SpartanNerd Action Figure Showdown- King vs. King. vs. King (Keldor Review)

We Three Kings…NOPE. It’s waayyy too early for that!

I thought as a review for King Keldor, I would pit him against the other two kings I own. So for this review, I will be showing off King Conan (review here) vs. King Grayskull (review here) vs. King Keldor as the review of Keldor and for a little bit of “extra fun!”

KING KELDOR PACKAGING

King Keldor’s package was just like all recent MASTERVERSE figures. This one is notably from Revolution, not New Eternia or Revelation, so there’s that. This design is from the cartoon. You can see the figure clearly, and also his alternate head.

The back features another pic, this time of King Keldor standing in front of the palace. This palace is purple…not bright orange like Filmation. I will have to go back and watch the show again to see if that is an updated design. I think I remember it being white?? I already spoke about the preview figures in my last review (Mekaneck). This packaging is a major spoiler to anyone who hasn’t watched the show, as the bio says “Skeletor in disguise,” and also Randor’s half brother. I assume any readers out there don’t care if I mention spoilers, so here you are…WARNING!

I am a huge 200x fan. I really liked what they did with Keldor/Skeletor in that show. It was looking like that was discarded for modern stories…Skeletor even has a one-shot story in the Dark Horse Masters of the Universe Revelation comics (issue 3?) where he explains his origin to Evil-Lyn as someone who lost his family in another dimension, a place where everyone is a skeleton. BUT…Revolution reveals that Skeletor has actually had his mind wiped…he really WAS Keldor.

An intriguing detail! I suppose I should say it. Masters of the Universe is the first Sci-Fi property to have William Shatner and Mark Hammil together. And they are voicing who is practically the same character. A win for Star Trek and Star Wars and MOTU all over!

The images on the side are good, featuring Motherboard, King Randor and Queen Marlena, and then “Battle Keldor” without the cape or crown. I wonder if we will be getting Randor and Marlena soon? Revolution featured both in combat situations, also.

KING KELDOR FIGURE REVIEW

Here’s what you get.

  • Alternate “gripping” hands
  • Alternate head (I propped it on Mekaneck’s weapon like I said I would!) This head has a removable crown.
  • …I guess we can count the cape.

So not many accessories. A definite weakness. There were so many things they could have given us here. In the show he is using technology left and right. Computers, things that zap. “Nanites.” There is this mark of the beast kind of story where people are getting “communion” of Motherboard’s chips. We could have got some of those. But we got nothing really. And that alternate head is almost perfectly identical. There is a slight smirk on one of them, but otherwise, the same. And I think this is a trick of paint, not sculpt.

He has good articulation except for the rubber coat. This restricts him from sitting on a throne properly. Notice I put the MOTUC Faceless One’s Havoc Staff in his hand. We could have gotten a Havoc staff with a different colorway. No accessories really gripes me with action figures.

PICTURED: MASTERVERSE Revolution King Keldor and New Eternia Skeletor. Would you have figured them to be the same person?

So Keldor is a good figure, just lacking in accessories. He can’t sit on a throne. I haven’t taken the cape off…I feel no need to. The crown fits on some other MASTERVERSE figures. Man-At-Arms if you take off his helmet. Beast Man. Teela (it looks strange because she already has a tiara). And King Grayskull, but it just doesn’t seem right.

PICTURED: MASTERVERSE Revolution Keldor and MASTERVERSE New Eternia Man-At-Arms. Keldor is armed with the purple half of the power sword from King Grayskull.

SPARTANNERD RATING OF KING KELDOR

No accessories is a big mark-off. And that the head is so similar, also a bummer. It is good to have another king. It is great that it is Keldor, an acknowledgement of one of my favorite MOTU stories.

Unfortunately, there is also a QC issue.

So as a figure, this is a 3/5. Do you agree or disagree?

WHO WILL WIN?

I will pump you up!

King Grayskull attacks King Conan with Khotal Kahn’s sword, who blocks with the Sword of Aquilonia. Keldor is ready to take advantage and chop his arm from underneath.

With Arnold out of commision, Keldor and King Grayskull square off.

AND THE WINNER IS…

I had alot of fun doing this review. King Grayskull only won because I could tell the story with the pictures I took. What do you think? Let me know in the comments!

Masterverse New Eternia Mekaneck – SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review

I kept putting this purchase off, but didn’t want another faker situation. I caught Mekaneck on sale on BigBadToyStore, and boom, here was my chance

Here was a character that I owned and played with everyday as a child..not only was he cool to imagine a spy, you could also use the action feature to head butt other characters and knock them down. Another memory about this character. The armor was stiff plastic, which was better than the typical rubber armor. But the tabs broke and so my Mekaneck went shirtless a lot. Stinkor’s armor was the same but orange, so you could mix and match

Who is featured on the bottom? Battle Armor He-Man. This makes the second version in the MASTERVERSE line. Tri-Klops. This makes the second version in the MASTERVERSE line. I concede that each version has its strengths, but don’t feel the need for another Tri-Klops. I predict a big clearance on Battle Armor He-Man eventually because of the glut of product out there. Then I will pick up both version. I actually have King Keldor now, and will be posting a review soon.

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PACKAGING NOTES

You can see the packaging art is very nice, and you can see that the blue Road Ripper is featured heavily. Also, whatever species that Clawful is, there are lots of those guys around, so the illustration makes it seem that Mekaneck is spying on their camp. If you read the little bio story, you can see that New Eternia Mekaneck is part of a submarine squadron, a very cool new spin. (This makes the Road Ripper an aquatic vehicle too! Maybe…maybe!!! We can get a MASTERVERSE Road Ripper! How hard could it be?) You can see in the illustration some classic pieces of Castle Grayskull, namely the weapons, and that chest has the same design as the classic trap door.

This is another one of those boxes that is akin to what is going on with Transformers, and I like this very much. It gives more room for story art, and you can see the figure just fine if you wanted to keep them in box. It is also semi-collector friendly. The blister bubble inside isn’t worth much, but the character can stand in there and be seen without it, and there is a storage compartment for accessories to boot.

FIGURE REVIEW

Here is everything you get in the box:

  • alternate fist hands
  • five(!) telescoping neck pieces
  • classic mace, with a new twist (see below)
  • shield featuring the blue Road Ripper

The figure stands well and has very good paint. But something especially striking is the VAC METAL or SHINY FOIL goggles! They can do it here, why not on say…Thunder Punch He-Man? It is notable that this is only on the goggles. The other chrome details on the armor are painted. I like the contrast of the dark “furry shorts” and the green-ish belt. I like the silver straps on the boots also.

ACCESSORIES

The shield has “patina” already on the sticker as a part of the design, which is appreciable. These kinds of stickers wear and fade with age, often showing that white paper backing. So they just built it in to this shield, which is the very opposite of some of the boring shields they have given us on some figures. This shield has a peg instead of a strap, making this the second design like this I have seen. There is hole in the wrist and one on the back of the armor where the shield can go. And like I said, could we get a blue Road Ripper?

And now for the new spin on the mace. This mace is presented as a telescope. This is something that never occurred to me, and I wonder if there was a discarded design precedent in the past for the vintage or 200x line. This mace is in two pieces, so the big diamond-y part can detach just like the head or neck pieces. This will make a great new way to display alternate head sculpts. I didn’t get a photo of it, but the shorter “handle” piece is a convincing telescope by itself.

As you can see above, you can use just one of the neck joints to create a classic vintage feel. Or…

You can go more 200x with this one. And I’m not kidding, if I see Mekaneck on clearance in December or sometime, I am picking up more just to get these neck pieces to play with! So this is a big win, Mattel. Thank you for paying attention to what we probably want.

AND…

PICTURED: MASTERVERSE New Eternia Mekaneck and MASTERVERSE Revelation Mer-Man. Mer-Man is wearing Clawful’s alternate armor, and holding Super7 Ultimates! Black Falcon’s bident spear.

yep. You can use the neck pieces to extend the telescope!

SPARTANNERD’S RATING OF MASTERVERSE NEW ETERNIA MEKANECK

Are you kidding me? This is one of the best MASTERVERSE figures. Why did I put off this purchase? I think I have been holding out for Faker or Whiplash.

PICTURED: MASTERVERSE New Eternia Mekaneck and Mythic Legions Balthor the Tower Ogre. I wanted to highlight just how tall Mekaneck can be…that is like a nine inch figure! Balthor is armed with McFarlane Toys Raven Spawn’s chain.
PICTURED: MASTERVERSE New Eternia Mekaneck and Man-E-Faces. I am titling this one “Two Wierdos.”

Really the fun doesn’t stop. The figure is sculpted and painted well. The articulation is more than great considering the neck joints. The accessories have been riffed on in the best possible ways. And there is extended funtionality because the end of the telescope can be used to display some of the alternate heads in the future. My rating of this figure is a solid 5/5.

MASTERVERSE Revelation Sorceress- SpartanNerd Review.

I’ve been putting this review off for a while now…which isn’t good news. Keep reading for details.

The blue stuff in there with her is the lighting in the room playing tricks. Sorry!

I don’t like giving bad reviews….I had never seen the Sorceress in a store, and on places like Big Bad Toy Store, she was sold out. The “Teela” version is out there still. I suppose it is the rarity of this figure that warrants $30 for a price tag.

Before I go any further, let me qualify a few things. I really like the Sorceress as a character. AND I don’t feel like she has ever had a great action figure. I have only seen the vintage version as an adult…I never saw it on a shelf and never knew anyone to own her. It looks like her wings are static…if it is an action feature I don’t know how it works. I didn’t feel like the 200x version was a great representation of the character. On the show, she was cold…no motherly warmth. I thought the “Egyptian” flavor to her redesign was cool, however. I’m pretty sure she only received a “staction” figure.

Then there was huge controversy about the MOTUC version. It was decided that to make her wings look right from the front end, they would install “drums” on the back of her shoulders and the wings can fan out. But this messed up the back of the figure, and I have seen the regular and the “Temple of Darkness” variants, and both look stupid from behind, and people had a right to complain…especially considering the fine work the Four Horsemen do. (I think they said it was Mattel’s decision and design, not theirs. )

I mean…do I need to say more. The pictures tell the story. This soft-goods treatment of the wings is poor, poor execution.

I kept being tempted to get the totally cute “bat sorceress” Evil-lyn variant. But I am glad I didn’t.

There are two loops for each arm…one for the wrist and one for the elbow. No matter how you pose her, the “feathers,” which are actually jagged cloth, look floppy and wrong.

Image of Flimation Sorceress from Wiki Grayskull.

So there are some differences in portrayal. This figure has blue wings on the inside, and a long skirt. Yes, we are reflecting the Revelation cartoon appearance…but guess what? That version had blue outer feathers and orange inner feathers. It even shows her this way on the package art! (Beautiful illustration!)

PICTURED: MASTERVERSE Revelation Sorceress and Evil-lyn. Also, Evil-lyn has half of the power-sword that came with King Grayskull. .

ACCESSORIES: She came with some other hands, and also the “Staff of Ka.”

CUSTOMIZING

I saw out there where there are customizers “correcting” the skirt with a hobby knife. I just don’t feel up to it. I’d hate to make it look bad. It doesn’t look bad as it is…only I like the short skirt better and really most people do. But the long dress thing is OK. BUT…it will make it harder to sit on a possible future throne set.

Let me show you how to use this body for customization. Swap the head to Teela’s “hair down” head. Put Tri-klops’ robe on over most of the body. Put Evil-lyn’s pocketbook on there. Prop a spear up next to her. BAM. Eternian winch. (I would have used a broom or rake if I had one.)

THE FUTURE OF THE SORCERESS.

Mattel gotta do better by this character. And the future is bright if they put care into it. More and more this seems to be the case. I’m not ordering it, but Snout Spout is pretty sweet! I ordered it today!

We have a few sorceress figures to go. Maybe they’ll make a box set or something.

  • “Teela” Sorceress (of Zoar) is already out there. But she looks too much like this and has the cloth wings.
  • Sorceress of Ka- “The Green Goddess” version. The Revolution version looks to have a tail.
  • Sorceress of Havoc- We only saw her for like, ten seconds in Revolution. But she was AWESOME! Barbarian fur. Ram hor ns. Gothic make-up. BOOM! PLEASE!
  • Sorceress of Eternia- This would be the “queen Sorceress,” or “Tri-Sorceress” who no doubt we will eventually have paired with a He-Man super-powered up by her, probably as a two-pack.

Really, all of these would be beautiful figures. But they have to have more vision than this floppy cloth for wings. And already, Motherboard’s wings are hard plastic and look better. (That’s on sale… Maybe I should consider it?)

I can’t rate MASTERVERSE Revelation Sorceress highly at all. Something about the head is out of proportion. The paint is flat and drab. The long skirt restricts articulation. The wings are a floppy mess of cloth. She only has one true accessory. FAIL. That’s what grade it gets. 1/5. Please feel free to agree with me, Hub City Geeks, in the comments!

MASTERVERSE New Eternia Clawful- SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review

I have fond memories of Clawful as a kid. A crab guy with a lobster claw that car really pinch you…that’s the good stuff right there! So this is the first Clawful figure I have owned in maybe 40 years. (I never had the 200x or the Classics version). So for me an important thing will be, “how does it stack up to my memories of the vintage figure?” Keep reading for my review and rating!

PACKAGING

You can see the main window box in the top picture. Once again this is the older style “boring” package. BUT…you can see everything in the box clearly, and I keep finding uses for that rock background in taking photos.

The back of the package has a terrific illustration that really captures the fantasy world of Eternia. Is this the Sea of Rakash? The swamplands? Clawful belongs in this landscape, and as a bonus we can see the Battle Bones parked on an island in the back! Strangely, we don’t get any bio or other story blurb.

The figures below…I don’t have any of them. They are listed as “on backorder” at Entertainment Earth, and I signed up to be notified when they came in. The only one I REALLY want is Faker. I have a Mer-Man (from Revelation), I prefer a hairy Grizzlor (rather than sculpted), and this Buzz-Off looks weird. BUT, I signed up to be notified. I wan’t Faker bad enough. That is an upgraded Mer-Man, and I need a Buzz-Off. so…

There is one more image.

The image on the back shows him fully decked in “New Eternia” mode. This side image is of the vintage appearance, which is actually what you see in the window box.

FIGURE REVIEW

Here he is, completely decked out.

Here is what you get:

  • Clawful Figure (with default vintage-aligned appearance)
  • back armor with horns
  • Bicep bracer
  • power harness with a blue gem.
  • The same orange shield that came with Teela (and Stinkor, but his was blue.)
  • a green mace

This figure is very articulated! The vintage Clawful had a spring-loaded fiddler crab claw. But this one doesn’t have the spring…instead you can pose it how you like and it will stay. The left hand also has articulated parts.

I think this is some of the best paint on a $25 action figure. Nice shading on the claws. The torso and loin cloth were obviously “washed” first, and then details applied. This head sculpt doesn’t look like a muppet, but it doesn’t look like the 200x sculpt either. And yet this is clearly Clawful. Dare I say they nailed Clawful much better than any of the He-Man figures they have done. The blue belt, boots, and horns are metallic and shiny, and you can also see that nice shading on the back shell with the blue into red. Every line of chitin is sculpted evenly. The ugly bumps add a delicious grotesqueness. It is terrific!

There is nothing restricting his articulation at all, either. AND he is one of the tallest MASTERVERSE figures. Here is a pic for some reference. Still shorter than Two-Bad at his tallest point.

PICTURED: MASTERVERSE Clawful and Two-Bad, as well as Marvel Legends Thanos (comics appearance)
PICTURED: MASTERVERSE Clawful and Ram Man. Ram Man is armed with MASTERVERSE New Eternia Beast Man’s spiked club.
PICTURED: MASTERVERSE New Eternia Clawful vs. Man-At-Arms.

The articulation of these figures makes for some dynamic combat poses.

ACCESSORIES

PICTURED: MASTERVERSE New Eternia Clawful and Revelation Mer-Man. Mer-Man is also armed with a sword from the Mythic Legions Skeleton Legion Builder.

The big shell adds so much to the character. And I’m pretty sure the green mace was the weapon that came with the vintage figure, so Mattel probably figured that an auto-include. BUT. Just like the old days, Clawful has a hard time holding it.

I have found this shield to be BORING. And I re-painted it too. (See it in my review of MASTERVERSE New Eternia Thunder Punch He-Man).

But now for the next big elephant in the room. The yellow power harness. Why? I mean, it looks cool. But what does this bring to the table? Is this a story element like Sir Lazer Lot’s Gem of Tamage?

PICTURED: MASTERVERSE New Eternia Clawful and Masters of the Universe Classics Sir Lazer Lot. Suggested dialogue “You have a gem? I have a gem!” Also pictured are Mythic Legions Magic Effects.

This armor with gem adds more to Mer-Man in my opinion. It looks better, and Mer-Man didn’t come with any armor as this is the Revelation cartoon appearance.

I’m not complaining that we got it…I just don’t believe it is an item that carries Clawful’s story forward any without us having context. Look at the back of the armor. That clip is so that you can clip the shell on. But that is completely unnecessary. The shell stays on around the neck just fine.

Is the gem removable? I spent some time with the hair dryer, and I am going to say “no.” It seems like I could have removed it, but then not been able to get it back in. It doesn’t seem to be glued, more like attached when the plastic was still warm or something. Or maybe its glue. I just review them…I don’t make them.

SPARTANNERD’S RATING OF MASTERVERSE NEW ETERNIA CLAWFUL

Clawful here is akin to Beast Man. Both New Eternia figures give you options on how to display them. And this is very welcome! You feel like you have a more “grown-up” toy. Like you could see this as a modern translation in some comic or movie or something. I say bring it on!

I don’t see any reason not to award MASTERVERSE New Eternia Clawful every point he can get. The sculpt and paint are spot on. The accessories are good, even if the harness is a little strange. The green mace even doesn’t fit right, which might be a point off except that is exactly how the vintage was, making this even more nostalgic. And nostalgia, Hub City Geeks, people pay the big bucks for nostalgia. But this was a low cost item.

I award MASTERVERSE New Eternia Clawful 5/5. Do you agree or disagree? Let me know in the comments!

MASTERVERSE New Eternia Thunder Punch He-Man- SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review

There was a bevy of announcements back in April, 2024 for MASTERVERSE and also Origins. Maybe these were a leak, and then Mattel just went ahead and made official announcements? Among this news, I ordered New Eternia Thunder Punch He-Man. (I also ordered New Eternia Skeletor with throne!) And I was surprised to see it ship in May. What are the SpartanNerd’s thoughts on this interpretation of the classic He-Man variant? Keep reading!

PACKAGING

Watch the SpartanNerd’s commentary on the packaging HERE.

I really did enjoy looking at the box for awhile. What I didn’t mention was it looked like He-Man was “sticking out his gut.” And indeed, when I took him out of the box, I was dumbfounded that his torso WOULD NOT MOVE. I got a little bit of bowing back even further…and this exposed a definite “daylight” in the ab crunch. I was so upset about this, I left it on the kitchen table and would mess with it every few hours. Then finally, I broke out the hairdryer. IT DIDN”T WORK! So I looked this issue up, and apparently on Reddit some people have had trouble with Tri-Klops. The solution was to just run hot water over the figure while holding it upside down. The water will penetrate the joint and allow things to loosen up. And am I glad this worked! It was bothering me seriously. Like, I was ready to categorize this figure with Marvel Legends Thor. He-Man can’t have issues like that! But with the ab crunch corrected, I decide to get in more photographs.

CONTENTS

Here’s what comes in the package:

  • Thunder Punch He-Man with backpack
  • New “power-up” bracers
  • gold Power Sword
  • classic Thunder Punch style shield
  • 2 fake caps, one gold and the other red
  • yellow fireball punch effects
  • alternate hands (2 punching, 2 gripping)

Lots of accessories, but, with some extra functionality.

PLAYING WITH THE FIGURE

Let’s look at the back of this figure first. The backpack is what Thunder Punch He-Man is all about actually anyway.

What you do is you open the backpack and place one of the caps in. I prefer the gold one in the backpack because it adds a little pop of color. This serves no function except for nostalgia. There is a small window where you can see the caps in there, but you can only barely see them and then only when viewed from the top angle.

With the backpack closed, you can see this knob. And this is also a throwback to the 1980s. This knob has a satisfying ratchet sound effect and feel when you turn it. There is a hole in the middle of the knob which serves an additional purpose.

You can put either of the caps in the shield for storage and aesthetics, and also the sword which I definitely remember from the vintage days. But the ability to store all of this on his back is new, as is a welcome improved detail which should have been a no brainer. I suppose you could look at this differently though. Unless another figure comes with a peg hole in its arms or back, this shield can only be used for Thunder Punch He-Man.

As usual, you can see where the armor straps are coming loose with really minimal play. (All I did was open it and put a cap in.). Not horrible, but this is a consistent struggle really with all Masters of the Universe action figures.

Here is He-Man “armed to the teeth.” The only accessories not here are the extra fists. I would like to note that the fireball effects fit on either kinds of hands, but fit best on the punching fist hands. When armed this way, if He-Man punches with his left, the shield becomes a “buster shield” as seen in Gundam.

Notice that the shield pegs in to the bracers, not the arms.

If you want more of a vintage look, then the bracers remove easily. (This photo was an attempt at the “Iron Man” pose…).

THOUGHTS ON THE PAINT

Now for my first real complaint. you can’t have that vintage look with this figure. For you see, the colors are very muted. I remember the original figure having candy-apple red armor and vac-metal parts. For instance the center of the armor and the shield. These should be vac-metal. I don’t understand what it takes to do vac-metal on a toy. But this was a place they shouldn’t have skimped on it.

I have other complaints about the paint. His skin tone is “orange.” Because I teach middle school chorus, to largely female students, I know this “spray-tan” look well. Not flattering for the most powerful man in the universe.

I have heard people rave about this head sculpt. It is supposedly the same head that Faker came with. (I ordered Faker but he got lost in the mail 😦 ). But as in any sculpt only as good as the paint job. His eyes appear to have eyeliner. This time he has blue eyes also, and his eyebrows aren’t as engaged.

PICTURED: MASTERVERSE 40th Anniversary He-Man and MASTERVERSE New Eternia Thunder Punch He-Man.

Don’t know if the skin tone is coming through in this photo, but trust me. It is there. My complaint about 40th Anniversary He-Man’s head sculpt is that he looks indecisive and lacking in confidence. But I have to prefer it to Thunder Punch’s softer features. On the upside, these are brown boots with white fur on top, and a brown loin cloth. 40th Anniversary boots can only really go for another He-Man or barbarian super hero, while you could use Thunder Punch’s body almost anywhere a fury loincloth can work.

PICTURED: Clawful and Thunder Punch He-Man. Both are MASTERVERSE New Eternia figures. You can really tell the difference in the reds…He-Man has a more muted, less striking red. Not quite pink but approaching. Also notice that the SpartanNerd painted that boring shield that came with Clawful.
PICTURED: MASTERVERSE New Eternia Thuunder Punch He-Man and Masters of the Universe Classics Battle Cat.

In the above two pictures, you can see where the red on New Eternia Thunder Punch He-Man doesn’t stack up to other reds where he should drop right in with. Clawful has beautiful dark-red paint as well as glossy details. He-Man from the same line has minimal paint. Things are “molded” in their color, without hardly even a wash. And the choice to tone down his coloring is baffling and disappointing. As for MOTUC Battle Cat, we all know that is a whole different level of sculpting and paint (and money!) But, this is what the true A-Lister of Thunder Punch He-Man deserves. Somehow on the deco it seems they cut the corners.

SPARTANNERD’S RATING OF MASTERVERSE NEW ETERNIA THUNDER PUNCH HE-MAN

It seems I wrote alot of complaints about the paint. But this is a really good figure! Very posable, even if none of the MASTERVERSE figures so far can really do the “Iron Man” pose. I don’t have a picture yet, but Thunder Punch He-Man sits on Battle Cat beautifully. His loin cloth is softer, and allows for better sitting poses…a plus if the upcoming Skeletor with throne does the same. He also came with terrific accessories and good play value.

I mentioned this before, but as an adult I am not spending much time playing so much as displaying any of my toys. And this is where sculpting and paint takes a higher priority in my ratings system. A kid or other person who plays heavily with the toys will get very much out of Thunder Punch He-Man. But for me, it is the nostalgia, and that paint misses it for me.

My other complaint about the ab crunch doesn’t get dinged in the ratings. The hot water really did cure it, and because I pre-ordered my figure, perhaps mine has “early production” issues. If I was a Mint-On-Card collector this would have been sent back, the way he was contorted in the box. But I’m not, and this might not be an across-the-board problem…maybe even only my figure.

The SpartanNerd’s rating of MASTERVERSE New Eternia Thunder Punch He-Man is 4/5. Do you agree or disagree, Hub-City Geeks? Let me know in the comments!