Category Archives: McFarlane

FIGURA OBSCURA Sun Wukong The Monkey King

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Check out new video content from the SpartanNerd on YouTube!

(Direct link to this review here.)

The story here is that I got the Figura Obscura Father Christmas, and realized that I wanted more similar things.

The Figura Obscura logo features variations on a key.

The Headless Horseman was one that I waffled on several times prior to having Father Christmas because the horse would be a nice addition, and the character is undeniably cool. And then I kept hearing people talk about The Monkey King, and how great the sculpt was, etc. I got some money for Christmas and went shopping, but decided after looking at the Headless Horseman retail version, it wasn’t cool enough. The Store Horsemen version has red details and better fire, while the retail version I had my hands on in the store has green fire and details. This makes the horse practically the same horse as Boreus, with some green eyes and highlights. And then the figure doesn’t seem to be that re-usable either. But they had the Monkey King sealed, and so I actually purchased it sight unseen…only barely stealing a glance off of the internet while I was in that store.

Here is a character that I was only vaguely aware of. It seems like there was going to be an Indiana Jones movie about the Monkey King, or something like that. And then recently this year there has been a popular video game, “Black Myth Wu Kong,” and I didn’t even realize the name of the character Monkey King was actually Sun Wu Kong.

In my thinking, how could I use such a character? Well I have the McFarlane Raw-10 Cy-Gor and really like taking pictures of it. But it is huge. (That was a real value, by the way. I bought it at Wal-Mart for like $10)! And Sun Wu Kong is just another weird creature to me to join the other monsters in my collection.

So is all the hype around Figura Obscura Sun Wu Kong The Monkey King worth it?

PACKAGING

The packaging works very similar to what we got with Father Christmas. There is an enclosing “book” capping over the box. This makes for collector friendly packaging and helps push the product forward as kind of a one-off to any casual fan or collector.

The front gives us a good comic image of the figure, with foil details. As you wrap around the box you can see Asian style art depicting characters in the Monkey King’s story.

A tiger guy on the spine. A Raksasha? (My context is Magic the Gathering)

The back gives us the broad story points of The Monkey King. He is kind of a Hercules, only Ancient Buddhist rather than Ancient Greek. Rev. SpartanNerd also sees some parallels to the epic of Gilgamesh. Born out of a rock. Blessed by the gods with incredible strength. He wants the secret of immortality. He challenges and defeats the gods, who offended him, and gets imprisoned in a mountain. He is freed by a monk to go find some scrolls, and picks up some fantastical friends as well…the White Dragon Horse, a Sand Ogre, and a pigman. There apparently 81 tribulations that this team overcomes, and wow…what a story. You know, it also reminds me of the video game series God of War. It seems that Kratos has similar adventures.

Let’s look at the other spine…

A dragon, in flames. And if you remove the cap, you have yet another side panel.

This must be the White Dragon Horse. However, I don’t know who the saintly flying woman is. She looks very “Virgin Mary,” but that wouldn’t be in this Buddhist story.

If you look on the inside of the cap, you see this wonderful Asian backdrop for your Sun Wukong figure.

I’m pretty sure all of this art is by Nate Baertsch. He continues to show his legendary talent.

One more thing…

Behind the figure we have yet another backdrop piece. Another tree. I see it now! It is a peach tree! Makes sense! (I didn’t see it when I did the unboxing video)

FIGURE REVIEW.

Rather than do a “Here’s everything” photo, I am just going to name what we see in the blisters. (This is a double blister.). Sun Wu Kong on the left, surrounded by alternate faces at the top and a giant peach, with four alternate hands on the bottom. The right blister has an alternate head and some feather headdress details, his tail, a pair of alternate feet that are shoes, and his weapon which is a bo staff. Also two scrolls, one with red ribbon and the other plain, and a gourd to drink what I assume is Sake from.

Right away we can see a mixture of cloth and plastic. This sculpt is pretty indescribable…I don’t think any camera can do it justice…you have to have it in hand. He is completely tactile, if that makes sense!

Time to break it out.

And unfortunately, “break” is the key word.

This is my first pose. And I ran into my first problem.

When I tried to raise his arm…like just a little bit…the shoulder pauldron snapped off. So I broke out the Gorilla Glue. But this stung right away. The other one didn’t have this problem. What I think happened was this side didn’t have enough glue in the first place. You can see below how it works, and inspecting it under light it appears that it was just applied too thinly at the factory. But I didn’t even stress this toy, and right away I had issues.

I wanted to put that alternate head on right away. Now the head comes off so easily. I took the other head and put it on, then proceeded to do the headdress.

My mistake must be that I didn’t heed that warning the Four Horsemen always pack in with their products. “Mythic Legions need you to use a hairdryer.” Is the gist of the message. I didn’t…and you can see how the connector almost separated from the feather under the stress I applied to attach it to the crown.

BOO!

It is such a lovely piece, though. And that’s what makes this even more of a shame. I am glad I caught myself before it could break completely off. So what I did was reinforce it with some Gorrilla Glue. But now I am wary of ever taking these feathers off of the head. And this is fine except for accidents that might happen in storage. But still…

Now it was 11:00 at night. I must not have been thinking straight. I also tried to swap the right hand, and it snapped off at the joint!

Not irreparable…the hand still fits in the peg…if you are going to break one of these wrists, this was the way to do it. But ARGGH! So I stopped for the night and resumed photos and such the next day.

USE THE HAIRDRYER, PEOPLE. OR BE PREPARED TO USE THESE TOOLS.

Think… I bought it. It sat around for a few days while I messed around with GI Joe Classified Gnawgahyde, Porkbelly, and Yobbo. Doing the review of MASTERVERSE Fisto. And I am thinking “I have something really special waiting to be opened!” I actually waited until I put the Father Christmas robe away before opening this. So a few days of anticipation.

So let’s put that negativity behind us.

Sun Wukong is beautifully sculpted. It is like every piece of hair or fur is artistically placed.

Under the power of the hair dryer, his hands become very pliable, and he can hold this weapon with no issue at all.

Those soft goods have a good wire inside, and you can pose them around how you like and they will stick in that appearance.

His paint…also another WOW! The gold details on this armor and weapon pop so hard. And then he has a “mat” of green “Mardi Gras” beads around his neck. (Probably emerald or jade or something story related I don’t know about.)

HOW DOES THE MONKEY KING WORK

First of all, he comes with two heads. Both of them have the ability to swap the face. Some of the faces have tribal paint, or it might be blood (seems like a detail from the story about wearing that crown.).

Like I said, a mix of cloth and plastic. Here I have taken off his belt piece, and you can see how it works. The torso is removable from the legs, and you can remove the belt that way. He looks very awkward without that belt. What you see here in the picture is the cloth robe piece, which has a hole for the ball joint to work with the torso. It has a slot where you can place the plastic chain mail over it, creating layers. And the other robe piece loops through the belt. (There is also a hole in the back for the tail.)

These bracers are sculpted pieces and non removable. All of the pieces are modular, of course to work with other Mythic and Cosmic Legions figures.

I don’t think I will ever take this figure apart like this anymore.

You can swap the feet so that he is wearing shoes.

PICTURED: Funko Magic the Gathering Liliana action figure hands a divine peach to Sun Wukong. Possible captions. “No matter what she said, DON’T DO IT!” My grandfather would have said this…“Boy! Did you steal them shoes from your girlfriend or from your sister?”

I prefer him being shod to being barefoot somehow.

I think it is because I always think of monkeys like I do clowns. This is some kind of jokester or funny man. Go ahead…hold hands with your feet. Eat some bugs off of your friend. I’ll throw you a banana, and you can throw…

But the Monkey King is civilized and serious, kind of. Obviously, the point is that he IS a monkey. The gods didn’t take him serious either, but he was able to ascend according to the story.

SPARTANNERD RATING OF FIGURA OBSCURA SUN WU KONG THE MONKEY KING

OK. Deep breath. This Four Horsemen Studios figure can’t have 5/5.

I got that out of the way! It seems like everything they do is crackin’ awesome. (I just invented that phrase…I been playing the drums some lately). And on their end…assuming their responsibility is sculpt, paint, and design…they can’t be faulted. BUT. I had THREE issues within thirty minutes of taking it out of the package.

PICTURED: McFarlane Toys Raw-10 Cy-Gor (never done a review…sorry!), Figura Obscura Sun Wu Kong The Monkey King, and GI Joe Classified Yobbo (review coming soon)! Cy-Gor- yep…she’s a big girl. Yobbo surely knows how to operate that rifle…I think Monkey King wins this one. (Read your comics if you want to know more about Cy-Gor!)

And then on examining the packaging, opening the figures and seeing the amazing sculpt. All this excitement!

But, I mean as soon as I moved the right arm up just barely really, that pauldron popped off. And little fights like that kept coming.

I am going to give this one a 3/5.

Here is my metric.

A point for sculpt and paint.

  • A point for sculpt and paint
  • A point for accessories
  • A point for what he stands for as a unique action figure

But the QC problems…you shouldn’t need a hairdryer. You certainly shouldn’t need pliers or glue just to make the action happen. This COULD take three penalties. I don’t believe it to be a bottom of the barrel figure like Movie Beast Man or Marvel Legends Thor (comic appearance). So I am being generous. I have another Mythic Legion to review soon, and I will have the hair dryer handy right away.

On a positive note, maybe I should look into more similar “animal warriors.” Obviously Ninja Turtles go here. Animal Warriors of the Kingdom. Really there are endless options, or he can just fit right in with Conan the Barbarian, etc. You know, they could expand on this story by giving us more figures from this myth.

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

Boreus-Mythic Legions Horse…SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review

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I have been eyeing getting a Mythic Legions horse for awhile. I’ve seen them in stores and conventions for around $80, and they are a large item seemingly worth all that. You start to get into issues of “do I have enough room?” Etc. And there are a few different ones. I’ve seen a brown one, for instance, and the Headless Horseman comes with a scary black horse with red eyes. There’s an undead one, and one with batwing ears. There are a few other animals, one a moose, and a bear coming out next year, There’s a centaur, and also a skeletal horse next year.

But at his heart, the SpartanNerd wants to be economical. And on Cyber Monday this year (2024) Boreus was on sale at Storehorsemen for $55.

I was purchasing the Figura Obscura Father Christmas and started to look around for what else I might want,,,I considered the Ghost of Christmas Past, but at $60 and a buy-in to the Scrooge ecosystem, (‘cause you know I couldn’t only have one, Jacob Marley, the other two ghost, probably eventually Scrooge), I decided to skip that for now anyway, even though she is exceptional.

I started looking at other offerings, and there were other things that seemed like a good opportunity to buy. But seeing Boreus at $55, a gray horse that could be used by anyone, This was too good to pass up. On top of that, I received a Cosmic Legions ashcan comic for my double order.

This is the ashcan Cosmic Legions comic on top of the Father Christmas packaging. Not much story-wise here, but a cool item with sketch drawings and panels without dialogue.

So how is Boreus? Keep reading!

PACKAGING

Boreus comes in a large box with a large window, where you can see everything inside, which includes the horse with saddle, bridle, etc already on, and an extra “flowing” mane for added action.

Unfortunately in box there is unsightly plastic around straps holding him in. This is to protect the paint, but for a MIB collector this is unfortunate. That doesn’t describe me, but I thought it important to point out.

Here are the sides of the box

One side shows the aforementioned horse with bat ears, but has Boreus bio. It turns out that Mythic Legions horses are spiritual beings (think Torrent from Elden Ring). This is a cool thing, and this bio gives even more life to this horse. The other side shows the aforementioned moose. All this terrific art is by Nate Baertsch,

Here is the back…

The top cross sell is Duban the Ranger…this is the supposed owner of Boreus. A figure I haven’t seen except in a promo photo.

A big epic image, showing the shiva-like main villain, some demon guy, and a couple of other evil characters. I actually own the Xylernian guard, and so that is something rare for the SpartanNerd in reference to Mythic Legions. That other text is general Mythic Legions story, which itself is vague.

There is a very nice backdrop that I actually have used already in the nerd closet.

BOREUS FIGURE REVIEW

It’s a horse, sculpted and designed by The Four Horsemen. As such, it is very similar to MOTUC Battle Cat. In fact, I think it has exactly the same articulation besides the articulated jaw on the tiger.

So it has a neck that goes up and down, and a head that has up and down, side to side motion. The front legs havc a shoulder and knee joint…these are back and forward. The hooves are rockers.

The back legs have some spread on the hips. The legs are jointed the same as in real life, and once again the hooves are rockers.

The tail is on a ball joint and is fully articulated.

Unfortunately, Boreus can’t lower his head low enough to drink.

I’ll point out that my Battle cat is secondary market and over ten years old. So his joints are loose, especially the head and neck. Boreus joints are nice and tight, and the hooves have a ratchet, which makes it easy to have him rear up for a pose.

ACCESSORIES

The saddle and bridle are nice pieces of work, with plastic stirrups and also loops to store weapons. (The same loops that Battle Cat’s saddle has).

The reign is liberal, and feels to be real leather. It fits in gripping hands with no problems.

This saddle is removable, but I don’t have a reason to remove it. It doesn’t have a strap belt across his belly that undoes…instead you would have to make the legs straight and the move the head down with hairpieces removed, and then slide it over the head. I haven’t done this and have no pics of it, but it can be done if they ever release more saddles. Also notable, the bedroll on the back of the saddle is swappable with another bedroll, if you ever somehow get one. (Maybe a different horse has a different color one.)

The only other accessory is the mane, which is easily removed and swapped. Now the unexpected nuance of this is that the horse also has a “toupee” that is removable, and allows the hair to layer over the bridle how you would like.

PICTURED: Super7 Ultimates! King Conan holding the axe from Battle of the Mounds Conan. The king rides on Mythic Legions Boreus, who has the Sword of Atlantis mounted on the saddle. MASTERVERSE Revelations Scareglow leads Mythic Legions Skeleton Legion builders in the attack.

THE ART OF BOREUS

PICTURED: Masters of the Universe Classics Battle Cat, who is evidently entranced by the evil Super7 Ultimates! Battle of the Mounds Thulsa Doom, jousting against Mythic Legions Boreus and Mythic Legions Gold Knight II Legion Builder. Thulsa Doom is armed with the Bident that came with Super7 Ultimates! Black Falcon, and Gold Knight is armed with a spear from the Animal Warriors of the Kingdom Red Weapons loot. (Link to the similar gold version) My money’s on Thulsa Doom for this one…

Boreus is great. He is just so fun to photograph. He is this generic gray or flat black color, so he could be anyone’s horse. He is billed as “Duban the Ranger’s” horse, itself a cool figure, but above you can see that Gold Knight Legion Builder really pops.

Check out this cuteness.

PICTURED: Mashup of MASTERVERSE Revelation Evil-Lyn and Figura Obscura Father Christmas, feeding Mythic Legions Boreus.

This totally works.

PICTURED: Figura Obscura Father Christmas, leading Mythic Legions Boreus.

A Mythic Legions horse is just…it is the most useful item. And this sculpt…

Earlier I mentioned that I had thought about getting one for awhile. Some of my hangup is that there are toy horses out there for much cheaper. Like…at the dollar store kind of thing. Even Barbie horses are cheaper.

But you want to get the scale right, and you want a quality product. Boreus is a CHUNK of plastic, and there just is none better that the Four Horsemen sculpting any toys out there. I did see a McFarlane Gunslinger Spawn on a horse at GameStop for around $50 sometime in the past year. The workers advised me that it would probably go on clearance soon, and I haven’t seen it since. Now I am curious to compare the two…maybe I will.

SPARTANNERD RATING OF MYTHIC LEGIONS BOREUS

I don’t have any complaints. So let’s look for something to complain about…

Crickets….

OK. So he can’t lower his head low enough to drink. There’s one. If you look at him from above and the back legs are kicked out to the side, there is a lot of daylight around the joints and tail.

Really. That’s it. I had to dig deep for that last one. OK…the plastic around his neck in package was unsightly. Boreus doesn’t lose any points for these!

SCULPT: Superior

ARTICULATION: Superior

POSABILITY: Superior

USABILITY: Superior

SPARTANNERD HAPPINESS: Superior!

I award Mythic Legions Boreus 5/5, and he is going to be celebrated as one of the best of the year for me. Furthermore, I am CONVINCED to get the Headless Horseman.

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

Action Figure Showdown- SpartanNerd Review of Wal-Torr the Mad and Cosmic Legion T.U.5.C.C Pilot

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It’s Rivalry Week, and in South Carolina, this means CAROLINA vs clemson (not a typo). The Gamecocks are poised to take out the Tigers this year, by a great margin. And oh satisfying will that be! But this blog is a review of toys, so…

I picked up Wal-Torr the Mad on a special sale (the same sale I got the Ogre Scale Accessory Pack). This was an item I had my eye on but waffled…There is a traditional fantasy Mythic Legions version, and then there is this Cosmic Legions space version. So space toy vs. fantasy toy.

Ultimately, after looking at the photos awhile on the internet, I decided the space version was the best, even if it was hideous orange.

But the presentation was adorable…the skull headed spaceman looking at a flower in a setting reminiscent of Mars. It looked like some kind of familiar scene somehow.

And I already have some of the parts in the Mythic Legions version, while the only Cosmic Legion I have is the SSKUR’GE ogre scale figure. So I jumped in…and glad I did.

BUT…that isn’t all of this story, is it? I went to the Toy Federation in Greer, SC one day just for some spontaneous shopping. And behold…they had a copy of this same figure but in a glorious Garnet color scheme. The T.U.5.C.C. Pilot (that is an annoying name to type) is the same basic idea, but instead of being a named character he is an army builder. Army builders are a tad cheaper than “legendary” creatures, so I paid the same price for both of these figures (just from different sources.)

Let’s examine the packages first.

PACKAGING FACE-OFF

Both packages have a nice window box. Wal-Torr’s is more orange nebula, and Pilot’s is more space purple. (So unfortunate colors to have together.)

Both have faction symbols in the top corner, but I don’t know anything about what they mean. You can see the alternate headsculpts easily. One of the big mysteries for me when I first got Wal-Torr was…what really is going on? He has this helmeted alien head, but then he has this human skull. So many questions! But those questions were answered when I saw the alternate head sculpt of the Pilot. Wal-Torr is supposed to be an homage to a real human, and the other is what kind of alien he is. I get it (I guess). I don’t know much about it, but perhaps Walter Hagen is big into skeletons…seems like an awesome guy then! (Walter Hagen is the leader of the Mythic Legions Cabal fan group.)

Wal-Torr’s box features a nice illustration of”hologram” on the bottom. Important that it shows the collar option.
The back of Wal-Tor’s package. Perhaps this is the planet he is on or from.

The back of both boxes feature cross-sell images from the rest of their respective Cosmic Legions wave.

Both have nice art on the side, both with a bit of a Bio.

Wal-Torr’s bio
I really like this graphic.
Can anyone decipher this?
The front of T.U.5.C.C. Pilot’s package. His hologram importantly shows the hoses.
I don’t know what kind of ship he pilots. Is this it in the corner right of the package back?

T.U.5.C.C. Pilot Bio
Outpost Zaxxius information

I actually appreciate some of the vagueness of the bios and packaging. Maybe that’s Wal-Torr’s home planet? Maybe this is the T.U.5.C.C. Pilot’s ship? Who knows. Maybe this is all artistic technobabble. I’m good with that.

There is one new backdrop. Wal-Torr comes with a background that I haven’t had, while T.U.5.C.C. Pilot comes with a smaller version of what SSKUR’GE came with.

This is the backdrop. A space scene. I am showing you a photoshop work screen. It is stretched and there is some “spot healing.” I’ll make it super-usable yet.

One more thing about the packaging. Both contained this message, and also a little tray of pegs. At first I thought “What is this? Ammo?” They CAN stand in for ammo. But the intention is that they be mounting pegs. That they are translucent is a nice bonus…translucent works great in science fiction, right?

Somehow I didn’t get a photo of T.U.S.C.C. Pilot in his blister. But I assure you readers, it was comparable to Wal-Torr’s.

WHAT DO YOU GET IN THE PACKAGING?

Let’s start with Wal-Torr

  • Wal-Torr figure in terrible urrnje coloring.
  • Two options for a head (alien helmet and skull)
  • Astronaut Space-Suit helmet, which is a collar and bubble
  • Backpack
  • Sci-Fi rifle
  • Sci-Fi pistol
  • Another piece of gear (can be a couple of different things)
  • Map hologram
  • Translucent pegs (that can be ammo)
  • Back adapters
  • Shield
  • Hose
  • Seven (!) pairs of hands. Notably human hands…

So much here, it takes a few photos to capture it all.

This shield comes apart…you could trade pieces if you had more than one.

What about the T.U.5.C.C. Pilot? (GO GAMECOCKS!)

You get…

  • T.U.S.C.C. Pilot figure in glorious Garnet.
  • Two head sculpt options, both aliens, one helmeted and the other weird and blue unhelmeted.
  • Space collar
  • Armor pieces
  • Backpack parts (you can see that I assembled these together.
  • Sci-Fi Rifle
  • Sci-Fi Pistol
  • Multi-purpose weapons part
  • Map hologram
  • Translucent pegs (that can be ammo)
  • pair of alternate hands, (notably three fingered alien hands)
  • Two hoses

As above, it takes more photos to show it all off.

You can remove the bubble from the helmet to get a better look at the “face” on both figures.

There are a lot of similarities here. They have the same exact guns. Wal-Torr wins the accessory battle because he comes with a shield and all those hands. WOW. I figure that they included all of these because they won’t ever issue them in this color again probably. While the pilot’s hands could go on anyone (being black gloved alien fingers).

BUT…You get a lot of options with T.U.5.C.C. Pilot also. Perhaps making the shoulder wings into a backpack was an unintended use…but it’s my toys…I get to play with them! (Thank you, Rob Base!)

Both have the same sculpt in some ways, but different in others. Pilot has sculpted slacks and upper sleeves, while Wal-Torr’s body is fully armored. Both have the same torso with a fan sculpted on the chest. Pilot’s cover’s his up when wearing that collar. Wal-Torr’s backpack was actually one of the intriguing sculpted elements that caught my attention in pictures. I didn’t realize it was a backpack until I had the figure in hand, however.

The hose with Wal-Torr creates questions. Where is it supposed to go? The two hoses with Pilot seem very purposeful. In the photo above, I only realized right before taking it that there were holes in the collar for it.

Their guns are the same with different colors. And there is that other little piece. Is it a scope sight? Is it a laser for the wrists? Is it a magazine or power supply? I guess it’s up to your imaginination…it can be all of those things.

The hologram is the same for both figures, only Wal-Torr’s is a more pleasing blue shade and Pilot’s is grayish. (If you read enough, you know this must be the five rings of the cosmerium or something like that.)

A big problem with the Wal-Torr figure…that space helmet doesn’t snap on. The collar sits loosely. The bubble snaps on to the collar just fine, but the collar is the problem.

The space helmet fits on Man-At-Arms exactly as good as it does on Wal-Torr. Not great. It looks good on him, though.

BUT…that skull head is a great thing. It is missing a tooth, providing options for me to display other skeleton warriors. And it has an articulated jaw.

This is what the New Eternia Skeletor looks like with the skull swapped out. I prefer Skeletor to have some color in his face, rather than being a boring normal skull. Notice that this head is loose on the MASTERVERSE peg.
Perhaps Black Falcon is telling his carrier pigeon to go poop on Demistros‘ limo!

SHOWDOWN…WHO WILL WIN?!

First of all, you all know I am going to be unbiased…(totally)

T.U.5.C.C. Pilot drops in, ready to spray down Wal-Tor with his awesome garnet ammunition. Wal-Torr makes good use of his shield but can’t rightly aim with his pistol in the face of heavy fire.
Quickly thinking about his high school varsity level sled training, Wal-Torr bucks up with that shield and knocks T.U.5.C.C. Pilot LaNorris Sellers back.
Far outclassing his opponent in physicality and skill, our glorious garnet Gamecock is able to chin-kick the hideously colored Clemson opponent.
The Tigers are done for as Wal-Torr is unable to recover from his nimble opponent’s reverse!

Yep. I say I believe the Cosmic Legions T.U.5.C.C. Pilot is the winner here based on his paint job. Now…It is true I don’t like that Clemson orange, but the details on the Pilot really pop with shiny metallic details. I believe mostly Wal-Torr is molded in orange plastic and then washed with a darker shade, while the Pilot has attention to detail that out does him. Now I believe Wal-Torr has better accessories and more adaptability with that skull head. But the amount of variation you can get from T.U.5.C.C. Pilot is greater. The skull head is kind of puzzling, but the blue alien head is a new sculpt that resolves some of the mystery about who these aliens are. And besides. GO GAMECOCKS.

SPARTANNERD RATING OF COSMIC LEGIONS WAL-TORR THE MAD AND T.U.5.C.C. PILOT

I give both figures a 5/5. Great fun! Do you agree or disagree? Let me know in the comments!

NOTE: On November 30, 2024, the South Carolina Gamecocks defeated the Clemson Tigers 17-14. My prediction came true!

Mythic Legions Ogre Scale Accessory Pack

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I picked up the Ogre Accessory Set on the same day I ordered a Cosmic Legion (Review next week). It was on sale at Store Horsemen and at $20 I thought this might be a good way to put some more life into my ogre scale figure and even make SSKUR’GE even more like Whiplash from Masters of the Universe…well let’s see how that worked out.

But first you should read my review of Balthor the Tower Ogre, which I purchased loose, and then my review of SSKUR’GE.

PACKAGING

The Mythic Legions Ogre Scale Accessory Pack came in this flat window box, not unlike the Mythic Legions Magic Effects came in. You can see most of the contents very well. I say “most” because the hammerhead is hidden behind the title card.

The back features some artwork of a castle in a volcanic setting surrounded by ogre scale characters. The featured character appears similar to what Balthor the Tower Ogre should look like armed with most of the kit. You can also see a cyclops, which I have seen at the Toy Federation in Greer, SC, and some other big guy. Two or three smaller guys look up from below in fear. It’s a good illustration. The side of the box has some pictures…one is the title and the other features other characters from Mythic Legions, with that bear symbol being a faction. (something like “the noble bear.”

But most impressive is the backing liner of the packaging. We get the same castle from above, but without figures. So anytime I could use a fantasy lava scene or need a quick castle to photograph, the Four Horsemen provided that as a nice bonus to this product.

WHAT IS IN THE BOX?

As you continue to open it, you see it has a blister with a rectangular blank cap on top.

From left to right clockwise you get

  • Antlers
  • Weapons strap
  • Shield with an evil face
  • Double ox-headed hammerhead
  • Tusks for the shield
  • Alternate Viking horns
  • Diamond-spiked shoulder pauldrons
  • Bearded head
  • Hammer Handle

Now, this seems like a longer list than it should be. The tusks are supposed to always be on the shield, and the hammerhead should be on the handle always.

The hammerhead…OK I had seen pictures online, but I didn’t really realize what it was until I had it in hand. I thought it was just some kind of furry thing or giant blocks with moss hanging off or something. Nope. MOO. Gruesome MOO. And there is something evil about this too. It almost seems to be an altar of some kind. It has the ball joint so that other standard size heads can fit on the top of it, reinforcing my point.

SO HOW IS IT?

Here is Balthor with the alternate head and antlers, wielding the hammer. I can’t for the life of me get those paudrons on him properly. The antler gets in the way, or the armor straps get in the way.

The Antlers are very impressive! These are “moose” type of antlers, and were a big draw to me getting this set.

PICTURED: Balthor the Tower Ogre armed with the Mythic Legions Ogre Scale Accessory Pack. He is holding MASTERVERSE Revolution Sorceress Teela.

I decided to try something different. Let’s remove the Balthor armor and replace it with the weapons strap. Then put the pauldrons on. So we have another problem then. The pegs that are supposed to go into the holes on his back are too big. I mean…that’s just it. I can barely get them in. The way I accomplished this photo was: Head off first. Remove armor second. Put on strap third. JAM THOSE PALDRONS AS HARD AS I COULD fourth. Get the hammer in the strap fifth. Put pauldron that fell off sixth. Loosely put head on last.

He was standing OK, so I thought I would see how far I could take it with a classic barbarian-holding-woman trope. I seriously thought it would tip over when I put that piece of dress on his left hand.

The Pauldrons are very heavy, and hammer is also very heavy.

So what about SKKUR’GE?

If you remember, SKURR’GE had some plugs on his back covering some holes to add wings, etc. I took those out, but the recesses are too deep for the pauldrons to fit properly. Too bad, because he looks awesome with them on. (They are just sitting loose.)

The shield is another matter. The handle is just like the other Mythic Legions shields we have. It has a handle that fits in the figure’s gripping hand. This handle pegs on the back of the shield, and here is the first problem. It is very loose. It always wants to let go. And the tusks…the left side doesn’t want to stay on. (You can see in the illustration on the box that the tusks are supposed to face outwards.) I think this shield is the goofiest thing. That face…it’s kind of “doopid.” And honestly was one of the reasons I never purchased this until it was marked down.

As for the weight of all this, SSKUR’GE already is a very heavy boy. His tail takes a lot of burden off of the leg joints. Adding this stuff starts to tip the balance forward from where it needs to be.

WHO WINS? I think Balthor swings the hammer down but it is met with the shield. Whiplash slides the shield up and presses forwards with the tusks, knocking Balthor back. In the same motion his tail crushes in on his bare arm.

I find that the tusks work better if you reverse them, which looks fine, actually even if it wasn’t the intended way.

THE MOST CHALLENGING THING

PICTURED: Balthor the Tower Ogre armed with the Mythic Legions Ogre Accessory Pack and a kit bash Conan made of Masters of the Universe Classics Vikor body, Battle of the Mounds Conan neutral head, MOTUC Vykron axe, and a Mythic Legions silver spear.

The picture shown here took forever to accomplish. Balthor kept falling over. The hammer is so heavy and his wrist joints are loose. (This is an old figure…well cared for but also worn). That head is barely on and necessarily turned to accommodate the pauldrons. Only one pauldron would work, and notice I used the more boring Viking horns. The shield kept falling apart, either off of the handle or the tusks would fall. And remember, stuff falling off or weight shifting pretty much caused the figure to fall over. I posed Balthor armed with as much of the accessory pack as I could for about twenty minutes. I got him where I wanted him, and then set Conan up there, and this element caused him to fall over AGAIN!

SPARTANNERD’S RATING OF THE MYTHIC LEGIONS OGRE SCALE ACCESSORY KIT

Mythic Legions is solid stuff. Really…the figures all have heft to them. And the modularity of them, where parts can be swapped in scale just adds a whole other element. And that this is a generic kind of story…it goes great for any fantasy property. Pair it with Cosmic Legions and you can have that sword-and-sorcery-sci-fi world complimentary to Masters of the Universe.

I’m saying all of this glowing stuff because the weaknesses of the Ogre Scale Accessory Pack take some of the joy out out it. You don’t want to spend fifteen minutes arming a figure and then it being too heavy to support your work. You don’t want your display, set up awesomely in your nerd closet to be knocked over because your Balthor or SSKUR’GE figure couldn’t bear the weight of its armor and balance at the same time. It shouldn’t take thirty minutes to get a photo.

The moose antlers are cool. It is good to have some alternate Viking horns. That hammer is gruesome, and I don’t know if that is a good thing. The pauldrons would be awesome if the pegs would fit in the holes. The armor strap is versatile and can be used in lots of other places with other figures. The shield…(face palm). No really FACE PALM. I really like the bearded head, but I wish it had eyes painted in. (My same complaint with Balthor’s original head…it looks like Batman). The backdrop was a very enjoyable bonus.

I am awarding this set a 2/5. I bought this on some type of clearance sale at storehorsemen for $20, making this just about the least expensive item in Mythic Legions. And I see why, now that I have it. I will use it…in fact the pauldrons really do it for me in displaying SSKUR’GE. They do make him look even more like Whiplash, and that was enough for my $20.

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

SpartanNerd Action Figure Showdown- King vs. King. vs. King (Keldor Review)

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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!

Masterverse New Eternia Mekaneck – SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review

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I kept putting this purchase off, but didn’t want another faker situation. I caught Mekaneck on sale on BigBadToyStore, and boom, here was my chance

Here was a character that I owned and played with everyday as a child..not only was he cool to imagine a spy, you could also use the action feature to head butt other characters and knock them down. Another memory about this character. The armor was stiff plastic, which was better than the typical rubber armor. But the tabs broke and so my Mekaneck went shirtless a lot. Stinkor’s armor was the same but orange, so you could mix and match

Who is featured on the bottom? Battle Armor He-Man. This makes the second version in the MASTERVERSE line. Tri-Klops. This makes the second version in the MASTERVERSE line. I concede that each version has its strengths, but don’t feel the need for another Tri-Klops. I predict a big clearance on Battle Armor He-Man eventually because of the glut of product out there. Then I will pick up both version. I actually have King Keldor now, and will be posting a review soon.

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PACKAGING NOTES

You can see the packaging art is very nice, and you can see that the blue Road Ripper is featured heavily. Also, whatever species that Clawful is, there are lots of those guys around, so the illustration makes it seem that Mekaneck is spying on their camp. If you read the little bio story, you can see that New Eternia Mekaneck is part of a submarine squadron, a very cool new spin. (This makes the Road Ripper an aquatic vehicle too! Maybe…maybe!!! We can get a MASTERVERSE Road Ripper! How hard could it be?) You can see in the illustration some classic pieces of Castle Grayskull, namely the weapons, and that chest has the same design as the classic trap door.

This is another one of those boxes that is akin to what is going on with Transformers, and I like this very much. It gives more room for story art, and you can see the figure just fine if you wanted to keep them in box. It is also semi-collector friendly. The blister bubble inside isn’t worth much, but the character can stand in there and be seen without it, and there is a storage compartment for accessories to boot.

FIGURE REVIEW

Here is everything you get in the box:

  • alternate fist hands
  • five(!) telescoping neck pieces
  • classic mace, with a new twist (see below)
  • shield featuring the blue Road Ripper

The figure stands well and has very good paint. But something especially striking is the VAC METAL or SHINY FOIL goggles! They can do it here, why not on say…Thunder Punch He-Man? It is notable that this is only on the goggles. The other chrome details on the armor are painted. I like the contrast of the dark “furry shorts” and the green-ish belt. I like the silver straps on the boots also.

ACCESSORIES

The shield has “patina” already on the sticker as a part of the design, which is appreciable. These kinds of stickers wear and fade with age, often showing that white paper backing. So they just built it in to this shield, which is the very opposite of some of the boring shields they have given us on some figures. This shield has a peg instead of a strap, making this the second design like this I have seen. There is hole in the wrist and one on the back of the armor where the shield can go. And like I said, could we get a blue Road Ripper?

And now for the new spin on the mace. This mace is presented as a telescope. This is something that never occurred to me, and I wonder if there was a discarded design precedent in the past for the vintage or 200x line. This mace is in two pieces, so the big diamond-y part can detach just like the head or neck pieces. This will make a great new way to display alternate head sculpts. I didn’t get a photo of it, but the shorter “handle” piece is a convincing telescope by itself.

As you can see above, you can use just one of the neck joints to create a classic vintage feel. Or…

You can go more 200x with this one. And I’m not kidding, if I see Mekaneck on clearance in December or sometime, I am picking up more just to get these neck pieces to play with! So this is a big win, Mattel. Thank you for paying attention to what we probably want.

AND…

PICTURED: MASTERVERSE New Eternia Mekaneck and MASTERVERSE Revelation Mer-Man. Mer-Man is wearing Clawful’s alternate armor, and holding Super7 Ultimates! Black Falcon’s bident spear.

yep. You can use the neck pieces to extend the telescope!

SPARTANNERD’S RATING OF MASTERVERSE NEW ETERNIA MEKANECK

Are you kidding me? This is one of the best MASTERVERSE figures. Why did I put off this purchase? I think I have been holding out for Faker or Whiplash.

PICTURED: MASTERVERSE New Eternia Mekaneck and Mythic Legions Balthor the Tower Ogre. I wanted to highlight just how tall Mekaneck can be…that is like a nine inch figure! Balthor is armed with McFarlane Toys Raven Spawn’s chain.
PICTURED: MASTERVERSE New Eternia Mekaneck and Man-E-Faces. I am titling this one “Two Wierdos.”

Really the fun doesn’t stop. The figure is sculpted and painted well. The articulation is more than great considering the neck joints. The accessories have been riffed on in the best possible ways. And there is extended funtionality because the end of the telescope can be used to display some of the alternate heads in the future. My rating of this figure is a solid 5/5.