Tag Archives: Cold Slither

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

by

0

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.

MASTERVERSE New Etheria Hordak- SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review.

by

3

See the video review here

I grew up with two younger brothers (There is another even younger that I was as adult when he came along). Anyways, when it came to Masters of the Universe I was the leader with the most love, and so I took on the heroic characters almost exclusively. My oldest brother naturally took Skeletor’s guys, and third in line took on the Horde. Which wasn’t to say that I didn’t have any bad guys. I certainly did, with Evil-Lyn, Modulok/Multi-Bot, and Mosquitor to name a few. Oh yeah. Mantenna.

Just the same, we shared them all. So I played with Hordak plenty. And then there is the controversial thing for little boys at the time…She-Ra. Hordak was She-Ra’s version of Skeletor on that show. The only time I played with She-Ra was with my cousins, and it was like…Who are the evil characters? Catra, the “Jealous Beauty?” Not violent enough for my masculine tastes!

I picked up New Etheria Hordak (not a spelling error) when I ordered NE Teela and NE Kobra Khan. Does he do justice to the second-rate bad guys? (Yeah I always prefer Skeletor’s team) Keep reading!

PACKAGING

Hordak came in the typical MASTERVERSE packaging, with a very strong bat motif all over it. No other characters are depicted in the art this time, but the Fright Zone is the setting of this artwork you can see the figure clearly in the window, with a magic staff and pet on his left side. The image depicts hordak with the iconic cannon arm. In the corner is a foil sticker that tells us that this Hordak is a part of the She-Ra 40-year anniversary.

NEW ETHERIA HORDAK FRONT PACKAGE

This time the wraparound on one side doesn’t show us anything but more bats, but there is a reference image on the other side, typical of MASTERVERSE for those who like to file the figures on a shelf or something…GI Joe Classified does this with a number system.

NEW ETHERIA HORDAK SIDE OF PACKAGE

On the back you have a photoshop image of the figure at the Fright Zone and cross-sell images for this wave on the bottom, notably ignoring New Eternia Moss Man. (I have reviewed Teela already, and Kobra Kahn is coming soon).

NEW ETHERIA HORDAK BACK OF PACKAGE.

This bio tells us that Hordak is what devastated New Eternia, and is now moving on to Etheria.

I rather liked it better when he was banished to Despondos, a dimension where Etheria was pulled into.

WHAT DO WE GET IN THE PACKAGE?

Hordak is Cold Slither’s biggest fan! Notice the Roast Gooble CDs. The SpartanNerd last had music published on this CD. A new release, “PREACH!”, has been sent to the publishers! The first album in fifteen years.

Cold Slither Review was video only.

Here’s what you get:

  • New Etheria Hordak figure
  • Bat Wings
  • Cannon hand
  • Bat shield
  • Staff with a creature
  • Technically there is an arm band and two bracers also.

The big story here is the wings. They peg into holes on the back of the armor. And you really have maximum posability with these. They are molded in thin red plastic, with what may be gloss paint over the bones. Or maybe I’m imagining that. They look really batty.

And the battiness of this figure is what makes it awesome, but also kind of a complaint. Can you be TOO much of a bat? This guy out-bats Batman!

The paint on the figure is exactly perfect for Hordak. The Hordak I remember playing with as a kid was these colors. I know some people prefer a more blue-black-white color scheme from the cartoon, but this was awesome enough for me in the 1980s and it is for me today as well. There is a big red bat on his front armor, and some painted on his boots also.

As a kid I remember debating with my friends what exactly was Hordak. I said alien. One friend said robot. Another said vampire. I thought the vampire explanation was crazy, but this is what Mattel has went with in the past few iterations. In DC comics, he was a cosmic vampire, draining the life force of entire civilizations, and had made Zodac’s Galactic protector force (basically Green Lanterns) his enemies. Pitting both factions against each other having them fight to the death, he absorbed Zodac’s life force last…it was revealed he was his brother! A surprise twist. In the end he seemed to share a lot of cues with Emperor Palpatine.

The Kevin Smith show depicts him as a non-magic user but a people abuser just the same…another kind of vampire. His Motherboard virus basically enslaves everyone, and the way he manipulated Skeletor could easily be seen as vampiric.

The Masters of the Universe classics figure had something up on this guy because the “hood” was a separate part. In this MASTERVERSE figure his armor is all one piece.

I don’t have that MOTUC Hordak anymore, but I do have MOTUC Despara who is practically a girl Hordak figure. New Etheria Hordak wasn’t four horsemen sculpted and you can tell it, but it is cool to have both to display together.

ACCESSORIES

I decided the wings weren’t really accessories…more like a part of the figure. The Bat Shield has similar paint, and let me say I think both the wings and the shield could have more painted details. If that is indeed gloss red painted over the bony pieces, they could have chose a different shade or something. And if it isn’t paint then it should be. Your best bet to get the shield in his hand is to remove the hand and the bracer, then place the hand back on. So you see why I kind of counted the bracers as an accessory. The bracers are nicely painted in silver with the bat motif, and while I’m at it he does have an armband on his bicep that also has a bat.

You remove a hand to peg the cannon hand in. This one doesn’t have a bat motif, and looks good on Roboto and also on Trap Jaw. Notable that their accessories also peg into Horde’s wrist, and this is Mattel taking full advantage of what they should have done in the 1980’s.

Hordak’s arm cannon looks great on Roboto. Roboto’s paint sprayer…

And now…about the staff and the creature. Hordak was always depicted as having a pet. Imp…was this little pig with wings…probably a demon. This animal on the staff is NOT Imp. It is a skull similar to the Havoc Staff, but it has bat wing (of course) but also a snake tail. It is a rubbery piece that can be put on other figures or wrapped around arms or pencils or whatever. The staff has a peg on it, and the pet has a hole to keep in on the top. You can use the staff as a perch for a bird, however. I don’t remember the vintage toy having a staff. Maybe it did? I do know it came with a crossbow…most of the Horde members had a crossbow, most of them with a bat motif. Nowadays Hordak doesn’t seem to look right without having a staff of some kind. I think this might be because of the Classics version or something.

PICTURED: MASTERVERSE New Etheria Hordak with Masters of the Universe Classics Temple of Darkness Zoar.

SPARTANNERD RATING OF MASTERVERSE NEW ETHERIA HORDAK

HORDAK gets a point for this terrific sculpt. Mattel needs to bring this A-Game to most MASTERVERSE figures. There are a lot of re-used parts, and I suspect the way that they make figures nowadays is different than back in the Masters of the Universe Classics days. Like, maybe they have a computer that can mock up and produce molds and tools faster or something. The worse detail is the wings, which could have more sculpted details.

His paint is great. The gray, black, and red details are accented by the white face that could either be some kind of bone or what I used to believe a tribal mask. There is a pop of chrome on the arm cannon, and there is glossy paint on the bottom of his boots, with matte paint on most of the figure…but all of the red is glossy.

His articulation is usual. Which is pretty excellent actually. Hordak has double-jointed knees and elbows. He has a head swivel on a ball joint. Boot cuts, thigh cuts, hyper-articulated ankles, swivel and hinged wrists, and I’b bet underneath that armor there is a torso cut. Add the wings…and Hordak is one of the best figures for poses in the line.

He comes with all the accessories listed above, PLUS his bracers are removable and he has a removable Horde bicep wrap. Like I said, the wings are weakly sculpted and painted. Not so much as weakly sculpted, but they are sadly very symmetrical, which makes them seem more like a cheap detail. I’m not subtracting a point, but if one were subtracted it would be because of lack of paint on the wings or shield.

PICTURED: MASTERVERSE New Etheria Hordak usurps the Havoc Throne from Skeletor, and takes over his undead empire. Hordak is armed with the blast effect from New Eternia Thunder Punch He-Man, and New Eternia Skeletor is knocked to the ground with various Mythic Legions skeletons. There are also three grim reapers here, with MASTERVERSE Revelation Scare Glo, Mythic Legions Maxxilius the Harvester, and Marvel Legends Lady Death. And Panthor looking cute with a leg bone.

The “feels point.” Hordak gets this for me because of who he is. And he is a toy I used to play with a lot as a child, and watch on cartoons and read in mini comics even until today. I felt very burned when the 200x series ended the way it did, where we didn’t get a full story arc for Hordak. (It is said that Skeletor would have kicked his butt and took over.)

So the SpartanNerd rates MASTERVERSE New Etheria Hordak a 5/5. Do you agree or disagree, Hub City Geeks? Let me know in the comments! Also be sure to go over to YouTube to like and subscribe to my content. There you will find this review in a different form, as well as other recent reviews of MASTERVERSE, Mythic Legions, and other 6”/7” figures. (Six-Seven)