Tag Archives: Cosmic Legions

Mythic Legions Ogre Scale Accessory Pack

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I picked up the Ogre Accessory Set on the same day I ordered a Cosmic Legion (Review next week). It was on sale at Store Horsemen and at $20 I thought this might be a good way to put some more life into my ogre scale figure and even make SSKUR’GE even more like Whiplash from Masters of the Universe…well let’s see how that worked out.

But first you should read my review of Balthor the Tower Ogre, which I purchased loose, and then my review of SSKUR’GE.

PACKAGING

The Mythic Legions Ogre Scale Accessory Pack came in this flat window box, not unlike the Mythic Legions Magic Effects came in. You can see most of the contents very well. I say “most” because the hammerhead is hidden behind the title card.

The back features some artwork of a castle in a volcanic setting surrounded by ogre scale characters. The featured character appears similar to what Balthor the Tower Ogre should look like armed with most of the kit. You can also see a cyclops, which I have seen at the Toy Federation in Greer, SC, and some other big guy. Two or three smaller guys look up from below in fear. It’s a good illustration. The side of the box has some pictures…one is the title and the other features other characters from Mythic Legions, with that bear symbol being a faction. (something like “the noble bear.”

But most impressive is the backing liner of the packaging. We get the same castle from above, but without figures. So anytime I could use a fantasy lava scene or need a quick castle to photograph, the Four Horsemen provided that as a nice bonus to this product.

WHAT IS IN THE BOX?

As you continue to open it, you see it has a blister with a rectangular blank cap on top.

From left to right clockwise you get

  • Antlers
  • Weapons strap
  • Shield with an evil face
  • Double ox-headed hammerhead
  • Tusks for the shield
  • Alternate Viking horns
  • Diamond-spiked shoulder pauldrons
  • Bearded head
  • Hammer Handle

Now, this seems like a longer list than it should be. The tusks are supposed to always be on the shield, and the hammerhead should be on the handle always.

The hammerhead…OK I had seen pictures online, but I didn’t really realize what it was until I had it in hand. I thought it was just some kind of furry thing or giant blocks with moss hanging off or something. Nope. MOO. Gruesome MOO. And there is something evil about this too. It almost seems to be an altar of some kind. It has the ball joint so that other standard size heads can fit on the top of it, reinforcing my point.

SO HOW IS IT?

Here is Balthor with the alternate head and antlers, wielding the hammer. I can’t for the life of me get those paudrons on him properly. The antler gets in the way, or the armor straps get in the way.

The Antlers are very impressive! These are “moose” type of antlers, and were a big draw to me getting this set.

PICTURED: Balthor the Tower Ogre armed with the Mythic Legions Ogre Scale Accessory Pack. He is holding MASTERVERSE Revolution Sorceress Teela.

I decided to try something different. Let’s remove the Balthor armor and replace it with the weapons strap. Then put the pauldrons on. So we have another problem then. The pegs that are supposed to go into the holes on his back are too big. I mean…that’s just it. I can barely get them in. The way I accomplished this photo was: Head off first. Remove armor second. Put on strap third. JAM THOSE PALDRONS AS HARD AS I COULD fourth. Get the hammer in the strap fifth. Put pauldron that fell off sixth. Loosely put head on last.

He was standing OK, so I thought I would see how far I could take it with a classic barbarian-holding-woman trope. I seriously thought it would tip over when I put that piece of dress on his left hand.

The Pauldrons are very heavy, and hammer is also very heavy.

So what about SKKUR’GE?

If you remember, SKURR’GE had some plugs on his back covering some holes to add wings, etc. I took those out, but the recesses are too deep for the pauldrons to fit properly. Too bad, because he looks awesome with them on. (They are just sitting loose.)

The shield is another matter. The handle is just like the other Mythic Legions shields we have. It has a handle that fits in the figure’s gripping hand. This handle pegs on the back of the shield, and here is the first problem. It is very loose. It always wants to let go. And the tusks…the left side doesn’t want to stay on. (You can see in the illustration on the box that the tusks are supposed to face outwards.) I think this shield is the goofiest thing. That face…it’s kind of “doopid.” And honestly was one of the reasons I never purchased this until it was marked down.

As for the weight of all this, SSKUR’GE already is a very heavy boy. His tail takes a lot of burden off of the leg joints. Adding this stuff starts to tip the balance forward from where it needs to be.

WHO WINS? I think Balthor swings the hammer down but it is met with the shield. Whiplash slides the shield up and presses forwards with the tusks, knocking Balthor back. In the same motion his tail crushes in on his bare arm.

I find that the tusks work better if you reverse them, which looks fine, actually even if it wasn’t the intended way.

THE MOST CHALLENGING THING

PICTURED: Balthor the Tower Ogre armed with the Mythic Legions Ogre Accessory Pack and a kit bash Conan made of Masters of the Universe Classics Vikor body, Battle of the Mounds Conan neutral head, MOTUC Vykron axe, and a Mythic Legions silver spear.

The picture shown here took forever to accomplish. Balthor kept falling over. The hammer is so heavy and his wrist joints are loose. (This is an old figure…well cared for but also worn). That head is barely on and necessarily turned to accommodate the pauldrons. Only one pauldron would work, and notice I used the more boring Viking horns. The shield kept falling apart, either off of the handle or the tusks would fall. And remember, stuff falling off or weight shifting pretty much caused the figure to fall over. I posed Balthor armed with as much of the accessory pack as I could for about twenty minutes. I got him where I wanted him, and then set Conan up there, and this element caused him to fall over AGAIN!

SPARTANNERD’S RATING OF THE MYTHIC LEGIONS OGRE SCALE ACCESSORY KIT

Mythic Legions is solid stuff. Really…the figures all have heft to them. And the modularity of them, where parts can be swapped in scale just adds a whole other element. And that this is a generic kind of story…it goes great for any fantasy property. Pair it with Cosmic Legions and you can have that sword-and-sorcery-sci-fi world complimentary to Masters of the Universe.

I’m saying all of this glowing stuff because the weaknesses of the Ogre Scale Accessory Pack take some of the joy out out it. You don’t want to spend fifteen minutes arming a figure and then it being too heavy to support your work. You don’t want your display, set up awesomely in your nerd closet to be knocked over because your Balthor or SSKUR’GE figure couldn’t bear the weight of its armor and balance at the same time. It shouldn’t take thirty minutes to get a photo.

The moose antlers are cool. It is good to have some alternate Viking horns. That hammer is gruesome, and I don’t know if that is a good thing. The pauldrons would be awesome if the pegs would fit in the holes. The armor strap is versatile and can be used in lots of other places with other figures. The shield…(face palm). No really FACE PALM. I really like the bearded head, but I wish it had eyes painted in. (My same complaint with Balthor’s original head…it looks like Batman). The backdrop was a very enjoyable bonus.

I am awarding this set a 2/5. I bought this on some type of clearance sale at storehorsemen for $20, making this just about the least expensive item in Mythic Legions. And I see why, now that I have it. I will use it…in fact the pauldrons really do it for me in displaying SSKUR’GE. They do make him look even more like Whiplash, and that was enough for my $20.

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

SSKUR’GE (Cosmic Legions Whiplash Tribute figure)

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Whiplash is the only villain in modern form for Masters of the Universe that I feel I am really missing, besides maybe Modulok and Screech. That MASTERVERSE figures are very affordable and generally excellent, and plentiful unlike the superior Masters of the Universe Classics figures has allowed me to have a goal and complete that goal. Reclaim all of the figures I had as a kid. So to me Webstor isn’t important. Jitsu and Ninjor, not important. I didn’t have these. I like the Evil Horde, and will get some of them, but I don’t have the same connection to them as I do Skeletor’s friends. I’m ready for them to release some MASTERVERSE Snake Men. There are also a lot of holes to fill in the Heroic slot for me.

The MASTERVERSE Whiplash figure Mattel has put out just isn’t that great. I haven’t seen it in person, but the pictures I have seen of it just don’t do it for me. Like most MASTERVERSE figures he is too lanky, and I believe Whiplash should be bulkier if anything. The head seems too small and kind of wrong. And the weapons and stuff seem off too. The secondary market price is around $40, and I just figure eventually they will come out with a better one. (I have seen a sealed Classics Whiplash for $200. PASS!)

But then there is this…I saw it at Toy Federation in Greer, SC. (Maybe that is more like Taylors or Simpsonville?). (Excellent store. I can spend hours in there and would if I lived closer!)

So this is SSKUR’GE. A Cosmic Legions figure (and my first one!). In case you didn’t figure out from the context clues, Cosmic Legions is the science fiction version of Mythic Legions. You can see a cross sell from the back of the packaging below.

You can see that there are some other Masters of the Universe tributes in this line. Slush Head and Man-E-Faces.
Because this is my first Cosmic Legions figure, I wanted to show off the packaging a little more. Check out the font of SSKUR’GE’s name below.

This little story lets us know that SSKUR’GE is a bounty hunter, and as I read this and the story online about him, I get the feeling that he is kind of like The Skuxxoid from The Transformers.

Outpost Zaxxius is apparently the name of the set that SSKUR’GE was released in.

So what the Four Horsemen studios are doing is kind of one-upping Mattel. They have their own IP, but are doing their figures in tribute colors to the Masters of the Universe. Case in point, I ordered Anthophilees immediately when I saw him. (Maybe get him by Christmas next year. (Sigh.). Anthophilees is the strongest example of them all (Buzz-Off tribute), but here SSKUR’GE is very strong in the Whiplash hole. He really only has one weakness…neither head looks like Whiplash.

(If you want to see another example I have of the Four Horsemen tributing a figure, check out my review of Demistros, the Skeletor tribute.)

When you get him out of the box, this is what you get. You have to attach the tail…

So to accomplish this, you have to take your brand new $75 giant figure and separate the torso from the waist. This was not easy. And then you have some soft goods for furry shorts (not furry shorts), which complicates getting it back together correctly. I am never removing this tail again, or swapping the parts of this figure, so at least I won’t have to do it again. (In case you don’t know, Mythic Legions and Cosmic Legions are entirely parts swappable in their own scale. The scale of this figure is Ogre scale.) I made good use of the hair dryer.

If you watch these little turntable clips, you can hear my birds chirping in the background!

Here I am showing you the figure assembled and everything you get in the box, and also including the inside of the box as the diorama. (He is standing on the box for Skeletor’s Throne)

In the box, you get

  • SSKUR’GE figure, who is “ogre scale” and of the apparently new “dragon” buck.
  • Two heads, one dragon “default” and the other alien.
  • Four alternate hands, two of which are fists
  • A large spear with a mace head
  • A scythe and trident intended to combine into one weapon.

THE SCULPT

The Four Horsemen are just the gold standard. That’s it. They have built these lines on this quality pop-art form. Think about it, did you need Mythic Legions or Cosmic Legions in your life until you saw them? There is no cartoon or comic book. No video game. Just the toys. They have created a line of generic fantasy that is positively KILLING IT. They made it for the Elden Ring fans and Dungeons and Dragons crowd. They made it so it goes with Masters of the Universe, or in this case also Star Wars or Transformers.

We have seen elements of this sculpt before in MOTUC Draego Man. I don’t have that figure any more, but I went back and looked at some pictures. They have truly advanced their ideas. Draego Man as a figure appears to be much stiffer and have less character. You don’t see the joints right off like you did in the old MOTUC days, and that has something to do with it.Here SSKUR’GE (I really like typing that name) has similar scales and toothy, horned elements. (This exact same sculpt with different paint is available as Mythic Legions Araccagor.)

I don’t know if you can tell, but I don’t care too much for that alien head. To me it looks like some kind of sad duck. The reason I almost punted on this figure is that neither head really looks like Whiplash…But…

PICTURED: Mythic Legions Balthor the Tower Ogre, armed with Animal Warriors of the Kingdom’s gold axe. And SSKUR’GE armed with the scythe and trident spear.
PICTURED: Same as above, but this time Balthor is throwing a Skeleton Legion Builder figure at SSKUR’GE, who is ready to to use the Whiplash tail. Notice the plugs on the back of the harness…I haven’t removed it, but likely one day we will get some wings.

PAINT

(Continued from …But…). The green and blue paint apps on this just overrides the weakness of the head sculpt when you put him with the other MASTERVERSE villains.

PICTURED: MASTERVERSE New Eternia Two-Bad and Cosmic Legions SSKUR’GE. Don’t these two just “seem” to go together?

The green is intentially two-tone Whiplash colored. The lighter green highlights his face and underside parts like hands, and the darker represents armor on his back. Not only do I get Whiplash vibes, but also Killer Croc vibes.

The armor pieces like the bracers and the waist pieces have a metallic sheen that I really like. That soft goods loin cloth is a kind of felt with fancy stripes. I can’t tell if the metal ring on his back is actually metal or plastic, but it is painted in the same color as the shiny parts of green on the harness. There is a pop of gold on his belt.

ACCESSORIES

Oh boy. Here is a weak part.

So the long pole mace that he comes with has the same handle as the weapon that came with my other ogre scale figure. Can’t the Horsemen give us something different? This time it is painted in gold or brass. And what even is a mace like this?

The other two weapons are designed to fit together in tribute to what Whiplash came with in the 200x line. The problem is, the handles are for a different scale of a figure.

PICTURED: Comparison Time! I don’t’ have a vintage Whiplash, but I picked up a loose 200x Whiplash the day before I decided to go back to Toy Federation. To me, everything is similar except the head sculpt.
PICTURED: SSKUR’GE fights against a Legion Builder gold knight (review coming soon) and also Mythic Legions Sir Godfrey (I think I have the name correct.) My point is that the trident and scythe don’t fit on the other pole.

But wait…there’s more…(facepalm)

These weapon pieces would be better if they could fit together on the pole pieces that came with the mace. But they don’t. I tried jamming them together…it just wasn’t really meant to happen. And it would be far cooler if it would work.

SPARTANNERD RATING OF COSMIC LEGIONS SSKUR’GE

I’ve said it before and want to re-iterate. As an adult collector, I have a job. Sometimes I have two. I have real life responsibilities, and this side hobby is pure escapism. It is escapism from the constant bad news. The constant political news. The constant culture wars. Getting this was an alternative to buying new Magic the Gathering cards, or a new video game, or going out to eat somewhere, or going to the movies. The nostalgia factor here is a key part of it. But also, like I said above, the Four Horsemen have created things that you didn’t know you wanted until you saw it. Kind of like Steve Jobs/Apple did with the iPad I am typing on right now. I happened to be going through the area where the Toy Federation is two days in a row. I walked around with the box on the first day, but then bought the 200x version instead. When I went home, it was nagging at me. So the next day when I was in town I went ahead and grabbed it.

SSKUR’GE here checks every box. Can I chalk up the head sculpt not being like Whiplash as a weakness? Not for this product. Both head sculpt options are sculpted and painted terrifically, just neither looks like Whiplash, which at a certain point the Horsemen probably aren’t allowed to do anyway.

I do think the accessories are the weakest point, and believe the Horsemen could have given us a proper scaled trident but cut the corners here. On the other hand, both parts of the weapon have good paint. Still not sure how practical a mace on a long pole would be. But it does look cool, and will be modular with other weapons in ogre scale for the line. And it isn’t like he can’t hold the trident…it is very loose. But this weapon is in scale for the other Mythic Legions that I have so it has additional use.

I couldn’t be happier with this figure. It is one of the best that I purchased over the summer. 5/5. I MIGHT look into getting a proper Whiplash head sculpt on the customizers market. Or maybe I will wait and see if Mattel comes out with a better MASTERVERSE Whiplash. But if they do, it won’t be as awesome as SSKUR’GE. And when assembled with all the bad guys, he really completes the picture.

My “bad guy” collection. Everyone’s here (Except Modulok and Screech). One Day I might update this to be a better pic with a proper diorama backdrop.

So SpartanNerd’s rating of Cosmic Legions SSKUR’GE Whiplash is 5/5. Do you agree or disagree, oh Hub City Geeks? Let me know in the comments!

Animal Warriors of the Kingdom Weapons Loot (Red)

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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!