I have fond memories of Clawful as a kid. A crab guy with a lobster claw that car really pinch you…that’s the good stuff right there! So this is the first Clawful figure I have owned in maybe 40 years. (I never had the 200x or the Classics version). So for me an important thing will be, “how does it stack up to my memories of the vintage figure?” Keep reading for my review and rating!
PACKAGING
You can see the main window box in the top picture. Once again this is the older style “boring” package. BUT…you can see everything in the box clearly, and I keep finding uses for that rock background in taking photos.
The back of the package has a terrific illustration that really captures the fantasy world of Eternia. Is this the Sea of Rakash? The swamplands? Clawful belongs in this landscape, and as a bonus we can see the Battle Bones parked on an island in the back! Strangely, we don’t get any bio or other story blurb.
The figures below…I don’t have any of them. They are listed as “on backorder” at Entertainment Earth, and I signed up to be notified when they came in. The only one I REALLY want is Faker. I have a Mer-Man (from Revelation), I prefer a hairy Grizzlor (rather than sculpted), and this Buzz-Off looks weird. BUT, I signed up to be notified. I wan’t Faker bad enough. That is an upgraded Mer-Man, and I need a Buzz-Off. so…
There is one more image.
The image on the back shows him fully decked in “New Eternia” mode. This side image is of the vintage appearance, which is actually what you see in the window box.
The same orange shield that came with Teela (and Stinkor, but his was blue.)
a green mace
This figure is very articulated! The vintage Clawful had a spring-loaded fiddler crab claw. But this one doesn’t have the spring…instead you can pose it how you like and it will stay. The left hand also has articulated parts.
I think this is some of the best paint on a $25 action figure. Nice shading on the claws. The torso and loin cloth were obviously “washed” first, and then details applied. This head sculpt doesn’t look like a muppet, but it doesn’t look like the 200x sculpt either. And yet this is clearly Clawful. Dare I say they nailed Clawful much better than any of the He-Man figures they have done. The blue belt, boots, and horns are metallic and shiny, and you can also see that nice shading on the back shell with the blue into red. Every line of chitin is sculpted evenly. The ugly bumps add a delicious grotesqueness. It is terrific!
There is nothing restricting his articulation at all, either. AND he is one of the tallest MASTERVERSE figures. Here is a pic for some reference. Still shorter than Two-Bad at his tallest point.
PICTURED: MASTERVERSE Clawful and Two-Bad, as well as Marvel Legends Thanos (comics appearance)PICTURED: MASTERVERSE Clawful and Ram Man. Ram Man is armed with MASTERVERSE New Eternia Beast Man’s spiked club.PICTURED: MASTERVERSE New Eternia Clawful vs. Man-At-Arms.
The articulation of these figures makes for some dynamic combat poses.
The big shell adds so much to the character. And I’m pretty sure the green mace was the weapon that came with the vintage figure, so Mattel probably figured that an auto-include. BUT. Just like the old days, Clawful has a hard time holding it.
But now for the next big elephant in the room. The yellow power harness. Why? I mean, it looks cool. But what does this bring to the table? Is this a story element like Sir Lazer Lot’s Gem of Tamage?
PICTURED: MASTERVERSE New Eternia Clawful and Masters of the Universe Classics Sir Lazer Lot. Suggested dialogue “You have a gem? I have a gem!” Also pictured are Mythic Legions Magic Effects.
This armor with gem adds more to Mer-Man in my opinion. It looks better, and Mer-Man didn’t come with any armor as this is the Revelation cartoon appearance.
I’m not complaining that we got it…I just don’t believe it is an item that carries Clawful’s story forward any without us having context. Look at the back of the armor. That clip is so that you can clip the shell on. But that is completely unnecessary. The shell stays on around the neck just fine.
Is the gem removable? I spent some time with the hair dryer, and I am going to say “no.” It seems like I could have removed it, but then not been able to get it back in. It doesn’t seem to be glued, more like attached when the plastic was still warm or something. Or maybe its glue. I just review them…I don’t make them.
SPARTANNERD’S RATING OF MASTERVERSE NEW ETERNIA CLAWFUL
Clawful here is akin to Beast Man. Both New Eternia figures give you options on how to display them. And this is very welcome! You feel like you have a more “grown-up” toy. Like you could see this as a modern translation in some comic or movie or something. I say bring it on!
I don’t see any reason not to award MASTERVERSE New Eternia Clawful every point he can get. The sculpt and paint are spot on. The accessories are good, even if the harness is a little strange. The green mace even doesn’t fit right, which might be a point off except that is exactly how the vintage was, making this even more nostalgic. And nostalgia, Hub City Geeks, people pay the big bucks for nostalgia. But this was a low cost item.
I award MASTERVERSE New Eternia Clawful 5/5. Do you agree or disagree? Let me know in the comments!
I picked up MASTERVERSE Revelation King Grayskull at Toy Federation in Greer, SC for $20. I had picked him up a couple of times and thought about getting him, but kept punting. Until finally I decided to go for the touchdown. (Did that make any sense?)
Elephant in the room. Yes. They did it. It has grown on me over time. He doesn’t look as much like He-Man now, and this cuts down on the cognitive dissonance that people have when they see the 200x design. They have the same reaction as Prince Adam in the show. “He looks like He-Man…only bigger.” It kind of makes sense the more you think about it. AND the diversity is welcome. What they did with him in Revelation and Revolution was brilliant.
PACKAGING
This is the original package design. When I bought King Grayskull he had been sitting on the shelf for at least four years. Probably at Target or Wal-Mart before landing at Toy Federation, but maybe not. You can see everything he comes with clearly.
The side image is awesome! But notably, he didn’t come with this sword.
And the back image…
This is such an awesome image! ….. I have recreated it a couple of times now.
Pictured: MASTERVERSE Revelation King Grayskull with Mythic Legions Heroic Magic Effects lightning.
CONTENTS
So what do we get in the package? (Lightning Effect from a different set).
The Power Sword divided into good and evil sides. Alternate hands. You have two gripping hands, a punching right hand, and a chopping left hand. An alternate head with a more menacing expression. A shield with the 200x “asterisk” symbol. Notably this might be the only time we get that symbol on a shield and on the power harness. Also the cape is soft goods.
The only thing that really bothers me about this figure is the pauldrons do not want to stay on the shoulders properly. They want to sag down the back. In fact, you can see that the way he came packaged the pauldrons were hanging down. I keep getting them back up like they are supposed to be.
The Power Sword halves do not combine into a full sword like the vintage toys. No way to do it…I tried and they just didn’t design it that way. I think they were going with “hot metal that has cooled into this shape.” And this is fine. It is different, but fine. The abomination that came with Scareglow was NOT WELCOME.
FIGURE REVIEW AND OBSERVATIONS.
Pictured: MASTERVERSE Revelation King Grayskull and MASTERVERSE 40th Anniversary He-Man in similar poses.
As he was in the first wave, you can see that he is a little smaller. NOW who is bigger…(40th anniversary He-Man probably isn’t a fair comparison.)
Pictured: MASTERVERSE Revelation King Grayskull and MASTERVERSE New Eternia Skeletor with Masters of the Universe Classics Faceless One’s Havoc Staff.
But New Eternia (Viking) Skeletor is also bigger.
Pictured: MASTERVERSE Revelation King Grayskull and Sorceress. King Grayskull is holding 40th Anniversary He-Man’s sword as well as a crystal ball I picked up at the mall.
There’s this story that King Grayskull transferred the power of Grayskull into “The Orb” or something like that. Here I present the scene. This was harder than it looks. King Grayskull is very “leggy.” That blue crystal ball doesn’t want to balance on the chopping hand so easily. And when it works, the weight kind of knocks the balance off. And I had to keep fixing the shoulders!
Here’s a shot at kitbashing a 200x He-Man with King Grayskull’s parts. I took Tri-Klops’ body, which has a darker loin cloth and boots. King Grayskull’s shield and Power Harness. Savage He-Man’s massive axe. And the chrome vac-metal power sword from the 200x Castle Grayskull. (I never owned this toy, only a couple of its pieces. Not a fan). And which head? The not-Dolph Lundgren head from the 1987 Movie He-Man figure. It is the best I can do so far. But King Grayskull made it possible because of the shield and the power harness.
One more recent development.
Pictured: MASTERVERSE Revelation King Grayskull and King Conan’s Throne of Aquilonia.
He can’t sit on the throne properly. Which has me concerned about the Skeletor that I ordered which will come with the bone throne. I was determined NOT to break the right knee on King Grayskull. The left works fine and bends all the way back, but the right does not, even with hair dryer heat or hot water. And I wasn’t going to force it.
SPARTANNERD’S RATING
This is a terrific figure. He-Man that came out in the first wave alongside King Grayskull was very off-putting. But the King is done right. He comes with appropriate accessories, but I wish he also came with a normal Power Sword. The sculpting is great and the paint also. But the soft-goods pauldrons are irksome. Movie He-Man had good pauldrons, and all of the Mythic Legions I have came with better solutions. And finally, the issue of articulation is a point off.
But do I feel like this figure is a 2/5? Not really. 3/5 is my feeling about it all, even with those three marks off. He’s got some issues. But look at the hole in the collection he fills. We have some 200x options…I might not be a fan of that Castle Grayskull toy, but I really like the character designs and the show was SOOO GOOOD. 200x options have to count for something. And I like King Grayskull as a character. All versions of him.
So my rating of MASTERVERSE Revelation King Grayskull is 3/5. Do you agree or disagree, Hub-City Geeks? Let me know in the comments!
I ordered the Animal Warriors Of The Kingdom gold weapons loot pack from BigBadToyStore, as I was looking for weapons packs and weapons, weapon racks, and other related items for 6-7 inch scale figures. I was specifically looking for things that were cheap, but probably would work with my growing collection of MASTERVERSE. This weapons pack caught my attention because I thought it might go well with the Super7 Ultimates! Conan the Barbarian: Battle of the Mounds figures and King Conanwith the throne of Aquilonia that should be arriving within a couple of months
Animal Warriors Of The Kingdom (AWOK) is a line of action figures by a company, Spero, that I am not very familiar with. There are named characters apparently, but I am unaware of the story at all. In my mind, it’s a little bit like the Mythic Legions, where the figures could be any generic fantasy Idea. Most of these figures look like they fit well with the ThunderCats. There are several different colorways of these weapons, as well as variations of what weapons you can have in a “weapons loot”. It was the gold weapons that stuck out the most to me. Below are pictures of the package.
These weapons came in a wonderful window box…it was really very nice. Maybe I should have videoed this box because it is hard to do justice to the effect of holding it and looking at it. When my wife saw the package, she said “That is a terrific shadowbox.” It’s true. There is an orange Sunburst in the background and the weapons are suspended in a blister that allows light in and shadows to fall behind. It’s a boring window box otherwise, but the main idea here the weapons inside are very apparent. These weapons are just attached in a blister. There is no kind of weapons rack or other storage solution, which is just too bad. (Almost my only complaint!). The character on the back is apparently named “Pale,” (Question? ”pronouced “Pail” or “Peh-Leh?”). which is information readily available if you look at the other offerings from the line. He is some type of simian.
The weapons included are: a large mace similar to some weapons in Elden Ring, a broadsword with a jewel in the hilt (very original), two guns (one a shotgun and the other a muzzle-loader type of pistol…both in the safari hunter style). What first appeared to be two pieces- a scepter/magic staff and a short sword, are actually meant to combine to be a long spear. I suppose you could technically keep them separate. And my favorite…a battle axe.
The SpartanNerd has been working on his photography game little bit. You can see that I have a new light box set up. I’m also working on diorama pieces and so here are weapons racks that I made homemade. I found many of tips on the internet about making weapons racks for G.I. Joe classified guns, and also there are racks available to buy. Mostly these are for guns that come with G.I. Joe classified or Marvel Legends. In my case I want a more barbarian, Masters of the Universe congruent look, so I just made an A-frame similar to what we got with Castle Grayskull in the 1980s, and also a square one similar to the Masters of the Universe Classics version.
I won’t lie to you. I thought about buying the Classics version again, but there aren’t that many of them out there for sale and what is for sale is well over $50 used. I remember when I had this, I wasn’t that happy with it. It seems to me like I could not get the weapons on there the way I wanted, and sometimes the tight pegs would rub the paint off of the weapons. I resorted to rubber bands on it also. Looking at old pictures of it doesn’t bring back great memories. Why aren’t there more diorama pieces readily available to purchase to help fans like the SpartanNerd and the Hub City Geeks out?
I decided to break out the She-Ra from the San Diego comic con exclusive 200x from I don’t know, 2003 or 2004. I keep her in her window box but take her out on special occasions. Her style of sword and the gold motif on her armor match up very well with Movie He-Man and the golden AWOK sword. Now is a good time to point out that none of these weapons will work with 7-inch scale female figures. In the case of this sword and also the guns below, you feel like the fingers are stretching even on larger hands.
I like characters that are like walking weapon racks. Case in point, Two-Bad here can run with the whole mercenary motif. I need to talk about the size of the handles of these weapons. In order for Two-Bad to hold the rifle, I had to face it into his body first in order to wedge the handle into his fingers, and that twist it around. Even this way that handle is so thick it does not want to give me the desirable Sergeant Slaughter type of pose I would want. These weapons were terrific with other toy lines, case in point the redeemer here holding that golden Mace just seems perfect. (The Redeemer can’t hold the guns. His fingers are too stiff. Too bad, because he only has trigger fingers.)
Vikor fending off a Mythic Legions skeleton army builder. A good test case for a future Conan model. From this picture, don’t you think that the handle looks too big? Because Ultimates Conan figures are basically Masters of the Universe Classics figures, I wonder if there will be drama. This sword looks great otherwise in Vikor’s hand.
I’ve had terrific fun posing and taking pictures of my figures with the Animal Warriors of the Kingdom gold weapons loot set. The weapons look great in the hands of male MASTERVERSE, MOTUC, Mythic Legions, and even Spawn figures. The shadowbox packaging is a neat trick. Be careful with the hands as the handles on some of the weapons are a little thick. I am curious about how well they fit in the hands of the AWOK figures. Spero offers plain army builder figures out there for low prices. Maybe I will get one someday and see. Of more interest to me is the set of armor I saw on Big Bad Toy Store.
I am rating this set 5/5. The weapons look great and that is really the whole point for me. They can add a new dimension to figures like Two-Bad or Barbarian Skeletor. I don’t warrant subtracting a point about the handles…after all I did get the weapons into the hands of the figures and nothing broke and no paint scratched or peeled off. (But it is worrisome.)
Do you agree with my 5/5 score, Hub City Geeks? Let me know in the comments!
The SpartanNerd’s copy on VHS.Don’t know when the last time I watched this tape was.This time I streamed it onTubi, which was free except for a singular commercial at the beginning.
I have recently picked up two Evil Lyn figures…one MASTERVERSE Revelation, and the other MASTERVERSE “Movie Inspired.” I will be doing reviews of those figures soon, but I thought I would stop and watch the movie again…maybe the twentieth time ever. But this time with a more critical eye and thinking about recent toys.
As I watched, I jotted down some “quick notes.” I have a habit of doing this nowadays, especially on a second or third viewing of a film. I am commenting on a film that is 37 years old (as of 2024), and I am very aware of the “cult classic” effect of the movie on a modern audience. There are things about it that are forgivable, and others that are not so much. Below you can see my observations as I watched the film in bold, and my commentary a few weeks later in italics.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Castle Grayskull matte painting is very epic. You can get a scope of the scale by seeing the Sorceress standing in the right eye socket.
We only see the castle a few times.That they chose this more tower design is interesting.I wonder if they were thinking of the Eternia Playset or something like that.And while the sorceress, in white clothes reflecting the Temple of Darkness colors, can be seen in that eye socket, I believe she is still too big!
The set of Grayskull isn’t very epic. The throne room has steps that appear like average hardwood. The throne and the Great Eye of the Galaxy look very dramatic, with nice hieroglyphics on obelisks on either side of the seat. But the surrounding environment really takes away from it. I’ll have to keep watching, but isn’t the great eye similar to Skeletor’s ship?
That there is this circular design behind Skeletor actually did confuse me as a child.Because Skeletor’s invading space ship also has this circular design.What?? is he flying around with the Great Eye of the Galaxy?I wonder why a better design wasn’t created.Why not something closer to “The Collector?”
Teela and Gwildor had never eaten meat or considered it.
This always has bothered me.Teela says that Earth is “Barbaric.”Isn’t that what Masters of the Universe is supposed to be?Even as a child I thought it was odd that Teela hadn’t eaten meat.Gwildor is a wierdo.He gets a pass.But the Captain of the Guard? She would know what rib bones were.She would have at least seen animals eating meat. And we know she enjoys Roast Gooble. But Movie Teela has to be straightedge I guess.
Weapons He-Man uses. Up to the high school scene, we have seen He-Man wield the storm trooper rifle twice. The blaster that he handed Julie was evidently set to stun, or Saurod’s armor is lazer proof. She shot him point blank in the back, but it only jarred him.
He-Man stole Blade’s sword and duel wielded!
Another note…there is a “backless” part of the cape, good design choice for us to still be able to see the sword. Haven’t seen the scabbard yet.
He-Man is a heavy gun user in this movie.I know my mother didn’t approve of this.And we never see him use guns in other media much…he hardly uses weapons including his sword in Filmation.I notice that the gun that came with the new figure is solid black, but He-Man’s blaster in the movie has silver parts on the bottom. I will probably customize this. Why didn’t they just give us accurate stuff? They could use GI JOE Classified for pointers! Eventually we do see the scabbard, and it is indeed only a half-sheath.Very strange, but the figure is accurate.Dolph’s backless cape is more dramatic than that on the figure…the backless part is almost ignorable.I know why that is there… so we can see the power sword, a necessary compromise.They wanted to give him a cape to make him more superheroic, but stay true to the roots that his main weapon is supposedly a sword.
The Cosmic Key has a handle like a gun.
I don’t own the Masters of the Universe Classics Gwildor, but I don’t think we have had a toy cosmic key that really captures what it looked like in the movie.It has that cylindrical shape, with tuning forks around it, and rows of buttons, with one big red light that activates it.And what looks like a blaster handle or rifle stock sticking out perpendicularly also.But no one uses the Cosmic Key like a gun.The little strap on the two MASTERVERSE Cosmic Keys we have isn’t a gun handle or stock.
39:18 into the movie, there is a cool scene of Julie and He-Man sitting and talking in the storage room at the high school (or a nearby construction site?) The rubble and items around would make a good photo scene for figures. I wonder if there is a Courtney Cox figure out there in scale? She is wrapped in He-Man’s cape
I have been making dioramas lately, and this scene caught my eye. I haven’t looked into a Courtney Cox figure very hard. I would be a cool idea, though!I also don’t know if He-Man’s cloth cape can detach from the armor.Something I might feel up to messing with.What is the worst that could happen?I have to gorilla glue it back?
5’5” short hair pink sweater
This is Kevin’s description of Julie to Lubick. He really narrowed it down, didn’t he? (NOPE)
Gwildor in a ’57 Chevy…pink. “Primitive land boat.“
l love some ’57 Chevy action.The very first model car I build was of a ’57 with flame decals.This idea in this movie calls out to so many other things, from Christine to the Delorean to Grease.
42:30. Skeletor and Evil Lyn staring into each others eyes.
Evil Lyn is agging on his obsession with He-Man. This tracks with modern portrayals.
Indeed modern depictions of Evil Lyn contain this seductress element. The best is the depiction in the comics, where she used that guy to gain access to the Eye of Grayskull, and to get revenge on him for betraying Trap Jaw. In 200x Mike Young cartoon, she clearly strikes something up with Keldor, and adoringly gushes over Skeletor’s power later on, seemingly to regret the loss of that relationship. And in Masters of the Universe Revelation seducing Skeletor is her way of gaining the power of Grayskull for herself. This intimate scene in the movie is probably the first time we saw such a relationship between the two. In filmation, she was clearly second in power and ability, but no romance.
Skeletor’s force lightning evaporates Saurod. My thought about Sauron…he is the least likable of the mercs.
As a child I had this toy.I remember throwing him up in the air and getting it stuck in a pine tree.So he got zapped here and “sapped” there!
Possible accessories for evil Lyn: Scanner, Hologram projector, (The image of the Cosmic Key actually looks a little bit like Gwildors vintage toy), Collar of Aldrabad
Evil Lyn IS NOT wearing pink. It looks gray actually
Why am I pointing these out?Because the MASTERVERSE Evil Lyn woefully didn’t come with anything except that unpainted, “translucent”, Cosmic Key…the same sculpt of Skeletor’s without paint.They could have included all of these.In fact, the hologram projector would have been a no-brainer.The wand that she has in so many depictions, with the dragons claw and spherical crystal could have been easily modified.Just give it a flat top!So the SpartanNerd has a bit of color blindness…sometimes I don’t see shades so good.And as I watched the movie, I kept looking to see if she was wearing pink this whole time but somehow I missed it.But no I’m pretty sure it’s gray.There is a lot of lighting that makes it look pinker, purpler, redder than it actually is.Also, it is definitely a skin-tight garment.She isn’t showing much skin, something else I wondered.
Skeletor’s army has a control tablet that blows up the microwave because of its interferance. Why is Kevin putting Burger King trash in the sink? But he is microwaving a fresh bucket of Robbie’s Ribs…
One of those nonsensical things you might miss if you don’t look for it.Probably Burger King paid for product placement. Another great question.Why hasn’t a Gwildor figure ever come with a bucket of ribs?
Evil Lyn leaves right as pink Cadillac arrives. Classic 1980’s
Seems like this gag comes up in many movies.It is a classic.
Music Store destruction! The music store scene has some of THE WORST acting
It’s true.So true.As a guitar player and musician, I looked closely at what kind of instruments were being destroyed.These are cheapies.I wonder if this was a set or an actual store somewhere. The shouted lines, the over-acted anxiety from He-Man to Gwildor to Karg. This is the hardest scene to watch.
Beast Man leads the stormtroopers. Like twenty.
There are alot of extras under those costumes.Seeing Beast Man as a commander is a little bit different.He doesn’t speak, only growls and grovels in this movie.And yet the storm troopers (this is what they are, but it isn’t clear what their actual name is,) follow his lead. The guys in the air are called Air Centurions
Evil Lyn has a round ship. Skeletor has a round ship. The great eye of the galaxy is round. Dumb design choices
Just pointing this out again. They did build a different Eternia for this movie. I get it. I suppose they didn’t want it to look like Star Wars or Star Trek, (both in peoples’ minds at the time.) I heard someone say that Gary Goddard wanted a New Gods story, disguised as Masters of the Universe. Maybe that’s why. From a filmography standpoint, and I am not an expert…this is the Christopher Reeves era, so the camera tricks to convince you that they are flying might have relied on that gimmick, where the rear view of the ship had to be obscured. (For some really bad Superman style flying effects, check out Robocop 3. Very cringy.)
One of the most heroic fights is when He-Man steals the centurion’s flying disc. This movie so far has been kind of light on He-man solo action. But we see him use the blaster, lose the blaster. Then use his sword to take out some guys. When he lands to where Skeletor has his friends hostage, he throws like five stormtroopers off of him and grabs his sword, but then Skeletor blackmails him with the old “It’s you or your friends” routine.
He-man’s only true “weakness” is that he is bound to protect his friends.
He-man does indeed have half of a scabbard that hangs down awkwardly. He has no cape when Skeletor takes him away and you can see it well. Also, what are those gems on his arms?
Teela remarks when He-Man throws down his sword. What is the story here? Does she know about Adam and He-Man at this point? Is it because it is easy access to Grayskull? Is it necessary to open The Great Eye of the Galaxy? That this is a power sword isn’t really addressed in this movie. It is hinted at. And He-Man does raise it for a “I have the power” moment in the movie, but does this give him more energy? Does the blast drive back enemies? Unclear.
Skeletor winces as He-man takes the beating. A good detail. It makes Blade seem more sadistic. It reflects that Skeletor knows what that whip feels like.
Frank Langella was truly, truly a master in this role. This year he is 86 years old. I haven’t seen any other movies of his. But he really did Skeletor right. Menacing, calculating, diabolical. Also just over the top.
Gwildor has two strong ET moments. When he puts on the women’s clothing. And when he rigs up a cosmic key (like the communicator made from a speak n spell in ET).
That Kevin is a “master songmaker” kind of brings the high fantasy of “The universe is made of music” into realistic earth terms. Many people are musicians…this is something we can relate to. And every kid watching this movie would have a music class at school. This was the age of hair metal and synth pop. Guns-N-Roses was huge. Van Halen. Etc. And Hip-Hop. And every cartoon from He-Man and all of the upstarts underneath him had a theme song. And kids would sing those every day. This part of the movie makes the power everyones.
Some of Skeletor’s best acting is in the whip scene. Also, he said He-Man’s friends should rot. When a skeleton tells you this that hurts…but he also calls sorceress an old crone. Her old-lady-look mirrors his sunken-in face look
The fight at the end where Skeletor declares himself a god. Skeletor keeps zapping He-Man. But he is seemingly indestructible. Even the Darkseid eye beams. When He-Man grabs his sword, we see it absorb Skeletor’s lightning.
This tracks with the idea of the power sword being a conduit of the power, however this isn’t really talked about until later fandom, for instance The Four Horsemen designing the techno sword to harmonize with Grayskull.
Skeletor draws the dark sword at the end of the fight, after He-Man breaks the Havoc Staff.
I brought this up because I asked the question “Did Skeletor even use this sword?” when I reviewed the movie figure. I didn’t remember when. This is the only time, when He-Man offers to save him.
The time paradox problem. He-Man’s armor is extra gold for the end
OK. Here goes. If Gwildor had the ability to send Julie and Kevin back in time, so that Julie could prevent her parents from crashing on the plane, then couldn’t this whole movie have been avoided? Evil Lyn duped him into giving up the Cosmic Key, but he had a prototype. So, why not go back in time and…tell himself not to fall for the trick? Tell himself how dangerous the Cosmic Key is? Or hire bodyguards? Or any number of solutions that would have by-passed the bulk of the movie. I suppose this is the problem of all time-travel movies.
Julie wakes up in a gown in her bed. And walks down the stairs to her huge surprise…she can stop her parents! But the way it is framed. Like Christmas morning when you are going to get presents…this is the feeling of the scene!
As I watched this final scene, this was my thought. I mean, we just had Christmas here. And some of my fondest memories was going down the stairs on Christmas morning to find presents.
Julie is wearing a frumpy gown…it looks a little bit juvenile for a teenager. These are the pajamas that kids are supposed to identify with. She sees her parents. And the smile, the reaction. Even if her parents go and fly…even if she goes with them this time. She has already made a difference in the timeline so that they won’t die. And what better present could there be?
But like I said…why?
“I’LL BE BACK!”
Sadly, Skeletor never got that return, did he.I remember talking to my friends.“When will He-Man 2 come out?” I was in denial that the movie wasn’t well received and He-Man was going underground.I lumped this sequel into the Back To The Future (Two sequels happened) category of possible movies. Rocky had tons of sequels. There were rumors of Bill And Ted’s Excellent Adventure sequels (This happened). There were rumors of Star Wars movies that would tell of Darth Vader becoming evil. (These were only rumors of children!Surely this would never happen.That would be too crazy!) But no He-Man movie ever came out again…or since. I became aware of “New Adventures,” and my younger brothers had He-Man and Slush Head. I disliked the different, wimpier design. I never watched the cartoon but once. But I jumped for Joy in my first year of marriage when they announced the trailer for 200x. I spent hours downloading that trailer over dial-up!
I just heard today on the ForEternia Podcast that the Netflix live-action movie that seemed to be the closest ever to a movie was just shelved. WHY?!
I couldn’t help it. I received an e-mail from Mattel Creations about a clearance sale, and went to look around. I was pleased enough to buy what I wouldn’t have bought at regular price. The three items here were each under $10. In the video above, I am showing off the package. It seems like the easier thing to do with the amount of things I am reviewing. These are all in the “sporty” packaging that I complained about before, but at least it is collector friendly. I have waxed poetic about the line that is never coming back…Masters of the Universe Classics. After thinking about it for awhile, I believe they are probably doing the correct thing. There is symmetry between this line and Star Wars Black Series and GI Joe Classified, as well as some of the newer Transformers. This box seems pretty similar if you think about it. You get a nice artwork profile on the side, an illustration on the back, and in the window you can see what you get. If you were a collector of this line in package, you could file them on the shelf easily like books and take them out when you want. This is the way I see especially GI Joe Classified on the shelf at places like the Toy Federation in Greer SC.
As you can see, I picked up New Eternia Skeletor, Revlations Stinkor, and Revelations Mer-Man. I also have Revelations Savage He-Man with Orko on the way in the mail. After the shipping, I spent $55. You know, Super7 Ultimates cost $55 each, without shipping… See where I felt this was a good value? Looks like I missed Trap Jaw and Tri-Clops…these were already sold out. But today, I just browsed Big Bad Toy Store, and they have all of these at similar prices. It seems like it might be because of the Black Friday sales going on.
Let’s begin with Skeletor.
This “New Eternia” Skeletor has a barbarian vibe that I really like. Sort of stupid and cool at the same time that he has a goatee. (Skulls can’t do that can they?) The concept that they are referring to on the package is of what became Demo-Man, an early concept for Skeletor. In MOTUC they mish-mashed the story up so that Skeletor is Keldor plus this Demo-Man demon. This begs the question of how much of Skeletor’s evil is his own. Not a big fan of that story. The MOTUC Demo-Man figure was bright green and really evoked the concept art. This one only hints at it. I went back and looked and there really isn’t much resemblance.
Above is a similar stance with the scimitar sword.
This figure has loose leg joints. It seems that the thigh cut is loose, and the bottom shin is also. So there is a complaint there. I really had to wrangle to get him to stand. The cape is an interesting piece. It has a large neck hole with a hard piece of bat armor meant to go over the top of the regular armor, really making this figure seem like a two-for-one. It is a soft-goods cape. (On thinking about this line vs. Classics, the soft goods have to be cheaper than those plastic capes. Think about all of the plastic and paint that went into those! With these, its a piece of fabric. The cost is less, and it does the job. However, there is something to be said about the plastic sculpted capes. They are impressive and it keeps a consistent look to the figure.
This is the way that I will generally keep him on display. This alternate head is more jovial but campy evil. The red eyes stare aggressively. The havoc staff is pretty heavy, and the pole is thick. I didn’t break any fingers, but you really have to stretch them. Skeletor also has a trigger finger but no gun accessory.
Look at how evil the goat head appears. This head is so different, like I said before, it could be a different character. Check it out on Movie Skeletor’s body.
Here I have a scene where movie Skeletor is summoning some help. See how this viking type of Skeletor can go as a generic kind of guy? Here is a good comparison now. Look at how much more detailed the paint is on the Mythic Legion army builder skeleton. With the Four Horsemen figure did they scrimp on the paint? No where. Skeletor has mostly unpainted blue plastic. The face is ok. But do you see why this figure is so much cheaper? To be fair, Movie Skeletor has many more paint hits. Maybe more than the Mythic Legion.
Oh the barbary!
This is the kind of thing I am after! Vikor fits pretty good with Skeletor. Yes, Skeletor is more articulated. So why didn’t I buy the New Eternia He-Man that was also on sale? Why would I? It is the same basic figure as Movie He-Man with different paint and a horned helmet.
The New Eternia He-Man doesn’t have a cape or the daggers. Essentially I also didn’t really like the way it looked.
Let’s move on to Skinkor
Here’s what you get. That mouth has a hole in it to plug that mask into. Without the mask it looks like he has an open mouth, giving you another option for display.
Notice anything missing? NO GUN. I think he should have some kind of spray gun. And no. He doesn’t stink. One thing I do like about this figure is the paint job. They really caked it on this time, which makes him fluffier looking.
So I wanted to see if he has a skunk stripe down his back?
Nope. No skunk stripe. No stink. No gun. BOOO.
There would never be a time when these two would fist bump! His hands are larger than the other figures. He has gloves obviously. But He-Man’s fist…I said it before. Deadpool baby hand.
The vintage Stinkor was a repaint of Mer-Man. Here you can see that isn’t true, at least between Revelations Mer-Man and Stinkor. There is some resemblance, and perhaps a different version of Mer-Man has the same head.
Speaking of…
My review of Mer-Man
This is the Revelations cartoon version of Mer-Man. Here’s what you get. Mer-Man, who has no removable armor. Four extra hands. These hands are four fingered and feature webbing. An aquatic scimitar type of sword. And a bident. (I mistakenly said “trident” in the packaging video. SHAME!)
This figure is a wizened and grisly motif for the character.
The box for Skeletor’s scimitar sword mentions that his is a “legendary weapon.” Mer-Man’s is likely generic. But it does look cool!
Never bring a bident to a gun fight!
He can even swim! (Just kidding…photo magic!)
SpartanNerd’s ratings of these three figures.
Skeletor is by far the best. That is exactly what I wanted! The undead knight look of that head is great. I do wish his legs were more sturdy, and that Havoc Staff has a little too much plastic in the handle. Taking off for the weak standing…4/5.
Stinkor is the weakest. I picked it up for just over $8. But no gun or other weapon? No stink. Why? You get a skunk themed biohazard suit character with a blue shield and some hands. 2/5. Pretty low. At least he stands well and the sculpt and paint are good.
Mer-Man is OK. I appreciate that he comes with a couple of weapons…pretty cool weapons. And he does look like the cartoon. I really like that color. Whatever it is … blue. Green. Aqua? The scratches and scars are a new and welcome touch. If they included yellow armor and a corn-cob sword it could be better. I am awarding 3/5. I’m glad to have him.
Savage He-Man and Orko are on the way. Keep an eye on the SpartanNerd Blog for my review!
I remember going to see the 1987 Masters of the Universe movie. I would have been nine years old. But such a memory! We went as a family, mom and dad, me and my two brothers, and we ate at a cafeteria style restaurant. Back then we had a mall on the east side of Spartanburg, “Hillcrest Mall.” The same theater is there, but the mall is gone. I remember when the movie was over and we got out to eat at the place, my father expressing dislike for the movie, which was shocking to me. I thought it was great! I may have been experiencing a hype fantasy…not hard for an extreme fan like 9 year old SpartanNerd. I had most of the toys and watched the show every day. I got the magazine.
I remember this being a hard time…we were seeing less and less of the toys at the stores. I would keep getting some MOTU toys for a few years…when I was as old as eleven or twelve I got Tyrantisaurus Rex and Evil Lyn for Christmas, and was made fun of by my uncles. I didn’t care.
I just wanted to set the scene for you. We would eventually get the movie on BetaMax and I would watch a blurry copy a whole lot. Sure, when I was 13-16 years old, not much toy business for me. A few legos, and some models cars and things. But I remember clearly being a Senior in high school and getting on the internet for the first time. Our teacher said, “Go to Yahoo.com. There you can type anything you want and the internet will search for it.” And what did I type…”He-Man.” I found Adam Tyner’s page, or what must have been the beginning of fan pages, and ever since that is how I have stayed afloat. In college I took my Mosquitor toy with me. I have no idea what happened to it. But Masters of the Universe have been my jam.
Why this trip down memory lane?
I saw these on sale last week during the Comic Con…I saw it online of course. But Movie Skeletor had the ominous “Only a few left.” At $33 each, I didn’t want to miss out.
I didn’t get the Super7 MOTUC version of He-Man, and their Skeletor was God Skeletor from the final scenes of the movie. (Was there a MOTUC of regular Skeletor?) But these were so cool I couldn’t pass them up.
I don’t collect this line. I have mentioned a few times that I was immediately put off when I saw the first images of He-Man. And it isn’t as elegant of a line as the Masters of the Universe Classics. The only one I had before these was 40th Anniversary He-Man. I don’t have the Skeletor, but I picked up that figure at Target for $20. I was drawn to the packaging and just the 40th anniversery-ness of it. But these guys come in the “boring” packaging that is one of the things that put me off of this line.
But I might be evolving on that…I will need to have a look at some other boxes next time I make my unfortunate visit to the department store (probably Wal-Mart.)
The side of the boxes give us some images. I won’t say they are wonderful, but they could be worse. He-Man looks like a member of 1980’s hair metal band. Skeletor looks like the mascot for Iron Maiden or similar. He-Man DOES NOT resemble Dolph Lundgren in the art. (The other side of the package just has the name of the character.)
The two boxes on the back can combine to create a scene…this represents the Great Eye of the Galaxy. Or something like that from the movie, where Skeletor is about to open up the power of Grayskull. As a piece of comic book art, this is great. I was about to throw this box away…instead I am going to cut off the back of the boxes. This would be a great poster. HINT HINT MATTEL!!! And at this point, isn’t this rare official art? The last official movie art we had would have had to have been Erle Norem’s work from the magazine, or maybe some movie posters.
LET’S LOOK AT HE-MAN
The inside of the box isn’t bad either. This rock texture makes for a good diorama. Here is what comes with He-Man. This figure boasts of 30 points of articulation, and it’s true. But it isn’t pretty. You can see the joints all over the place. He-Man comes with two knives (sheathed in the picture), a lazer pistol (in the holster), the power sword, two extra fists, and a classic toy sculpted head.
I remember after seeing the movie that my mom was concerned about a couple of things. The cursing, and He-Man used a gun a good bit of the movie, which was uncharacteristic of the character. We had toy guns, GI Joes, Transformers, but she didn’t like us playing with them. But our uncles kept giving us stuff…You can see that He-Man has no problem getting into this classic lazer gun pose. You can see the armor on his legs…this is sculpted on. It has good details on it. Very busy. What do you think about this head sculpt? Does it resemble Dolph to you? Not to me. You can tell they were trying really hard to capture his likeness. But it just isn’t quite there.
These two knives…I don’t think He-Man used these in the movie? The one on the boot keeps coming up. It is from an early He-Man design, and it must have been present in the movie version. The one on his belt seems superfluous. But I guess He-Man is “EXTRA” like that. Notice the cape. It is soft goods. It reminds me of old Batman toy capes. Just a note, it was taped to the blister card in the box, and I was freaked out a little removing it…I was afraid I would tear it. The pauldrons on the shoulders don’t hinder the articulation much, but his joints are very tight. His shoulder joint is massive, and I was worried I would break something in moving it around. But he is tougher than you think. I am uncertain what the design on the center of the chest is or on the belt. A dragon? A tornado? A lightning bolt?
You can evoke a more cartoon vibe by putting on the fist hand and the classic head. Once again, this looks a little bit too…something. Naive? Oblivious? Is he smiling? Is he talking? To me there is something about this head sculpt that takes away from the character of He-Man. Maybe he seems too “soft” or something. I will also say, this is the same “baby hand” fist that we got with the 40th anniversary figure. (Comparison below. Notice that 40th anniversary has a much larger chest.)
And I guess I have to show this off too.
The sword goes through a look at his neck, and the point end fits in a scabbard on the bottom under the cape. Why not a whole scabbard? Maybe this is what the movie props did? I don’t know? You can see that the armor is removable. They missed an opportunity here to put some stripes on his back from Blade’s Lazer whips. Then I would be inclined to remove the armor!
LET’S LOOK AT SKELETOR
Skeletor comes with what you see here. The Havoc Staff, a dark version of the same sword as He-Man, the Cosmic Key, and a fist and a chopping hand. Was this sword in the movie? I guess I need to go back and watch again. Pay attention SpartanNerd!
Skeletor’s articulation. isthe same as He-Man’s, but there is a problem…The Samurai armor that he has hanging down is stiff and so Skeletor can’t be on his knees. Which is fitting…Skeletor kneels for no one!
You can’t do much with the Cosmic Key. But it looks nice. It really can’t be held and doesn’t have anywhere to hang on Skeletor’s belt like it did in the movie.
Here we can compare the two swords. I guess they are similar, but they are. a little bit different at the hilt.
The sculpt of Skeletor is terrific! You can remove his head, but the hood remains attached. Under that is the ribbon chain, and under that is shoulder armor, and the soft goods cape…all removable. There are bone details sculpted onto the chest armor. Like He-Man, I can’t make out what the symbols on the armor are. The missed opportunity here is another hoodless Skeletor head, so we can do the post-credit’s scene “I’ll be back!” (Of course this turned out not to be true…very sad.)
So how does the SpartanNerd rate this sort-of impulse purchase?
Like I said, Skeletor is just about perfect as far as a sculpt. He-Man misses the mark as far as Dolph Lundgren goes…but the rest of him is pretty good. He-Man is very articulated, but you can see every joint in exposed detail, which is unsightly. Skeletor’s sculpt is so busy that you don’t see the seams so much.
There were missed opportunities on both figures. A hoodless head for Skeletor, and stripes on He-Man’s back.
The packaging was surprising. The art is good, but He-Man looks a little too “Motley Crue” to me. The scene on the back is epic…it reminds me of the big Todd McFarlane splash pages. (But no art is as good as McFarlane’s! Well…Maybe Norem’s.)
I felt like I had good value. I am going to go with 5/5!
The SpartanKid (College kid now….) He said “What other figures like this would you get. There is no market.” I disagree!
Give me a Kevin, Julie (Courtney Cox fans rally!), Music Store Guy, Lubbock, Movie Man-At Arms, Movie Teela, Movie Sorcerous (old crone!), Movie Evil Lyn. Surely there will be a Karg, a Movie Beast Man, a Saurod, a Blade, and a Gwildor. Maybe a dark shock trooper with a flying disc. Maybe even a Robbie’s Ribs cow!
Are you as enthusiastic as me, Hub City Geeks? Do you own these? Are you into the 1987 movie? Let me know in the comments!
spartannerd 