. That was awesome. There was a variant of this figure painted up like Dark Phoenix, which was even harder to find. But, that’s another matter entirely. This figure stands about 6 ¼ inches tall and she has 44 points of articulation. While that might seem like of articulation, it’s not as useful as you’d hope. Yep, Phoenix is one of Toy Biz’s “twisting meat” figures, where the joints cancel each other out, resulting in pieces that spin for no reason. Oh joy. Sculpturally, Phoenix shared most of her parts with Elektra (and, by extension, Rogue and Sue). Jean obviously got a new head, but also a new pelvis, hips, and upper thighs, to give her more adequate hip articulation. The head is definitely the best part of the sculpt. The hair is a pretty spot-on recreation of Jean’s Phoenix hair (well, from when Byrne took over drawing her, anyway). The face is decent. She looks a bit like Laura Parker from Dark Shadows, who I can’t say is my ideal choice for Jean, but it’s certainly a more attractive sculpt than most of Toy Biz’s female Legends. The body is…umm, well they tried. I think. Her neck is incredibly square, her arms oddly flat, her bosom disproportionally large (and also covered by something that somehow manages to be both loose and tight fitting at the same time), and feet not unlike that of a duck. On top of all that, none of her joints are particularly well worked into the sculpt. Overall, she looks sort of a bit Frankenstiened, which isn’t really what you want in a Jean Grey figure. The paintwork on Phoenix is decent enough. The metallic green is particularly nice, but all of the colors are well chosen, and the application is by and large pretty cleanly done. The eyebrows weird me out, but I can’t really put my finger on exactly why. Phoenix was packed with a display base designed to look like the fiery bird typically seen surrounding Phoenix, as well as a reprinted copy of X-Men #101 (Phoenix’s first appearance).

 THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When Phoenix was first announced, I was very excited. Marvel Legends was my favorite thing at the time, and I was dead set on putting together a sweet X-Men set-up. Remember how I said she was short-packed? It gets worse. See, there was only one Phoenix for every case of 12, making her instant scalper bait. Now, remember how Phoenix also had a variant figure? Well, the variant was randomly put into certain cases of figures *in place* of the normal Phoenix, thereby making the normal version even harder to get. Because of this, it was actually more than a year before I got a Phoenix, courtesy of my friend Cindy Woods (who, along with her husband Lance, has done a whole lot to help me track down hard to find items over the years) as a Christmas present. Looking back on her compared to what came later, she’s got some pretty serious issues. That said, she was at one point my absolute most wanted Legends figure, and I was beyond thrilled when I finally got her. I can’t help but be a little sentimental.

PhoenixTB3

#1009: Castle Grayskull

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

CASTLE GRAYSKULL

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE (2002)

Grayskull1

Playsets for action figures are by and large a thing of the past. They were really big in the ‘70s and ‘80s, and even kept up steam for a good part of the ’90s, but a general trending towards less interest in action figures coupled with rising costs of plastics has made them less than practical. Sure, you still see the occasional set here and there, but they lack the charm of the older sets. Occasionally, an attempt is made at recapturing that charm for a more collector-oriented market. A few years back, Mattel used their online store Matty Collector to get enough backers to fund a high(ish)-end version of Castle Grayskull, an important part of the He-Man mythos. This not a review of that. Nope, this is a review of its direct predecessor. Well, most of it anyway. Let’s get to the review!

THE PLAYSET ITSELF

Grayskull7Castle Grayskull was released as a deluxe playset during the first year of the 2002 Masters of the Universe line. The Castle is designed to fit with the basic 6-inch figures Mattel offered. It’s actually about half-scale. In its defense, even the much larger, much more expensive Castle Grayskull was only three-quarter-scale, and that one wasn’t even vying for valuable retail shelf space. As it is, it’s definitely undersized, but it’s large enough that it suits the purpose it was built for pretty well. The Castle is just about 20 Grayskull2inches tall and 17 inches wide. When the Castle is all folded up, it’s only about 4 inches deep. The exterior of the Castle is pretty impressively detailed, and features a very nice selection of textures, which keep it exciting. Well, for a non-mobile playset anyway. The overall look, though undersized, is a very nice translation of the Castle’s 200x design. As you can probably note from the pictures, the parapets are made up of several Grayskull3different pieces, which clip into place. They were prone to fall off, which is why my set is missing a couple of them. The Castle can unfold, which reveals the interior and increases the depth of the set to 11 inches. The interior of the Castle isn’t quite as nice as the exterior, since it has to fit inside when folded. Still, there are several very nice details, including a spot for weapon storage and even a neat little computer thingy in the corner. I also love the small, easy to overlook details, like the skull and rat on the floor in the prison cell area. For some reason, in the 2000s, toy Grayskull5companies thought that the best way to sell a playset was to work in some weird battery-operated, figure prompted gimmick. Remember the ThunderLynx bit from the Tower of Omens? Well, Castle Grayskull’s got something like that. Each of the figures in the 200x Masters line (well, at least the earlier ones) had a little…thingy imbedded in their foot, which was expressly designed to work with this set. There are several spots on the set where there’s a golden footprint. When a figure’s foot was Grayskull9moved back and forth on this spot, it would release a lever on a door, revealing differing parts of the set or activating traps. Most of them are a little weird and gimmicky, but I do quite like the one on the upper level, which swings open a door revealing a special chrome version of the power sword placed on a nice little pedestal. It’s still really gimmicky, but, c’mon! Chrome! In addition to the aforementioned chrome sword, the Castle included a flag (missing Grayskull6from mine), a big cannon sort of thing, a set of shackles, bars for a cell (also missing), a giant key (because why not?), as well as a large arsenal of weapons, of which I only have the trident. Still, that was a pretty awesome selection of extras, especially given the kind of extras we see nowadays.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

By the time of the 200x Masters line, I had aged out of playsets. Yeah, I know, it shocks me too. Aging out of toys. I was just about aged back into collecting playsets when Mattel’s collector version was released, but it was just far too hefty a price for a moderate Masters fan such as myself. Of course, this more economical set had also gone up quite a bit in price. As you might have guessed (or just have already known, for those of you who paid attention to my Teela review), the Castle was part of the big Goodwill find from several weeks back. I ended up spotting this particular set first, and upon discovering it was only $4.50, I felt like I couldn’t say no. Sure, it’s not complete, but it was also super cheap, and it’s actually a really fun set. It’s too bad I never got one when they were new!

Side Note: This set was far too large for my usual photo set-up, so this is the first item to be shot in the Auxiliary Photo Studio (aka the dining room). As it turns out, the Auxiliary Photo Studio takes two people to operate, so special thanks goes out to Super Awesome Girlfriend, who aided with most of the photos you see here!

Grayskull8

#1008: Two-Bad

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , ,

TWO-BAD

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE (2002)

TwoBad1

Okay, so yesterday, I wrote about how important the Evil Warriors are to the whole Masters of the Universe brand. But, up until now, I’ve only actually looked at one member of the Evil Warriors. It’s actually kind of amusing that I haven’t looked at any others just yet, since the Evil Warriors were actually my favorites growing up. Today, I’ll be looking at another member of their number. Well, in a way, I’m actually looking at two of them. Yep, today’s figure is the combined forces of Tuvar and Baddrah, better known as Two-Bad!

THE FIGURE IN QUESTION

TwoBad2Two-Bad was released in the 2003 series of Masters of the Universe, as part of the third assortment of Evil Warriors. The figure stands a little under 6 inches tall and has 13 points of articulation. The shoulders both have spring loaded features. When pulled upward, the arms will snap back into place. It’s not the best feature, and it can make posing the arms quite difficult. On the plus side, it doesn’t affect the aesthetics of the sculpt. Two-Bad’s design in the 200x line was one of the least changed. It’s really a pretty straightforward recreation of the original figure in the newer style. What this figure’s sculpt does have to offer is a greater difference between the two halves. Baddrah is shorter, squatter, and all-around stockier than Tuvar, and has some very impressive texturing. Tuvar includes much cleaner lines and stands just a tiny bit taller. Even the armor exhibits different stylings depending on which side it lays on. Very high quality sculpt to be sure. The paintwork isn’t quite as strong as the sculpt, but it’s actually awful. The colors are nice and bold, and the two sides each have their own separate color scheme, and they accent each other pretty well. Two-Bad was packed with a double-headed mace (clever, that one) and a shield. The mace accents Tuvar and the shield goes with Baddrah, which is a nice touch.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I always wanted a Two-Bad figure when I was collecting these, but I was never fortunate enough to find one at retail. However, Two-Bad ended up being one of the many figures from my recent Goodwill find. I’m happy I’ve got one after all these years, and the figure’s just as cool as I’d hoped! And look at that, I went the entire review without a single awful pun based on his name! Not Two-Bad if I do say so myself!

#1007: Tri-Klops

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , ,

TRI-KLOPS

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE (2002)

TriKlops200x1

One of the defining traits of Masters of the Universe is its good vs. evil dichotomy. Every release in the line was paired off. One villain for every hero. So far on this site, I’ve only looked at a single evil warrior from the franchise. Today, I’ll be looking at another evil warrior figure. Of course, it’s actually Tri-Klops, the same guy I looked at the last time, so that gets me no points. What can I say? I really like Tri-Klops. But this time, it’s the 200x Tri-Klops, who’s actually a bit different than the original. Let’s see how this one stacks up!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

TriKlops200x2Tri-Klops was released in the 2003 series of Masters of the Universe. He stands just under 6 inches tall (due to his slightly crouched stance) and he has 12 points of articulation, plus the spinning visor that is standard to all Tri-Klops figures. Unlike his last figure, this Tri-Klops has a wholly unique sculpt. The body is lean and sharp, which makes him a more believable swordsman, built for agility, which is a nice change. The pose is also quite unique, and great for the character. The outstretched hand in particular is one of my favorites. While the overall look of Tri-Klops is in keeping with the vintage look, it’s the smaller details that exhibit the most changes. The original Tri-Klops was still pretty firmly planted in the world of sword and sorcery. The 200x version, however plays up the sci-fi aspects pretty heavily. Given that he was the resident tech expert of the Evil Warriors, the look is a fairly sensible one. The largest changes to his design are present on the head, which changes the simple ring with three different eyes from the vintage figure into a quite exquisitely detailed technological device, carefully built onto Tri-Klops’ head. It makes Tri-Klops look quite different from his vintage counterpart, and definitely makes him look a lot cooler. The change to more artificial looking eyes also allows for a bit of light-piping to light up the eyes, which is certainly a cool effect. Tri-Klops’ sculpt is really only marred by one thing: his action feature. He’s got a swinging attack on his left arm, which is triggered by a rather obtrusive button on the figure’s back. It’s not the worst thing ever, but it is a bit annoying that it’s so obvious. The paintwork on Tri-Klops is probably some of the better work from the 200x MotU. The colors are good matches for his original palette, and all of the application is clean and tight. Tri-Klops included his sword (which is a very nice piece), as well as one of his little flyer drones, which were new to the 200x version of the character, and a flight stand for the drone.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Tri-Klops was one of the earlier additions to my MotU collection. I think he was the fourth or fifth figure I got. I found him new and in a regular store even, which greatly excited me. Of course, then I took the figure out of the package and made the mistake of dropping him about a foot, which was enough to completely shatter his head into three pieces. He wasn’t the easiest figure to find, so I had to make do with the later repaint figure for a while. Fortunately, Tri-Klops was one of the several figures from the Goodwill find, allowing me to replace my broken Tri-Klops with a proper one, rather than some pants wearing imitation of the real thing. I quite like this figure, and I think he may well be my favorite figure the line had to offer.

#1006: Battle Tank

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

BATTLE TANK

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE (2002)

BattleTank1

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

BattleTank3The 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 BattleTank2figures.  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.

 

#1005: Sy-Klone

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , ,

SY-KLONE

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE (2002)

SyClone1

As much as it relied on high-fantasy, sword and sorcery tropes, Masters of the Universe was, at its core, all about the gimmicks. Sure, many of the main characters were a bit more thought-out, but anyone outside of the lead cast was all about what gimmick they possessed. Today’s focus, Sy-Klone, was no exception. No points for guessing what his shtick was…

THE FIGURE ITSELF

SyClone2Sy-Klone was released in the 2003 series of Masters of the Universe. The figure is about 6 inches tall and he has 13 points of articulation, counting his…back…hoop…thing. The waist movement is tied into his action feature: by using the gear at the back of his belt, his upper torso can be spun. So, there’s that. Sy-Klone’s design wasn’t greatly changed for the 2002 series. The basic look is pretty much the same, with the only real tweaks being to his helmet design. His more generic helmet has been given more of a samurai-style appearance (befitting Sy-Klone’s characterization from the show), which makes him a bit more distinctive. Also, despite Sy-Klone classically having a face that closely resembles He-Man’s, this figure gives Sy-Klone his own unique face. I can’t say I mind, since there’s never been any explanation for the shared look. The rest of the sculpt is very nicely detailed. He’s got lots of fun little technical details, which add a nice extra dimension to the character. Of all the figures in the 200x re-launch, this is the one that most retains the strange squatting pose of the vintage line. It’s still slightly goofy, but it’s not entirely out of place on a character like Sy-Klone, since it works well with the whole spinning bit. Sy-Klone’s paintwork is alright, but not quite as good as it could be. To be fair, what paint’s there is all pretty cleanly done, and I really like the metallic red in particular. The problem with the paint is what isn’t there. He’s got a number of details, especially on the arms and legs, which are simply left unpainted. It’s a little frustrating. On the plus side, the bit in the middle is a cool lenticular piece, just like it was on the vintage figure. It’s a gimmick, but it’s a really cool one. Sy-Klone was packed with a yellow shield, designed to match him in theme.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve never had much affinity for Sy-Klone. His vintage figure has never appealed to me (and, by extension, his MOTUC figure also has no appeal), mostly because I just find his overall design rather on the clunky side. However, the 200x version did a lot to remove some of that clunkiness, which increases the appeal. Sy-Klone ended up being another figure from the Goodwill find of a few weeks ago. He’s not a bad figure at all, and I’m glad to have him.

#1004: Orko

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , ,

ORKO

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE (2002)

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Goofy sidekicks are something of a divisive bunch. You tend to either love them or hate them, with no in-between. Me? I’m generally a fan. I like goofy. I like funny. I like silly. Sometimes, what a serious story needs is someone to inject a little levity into it. Lex Luthor needs his Otis, Wonder Woman needs her Eta Candy, Squirrel Girl needs Monkey Joe, Brienne of Tarth needs Podric, and Batman’s always more fun when Bat-Mite’s around. Heck, I even like Wendy, Marvin, and Wonder Dog! When it comes to Masters of the Universe, yes, that means that I like Orko, He-Man’s less-than-effective wizard friend. I like him enough that I actually own every single Orko figure in existence (it’s not that hard; there’re only three). Today, I’ll be looking at Orko’s middle figure, courtesy of the 2002 relaunch.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Orko200z2Orko was released in the third Heroic Warriors assortment of the 2003 series of Masters of the Universe, alongside a rather silly He-Man variant. The figure stands about 5 ½ inches, counting the (non-removable) stand that gives him a hovering effect, and about 4 ½ inches not counting it. That’s rather on the large side for Orko, since it only makes him an inch and a half shorter than the average figure from the line, despite the show depicting him as less than half the size of most of the characters. This wasn’t a first for Orko, though; his vintage figure suffered from a similar issue. Granted, he’s still smaller than the rest of the figures, so the effect is kinda there. The figure has 8 points of articulation, which isn’t bad for a figure without legs. Orko has a pretty awesome sculpt. It takes a few liberties with the design seen in the show, but the changes make the design a little more ornate, which results in a pretty cool look. The sculpt is also incredibly dynamic, which makes him a pretty exciting looking figure to have on the shelf. What’s really cool is that he can still pull off a number of different poses, despite the more specific nature of the sculpt. The paintwork on Orko is solid, but perhaps not quite as impressive as the sculpt. The basic work is all there and it’s pretty clean, but there’s not much beyond that. With a sculpt like this, a few accents would have gone a long way. Orko included a staff, as well as a large…mystic…ball…thing. I’m not sure what it is, but it looks kind of cool.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Orko wasn’t super easy to get when he was new, so I didn’t have one (I actually ended up getting the vintage figure instead). This guy came from the lot of Masters figures that I picked up from a Goodwill a few weeks ago. Amusingly, he and his accessory were packed separately from each other, so I ended up having to pay for both of them (he was still less than $4, so I’m hardly going to complain). He was definitely one of my favorite finds in the set, and I’m glad to finally have one. Even with the scale issues, he’s a pretty awesome figure.

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