Category Archives: barbarians

Major and Minor- SpartanNerd Commentary and review of Mythic Legions Magic Effects

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Pictured: MASTERVERSE Revelation Orko, armed with Animal Warriors of the Kingdom magic staff, displaying Heroic and Evil Magic blast effects.

Maybe you didn’t know, but in addition to being a SpartanNerd and Reverend, he is also a chorus teacher…Yep. With a MMED in Music Education with an emphasis on sight reading music.

Now that I got that qualification (perhaps dis-qualification) out of the way, here is something they teach you at Music Teacher school. You shouldn’t tell the kids that Major sounds happy and Minor sounds sad. They can be either one. A great many country songs with sad subjects are in a Major key, and plenty of party-down rock and pop songs are in a Minor key. So…where is this going in regards to reviewing toys?

Did you catch what I might be talking about from looking at the above four images? The Four Horsemen are presenting the primarily blue and green magic effects as good, and the red and purple as evil. I have learned that the image on the back of the heroic effects depicts Aracagorr, who is a good-guy boss, and the one on the back of the evil effects depicts Poxxus, a bad-guy boss. Why are they pigeon-holing these effects? Outside of Star Wars, this kind of color-coding doesn’t happen much. I mean, it does. It seems like GI Joe might have green-blue blasts and Cobra has red-pink blasts. But some things turn this thinking on its head. The Joker looks cheery and happy, and someone who never saw him before might not think he was evil, but Batman might be construed as evil with the black cape and dark armor. Magic the Gathering flips this script also, Liliana is part of The Gatewatch and is a black-aligned character…White-aligned Heliod showed himself to be a Villain. Final Fantasy X and X-2 also have black mages on the good side. Elden Ring…is anyone good and evil?

How about this? Elemental magic. Lightning is orange or yellow. Ice is clear or white or blue. Life magic tends to show green. Fire orange, red, black. My point is that magic effects is one of the areas of the toy collecting and photography hobby where the fans can be more creative. Right off the bat I disagree with the philosophy the Four Horsemen are giving us for magic and blast effects. And I intend to prove that in the review below.

What do we get in the boxes?

Both are identical, but with different color schemes. You can see them in the packaging clearly, but here is one unpacked.

I’ll go from left to right. A long stringy swirl. 2 large discs, 2 medium discs, and 2 small discs. 2 swirling mists. (I believe the one on the left to be warped…even better then). A long lightning effect and a short lightning effect. A long magic snake effect. And a short skull effect.

Photos of the Mythic Legions Magic Effects in action

I am not going to show that many Mythic Legions toys in this review. So brace yourself. I don’t actually have that many, but I have wanted magic and blast effects for a long time for my action figures. These are the perfect size of six-inch scale. So prepare to see Masters of the Universe Classics, MASTERVERSE, Marvel Legends, and maybe some other things, as well as Mythic Legions.

Pictured: Marvel Legends comic book Thanos with Infinity Gauntlet hand. Mythic Legions Evil and Heroic magic effects skulls.

The little skulls are my favorite. The different colors highlight that Thanos is holding two different souls. Not necessarily good and evil. Because I am talking about mixing it up, why couldn’t one be Green Lantern and the other The Flash!

Pictured: Marvel Legends comic book Thor with Mythic Legions Heroic and Evil lightning effects. What we really need is that lightning in yellow, orange, or white.

Marvel Legends comic book Thor is my worst action figure. The lightning effects really add something to a character like this!

Pictured: MASTERVERSE Revelation Evil Lyn and Teela, both with their hair-down head scupts, and MASTERVERSE Revelation Sorceress. Teela is also armed with the MOTUC Great Unrest Staff of Ka. Also pictured are a variety of Mythic Legions Heroic and Evil Magic effects, and the two halves of the Power Sword from MASTERVERSE Revelation King Greyskull.

That “Pictured” caption took forever to type. Anyway, here I depict a scene where the Sorceress tells Teela and Evil Lyn about the two halves of the Power Sword. The magic effects add a lot to the scene.

Pictured: MASTERVERSE Revelation King Grayskull with Mythic Legions Heroic and Evil magic effects.

The back of King Grayskull’s box depicts an image that looks something like this. (I suppose I need to post a review of King Grayskull and the Sorceress soon.)

Pictured: Four Horsemen Studios Demistros, Mythic Legions Skeleton Legion Builder, who is armed with MASTERVERSE New Eternia “Viking” Skeletor’s scimitar and MASTERVERSE Revelation Teela’s shield.

Here they are with some actual Mythic Legions figures. Demistros is bringing this skeleton warrior back to life. The swirling mist adds something. It is given life by the green soul skull escaping from the red portal. If I had used the red skull, would that story be as clear? Nope.

Pictured: MASTERVERSE Comic-Con exclusive Scareglow with diorama box, MASTERVERSE Revelation Teela, armed with The Great Unrest Weapons pack armor and staff of Ka. Cosmic Legions Silver Figure Stand, Mythic Legions green snake effect and green skull effect. An aquarium plant hides the stand.

I didn’t realize that the snake effect was actually a snake until I took this picture. While I am at it, notice that I have Scareglow mounted on the Cosmic Legions Action Figure Stand. So I am going to take a break for a quick review of that as a bonus under the ratings section below.

Pictured: MASTERVERSE Revelation Evil Lyn and Teela. Evil Lyn has Mythic Legions swirling mist effect. Teela has the red snake effect.

It seems to me that the red snake effect is perfect for the Staff of Ka. Which brings up another point. The Four Horsemen sculpted the Masters of the Universe Classics, and there were a bunch of snake staves sculpted for that line especially for the Snake Men faction. Dare I assert that this magic effect calls back to that?

SpartanNerd Rating of Mythic Legions Heroic Magic Effects and Mythic Legions Evil Magic Effects

Before this review, I actually already used some of the effects in my pictures in reviews on this site. This is a new and very useful item. It adds so much to really so many toys. I only scratched the surface! We need more things like this. The Mythic Legions Magic Effects plays nice in any sandbox. You could definitely use that lightning in Star Wars. You could put those smoke effects behind a Hot Wheels car or something. Disney Barbie dolls. Maleficent. Pokémon. Zelda action figures. I don’t own any of these, but oh the potential! Multiple scales, too. And apply them to the vintage toys like you always wanted.

My hangup is the assertion that the red effects are evil and the blue effects are good. That’s like saying you could only use Metallic crayons for transformers. You can only put ketchup on french fries. You can only add rubber ducks to Jeeps, not Ford trucks (I saw one today with ducks on the dash). I am surprised that this assertion came from such a well-rounded studio.

The sculpts are nice. The product does seem a little bit brittle. I am careful, but some kid out there probably wouldn’t be. But these were made for adult collectors, so…

I bought both sets and am scoring them the same. 5/5. They add very much to all of my collection, and I know they will to yours too!

BONUS: Cosmic Legions Silver Figure Stand.

After such a glowing review…time for a not-so-glowing one, lest you assert I am some kind of loyalist…(Everyone who reads this stuff knows I am honest to a fault perhaps.).

The stand stinks!

The stand came in this polybag with a yellow sticker- (see the photo near the top of the page.)

When you assemble it, well…it seems like the vertical end of the stand should be flush with the platform, doesn’t it. And in fact I have seen pictures of other peoples stand where it is. But mine would not click in. And I used a good screwdriver and a good wife to try and tighten it up. No matter what pressure I put, no matter how tight I made the screws, this “daylight” wouldn’t go away. I was afraid I was going to break it if I kept trying to force it.

If only that was the only problem.

When I was posing my figures outdoors reviewing the Animal Warriors of the Kingdom Red Weapons Loot box, I made a picture of Man-At-Arms using the bow and arrow. (See the review with the picture here.)

I put Duncan in the stand, but realized a problem.

The business end of the stand has this metal claw. Now there were these little rubber bits that covered the metal “points” of this claw. As I was posing the figure, they came off! Luckily no damage was done, and miraculously I kept them from being lost in the grass. But they didn’t make it this review, did they? Now if I use the stand, I have to consider that it might scratch the paint or damage the figure. (You can see these rubber pieces in the Scareglow picture).

My advice, SKIP THIS ONE!

Rating of the Cosmic Legions Silver Figure Stand: 1/5. This thing is awful. I know it is for the science fiction version of Mythic Legions, and I don’t even mind the silver metallic stand. That is fine for whatever. But the assembly went wrong. The rubber things came off and have since been lost while using the stand for its intended function. I worry about damaging figures if I use it. There are better stands out there for your money.

One might argue that it is because I used MASTERVERSE figures instead of Four Horsemen figures. To that I assure you that there isn’t enough difference in the thickness of their waists. I also assert that a figure stand should be versatile. Any action figure within reason should work. Thanos wouldn’t be within reason, so I didn’t try that one. Man-At-Arms should have been fine.

MASTERVERSE Revlations Evil-Lyn

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Many years ago, at about 5th-6th grade (I’m on the older side, so I might have been 11 turning 12,) I got some of the final Masters of the Universe Toys I would ever have for Christmas. These were Tyrantisaurus, Rio Blast, Extendar, and Evil Lyn. So I took Tyrantisaurus and Evil Lyn with me to my grandma’s party, where I was promptly made fun of. (That’s a doll! You have a girls toy with a purple dinosaur!) Didn’t matter to me. I loved those toys! 

I haven’t owned an Evil Lyn since, (if you disregard the many MEGA ones I have.) So I didn’t even feel bad about picking up two at the same time. I got MASTERVERSE Movie inspired Evil Lyn, and MASTERVERSE Revelation Evil Lyn. (See the review of Movie Evil Lyn Here.)

Revelation Evil-Lyn came in this basic style of packaging that all of the first wave of MASTERVERSE figures used. You can see everything you get clearly. Unlike other figures I have opened in the line, this one had a “double blister”. And if I was keeping it MIB that would have been very nice. The top images, you can see that my crop tool hasn’t been working right, but you get the essence of the rest of the packaging. There is a nice artwork of Evil-Lyn on the side. I heard somewhere that Eamon O’Donahue was doing this artwork? I don’t think there has been a piece of MASTERVERSE artwork that I haven’t liked. I might not care for some of the Revelation designs, but this artwork is very good. Evil-Lyn has the tag “Evil Warrior Goddess,” which I am pretty sure was the vintage toy description. (I am saying it one final time, I don’t like this blue window box.)

I was tempted to get the “Bat Sorceress” version, which was SO Eternity War. Maybe I still will someday. But I got this one because she fits with the style of the rest of the bad guys that were dear to my heart. Now I am only waiting on Whiplash and Clawful! Then I will have the whole of MY bad guys. (I place Modulok in with the Horde. Never had Webstor, Ninjor, or Jitsu. Cobra Kahn and Tongue Lasher go with Snake Men, and that will be another collection for me when they ever come out.)

Here’s what you get. Evil-Lyn with an alternate, not helmeted head, a short staff and a long staff, a pocketbook, a pair of punching hands, another gripping hand, and another spellcasting hand. This is a lot of stuff, considering Movie Evil-Lyn came with basically nothing. I am especially fond of the un-helmeted head with white hair. In Filmation we only saw this a couple of times…maybe even only once. 200x and Revelation did this right. In fact, this updated Revelation design has absolutely nothing wrong with it. Nothing to complain about. The sculpt is great! Not sure if it was intentional, but the white haired head also has two-toned eyebrows, giving the appearance of some age. Notable that the other head doesn’t have this detail. (I don’t like God-Lyn. But I do really like the reformed Evil-Lyn (just Lyn?) design. Beautiful and princess-like.)

You can tell that the same designer did these two hairstyles. I in fact double checked to see if this was a re-used part. (It isn’t). The short staff and the long staff. I believe they are the same weapon…she can extend it to use more as a bo staff, and for general magic casting she uses the short staff.

Notice that these 6 to 7 inch scale figures with staffs like to be posed in this way. I have already posted a few pictures of mythic legions, Savage He-Man, and also of Mer-Man doing this pose. Probably even more characters. I will say that the joints are much looser than I would like, and also I was afraid I was going to break the right hand thumb on the gripping hand trying to get her to hold this.

And because Movie Evil-Lyn came with basically nothing, one of the staves is a good weapon for her. Either one only needs one magic staff at a time anyway. Despara here is taller, but doesn’t she seem more stiff? It isn’t an accident. The more recent figures are more posable. Movie Evil-Lyn has no problem standing or being posed. But Revelation Evil-Lyn has looser joints.

Let’s talk pocketbook. If I remember the Revelation Part 1 series, Evil-Lyn carried something around in her pouch. It contained some of the last magic left in Eternia. But no one would have to know that, would they? This is a fine purse, for any female figure actually. I couldn’t resist making this photo!

The alternate head goes nicely on Masters of the Universe Classics Battleground Teela’s body to make basically an entirely different character. I’ll concede that Evil-Lyn has less of a tan, but if she is wearing makeup then this is a fine shade of skin for her face. At least we don’t usually see Evil-Lyn in barbarian armor. See how nice of an added detail the purse is?

These two finally reunited! (The 200x story presented The Faceless One as Evil-Lyn’s father. He was the original protector of the Havoc Staff, and that green face in his off hand is the Ram Stone…magic that can take down any wall.)

That these two bonded in Revelation was quite a surprise. We got more backstories for both characters from that!

I read the Revelation comic book that detailed Skeletor’s origin story. (Spoiler…he is like the Joker. You can’t tell if he is being truthful). My point is…I don’t think Evil-Lyn could be attracted to Skeletor. Not as a bare skull face. She is too beautiful herself for that. True, she lusts for power and Skeletor provides that for her as something to admire as well as gives her an ambition to overthrow. 200x was more believable, that she thought Keldor was handsome, but then the transformation “hideous.” January 25, 2024 UPDATE- Watch Revolution! See how this turned out!

There is a loyalty of Beast Man to Evil-Lyn. Why? I don’t know. She treats him bad. And in Revelation Part 2 she turns him into a gigantic attack dog, that gets thrown into the abyss. AND that is a loose end for the next installment I suppose.

So my rating for this figure. I only have one complaint, and it is that the joints are a bit loose. She can stand just fine, and hold her weapons (but be careful of the thumb). But it isn’t as tight as I would like. I am surprised at how small she is compared to the male figures. (Trust me. Most of the camera shots I took has her standing more in the front, skewing the effect of this). Beast Man pictured above kneeling really makes her look small. But I appreciate her femininity, especially in comparison with the design of Teela. Loose joints, but lots of accessories, another head sculpt that can be used on almost any other female figure with a removable head, a great sculpt and terrific paint job. A versatile pocketbook accessory. Two wand staffs. Nice artwork on the package. I am giving this a 5/5. I mean…maybe 4.5/5 if that is allowed. (Why not. It’s my rating system).

So what do you think, Hub City Geeks? Am I right? Let me know in the comments!

Mythic Legions Balthor the Tower Ogre (loose)

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The final figure I picked up on my birthday. (It really takes me awhile to get to these blog entries. Sorry if you are a regular reader, Hub City Geeks.)

I didn’t know this character’s name was Balthor the Tower Ogre. I used Google Image Search.

He was loose on the counter at the Toy Federation, pretty much exactly like this. It didn’t take me long to realize this was something really special, even if it was used. Why would someone offload this? He is HUGE!

My first thought was that he would be a great enemy for Vikor, and the Conan the Barbarian Ultimates that I should have in hand before June. (That’s a long wait. And why I am no longer going to pre-order from Super7. I’ll buy stuff in-stock if I shop from their online store).

But these two look way too much like brothers! Or father and son. So…probably going to be on the same team. You can see how big he is.

He is a nine-inch scale figure. In fact, “Ogre Scale” according to the Four Horsemen.

It seems my figure is almost complete…almost. He came with this extra section of pole for the axe.

He has two holes on his back for accessories…(likely wings…I don’t have a picture, but I removed the wings from The Redeemer (from Spawn), and plugged those into his back. This looks great, somehow like a Led Zeppelin album cover).

For this review picture, I just stabbed that small pole in there…it fit just fine for a murder scene. The reason why I know there is a missing piece is because there is nowhere for this section to fit to. You can use it to make a shorter axe, and that’s about it.

Besides his tremendous scale and wonderful sculpt, he is also as modular as the other two Mythic Legions that I have.

I promise that every piece of him can come apart just as well as the skeletons.

And the horns on the side of his helmet…I don’t know if you picked up on it, but they are removable and adjustable also. Without the horns, he looks a bit like Batman. If the whole helmet was removable, that would be cool. You can tell where the face is glued in.

I really appreciate that he has plastic armor with some fur details. There is fur padding under the harness straps, and also a furry loin cloth beneath his belt armor.  I love how there are horns sculpted onto his boots, and those boots have sharp fin-like pieces on them. I know his title is “Tower Ogre,” but I would like to think of him as a large human. Like Goliath or someone. Ogre as a nickname. But these boots might suggest otherwise. I don’t know much about Mythic Legions lore.

So there is someone bigger in my collection…

Well how do I rate this figure? According to the internet, Balthor is around ten years old. He isn’t brittle in any way, and stands perfectly. I am missing the piece of pole, but can that be a reason to downgrade the product? Now when I bought it loose. The paint looks terrific…the sculpt is the Four Horsemen at their best. He is posable, has cool armor. He is exactly the kind of barbarian figure I am into! So 5/5. Fight me over this rating, Hub City Geeks!