Tag Archives: Revelation

#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.

#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.

#3059: Savage He-Man (w/ Orko)

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

SAVAGE HE-MAN (w/ ORKO)

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE: MASTERVERSE (MATTEL)

The early days of Masters of the Universe are a little loose on the exact origins and roles of the characters, with He-Man in particular being a little bit back and forth on who exactly he was.  One of the origins presented early in the minicomics has him as a jungle-dwelling barbarian granted his powers by the Goddess (an early amalgam of Teela and the Sorceress).  During the Classics incarnation of the line, this design was repurposed as Oo-Larr, an earlier carrier of the He-Man mantle.  For Revelation, it’s been repurposed once again, this time as Savage He-Man, Prince Adam’s alter-ego when the power of Greyskull isn’t channelled through the sword.  It’s a different approach to the character, and a fun nod to the history of the franchise, and its also the subject of the most recent deluxe Masterverse figure, alongside a post time-skip version of everyone’s favorite bumbling sorcerer sidekick, Orko, who needs less of a lead-in, because I kind of talk about him a lot on this site.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Savage He-Man (who is billed as the main figure here, with Orko technically just being a pack-in accessory) is a standalone deluxe-sized release for Mattel’s Masterverse line.  He started showing up at Targets first, hinting at a quiet exclusivity (kinda like what happened with Faker), but the wide release followed within about a month.

SAVAGE HE-MAN

How about that, we’re getting our first proper He-Man variant (seeing as Faker is *technically* a different character and all) for Masterverse.  It’s on one hand sort of surprising it took quite this long, and on another, not terribly, since He-Man proper only actually gets the two looks in Revelation.  They did the first one, and now here’s the second.  The figure stands 7 inches tall and he has 31 points of articulation.  He’s built on the standard male body, and, well, that’s honestly a bit surprising.  Savage He-Man in the show is very clearly a lot larger than the standard He-Man, so the assumption was that he was going to be using the larger Skelegod body, rather than the standard He-Man body.  I guess for the Oo-Larr equivalent set-up, this works out better, but it’s certainly a deviation from the source.  He’s got a new head, lower legs, feet, and loin cloth piece, and ditches the armored parts from the standard He-Man.  The new head is quite similar to the standard He-Man, just with a slightly angrier expression, and much longer hair.  I didn’t mind the normal He-Man head, so I don’t mind this one, but I know my opinion on that was far from a unanimous one.  The new legs swap out the usual boots for bare legs and feet.  The look is slightly interrupted by the cut joint mid-shin, but I’ll take that over reduced mobility.  The new loin cloth is less ornate and defined than the belted one, fitting better with the savage appearance.  Otherwise, he’s the standard parts we’ve seen before.  It’s certainly a good sculpt on its own, issues of scaling aside.  Savage He-Man’s paint isn’t something that would initially seem very involved, given how little there is to the design, but Mattel went the extra mile on this one, and actually gave him a brown was over most of the body, to really emphasize the musculature of the sculpt.  It’s a touch heavy in some spots, and also varies a bit from figure to figure, but it does a good job of changing up the appearance a bit, and differentiates him from regular He-Man nicely.  Savage He-Man is packed with two sets of hands (gripping and open gesture), a spear, an axe, and the Power Sword.  The spear’s a good callback to zoo-Larr, and I’m glad to finally have the classic He-Man axe in this style.  Why he comes with the sword is anyone’s guess, since this explicitly He-Man without the sword to channel the power, but I won’t complain about extra stuff.

ORKO

I don’t know how it worked out for everyone else, but despite this guy being listed as an accessory, Orko was my main reason for picking up this set.  That being the case, I’m reviewing him as his own figure.  Orko has a few looks over the course of the show, but this figure goes for his post time skip, magic-deprived appearance.  Amusingly, this look doesn’t ever interact with Savage He-Man, so  the pack-in here is kinda weird. But, hey, if it gets me Orko, I won’t complain.  The core Orko figure is about 3 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation, but he’s got a hovering stand, which adds another two inches of height, as well as 3 more points of articulation.  Orko’s not terribly mobile.  It’s not like he usually is, of course, but more recent figures have at least given him extra motion at the arms.  This one only gets mobility at the shoulders and the neck.  It’s partially a design thing, since the arms are bare and rather scrawny, making them slightly impractical for articulation.  The neck joint’s not great, either, at least on mine, where it wobbles pretty freely, and doesn’t really hold a pose.  The sculpt is at least all new, and does a respectable job of looking the part, even if the movement isn’t really there.  The paint work on Orko is pretty basic.  There’s not a ton going on, but it does what it needs to, and it works pretty well.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

My main goal in this line is to assemble Teela’s post time jump team, and I need an Orko for that.  Him being bundled with Savage He-Man wasn’t my first choice, but I went along with it.  Savage He-Man’s okay, if not thrilling.  Orko is an accessory, and it shows.  He’s not awful, but he’s not great either.  Still, I’m happy to have him in some form, rather than nothing.

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

#3058: Fisto

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

FISTO

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE: MASTERVERSE (MATTEL)

Hey, let’s just keep this Masters of the Universe train rolling here, shall we?  Thus far this week, I’ve taken a look at two of the Evil Warriors in their Revelation incarnation, but none of the heroes.  So, let’s change that.  Introduced as one of three new Heroic Warriors in the 1984 line-up of the vintage line, Fisto was dubbed the “Heroic Hand-to-Hand Fighter,” due to his…you know…fist?  Fisto’s got a few appearances in each major iteration of the franchise, which is more than a lot of characters can say.  Revelation keeps his streak running, with a cameo during the first half, and a proper (if brief) appearance during the show’s second half.  And he also got a figure surprisingly early in the new line’s run, which seems like a good stroke of luck for him.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Fisto is part of the third assortment of the main Masters of the Universe: Masterverse line.  Fisto made use of his classic design in both halves of Revelation, meaning there’s just the one look to choose from.  Thankfully, it’s a pretty strong look through and through, as it always has been.  The figure stands about 7 inches tall and he has 31 points of articulation.  His movement is largely the same as the rest of the line, apart from getting a swivel at the wrist and the top of the forearm, rather than the universal joint on the standard wrists.  Fisto is based on the standard barbarian body, as he usually is.  He gets a new head, right forearm and hand, as well as a new overlay piece for his chest armor.  The head does a great job of capturing the animation design, which is a fun update on his classic look.  I like the very angular and exaggerated features. The new hand is fun, largely because it’s made from die cast metal, which gives it a nice sense of heft.  The chest armor is a little looser than other armor pieces, but it works well for the design.  I also look forward to seeing its inevitable re-use for Clamp Champ, who’s the real MVP.  Sorry, I’m getting distracted by the prospect of a Clamp Champ.  That’s not fair to Fisto.  He’s cool and ridiculous, too.  The paint work on Fisto is okay overall, though he’s got some notable coverage issues on the front of the chest armor.  Otherwise, the application is pretty clean, especially on the face.  Fisto is packed with his sword (shared with Tri-Klops), as well as three different left hands, in fist, gripping, and relaxed.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I wasn’t initially sure about grabbing Fisto, since I was planning to just stick to the post-time-jump characters.  Then the second half of the show dropped, and Fisto’s role was fun enough that I found myself really digging the new version of the character.  The figure turned out pretty well.  I like the new head sculpt a lot, and the die cast fist really sells the whole “Fisto” angle really well.  As far as the basic line goes, Fisto certainly ranks pretty highly.

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.

#3057: Trapjaw – Revelation

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

TRAPJAW — REVELATION

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE: MASTERVERSE (MATTEL)

Masters of the Universe: Revelation‘s first half spends a good portion of it’s post-time-skip time delving into the effects of the power vacuum caused by Skeletor disappearing.  His evil minions fracture, some of them leading their own factions, some of them placing themselves behind a new master within those factions.  Backing up Tri-Klops in his Cult of the Motherboard is the *other* notable tech guy from within Skeletor’s ranks, Trapjaw, whose new figure I’ll be taking a look at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Trapjaw is another figure in the deluxe-line-up of Masters of the Universe: Masterverse.  While the deluxes don’t have the same strict assortment structure as the main line, it’s worth noting that Trapjaw and Tri-Klops were solicited and shipped together (alongside the third assortment of the main line).  As with Tri-Klops, Trapjaw uses the deluxe price point to go for more of a two-in-one approach, although it does work out *slightly* differently here.  I’ll get to that in a moment.  The figure stands just over 7 inches tall and he has 31 points of articulation.  His articulation is slightly changed from the main line body; the right arm lacks the double elbow and wrist movement, but he gains the extra joint on the jaw.  And, while the general layout of the leg articulation is *technically* the same, it’s not quite as effective in how its implemented, since the layout leaves his feet slightly outwardly pointed at all times, and means his knee pads won’t always line up  with the knees, since they’re connected to the boot.  Trapjaw’s sculpt is almost entirely new, apart from sharing the lower torso and pelvis with the main male barbarian body.  The core body is patterned on the classic Trapjaw look, with his more fully armored up appearance and everything.  It’s generally pretty cool.  There’s still the issue with how the legs work, but they look alright, and match alright with the animation model.  The head is quite impressive, and surprisingly gruesome.  He’s still got his tongue and everything.  Removing his upper belt and swapping in the tunic, tabard, and alternate belt allows Trapjaw to be converted to his cultist look.  It captures the overall essence of the look, but I don’t feel it’s quite as effective a transition as Tri-Klops’ was.  Still, it’s a nice option to have, and it’s still going to be my preferred look.  Trapjaw’s paint work is generally well handled.  There’s some slight slop in a few spots, but it does what it needs too, and there’s some particularly nice accent work on the face.  Trapjaw is packed with three different attachments for his mechanical arm, as well as two left hands.  The attachments look cool enough, but the post that they go onto is really thin, which is a little worrying in terms of long-term durability.  Likewise, they don’t quite hang on the classic belt right when in storage mode, which stretches out the hooks a little bit, again with the concerns for long-term durability.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I have less investment in Trapjaw as a character than I do Tri-Klops, but I did like the whole cult angle, and what good is cult leader Tri-Klops without any cultists to lead.  In the box, this guy looked pretty impressive.  Out of it?  Less so.  I want to like him more than I do.  There are definitely cool elements, but other parts feel a bit half-formed or phoned in, and he just doesn’t quite stick the landing the way Tri-Klops did.

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.

#3056: Tri-Klops – Revelation

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

TRI-KLOPS — REVELATION

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE: MASTERVERSE (MATTEL)

It’s been a little bit since I just took some time to focus on Masters of the Universe, so I guess that’s the thing I’m gonna be doing this week.  There’s a bunch of new upcoming stuff being shown off by Mattel, and there’s also a bunch of stuff making its way to retail as well.  We had a little bit of a gap in Masterverse releases, but it one fell swoop, we’ve gotten the next main assortment, as well as a bunch of deluxes, all at once.  That’s pretty fun.  Thus far, everything is still based on Revelation, which suits me just fine.  Revelation focused in on not only showcasing the classic good vs evil aesthetic of the vintage Masters line, but also deconstructed it post-He-Man and Skeletor’s disappearance.  One of my favorite aspects of the time skip’s re-alignment was seeing the new factions and splinter groups that arose in the aftermath.  In particular, Henry Rollins as cult leader Tri-Klops was just an absolutely spot-on character choice, and, would you look at that, now it’s got a toy!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Tri-Klops is part of the deluxe line-up for Mattel’s Masters of the Universe: Masterverse line.  While last year’s Skelegod figure used the deluxe price-point to justify a larger and more involved figure, Tri-Klops instead uses it to justify effectively being two figures in one, with those two figures being Tri-Klops both before and after the show’s time skip.  No matter which configuration he’s in, the figure stands about 7 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation (counting the rotating eye, which, yes, works on both of the heads).  At his core, Tri-Klops is using the standard male barbarian style body, also seen on He-Man and Skeletor, leaning more heavily into the He-Man parts.  This time around, I didn’t experience the same weird issue with the hips sticking, so it seems that at least some improvements have been made to the mold, or at the very least its associated QC.  The only adjustments made to the core body are the shoulders, which now sport a little bit of tech detailing, consistent with Tri-Klops’ design from the show.  The primary look for the figure, at least going by how the box advertises him, is his cult leader attire from after the time skip.  He’s got a new head and armor/tabard overlay for this look, as well as a cloth goods robe piece to complete the ensemble.  It matches well to the show design, and also fits well to the core body.  I love the goofy headgear, and the detailing on the cult gear is nice and slick.  To change him over to his classic look, he gets an extra head and armor piece, which, coupled with removing the robe, manages to give him a pretty convincingly different figure.  Everything swaps out easily enough as well, meaning it’s really not an issue swapping them back and forth.  Tri-Klops’ paint work between the two designs is generally pretty solid.  The application is generally pretty clean, though there is a bit of slop, especially when it comes to all those eyes.  They definitely need to be checked to make sure you’re getting the best option.  Overall, though, he looks pretty solid.  In addition to the extra parts necessary for the two looks, Tri-Klops also includes his sword and two different sets of hands.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I dig Tri-Klops, especially when it comes to his 200x iteration.  Less so his original version, so I was iffy on how he’d be portrayed in the new show.  That said, I liked the Henry Rollins angle, and liked the crazy cult leader angle even more.  I love the new design, and he was on my short list of figures I really wanted.  I dig the deluxe treatment a lot here, and he’s really just exactly what I wanted, making him quite possibly my favorite figure to come out of the line to date.

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.

#2906: Beast Man – Revelation

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

BEAST MAN — REVELATION

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE: MASTERVERSE (MATTEL)

The events of Masters of the Universe: Revelation show us the end of the big heroes and villains conflict that’s run throughout the entirety of the franchise, and at the other side of that end, the characters don’t really have the same hard-lined loyalties of earlier stories.  As a result, Teela’s rag-tag band assembled to save Eternia isn’t just heroes, but also includes a few classically villainous characters, such as Evil-Lyn and Beast Man.  No longer Skeletor’s eternal punching bag, Beast Man is now loyal purely to Lyn and her wishes, as well as wanting what’s ultimately best for Eternia.  It’s a nuanced take on a classically rather one-note character, and I very much enjoyed that.  And now he’s also got a figure!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Beast Man is another figure from Series 2 of Mattel’s Masterverse line, the second of the two post-time-jump characters included in the line-up (the other being yesterday’s Teela figure).  We’ve gotten takes on Beast Man’s classic evil-beast-master design, but for Revelation he’s got a more reserved noble savage look about him, befitting his character growth.  He’s less dressed up, and more focused on just being him, I guess.  The figure stands a little bit over 7 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Beast Man’s articulation scheme is very similar to that of the main male body, though it’s thankfully without the hip issue.  There are some slight tradeoffs, though, and the neck/mid-torso joints definitely don’t get the same kind of range as other figures in the line.  For the first time ever, I believe, despite the two of them being so close in release times, Beast Man does not share any parts with Moss Man.  I was honestly rather shocked by that, but it’s not so bad.  I anticipate this one will be sharing lots of parts with the inevitable classic Beast Man, but for now he’s unique.  It’s a good, slightly more bulky sculpt, and the texture work in particular is quite impressively handled.  It’s not as layered as some of the other sculpts, but it follows his slightly simpler design well.  His paint work is overall pretty good.  Generally pretty basic, but there’s some cool smaller touches.  I do have to say, though, I saw a pretty abominably bad version of the eye paint in the same case I grabbed mine from, so it’s worth keeping an eye out on this one.  Beast Man is packed with three different sets of hands (fists, gipping, and open gesture), as well as his whip.  The whip is a tad rudimentary in terms of design, but gets the job done, and the hands offer a lot of variety.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’m typically only a moderate Beast Man fan (although I did really dig his 200x figure), but I really liked how they changed up the character a bit in Revelation.  He was just a nice fit for the whole team dynamic they had, and I definitely wanted his new design as a figure.  This one’s a bit more basic than the others, but he’s a still a pretty fun figure.

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.

#2905: Teela – Revelation

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

TEELA — REVELATION

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE: MASTERVERSE (MATTEL)

As we wait for the second half of Masters of the Universe: Revelation, Mattel is still at work actually getting us the toys from the show.  The first assortment of figures based on the show (released as part of Mattel’s newly launched Masterverse line), were largely inspired by the show’s pre-time-skip opening episode, which was a little heavier on the classic aesthetic.  For the second assortment, there’s a bit more focus on those later appearances, including Teela, who spends the post-jump sequences as the the show’s central character, as she and her patchwork team attempt to restore power to Eternia.  Teela’s always been a major character in the mythos, but Revelation really gives her some proper focus, and she’s one of my favorite parts of the show, so I’m very excited about this figure.  Let’s see how it turned out.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Teela is part of the second series of the Masterverse line, which just started showing up at retail in the last few weeks.  As noted in the intro, this Teela is her post-jump design, which is how she looks for most of the show’s run, at least so far.  We also had a confirmation at PowerCon that there will also be a classic-inspired version of her coming later in the line.  As with Evil-Lyn’s new design, Teela’s new design keeps elements of her original, while also modernizing.  She honestly takes it a bit further even then Evil-Lyn, with a design that’s probably the most up-to-the-minute and “trendy” of the new Masters design.  It’s got a good post-apocalyptic vibe, and it’s quite utilitarian, so I dig it.  The figure stands 7 inches tall and she has 31 points of articulation.  At her core, Teela shares parts with Evil-Lyn, as expected, though it’s not a ton.  Mostly, it’s just the inner workings and most base level parts.  It means that she’s got Evil-Lyn’s more improved articulation, which isn’t prone to the weird sticking at the hips, making her far more easily posed.  The majority of the sculpt is still new parts, so as to better line-up with Teela’s show design.  As with the others, it’s not a direct translation of the animation, but gets the important details and sort of homogenizes them with the house style.  Generally, I really like it.  The only slight issue I had with mine was where the hair piece aligns with the head; because of the undercut, there’s a little more room for error, resulting in my figure having a little bit of a gap where they join.  It’s not terrible, though, and it varies from figure.  Mine also has a glue spot on the back of the hair, which I wasn’t so thrilled about, but, again, this is an isolated issue…at least I hope.  Teela’s paint work is one of the more involved schemes from the line so far.  It all manages pretty well, with all of the base work being rather cleanly applied.  There’s even some accent work on her boots to make them look a little bit muddy, which is a cool touch.  In the show, Teela’s staff has the ability to take on a few different forms, so the figure gives us a few different versions.  There’s the spear set-up, the sword, and the collapsed version.  She’s also got two sets of hands, making for a pretty nice little selection of extras that cover a fair number of bases.  Not quite the same level as Evil-Lyn, of course, but still very good.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I really enjoyed Teela’s portrayal in Revelation, and I also liked her new design for the show, so I was down for the figure pretty much as soon as I knew it was coming.  As with Evil-Lyn, I’m very glad they started off with the post-jump look, and it makes for a very fun figure, especially with the extras that they threw in to cover more bases.  I look forward to building up more of her team from the show!

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.