When I first began to collect MASTERVERSE figures, this one was…around. I saw Whiplash, but was determined to save my money for Masters of the Universe Mega Blocks. Well…we all know how this turned out. The MEGA went away. And one fateful day at Target, I picked up 40 anniversary He-Man and became sort of ravenous for MASTERVERSE figures. I started cherry picking the ones I wanted, of course. No Sun Man…no Netflix CGI figures. None of those. I wanted to recollect my childhood figures.

There weren’t that many of them out there, though. And suddenly I remembered passing up on all of those times I saw Whiplash at Walmart or wherever. So I went to order it online, only to have my order canceled. Ultimately looking at pictures on the internet, etc. he looked really scrawny. And they always show him with a horned helmet and holding a torch…kind of wacky. Then I saw the Cosmic Legions SSKURGGE at the Toy Federation in Greer, and decided this was a better Whiplash figure. I thought I might find a better head somewhere or even have a custom made. (All of the people I contacted about making a custom for this declined, not wanting to work in the Ogre scale.)

But here we are. At the apparent end of MASTERVERSE in the wake of the upcoming Masters of the Universe The Movie. And at the SCMEA (South Carolina Music Educators Conference) that happens in Columbia, SC, I visited LT Toys and Games where they had this on the shelf. I might have seen this sometime in the past three years before, but this time I got it along with GI Joe Classified Series Beach Head. (I ALSO saw Combiner Wars Thundercracker but passed on that…more to come!)

(Both links above refer to Todd Venture videos)

After having the figure in hand, do I have better feelings about it?

PACKAGING

PICTURED: New Eternia Whiplash in box. this box shows evidence of damage. Also we can see recently reviewed figures, Mythic Legions Terpiculi, Transformers Studio Series Soundwave, and GI Joe Classified Series Retro Cardback Beach Head.

MASTERVERSE New Eternia Whiplash comes in the sporty original packaging that the early run of figures used. It has blue a blue window with little call-outs to various Masters of the Universe elements in faded graphics. You can see the figure very well in the window. Unfortunately, there are signs that this Whiplash has been opened before. The cardboard shows some damage and the tape isn’t factory. And also, the crease in the window of the box is cracked. And on opening it, it became apparent that the figure has been at least partially removed. The little ties were loose and the blister was crumpled. But there are more details about this package to cover. You can see the figure inside, but also can see that the weapon appears to be dislodged.

There is artwork on the side depicting the classic appearance of Whiplash…important because this tells us that that helmet is removable!

The back shows Whiplash in New Eternia action with excellent art that reminds me of the art we got with the New Eternia Clawful, which is to say…awesome stuff that the line has been lacking for a few years. The bio reminds us that Whiplash is of the Caligar race, but also gives us a new dimension know as “The Demon Zone.”

The cross sell art shows Mer-Man, Grizzlor, Buzz Off, and Faker. I have all of these figures other than Grizzlier, who I don’t want. They didn’t do him right by not giving him rooted fur.

FIGURE REVIEW

What do you get in the package?

Whiplash Figure
Torch
Spear
Axe
Punching hands

NOW….he comes with the armor on default from the package. But in my mind, these are technically accessories…I won’t be displaying him with these much. The armor is typical Skeletor type of stuff in purple and blue, but has brown straps. There is a gold belt with purple “stille” (probably misspelled) hanging down. And then there is the helmet, which looks cool and fresh, but is thankfully removable. OK…one more thing. The tail isn’t an accessory, though it is packed away from the figure. You assemble this into the octagonal hole beneath the already installed backpack looking piece of tail hanging from his shoulders.

FIGURE REVIEW

As a figure, my example is very loose. Usually figures are stiff when taken out of a package. More evidence that this specific Whiplash figure has been out of the box already and played with. Important. By design, his legs can’t extend out straight. Mattel wanted him to remain in a squat stance by default evidently. But I am going to count this as a stupid problem. Other figures in this scale can extend their legs out. It makes it seem wrong and a person could try and force it on Whiplash and wind up breaking something.

PICTURED: The Bounty Hunters. MASTERVERSE New Eternia Two Bad, Trap Jaw, and Whiplash. Cosmic Legions Kannox Vull. MASTERVERSE 1987 Movie Beast Man, MASTERVERSE Revelation Triclops and Stinkor (armed with AWOK shotgun). Find all of these reviewed at SpartanNerd.com

The tail is made of a heavy rubber material, and I don’t know how much abuse it could take or if it will break down over time. It IS posable, but also stiff enough that you feel like you could overdo it.

PICTURED: MASTERVERSE 1987 Movie He-Man and Evil-Lyn, with New Eternia Whiplash

This tail is a balance point, just the same way that the tail of a real animal is sometimes used. Whiplash has big, flat feet, and this is helpful, but that tail really makes it work. You can prop him up with it, or use it to counterbalance.

PICTURED: MASTERVERSE New Eternia Terror Claws Skeletor and Whiplash fight against Thunder Punch He-Man.

Whiplash’s sculpt is very nice. but his paint is lacking except for in his face and on his armor. In the above photo I have him fighting Thunder Punch He-Man with his own raised fists. And Terror Claws Skeletor has his hilarious claws read also.

PICTURED: Mythic Legions Ninian Infantry and MASTERVERSE New Eternia Whiplash

You can see a real quality difference between the Masterverse figure with a lower price point, and the Mythic Legions figure with a higher. The paint and sculpt on the Ninian Infantry soldier is just incredible, making Whiplash’s seem to be $30 less of value 🙂 I wanted to use this example because of the tail. the Mythic Legions tail is more bendable. But I have also broken one of these snake guys’ tail off. There won’t be any danger of that happening with Whiplash.

Whiplash’s colors could be worse.

Yes. You can remove the fire from the torch. PICTURED: Masterverse New Eternia Moss Man and Whiplash. Both menacing green extreme. But Moss Man is so DRAB. Whiplash has accomplished it with style!

A BIG COMPARISON

So, as I mentioned above, I already have had a Whiplash figure…I should say “Whiplash” figure.

PICTURED: Cosmic Legions SSKURGGE and MASTERVERSE New Eternia Whiplash.

So, once again…the Mythic (Cosmic) Legions is clearly MORE incredible than the MASTERVERSE figure. We have to set that aside, however and be subjective for one. SSKURGGE is not the same person as Whiplash. And this is a real difference. He isn’t “The Real Slim Shady,) only a copycat. You should watch my video as I do headswaps and get cracked up…it is pretty funny. Otherwise, these guys are the exact same colors of green. (Find the review of SSKURGGE here).

WHAT DOES HE ADD TO THE COLLECTION

I mean…He’s Whiplash. An essential character!

A great bounty hunter…look as he and Cosmic Legions Kannox Vull bring in GI Joe Classified Series Zarana on Cybertron.

PICTURED: Cosmic Legions Kannox Vull, GI Joe Classified Series Zarana, and MASTERVERSE New Eternia Whiplash

He belongs with a certain trope of characters.

SPARTANNERD RATING OF MASTERVERSE NEW ETERNIA WHIPLASH

PICTURED: MASTERVERSE New Eternia Whiplash, Vintage Masters of the Universe Whiplash, and 200x Masters of the Universe Whiplash.

Above is my original whiplash toy. As a kid I had countless hours playing with this. So he doesn’t have a tail anymore 😦 I picked up the 200x version right before I got SSKURRGE. Whiplash gets the feels point all day because of who he is.

I don’t think he is as good as the Cosmic Legions KO version. But then we are really comparing wildly different things that are just in the same color scheme.

I am awarding MASTERVERSE New Eternia Whiplash 4/5. My logic for the lost point…his paint could be better, and his articulation is strange. I feel like the knee issue is a stupid problem especially, and one that is “baked in.”

He has been a blast to play with…way more fun than Thunder Punch He-Man or Moss Man in this same blog review. And there is a nostalgia factor that is also present that I love.

THE SPARTANNERD RATES WHIPLASH A 4/5…do you agree or disagree? Let me know in the comments!

MASTERVERSE “On Pause”- SpartanNerd Rant

February 22, 2026 by SpartanNerd

To actually see and hear me ranting, click here!

The NY Toy Fair was this past week, and the big news about Masters of the Universe…most everything is ON PAUSE for 2026, deferred to marketing for the movie. MASTERVERSE is “On Pause”, and almost all of Origins is also…some of them just started like the 200x Cartoon Collection. “On Pause”. Transformers Origins Crossover. “On Pause”. Turtles of Grayskull just ended anyway, but there is a Thundercats thing. “On Pause.”

I found this image at ToyTales.ca.

I really hope the movie does well. The toys they have revealed look cool. They are more in the scale of GI Joe Classified, and they are proportioned similarly as they are based on real human actors. It is a whole new system of articulation also. And there is a kids line coming out called “core” or something like that, not “the first ones” as was going around about a week ago. Both lines look pretty good. There are some things, like Tri-Klops not having a sword and Battle Cat’s armor looking stupid. There are a lot of really cool things like Trap Jaw and Idris Elba Man-At-Arms.

But putting MASTERVERSE “on pause” is a mistake.

We don’t have:

a non-Kevin Smith Orko
a non=Kevin Smith Battle Cat
Tri-Sorceress and He-Man husband and wife 2-pack
Sorceress of Havoc (she would be awesome!)
Rio Blast
Extendar
Rokkon
Stonedar
Zoar
Screech
King Hiss
Tongue Lasher
Sssqueeeze
Rattlor

Yeah there’s a lot more I could add here. AND I can complain. Why did we get Anti-Eternia He-Man instead of one of the above-listed figures? Why do we have four versions of Beast Man and Mer-Man but no re-issues of Buzz Off or Stratos? Why do we have Motherboard and not a vehicle? Or for that matter the other giant figures? MASTERVERSE had all of this to accomplish, but now it is “on pause.” What about the 1987 movie figures? There was only one short window where we could get Blade, and I missed him. There was a lot more they could have done here.

The SpartanNerd’s collector display shelf.

And there are two competing outcomes.

If the movie does well, everything becomes some shade of the Chronicles line. More He-Man and Skeletor variants. More Beast Man and Man-At-Arms variants. More Teela and Evil-Lyn. And some of the characters I listed above…ignored. And the MASTERVERSE style of toy, which was kind of serving in my mind as something evergreen like Hot Wheels or Barbie, is just outright replaced. (This is the best outcome I think. I hope the movie does well.)
If the movie tanks. (A very likely scenerio). Masters of the Universe goes back underground like it did after the failure of the 1987 movie. Mattel will not support it…they have a lot invested in the success of the film. As awesome as it looks to me , an enthusiastic fan, the moviegoing regular sheeple will probably not see this so much as better than a Star Wars or Marvel movie, (both of which have been suffering for a while).

Maybe this movie will find some of that Super Mario Bros. movie or Barbie movie magic from recent years, and will knock us all out with its awesome story and special effects. Maybe it will be what the fans have always wanted and the moviegoers didn’t know they needed in their lives. But I am 60% expecting “Rise of the Beasts” or “The Last Jedi.”

“On Pause”

I believe “On Pause” is a soft way of telling us they are killing the line. Someone might say, “They wouldn’t do that! Not with so much more stuff to cover!” But they would…they already have done this…look no further than Masters of the Universe Mega Books, (or Mega Constructs, or just MEGA.). Whatever. That brick shop that was promised has given us some Hot Wheels models. They haven’t done anything with Masters of the Universe in years, and that line was VERY incomplete…they even released the Central Eternia Tower, but never the Viper Tower of the Grayskull Tower. If they can leave ends like that loose, you can bet we won’t get any MASTERVERSE Snake Men.

Origins Sharella-SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review

January 26, 2026 by SpartanNerd

Who? I kept getting e-mails from Mattel Creations about this “exclusive” Club Grayskull figure. But then I was like…”Why would I get this? Who even is Sharella?”

The story continues. In December I went to some different nerdy stores, and one of them had Sharella for sale to a good cause. (The overpriced-ness caught me first, until I saw the tiny words “for charity”). Anyway, this was my actual first in-person look at Sharella, and I was like “NOPE, she’s wayyy to small.” To be fair, all of Mattel’s photos don’t give us references for how big she actually is. Then, for Christmas I was gifted some Origins figures, including Cartoon Collection Catra, and my attitude about Origins began to shift a little. And then after Christmas, the end-of-the-year sales…Sharella was only $12. I was ordering Turtles of Grayskull Skele-Shredder anyway, (to go with Stealth Ninja He-Man,) so I tacked on the purchase of Sharella.

So was she worth the $12?

PACKAGING

(Note: Most of these images are screenshots from the YouTube review I recorded for a few weeks ago)

Sharella came in this excellent window box, where you can see her prominently. It has a stiff bubble, surrounded by a sort-of crystal skull motif. Her byline, which I just now noticed all this time later, is “Heroic Tribal Chieftress!” The words Masters of the Universe The Powers of Grayskull are a prominent title feature. For anyone who doesn’t know (most of my readers and viewers probably will,) Powers of Grayskull was the failed-to-launch sequel series to the original vintage He-Man and She-Ra lines. You might remember dinosaur vehicles (as a kid I had Tyrantisaurus and Bionatops, these were to be part of that line)…There was a whole plan to make a new He-Man line based around the most powerful wizard in the universe, He-Ro. This line was far enough along for promotional material to be published in catalogs, and ever since people have been asking about it. Mattel has milked this demand, making a few He-Ro figures as well as his mentor Eldor. Sharella seems to be entirely new, however. So now Mattel is leaning into creating a new story for apparently adult collectors. (Club Grayskull is a subscription…you won’t find Sharella on the shelf at Walmart or Target.)

The back shows an awesome scene.

Now this is a great piece of art by Axel Giminez, one of those Masters of the Universe Classics era artists. Sharella looks muscular and powerful. She is aiming at a moving target, The Great Black Wizard. This, as well as the snake boss on the ground level, is a completely new character. So Sharella is kind of like Teela, The Great Black Wizard is kind of like Skeletor, and the snake pharaoh guy is kind of like King Hiss. The setting here appears to be either Snake Mountain or the Fright Zone.

Right now as I type this, The Great Black Wizard is on sale at Club Grayskull. He looks awesome! But I believe he serves the same purpose as Skele-Shredder, so I won’t be picking him up.

The sides of the box also feature beautiful illustrations.

FIGURE REVIEW

What do you get in the box?

Mini Comic “She-Warrior”
Sharella figure
belt with attached quiver
bow
arrow

Right away I had a problem. The mini comic was packed in plastic, of course. Nonetheless, the corner was stuck in the little slot you can see on the energy burst in the photo of Sharella below. It is permanently bent…I have had it under weight to try and fix it. Nope. Such is the way of comics. If I was a Mint-on-card collector, this wouldn’t matter though would it? I would never know. But as someone who opens up his stuff, this gets to be a downside for me.

As soon as I removed the figure from the blister I dropped the arrow and actually wasn’t even aware. After posing her for a little while that was when I realized it had fallen in the floor.

Upon trying to take her head off and swap it with Catra for the first time, her torso came apart, and so I went ahead and set her out like this for the “what do you get in the box” photo. She comes apart very easily, but not too easily. I am not complaining.

Origins Cartoon Collection Catra and Masters of the Universe Classics Teela (kit bash) are both taller than Sharella.

Sharella can be posed any way you would like that a typical Origins female can do…in other words exactly the same as Catra. Ball joint head, swivel shoulders, bicep cuts, elbow hinges, swivel wrists, torso twist, ball-on-peg hips, hinged knees (which are unsightly), boot cut, rocker ankles.

Her sculpt is nice, and as a a mostly bare female figure you can see her lack of ab muscles (as opposed to her artwork.). Just a regular skinny belly. I know someone is wondering… is the top removable? Yes 🙂 (She is more modest than the above Teela…it says ages 8+ people). It is hard to get the rubbery piece off, and even harder to get back on. You have to remove her head and her arms, as well as have the torso off of the waist.

Check the images below of the classic Conan-carrying-a-lady pose. Let me know which Conan figure wins…Masters of the Universe Classics Vikor or Mythic Legions Legendary Barbarian? Vikor is notably receiving love from the just released Masters of the Universe movie trailer. (My reference photo was Dark Horse Conan the Cimmerian #2).

Vikor has really big bicep muscles, and this keeps him from gripping her good. He has a horned helmet also mucking up the image. I had the most trouble catching this shot before he fell over.

The Legendary Barbarian isn’t quite as Arnold-ish. He can’t hold her as high up as she needs to be, and do you notice that I have wedged her foot against his boot? I wonder if there is a barefoot Origins female out there to swap Sharella’s legs with.

ACCESSORIES

Oh boy. Here is the big problem.

The bow looks good, but just like every other archer character I have, she can’t look right knocking an arrow.

PICTURED: Origins Sharella, Mythic Legions Xylernian Guard, and Super7 Ultimates! Thulsa Doom. I have a few others, but none of can pose with a bow and arrow correctly. I took a box cutter to Xylerian guard’s fingers, but his arrow isn’t long enough. Thulsa Doom is the same body sculpt as Vikor underneath that costume. (Super7 Ultimates! are actually MOTUC 5.0 figures). So his biceps keep it from happening.

I already mentioned how I just about lost that arrow. It is very thin…think about that thin plastic they use to strap figures into packages. The kind of stuff you hand a price tag on a piece of clothes with. Super thin stuff. As such, it is bent and there won’t be any repairing that. It came out of the box that way, and using a hair dryer won’t do anything but make it gummy and even more floppy.

All of Mattel’s promotional material show her aiming the bow and arrow and looking good doing it. I would rather have a bow-and-arrow sculpted and painted together, pre-posed, out of stiffer plastic than this. That is what I would rather have. They could have given us that AND a non-posed bow. But this is what we got.

Besides this, Sharella could really use a spear. How hard would that have been to include?

SPARTANNERD RATING OF Origins Sharella

PICTURED: Mythic Legions Boreus ridden by equestrian Origins Sharella. She is armed with GI Joe Classified Series Law and Order’s dagger. She might as well use it…he didn’t come with a sheath and she doesn’t look right with her accessory!

Sharella looks great, and this is her main job. She is a good bit shorter than any of my other female barbarians…actually even shorter than GI Joe Classified Shooter. But as a female figure in Origins scale, she does this job well.

I wish she came with more accessories, but she comes with what is apparently “on par” with other Origins figures. Her packaging looks great and kind of offsets her low accessory count. (But how hard would it have been to give her a spear?)

BUT…the difficulty of getting her into archery poses is a problem. I mean…this is WHO SHE IS. All of Mattel’s promotional photos show her knocking an arrow and aiming. Sadly, this doesn’t really work. The bow is sculpted and painted well, but the action doesn’t work, and this is where a point has to be taken off.

The SpartanNerd rates Mattel Creations Origins Sharella 4/5. I expect one day we might have a Masterverse figure of this, and I will definitely get that if they release it. Hopefully they learn from their missteps about the bow and arrow system.

G.I. Joe Classified Law and Order – SpartanNerd unboxing and Review

January 20, 2026 by SpartanNerd

See the video review at my YouTube channel here!

As a longtime G.I. Joe fan and now the owner of a real-life German Shepherd, this Classified called my name throughout December. Between nostalgia from the G.I. Joe movie and modern Classified Series design, Law and Order was exactly what the SpartanNerd wanted with some of his Christmas money.

(What I really spent it on was Heatboys TMNT Donatello…you’ll have to wait for that review to drop…let’s just say SOLID 5/5!)

Packaging

Law and Order came in the typical GI Joe Classified Series window box. The last two Classifieds I reviewed came in that dumb windowless box. But I’m not sure they could sell this figure without such a good window where you can especially see the K9 dog.

The side has artwork similar to other GI Joe Classified series figures. I will be removing this and adding it to my diorama.

The back features a photoshop scene from the 1987 GI Joe movie. Law was one of Beach Head’s new recruits in training. Beach Head sent him in to a mockup town to find a bomb. But what Beach Head didn’t know was that Law was going to cheat, calling in Order to help. Order finds the bomb right away and brings it to Beach Head, but wants to play tug-of-war with it. Law gets it away and throws it, where it explodes away from the town. And then Beach Head says a famous line, (but doesn’t cuss this time), “I hope you both get fleas!”

Too bad the figure didn’t come with a bomb accessory. I kind of hoped that I just couldn’t see it in the package, but nope. There would be no hiding it with this window, and there was no surprise bomb this time. (Jokey Smurf reference!)

Of course, the other side of the box is useless, containing the coded bio symbols and a QR code that links to Hasbro’s main site.

What Do You Get in the Box?

Law action figure
German Shepherd K9 figure “Order”
Order has a K9 helmet and, collar, and harness
Multiple interchangeable hands
Alternate snarling dog head
Removable hat
Handcuffs
Nightstick (tonfa)
Uzi submachine gun
Pistol
Dagger

I mention the K9 helmet, as it wasn’t clear that it was removable. (for all we know it could be hard-sculpted on.)

Articulation

Law

Law features the standard G.I. Joe Classified articulation we’ve come to expect: excellent range of motion at the head, shoulders, elbows, wrists, torso, hips, knees, and ankles.

His removable hat fits well, and his tactical vest appears removable with some effort, but I don’t feel the need to take it off. (There might be a glued seam under one arm. Sculpted details like the flashlight and body cam add realism, making Law feel like a true modern military police officer.

Order

Order can rotate his head and has a slight up and down on his neck joint. He has jointed knees and elbows, as well as ankles on some kind of joint that can be angled in any direction. His tail is also on a ball joint. His front and back legs have “splay” and he can stand very well. There is also a mid-body articulation (do we call this a “torso” on a dog?)

The mouth does not close—Order always has his tongue out in the default head sculpt—You can swap the head for a more menacing “snarling” look.

Accessories

We have a lot of similarities…We can remove our helmets, and have large scary pets! PICTURED: Masterverse New Eternia Battle Armor Skeletor and Panthor, and GI Joe Classified Series Law and Order. Both are posing with their helmet and pet.

The Uzi machine gun is painted green-on-black, and looks like real guns I have likely seen at shows or just around my son who was in the army. I don’t know hardly anything about guns, but this one looks very realistic.

PICTURED: Law leads some NPC GI Joes and Tunnel Rat, while busting Cold Slither. Notice Zartan is escaping! All GI Joe Classified Series figures.

Be careful with these handcuffs. They are made of the thinnest plastic. Honestly they feel like that plastic that Hasbro uses to tie figures into a blister card. Flimsy stuff. There isn’t a way to unlock them…they are permanently closed. If you want to put them on a figure you have to remove their hands.

My son says he believes this pistol is not styled after a real pistol. I tend to believe him…

PICTURED: Masterverse New Eternia Man-E-Faces and GI Joe Classified Law. Both showing off their fictitious pistols.

The knightstick is a nice piece, but I wish the flashlight wasn’t permanently attached to the belt. I know some real police, and these flashlights are also meant to be used as nightsticks if necessary.

The dagger…I never could find a place on the figure where this dagger was supposed to sheath to. This was some kind of oversight at the Hasbro I believe.

Order- OK. This isn’t an accessory if you ask me.

Mythic Legions Belualyth’s Chimera is OK to take apart…but I am not showing this heroic K9 disassembled.

No problem removing his helmet. It comes right off past the ears with a little force. BUT, in order to remove the harness…this is where there is a problem. There is no buckle or snap on this harness, instead you have to remove the head and neck (the neck doesn’t come off easy), and the two back legs.

It works, but it feels wrong—especially for younger collectors or anyone sensitive to pulling apart a dog figure. But he looks great without it on, and I prefer him not to wear it, though I know he is supposed to.

PICTURED: Super7 Ultimates! Snake Eyes Timber and Order. I have nine dogs. I see this scene every day.

Order is of a similar scale to Mythic Legions Belualyth’s Chimera skeleton pet, Super7 Ultimates! Snake Eyes Timber wolf companion, GI Joe Classified Series Gnawgahyde’s Porkbelly warthog is bigger, but I believe this is accurate. (In a fight, my money is on the Warthog)

PICTURED: GI Joe Classified Series Law and Order and also Porkbelly, Gnawgahyde’s pet warthog.

SpartanNerd Rating of GI Joe Classified Series Law and Order

Such a good boy…he has Cobra Commander’s gun!

I am rating GI Joe Classified Series Law and Order a 5/5. I award points for sculpt, paint, articulation, accessories, and “feels.” The set gets all of these, especially the feels point because I also now have a German Shepherd, but also because of my love for the 1980’s GI Joe movie. I believe I will be completing the “team” of Beach Head’s recruits, because now all I need are Beach Head, Jinx, Big Lob, and Lt. Falcon.

I rate GI Joe Classified Series Law and Order a 5/5. Do you agree or disagree? Do you have a German Shepherd of your own?

Let me know in the comments, and don’t forget to like, subscribe, and check out more GI Joe Classified Series reviews on SpartanNerd.com.

MOTU Origins Cartoon Collection Prince Adam and Cringer- SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review

January 9, 2026 by SpartanNerd

See the video review of this on my YouTube page!

I wasn’t collecting Origins. But I have been gifted several recently. And they are honestly great. Perfect upgrades over the vintage figures actually. And that is really saying something. But at generally $20 each, you really feel the pain since the 1980s, when they were worth $5.00 each. (That means, in 40 something years, $20 now is what $5 was worth. Makes you think…Maybe Back to the Future 2 was correct in their predictions about the future!)

But before all of this new stuff that I have, I thought about getting this as my first Origins figures. The reason…Cringer is a rare figure. Mattel hasn’t made many figures of him. He is a Filmation property, and I think in the 1980’s there was a feeling that taking the saddle and the helmet off of the Battle Cat was close enough to having Cringer.

It became apparent during the Masters of the Universe Classics line that adults really DID want an actual Cringer. So they made him the pack-in with Queen Marlena/Captain Glenn. (There is a visual guide on the internet). This was a non-articulated figure. But it was the first one! (I didn’t get it, but knew about it).

Anyways, the Origins Cringer that was released last year as a Target Exclusive (I think) was readily available. But I hesitated. I really just wanted to put my money into more Mythic Legions or Masterverse figures. But then…I was gifted some for Christmas and they are so nice I wanted it again…only to find…them NOWHERE! Not online. Sold Out. I visited Target, where they still had Moss Man on the shelf. No Cringer and Prince Adam. But at the Toy Federation in Greer, SC, I found one. Keep reading to see my feelings about this figure set.

PACKAGING

Adam and Cringer came in a nice window box with artwork all around (See the top image). You can see the figures and accessories inside with no problem. The top features Adam reclining on a rock with Cringer as his pillow. Classic! Looking on are some evil warriors, Evil-Lyn, Skeletor, and Tri-Klops. There is Eternia jungle swag all around the window.

The side features Imp also spying.

The He-Man and the Masters of the Universe logo is prominent. This was the Filmation Cartoon’s title, so does Imp belong here?

The other side features Pookie, the little creature from the He-Man and She-Ra Christmas Special that Teela takes up with.

All of this is very cartoon-retro, as it claims to be. Very nice. But the back is where this package really shines.

Oh yeah! Now this doesn’t look like the animation…I mean the castle and the lightning does, but Adam and Cringer are more detailed and shaded, and Adam is stoic and serious unlike the toy.

What I wish they would do is just give us the image of the castle…that would be the perfect size to pose Origins or any other figures in front of. Just think…if a casual collector picked this up on a whim, then they would get a lot of mileage out of that package if they would do that.

I really like the back of this package, and love the new art. But I think there is potential for more here that Mattel missed out on.

FIGURE REVIEW

What do you get in the package???

Prince Adam figure
Cringer figure
Power Sword
Alternate head for Cringer
Alternate head for Prince Adam

Is this $30 worth of paint and plastic?

Sometimes I think Mattel believes that Prince Adam won’t sell unless he has some other incentive. But I think this is a very good Prince Adam figure. The alternate head we get is more of the “laughing Prince Adam” head that was a meme a few years ago.

Like I mentioned above, Cringer doesn’t have many figures, and I feel like this Cringer will work great with Masterverse. What we don’t have in Masterverse is a good Prince Adam. My thought is that this Cringer is in scale with the Cartoon Collection…and this is also in scale with Masterverse because Cringer is a little wimp kitty, but Battle Cat is huge and fierce. Anybody agree with this logic?

Origins figures start at around $20, so at $30 for this set that seems like a good value.

PICTURED: Origins Cartoon Collection Faker attacks Cartoon Collection Prince Adam while Cringer covers his eyes. If anyone saw this…would they put two-and-two together to discover Adam’s secret?

Articulation…this is a big draw, especially for Cringer. The first thing I did was have him hide his eyes, and he can do this classic cartoon move very well. He has the same exact articulation as Masterverse Panther and Classics Battle Cat, only in a smaller Origins format. (Hips, knees, ankles, paws, shoulders, tail, torso, neck, and head. No articulated mouth)

Prince Adam’s articulation is hindered by his vest…he can’t move his arms as much as he could. BUT he has one thing going on that neither Faker (pictured above) nor Stealth Ninja He-Man has, and that is the ability to raise the magic sword aloft. In other words, Adam’s wrist can swing out forward to hold the sword up. (Or to chop down also)

PICTURED: Origins Cartoon Colleciton Cringer and Prince Adam transforming into Masters of the Universe Classics Battle Cat and Masterverse 40th Anniversary He-Man.

ACCESSORIES:

The only thing we really have is the Power Sword. All of Adam’s joints are swappable as expected. I’m not sure about Cringer’s. The heads interchange easily.

I discovered that the vest has a nifty design. There is a hidden “buckle” imprinted on the inside, where you can snap it together at the belt. My vintage Prince Adam always has problems with his vest, up until the point that I put a hair tie around him to secure it.

PICTURED: Origins Cartoon Collection Prince Adam and vintage Prince Adam. Also vintage Battle Cat.

You can see in the picture above what I am talking about.

So the colors match pretty good except for the vest. The other obvious difference is the head sculpt of the vintage toy is actually the same as vintage He-Man’s sculpt.

SPARTANNERD RATING

As a set this is a 5/5. Especially because of Cringer. If it was only Prince Adam, I would take off for there not being more accessories. But he comes as a set, and I love it!

Do you agree or disagree? Let me know in the comments!

SpartanNerd- Action Figure Awards- The Best Figures of 2025

January 1, 2026 by SpartanNerd

I have a long-form video review HERE. You can find links to every figure reviewed on the SpartanNerd home page, or in the description of the YouTube video linked above.

I am only awarding to figures that I got in 2025. This isn’t necessarily figures that came out in 2025, but that happens to be the case for some of these. The featured image shows Masters of the Universe Classics Vikor and Mythic Legions Legendary Barbarian. Neither were the winners of 2025, I just wanted to use their picture!

GI JOE CLASSIFIED FIGURE OF THE YEAR