Tag Archives: Masters of the Universe

#3532: Mekaneck

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

MEKANECK

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE CLASSICS (MATTEL)

Fun FiQ Fact #0011: Despite not being one of the franchise’s central characters, Mekaneck has been included in most incarnations of the Masters of the Universe toyline.

For reasons I’ve never been able to fully explain, Mekaneck has been my favorite part of Masters of the Universe since my very first interactions with the franchise. I got into things with the 200x re-launch, and even before that line’s Mekaneck got to retail, I had already tracked down a vintage figure, because I just really wanted the character that badly. For Masters of the Universe Classics, it was the potential inclusion of Mekaneck that finally got me interested in the line, after hemming and hawing on it for a couple of years. I just really like that long-necked guy, I’m pretty much every form. Even when that form requires braving Matty Collector on a day of sale…but it’s okay, because that’s way in the past now, and all I’ve got is the figure, which is far more pleasant a thing. Let’s check him out now!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Mekaneck was released as part of the 2012 line-up for Masters of the Universe Classics, which ran during the line’s fourth year. He was the monthly figure for September of that year. Much like with the later Origins release, Mekaneck was the last 1984 character to join Classics. The figure stands 7 inches tall and he has 23 points of articulation. His sculpt was a lot of re-use. He has the line’s standard barbarian body, with the modified left arm for the symmetrical bracers set-up. Technically, that breaks from his vintage design, but animation tended to go for matching, and Mattel seems to want to reserve the larger bracer for He-Man proper most of the time. Since the Classics version of Stinkor was released before Mekaneck, this figure re-used the chest armor piece, albeit with the peg at the top of the plate glued in place this time, since Mekaneck had no alternate piece to swap out. The one new piece for this release was the head. It was a two piece assembly, with the helmet being separate. The helmet seems to sit a bit high, meaning the goggles don’t line up with where his eyes should be. It was brought up at the time that Mekaneck more than likely had some sort of cybernetic enhancements that make the lenses on the helmet something more than goggles, so they wouldn’t strictly *have* to line up with his actual eyes. It’s a reasonable explanation, but it doesn’t change the fact that literally every other Mekaneck figures has the goggles sitting where they should, and that Classics had a history of figures where molded parts weren’t fitted together properly during production. It was hardly the end of the world, but it was annoying. Mekaneck came from an era of the line where figures were almost entirely painted, allowing the main parts to be batch molded in black plastic. It caused issues for certain figures, but luckily Mekaneck wound up with a pretty good set-up. The only real issue is the lenses of the goggles, which are the same flat silver as the other accents on the helmet. The vintage figure hand mirrored lenses, and the 200x version had green ones. Either would have been nice, but the flat color makes it hard to distinguish any difference in the sculpted elements. Mekaneck was packed with his club, as well as two neck extensions of differing lengths. Technically, the necks can stack for one extra long neck, but the presence of a blue collar at both bases means that it looks a touch odd.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

Obviously, there was no way I was gonna miss this guy, so I had to deal with that fateful day-of sale on Matty Collector, which I honestly recall not being super stressful.  Yay, fun bonus!  After quite a wait for him, I recall being a little bit underwhelmed when he finally made it out.  I bounced back pretty quickly, since I was really just happy to have him, and having him as part of a larger collection of Mekanecks has taken some of the pressure off of him.  He’s not as strong as the later Origins release, and I don’t have the same nostalgia for him as the vintage or 200x releases, but he’s at least a reminder of my time with Classics, for better or for worse.

#3527: Orko

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

ORKO

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE REACTION FIGURES (SUPER 7)

Fun FiQ Fact #0006: In both the original ’80s Filmation Masters of the Universe and the 2002 re-boot, Orko and Mekaneck share a voice actor, Filmation founder Lou Scheimer in the ’80s and Gabe Khouth in the ’00s.

I’m not a hardcore Masters of the Universe fan by any means, but I’ve got a shortlist of three characters that I like to have in every possible style.  Number three on that list is He-Man’s plucky comic relief sidekick Orko, who I’ve had a soft spot for since I was rather young.  Yes, kid me saw the appeal of the kid-appeal character.  I was an easy target.  Super 7’s ReAction line is an ill-explored one in my collection, but I did get the Mekaneck back when he first hit, but I passed on Orko at the time, and he sold out.  He has eluded me for a bit, but no figure escapes me forever.  Oh, no.  I’m like a mounty: I always get my man.  Or…you know, action figure.  I’m like an action figure mounty.  Sure, let’s go with that.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Orko was part of Series 2 of the Masters of the Universe ReAction Figures, which is interestingly enough, the same one that had Mekaneck.  The figure stands 2 1/2 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  Orko doesn’t tend to get the same articulation as the rest of the characters, but this one actually gets the same set-up as everyone else, giving him some of the best mobility of any Orko figure.  He actually has “legs” to move, which is unique to this particular Orko.  As per usual for the character, Orko gets a unique sculpt.  It captures the style of the line nicely, and also requires less adjustments to his character design than some of the others.  His arms are a little longer, but not by much, and overall, he gets all the important details you need to sell Orko’s look.  Orko’s color work is his usual set-up; the paint work is a little spotty on the ears (a classic issue with Orko figures), but otherwise it’s pretty clean.  Orko is packed with his wand, which for this release is just a simple yellow cylinder, rather than anything more ornate.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

Since I missed out on grabbing Orko from All Time back when he was new, I’ve been waiting for one to come through, and one did indeed, just last week, in fact.  I’ve been stepping back my pick-ups recently, but he was worthy enough to bring home.  He’s a fun little version of the character.  Plus, he gave me an excuse to introduce my daughter to Orko, which is always a fun time!

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3525: Donatello – Heroic Turtle-At-Arms

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

DONATELLO — HEROIC TURTLE-AT-ARMS

TURTLES OF GRAYSKULL (MATTEL)

Fun FiQ Fact #0004: The vintage Masters of the Universe and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toylines shared a designer, Mark Taylor, who designed key portions of both lines.

I’m neither the world’s biggest Masters of the Universe fan nor the biggest TMNT fan, so you may be wondering what’s the deal with me reviewing a crossover figure from the two lines. Okay, you’re probably not, because I’m actually pretty transparent on some things, and one of them is that I like Donatello action figures. Where there are cool new Donnies, I tend to follow. Also, I do like me a nifty crossover. So, behold Man-At-Arms Donatello!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Donatello is part of the first standard assortment of Mattel’s Turtles of Grayskull line, alongside Leo, Man-At-Arms, and Mutated He-Man. The figure stands about 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 24 points of articulation. In terms of construction, these figures are very similar to Mattel’s own Origins line, which makes a degree of sense, since it allows the Turtles to fit right in with the established MotU characters, as showcased in the included minicomic. The design brings his build more in line with the typical Masters look, so he’s a little more roided out than usual, and gets less of that typical Turtle physique. This is presumably to keep cross-compatibility between all of the figures in the line. Donnie gets his own Man-At-Arms inspired armor, which is pretty fun. I especially dig how the back shell can turn into a separate shield piece. Donnie’s color work keeps with his usual palette, but there’s clearly more purple, since that’s the main basis for the armor. I like it; it makes him stand out nicely. Donnie is packed with the 7 pieces of removable armor, plus a staff-version of the Man-At-Arms mace, and a minicomic explaining the background of the crossover. Of particular note, it features Roboto in his minicomic colors, which makes me very happy.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

This whole endeavor is Max’s fault. He let me know about this crossover’s existence, and he made darn sure I got one of these, with this particular one landing in my hands just days before Christmas. He really likes to look out for me. I don’t feel the need to go in-depth for this line (but I certainly wouldn’t say no to a Roboto/Metalhead crossover), but this one figure is definitely worth it.

#3488: Clamp Champ

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

CLAMP CHAMP

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE MASTERVERSE (MATTEL)

When Clamp Champ was introduced into the Masters of the Universe toyline in 1987, the brand was winding down.  ’87 was the last year of the vintage run, and the cartoon had wrapped up, leaving poor Clamp Champ with only a few comic appearances, and a rather rare vintage figure.  He was set to join the cast of the 200x show, but it was also cancelled before his inclusion, and in that case he didn’t even get a proper figure, just a “staction” from NECA.  So, it was certainly exciting when good ol’ Raenius finally made his animated debut in Revelation.  It wasn’t a huge role, or anything, but he got to be cool for a bit, and he also managed to net another figure out of the whole deal.  Dope!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Clamp Champ was released in Series 10 of Mattel’s Masters of the Universe Masterverse line.  He’s officially under the Revelation banner, but his design on the show means that he can also double as a classic Clamp Champ update.  The figure stands a little over 7 inches tall and he has 31 points of articulation.  Clamp Champ is based on the standard male body, which is pretty much expected for the character.  This far into the line, it’s pretty by the numbers.  The hips seem to have lost the weird sticking they had early on, and everything else works pretty well.  Clamp Champ gets an all-new head sculpt, which matches up pretty nicely to his Revelation animation model.  He’s not quite as battle-hardened as his Classics counterpart, but looks a bit less green than his vintage and Origins releases.  I didn’t care for it in the prototype shots, but in-hand, it turned out very well.  While Clamp Champ typically shares his chest armor with Fisto, that’s not the case this time around; though the two certainly have similar design elements, Champ’s armor is a touch more fitted and ornate, giving him a slightly more unique feel.  Clamp Champ’s color work is pretty solid.  He keeps his classic colors, but gets a little bit of a modernized edge, with his armor all getting a metallic finish.  There’s also some pretty solid accent work on the face, the loincloth, and the boots, which adds some more depth and dimension.  Clamp Champ is packed with two sets of hands (fists and gripping), as well as his signature Techno Clamp.  The clamp is a bit changed up from prior releases; now it’s a two piece assembly, which surrounds the whole forearm, in contrast to the usual hand-held affair.  The actual styling of the clamps is a little different as well.  It doesn’t do the spring forward capture gimmick, instead just being a more conventional springy clamp.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve had a soft spot for Clamp Champ for a while, despite not actually owning any of his figures until the Origins release.  Since I *had* the Origins figure, I didn’t necessarily think I needed to grab this one.  Then I saw him in person, and I had a very hard time passing him up.  I really like how this one turned out. Even after getting the Origins figure, I still felt like I was missing out on the Classics figure I never got, but this guy makes me feel like I don’t even need that one at all.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3463: Roboto – Minicomic

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

ROBOTO — MINICOMIC

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE ORIGINS (MATTEL)

Something I’ve discussed a lot in my more recent Masters of the Universe reviews is how I avoid getting *too* sucked into Masters lines by sticking to a few select characters and not expanding much beyond that.  It tends to lock me in at one version of a given character per style.  Sometimes, however, it backfires on me just a little bit, when Mattel does exactly what they’ve done here and goes for an easy repaint.  And then I’m over here buying yet another Roboto.  Worse things have happened, right?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Roboto was released as part of Wave 12 of Mattel’s Masters of the Universe Origins line, which started showing up towards the end of the summer.  The line’s been a little out of sequence, so they actually wound up hitting *after* 13, and with a pretty last minute announcement at that.  Whatever the case, we got a new Roboto, and that’s what really matters.  This one is specifically patterned on his early minicomic appearances, which has been a running trend of variants for the line.  The figure stands 5 1/2 inches tall and he has 22 points of articulation, in addition to the moving jaw piece.  Roboto is a total parts re-use from the standard colored version, which isn’t even the slightest bit surprising.  That’s been the mincomic set-up for the most part, and Roboto’s look is pretty much just a palette swap anyway.  It’s still a very strong sculpt, and I like it a lot, so I certainly don’t mind seeing it again.  The main change-up here, of course, is the color scheme, which shifts him to the colors seen in “The Battle of Roboto,” and other minicomics from the vintage run.  His limbs are now orange, rather than blue and red, and, most importantly, he’s got the heart on his chest, which in the comics was the thing responsible for Roboto’s human emotions.  It’s so hokey, but I love it so much, so I’m very glad it’s there.  Just like his first release, Roboto includes his three arm attachments: blaster, axe, and claw.  He’s also still got the standard action feature; turning the torso moves the gears in the chest and moves his jaw up and down.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Roboto is an interesting break from how I was introduced to a good portion of MOTU.  I know most of it because of the 200x series, but in Roboto’s case, my first exposure to the character was in “The Battle of Roboto,” which came with my vintage Orko that I picked up at a toy show in the early ’00s.  I loved that take on the character, and it’s informed my love of the character in general since.  I honestly didn’t expect this figure, but I was genuinely very excited by its announcement and arrival.  He’s not terribly different from the last one, of course, but I love the small little touches.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3424: He-Man – Movie

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

HE-MAN — MOVIE

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE MASTERVERSE (MATTEL)

Masters of the Universe was quite a powerhouse property in the early to mid ’80s, and it’s owners Mattel had seen great success not just with the toys, but also in the realm of comics and TV. With that in mind, they set their sights on a theatrical film, and said film materialized in 1987…to mixed results. By ’87, public interest had started to move past MotU, and the film itself was held back by its changes to the source material, largely the result of its rather small budget. In the years since, it’s gotten quite a cult following, however, and, aided by a resurgence of interest in the franchise as a whole, it’s even managed to get a little bit of toy coverage, too, including a pair of Masterverse figures, the first of which I’m taking a look at today! Let’s take a look at He-Man!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

He-Man is a deluxe sized offering from the Masters of the Universe: Masterverse line, the first of the two movie-based deluxe figures (the other being Skeletor). The figure stands about 7 inches tall and he has 31 points of articulation. He’s using the line’s standard male body, which works well enough. Though some of the people at Mattel during the film’s production apparently found Dolph Lundgren, who was a body builder who could snap most normal men in two mind you, too scrawny for the role, the standards of build for He-Man have changed enough that the line’s standard build actually matches up pretty well. He gets two new heads, new upper arms, and shins, as well as overlays for his harness, belt, and wrist guard, and a soft goods cape. The first head is the actual “movie inspired” one, though that largely just amounts to the styling of his hair, as they didn’t actually get Lundgren’s likeness rights. He doesn’t look *unlike* Lundgren, I suppose, but his face does seem a little wide. His alternate head is a more house style He-Man, which looks odd to me, but I guess there’s an appeal to it. The heads are really difficult to swap, though, to the point where I was worried I was going to break the neck peg when going back and forth. The rest of the new parts capture his film look pretty well, and I quite like how the cape gets printed detailing on the outside. He-Man’s color work is decent enough. Definitely the armor and hair get the best work, since there’s some solid accenting in play there. He’s packed with his power sword, two different knives, a pistol, and two sets of hands. I really like that he’s actually got storage for all the weapons, but I’m less enthusiastic about the fact that the paint is already chipping on the sword handle, and also that none of his hands can properly hold the pistol.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was late to the game on the Masters movie, and didn’t actually see it until I was in college about a decade ago. After years of hearing how bad it was, I was pleasantly surprised, and it’s become one I’ve returned to a good number of times. I really wanted to grab Super 7’s Movie He-Man when he hit, but missed out and always regretted it, so I was glad to get another chance with this one. I actually got this one as a Father’s Day gift from my son Matthew, who was committed to keeping last year’s theme of Masterverse going. He’s not a perfect figure, but he’s fun, and I’m very glad to have him.

#3388: Orko

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

ORKO

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE (MATTEL)

He-Man’s goofy floating sidekick wasn’t an immediate addition to Masters of the Universe, but he was certainly an early one.  He officially debuted during the franchises first few years, with toy coverage and regular appearances on the animated adaptation.  Orko’s break from the line’s usual design aesthetics made him a memorable and distinctive looking character amongst the rest of the rank and file.  That said, it also has had the tendency to work against him, since it makes it a heck of a lot harder to share molds between him and other figures.  As such, he’s usually locked in at one figure per iteration of the line.  At least they usually wind up being pretty good, though.  Today, I’m going back to the character’s start, with his very first figure.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Orko was added to the Masters of the Universe line in 1984.  He’s one of the year’s most notable additions, though it’s generally a good year for the franchise.  The figure is about 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 2 points of articulation, with one joint at each of his shoulders.  The height of articulation, he is not, but there’s really only so much you can do with the design.  I suppose a neck joint might have been nice, but it is what it is.  Orko’s sculpt was a completely unique one.  He’s a bit stiff and stilted in posing, and he’s certainly rather large when compared to other figures in the line (a common issue with Orko figures), but he’s certainly got something of a charm about him.  The robes also do have a nice bit of flow to them, which is a nice touch.  Orko’s hat is a separate piece, which you can *technically* remove, but there’s not really much to see beneath it.  It does at least give him a bit more depth.  Orko’s color work is pretty standard for the line, with molded colors and basic paint application.  The robes wind up with two different shades for the magenta, thanks to the varying plastics on the arms and torso, but it’s minor.  The actual application of paint is a little fuzzy at the edges, and it’s a bit worn on mine, but the colors are bright and he’s got a lot of pop.  Orko was originally packed with a ripcord, which could be used in conjunction with his internal mechanisms to give him a “hovering” effect.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When I got into Masters in ’02, the then-current line was quite tricky to get, so I tended to fill in with vintage figures here and there.  Orko was one such case.  Since his 200x figure was rare, I got this one instead, at a small toy show I attended with my dad back in the early ’00s.  This guy is goofy and hokey and I honestly love that.

#3378: Mekaneck

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

MEKANECK

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE (MATTEL)

Introduced to the Heroic Warriors in 1984, during Masters of the Universe‘s third year, Mekaneck was dubbed the “Heroic Human Periscope!”  He was originally titled “Spy Man”, a name that would survive long enough to be listed for the character in Filmation’s series bible for their animated adaption.  This was, presumably, ruled out for being too basic, though in a line where the lead character is “He-Man,” you can only get too clever before you don’t actually fit in anymore.  Mekaneck splits the difference a bit, I suppose.  Though hardly one of the franchise’s heavy hitters, Mekaneck is nevertheless a fairly memorable member of the Heroic Warriors, and a solid second tier character that no line really feels complete without.  Today, I’m jumping back to the very beginning for the character.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Mekaneck was included in the third main assortment of Heroic Warriors for Mattel’s Masters of the Universe.  The 1984 line-up introduced some pretty prominent figures to the line, including the Battle Armor versions of the two main characters He-Man and Skeletor, as well as the first figures for both Orko and Fisto.  But Mekaneck is today’s focus, and I’m certainly not gonna let the others take away from that.  Mekaneck stands about 5 1/2 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  Due to the nature of his action feature, Mekaneck lacked an actual neck joint.  Additionally, his waist only turns one direction, and only about halfway at that.  Mekaneck made use of the standard barbarian arms, pelvis, and legs, as well as a new head/neck, a tweaked torso, and an all-new chest armor piece (which would see re-use the next year for Stinkor).  His sculpting is pretty standard for the line.  He’s got the usual rather goofy proportions, as expected, and minimal levels of detailing over most of the sculpt.  His head is the most distinctive piece, sporting a rather unique helmet and goggles.  The detailing is a touch soft, but not terrible.  I do quite like the mechanical details on the neck.  The color work on this guy is generally basic, and not super sharp or anything, but it gets the job done.  Obviously, this particular figure has seen better days, but he’s not incredibly bad given how old he is.  He’s still got faint traces of the chrome goggles, which are still fun.  Mekaneck was packed with a club-like sort of weapon, which would become a staple for the character.  It was somewhat prone to warping, given how soft the material was, but it’s a decent side-arm for him.  He also featured an action; twisting his toros to his left extends the neck.  It’s only about an inch and a half, since it’s got to fit in the torso, and he has to have his legs off to the side to use it, but it’s still fun.  Basic, but fun.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When the pilot movie for the 200x tie-in cartoon ran in 2002, I watched it with quite a bit of excitement.  Mekaneck, as minor as he may have been, really stuck out to me.  I knew there was one coming in the 200x line, but he wasn’t out when the cartoon hit.  I made due with just having the basic He-Man to start, but I wanted more.  As luck would have it, we had a power-outage at my parents home that weekend, and, so as to not keep me stuck in a house with no power for a long stretch of time, my dad took me out for the day, which included stopping by a comic book store that had a decent selection of vintage toys, which just so happened to have this guy, meaning I was able to add a Mekaneck to my collection months earlier than the 200x figure’s release.  This one got a lot of use before the update came along, at which point, I believe I retconned this one into being a relative of some sort.  But this one was still the first, and that’s honestly pretty cool.

#3318: Mekaneck & Ground Ripper

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

MEKANECK & GROUND RIPPER

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE ORIGINS (MATTEL)

The best and easiest way for me to manage not going stupidly overboard on any given toy brand is really dig myself in on just a couple of characters I really like.  That way, instead of feeling like I need to go all-in on any iteration of a brand, I can just focus on when they got to those couple of characters.  Perhaps the most successful go at this I’ve got in my arsenal is Masters of the Universe.  When it comes to any given Masters line, I really only need to concern myself with three characters: Orko, Roboto, and Mekaneck.  Mattel’s been pretty darn lax on Mekaneck recently, and we had three different running Masters lines without any coverage for him, but that’s finally changing up at least a little bit.  I already got Orko and Roboto from Mattel’s Origins line, but now I’ve got a Mekaneck.  Oh yeah.  Time for another Mekaneck!

THE TOYS THEMSELVES

Mekaneck and the Ground Ripper are a deluxe offering from Mattel’s Masters of the Universe: Origins line, bundling a standard figure with a smaller scale vehicle, following in the footsteps of the Prince Adam and Skysled pack from the line’s first year.  This set initially went up for order exclusively through one of Walmart’s collector events, but it very quickly showed up through other vendors, so it looks like it was just some sort of exclusive pre-order window deal.  Whatever the case, this is a standard release item, and that’s certainly a plus.

Mekaneck’s original figure was a 1984 release, and he’s the last figure from that year to make it to Origins, which also somewhat duplicates his late-game addition to Classics as well.  He’s, unsurprisingly, an update on his vintage counterpart.  The figure is about 5 1/2 inches tall and he has 23 points of articulation.  As was the case with his vintage counterpart, Mekaneck’s body is based on the standard barbarian base body, which I looked at when it was used for Clamp Champ.  It’s a nice recreation of the vintage base body proportions and design sensibilities, but with better articulation worked in.  I can definitely dig it.  Mekaneck gets a new head sculpt, patterned on his original sculpt, though definitely a bit more refined.  The helmet and what we can see of the face are two separate parts, which keeps the division between them nice and sharp. Since it’s actually just the head, Mekaneck also gets neck articulation, something that his vintage counterpart lacked.  The figure also makes use of the chest piece previously used for Stinkor, which makes sense, since the shared the part in the vintage and Classics lines.  Of course, in the vintage line, Stinkor was re-using the piece from Mekaneck, rather than the reverse that’s occurred in every line since.  For some reason, everybody’s way more into the smelly skunk guy than the guy with the extra long neck.  I don’t get it either.  Mekaneck’s color work is quite nice; it’s very bright and very colorful, and it really makes him pop.  He’s quite eye catching.  It’s largely molded colors, but they work.  In particular, I really like the mirrored lenses on the goggles; they’re so very shiny.  Since this Mekaneck is without his vintage counterpart’s built-in neck-extending feature, this version takes a page out of the Classics book, and gives him an extended neck to swap in.  It maintains the posability of the ball-jointed neck, which makes this the Mekaneck with the most posable mecha-neck of all his figures.  I wouldn’t have minded getting multiple lengths of neck like the Classics version, I suppose, but this one does at least duplicate the length of the vintage version.  Mekaneck is also packed with his usual yellow club-thing, which is as yellow and club-thing-y as ever.

The Ground Ripper, or Road Ripper as it was originally named, was also a 1984 debut.  It’s original release was a single, though it was also available in a gift set during the vintage run, albeit with a Battle Armor He-Man, rather than Mekaneck.  The vehicle is about 9 1/2 inches long, and features rolling wheels in the front and back, as well as a working seatbelt.  Yay for proper vehicular safety!   The Ground/Road Ripper does *not* have its vintage version’s rip cord for its “ripping” feature, instead just being a rather basic vehicle.  It’s okay, but not super thrilling, really.  The sculpt more or less just follows the vintage version.  The details are certainly a little crisper here, so there’s that.  It also gets an alternate “head” for the front; the standard is rather bird-like, while the replacement is more like a dragon.  They’re both pretty decent, and I like the extra customizability.  There’s not paint to speak of on the vehicle, but there’s an assortment of stickers, which do alright on the whole detailing front, as well as getting that vintage feel down pretty nicely.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Have I mentioned previously how much I like Mekaneck?  I’m just not sure if I’ve adequately conveyed that point.  As with any Masters line, the first thing I wanted out of Origins was a Mekaneck.  Unfortunately, I had a bit of a wait there, now didn’t I?  Well, that’s okay, because it just meant that I got to appreciate other figures before Mekaneck inevitably came along a blew them away.  Because, quite frankly, that’s what he did.  Sure, the other Origins I’ve gotten are cool and all, but Mekaneck is just absolutely fantastic.  Even worth the extra price for the stupid tricycle he comes with, which will be promptly handed over to Matty.  But Mekaneck?  Superb.

Thanks to my sponsors at All Time Toys for setting me up with this set for review.  If you’d like to see a video of this guy in action, I actually helped out with one for their YouTube channel, so check that out.  And, as always, if you’re looking for toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3314: Faker

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

FAKER

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE MASTERVERSE (MATTEL)

“Of all the deadly minions at Skeletor’s disposal, Faker’s mastery of deception and destruction makes him among the most dangerous.  The cybernetic doppelgänger of He-Man takes on the appearance of Eternia’s most powerful protector, fooling many heroes, including the Sorceress of Greyskull herself.  By the time the heroes discover Faker’s true nature, it may be too late.”

You gotta have the evil clone, right?  It’s, like, a staple of crazy, action-oriented fiction.  Even more so if there are toys involved.  I mean, it’s an easy repaint.  That’s the whole basis of today’s focus, Faker, who, as the above bio outlines fairly thoroughly, is a robotic duplicate of He-Man.  Faker’s been a fixture of the Masters of the Universe toy lines, though not so much the other media associated.  The cartoons have all featured a duplicate of some sort of He-Man, but it wasn’t until Revelation that one was officially dubbed “Faker”, thereby tying toy and show together fully.  So, Masterverse got to be the very first show accurate Faker figure.  Noice.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Faker is a deluxe offering for the Masters of the Universe: Masterverse line.  He was the second deluxe offering, and began as a Target exclusive (though he wasn’t officially billed as such), before moving to a wider release.  The figure stands a little over 7 inches tall and he has 31 points of articulation.  His movement is more or less the same as the standard He-Man, though he doesn’t seem to have the same issue with the sticky hips, at least on my copy.  The sculpt shares a lot of its parts with the standard He-Man, as expected, although it’s actually a lot less parts than you might expect, given how Faker’s previous figures haven’t gotten any new parts in the past.  To properly differentiate him from standard He-Man, Faker is based on his look after his deception is revealed by the Sorceress, so he’s got a lot of his robotic parts revealed.  As such, he only actually shares the lower half of his body, plus his hands, bracers, and chest harness with He-Man.  All of the other parts are adjusted to feature the skin pealing back, which is actually pretty impressively handled.  What remains of the skin is consistent with regular He-Man, and the whole look adds a bit of menace to him.  His paint work is again pretty consistent with the standard He-Man, adjusting of course for the parts with the exposed silver.  He’s also got a slightly more metallic finish to the gold parts of his armor, and his eyes have red irises, so he’s got that proper “evil” feel.  Faker’s standard head has a split face, with have robot and half He-Man, but he also gets two extras, which go the opposite directions, so there’s the standard He-Man head (with the adjusted red irises), and a fully-revealed robot head.  He also gets the two sets of hands that He-Man had, as well as a tweaked Power Sword with Faker’s usual orange coloring, and Skeletor’s chest harness, also in orange, so that you can do a bit of a classic Faker throwback.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Faker’s been sitting on my shelf waiting to be reviewed for a very long stretch of time.  I wound up grabbing him when Target put him on sale back at the end of 2021.  He was cheap enough that I felt it was worth it, but I just kind of kept forgetting to review him, for one reason or another.  He’s honestly a pretty fun figure.  Not a classic Faker, but a fun refresh on the concept.  I’d love to see a more straight update of his classic design as well, but I can definitely dig trying something new, especially when it turns out as well as this.