Category Archives: SpartanNerd Toy Photography

Origins Sharella-SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review

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

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

So was she worth the $12?

PACKAGING

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

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

The back shows an awesome scene.

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

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

The sides of the box also feature beautiful illustrations.

FIGURE REVIEW

What do you get in the box?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Vikor has really big bicep muscles, and this keeps him from gripping her good. He has a horned helmet also mucking up the image. I had the most trouble catching this shot before he fell over.
The Legendary Barbarian isn’t quite as Arnold-ish. He can’t hold her as high up as she needs to be, and do you notice that I have wedged her foot against his boot? I wonder if there is a barefoot Origins female out there to swap Sharella’s legs with.

ACCESSORIES

Oh boy. Here is the big problem.

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

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

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

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

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

SPARTANNERD RATING OF Origins Sharella

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

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

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

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

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

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

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See the video review at my YouTube channel here!

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

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

Packaging

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

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

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

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

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

What Do You Get in the Box?

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

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

Articulation

Law

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

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

Order

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

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

Accessories

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SpartanNerd Rating of GI Joe Classified Series Law and Order

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

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


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


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

Mythic Legions Belualyth- SpartanNerd Review

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The SpartanNerd has a ton of action figures…so much so that I no longer can comfortably display them all. And I have a lot of lady action figures also, with several Teela and Evil-Lyn figures among them. But until now I have had no Mythic Legions or Cosmic Legions ladies. Belualyth is my first one. So how did she turn out? Keep reading!

PACKAGING

Belualyth comes in the typical Mythic Legions box, but she is a deluxe figure, so this box is larger than the general standard figures. Think the same size as the box that the Ogre Scale Accessories came in. It is a large window that you can see the figure in very well.

On the side we get a little bio. Evidently Belualyth is big daddy evil skeleton god guy’s daughter. It also mentions the Turpiculi, a figure that I know I will get before the end of the year very likely. (Maybe more than one?)

On the back you can see that Turpiculi as well as other figures in this “wave.” You also see the big bads on the back. I don’t know enough about Mythic Legions Lore to tell you much more about them other than the skeleton god is “Necronominus,” who this wave is named after.

Don’t know who all these characters are. The guy with wings is definitely Poxxus…I saw his figure in a store. Necronominus is the flying skeleton god. I don’t know the other two. The cross sell is Necronominus, Belualyth, Turpiculi, and Undead Legion Builder.

WHAT DO YOU GET IN THE BOX?

Rather than take her out, I decided to get the top blister off. First of all, a little baggie came off of the backing card (that features the sort of generic D&D artwork that includes a dragon, some flames, and a demon). That baggie contained the additional hairpiece)

So going around the box clockwise

  • Birdcage with snake skeleton inside
  • Bird skeleton, probably a vulture
  • Alternate undead head with rotten nose
  • Belualyth figure
  • Shoulder pauldron with strap
  • Cage hanger
  • Bone saw
  • Alternate hands…gloved fist and ungloved fist for the other hands
  • Chimera skeleton pet
  • Witchy alternate hands
  • And also, alternate hairpiece

So Belualyth comes with a lot of pieces, and this was one of the big draws for me to get her. I have a ton of SpartanPets, and so I can relate well with her. If she is a good pet owner, then she is good people. (Maybe…)

Stop and think about all this. She didn’t cost that much! So WOW!

FIGURE REVIEW

Fully loaded!

Her sculpt and paint…we are talking about the Four Horsemen Studios. You know it is among the best in the business! There is a cloth skirt piece, and that belt hangs loosely there. Speaking of, that belt is one of the best pieces, featuring different animal skulls and a skelly hand. There is also a chain and a whip, and a pouch on the back for us to wonder what is in it. (The Four Horsemen are known to add these as details).

She is what is termed a “Mythic Legions 2.0” build, meaning she consists of smaller skinnier parts than say, Demistros, or the Gold Knight Legion Builder. The SpartanNerd has two such other figures…Undead of Vikenfell and Father Christmas. The addition to my collection then is the upper torso, which is obvious female.

She has very good articulation, with no real stupid problems. She stands well, even overnight on what I term to be a difficult surface to accomplish that on (Magic the Gathering playmat). Everything moves like you would expect, and the pieces are also modular like basically all mythic legions. (You can swap them with parts from other figures…be careful though. Use a hairdryer to soften the plastic).

I have never successfully removed the “normal” head from the neck to use the noseless head. Just saying…my example is on tight! I could do it if I really wanted to, but I don’t like that head. I prefer my ladies to have a nose, thank you! There are two hair pieces if you want to give her a different look. And I haven’t done it, but I can’t wait to try using the alternate wig on other action figures. (Maybe in October)

ACCESSORIES

It seems the pets are such an ingrained piece of the character I almost reviewed them in the above section!

Let’s start with the bird. It is stuck on the arm guard. If you have ever witnessed a falconer, then you know they have to use a tough piece of leather on their arm to protect themselves from razor sharp talons. It appears that Belualyth is worried about that, but unfortunately the bird doesn’t come off of that arm guard. You can’t have it stand any other way except by precariously balancing it on something like the tree in the snake cage. (We’ll get to that in a minute).

To get that bird on her arm, you don’t have to remove the forearm. At first I thought you had to, but I’m glad I came to my senses after looking at some photos of her online. Just remove the hand and slide it over the forearm bracer.

And now the snake in a birdcage. The cage comes apart, letting you get a better view of the skeletal snake and the tree perch inside. The snake is bendy, but I wouldn’t stress it too much. It seems to be a delicate piece and I would hate to break it. But you can wrap it around things or characters arms or whatever.

The pet tree can be used to prop the vulture, but it is a delicate and precarious process. It looks good in pictures though!

You can’t put the bird in the cage. And this is kind of a shame. The Four Horsemen missed an opportunity here if they had just designed the cage or the bird a little bit differently.

So about propping it on Belualyth’s back. I totally get why she would want to carry all these pets with her everywhere she goes!

Pearl
Love
Toby

The SpartanNerd has lots of pets, and he loves them so! AND his wife has a sticker on her Jeep…”There’s like a lot of dogs in here!” She takes her pets everywhere, and so why wouldn’t Belualyth do the same? I think this is why the character appealed so much to me.

So to get the birdcage on her back, you have to use this hanger that I discussed in the above section. And it snapped right in the spot on her back like it was supposed to twice, but then it was too loose. The Horsemen thought of this, and that is why the shoulder pauldron is different for this than what we usually get with say the knight characters. The strap is necessary to hold the piece to her back.

(I couldn’t tell what the shoulder pauldron even was until looking at photos on the store horsemen. It looked like it might go with the pets or something).

This strap is a tight fit, but totally necessary. And the pauldron keeps her from having the “cold shoulder.” Remember that talk about how good her balance is? This is crucial to having the character be displayed properly.

Now onto the biggest most obvious pet. The Chimera…originally I thought it was a Cerberus. But it actually only has two heads, but also the tail of a snake. It is about the size of a German Shepherd in comparison to Belualyth. The heads are some kind of tiger skull and antelope or cow skull. Both are on ball joints and could be used on other figures. AND that’s a double neckpiece that is removable and could go on another figure.

There is a leash that is permanently attached. Its four legs are articulated only at the shoulders and hips, and there is a slight splay on the back legs, but not much. The tail is a snake head. It seems to be a little bendy, but I wouldn’t push it too hard. It does have a swivel joint so you can move it some, but if you do it looks a little awkward at the joint where it breaks up the vertebrae sculpt. And I guess I need to mention this one other thing. When I reviewed Maxillius the Harvester, you can see that they have sculpted and painted blood wings and organs, etc into that figure. They didn’t do that here…for reasons of cost I’m sure. I’m just saying that for a customizer, there are some opportunities to improve the details between the ribs and around the joints. But the paint isn’t bad at all! I’m actually comparing a full price figure to what is an accessory!

PICTURED: Super7 Ultimates! Snake Eyes and Timber, and Mythic Legions Belualyth. They are giving belly rubs to their pets! The pets are doing the leg thing…

I could complain a little bit about the articulation and such on these pets in light of some other better articulated pets in competing lines, but she is an absolute Michael Jordan slam dunk of a figure. Where say the GI Joe Classified pets might be more articulated, the paint and sculpt on those isn’t as great.

PICTURED: Mythic Legions Belualyth with Chimera, bird, and pet snake in a cage, and GI Joe Classified Gnawgahyde with Porkbelly and Yobbo. Notice that both characters have their knives ready.

OH yeah! Almost forgot about the weapon. She comes with a bone saw, which is highly detailed. It is a bone saw made of bone…not creepy at all, right?! There is a razor end and a serrated piece. There are spikes on the backside of the hilt. In other words, Belualyth could really mess somebody up with this if they got past those pets.

SPARTANNERD RATING OF MYTHIC LEGIONS BELUALYTH

I just mentioned complaints. I really don’t have any except writing the name Belualyth is hard to spell and harder to type! Let’s break these points down

  • Sculpt- Awesome!
  • Paint- No slop here. she is a drab figure, and is painted wonderfully so in sickening hues of blue and with bronze patina. Her nails are black. Her eyes stare vacant.
  • Articulation- Terrific! The only hindrance comes when she is wearing the hairpiece and the cage. But you can work around these problems easily for display purposes. And no real stupid problems.
  • Accessories- Are you kidding me? Maxillius came with a lot of accessories…the Undead of Vikenfell came with a lot. The undead builder pack basically IS accessories. But Belualyth has managed to just about outdo them because she came with three pets and a weapon.
  • The feels point- Well she adds a female Mythic Legions to my collection…that counts for something. But look how great she looks in my diorama of skeletons and undead guys. Yeah…she adds a lot.
All kinds of necromancy here. PICTURED: From left to right. Demistros, MASTERVERSE New Eternia Evil-Lyn, Undead Legion Builder, Maxillius the Harvester, Undead of Vikenfell, MASTERVERSE New Eternia Skeletor on the Havoc Throne, Skeleton Legion Builder, MASTERVERSE New Eternia Panthor, MASTERVSERSE Revelation Scare Glo, and Mythic Legions Belualyth

THE SPARTANNERD AWARDS THE MYTHIC LEGIONS BELUALYTH 5/5.

You might think I am going easy on her, considering that my recent review of MASTERVERSE New Eternia Teela was also a 5/5. But there really isn’t a comparison of the two. The MASTERVERSE figure was way cheaper and still hits the same sort of boxes that a 5/5 hits. This Mythic Legions among other Mythic Legions absolutely is a solid 5/5, compared to say Warrior Beasts Head Hunter.

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

The Warrior Beasts Head Hunter

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(NOTE: Some photos were taken from the YouTube review).

I think a big part of me hanging on to Masters of the Universe so long as a child was the figures were cheaper, and we were able to amass a sizable collection among me and my two younger brothers. When Mattel came out with Snake Men and the Evil Horde, this was like treasure. The SpartanBrothers could each have and collect and play a different team. (We kind of put the Snake Men in with Skeletor).

I bring this history lesson to come to another idea. What if…you have all of the figures available at the store. What if you see something else that looks cool. It always bothered me that GI Joes were smaller than He-Man. Eventually the ninja turtles were close, but didn’t quite fit. But wrestlers? These guys usually went right with He-Man. And then there were the KOs. The bootlegs. The knockoffs. The cash-grabs. You could typically get one of these “generic” figures somewhere like Dollar Tree or some other discount mart for even less than a Mattel MOTU figure. (See the review of Demistros and Black Falcon)

Which brings us to Warrior Beasts Head Hunter. Who is this guy, and why should we care? Well as soon as I saw him during the Four Horsemen’s special Spring sale, I knew I would need to get him. I’ve been collecting skeletons. He would probably sell out immediately. (Nope. He’s still available). So this was kind of a knee-jerk buy. Was he worth my $40? Keep reading!

(Extra detail- I believe this to be the among the first of “Infinite Legions”… IP licensed to the Four Horsemen to make Mythic Legions/Cosmic Legions style toys).

PACKAGING

This packaging isn’t anything great. But it is exactly what it calls out to. Head Hunter was a KO Scareglo or Skeletor variant. The Warrior Beasts line was evidently the enemies of the Remco “Lost World of the Warlord” line of toys. (A quick question of Siri tells me that Remco Toys was purchased by Jakk’s Pacific when Remco went bankrupt in 1997). Both toylines, (it’s easy to look them up on the internet) were meant to be playable alongside He-Man and Skeletor. So this packaging, it looks like the original packaging. And I can’t fault that. Otherwise, it is the same style as other Mythic Legions, with a collector friendly card back and re-usable blister. The front has an orange sign of The Warrior Beasts, just like the originals had, and then there is some “spray” colors behind the figure. The back has a photoshop of the character in action, showing an articulated jaw. One of the sides has a bio that says something like, “The Head Hunter waits around in the swamp to collect your head!”

FIGURE REVIEW

Here’s what you get in the package

  • Head Hunter figure
  • Alternate head with articulated jaw
  • Halberd weapon (this is in two pieces, the pole and the axe head)
  • Two alternate, more open hands
  • A wired cape.
Doesn’t he say “Scare Glow” to you?

This is it. A Scareglo knockoff with a big axe and swappable heads and hands. Those heads are identical, by the way. AND, we have both heads for other figures. AND, those are the same legs…maybe the same lower body…as the Headless Horseman. The top is the Mythic Legions barbarian. So what we have is a 100% re-used parts figure with a different paint job. And that is SO in the spirit of Masters of the Universe and knockoff versions, isn’t it!

As such, we know what we have. He stands well, very stable. He is as posable as a Masters of the Universe Classics or MASTERVERSE figure. His sculpting is the work of the best in the toy business, the Four Horsemen Studios.

His (I should say “it’s” to go with the bio) entire paint is white over a black body. I mean…the plastic is molded in shadow black. And then the white bones are painted on. The only other pop of color on the figure is the green eyes. So very effective paint, and it’s what caught my attention. That said, the way Scareglo is presented nowadays is reversed from the 1980’s.

ACTION…

The Halberd…we already have it in Chrome. It came with Mythic Legions Dark Knight Templar. But this is a different color. Be careful not to scratch the paint off of it getting it in Head Hunter’s hand. I haven’t had this accident, but it seems like it could happen.

Does he glow….NO. (Sadness)

That said, the white coloration really takes to colored lights. He looks best under pinkish, purple-ish light.

COMPARISON

First, let’s put him with Scare Glow. MASTERVERSE Scare Glow does glow in the dark. It is also more reactive to the blue light…that light energizes the glow in the dark paint on his ribs. But we could say that Headhunter is stronger as a figure as his whole body reflects that light, it just isn’t a phosphorescent effect. (Good job SpartanNerd. “Phosphoresent…”). And just like Scare Glow, I don’t see how people can confuse him and Skeletor. I get it…some kids only had “generic” or “off-brand” Skeletor. This is what they had to get because they couldn’t get the real thing. But other than a skull head, they don’t look alike.

PICTURED: MASTERVERSE New Eternia Bone Throne, MASTERVERSE New Eternia Battle Armor Skeletor, Four Horsemen Studios Warrior Beasts Head Hunter, and MASTERVERSE Revelation Scare Glow.

What about other Grim Reapers?

He has an alternate head that goes perfectly with Mythic Legions, so try putting that other head on Maxillius the Harvester…but set Maxillius to classic mode by removing the awesome blood wings, and check out how you have kitbashed a “Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey” Grim Reaper!

Heh Heh. Black Falcon lost his lunch again!

Here he is with most of my other skeleton figures

Funko Magic the Gathering Liliana commands her undead army. PICTURED: Demistros, MASTERVERSE New Eternia Skeletor, MASTERVERSE Revelation Scare Glow, Mythic Legions Skeleton Legion Builder, Mythic Legions Skeleton Legion Builder II, Death (From Marvel Legends Thanos), Mythic Legions Maxillius the Harvester, Four Horsemen Studios Warrior Beasts Head Hunter, Super7 Ultimates Black Falcon. You can find reviews for all of these at SpartanNerd.com, except for Liliana.

As with all good action figures, you can do some cool stuff with Photoshop. This took like, no effort, but terrific effect! I used ToyPixx’s recent “graveyard” backdrop, and green screened Head Hunter, layered him on the graveyard and made him a little bit transparent.

I just moved into a new house, and I kind of walk around in my yard in this same way.

SPARTANNERD’S RATING OF FOUR HORSEMEN STUDIOS WARRIOR BEASTS HEAD HUNTER

At the beginning of my review, I asked the question, was this worth my $40? Kind of yes. But also…kind of no.

He’s cool and scratches a kind of nostalgic itch even for a guy who never owned this as a kid. A color variant of Scare Glow is a nice thing to have. And if you go back and look at old pictures of the original, the Four Horsemen have updated him perfectly. “The feels”… he gets this point because I felt like I saw something I just knew I needed when I saw it.

I’m not a “parts collector,” but someone who is might be upset that there is nothing new here. On the other hand, maybe someone wants those white boots and that white cape could definitely be used on other figures. The accessory count here is just sad. I’m always joking about Super Seven Ultimates! Black Falcon, but that figure came with more accessories than any other just about, and he hit that same generic “feels.”

Lost your lunch? Let’s eat the SpartanNerd’s food. PICTURED: Super7 Ultimates! Black Falcon and Four Horsemen Studios Warrior Beasts Head Hunter. Also Mythic Legions Evil Magic Effects on the halberd. And a frozen turkey sausage English muffin.

I am awarding Four Horsemen Studios Warrior Beasts Head Hunter a 4/5. He is a nice update on a generic figure from the 1980’s, but he needs more accessories. It is a great thing to add another skeleton to my collection, even if he has that “Karate Kid” skeleton costume vibe. Sculpting, paint, articulation, all this is good. But he just needs more accessories, and this is where he loses a point.

Do you agree or disagree, Hub City Geeks? Let me know in the comments! Did you own this as a kid? Let me and the world that reads the SpartanNerd blog know!

MASTERVERSE New Eternia Roboto

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This blog entry has been a long time coming…I have had Roboto for about two weeks. But I have been moving. So moving, plus a real paying job, means that the SpartanNerd side-hobby has to take a back seat. But it will all pay off. I am retiring the Nerd Closet and will be updating to a Nerd Studio, with dedicated space for collecting and doing YouTube videos!

I took this photo on a blue bucket with stuff getting moved!

Roboto came in the standard MASTERVERSE Transformers style package. And this time, with Roboto, it doesn’t even feel weird typing those words. (ROBOT-OH, for the slowbees). You can see the figure very well in his window box with a purple mask and what would have been an axe on the vintage figure, now is a buzz saw thing. The artwork, by contrast shows Roboto wearing the alternate red mask, and using a cannon on his left hand and that whirly blade on the right hand. And this is a point. This version of Roboto will let you change either hand into an attachment.

He is firing on some rock warriors…not of the species of Rockon and Stonedar, but of the generic guys from the Filmation show. If you look close, you can see part of a Roton. Earl Norem gave us perhaps the most iconic Roboto picture, where he is firing on a flotilla of Rotons

Like the other MASTERVERSE figures from the past few years, you kind of turn the box to the right and you get more of the image.

Around here on the side, we see where the rock men are coming from…Skeletor of course. Now this appears to be “the Vintage Collection” Skeletor…a figure I don’t own. But he looks that way I think because the Havoc Staff has the more vintage inspired shape. And those abs also seem to be more 1982.

The other side panel has the reference section material for MOC collectors or people who store the boxes. (I save the boxes for a future project…don’t know what.). A picture of Roboto with his portrait at the top. As usual we see both looks you can give him.

And then the back.

So this is one of those photoshop pictures. HOLY COW. I have this diorama! It looks to be Extreme Sets “compound display pack,” and so I am going to photograph Roboto using that very thing! (some of my photos are the final shots from The Nerd Closet). Seriously…”The Compound” has always given me Technodrome vibes, or Decepticon Base vibes. But look how this purple and colorful computer scene works with Roboto.

As usual, this is just a photoshop picture of the toy. But this is the first time on the package we have seen the claw. The little instructional panels show the gun and the buzz saw. Roboto has a wheel on his back that makes the gears in his torso move.

The small portrait on the bottom tells us his New Eternia bio. He is controlled by Skeletor in this story. But not in my story!

There is cross sell at the bottom. When I ordered Roboto, I actually ordered King Randor also. But I canceled that. Maybe I will still get it. But I am moving and need to pull back a little unless I just NEED a figure…And as for Beast Man…this is the ugliest beast man I have ever seen. Already there was a terrific New Eternia Beast man. What does this one do for me? Nothing. (but I bet it is better than the movie Beast Man!)

FIGURE REVIEW

I set up Roboto a little “room” using the Extreme Sets “Compound”

Here is Roboto with all of his stuff. Mind you…I prefer the red mask, and have replaced it here after playing with the figure for a few hours.

Here’s what you get in the package.

  • Roboto figure
  • Removable face masks in purple and red.
  • Extra right hand
  • Claw attachment
  • Buzz saw attachment
  • Lazer gun attachment.
A back view of the above photo. Notice this wheel has a peg hole for one of the more recent shields, but he didn’t come with a shield.

There’s a lot here to consider. The first thing I looked for when I took him out of the package was the heart in his chest. I had the vintage toy, and to me this was a main feature of the character. Indeed how he is often portrayed. A machine with a courageous heart. The promise of a living robot. Not just a cold calculator. BUT…no heart here…so…

This doesn’t make the figure stink for me or anything. I just prefer my Roboto have a heart. Now I could go with that New Eternia story…Skeletor has it. Yeah…that must be it.

(That heart was the backup unit. See the Futurama episode “Lethal Inspection.” And once again I out-nerded you readers!)

So as mentioned on the package, you turn the wheel on his back and the gears move. In the vintage figure, you twisted the waist. And this made the gears move BUT only very limited. This mechanism is an improvement. EXCEPT in the 1980s, Roboto’s mask would also open and close as if he was talking when you moved the waist. That functionality isn’t here. I will argue that this is still a better design, and what they did with the face masks is much better.

You can remove the face mask and see … mechanical skull teeth underneath. OH YEAH!

Totally Terminator!

As I mentioned, you can swap between a more modern purple mask reminiscent of a villain’s color or a more vintage red mask. But that MECHANICAL SKULL IS AWESOME! And I didn’t expect this. You see…this is why New Eternia is the best current Masters of the Universe line. I feel a little jealous about the Origins line having more characters…they look cool and would be cool to collect. But the New Eternia segment of MASTERVERSE absolutely is killing it when it comes to hardcore fans.

And the more I look at this figure, the more I wish I had another one to take apart. Like…after you remove the mask, it seems like the remaining translucent plastic over the cranium should be removable. You can see the robotic “brain” in there, that actually resembles a hard drive! It also looks like he has sculpted eyes that are covered by the blue visor. Absolutely…I am thinking about getting another one to take apart! I also like that I can see the “t-joint” that holds the arms in place. It makes me wonder if this is how all MASTERVERSE figures are put together.

All of this is pretty great, but from the waist down…he is the exact same as Trap Jaw and Man-E-Faces. Boots with knee pads and all.

“We rode the bus together and got off at the same Goodwill store to shop for pants. It is part of the work uniform.” Notice Roboto has two normal hands.

ACCESSORIES

Speaking of Trap Jaw, Roboto and Trap Jaw can share accessories. This was a feature I REALLY WANTED in the 1980s. Why the toy designers didn’t let us do that I guess we won’t know.

These guys are probably arguing over who looks better in the pants. Because their pants are the exact same with different colors. Complete with “Made in China” stamped on the behungus.

The three accessories that came with Roboto…the claw is huge and has closing motion. The buzz saw has windmill spinning action. But the lazer gun…that looks like a paint sprayer or something. And all of the accessories, especially the gun, need some paint.

We also have the option to display Roboto with two normal hands. Which I think is a first time. (I don’t know about MOTUC…unlikely.)

Clawful: “I use mine to attract mates.” Roboto: “I use mine to crack shellfish”
Roboto can clamp someone’s leg AND get the buzz-saw ready! PICTURED: all New Eternia toys. Roboto, Man-At-Arms, Battle Armor Skeletor, the Havoc Throne, and Panthor.

SPARTANNERD RATING OF MASTERVERSE NEW ETERNIA ROBOTO

This is once again one of those 5/5 ratings. Just WOW!

The sculpt…while these are the same legs as some other people, I should say…the design of the mechanism and the delivery. Absolutely awesome.

It’s true that the accessories need some paint, but the paint of the figure is great on the legs and arms. The translucent plastic design looks spectacular.

And he came with a lot of accessories. And he has a peg hole on his back to store a shield. AND he can use Trap Jaw’s accessories and vice versa.

And no stupid problems. He can stand just fine. Hands swap out no problem. Mask swaps no problem. If anything, the stupid problem is that I can’t take his body apart easily. (Not a real problem!). But wouldn’t that be cool functionality.

And what does he add to the SpartanNerd’s collection? I complained that I didn’t have enough “good guys.” So this is what Roboto adds. I needed him. Notice that is the second time I used that phrase in reference to a MASTERVERSE figure. I needed the ones I had as a child. And while King Randor does look cool, I kicked the can on that one because I didn’t have it as a kid and didn’t want it really either. As an adult, I think it would be great offered with Queen Marlena as a two pack.

If someone was going to get iced by a Mythic Legion, it probably should have been Sy-Clone. But Roboto is ready to avenge him anyway. PICTURED: Masters of the Universe Classics Battle Cat, New Eternia figures Roboto, Fisto, Man-At-Arms, Mekanek, Man-E-Faces, Snout Spout, and Sy-Clone. And you can see the pistol from Mythic Legions T.U.5.C.C. Pilot right in front of Snout Spout. See all these reviews at my YouTube or at SpartanNerd.com. Kind of lazy to cross link all of those.

My point is, Roboto adds to the good guys. The only bad guys I need are Screech and Modulok. I could use some snake men, and they are coming apparently. But of heroic characters, I still don’t have Stratos, Prince Adam, Zoar, Buzz Off, Moss Man, or Zodak. And I could get some of these now, for instance Zodak continues to be on sale but I prefer to wait on the more more modern “Zodaq” design. I have ordered Androphilees from Mythic Legions. etc. Of other good guys I would like to have Rio Blast, Extendar, Movie accurate Gwildor, a proper New Eternia Orko, and a New Eternia Moss Man. See what I mean…lots of holes to fill in the heroic characters set.

So the SpartanNerd rates MASTERVERSE New Eternia Roboto a 5/5. Do you agree or disagree, oh Hub City Geeks? Let me know in the comments!

Mythic Legions Ninian Infantry

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Watch the YouTube unboxing review HERE

When I saw these guys…I immediately bought TWO. I had been gifted some money for Christmas, and I spent it on a bunch of figures. I thought this was so good I had to get more than one.

Evidently, this was offered at Legions Con, as a preview for a big pre-order set coming up. A set with a story about thousands of years before the main story of Mythic Legions…(which I don’t know much about anyway).

So why was it so great? Keep reading!

PACKAGING

I took some photos and videos at home while I was sick, and some when I was on a trip in early February to the SCMEA convention in Columbia, SC. The hotel had a nice office area and also a good table with a book light that made for a terrific spotlight! (See New Eternia Evil-Lyn on the runway!)

So we get this blister. And it looks really cramped. It doesn’t help that the plastic collector friendly case is very reflective.

We get a lot with this figure. you can see it with the main head, an open mouth head to its left, and a spear to the right. You can see the zippy bag behind him.

But extra striking on the front of the packaging is the foiled out MYTHIC LEGIONS branding.

On the back we have this desert that we have seen before I’m pretty sure. But there is a HUGE Four Horsemen Studios symbol, also in foil.

The story of Mythic Legions is summarized in this too-small-to-read text on the back. This is all I know of the story, besides some that I have picked up from bios on the internet. This is the main way Four Horsemen Studios want you to get this story. As far as I know there is no comics or cartoons or anything, though supposedly there is a video game going to come out some time.

Let me summarize this story even more.

“Mythos has been a peaceful place, with legions of followers devoted to past heroes. There are rumors about evil forces from the past coming back to wreak havoc, and they are bringing their own dark villains to lead them.” How’s that?

On the side we get this bio for Ninian infantry. A true army-builder. You can make it who you want it to be. (I’m pretty sure this is a male…there are definite females in the Bassylia wave made available to pre-order. But as it is, it’s hard to tell with snakes.)

And “snake-men” is what the Ninian Infantry amounts to! That’s why I had to get it. No doubt MASTERVERSE will be coming out with Snake Men in 2025. Too many hints have been dropped. The packaging for Snout Spout…the even more recent packaging for Battle Armor Skeletor. They’re coming in MASTERVERSE form, no doubt. In the original MOTU line Cobra Kahn was the “harbinger,” and to me these guys fill that role as far as my collection is concerned.

WHAT DO YOU GET IN THE PACKAGE?

Package contents:

  • Ninian Infantry figure
  • Alternate open mouth head
  • Optional tail
  • Optional pauldrons
  • Spear
  • Mace
  • Shield
  • Five pairs of additional hands

Exceptional amount of things, I would say. And this guy didn’t even cost that much. Roughly the same as other “army builders.”

NINIAN INFANTRY FIGURE REVIEW

I strongly suggest using the hair dryer. I didn’t have any problems, like for instance with the Monkey King, but just be cautious. I never have been able to get the pauldrons on or the tail in properly without using a hair dryer.

He stands very well, and is super articulated. There is soft goods layered underneath the plastic armor, and it is all very complimentary.

As always, the Four Horsemen Studios have given us a terrific sculpt and such good paint. Each scale has a paint hit. And there are scales on this figure from the tip of the head to the feet. That is incredible! The design they went with is a surprising homage to the Coral Snake, a species that lives on the coast of South Carolina. Not my first thought when I think of Snake Men, but here we are! (Coral snakes are actually red, black, and yellow. BUT, these guys still make me think of them).

You can of course choose to use the tail or not to. Masters of the Unverse Snake Men don’t usually have tails. I like the tail, however. And I also prefer the fanged head.

He stands with no problems and can balance in several poses. There is a scaly “hump” on his back that you can remove to see what you usually see on the backs of Mythic Legions characters. (It’s a rectangular slot, and then the two holes are there for pegs)

ACCESSORIES

We have had the mace and the spear before, but never with this “enamel” treatment. It is like hardened, glossy paint on the business end.

PICTURED: Masterverse Revolution Sorceress Teela (I call her Green Goddess), and Mythic Legions Ninian Infantry. This image of Snake Mountain is from the recent New Eternia Panthor (review coming soon)

The shield is new, and I don’t really know which way is up. And is that a snake tail? A lizard? Well, I know what it looks like. NUMBER MUNCHER. (See there, I just out-nerded all of you!)

All those hands…this is similar to the amount of hands that came with the space version of Wal-Torr the Mad. I guess we won’t be getting too many other snake guys in these colors or something.

PROVE HOW GOOD IT IS, SPARTANNERD

This figure is so photogenic. The Meso-American styling is creative and unexpected. With snake men, my first thought is “green.” Which is pretty stupid when you think about it. Most of the Masters of the Universe snake men are fairly colorful.

The figure looks great with Evil-Lyn. Remember the 200x story, where she sold out to the Snake Men, and her payment was to be eaten by King Hiss?!! No wonder Skeletor tried to feed her to an inter-dimensional being.

PICTURED: MASTERVERSE New Eternia Evil-Lyn and Mythic Legions Ninian Infantry. Evil-Lyn is using a blue lightning magic effect, proving that those effects don’t have to be for good guys.

Ninian Infantry also goes very well with Wu Kong, the Monkey King. Similar colorfulness. And these people seem like they would be enemies. In fact, aren’t snake men everyone’s enemies.

PICTURED: Figura Obscura Sun Wu Kong the Monkey King vs. Mythic Legions Ninian Infantry.

NOPE. Thulsa Doom worships the snake god Set.

PICTURED: Mythic Legions Ninian Infantry X2, Super7 Ultimates! Battle of the Mounds Conan the Barbarian, wearing MASTERVERSE New Eternia Beast Man’s armor and wielding the bloody axe exclusive to the Battle of the Mounds set. Being sacrificed by Thulsa Doom is Valeria (Spirit), also from Battle of the Mounds. This backdrop is from the Mythic Legions Ogre Accessory set (I think)
PICTURED: Cosmic Legions Wal-Torr the Mad and T.U.5.C.C. Pilot, both with the Illuminati Ninian Infantry heads. This backdrop is an Extreme Sets piece called The Compound.

Try these heads out on the Cosmic Legions space men. The Horsemen have already offered a “character pack” using these heads with a Cosmic Legions figure also. I thought of this with the space men first, so I beat them to it! (I did pre-order these blue heads, and also some traditional alien heads.)

And let’s not forget about the packaging for Snout Spout.

PICTURED: MASTERVERSE New Eternia Snout Spout vs. Mythic Legions Ninian Infantry. The backdrop was the surprising diorama that featured King Hiss and Lady Slither, a part of Snout Spout’s packaging.

SPARTANNERD RATING OF MYTHIC LEGIONS NINIAN INFANTRY

Sculpt, terrific

Paint, unexpected and brilliant.

Accessories, perfect for army building, and extra head at that.

Articulations, no stupid problems. Just remember the hair dryer.

And what does this add to the SpartanNerd’s collection? So Much Value! Snake Men, I’m waiting.

PICTURED: MASTERVERSE Revelation King Grayskull, armed with the techno sword from the 200x Castle Grayskull. He is fighting the Mythic Legions Ninian Infantry.

So I rate this figure a 5/5. Do you agree or disagree, Hub City Geeks? Let me know in the comments!