Who? I don’t remember this guy (or “these guys”) from my childhood in any way. Possibly they were in minicomics, or non-American media. I don’t remember them from Filmation.

I decided to get him when I saw it go up for sale as an army builder. But I already have an army of skeletons, with more to come. So I only got one. He seemed like he would go well with Battle Armor Skeletor and Undead of Vikenfell. I ordered it, and then had to wait about a month.

He’s OK…but how OK? Keep reading!

PACKAGING

Skelcon comes in the now standard MASTERVERSE packaging. You can see the figure from the belt up, with a spear on his left. Now, right away you can see one goofy expression on this face. He has such a long nose that the articulated face is askew. This is bad for a Mint-On-Card collector. I haven’t seen other examples, so I don’t know if this is how everyone’s will turn out.

We have nice artwork on the front featuring Skelcons fighting Stratos and Avionians. We can see Avion in the background. Wait-a-minute. I see a Skelcon with wings. (No wings with this figure…curious). Notable that we don’t have Stratos in MASTERVERSE (that I know of). I suspect this is a teaser for the future. And on the side we are treated to a lady Avionian, who totally could be done in MASTERVERSE.

The other side shows Skelcon standing with a shield, and his portrait floating above, making it completely possible to store and file easily on card.

The back is one of those dumb photoshop pictures. There is no cross sale, but we do get a bio that mentions Infinita, the nearly forgotten opposite of Eternia. (There was this “series bible” in Mattel’s files as they were designing the Masters of the Universe line. Infinita was a planet on the same orbit as Eternia, but diametrically opposite. This is where Skeletor and “his people” are from.)

FIGURE REVIEW

What do you get in the package?

• Skelcon Figure
• Battle Axe
• Spear
• Dagger with sheath
• Shield
• Alternate fist hands (not pictured)

I am not counting the harness or the girdle…though you might.

This figure has several re-used parts. I pretty much think he feels like the same figure as New Eternia Mer-Man, with a different head. But this isn’t so entirely. Just the legs and feet.

The Battle Armor Skeletor vibe is also unmistakable. But he doesn’t share parts…he “seems” to, but for instance Skeletor’s three-toed feet have these metal boots on them.

The best thing about the sculpt is the head. That articulated jaw opens and closes…and he has a nasty, gray…perhaps decayed tongue sculpted to the lower jaw. He has a horned helmet that is glossy purple, and black “highlights…(sounds wrong…outlines) there are red eyes that look like Skelcon is always in attack mode. I have a little bit of paint smudge over the eye on mine, but this adds to the figure! He looks like he has a scar or burn.

He stands as well as Mer-Man, which is to say, he is lanky. I have a bit of a time getting him to stand independent of leaning on the wall.

This figure is in Skeletor blue. So kind of you can swap parts easily. The armor is in dark purple, almost black, and there are pops of glossy purple. The horned skull on the belt ties it together.

BUT, the paint on this figure is really plain compared to other skeleton warriors. From MASTERVERSE and other lines. And I am not sure it is from lack of application…it is color scheme. The SpartanNerd isn’t that great with colors…a problem that is getting worse the older I get. I don’t see the black straps on the armor right away…my eye gets lost in the forest and leaves the trees behind.

I do feel that the body could use some kind of “wash,” rather than being flat blue. Also, the chain mail on the armor could use some wash.

ACCESSORIES

The armor is well sculpted, but the best sculpts are on the head and the weapons. The bone motif is very strong, with a consistent yellowed, aged hue.

Once again, I have to complain about this shield. It is the same dumb shield we have had several times. This time even more boring because it is just flat dark gray. I sense some paint in the future. (It might snow on Wednesday and Thursday, so…). (It did not. And I did not paint.)

He really does come with a lot of accessories. He was the same price as New Eternia Evil-Lyn, who practically had no accessories. (I guess they spent the budget on this guy instead). These accessories are very useful and add a good bit to the rest of the collection.

SPARTANNERD RATING OF MASTERVERSE NEW ETERNIA SKELCON

Once again…Who?

I would have rather had Stratos, or even his sister. I would have rather had the more recognizable Eternian Guard…which I probably would have bought a few more of to army build.

The head sculpt is great, but most of the body feels so much like the other lanky figures, especially Mer-Man because of the three toed feet. But he doesn’t have that great paint that Mer-Man has, does he? BUT the accessories are well sculpted…among the best in MASTERVERSE.

He came with lots of accessories, and his articulation is very good with really no stupid problems. That knife sheath came off when I removed him from the blister, but it is designed to come off. Sometimes he is hard to get to stand, and he always feels lanky and leggy.

I am going to rate Skelcon a 3/5. He adds another skeleton to my collection, and one with a horned helmet no less. I like that Mattel is digging deep to give us a character like this…I just don’t know who he is. (I am looking it up after I publish this blog entry). But it is good to see Mattel bringing up Infinita again, remixing it into New Eternia, which has a story that I am not even sure is coherent.

Do you agree or disagree, Hub City Geeks? Let me know in the comments!