Category Archives: Mike Young

SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review….VINTAGE ALERT! 200x Beast Man.

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I am going to call this new variety of column VINTAGE ALERT.

Some people might argue that 200x Masters of the Universe toys are not vintage.  But they are approaching fifteen years old, people!  They ARE NOT fresh and new.

From now on, when I get to review a vintage toy, I am going to all-caps VINTAGE ALERT!

Because it’s my blog.  That’s how I roll!

I am going to start with the package.

The card evokes the feeling of nostalgia for the 1980’s line.  Beast Man is clearly visible in the package.  The package is covered in text as well, in english and two other languages.

Here is the back of the package.  This packaging is familiar to me because
I have the rare variant “cross-harness” He-Man MOC hanging in my office!

I have only owned a few 200x figures before.  My brother Hoagie Boagie had 200x as HIS He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.  I will say that I enjoy the Mike Young Productions cartoon quite a bit.  And I am glad to see the Four Horsemen’t work on these figures as well.  So there are a few loose He-man and Skeletor figures floating around.  But no other characters.

On with the review.

Here is Beast Man out of the package.  Notice his arms and legs.  This figure is NOT super-articulated.  He has two accessories.  The whip and his armor.  The armor fits on him loosely, and is made of the same rubber as the whip.  The whip is quite flexible, and really “whips” good with the action feature.

On the back, you can see a lever sticking out.  When you press this lever,
it causes his arms to move simultaneously.  So he can crack that whip!  Action features like this
were what Mattel thought kids wanted.

Beast Man can control animals, right?

He is famous for conjuring Griffons to help the baddies make an escape.  Here he is riding and whipping my griffin!  He doesn’t fit on the saddle great, but his loin cloth is soft enough to position right.

Beast Man seems to be a good scale to ride on the Griffin, and that pleased me very much!  So how does he look next to Skeletor?
Skeletor seems to stand about a half-head taller than Beast Man.  BUT, Beast Man is hunched over a little.  Which is fitting for the character in relation to Skeletor.



So what’s my rating?  I am going to take into account that super-articulated figures weren’t the big thing necessarily at the time these were produced.  (200x He-Man figs were marketed at kids more than adults.)  I am going to take into account that he looks pretty good with the MOTUC characters.  The same sculptors, after all!  I am also pleased that he fits on the griffin, and looks fantastic.  (If you are a regular reader, you know I wanted Vikor to ride it, but his loincloth was too stiff.)  I kind of wish the spikes on his arms and knees were removable, but I don’t think it is necessary enough to take off a point, considering the time it was released.

So, my rating is 5/5!  He serves the grand purpose of making my bad guys seem to have more of a team.  I will probably not have a MOTUC Beast Man any time soon.  What do you think?  Leave a comment!

First Ever UNBOXING review! Orko/ Prince Adam

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Hooray!

My heart leapt.  Literally skipped.  I had gone into Big Lots the day before, hearing the news that MOTUC was showing up.  But none were on the shelf.  The manager informed me that they would probably appear on the truck that was coming overnight.  He was right!  And the first figure I saw floating on the shelf was ORKO!  Knowing the kinds of things I know, I knew that was a Two for One!  You got Adam as his “Secret Accessory!”  And marked $10!  Score!  I had to look hard to find others.  But I did.  (See previous post)

So let’s get down to it.  Of course tons of other folks have already done this.  But this is mine.  TAKE THAT, webhogs.

These two friends come in the standard MOTUC packaging, with the lightning bolts, and the ALL CAPS font.  From here you can see Orko, his wand, his flight stand, and his book os spells.  You can also see Prince Adam’s belly and arm.  I looked in the top, and saw that Adam comes with an alternate head.  I seemed to have forgotten this detail.  I was looking for the pink sword.

Here’s the back, and that “Oh so controversial” bio!  I mean, I don’t have strong feelings against it.  But some people think this story takes away from the jester that Orko is.  But everything here seems to be established fact if you are condensing Filmation and Mike Young stories, other than the bit about him being assigned to guide Zodac (or is it Zodak?)  Interesting, the Sword of He is Trollan in origin……

AND NOW BACK TO THE SHOW.

When I removed the outside package, I could see it all.  And Adam comes with TWO pink swords.  (One half sword and one whole sword.)  If you are reading this, I probably need not bore you with the details why.  But basically everyone that comes with a Sword of He gets this treatment, except Keldor, apparently.

Removing everything from the package took a lot of careful effort.  There were a ton of rubber bands.

So here’s Orko, all decked out for display.  I really dig the flight stand!  This is NOT the San Diego Comic Con exclusive version, that could turn invisible in water.  He can’t hardly hold the spell book.  HIs arms, elbows, and wrists are articulated.  His head can move behind the scarf.  The hat is non-removable.  (Unlike the vintage version)  The wand looks like the wand we saw on the cartoon.  (which one?  In my old age, it starts to run together)

This is hands down THE GREATEST ORKO EVER.   I had the vintage one as a kid.  I always thought him too big, considering his scale on the cartoon.  Then the 200x version had WAY TOO MUCH exaggerated detail for my taste.  Though I thoroughly enjoy that cartoon.

Now for Adam.

First things first.  Adam has the weakest ankles I have yet seen in MOTUC.  Shame on you, Mattel.  He can hardly stand up.  I had to perform surgery with clear fingernail polish.  He should have just been right.  His angles are so loose, I saw them wiggling around in the package.

After some fiddling, here he is standing with his sword aloft!  Adam’s shirt is non-removable.  Other than that, he is an exact repaint of He-Man.  Now for the alternate head.

This head is smiling.  I tried putting it on He-Man.  Besides maybe a slight different shade of skin color, they are exactly the same!

So here are my new acquisitions.  Not bad for a ten spot!  I’ll just have to cut back on a meal eating out I guess.

These two were always featured as friends.  I am glad to have them bundled together.  Overall, I am very satisfied with Orko.  He gets a 4/5, missing a mark because he can’t hold the book too good.  Adam gets 3/5.  He is an excellent figure, with great paint, and a beautifully sculpted extra head.  But his weak ankles really hurt his score.  What would you give him?  Let me know!