Tag Archives: Masters of the Universe

#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.

#3293: Roboto

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

ROBOTO

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE: MASTERVERSE (MATTEL)

My Masters of the Universe reviews around here are getting further and further between, I’ll admit.  Part of that is because I’m trying to really stick to my guns on only buying specific characters from each line.  I have three characters that are a lock for any Masters line I’m picking up: Mekaneck, Orko, and Roboto.  The irony of this is that, up til now, Masterverse, the line I’ve been focussing the most on, has only actually had one of those three, Orko, and he was only as a pack-in at that.  Thankfully, there’s been at least one change on that front, as Roboto has officially been added to the Masterverse line!  Let’s see how he turned out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Roboto is part of Series 7 of the Masterverse line, alongside Sorceress Evil-Lyn, Stratos, and Frosta.  Roboto falls under the line’s Revelation banner, being specifically based on his appearance in the show.  His very awesome appearance in the show, where he’s the best part.  It was really cool, you guys.  You should check it out.  In Roboto’s case, it means he’s still a pretty classically-inspired version of the character, so he doubles as an update to his original figure, if that’s more your speed.  The figure stands just shy of 7 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation (which includes his moving mouthplate).  Roboto’s articulation is largely pretty similar to the others in the line, though he gains an extra swivel at the top of his right forearm, and lacks the usual mid-torso joint, due to the nature of his design.  On my figure, both of the arms had one half of the double elbow stuck right out of the box, so sticking joints is still a recurring issue for the line.  At least the hips aren’t as bad on this guy.  Roboto’s construction is a mix of old and new.  He’s re-using the legs and feet from Trapjaw; the two of them have shared legs going back to the vintage line, and its consistent with their respective designs in Revelation, so the re-use is a sensible one.  I’m still a little iffy on how the articulation works respective to the kneepads on the boots, but it does bug me less on this release than it did on Trapjaw.  The rest of his sculpt is an all-new, and it’s honestly my favorite to come out of Masterverse so far.  It’s very clean, very sleek, and very sharp.  It matches up nicely with his animated design, while still melding well with the established look of the rest of the line.  In particular, I really like the internal structure on the torso.  Roboto’s color work is generally pretty solid.  The paint application is nice and clean, and I dig the mix of metallic and flat colors.  As always, that clear torso’s a lot of fun, and works well with all the sculpted elements inside.  Roboto is packed with two different styles of blaster attachments to swap out for the right hand, as well as the two halves of the Power Sword, this time in a translucent orange, as if he’s fusing them.  The only thing notably missing is his poncho, which does bum me ever so slightly, but I guess it’s an okay omission.  He’s got the needed sculpted attachments, and that’s what really counts.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Roboto was my absolute favorite part of Revelation, and I’ve been eagerly awaiting his addition to the line ever since the show dropped.  It sure did feel like they were dragging their feet, but he’s finally here.  I really dig this figure.  Lack of poncho aside, he does everything he needs to, and he’s by far my favorite figure from the line thus far.  Just a real standout, all things considered, and one that’s going to be very hard to top.

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

#3227: Zodac

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

ZODAC

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE: MASTERVERSE (MATTEL)

“Few are more powerful than the omnipotent master of the cosmos, Zodac.  As the keeper of the neutral balance between good and evil, the Cosmic Enforcer’s universal travels return him to Eternia – home of Castle Greyskull, the Nexus of Realities, and the center of the multiverse.  For a threat to the cosmic balance can come from anywhere at any time.”

While I *did* take a look at something Masters of the Universe related within the last month, it’s been four months since I really looked at anything new from the franchise.  It has a tendency to happen, especially when there are such gaps between the characters I actually want.  Look, this Mekaneck-erasure will not stand, you guys.  It’s driving me a little batty.  Making me but more figures of the *other* guy in a goody red helmet.  So, um, here’s another version of Zodac, I suppose.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Zodac is part of Series 5 of the Masterverse line, and he’s part of the “New Eternia” sub-branding for the line.  Thus far, New Eternia seems to be a way of doing classic versions of the characters, but with some optional updates to their looks, something that Zodac sticks to pretty closely.  The figure stands 7 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Zodac’s sculpt uses the basic male body as a starting point, as well as re-using the forearms from Barbarian Skeletor, and the feet from standard Skeletor.  He also gets a new head, upper torso, shins, pelvis, and an add-on for his armor.  The new parts are all pretty respectable recreations of that classic Zodac look.  The head’s certainly consistent with the way the classic version of the character tends to be depicted, to the point that I felt the need to double check that he wasn’t sharing his head with the Origins.  The two pieces are distinctly different, though.  The new upper torso replicates the vintage figure’s use of Beast Man’s torso, though in a far less bulky and less hairy way than the Masterverse Beast Men did.  His armored up pieces are generally consistent with his classic design, but he does get a little bit of updating, with his loincloth piece getting a fancier tabard sort of thing at the front, and his chest armor getting some shoulder pads.  It keeps his general look, while also cleaning him up just a little bit.  He also gets a holster piece, which adds a bit more practicality to him.  The look is cool, but I did find some functionality issues with how they interact.  The shoulder pads attach via clips on the back, which work fine, but they’re also meant for weapon storage, so you ultimately have to choose between them.  The holster attaches via one of the chest armor straps, which means that posing pulls the strap loose if you’re not careful.  Rather minor issues, though.  Zodac’s color work sticks to the classic set-up, with red, grey, and white.  It’s largely molded plastic coloring, but there’s some paint work on the head and torso armor.  It works out pretty well, and the application’s all pretty slick and clean.  Zodac is packed with two sets of hands, his weird sci-fi gun, as well as a staff piece, which can be split in two for storage.  Unfortunately, my figure was missing half of his staff, but Max was kind enough to loan me his for the review photos.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, it would seem I’ve apparently added Zodac to the list of Masters characters I’m buying in every style.  I didn’t really see that happening.  Certainly not with Zodac with a “c”.  Zodak with a “k”, perhaps.  But Zodac?  Well, I guess I have a soft spot for this goofy space guy.  This figure’s a pretty fun one.  I like the classic design with just those very slight updates.  The figure’s got a few little minor flaws, but he’s very fun, and I like that a lot.  Still holding out for that Zodak re-deco, though.

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

#3206: Mekaneck

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

MEKANECK

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE (MATTEL)

Well, would you look at that, I’ve officially been running this old site of mine for nine whole years.  What a time it’s been.  As I always like to do on these anniversaries, I’m opting to make today’s review just a little bit more special.  I’m focusing on a line that’s as of yet not gotten to be in the spotlight here, Masters of the Universe.  While my ties to MotU don’t go hardcore or anything, I did have something of an attachment to the franchise’s 2002 re-launch, which was what introduced the whole thing to me, back when I was just 10 years old.  Since early into my exposure to the franchise, I’ve had a particular attachment to the heroic warrior Mekaneck.  So, let’s look at a Mekaneck, shall we?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Mekaneck was part of the second assortment of the 200x Masters of the Universe, alongside a He-Man variant and a bunch of re-packs.  The figure stands a little over 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 12 points of articulation.  While the original Mekaneck design was meant to re-use a good bulk of the standard male body, his 200x design was decidedly quite removed from the core look.  As such, this guy wasn’t designed with other characters in mind, so his mold was totally unique to him.  It’s a pretty great offering, courtesy of the Four Horsemen.  The updated version of the design added a lot more tech details, especially to the underlying body, but also to his armor, which was a bit more basic on his original figure.  All of the classic elements are still present, and it’s very clear who he’s supposed to be.  His distinctive chest armor, originally a piece he shared with Stinkor, was affixed permanently to the torso here, and again given a far more in depth selection of detailing.  He’s got the same neck extending feature from his vintage counterpart; twisting his waist extends his neck about an inch or so.  About the only down side to this figure’s sculpt is to do with his secondary action feature, which is gives you the ability to “see” through his head, which is done via a gaping hole in the back of his head.  It’s certainly an odd choice to be sure, since it offers minimal play value, but also results in a really obvious hole in his head.  Beyond that, though, the sculpt’s great.  The figure’s paint work is generally pretty great.  There were two versions of the paint, with the one seen here being the standard release, which technically has green goggles.  I say “technically” because the translucent plastic barely shows any deviations in the colors, so it can be hard to tell.  Mekaneck is packed with his usual distinctive mace, which he can hold in his left hand.  His arm has even been given a spring-loaded swinging feature in the elbow, which isn’t terribly impressive, but it’s alright.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The 200x incarnation’s accompanying cartoon debuted with a pilot movie, aired during Cartoon Network’s Cartoon Theatre.  I remember excitedly sitting down and watching it when it aired.  In addition to running out to get a He-Man the next day, I was also quite intrigued by Mekaneck, even with his brief appearance in the film.  His prototype had already been shown off by then, so I knew I wanted him pretty much from the start.  He was quite a rare figure at the time, but I actually had a stroke of luck on this particular release.  When I was a kid, my grandmother and I made it a ritual to visit the KB Toys at the local mall, on an almost weekly basis.  In 2003, she and my dad had located the KB Toys liquidation outlet, which was just a few hours drive from where we lived.  They planned a day trip out, and I wound up getting a whole boatload of stuff, largely older Toy Biz Marvel.  However, amongst the piles of figures that were almost a decade old by that point, I found one lone Masters figure, thrown on a random shelf, and, as luck would have it, it was Mekaneck.  Quite a thrilling find on a day of thrilling finds, really.  He’s a goofy figure, but he’s Mekaneck; he’s supposed to be goofy.  That’s what’s great about him, and that’s what’s great about this figure.

#3134: Teela

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

TEELA

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE: MASTERVERSE (MATTEL)

“Learning she had been lied to her entire life, Teela threw down her sword, rejected her title, and turned her back on her family, friends, and all of Eternia.  Fate, however, has a way of returning.  Prince Adam’s secret identity as He-Man — the same secret that shattered her trust — became intertwined with her quest to save magic from disappearing from Eternia.”

Oh, wow, you know, those last two Masters reviews were so lovely, I think I might just do one more. Like a dessert or something. Just a little extra. Masters of the Universe Revelation spent most of its runtime in a post-defeat of He-Man setting, but it’s first episode, as well as some flashbacks sprinkled throughout the rest of the show, still gave plenty of focus to the main characters in their classic designs. This also gives the tie-in portion of Mattel’s Masterverse line plenty of free reign for some more straightforward updates of the original figures. While the line’s first Teela was sporting her later Revelation look, there was a rather quick follow-up to that one, this time with her classic attire. I’ll be taking a look at that one today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Teela is part of Series 4 of the Masterverse line, as one of the two Revelation-themed figures in the set. The figure stands about 7 inches tall and she has 31 points of articulation. She again keeps with the set-up we’ve seen previously with the female bodies in this line, which is a pretty solid articulation scheme. Her sculpt is obviously starting from the same base point as the other female figures, but she’s almost entirely new. It’s a strong sculpt. I was a big fan of the prior Teela, and I liked the extra details the newer design offered, but this one looks pretty great too. The armor is very clean and sharply detailed, and I like how the two faces are a younger, more cleaned up Teela, but still very distinctly the same person.  As hinted by the “two faces” comment from the sentence prior, Teela includes two head sculpts.  The first is the more classic one, with her hair up and her headdress in place.  The second is her post-quitting look, with her hair down and messy.  They’re both a lot of fun, and, again, consistent to what’s been established thus far for the character in this iteration of the line.  Teela’s paint work is generally pretty decent.  The application is pretty clean for the most part.  There’s a little bit of slop on the tops of the boots, and the coloring on the cheeks is a little heavy handed, but otherwise, it works well.  Teela is packed with two sets of hands, a sword, and a shield.  Not quite as impressive as the last two figures I looked at, but still a nice set-up.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was quite content with my post-time-jump Teela figure from Series 2, and, as cool as this figure looked, I wasn’t planning to grab this one.  I then got offered a deal on one that I really couldn’t beat, and suddenly, I have one.  She’s really nice.  A fantastic update on the classic Teela design, fitting right in with the other “classic” figures from the line.  I definitely dig the extra pieces, and she’s just a pretty solid figure all around.

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

#3133: Andra

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

ANDRA

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE: MASTERVERSE (MATTEL)

Remember when I was talking about Masters of the Universe yesterday? Good, then I won’t have to repeat myself too much. As it turns out, I’ve got a small little handful of Masters figures to check out, so I’m going ahead and doing that now. As I mentioned yesterday, the Masterverse line started off with tie-ins for Revelation, and while it’s moving on to some other corners of the franchise, there’s still a few more Revelation figures to cover. I’m looking at one of those today. This time around, it’s Andra. Originally introduced as a supporting player in the first ongoing Masters of the Universe comic (published by Marvel’s short-lived Star Comics imprint), Andra was revived and updated to be a major player in Revelation, getting her very first action figure in the process. I’m looking at that figure today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Andra was released in Series 3 of the Masters of the Universe: Masterverse line. It’s the last fully Revelation-themed set for the line, and also featured Fisto, Stinkor, and Scare-Glow. Andra is one of the characters to only be seen post-time skip, so she’s only got the one real look, which is what this figure goes with. The original Andra design’s honestly not much to write home about, so Revelation departs from it pretty radically, going for more of a post-apocalyptic, quickly thrown together sort of vibe, which I really dig.  The figure stands 7 inches tall and has 31 points of articulation. Her articulation scheme is the same as we saw with Teela and Evil-Lyn before her. As with Teela, actual re-use is at a minimum, mostly being confined to her upper arms, and the internal structure of the body. Beyond that, she’s an all-new sculpt. It’s a pretty great one. She continues the trend set by Evil-Lyn and Teela of the female figures really being the best ones in the line. The show design has all of its elements captured well, with just a little extra detailing to make the figure a little more visually interesting.  Her paint work is rather involved, but far more reserved than the usual offering from this line.  It works out pretty well, and matches up nicely with her look from the show.  Andra rivals Evil-Lyn in terms of accessory pack-outs, going for a real all-in-one set-up.  She gets her alternate masked head from her intro, plus a cloth cloak to go with it, three different pairs of hands, and a blast effect for her wrist blaster.  Certainly not a bad set-up at all.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Andra’s not a character I knew before Revelation brought her back, but, as I’ve mentioned a few times before, I really dug Teela’s whole team, and they’re really my main focus with this line.  Andra’s certainly not a character I could leave out, given how central she is to so much of the story.  She’s genuinely one of the line’s nicest figures, with a real feeling of value for what you’re getting, as well as a lot of very obvious care going into the whole construction.

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

#3132: Beast Man

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

BEAST MAN

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE: MASTERVERSE (MATTEL)

“Shaman of the Seven Savage Tribes that dwell within the majestic jungles of Eternia, Beast Man defeated the mighty bear demon and earned the right to lead his people.  Then they mysteriously disappeared.  Now he searches all corners of the planet for his tribe.  Nothing can stop him from reuniting him under his care.  Not the barbaric He-Man.  Not even the evil Skeletor.”

There’s been a slight hiatus in Masters of the Universe coverage here on the site, so, hey, why don’t we fix that. It seems like Mattel’s done a respectable job reviving the brand at retail, with three separate main lines all running concurrently. My definite favorite of the trio is Masterverse, which is sort of a half-step between Classics and the 200x run. The line started with a focus on tying in with the Revelation cartoon, but as it has continued, Mattel is treating it more like a legacy line, covering some of the other parts of the franchise. The first additional theme to be added is “New Eternia”, which reinterprets some of the pre-Masters concept work into all-new figures. Today, I’m taking a look at that particular sub-set’s version of Beast Man!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

New Eternia Beast Man is a deluxe offering from the Masters of the Universe: Masterverse line. Thus far, he’s only showing up at Target, but it appears that he’s only a first to market exclusive, much like Faker was. The figure stands a little over 7 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation. The core of this figure is, unsurprisingly, the same as the Series 2 Beast Man. It’s a very sensible re-use, and it helps that it was a solid piece the first time around, and was notably not saddled with some of the issues which plagued the standard male body. The body gets modified forearms and shins, which remove the bracers from the original molds, as well as an all-new head sculpt, and new add-on pieces for his chest armor, shoulder and wrist plates, wrist bands, loin cloth, and shin guards. The parts work together to create a new look, inspired by Beast Man’s original Lords of Power concept, but modernized and made a little more monstrous. It’s a fun look, and I particularly dig the faux fur for the chest piece. There’s also a removable head piece, which furthers the sort of shaman vibe that the whole design’s got going on. It has a little trouble staying in place during posing, but it at least looks pretty cool. The more specifically updated parts can all be removed and there’s an alternate chest piece based on Beast Man’s classic design, so that you can also have a more standard looking Beast Man, adding a whole other look to the figure. The color work on Beast Man is generally okay, but he’s got a notable issue with the torso and knees being a different color from the rest of the body. Thanks to the armoring, it’s mostly hidden, but it definitely looks a little bit off. The paint work is at least otherwise applied fairly cleanly. In addition to the various parts for both of his looks, Beast Man also includes two sets of hands, his whip, and an all-new spiky club thing. According to Tim, it’s actually called a “Macuahuitl”. I was content with spiky club thing, but Tim’s a real stickler when it comes to weapons.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was content with my Revelation style Beast Man, or at least I thought I was. Life apparently had a different plan, it would seem. In a rather sizable development, I now have a six-year-old son in my life, and he was determined to buy me something I didn’t have for our first Father’s Day together, so he dragged his mother to Target, and they bought me this guy. I wasn’t in dying need of owning him at first, but, I gotta say, in hand I find this figure really fun, and I’m quite glad to have him.