Category Archives: Tri-Clops

SpartanNerd…Catching Up…

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Has it really been three years since I posted anything?

This means that throughout Corona…throughout the last several MTG releases…Throughout the ending of MOTUC and the new Masters of the Universe lines that have come out. I have written zilch.

Well, it isn’t because I stopped being nerdy. Believe it or not, online teaching and also attending classes took all of my energy out for this project.

So here’s a few new things that have happened.

Masters of the Universe.– As the Classics line ended, I began to realize I just didn’t have enough space anymore. MOTUC items are pretty large. And I got lots of joy especially from my He-Man and Battlecat and also Skeletor and Panthor. But also the Griffin was one of my favorites. Vikor. But some of the others…I decided I could part with them. And then I decided when I saw the price I could fetch to go ahead and sell my core items. All I have left is Vikor and my custom Battleground Teela. I sold it all in May 2020. For $600. I use that money to re-invest in MOTU Mega Construx. I have the Castle Grayskull and basically every item they have released in that line. A downsize in square footage, it is easier to get these just by walking into a store. There are other advantages.

Sorry about the backdrop-less pic. This is a very large item. Kitchen table will have to do.

I decided early on that the MOTU Origins figures look too crappy…I don’t like the colors. And the Masterverse figures on first reveal, I thought “That He-Man looks “gutsy.” Meaning, the way the belt is that pale color yellow, it blends in too well with He-Man’s skin color on his belly. It looks like he has a gut. The other figures, the one that came out with the new CGI Anime line, do not appeal to me at all. I hear fans (Scott Neitlich) accepting what is going on apologetically, that this line is meant to appeal to the kids. But kids just don’t watch the cartoons anymore. Trust me. I know. Middle school teacher. So they are messing around with beloved source material and creating something “corrupt.”

I have picked up some of the MOTU Minis, and the Hot Wheels.

Magic the Gathering- For something that took up so much of my life and my children’s time, this has become a much rarer treat. Since the COVID-19 lockdowns, there haven’t been as many tournaments. We pretty much decided that SpellTable pretty much stinks. Arena isn’t a strong alternative. Now some tournaments have returned, but we have to drive a long way to get to them. Mostly these are Commander League events. And we haven’t really paid into the leagues on account we can’t reliably attend. Just the same, we have played EDH some. But the thrill of the old Modern tournaments is gone. I have done a few drafts and sealed. But it is doubtful that we will go and draft Double Masters II this weekend. That is $50 or more. To play maybe three rounds. Which I will have to drive a distance to get to … meaning I can’t stay out late in my old age driving home sleepy.

Oh yes…Secret Lair. At first I bought it all. I bought the super bundle…the one with the cats and the goblins. The Walking Dead. After awhile, I realized that this isn’t sustainable for me. They have churned out so many Secret Lairs, each with an enticing value usually, but then if you start adding all that up, you better be rich if you are a completist. I figure the Wizards/Hasbro weren’t achieving their bread and butter anymore on packs because people stopped playing. And Commander is so popular, but you can play virtually any cards you can find competitively even, that they had to capitalize on that crowd the best they could by dangling lots of shiny, pretty, artsy, and seemingly charitable carrots in front of them. So I certainly had to start pacing myself on this one. The last one I got was the Dracula one. I got my kid the pixel art lands. These things…they take forever to arrive. All the shipping delays and production delays that have plagued the past couple of years…Which brings me to the next big one.

Playstation 5. I got the money together for this…in fact some of the money from my MOTUC collection, plus some gifts, etc. I had the funds in hand right before Christmas 2020. And went to buy it, only to find…THERE WERE NONE. ANYWHERE. When did I finally get mine? OCTOBER 2021. Used! I am grateful…it has performed like a champ! You wouldn’t know. It didn’t come with a proper stand, so I had to get a third party one, which was supposed to charge the controllers and add extra fan-power. But none of that seems to be working. Still, it stands very well. The best two games for me have been Horizon: Zero Dawn, Horizon: Forbidden West, and Gran Tourismo. But I have lots more games. Spider-Man, Terraria, Mortal Kombat. I paid for the streaming services, but haven’t hardly used them…which brings me to

DISNEY+. Since this launched, I bundled with HULU (Which I already watched) and this has been what I have watched on TV. I have hung on to NetFlix for Stranger Things and Masters of the Universe: Revelation. (More on that on a different day.). The Mandalorian has been a terrific show! Obi Wan was pretty good. The Book of Boba Fett might as well have been season 3 of the Mandalorian. I haven’t watched anything else much on the service, though.

Comics- I have moved back into collecting these. I picked up IDW’s “Best of” TMNT books. I am looking to get a frame to display them in.

I have been collecting all of the IDW Transformers books…this was actually how I got back into collecting comics. IDW decided to reboot the franchise, and I felt it was a good “jumping in” place. Highlights of this have been “Shattered Glass” and “King Grimlock.” The main story kind of meandered a little bit. I was introduced to a bunch of characters I didn’t know or had forgotten. I also got into “Beast Wars”… which was admittedly NOT MY CARTOON. Unfortunately, IDW passed on the license, and all of these stories have come to a wrap up, which has seemed very rushed. But my love of getting the covers and important/valuable books has become rooted again. I collected up all of the “Batman/Catwoman” story, got back into Spider-Man and Ghost Rider. But I have dropped DC for the most part. In fact, almost everything they have been publishing in any form is tripe that panders to anyone except the classic fan. I thought “The Batman” was a much slower slog than it needed to be. My next problem is the amount of room this hobby is taking up…

Gundam- I built my first Master Grade…EW EPYON. I am still applying decals. But this has been a terrific project! I eill post pictures when I finish.

It is good to be coming back to the blogosphere…an I hope to have a review tomorrow!

Masters of the Universe Classics Unboxing and Review….Sky High with Jet Sled

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OK.  So I had some worry about this package arriving.  I ordered it on Cyber Monday, and it showed up on Dec. 23….(This was supposed to be a holiday special item).  As I worried, the tracking information indicated only that it was in Georgia.  I was going to call and complain, when lo and behold, the information updated to Greenville SC, and it was magically at my post office before the end of the day.

As I moved from my car to the house with box in hand, I thought…”Odd.  Seems a little light.”  Indeed, compared to the box that came with the Griffin and Teela, it was a little lighter.  But it was something else that added to my worry….(was it really there?)

But on with the show.

The item was in the box…It was boxed in another mailer box, as expected.  I was halfway expecting one of the brown boxes that people have been getting.  Boxes that are supposedly more environmentally friendly or something.  But this is the exact same kind that all of my other figures have shipped in!

The first thing I noticed when I opened the mailer was WOW I CAN SEE THE DETAILS ON THAT SKY JET SLED ALREADY!

To clarify something, in case I slip.  I always called this vehicle “The Sky Sled.”  And over the years I have named a few USB flash drives “Sky Sled.”  Sometimes including a picture of the vehicle from the cartoon as the icon!  I realize that the terms may be interchangeable.  To me it is the Sky Sled.  To you it might be Jet Sled.  Tomato.  To-mah-toe.

When you get the box out, you see it is in a battle cat style window box, where you can also see the pilot, “Sky High.”

And you flip the box over for these not so boring details.

You see, Sky High isn’t a vintage figure.  So he has no back story except what they included here.

Sky High was one of the  model kit pilots from the rarely seen model kit box art.  Wow that’s obscure!  He really belongs alongside the Fighting Foe Men, who I am a fan of, but do not own.  I think the bio-story here is separated from the FFM because the FFM were meant to pay homage to the Four Horsemen’s staff, and Sky High here not so much.

(I run into another nerd problem.  Does Sky High fly the Sky Sled?  That sounds stupid.  His real listed name here is “Darid.”  Darid flying a Sky Sled sounds better.)

I suppose I will go ahead and review him.

This is a cool new figure, that seems to largely reuse parts.  I don’t own Trap Jaw, but it seems his lower body is just Trap Jaw’s stuff.  That is new armor, and a new helmet, but I think those gloves may be Sir Lazer Lot’s.  Since the SLL at my house was stolen….

He comes with a weapon that represents the Wind Raider.  It fits in his hand in the middle, making a “fan sword” like Hotaru used in Mortal Kombat Deception.  Or you can clip it to his back to make a jetpack.  I personally think the paint job is excellent.  I don’t see any slop. I like his color scheme as well.

Sky High here feels generic.  Kind of like Vikor, Blonde Teela, Draego Man, or the Griffin.  He could be any pilot, really, and that is what is cool about him.  You see, you could just forget there is someone named “Darid,” whose nickname is “Sky High.”  This could simply be someone’s flight suit!  Just do a head swap!  Or maybe He-Man was feeling safety conscious, so he wore a helmet on his romp towards Snake Mountain in the Jet Sled.

Tired of seeing Teela as a Blonde?  (The head swap doesn’t really work here.  Her peg is too small.)

How nerdy is the SpartanNerd?  Sky High’s mask reminds me of Maximillian from “The Black Hole.”  I think it is the facelessness of him.  And those eyes.  He also resembles Boba Fett somewhat.

This guy is heading for Hell.  (At the end of the Black Hole!)

Now for the good stuff!  THE SKY JET SLED!

It is amazing!  Should I get a Wind Raider!?  I am super impressed with the SKY SLED!  Those sculpted details that I first saw when opening the box are all over it!  There isn’t one lazy decal anywhere!  Just sculpted, painted, fine details.

I love the Sky Sled so much because it was a Good Buys/ Bad Guys vehicle.  Though you never seemed to see the baddies driving one connected to the Battle Ram.  Somehow, I also seem to think that the bad guy version looked just a tad more evil, like maybe had a more definite dragon head rather than the cat/bird looking thing the good guys had.*  Hey.  Maybe I’m wrong, but I did remember Maximillian!

Pictures are worth 1000 words.  So here goes!

Classic!
I have virtually never seen a vintage Sky Sled who still had the stickers intact.  That will never be a problem with this model!
Both sides are the same.  Here I would like to say, clearly this was designed for a future Battle Ram to dock with.

The underside of the Jet Sled also has a ton of detail, and…What’s with that hole?  It is a hole for the Wind Raider flight stand.  (Not included here.  So maybe I SHOULD get a Wind Raider too?)  You can also see where the horsemen have added some additional guns!

What does Sky High look like on this vehicle?  Pretty cool.  But why fly a Sky Sled if you have a jet pack?

The black handles are nice.  But in a way they don’t feel as rustic as the vintage method of the figures hanging on.

You can see that my vintage Battle Ram and Jet Sled have really done some serious ramming over the years.

I am including some comparison pictures.  The Jet Sled here along with pilot is as large as the vintage version COMBINED WITH THE BATTLE RAM!  That just shows that the real scale differences in the MOTUC figures and the vintage figures.

“It’s comparison time!”

The Jet Sled feels just as hollow as the original, and I am sure it is.  The original has a pretty definite seam running up the line of symmetry…The same thing seems to be the case here, so I wouldn’t REALLY send it in the air, as I am certain it would break in half.  This explains the “lightness” of the packaging I am sure, as it is hollow plastic.  That said, the seam isn’t pronounced, and really just adds to the vintage feel of the thing!

I rate Sky High 5/5 as far as a flight suit is concerned.  3/5 as a Masters character.  I mean, I am deducting points here simply for the fact that he wasn’t ever originally there, and is non-essential to people who are really only interested in updated versions of the vintage figures.  His model pilot origins are pretty obscure, so my question here is, why not have included a different figure here?  Someone more deserving.  You could have put Dekker here, (or who taught him?).  You could have included Trap Jaw or Tri-Clops (technology type bad guys).  Or even another Man-At-Arms.  Why put someone new here and “waste” a SKU, (as Mr. Nitelich points out is necessary to do a figure.)  Or even this.  How about white space-suit Marlena that people seem to want, or an articulated Battle Suit for Castle Grayskull, which was on sale at THE EXACT SAME TIME.  (See…The SpartanNerd knows how this should have been done!)

How do you sell Jet Sleds?

But the Jet Sled gets 5/5…A solid, Solid, SOLID 100%.  It feels vintage.  Plays vintage.  But is totally updated in scale and quality.

Now, I can’t wait until they release a Battle Ram to go with it!

*James Eatock uses the term “War Sled” when referring to the one Skeletor is riding on the “He-man and She-Ra Christmas Special” commentary, which is on You Tube.  I have never heard this term, but like it as a contrast in that it sounds more evil.  (I will never argue with Busta Toons, and you shouldn’t either!)  Oddly, Skeletor is flying a version that has extra room on the seat, as if he intended to carry two earth children when it was designed!