I jumped for joy when they leaked/announced this guy. I have waxed poetic about the 1987 Masters of the Universe movie, and you can read about that here if you want.
Beast Man is the fourth MASTERVERSE figure specifically from the 1987 movie. (So far we have He-Man, Skeletor, and Evil-Lyn). Like Evil-Lyn, this figure has never been made before. Sure there have been some Beast Man figures…several variations actually. But this is the first movie-inspired design.
PACKAGING
You can see a video review of the packaging here, along with the packaging for Skeletor’s Throne (Review here)
Beast man comes in the same packaging as recent MASTERVERSE figures. This time with a darker theme and the specter of the movie design for Grayskull behind him.
I like this Transformers style packaging, where you can see the figure and the accessories clearly.
FIGURE
I would like to apply for the job of Beef Jerky salesman. Or Insurance man. One or the other.
Here’s what you get in the box
Beast Man figure
Wrist guards
Sword
Pair of open “grabbing” hands.
Not many accessories.
So my thoughts on the general design. Even as a kid, I thought he looked way too much like Chewbacca. (I pronounce that word CHOO-Bahka. I also say TAEN-ussee and Buh-JANG-uls). It was 1987. Star Wars was fresh in our minds. Plenty of other movies were made with similar ideas. Teen Wolf. Harry and the Hendersons. Even King Kong had a little revival around this time.
In the cartoon and on the figure, and in most comics Beast Man is always orange. I suppose the William Stout’s in the design studio thought that wouldn’t work. But this Sasquatch design didn’t ever do it for me. And in the movie he also doesn’t speak. Just growls a few times and grovels at Skeletor after he kills Saurod. (Sadness.)
PICTURED: MASTERVERSE Movie Beast Man and MASTERVERSE New Eternia Beast Man. I really feel like New Eternia is the ultimate design. (Review Here)PICTURED: MASTERVERSE Movie Skeletor and Movie Beast Man. Beast Man grovels at Skeletor, who now appears to have TWO Havoc Staff. (This is the New Eternia Skeletor throne, and somehow I didn’t put the Staff of Ka where the Havoc Staff is.). Skeletor and He-Man review here.
To me as a Masters of the Universe character, the design was a lot closer to Grizzlor. And I am going to call this my problem with what we have here. If you watch the movie, you can see that fur getting wild and tangled and matted.
No chance for that here…all of the fur is sculpted and molded. Throw in that cheesy smile, and unfortunately, like I said, he looks more like a mascot on a Geico commercial.
And one more thing. His thighs are covered in what would be called armor, but you can see what it is in the picture above. These thigh-pads are supposed to be furry matts to cover the joints and prevent breaking the sculpt. But how wrong does this actually look in any pose outside of basic standing?
ACCESSORIES
PICTURED: MASTERVERSE Beast Man and He-Man, both using the movie designs. Notice that I modded He-Man’s gun. Now it has movie-accurate paint.
Here is Beast Man armed with all he came with. You just remove the hands and slide the wrist guards on. I should go back and watch the movie to see instances of Beast Man using this sword.
As a sword, anyone could use it. I do get kind of a “wooden”toy sword vibe off of it. It is a basic as a sword could be, which make He-Man’s sword seem even more better I suppose.
SPARTANNERD RATING OF MASTERVERSE BEAST MAN (1987 MOVIE)
As much as I love the movie, this figure falls short. It is definitely the weakest we have gotten of the four releases.
PICTURED: MASTERVERSE Movie figures released as of August 2024. Beast Man, Skeletor, Evil-Lyn, and He-Man. Evil-Lyn review here. What could Evil-Lyn do with two cosmic keys?
However, he does represent hope that we might get more movie designs. I’m pretty sure in Masters of the Universe Classics they released a Karg figure from the William Stout Collection. So Karg will be coming, but hopefully they don’t repeat some of the mistakes they made with Beast Man here. Of Course we will get Blade and Saurod, and very likely “god” Skeletor.
And look how many “good guys” we have. Only He-Man. So bring on the Man-At-Arms movie design and the Teela, and a better Gwildor. (Could they beat the MOTUC Gwildor?)
I just can’t rate this guy very highly. The design is wonky. The paint is good, but that expression on his face just kills any vibe you could get from the rest of the figure. Why are wrist guards considered accessories? Practically he only came with alternate hands (which every MASTERVERSE figure comes with) and a bland sword which might have five seconds of movie time. (I’ll go back and check.)
So I am going to award this figure a reluctant 2/5. One of those points is really optimism for the future, because as a figure, he kind of …
PICTURED: MASTERVERSE Movie Beast Man and MASTERVERSE Revelation Stinkor. Stinkor is armed with the boring shield he came with, but I painted gold details on it. He is also using the satellite dish that came with Super7 Ultimates! TMNT Metalhead. This makes a good stand-in for a gun that Stinkor didn’t come with. These two are now at the bottom of my list. Also. SPECIAL EFFECTS ALERT. Thanks to Toypixx Toy Photography
I remember watching the Filmation show as a kid, and wondering why we didn’t get this throne with Snake Mountain. It was clearly awesome, and Grayskull came with a chair. What was the deal? I didn’t ponder too much, though. I was just a kid!
As an adult fan, who was watching the 200x Mike Young production show, I noticed Skeletor’s throne was massive. Ridiculous, actually. Such were the times of the early 2000’s, when Dragon Ball Z and similar were the flavor.
With Masters of the Universe Classics, people were making custom bone-thrones for their figures to sit on. These looked so cool, but the ones for sale required a wait time, and you talk about something pricey too.
And then…and OFFICIAL Classics throne for Skeletor came with the Super7 Snake Mountain. The very final MOTUC product. And at that price tag ($700?) no way did it feel the SpartanNerd was ever going to have this thing. And people weren’t selling the pieces off of the gigantic Super7 thing.
So to actually have this MASTERVERSE Skeletor with a throne is pretty incredible. Watch the video below to see my unboxing and packaging commentary.
UNBOXING (Also includes Movie Beast Man, review soon)
I took the box cutter to that top box and got the art pieces off to take pictures. This is great stuff!
REVIEW OF SKELETOR
Here is everything you get in the box
Skeletor figure
Alternate hands…one punching the other open.
The Havoc Staff
Armor with cape attachment
Removable hood
Maybe this next photo will explain this a little more
Skeletor getting ready for…church…
This is exactly the same figure we got with New Eternia Skeletor (Viking). It just has different, arguably better paint. But this head is different. And as far as I know, this is the first non-hooded, bare-boned Skeletor head. The New Adventures design had techno parts. There is also an articulated jaw.
I hear a prominent fan criticizing this head sculpt as appearing to be a chimpanzee skull. And then taking a hair dryer to it. DON’T DO IT! This is by design. Go back and read some of those early Alcala mini comics. I always felt that some of those Skeletor designs of his had that protruding top mouth part, and it looks very chimp-y. But that was how he drew it.
The only criticism I have here then is the one I have gradually gotten from the other New Eternia Skeletor. His left leg is loose at the boot cut and thigh cut. And they didn’t fix it for this offering…his is already loose and he has some trouble standing on two feet.
INTERLUDE
Mattel seemed to celebrate this product just a little bit. Check out the covers of this month’s comic!
So I decided to make a photo of the green cover using the figure. I had the SpartanWife paint his nails. I am not showing this, but when I removed his battle harness, there was purple “bleed” left on his back. It was faint, but it looks like I am seeing some of these kinds of issues recently.
The photo turned out pretty good. I took off the armor and hood, laid the figure on some “green glass”. And placed a green gel in front. I shone a flashlight on it and the surprise imperfections in the gel plastic film made the image extra good.
REVIEW OF SKELETOR’S THRONE.
It didn’t take long for me to assemble it. The diorama card was the hardest part…I had to cut some of the tabs off of the bottom. They come with a design that isn’t supposed to disassemble once put together. But that didn’t suit my storage needs.
But as I stepped back and took a look at it…Then back at the instructions and some promo images…The skull head on top is TOO TALL. We are led to believe the back wall is taller than the chair. NOPE.
So you can see, I had to put some black cardstock from other packaging up behind the head to get proper photos.
You can see the furry seat cushion, and this is a solution to a problem. If you have been following the SpartanNerd blog, then you know that King Conan’s throne can’t be properly sat in by MASTERVERSE figures, making me worry about this. That seat cushion disguises the awkwardness of their butt not being perpendicular to the chair. Cool solution, Mattel! There are also foot pegs on the platform under the chair, so you can peg him in for even more stability.
Here is some more description. Look near He-Man’s feet. Two alien insect skulls with antennae. There are these mandibular halves with teeth coming up beside the throne…this must be the jawbones of wyvyrns. And no way around it…that is a demon skull on top.
…Let’s be real for a minute. Why did Bob Jones University types protest He-Man and the Masters of the Universe as being demonic back in the 1980’s?…
On the back side of the throne there are two stands made of cobra snakes where you can place the Havoc Staff and the Staff of Ka. These are rubbery, and press down and spring back to shape when you load the weapons for display.
Skeletor SHOULD HAVE come with a Staff of Zoar. That has to be what Mattel was going for with the lighting effect. Orange for Zoar, green for Ka, and blue for Havoc. Each a type of magic presented on the Revolution cartoon. But you can give him the Sorceress’s staff. It is too small, but it works.
I swapped the head for this New Eternia (Viking) alternate head. This has been my main Skeletor head, until now…
At first I thought the lighting effect was broken on mine. I put some batteries from the junk drawer in, so I swapped them with new ones from the store, and it still wasn’t working right. I would hit the switch, and it would turn on orange. But it wouldn’t change colors. I walked away for a day to think about it.
I recently had a QC issue with Mattel regarding Sy-Klone. (Review yet to come!) Essentially, they listened to my complaint and offered me a Mekanek to replace him (complimentary) or my money back. I didn’t want to go through this again with the much larger and more expensive Havoc Throne. I didn’t want them to say I was defrauding them or something. I thought…”I can fix this. And if I can’t, I’ll call them then.” So I got to work. I removed the bottom screws, and that was it…it worked! I put them back in loosely and haven’t had any trouble since. Evidently the screws were too tight or something. If you have trouble with yours, try my fix.
You can watch the lighting effect by clicking this link
You can see I went ahead and cut up the box so I could make a larger display. Evil Lyn, Beast Man, Mer-Man, Panthor, and Screech look on as Skeletor charges his Havoc magic.Here is Mythic Legions (NOT!) Demistros sitting on the bone throne, energizing the Staff of Ka. His giant devil head looks like it might be a brother to the one on the top of the chair.And here’s Black Falcon, holding the Staff of Zoar which would surely be his weapon of choice.
SPARTANNERD RATING OF NEW ETERNIA SKELETOR AND HAVOC THRONE
I have to take this objectively. Subjectively, I am really, really happy to have this thing. I have basically all of the bad guys now, and this throne pulls them together on display. (I don’t have Screech or Panthor. My Whiplash is a compromise. Review coming soon!)
Anyway. Objectively.
Skeletor’s new head with an articulated jaw and removable hood is excellent. His new purple and gold paint details are also very good on the battle harness and cape armor. This is also metallic purple paint on the Havoc Staff that matches his armor. This figure didn’t come with any other new accessories, and is in fact exactly like the New Eternia (Viking) Skeletor that we already had, take away the Viking skull and classic head. The packaging is nice, and is slightly different than what is on the cover box, featuring the battle harness instead of the cape armor (I didn’t point that out in the video.)
I gave the original New Eternia Skeletor a 4/5, taking off a point for loose leg joints. It is the same here with this “new” New Eternia Skeletor. 4/5. He has the same leg problems. The new paint and the head with removable hood are very good upgrades, however.
Objectively, about the Havoc Throne. I have to set aside my love for this item and instead point out the strengths and weaknesses.
It is very well done. Easy to assemble. Nice packaging that falls short in the tallness category (see what I did there!) But the artwork on it is wonderful. The furry seat cushion is a novel design that solves the problem of figures sitting awkward, and really any 6-inch figure sits nice on it. Super7 Ultimates!. Mythic Legions. Very nice! The Staff of Ka is a little bit thick, and we are used to seeing it smaller, say for instance in Teela’s hand.
If I am messing with this, I never leave the LED fire lights off. I mean, clear fire is fine. But the colors add much depth, and if you turn off the lights, a real evil atmosphere can be created.
I am giving this throne a 5/5. Sure, I did have to take a screwdriver to it, but I can’t say if that will be everyone’s experience. Maybe mine was an exception. I DO wish the diorama was taller than the skull head. But the packaging is so nice otherwise that it kind of cancels that out. The throne can be stored in that box, or you can use it to display the throne with Skeletor kind of as a statue.
So 4/5 for Skeletor and 5/5 for the throne. What do you think, Hub City Geeks? Am I justified in this rating? Let me know in the comments!
For unboxing and initial review of the packaging for Snout Spout and Vykron , click here.
INITIAL THOUGHTS
Snout Spout is one of them characters. Yep.
So I have owned every version of Snout Spout ever released EXCEPT for the 200x Staction, which looks totally awesome! I picked up the Masters of the Universe Classics version at Big Lots that time that a bunch of Matty Collector stuff landed there…But I sold that when I did my mass sell off of MOTUC figures. (I am really starting to regret that. It wouldn’t be so bad if Mattel would support MEGA a little more). As a vintage character, I remember using that squirting action feature all the time. The Classics version didn’t have that, but came with the awesome Jaws of Life weapon. I didn’t get that “Heads pack” with the awesome 200x design.
When Mattel Creations listed Snout Spout for $33 a few months ago, I thought about it. Wouldn’t they just eventually mark it down? It did look cool, but did I like the character that much? Remember, I picked up the Classics version for $20…that was really a steal and a deal that will probably never come back up. the MASTERVERSE version didn’t look quite as fierce as the 200x version, but it didn’t look like a Dumbo either as the vintage one and stock MOTUC one did. I finally decided to when I saw Vykron on a Mattel Creations sale and thought, “what else should I get” while I was on vacation. Not getting Motherboard at $65 of Dark-lyn. Snout Spout was the winner.
So what did I think of it when I had it in hand…keep reading to see the SpartanNerd’s review, and also his first ever Special Effects Toy Photography!
ADDITIONAL PACKAGING REVIEW
When you open the box, you get to see a poster of the same artwork on the cover. BUT the other side features (EXCITEMENT!!)
YEP. SNAKE MEN! Now there is no reason to have snake men here. Snout Spout (presented as a firefighter) doesn’t have much to do with them. Mattel will have to do some explaining. He does look cool standing between King Hiss and the lady (Lady Slither?). But more importantly, this art seems to point to Snake Men coming soon to MASTERVERSE!
Snout Spout was tied in just like Vykron. No blister bubble. One thing that is an improvement on the package is the smooth black poster finish on the cardboard. But the way the trunk is wrapped…it makes it look like he was injured.
You can open the little box, which doubles as a stand, to see the rest of the items.
FIGURE REVIEW
Here is everything you get.
Snout Spout figure. He has a power harness and belt that is removable.
Fire fighter’s axe
Backpack
Three hoses
Alternate fist hands
Water blast effect
A good bit of items! And look how impressive he looks! This orange and pink and metallic purple, silver, and bright red. It all works so well!
Those eyes use “Light Piping.” And this is kind of a bummer. Mattel tries to play it up as great, but it would be better if there was some kind of battery. When you don’t have a light right overhead, you get the “dead eyes” look.
So the hoses can be attached all over the place. You can connect them from the bottom of the backpack to the power harness. You can connect the shorter one from the top of the backpack to the back of his head. You can connect one to the bottom of the axe to make it into a nozzle. You can use your imagination! You can also attach the water effext to the power harness to make it seem like he sprung a leak. Or you can put it on the end of the axe.
Speaking of imagination, the SpartanNerd is a middle school chorus teacher…one of the things that almost kept me from purchasing this was the belt. What might a middle school student (especially a boy) say about that pressure gauge?
The hose nose (this is Snout Spout’s alternate name). His real name…Jaxston. Awesome! This nose is very posable, made of several hard plastic joints. Not foam. Not rubber with wire. This was done right!
ACCESSORIES
I really already talked about them, didn’t I!
But not including the Jaws of Life…that is a missed opportunity. Now I realize that item was roughly an homage to The Four Horsemen…it was in the shape of their symbol. Still…we have Clamp Champ. There could have been some parts re-use.
The axe is pretty cool. It looks kind of dinged up and used. There could be more paint apps.
REAL SPECIAL EFFECTS PHOTOGRAPHY!
This is my first time. I watched of few YouTube videos, especially about adding explosions and fire to GI Joe Classified and Star Wars Black Series figures. I knew there would be plenty, and I could apply those here.
I took a trip to the Dollar General Market to find some dollhouse pieces or something to destroy. It would have to be really cheap. Would you believe the only thing they had was an off-brand Barbie doll house that was $25! No way. Not for this project. So I went back home, and took the to box cutter to some Amazon boxes. And some spray paint…
Here are some of the pics I got when I lit it all up!
PICTURED: New Eternia MASTERVERSE Snout Spout rescuing MASTERVERSE Revelation Evil-Lyn, who is dressed in Tri-Klops’ robe as “Eternian Winch.”
I did two special effects videos… the fire and a snow one for the barbarians. But the fire one was truly a blast! No, this Snout Spout can’t really squirt water. But he looks great fighting fire!
SPARTANNERD’S RATING OF MATTEL CREATIONS MASTERVERSE NEW ETERNIA SNOUT SPOUT
Not kidding. Snout Spout turned out to be one of the coolest figures I almost punted on. I’m glad I didn’t! He looks impressive. So tall and heroic. He is taller than anyone else besides Mekanek with all the pieces. At first I thought this torso was a re-use of 40th anniversary He-Man, but it can’t be because the neck is different and larger. It is similar size to Beast Man, but isn’t the same either. The only re-used parts I see are the pauldrons, which are Vykron’s but with all red. The head sculpt doesn’t look like the 200x, but it also doesn’t look like the sad elephant from the vintage line. Those are huge feet…he stands very stable for what is a heavy build and big head. The trunk is very posable.
The light-piping isn’t very great, some kind of electronic design would be better. I am considering modding this with some LED’s. I seem to be living dangerously lately. The Jaws of Life would have been a good include. But the many options for display, plus the bonus promise of snake men over-rides these weaknesses. Snout Spout is one of the best figures I own now! I highly recommend him. 5/5!
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!
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!
Here I am back to Ram Man. The last Ram Man I had was the Super7 Ultimates MOTUC “re-issue,” that had that orange color scheme on his armor instead of the classic red. The orange was from the “cross sell” art on the back of the vintage figures. It was cool. Very detailed sculpt, with even the boots having skull details.
(Surely people reading the SpartanNerd blog are familiar with vintage Ram Man. But just in case…) The vintage Ram Man toy was so iconic…so incredibly cool and everywhere. Everyone had one. I always felt like his plastic was a little different than the other figures…it felt like some Christmas ornaments my grandmother put on her tree. And it had that springy leg action feature. You locked him down first by pressing his legs up through his armor skirt into his hollow body. Then you pressed this button on the back of the boot, and he would pop up. Only his arms were articulated, and he had this axe that really no one else could hold, and likewise he couldn’t hardly hold anyone else’s weapon. He was featured heavily on the Filmation cartoon, and was portrayed as kind of stupid. And he was shorter than everyone else as well.
But since 200x, Ram Man has been portrayed as larger. And more of a “Juggernaut” type who has powerful strength to smash things with his head. No version of Ram Man has had the spring loaded legs. (I don’t think the 200x toy had them.). I suppose the requirements of modern sculpting just keeps it from happening. But today, I am going to show what I think is a terrific attempt at giving us some of the feel of the vintage Ram Man’s action feature.
Here is what New Eternia Ram Man comes with.
Check out this pose! I know I already talked about what was in the box, so lets talk about these legs. What we have are evidently standard MASTERVERSE legs encased in a hollow rubber tube. It is bendy stuff, and you can see it kinking up behind the left knee. But this is a fine attempt to do something that calls back to that original idea. Just be careful when bending the knees. That green covering prevents you from seeing which direction the knees are facing. I had to feel around for awhile before attempting to pose the legs. I really, really didn’t want to break anything.
So some things I didn’t mention in the package video. The axe has a very nice “patina” on it. Some brown, rusty shading. The armor has the Battle Ram missile warhead on the front.
I haven’t complained too much about the quality of the toys in this line. The ones I have are pretty terrific. I am a very picky customer. There are a few that I am just not going to get, for instance Andra, Mercenary Teela, or any of the Virgil Abloh collection. There is no appeal to those specific offerings for me. I also am holding out for a better Gwildor than the Revolution one they are offering with Orko. I would like a movie accurate figure. Some of their products don’t appeal to me, but otherwise the quality has improved, and the New Eternia figures are giving some of the Masters of the Universe Classics figures a run for their money. Still not quite as awesome of sculpt work as the Horsemen do.
Which is why the next statement is shocking. Ram Man is the first MASTERVERSE figure I have that came with a problem.
Full disclosure. I opened and photographed this after 1:00 AM, (I went to a Disturbed concert. Very nice!) I was trying to remove this head, and I just couldn’t get a grip on it. The helmet has smooth surfaces, and my fingers kept sliding off. So my solution was to pinch it tighter. Perhaps I should have got out the hair dryer, but you see, after the Disturbed concert, I wasn’t in the mood to get that out I guess. At any rate, I heard a “crack,” and I knew something very bad was amiss. I got the head off and saw that a piece has cracked, and the neck is separating at the seam. BOO! So for the rest of the photos you will see, I am showing you the head barely on. You can’t tell it isn’t snapped down, but I just couldn’t risk it.
The armor has its own special issues. On Ram Man, I haven’t been able to get the straps to lock tight. The left side keeps bucking open. Why do we have this head? I would have rather had an unhelmeted sculpt like the MOTUC version, with the metal plate on top. This looks like Judge Dredd to me. Is it supposed to be a helmet for riding the Battle Ram? I don’t hate it and am glad to have it. This is one of the New Eternia “riffs” like Beast Man had, where he had awesome fur armor in addition to vintage style armor.
Oh yeah…I almost forgot. In the comparison of MEGA Ram Man and the back of MASTERVERSE Ram Man’s back right leg, you can see that he has a stirrup or something…this is a call back to that little switch that activated the action feature in the vintage line!
Speaking of size, Ram Man isn’t a towering Juggernaut as he has been in the past. He isn’t short. But he isn’t bigger than, for example New Eternia Beast Man.
So armor swap time. This armor looks OK on Beast Man. But there is still room. I tried it on 40th anniversary He-Man, but it was way too big. I suppose it could work on Two Bad. The issue is that Ram Man is just “fatter” than anyone else so far.
So I am a little conflicted on scoring this one. I love the character and am glad to have a new figure of him. The sculpt is very nice, and the solution they came to for the springy legs is novel. Nobody ever asked for those two heads, but they are nice additions. The helmet-less head would have been cooler. The armor that goes on top of the armor…really just, “why?” It is barely usable on anyone else, and the straps don’t want to connect. The axe is nicely done, and the paint all around is as well, though I think this Ram Man is a bit more youthful than I would prefer.
The neck joint breakage is a big problem. I am a grown-up. I am not going to cry about stuff getting broken. But what about a kid? And he comes with those alternate heads, but they are not easy to swap even for a dexterous SpartanNerd. But I feel a little burned every time something like this happens. Super7 Ultimate Cobra B.A.T. had a hand that snapped when I was swapping it, and it almost put me completely off of their stuff. But there were other hands. On Ram Man, this was the whole neck joint!
I have to give this figure a low 3/5. The armor is aggravating and the head swap resulted in a broken neck. Those are negatives outweighed by the positives of well-thought-out leg design, excellent sculpting and paint, and variety in the accessories.
Do you agree or disagree, Hub City Geeks? Let me know in the comments!
spartannerd 