MASTERVERSE Revelation Teela

Boom! I found a Teela I can support. I didn’t even know they made this one.

So this is “Captain of the Guard” Teela, who is being knighted “Man-At-Arms.” The Teela that becomes angry and angsty. She throws that crown down in a tantrum of a fit in the Revelation show. Rightfully so, I suppose. But all of the Teela figures I saw before this one in the Masterverse line has had that “emo bodybuilder-bounty hunter” look. To me, Teela should be pretty. In fact, usually. Generally. Masters of the Universe females should retain a certain level of feminine attractiveness. I am a fan of the curves on the Filmation show, and as great as the animation on Revelation and Revolution is, that classic female form was abandoned probably on grounds of modern tastes.

But this Teela doesn’t appear manly at all! Keep reading to see how this figure has been one of the best figures I have gotten in a long time.

Packaging

OK. So this is the boring blue package. You can see in the window box everything she comes with. Also, the sword has come loose from her hand.

I got this figure at Toy Federation in Greer, SC. It seems like they had another there also. At $20 for a 7-inch scale A-list character, you can’t beat that.

The art on the side is outstanding, but check out the art on the back of the box.

Once again. BOOM! Whoever did this (Eamon O’Donahue?) great work. Wonderful fantasy artwork feminine beauty. You can see some Wind Raiders flying overhead and some castle to her right. The bio here is a summary of her role in the Revelations cartoon.

The bottom of the package shows off some other figures you can get. At this point I have Teela (of course), Mer-Man, and Skeletor (viking). I don’t care for that inferior Viking He-Man. (That’s no Vikor.). Notice that the Teela in the picture looks fairly different than the actual figure.

Figure Basics (with comparison)

Below is a “Two-for-one” pic. I am showing you everything you get in the box, PLUS what the alternate head looks like on Masters of the Universe Classics Battleground Teela. So, Comparison time? There are things I like about both. But I am into that long red hair. This is the best head I have put on Battleground Teela. Yes…it is loose on that ball joint. But that doesn’t matter. MASTERVERSE Teela has knobby knees and fat elbows. But MOTUC Teela has unsightly pin joins. I have pointed out before when speaking of Despara vs Evil Lyn. The MOTUC females seem more rigid, and it’s true. They are less posable. It is a tradeoff for superior sculpting and paint, I guess. MASTERVERSE Teela also has bigger muscles, but they don’t ooze the manliness. MOTUC Teela is bustier, and I appreciate the more skin shown here. But MASTERVERSE Teela has a classic costume reminiscent of Filmation and also of the vintage figure…a figure I never had. I really never even saw on a shelf until I was an adult.

Pictured: MASTERVERSE Revelation Teela with extra hands and holding the sword and shield. MOTUC Battleground Teela with alternate “hair-down” head from MASTERVERSE Teela, also holding her original sword and the Great Unrest weapons pack shield.

Action Pics

Here you can see Teela in battle against Mer-Man from the same wave. You can see how the skirt does hinder some of the posing. (You can also see that she and Mer-Man wear the same color of underwear!)

Pictured: MASTERVERSE Revelation Teela vs. Mer-Man. Mer-Man is armed with not only his scimitar, but also MOTUC Sir Lazer-Lot’s shield.

Finally, I can properly display the father and daughter pair. (You can see Man-At-Arms review here.)

Pictured: MASTERVERSE Revelation Teela and MASTERVERSE New Eternia Man-At-Arms. Teela is wielding The MOTUC Great Unrest Weapons pack sword and pistol, while Man-At-Arms is wielding MOTUC Sir Lazer-Lot’s sword and MASTERVERSE New Eternia Two-Bad’s pistol.

So here she is with a classic group of Filmation friends. I like this kind of “disarmed” picture.

Pictured: All are MASTERVERSE figures. The He-Man shown is my favorite in the line, 40th anniversary.

Why the SpartanNerd believes this is one of the greatest action figures.

At the beginning of this post, I made a bold assertion. This Teela is one of my very favorites. The next picture is going to show you why.

Pictured: MASTERVERSE Scare Glow con-exclusive with Subternia backdrop and an added plant detail, MASTERVERSE Revelation Teela, who is armed with the MOTUC Great Unrest weapons pack snake armor and Staff of Ka. Both characters are using Mythic Legions magic effects, and Scare Glow is on the Cosmic Legions figure stand.

Whoa! Alot going on here! I had to take out the hair dryer because the MOTUC armor is getting some age, but new MASTERVERSE Teela’s head fit right inside after a little blast, making this my preferred way of displaying her. She looks just like the cross-sell art I saw on the cardbacks as a kid. Yes. This is getting into serious collector territory. After all, you are looking at years of building up this figure. But I love it!

SpartanNerd’s rating of MASTERVERSE Revelation Teela

You might have guessed that I would give this figure a rating of 5/5, and you are correct. It hits all of the boxes just as it is.

The two head sculpts are beautifully crafted and painted. The sculpt of her clothes is also very nice. She has great articulation. You have options for displaying her hands. The weakest thing here is that yellow shield, which could use some paint. I threw away the box, but this is beautiful artwork worth keeping a pic of in your Apple library.

But it is the world of possibility that makes this figure fun. Right now that “hair-down” head is on Battleground Teela, who is riding Battle Cat. EPIC! Right now, MASTERVERSE Teela is doing battle with Mythic Legions Demistros wearing that MOTUC armor.

So Hub City Geeks, were you as enthused about this Teela as me? Let me know in the comments!

Animal Warriors of the Kingdom Weapons Loot (Red)

To see video of the AWOK red weapons loot box, click here.

I already reviewed the gold weapons loot, which you can read here.

This time I really wanted to catch the packaging. It was more impressive with the gold weapons, but it still rocks pretty good. (The back is the same, featuring Pale.)

In this set, you get a pair of hooked daggers, a pair of axes (possibly throwing axes), a knife or short sword with a mysterious hole, a bow, the same two-piece spear as in the gold set, and a scimitar.

I decided to get out of the light box and outdoors for these pics!

Here you can see them racked with the gold weapons on my custom weapons racks. Notice that I added that string to the bow.

Here is Savage He-Man riding on my pet potbelly, Nori. He really lends himself to the use of spears. The spear that came with him is very nice, with nice paint. But the AWOK spear is longer. I prefer the red to the gold for a character like this.

Clearly Trap Jaw wins this exchange. Man-E-Robot has successfully parried the short sword attack with the scimitar, however Trap Jaw is swinging with his own dagger arm to cut the hoses. (It could be that Man-E could “ripost” and stab Trap Jaw.)

Least impressive are the curved daggers. I thought they would look good with Beast Man, but they are underwhelming. This is the final picture of the Mythic Legions arrow. After I moved Man-At-Arms from outsided to indoors, I dropped it somewhere.

I want to know why we didn’t get a proper string and arrow with this bow? Even a plastic molded string would have been sufficient compared to no string. I fashioned this bow string out of a piece from a party hat. Notice that the Mythic Legions quiver fits nicely on Man-At-Arms armor, and also notice the figure stand he is on. This is the Mythic Legions figure stand, and I planned on reviewing it in the future, but…spoiler ahead. It is terrible.

Finally, Ram Man with the two hand axes. Because he is an axe wielder naturally, I knew he would look good holding them both. Imagine this dynamo ramming in and swinging those axes!

Rating. Well, I mean they are different enough from the gold weapons…But female figures or figures with smaller hands can’t hold these weapons. I was very tempted to try the bow with Teela for instance, but I am not risking stretching those fingers out or breaking a thumb.

I feel like these want added paint more than the gold ones. The gold weapons have dark handles and wraps, with additional paint on the jewel in the sword. But these weapons are all the same sort of drab color. I have to mark down for the bizarre exclusion of a string or arrows for the bow (We could of at least had a molded quiver, like the Mythic Legions). The packaging is really good however, and these weapons add alot to what you can do with the figures. But they feel less glamorous. In fact, there is another blue and gold set that I have been tempted to pick up…I decided on this instead and kind of feel burned. (There is this shield with a face on it that looks too “smiley” for me). But at least that set had more color

So my rating? 3/5. They aren’t terrible. But I had to improve the bow, and I feel the need to improve the paint. What do you think, Hub City Geeks? Do you think a 3/5 is a fair rating? Let me know in the comments!

Two Generic Dudes- Demistros and Black Falcon SpartanNerd Action Figure Showdown!

I mean…I keep waiting on some Conan the Barbarian Ultimates! figures to show up, and they keep getting pushed back. So now I am expecting Battle at the Mounds figures in June and King Conan in July…I ordered both going on a year and a half ago! In the meantime, I have been building a MASTERVERSE collection, with a minor emphasis on skeletons. I already think Masters of the Universe Classics Vikor looks great fighting skeleton warriors, and that will be the perfect thing for Conan figures to fight. I am also on the lookout for a giant snake…

The Four Horsemen had a special sale, where I picked up Demistros. And because Super7 pushed King Conan back another two months, they gave me a 15% discount on my next order…which is why I picked up Black Falcon.

Both are great skeleton warriors, but I would like to do a little throwdown here. Both are kind of generic…I mean they have names but who knows who they are? Not me! Who will win? Let’s start with Demistros.

DEMISTROS

Demistros came in a plain box in the mail…it was small enough to fit in my grandma’s mailbox! (long story). But it was the perfect size. I don’t usually care, but it was nice to have a little less trash. Demistros’ package was no bigger or different than other Mythic Legions figures….But wait. Here’s a point. Demistros isn’t a Mythic Legions figure! They actually made him to be one of the generic baddies you might have encountered in 1980’s cartoons. They say so on the side back!

So back in the 1980’s, you would have Masters of the Universe to purchase, but sometimes you might go to the store and they only had figures you already owned. What to do? Get a KO. A knock-off. And there were plenty. Sometimes they would be named “Galaxy Warriors” or other nonsense. But I had a little collection of guys who could hold Masters weapons and ride their vehicles and really just blended right in. And this went along with the M.O. of the Filmation show also, didn’t it? There were Count Marzo, Lizard Man, and Strongarm just to name a few. Also, WWF/WCW wrestlers were big, and their toys also sometimes went right along with MOTU. So Demistros here kind of fits that bill. And how did I come across purchasing it? A random side impulse. “Store Horsemen In Stock Sale!”

The package has a nice illustration, and I prefer the blue/purple background to the red/yellow on the back of Mythic Legions. So let’s open this collector friendly Mythic Legions style box.

Oops…the cat’s out of the bag. (This little piece of paper!)

Here is everything you get in the package. The Demistros figure, who has all of the articulation and swapability of a Mythic Legions figure, a giant sword, a lance/spear thing, and a morning star weapon. Also, the cape is soft goods and separate, the pauldons are removable, and necessary to hold the cape on.

So here are some things. That head sculpt…when I ordered it, I didn’t realize how much of a BUTT CHIN it would have. I mean…severe BUTT CHIN. I mean, giant spikes coming from the chin! It is a very nice sculpt, and that is just a wacky detail. Green evil eyes. Kind of a repugnant smile. I think it was the horns that sold me. I am very partial to horned helmets. I did remove the horns with some force, and I am uncertain if they were meant to be removed, unlike most Mythic Legions parts. They snapped right back in, but caution, everyone! After I ordered this, I saw what must be the exact sculpt but red at the Toy Federation store in Greer, SC. With red, it looks like Satan. no other way to say it! It is amazing how much the paint changes the character.

Now I am of the mindset that Demistros is supposed to be a KO Skeletor. Skeletor is often depicted in modern media as having horns like this. From DC and Dark Horse comics to Skele-God in Masters of the Universe Revelation. It’s just that the Four Horsemen did it first in figure form, and they couldn’t call him Skeletor. Here is Skeletor’s head on the figure with proper weapons. I mean really, it is terrific! But as before, the head doesn’t fit the neck joint, so it is actually just sitting there. But in this case, there is a big “collar” that goes around the neck so that it isn’t obvious at all.

Pictured: Demistros body with MASTERVERSE New Eternia “Viking” Skeletor alternate head, MOTUC Havoc Staff from The Faceless One, and purple Power Sword from MASTERVERSE King Grayskull.
Pictured: MASTERVERSE New Eternia “Viking” Skeletor body with Demistros head and spear.

The cape…I really would like to put it on someone else. But after attaching it, using the hair dryer, etc. Way too much effort to be worth the fun. The trouble I had with it…That is probably never coming back off. It’s a shame, really. This is easily the best soft-goods cape on an action figure I own at this point.It really took me a lot of effort. The problem is that the peg doesn’t want to fit in the hole snuggly with the fabric of the cape in the way. (There are holes cut in the fabric that line up with the holes in his back.)

Articulation is just like Mythic Legions. All easy to move joints and modular parts. Only the head has trouble moving because of that glorious BUTT CHIN.

I think the whole sculpting on the figure is insanely good. And this is what the Four Horsemen do. No one is better at it in the business.

The weapons are a nice little variety. The sword is of the anime style…ridiculously huge. There are green “runes” sculpted on there. This is sculpting with paint details, and the figure appears to be powering up this sword. The morning star is cool. It has a real metal chain. My problem with this weapon is…how do you display it?

It just hangs. You can’t pose it swinging or anything. The spear/lance is the same weapon we already have gotten with other skeleton warriors, but this time we get a little bit of oxidized copper finish. It kind of reminds you of those bronze or brass grave markers. (Here is an example.)

So not many accessories. I believe the sword to be the best, but there is potential with the morning star…maybe I can figure out how to rig a wire through that chain so that I can pose it.

Black Falcon

Black Falcon came in just the opposite. A large piece of trash box labeled Super7. Which just meant that a FedEx man had to set it down outside my grandma’s door.

Inside that box was Black Falcon in a “The Worst” mailer.

And so let’s talk about The Worst. Who really cares about them? Who are they? No clue. I remember when The Worst was first released as ReAction figures. They were the first to use the Masters of the Universe Reaction molds for Battle Cat, which I thought looked ridiculous anyway. I couldn’t get behind the big hole in the back where you had to put the poorly articulated three inch figure. I have seen Masters ReAction figures on pegs, and I just think they are dumb, which is why I don’t own any. I prefer Dollar Tree minis, or Eternia Minis, or really almost anything to those figures that aren’t quite as good as GI Joes. (I don’t mind ReAction figures of stuff where there will be no other action figures, for instance, Parks and Recreation.)

But I have to admit, I thought Black Falcon was the coolest one of the bunch. And in Ultimates! form, his design is the best when compared to Captain Deadstar or Batula (which were in the same wave). Not that I am against either of those, but the horned helmet skeleton wins the $50.

Here is what was in the mailer.

This box cover. Now I don’t even like this illustration. And what is he holding? A brick? The problem is I think this is a good illustration for the ReAction figure, but the Ultimates! figure deserved better. This is a shiny cover…but what to do with it? I have the Cobra B.A.T. still in his covered box. And I think it fits so well. I considered keeping Metalhead’s, but it came damaged. This one isn’t damaged, but why would I keep it?

Finally, what does the box look like?

You get this shiny foil background and this coffin shaped window. You can see the contents very well! And like the Cobra B.A.T. there is a double blister inside. Here’s the back for more of a description of who Black Falcon is supposed to be.

So after taking the figure out, I just tossed the box. I don’t have room to keep every box. Still…it is a very good box, and on par with the other Ultimates! boxes I have. I think I may keep the Conan boxes when they arrive, so I need to eke out room.

So what do we get?

Oh Boy! A long list. First of all, three heads. (standard, smiley with a cracked skull, and fiery orange). a removable, posable soft-goods cape. It appears that I received an extra gripping hand…(this was floating around in with the figure in the box. Hope I don’t have someone else’s). So I got nine hands in total. (two fists, three gripping, two open claws, two fiery gripping, and one “circle game”). I got a falcon boomerang, a necklace with an X on it, a bident spear, a sword with horns, a falcon shield, a bagged lunch, and a coffee or soup canister with a removable cup/lid.

I don’t believe I have ever opened an action figure with so many accessories!

All these accessories will make for tons of fun, but lets just talk about the figure first.

In the box he has the cape and necklace on. The cape is terrific, and like Demistros it has rips and holes. But this one has a wire that is posable (or posable some other way I don’t know how it works). But it has this gold snap in the front that is just too conspicuous. But it is much easier to remove than Demistros cape, and could easily go on another figure if I wanted.

While you keep looking at that circle…(other The Worst figures have middle fingers, so…) notice the paint. For a guy named “Black Falcon,” the only black apparent on the figure is in the eyes of the skulls. He is generally gray and copper colored with some splashes of gold. The paint is very nice. The sculpt is also very good, but of course not as great as a Four Horsemen sculpt. However, his sculpt is more detailed than the Cobra B.A.T., more detailed than Metalhead, and it fits in well with MOTUC Vikor. Important, because the original Ultimates! figures were Masters of the Universe Classics. All of this is an evolution of that line of toys.

Pictured: Black Falcon with sword, shield, and cracked face. Vikor with Mythic Legions battle axe.

The helmets on these three head sculpts remind me of old football helmets. The only thing that bothers me about Black Falcon’s sculpt is the falcon on his right arm is non-removable. Why? This is a missed opportunity, especially since Captain Deadstar seems to come with two parrots. (I only know about him from pictures).

Back to accessories. Notice that the shield doesn’t have straps, but has one of those dumb handles. I am pretty sure I’m not wrong in thinking shields are never wielded this way, but rather worn as a type of armor. Still, plenty of action figures have shields like this. The sword is very detailed and also painted with pride, which is more than I can say for at least the morning star weapon Demistros has. (I believe that is a green “wash” on the spear…should I consider that paint?). Most MASTERVERSE weapons don’t have this level of paint work.

I was baffled to hear another reviewer not seem to understand the purpose of the translucent-ish orange face and hands. Seriously…that guy needs to read some Ghost Rider comics and play some DOOM. Flaming skulls all over the place. And maybe I am the first to point this out…remember in the 1987 Masters of the Universe movie, where Skeletor unlocked the power of Grayskull and transformed Into a god? One of the featured colors in that transformation was THIS EXACT SHADE. (Super7, please send me a reward for pointing this out). I do wish there was more paint on the eyes and in the mouth on this head sculpt. OK. Why the bag lunch and the coffee. These are hilarious! And that the top comes off to become the cup, like most real coffee thermoses, is just an added design detail that makes this even more fun. Here I imagine that coffee was really hot! Then his face caught fire. Remember that the front illustration featured Black Falcon holding a box. Nope. It was the bag lunch. (Another reason that illustration isn’t so great.)

Here is another one I haven’t seen anyone point out. (Brian Flynn…are you reading?). The falcon-a-rang weapon fits in the crack on the alternate head sculpt. This would be a Batman reference…there is a villain, “Bat-a-rang Face.”

THE SHOWDOWN. WHO WILL WIN?

Well there’s no question that I was able to write a lot more about Black Falcon than Demistros, mostly on account of all the many accessories. And all around, Black Falcon is more fun. So Black Falcon gives the first punch, right to the spiky BUTT CHIN face of Demistros.

On the other hand, in the sculpting department, with the work of the masterful Four Horsemen Studios, Demistros is eating Black Falcon’s lunch.

Demistros looks great with other Mythic Legions skeletons. I have Maximillius on order to be the boss of my skeletons, but Demistros is a terrific boss. He can do what bosses do best…stand in the back and send the underlings forward, and looks great doing that.

Pictured: Mythic Legions skeleton “legion builders” armed with MASTERVERSE New Eternia “Viking Skeletor” scimitar and MASTERVERSE Revelation Teela’s shield, McFarlane Toys Raven Spawn scythe, Masters of the Universe Classics Vykron barbarian axe and armor, Masters of the Universe Classics Vikor shield, and Demistros commanding them to battle.

But Black Falcon is more fun in a mix of characters.

Pictured: Black Falcon surrendering to MASTERVERSE New Eternia “Viking” Skeletor, who is armed with the MOTUC Faceless One Havoc Staff and Black Falcon’s cape, and also surrendering to Demistros. Notice that Black Falcon is holding MASTERVERSE Revelation Mer-Man bident and his own bident. You can clearly see the Super7 spear is more detailed by far.

I mean…it could be a tie…

For me…I don’t “play” with my figures as much as I pose them and take pictures. So to me I value sculpting and paint higher up. Putting Demistros in the lead. I can’t wait to have Demistros sit on King Conan’s Throne of Aquilonia.

On the other hand, the many, many accessories that Black Falcon brings to the whole activity actually enhances the fun of other figures a good bit. A great bit actually. I can’t wait to have Conan Ultimates! figures fight against this guy.

I have to reluctantly say Black Falcon is the winner! Both are generic jerks. They are bad to the bones. They are evil inside and out. They are twisted with their circle game and BUTT CHIN humor.

So Hub City Geeks, do you agree with me?

Do you think I should do more Action Figure show-downs? This was my first time of trying that and I really enjoyed it. Let me know in the comments!

San Diego Comic Con Exclusive Scareglow

Follow this link to see video of the SpartanNerd talking about this package. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vypm_1GfnJPw5OGGSxXQHT4gJBCdpj6a/view?usp=sharing

I was in Columbia South Carolina (GO GAMECOCKS) and decided to shop for some toys at the local collector store, LT Toys and Stuff. This is a nice place with a good selection of things that interest me. (It was my first time of going there). A good selection of MASTERVERSE figures. On the top shelf I saw the box for Scareglow, but didn’t know what it was, so when I asked for help and the worker opened the box, I was pretty much immediately sold.

Now, before anyone says anything about me paying this price, I know that this figure has been “reprinted” at a lower price point. But do you get the box with that? NOPE. You see, this box is very under appreciated. Think about it, Hub City Geeks…this is the only toy representation of Subternia we will probably ever have. Let that sink in… Do you think they are making a setpiece for Subternia? Some kind of castle? Nope. This cardboard cave is it. Likely all we will ever have. So I am going to take full advantage of this admittedly limited item until it is totally worn out.

Speaking of worn out, I bought this used. Sealed and new is going for $120 ish. The sleeve thing on the front is the only piece that really shows any wear.

After opening it up, I decided I didn’t want the blister so I just tossed that. Here is what you get in the box. Scareglow, who has a cloth cape with a wire in it for posability and features a rubber collar, two alternate hands (one fist and the other opened,) a scythe, and a power sword that features two separable parts.

You can see that this sword is ridiculously oversized. My big question is “why?” I know this story…who doesn’t if you are a MOTU fan? Yes, the sword is separated and must be united…blah blah blah. Why. Is. It. So. Stupidly. Big?

I mean, in the Revelation show, Evil Lyn and Orko (and others) go and ask for the dark half of the Power Sword from Scareglow. You can see that even Scareglow holding the purple half himself looks better than that massive one that looks like some kind of Burger King toy.

These two pieces have a peg to help them stick together, and they go into the hilt by snapping in. You can cross-color it, with yellow on the purple side and purple on the yellow side. These don’t appear to glow, sadly.

OK. So what else besides the sword.

The scythe looks pretty good, and the end of it does glow. So what about the glowing? I am photographing this with a blue light filter, to help make the glowing “pop.” The head glows, apparently molded in glowing plastic. The rest of the glowing is paint. BUT…this isn’t the classic Scareglow look is it? Check the image below for a little comparison.

MEGA Scareglow IS using the correct glowing effect. (The black and white filter helps highlight what I am saying.). Most of his body…maybe all of it is molded in glowing plastic, and then there are black shadows painted on. The MASTERVERSE figure mostly reverses this effect. So there are more dark pieces than glowing pieces. The only reason I can figure for the change is to try and match with the animation. Revelation is the first time we saw Scareglow in cartoon form, so maybe they just tried to make it faithful to that version. I wonder if there might be a New Eternia Scareglow eventually, and maybe even one that can get the spider legs like we saw in the recent Revolution show.

How does the head look on other figures? Skeletor is fine. This head, with the paint job…it reminds me of something from the Eternia War comics…or the DC Comic series that led into it. I am not sure which. But it seems that Skeletor had some kind of skull that he used to communicate with the Horde or something, and eventually he gets mad and kicks it away. I will have to go back through those books and investigate that story. But the skull does remind me of that.

If you put it on a generic Mythic Legion skeleton, it looks ok, but not much neck. The Mythic Legion peg system doesn’t work well with the ball and socket MASTERVERSE joint. I tried to remedy this with the wrist bracer from another figure, and then with the forearm joint. They just don’t work. But he does look creepy with it just sitting on the collar like that.

If you want him to be more generic, I highly suggest it. Just remove the cape and put some kind of helmet on him. Now Liliana of the Veil is his boss.

My rating of the San Diego Comic Con Scareglow is 4/5. Here is my reasoning. That sword just stinks. I mean, the glow effect could be different. But is it wrong? I believe there will be another more classic looking release eventually. And as a glowing paint job on a figure, this is just fine. His articulation is fine, and that cape has a wire in it, making that more posable. The packaging is its own toy and carries over any other flaws I can find.

I mean, with glowing filters added on, you can make other figures really pop. Here is the 200x Zodak figure with MOTUC Faceless One’s Havoc Staff…they look like they should look in Subternia. (Please, Mattel, give us this version of Zodac again. He was the best!)

So do you agree with my rating of 4/5? Let me know in the comments!

MASTERVERSE “Movie” Evil Lyn

I picked up two Evil Lyn figures…Movie Evil Lyn and Revelation Evil Lyn. My reasoning? Movie Evil Lyn will be necessary to own. We have never had a figure of her! But she doesn’t look right with the non-movie figures. I’ll review MASTERVERSE Revelation Evil Lyn later. Let’s look at Movie Evil Lyn first.

(Find my recent thoughts on the 1987 movie here)

Here is the packaging. This is the newer style, that gives us more cardboard and less plastic. The wraparound artwork is great, showcasing other things from this movie that MASTERVERSE will surely eventually bring us, including Movie Beast Man and Air Centurions.

At the bottom on the back we can see some upcoming figures. I am very tempted to get this Man-At-Arms. I have not gotten MASTERVERSE Teela, but they have to give us the right one. Soreceress Teela is fine, but I would rather have a good Teela and a good Sorceress. I hate the Revelations Teela, and it keeps warming the pegs at Wal-Mart too. Guess I’m not the only one. I picked up Trap Jaw, and we’ll just have to see about Skeletek. There is a “variant vibe” to him that gives me a nostalgia feeling like from the 1980’s. Of vintage variants, I had Battle Armor Skeletor and Dragon Blaster Skeletor. Never had Terror Claws or Lazer Light. But Skeletek is a new design, with a big goofy Havoc Staff arm. There is a Locutus of Borg feeling to this figure.

Anyway, on to Evil Lyn.

Here is what you get.

Evil Lyn has a removable shoulder armor with soft-goods cape, two extra hands, and a glittery translucent bluish-white Cosmic Key. AND THAT’S ALL.

Why all caps? DUDE. They could have included all kinds of things for Evil Lyn.

Now the sculpt is terrific, and this time it captures the actress, Meg Foster, very well. I know there was money thrown into those rights. I know that this sculpt and paint cost the big bucks. I know that this is a retail figure. They could have sold it as a deluxe and given us something else. A wand staff. Or some of the props from the movie (Scanner and Collar of Alldrabad come to mind). Instead we get what probably nobody wanted. An unpainted Cosmic Key.

I didn’t take a pic, but if you remove the cape Evil Lyn looks like she is dressed for the prom. You can see in my photograph I was trying to get her to do the “Batman” move with her cape. (She did this in the movie a couple of times. I couldn’t get it quite right here.)

The sculpt and paint look very nice. More accessories please!

So, there is an elephant in the room. A pink elephant. A pink bodysuit elephant. In the movie, her outfit was gray and gold. This figure presents a pink outfit with very muted gold armor.

There is something else…

I know that Evil Lyn came first, so somebody should sue somebody! Liliana is from the Funko line of Magic The Gathering action figures. A very short-lived line. You can see those tattoos all over her, and Evil Lyn has something similar going on.

She looks really good with Skeletor. (How about this Diorama? I have been working on it. I am new at making the pieces, and am learning.)

Here is the whole set of MASTERVERSE movie figures, with most everything we have minus extra hands.

Because He-Man doesn’t have Dolph Lundgren’s head sculpt, that makes him feel like the weakest offering. I know Dolph is hot commodities nowadays, playing in Aquaman and all. His likeness probably costs a ton. But is this He-Man? In this picture you can see Skeletor’s painted Cosmic Key for comparison.

And here are the ladies. You can see that Despara (from Masters of the Universe Classics) is a little bit taller.

I failed to mention that Evil Lyn (both of them) are my first female MASTERVERSE figures. Movie Evil Lyn is sturdy, but I can’t say the same for Revelation Evil Lyn. Oh well, I’ll write about that later.

My rating of Movie Evil Lyn. It irks me badly that they didn’t include any cool accessories. The sculpt looks good, and it looks like Meg. They didn’t paint the knees, and so there is an interruption of the pattern that is a little jarring if you care about details. The gold on the bodice and armor is too muted and what was gray is now pink. Why? To reflect the movie lights on the Grayskull set? Maybe. But this isn’t paint job…it is design choice. I am giving Movie Evil Lyn a reluctant 3/5. As a movie action figure a score of 4, as an action figure in a vaccum, a 2. So let’s average it. 3/5. Her sculpt looks good and the paint isn’t sloppy. This is the first representation of Meg Foster as Evil Lyn in figure form, and I have to give a point for that. But the lack of accessories is unforgivable considering she used many objects in the movie. So unforgivable. 

Hub City Geeks, do you agree or disagree? Should she have come with more items? Do you think it looks like Meg Foster? How might you improve this figure? Let me know in the comments!

Another Mythic Legions Skeleton…SpartanNerd

I purchased a Mythic Legion Skeleton Warrior on Halloween, and you can see the review and make comparisons here…

It seems like the whole month of November was Black Friday/Cyber Monday.  So I went shopping for some new stuff online.  I made my first purchase from BigBadToyStore.  I found them when I actually typed in “Mythic Legions…” They were one of the first sites.

I found more there than I could imagine, and also stuff from Figura Obscura, which looks incredibly cool.  (Father Christmas, The Headless Horseman, etc.) I mean…incredibly cool.  This sale contained all kinds of Mythic Legions but I went for another Skeleton Warrior.  It seems like Mythic Legions is a rabbit hole like Magic the Gathering.  You could collect and collect and always want more.  But the downside in comparison to MTG is that the Mythic Legions really don’t lose much value over time.  A Magic Card might be $50 during its first release and in its Standard season, but then when demand goes down, usually becomes very affordable.  But Mythic Legions just stay in demand.  The other downside is the amount of space the figures take up.

I wound up buying this guy anyway, as settling into Commander-all-the-time for MTG has also caused me to stop purchasing cards as much.  I got him for $35 on sale, and I am good with that.

His (Her?) package is mostly the same as the other, but a key difference is the back of this one shows off other army builder figures.  The viking just looks kind of dumb to me…I saw this online for a similar price.  Why does he look dumb?  Something about the way the helmet comes all the way down to the beard or something.  The goblin is reported to be popular, but I am more of a barbarian and skeleton kind of guy.  The Knight Templar would be cool if the horn armor on the side of the helmet wasn’t so big.  I saw the oversized “ogre scale” gladiator for $50 loose at the Toy Federation on Halloween, just before I left with Raven Spawn and Redeemer.  He is really big.

I decided to shoot these pics on some music paper I have laying around.  Why not?  ‘Tis the Season for Chorus.  (The SpartanNerd is a chorus teacher.)

Here are the accessories that came in a little poly bag.

There are two pauldrons, a weapons strap, a quiver with sculpted-in arrows, a bow, and an arrow.

Notable here, and the reason I got this skeleton is the bow and arrow.

The arrow is really skinny.  It is very silver!  There is a tiny slot on either side of the bow where it can clip in.

I’ve played with this for a few days, and it is pretty hard to get good archery poses.  The string on the bow is springy, and believe it or not, the arrow has shot off before.  It didn’t go far and I didn’t lose it thankfully, but I thought it wouldn’t…but then it did when I was trying to do a pose like you see below.

It is my preference to remove the shoulder pauldrons when doing these archery poses.  Which tracks on flavor as far as ranged fighters are concerned.  Notice how in both of these photos, the feather side of the arrow doesn’t line up with the hand, and therefore doesn’t look quite right.

Let’s talk about the head. It is a pretty cool sculpt, and the second reason I got this second army builder skeleton figure.  It has an articulated jaw, which is nice…the expression doesn’t have to look happy all the time like the other figure.  There is also a helmet with a visor…just another cool piece.  With the visor down, it reminds me of “Weapon-X.”

The jaw can come off…giving you even another display option.

He also comes with this giant spear thing.  Polearm?  Axe-spear?  Whatever it is, it looks good, but there is no paint on any of the weapons besides the silver on the arrow, or if they are painted then they are painted a consistent glossy shade.  I suppose it is a concession, because the figure itself is after all awesomely painted.  There is also another barbarian sword, but this time with and angled point.  More like a machete with a stabbing point.

The skeleton is very articulated, and like I said before, entirely modular.  You can swap pieces with other Mythic Legions in the same scale.

But great army pieces with wizard characters!  Check out the Faceless One here.

I rate this figure at a 5/5.  I feel it is an improvement on the original that I had just recently purchased in every way except for maybe the axe.  What else, the packaging is collector friendly.  It turns out that I am jamming both of them into a single Mythic Legions box.  Easy storage!  The only minor gripe is that it is hard to make a good archery pose with the arrow drawn.