After taking off the red and white costume, and putting it in the terrific packaging for storage until Thanksgiving or Christmas In July…(or maybe some other reason, who knows?) you have a generic elf knight body that you can continue to use all year. YAY!
This thing is just great! Amazing sculpt and green paint. He fits the MOTU need for Whiplash very well. It is just too bad that neither head that he came with really looks like Whiplash. I can find a customized version out there, or maybe eventually something will come out that will work.
I could have put any of my Conan action figures here. I chose the king because he is really different…one of the most “clothed” versions of the character. I could have thrown Thulsa Doom in here easily, though. I have him holding the axe (in the video) from the Battle of the Mounds Conan, just because I like my Conan figures to hold an axe 75% of the time!
I almost passed on this. He was available for so long, and I kept waffling. Then I finally pulled the trigger on the Mattel Creations purchase and I am glad I did. He is HUGE. And that sculpt doesn’t look anything like a “sad Dumbo.” I had the chance over the weekend to pick up the 200x Staction version, but this version is better simply because it is an action figure. It’s true the Four Horsemen sculpt is better, but this MASTERVERSE version takes design cues from that and is superior in articulation and accessories.
You can see that my Mekaneck has more neck than he came with stock. I’ll get to the reason why later…
Mekaneck is just great. That we got all of those neck joints…great! His paint is flashy and his armor is just right. And how they are presenting him story wise is also different, with him now taking on underwater responsibilities, getting him away from just “reconnaissance,” as if that wasn’t important. (reconnaissance is VERY IMPORTANT, Hub City Geeks). And that he fills the essential role of Mekaneck in the lineup of heroes is also very nice.
Cosmic Legions Wal-Torr the Mad and T.U.5.C.C. Pilot (review link)
Hey. My list and my rules. I am including Carolina and Clemson on this one! Both have terrific sculpt, paint, and accessories. AND if I was rich I might army build these guys.
MASTERVERSE New Eternia Skeletor’s Throne (review link)
I could have considered Conan’s throne or Boreus (the horse at the top with Santa) as Diorama pieces, but Skeletor’s Throne is the best. It generally sits in the middle of the bad guys, and any of the many versions of Skeletor that I have can fit well on it.
WHO ELSE SHOULD I HAVE INCLUDED IN MY VIDEO? Probably Snake Sorceress Teela, (who I call the Green Goddess.) (review link)
Remember when I had more necks for Mekaneck? That’s because Mattel Q.C. Sent me another copy of him to atone for the missing mask on Sy-Clone. Mattel didn’t bring us a product that matched past versions…no lenticular sticker on the chest like the vintage one, no ring on his back like the 200x and Classics version. What was supposed to be new and different was that mask. They included these fire effects that can fit on the shield or on his wrists, and they are cool, but they should be IN ADDITION not in place of. He just feels uninspired to me, and with the missing mask, I feel this figure is one of the lowest of the year.
He looks like the salesman for beef jerky or the Geico caveman. He doesn’t look like the movie representation. They should have gone with rooted hair and more of a Grizzlor approach to have done him right. Now we probably won’t get another version of this in the next 15 or 20 years. And that makes this an extra bummer. The design choices of making those hair-mats out of plastic armor pieces…I hope we don’t see those again. And that armor is kind of crappy. And the face sculpt is off. I hate to be negative, but WHY? Probably has to do with rights, etc.
SO DO YOU AGREE OR DISAGREE, HUB CITY GEEKS? LET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENTS! Also, please support the new YouTube video formats coming for 2025.
I have been eyeing getting a Mythic Legions horse for awhile. I’ve seen them in stores and conventions for around $80, and they are a large item seemingly worth all that. You start to get into issues of “do I have enough room?” Etc. And there are a few different ones. I’ve seen a brown one, for instance, and the Headless Horseman comes with a scary black horse with red eyes. There’s an undead one, and one with batwing ears. There are a few other animals, one a moose, and a bear coming out next year, There’s a centaur, and also a skeletal horse next year.
But at his heart, the SpartanNerd wants to be economical. And on Cyber Monday this year (2024) Boreus was on sale at Storehorsemen for $55.
I was purchasing the Figura Obscura Father Christmas and started to look around for what else I might want,,,I considered the Ghost of Christmas Past, but at $60 and a buy-in to the Scrooge ecosystem, (‘cause you know I couldn’t only have one, Jacob Marley, the other two ghost, probably eventually Scrooge), I decided to skip that for now anyway, even though she is exceptional.
I started looking at other offerings, and there were other things that seemed like a good opportunity to buy. But seeing Boreus at $55, a gray horse that could be used by anyone, This was too good to pass up. On top of that, I received a Cosmic Legions ashcan comic for my double order.
This is the ashcan Cosmic Legions comic on top of the Father Christmas packaging. Not much story-wise here, but a cool item with sketch drawings and panels without dialogue.
So how is Boreus? Keep reading!
PACKAGING
Boreus comes in a large box with a large window, where you can see everything inside, which includes the horse with saddle, bridle, etc already on, and an extra “flowing” mane for added action.
Unfortunately in box there is unsightly plastic around straps holding him in. This is to protect the paint, but for a MIB collector this is unfortunate. That doesn’t describe me, but I thought it important to point out.
Here are the sides of the box
One side shows the aforementioned horse with bat ears, but has Boreus bio. It turns out that Mythic Legions horses are spiritual beings (think Torrent from Elden Ring). This is a cool thing, and this bio gives even more life to this horse. The other side shows the aforementioned moose. All this terrific art is by Nate Baertsch,
Here is the back…
The top cross sell is Duban the Ranger…this is the supposed owner of Boreus. A figure I haven’t seen except in a promo photo.
A big epic image, showing the shiva-like main villain, some demon guy, and a couple of other evil characters. I actually own the Xylernian guard, and so that is something rare for the SpartanNerd in reference to Mythic Legions. That other text is general Mythic Legions story, which itself is vague.
There is a very nice backdrop that I actually have used already in the nerd closet.
BOREUS FIGURE REVIEW
It’s a horse, sculpted and designed by The Four Horsemen. As such, it is very similar to MOTUC Battle Cat. In fact, I think it has exactly the same articulation besides the articulated jaw on the tiger.
So it has a neck that goes up and down, and a head that has up and down, side to side motion. The front legs havc a shoulder and knee joint…these are back and forward. The hooves are rockers.
The back legs have some spread on the hips. The legs are jointed the same as in real life, and once again the hooves are rockers.
The tail is on a ball joint and is fully articulated.
Unfortunately, Boreus can’t lower his head low enough to drink.
I’ll point out that my Battle cat is secondary market and over ten years old. So his joints are loose, especially the head and neck. Boreus joints are nice and tight, and the hooves have a ratchet, which makes it easy to have him rear up for a pose.
ACCESSORIES
The saddle and bridle are nice pieces of work, with plastic stirrups and also loops to store weapons. (The same loops that Battle Cat’s saddle has).
The reign is liberal, and feels to be real leather. It fits in gripping hands with no problems.
This saddle is removable, but I don’t have a reason to remove it. It doesn’t have a strap belt across his belly that undoes…instead you would have to make the legs straight and the move the head down with hairpieces removed, and then slide it over the head. I haven’t done this and have no pics of it, but it can be done if they ever release more saddles. Also notable, the bedroll on the back of the saddle is swappable with another bedroll, if you ever somehow get one. (Maybe a different horse has a different color one.)
The only other accessory is the mane, which is easily removed and swapped. Now the unexpected nuance of this is that the horse also has a “toupee” that is removable, and allows the hair to layer over the bridle how you would like.
Boreus is great. He is just so fun to photograph. He is this generic gray or flat black color, so he could be anyone’s horse. He is billed as “Duban the Ranger’s” horse, itself a cool figure, but above you can see that Gold Knight Legion Builder really pops.
PICTURED: Figura Obscura Father Christmas, leading Mythic Legions Boreus.
A Mythic Legions horse is just…it is the most useful item. And this sculpt…
Earlier I mentioned that I had thought about getting one for awhile. Some of my hangup is that there are toy horses out there for much cheaper. Like…at the dollar store kind of thing. Even Barbie horses are cheaper.
But you want to get the scale right, and you want a quality product. Boreus is a CHUNK of plastic, and there just is none better that the Four Horsemen sculpting any toys out there. I did see a McFarlane Gunslinger Spawn on a horse at GameStop for around $50 sometime in the past year. The workers advised me that it would probably go on clearance soon, and I haven’t seen it since. Now I am curious to compare the two…maybe I will.
SPARTANNERD RATING OF MYTHIC LEGIONS BOREUS
I don’t have any complaints. So let’s look for something to complain about…
Crickets….
OK. So he can’t lower his head low enough to drink. There’s one. If you look at him from above and the back legs are kicked out to the side, there is a lot of daylight around the joints and tail.
Really. That’s it. I had to dig deep for that last one. OK…the plastic around his neck in package was unsightly. Boreus doesn’t lose any points for these!
SCULPT: Superior
ARTICULATION: Superior
POSABILITY: Superior
USABILITY: Superior
SPARTANNERD HAPPINESS: Superior!
I award Mythic Legions Boreus 5/5, and he is going to be celebrated as one of the best of the year for me. Furthermore, I am CONVINCED to get the Headless Horseman.
Do you agree or disagree, Hub City Geeks? Let me know in the comments!
I remember when I first heard the words “Figura Obscura.” This was two years ago in 2022 when they announced this product. I thought it was great, but if you have been following the SpartanNerd Blog for awhile you know my interest was more in the now extinct MEGA Masters of the Universe.
Since then I have bought in heavily to MASTERVERSE figures and Mythic Legions. As the years (really only two years) have waxed on, they released a Headless Horseman, which I think I might actually get now. But the specific reason I haven’t (besides price) is that … when will you use a Headless Horseman outside of the Halloween season?
This isn’t a problem with Father Christmas. Read on to find out why!
PACKAGING
Really. No question. Of all of the packaging I have ever opened or reviewed on the SpartanNerd.com blog, this is the greatest I have ever seen. And I’ve seen some great stuff. This stands like five heads taller. Seriously…let’s go ahead and drop a 5/5 rating on this whole product just based on the packaging.
Father Christmas comes in a Saran wrapped windowless box. I don’t have any idea what sad person would leave that plastic on it. I took it off to minimize the glare for the photo.
Some reader out there is crying “foul!” SpartanNerd, you hate windowless packaging. Hang on, o cynic.
What you have is an outside “cap”. It removes from the box…it is actually an encasing booklet! It works magnetically, making this an optimum collector friendly package! You get a description of Father Christmas on the back…(did you really need that?). But I am glad they did it!
We have some Nate Baertsch artwork depicting Father Christmas, an owl flying overhead, and a caribou behind him. The words Father Christmas are in beautiful Christmas card font, with the four horsemen studios symbol beneath. On the “spine” there is Figura Obscura with a key symbol.
And if all of this wasn’t enough, let’s flip this capper around.
The other side is another beautiful illustration, this time providing a backdrop for your Father Christmas figure! Absolutely over-the-top.
So now onto the box. Yep. We haven’t even seen Father Christmas in package yet!
Here he is, in box. You can see everything clearly. They have him in package with a longer beard than most American versions have…that is because the Four Horsmen went with the widest interpretation of Father Christmas that they could. This isn’t a modern-pop “fat Santa”… this Father Christmas recalls the SpartanPapaDavid (he’ll have to read this blog from heaven) and the stories that he told of the rough life growing up in rural Pennsylvania. Santa Claus would bring the Christmas Tree on Christmas Eve, and “Mr. Take-back” would come and get it on “Old Christmas.” He also would take back your presents if you were being bad. As an adult I understand all of this to be Father Christmas, Epiphany, and Krampus, interpreted in the country ways of the past.
You can see that he comes with a ton of accessories. Notably a drum, a doll, a trumpet, a lantern, an alternate shorter beard head, and a Christmas Tree. This is a double blister…It has the shepherd’s crook, two identical wreath crowns, a plastic-sculpted toy sack, soft goods hood, and a soft goods sack with presents inside on the bottom.
Now there are two versions of this product…I have seen the green Father Christmas at a store before. I was very pleased to see the red version released on Storehorsemen again for this 2024 season in red. That version has the same illustrations but with green on Father Christmas’s robe. And if you get that version, you will have the same opening experience as me with that main difference only.
One more thing about the packaging. If we didn’t have enough diorama with this, we also get an inside illustration that you can use for an “in the house” photo.
AND ONE MORE THING STILL…A Christmas card of the artwork. These are not expensive if you wanted more from the StoreHorsemen.
FIGURE: HERE’S WHAT YOU GET IN THE PACKAGE
Father Christmas comes with: (I’m going to photograph in pieces.
Father Christmas figure
Soft-goods robe, hood, and inner robe.
Rubber belt
Two heads, one with a long wizards beard and the other traditional (pictured above)
Two wreath crowns
Toy drum
Toy trumpet
Doll
Rubber duck
Dog…it is up to your interpretation on these three. Are they cartoons…toys…characters…is that dog a live dog? That duck one to annoy you when fishing or one to put in your jeep?…that doll an elf worker, or a child stowaway?
Shepherd’s crook
Lantern
Christmas Tree, which is a wire tree, plastic trunk, and white stand
Additional sack of items.
SO…the duck and dog came in that sack. And because it is 2024, I assume I am not spoiling the “surprise” items in the sack. So if you are sensitive, time to go look at a different blog entry…try the SpartanNerd.Com home page for starters. Where you can see recent reviews of New Eternia Mer-Man and Mythic Legions Boreus.
….
Turn back now if you don’t want to be spoiled
…
OK.
Here
Is
The
Spoiler!
Knight’s head with pointed faceplate
Knight’s head with back neck protector
These are the two heads. One is on Sir Godfrey, and the other on Father Christmas, sans robes, with added armor. This is Father Christmas’ surprises for Mythic Legions collectors!
Impressive amount of accessories, really.
HOW DOES FATHER CHRISTMAS WORK
Essentially, the robes are doll clothes. They are very well made. The hood and the outer robe are different pieces, both having a clasp on the front. The purple underdress is basically the same thing that MASTERVERSE Revelation Tri-Clops came with, only in purple. That has Velcro down the back.
The good thing is that when you take off the robes you don’t have a naked Santa. What you have is a really skinny knight. After looking into it, this is actually a Mythic Legions elf body. I don’t have any of those (yet…)
But because Mythic Legions have entirely modular parts, you can put any head on there. So this body can be on display all year, while the Christmas items can go back into that terrific package for storage! YAY! VALUE!
BUT what they have done with the neck is out of proportion to the body. Essentially Father Christmas has kind of a “giraffe” neck if you put his head on the neckpiece and armor. This makes the knight heads look strange on this body without some additional bulk. This is a non-complaint because Mythic Legions neck pieces are also modular. I DID have to use the hairdryer to loosen up Father Christmas’ neck joint enough to pop off.
Still, the utility of having an extra Mythic Legions for the rest of the year makes this Figura Obscura mean so much more.
PICTURED: MASTERVERSE Revelation Evil Lyn alternate head and hands on Figura Obscura Father Christmas body. She is feeding Boreus.
I find that female heads in the same scale work very well with this body. It’s true that Evil Lyn here has no neck, but can you tell? The hands were a perfect swap for this photo.
You can see above that Father Christmas is actually very articulated. He can sit on a knee and give out presents to the good little boys here. (He-Man might be the bad one…he is holding a sword after all.)
The toy sack is very detailed. These toys are not removable…but you get the drum sticks, teddy bear, nutcracker, toy lion, toy bugle, three balls, and a book that Reverend SpartanNerd has to assume is a bible.
I am showing Father Christmas holding that trumpet. Be very careful, Hub City Geeks. This is one delicate item. It fits very well in the robe pocket, and probably should stay in there or in the sack. Father Christmas didn’t come with any additional hands, so he can’t finger the valves or anything like that. He can hold it, but be careful getting it into the hands. With the robes on, he can’t have two hands on it as if to play it, and if he can I was too afraid to try, not willing to bend the instrument. Incidentally, the doll also can fit in the robe pockets well. AND, the drum has a chain with a hook on it so that it can clip to his belt.
Ah. SpartanPapaDavid’s story, kind of.
The Shepherd’s Crook and Lantern…Father Christmas doesn’t need a weapon, does he? Of all the Mythic Legions figures made, I bet this is only one of a handful that didn’t have some means of attack. BUT, the shepherd’s crook could be a weapon that someone else might use all year long.
I have only one singular, true gripe with this whole product. And that is that when you have the lantern on the crook, the heaviness of it causes the wrists to buckle, knocking him off balance. He doesn’t really have a counterweight. If ever a figure could probably have come with a stand, it is Father Christmas. Just think, someone might only ever own this product from the Four Horsemen Studios. He is a fine Santa Claus. Maybe the best I have ever seen anywhere. But if he has trouble standing as a long-term display that is kind of a problem. For me, he has face-planted several times while holding the hook, usually with the lantern. And that lantern comes right off and goes who knows where. I wasn’t there when he fell over! And as I type this, one of those wreath crowns is missing. I believe he fell over, his crown landed in the floor, and a SpartanPet got it. Or it went down in the AC vent. Or something else. All I am saying is it is good that it came with two of them. (Dork Lair seems to think this was an accident, all of them coming with two wreath crowns.)
PICTURED: Mythic Legions Boreus and Figura Obscura Father Christmas. Boreus seems to be the perfect match with Father Christmas.
SPARTANNERD RATING OF FIGURA OBSCURA FATHER CHRISTMAS
Are you kidding me? Seriously?
If I could award 6 points I would. This thing is incredible. If you are a Mythic Legions fan and also like Christmas, this is for you. If you do Christmas and want a nice Santa decoration, this is a great choice. He could also sit on top of a tree…he’s about the same size as one of those angels. (Rev. SpartanNerd wouldn’t do it, but you could…)
And the value here…just take all those Christmas pieces off and put them in the collector friendly package for storage, and you have another Mythic Legions that you can use all year.
Which brings me back to the Headless Horseman. I have punted on that for two main reasons. Price and functionality. But I got to thinking about it. His body can be used all year. Just put a different head on it. That horse is ghostly, so who could ride it all year…OH YEAH…Skeletor. Scare Glo. Blah blah blah. Why was the SpartanNerd so unimaginative?
So not only has Figura Obscura Father Christmas delivered so much awesomeness, he has convinced me to move on the Headless Horseman, and also…The Monkey KING! Figura Obscura is where it is at, people! I won’t ever get the Egyptian Gods on religious grounds, but I might actually go for Greek Gods if they make them.
So the SpartanNerd rates Figura Obscura Father Christmas a solid 5/5. The packaging is superior. The sculpt, paint, and soft goods superior, and the accessories varied and awesome. He delivers the Christmas joy and so much more!
Please post your agreeing comments, Hub City Geeks. (How could you complain?)
So, I already reviewed a modern Mer-Man, didn’t I? (Yes. HERE)
My complaints about that figure were the sculpt and the accessories…It was based on the Revelations cartoon rather than vintage sources. Well as you can see, New Eternia Mer-Man solves some of that.
PACKAGING
The top picture shows the typical recent MASTERVERSE packaging. I love this art, and it also features a giant pink octopus. That octopus is very typical of Mer-Man, but I can’t help but think about Aquaman. (The SpartanNerd is a longtime Aquaman fan…from the Superfriends to Jason Mamoa. I always wanted the MOTUC/DC collaboration. I missed it though 😦 )
The back also shows more of that octopus. Once again, I am complaining that this is a photoshopped image of the toy and not more illustration. Furthermore, this specific picture makes him appear too “muppet” ish. It is because this must have been a prototype with a more closed mouth. So Fozzy. We get some action shots of the weapons and also a little profile picture with “MER-MAN: Ocean Warlord|With New Eternia shattered into thousands of islands, Met-Man terrorizes everyone foolish enough to travel the oceans in search of Castle Grayskull.”
Flavor text. Magic the Gathering Cards and descriptions of items in Elden Ring. Mattel has caught on.
The cross-sell images. I have Masters of the Universe Revolution Sorceress Teela (review), but have passed on the Man-Of-War. Battle Armor Skeletor is a bag of hurt. I missed it. I currently have a pre-order at Entertainment Earth for it…maybe January sometime. The truth is I pre-ordered this whole wave on “Backorder” with them. Then got frustrated. So I went ahead and picked up Mer-Man at Target and got Sorceress from Amazon.
This side illustration shows how ugly he is. YES!I like this extra illustration showing Man-E-Faces doing something useful.Throwing Beast Man into the water.
WHAT DO YOU GET IN THE PACKAGE
Contents:
New Eternia Mer-Man figure
Ocean Warlord spear
Coral sword
Pair of swimming hands
What do I wish it came with? A TRIDENT. A fish monster friend. An alternate head.
NEW ETERNIA MER-MAN IN ACTION
Here is New Eternia Man-E-Faces throwing NE Beastman into the water on top of NE Mer-Man. This was a really hard picture to get. Everything kept falling.
Notice the “bump” on the coral sword. (Most of us call this the corn-cob sword.). That stupid bump is so you can mount the sword on a hole in the back of the armor. Which would be fine if it didn’t look stupid.
Comparing the older and the newer. Really, not fair. Revelations Mer-Man has that “play-doh” color scheme when compared the paint on NE Mer-Man. He was based on the cartoon, so he has those scars and stuff which is fine. But compared to NE Mer-Man that one now appears to be generic side henchman. NE Mer-Man also has a much glossier finish. The head sculpt is far better. And don’t think these two share parts…Maybe the feet and hands are the same sculpt?
We don’t see a lot of combos between these two. I wonder why? (Also notice Mekanek is using his new underwater scouting role)
I need to consider this product objectively, separate from the version that came before. If you read my previous review, you saw I awarded a 3/5. In that context, this is a strict 5/5 improvement. If you are ever given the choice of the two to have, unless you are just a huge fan of Masters of the Universe Revelations I don’t know why you would choose the earlier offering.
So let’s ignore that. New Eternia Mer-Man has a monstrous green paint scheme, with nice paint details, and the grading between the green and yellow on the arms is one of the elements that brings the whole thing together. The armor is meticulously sculpted, bringing that “corn-cob” of scales feeling into it all. The spikes around his collar make him fit with other NE villains like Beast Man. The actual face of the actual toy is an evil look with nice fins on the face. His articulation is pretty much exactly like every other MASTERVERSE figure. He does have single hinge elbows, however.
The accessories…That spear is very savage. Like I said…I prefer a trident for this character. The coral sword looks good on the front, but that stupid bump can’t pass as anything but poor design. If they had done something like paint it red or made it somehow a power gem…that would have been very cool. But it’s just an ugly peg. And that’s where this figure loses a point. I would have preferred a scabbard, or a loop on the armor, or nothing at all…this bump was a conscious and irresponsible design choice.
So SpartanNerd’s rating of New Eternia Mer-Man is 4/5. A strict upgrade over the Revelation Mer-Man. He could use an alternate head, some other accessory like a sea critter, and some other way of mounting that sword on his back that doesn’t compromise the sculpt of the toy.
4/5. Do you agree or disagree, Hub City Geeks? Let me know in the comments!
spartannerd 