Hello, Hub City Geeks, and here is the SpartanNerd coming to you this time from Summerville, South Carolina. You say, why are you at Summerville, SpartanNerd? Well, it’s a teacher conference, and you know I’m at Summerville, the birthplace of sweet tea. And while I’ve been here, I have drank no coffee and no Monster Energy because so much sweet tea just everywhere every day. And besides…it is WAY hot. (Heat Dome effecting half of the country).
The Sweet Tea monument in Summerville SCWhat’s happening???…Super7 Ultimates! Figures, TMNT Metalhead and G.I. Joe Cobra B.A.T. Are about to battle out for this giant jar of Sweet Tea!
So anyway, I did a little shopping with this money I saved at Target over here in Summerville. Walmart actually has some MASTERVERSE figures. Flying Fist He-Man…No, thank you. That thing does not look right (same head sculpt as Thunder Punch, which looked wrong and also I just don’t care for him). They also had New Eternia Evil-Lyn. She always looks right, but I didn’t want to buy another one. So, I’m reviewing something I picked up at Target in Summerville, and that would be MASTERVERSE Revolution Man-Of-War. The Man-Of-War is the same person as Man-At-Arms, but from the Netflix Masters of the Universe Revolutions cartoon. It is an updated Man-At-Arms. A 2.0 if you will. If you watch the Netflix show, then you know that Andra becomes Man-At-Arms. Duncan becomes Man-Of-War, and he has this mech suit and that’s terrific. I thought about picking this up when I got The Green Goddess (OK, Sorceress Teela). I’m pretty sure this was in the same wave and I was on the fence of getting it or not. I decided ultimately not to get it, and then I said…I think I even remember stating out loud, “Hey if I see it in a store someday somewhere, I’ll pick it up.” So here we are. Man-Of-War is now in my possession.
PACKAGING
The packaging is our basic, usual MASTERVERSE figure packaging. I call this the Transformer-style packaging because it has where you can see the figure inside, but it has mostly artwork. This minimizes the amount of plastic they’re using, which is good. It gives us more artwork, and artwork is always great, aways better than photos of stuff. They like to do this tilted picture on the side of the box, so with this picture you can see some more details. It looks to me like we have Man-Of-War fighting near the Wind Raider. If we get a vehicle in MASTERVERSE, the Wind Raider is a possibility, I’m sure it’d be pretty big. You could use Masters of the Universe Classics Wind Raider. But anyways, these are Horde ships, I believe. So he’s fighting against the Evil Horde.
The other side has the general library picture, that shows us the two ways to display his face…with and without the mask. If you happen to be a mint-in-box collector or just store your figures library style, this side image is very useful. I recently visited a store with lots of GI Joe classified figures done like this.
The back s a photoshop picture of the toy with some illustrations. I am not a fan of these, but you can see that we have artwork here of The Fright Zone or at least the inside of a Horde ship. And we’re seeing what Man-Of-War can do with mask and his weapon arm. And we can see a Horde Trooper here, which is a figure you can get from Mattel Creations. He’s really big. I never had one as a child, but I think he’s cool. And I like the Warhammer 40,000 vibe they’re bringing to it also. Making him oversized and you take that helmet off and see the goblin underneath. But it’s just not really for me, so I’m not getting that (I don’t think!)
We are given a new bio for Man-Of-War. Though he’s not the royal Man-At-Arms anymore, Duncan is still ready to protect Eternia at all costs in his plussed up battle suit as the powerful Man-Of-War. I like that they used the word plussed up. That’s for the D&D types. You know…people don’t talk about it much, but the DC Masters comics that came out going on ten years ago featured an evil version of Duncan called War Wraith. And he was indeed very cool.
Then we have cross sell images for other figures in the wave.
All right, so I have the figure out to get photos, sorry about my setup. But I am in a hotel room!
That hotel room desk lamp can’t be moved, but it looks just like something Duncan would hang out around!
Man-Of-War comes with…
Man-Of-War figure
mask
alternate fist hand
alternate weapon
blast effect
The packaging has the accessories inside of one of those little baggies, and printed on the inside are the package contents. So you can see everything is supposed to be there. I checked to make sure everything was here. It was all here. Didn’t get done wrong this time. Didn’t get burned this time. So, there we are. We have a blaster, a hand, a mask, and a fist weapon.
He is as articulated as any MASTERVERSE figure, with the 30 points of articulation they brag about. He has double jointed elbows and knees, and also cuts at the thighs. Like most MASTERVERSE figures he feels kind of lanky, and wants to be stood up with a wide gait.
This Duncan feels like a dress-up kind of figure, so let’s start with the helmet. The head pops right off, but here we have our first stupid problem AND first complaints. The stupid problem is that the helmet is warped in the package. So it looks like it is on crooked all the time. The complaint is the paint job on the mustache and beard. The reason why I ultimately passed on this when I ordered the Green Goddess was because the image they had posted on Big Bad Toy Store seemed to look very wrong. I’m sure it is a painted plaster prototype or something, but it was off-putting enough for me to actually remove it from my cart before pulling the trigger on the other figure. This face doesn’t look that bad…but as a guy who cares about keeping his own beard straight, it is kind of unforgivable for Mattel.
This beard and mustache…kind of derp. And that bent helmet is what the SpartanNerd has come to call a “stupid problem.”
Anyway, you can use a hairdryer or just “force” and bend the helmet out of the way and slide on the mask. It looks great with the mask on!
While I am at it, I am going to go ahead and take off his armor. And it comes right off. Underneath is a silver colored body all over, reminiscent of New Eternia Mekanek (who has a shiny blue body). The weapon hand pops off and the oversized shoulder pad just slides right off. That shoulder pad is very 200x, anyone else think so?
Nothing to hide…(I also picked up the Turtle Van at Target)
What I wish we had was an alternate head. Or maybe the helmet should come off. But an alternate head with a ponytail or something would increase the appeal of this figure to fans of the 200x show. And let’s say the Man-Of-War head has the mask and helmet on permanently. But Mattel is saving money this way maybe…just the same. It wouldn’t take a new sculpt…we already have a Revelations Duncan AND a New Eternia Man-At-Arms they could have borrowed the head from. (I don’t have Revelations version…but I do have New Eternia. Remember April Fools Day?
SpartanNerd Nintendo Switch 2 Preview. April Fools (again)!
Now the armor and everything goes back on easily, let’s address the weapon hand. That shoulder pad takes some force to get in on the bicep tightly. And then the weapon arm…it really only loosely fits. (With some force, you can get it to stick). There is a hole for hands to peg in, but you don’t usually want to use that because it is a mace on the end.
This pays homage to the vintage weapon that Man-At-Arms always had, but it is morphed to his hand…the net effect however is something that goes over a stump arm. Which is cool and sad at the same time. (Barret Wallace comes to mind).
COMPARISONS
It turns out the SpartanNerd thought he might pick up something while he was here, so he came prepared with some figures that needed some attention. So I have with me Trapjaw. Now comparing Man of War with Trapjaw just ain’t fair. Trapjaw is maybe one of the best figures in all of Masterverse. But it tells us that for the same price, the same exact cost, we could have had that much more. Trapjaw here, better sculpted. I mean, yes, New Eternia, yes, a different line. So we could say artistically that Man-Of-War looks like the Revolution cartoon. But that doesn’t mean it has to be this bland. We could have better paint. I mean, there is a gold detail on some of the armor painted on, and it looks good. But most of the gold just looks like yellow plastic.
(You can easily put Trap Jaw’s weapons in Man-Of-War’s wrist).
Let’s compare him to the Mythic Legions Gold Knight.
Yep. I brought Easter basket Donatello with me also!
(The Gold Knight has not been doing his job. What job is that, SpartanNerd? Watching my funds. That’s what. He sits where I set my wallet. He’s a Gold Knight. Debit card got lost. He’s fired). Anyways, you can see the difference in the gold. This is clearly Mythic Legions, but it is a more gold-looking gold. The gold details of the paint on the armor here match pretty good with the gold knight, but a lot of this other, for instance the left boot, that’s just like yellow plastic is what that is. It’s not gold at all. So bland and boo. We are comparing the gourmet caramel apple with peanuts to the general red-delicious apple here. Not apples to oranges because similar scale, similar everything.
Man-Of-War actually gets the giant sweet tea!
I have someone else here with me: Super 7 Ultimates Metalhead (Link in the caption of the sweet tea). Metalhead reminds me of Man-Of-War here. They’re both from cartoons. They both have cartoon designs. I even say the yellow on Metalhead kind of matches some of the yellow on Man-Of-War. So the carapace here, the plastron, (ooo, use the biology words, SpartanNerd). Those are of a different kind of gold than the Mythic Legions. I’m going to say it’s still kind of similar. Maybe it feels more metallic than what is on Man-Of-War. So would Metalhead’s hand attachments work? The answer to that one is no. This peg is too big. Doesn’t work.
SPARTANNERD’S RATING OF MASTERVERSE REVOLUTION MAN-OF-WAR
This sculpt is fine. It reminds me of New Eternia Mekanek. Especially maybe because of that shiny plastic. But the face painting is a little bit derp. Like I said, the beard details, they seem a little bit off. It looks like Man-Of-War here might have had some kind of shaving accident. His eyes do not look derp, but that soul patch there does. And the mustache seems a little bit sloppy maybe. The paint on this is just kind of lackluster. So it’s got to lose a point for that.
Articulation- He is very posable. No problems here. So sculpt and articulation…that’s two points. I’m just going to have to rate Man-at-War here 3 of 5. I feel like he might be a 2 of 5. He’s not a 1. He’s not that bad. I’m just going to go for the 3 of 5. I mean, articulation is good. I wanted it bad enough to pay $22 for it. So it’s worth the $22, I’m saying. ($22 worth of feels…that’s the third point).
It’s another Man-at-Arms. If you’re a customizer, it’s a nice silver body. The paint is lacking. Accessories are okay…I wish he had more stuff with him. I think he would have been well served with another head. Maybe even a head instead of a mask. I know they’re saving money by doing the mask. But they wouldn’t have had to re-sculpt anything. If you’re like the SpartanNerd, then you probably already have another Man-at-Arms. You could pop that one on if you like better. But I’m just saying. This is the area where we could have gotten more. Mattel could have given us more and it would have been more satisfying. So I’m going to award it a 3 of 5 kind of reluctantly. And what do you think, Hub City Geeks? Do you agree or disagree with the SpartanNerd?
I will say, in person, out of the box, he looks better than the cross-sell or the Big Bad Toy Store promotional image. Be sure to read other blog entries and reviews on SpartanNerd.com, and also check out my YouTube Channel. There you will soon see a review of Final Fantasy Commander decks for Magic the Gathering, and also a review of the Mythic Legions Undead Builder set.
I ordered this guy so long ago. February 2024? Something crazy like that. This was really when I was starting to get into Mythic Legions more heavily, and they announced the Necronominus wave, and I didn’t place any orders…I missed it. But then Big Bad Toy Store had it for pre-order so I got it there, not realizing that Store Horsemen purchasers get theirs first, and also cheaper. But it was a learning experience.
I wanted him because … I mean he’s the grim reaper, right!
PACKAGING
Maxillius comes in the regular collector friendly blister. As you look at it, you might think he has huge hands sticking up beside his hood. Nope. This is a halo. (Yes. A halo of DEATH). My specific example also features the rope around his waist coming down onto the Mythic Legions logo. you can see some stuff behind him, the hard edge of a ziplock bag, and something else that isn’t clear.
On the back you see the Necronominus wave boss, Necronominus himself. (I know I am likely not spelling this correctly, and I also can’t pronounce it. Listen to me stammer on YouTube!).
The figures on the cross sell…I don’t know any of these, but I think I might have seen the blue girl or someone like her in a store. The creature on the bottom is akin to Modulok. It is an alien beast skeleton that you can swap the parts around, and I probably will eventually get that because I like stuff like that. I watched a Dork Lair review of it, which is why I know so much about it.
And the sides…one side gives us the bio from the vague Mythic Legions story. Basically, Maxillius comes before the big boss who is the gaudy skeleton thing featured in the art on the back of the box. (That is Necro-unpronouncable himself). And the other side has a spider which is probably the faction symbol.
WHAT DO YOU GET IN THE BOX
Here he is, taken directly out. No posing or anything. he stands just fine
Here’s what you get.
Maxillius the Harvester action figure
Removable robe with rope belt
Removable halo
Front armor (this was what the mysterious thing in the box was…it was upside down)
Scythe weapon. Or should it be labeled a “tool.”
Hourglass
Pair of pointing hands
Alternate head that is a traditional human skull.
And just so you know, this is what he looks like if you remove the halo and the robe. (I also put the other head on)
One of the selling points of this figure was that it is a bare skeleton, and as far as I know the first one in Mythic Legions. They have since come out with a few others, and I am definitely tempted to get those…one is a box of four glow-in-the-dark Halloween skeletons. “Graveyard Skeletons” or something.
And then the next selling point was you have a three-in-one figure. You can go with bare skeleton, traditional Grim Reaper, or Mythic Legions mini-boss. (Who am I kidding. This guy is a main boss, even if captain gaudy unpronounceable skeleton god is his boss.)
FIGURE REVIEW
This. Sculpt. Is. Amazing. WOW!
I have been seeing the Four Horsemen talk about the dragon kickstarter at recent conventions on YouTube, and one thing to point out…Eric Treadway doesn’t make symmetrical sides. The right and left dragon legs have varying details. Well, this is true here on some of the Maxillius figure. For instance, that halo is made of an upturned ribcage. Each rib has a different treatment.
Speaking of the halo. DUDE. It has MEAT! There are some bloody details around the spotwelds. And then…MEAT FEATHERS. Yep. This is a thing. Coming out the back of the halo are small angel wings made of MEAT FEATHERS.
A glimpse into the increasingly inadequate Nerd Closet. This halo…wow! What a piece. MEAT FEATHERS are a thing. They remind me of the gills on a fish kind of. And those ribs…butcher shop. This was a detail of strength I wasn’t aware of.
While he is wearing the robe, this halo makes it apparent that this grim reaper is a Mythic Legions. It isn’t your average Halloween prop. A casual observer might think “Oh. A doll of the death angel.” But the halo and the armor piece that hangs down front give it intense flare.
And sticking out of the robe are perfectly sculpted feet and hands. This robe has wires in the sleeves…you don’t realize how necessary this is until you think about how important it is for his bony hands to point at stuff. (Especially people that he is reaping).
Surely, you know this image Hub City Geeks…(Google Image Search)
You have two head sculpt options. I thought I would prefer the classic human head, but the more alien head is growing on me. And you can pose the hood over his eyes better with the alien head. But with the human head, it looks more Halloween classic. Now that head is the same head that some other skeletons in Mythic Legions have, but it has less paint…and it could definitely use some black eyes. But also, the alien head’s eyes need some paint. As it is, they are bulbous protrusions with the same bone color as the rest of the skull.
PICTURED: MASTERVERSE New Eternia Fisto and Ram Man vs. Mythic Legions Maxillius the Harvester and Skeleton Legion Builder Reinforcement. They fight MASTERVERSE New Eternia Ram Man and Fisto. Maxillius is armed with Masters of the Universe Classics Despara sword and MASTERVERSE New Eternia Skelcon shield, while Skeleton Reinforcement is armed with Super7 Ultimates Battle of the Mounds bloody weapons short sword. I understand that in D&D, to beat skeletons you should use hammers and blunt weapons. So metal fist and rammy head…
But taking the robe off. WHOO HOO. What’s underneath!
This skeleton sculpt looks less Lego-ish than I had criticized it as being when I first ordered it. Of course, we are looking at prototypes then, so I am glad to report that the final product doesn’t feel so Ninjago-ish. True, the calves might be more thick than true human bone, but if it was thinner it wouldn’t support the figure’s weight. So we kind of have a tibia and fibula kind of sculpted together, with a patella also glued on. (SpartanNerd dropping the big words today!)
So this skeleton is so accurate! Every vertebrate is a sculpted detail. This is a new neck piece that doesn’t seem to be removable…but why would you? It feels kind of delicate, though. The spine goes down the back of the ribcage, and then the lower spine connects to a ball joint in the upper torso so that we have an “ab crunch” (without the abs.). And I almost didn’t notice at first, but the upper torso has LUNGS sculpted in, perhaps rotten, but this justifies there being some meat for the ball joint to attach.
The ribs are not removable…but they might be for a customizer. It seems like they are glued on the front.
And in this naked form, you have what must be the most articulated Mythic Legions action figure. And I haven’t disassembled him, but you could take him apart and strow bones around everywhere.
The paint on the skeleton…the bone color is a pretty close match to Skeletor’s throne. Reinforcement Skeleton is darker.
“I was hardly using it anyway”. PICTURED: Mythic Legions Maxxilius the Harvester and MASTERVERSE New Eternia Evil-Lyn. Her soul is a ghostly skull effect from a Mythic Legions Magic effect pack, and they are at Skeletor’s throne with green fire.
Pointing fingers are a necessity for the Grim Reaper. But they gave us this hourglass to capture people’s souls. So cool. I never would have thought of this, but it is a crazy fantasy idea. And here’s one for the nerds. Master Tonberry in Final Fantasy wears a robe, has an instant death knife, and what? An hourglass. So maybe the Horsemen were thinking about this?
The Scythe. (See the picture above). This is huge and all one piece. It is beautifully painted, and has battle scar marks. The stick end is slender and sharp, but this was made for adult collectors, right…(I poked myself with it accidentally and it really hurt 😦
SPARTANNERD RATING OF MYTHIC LEGIONS MAXILLIUS THE HARVERSTER
Maxillius delivers everything I would have wanted, and also MEAT FEATHERS, that I didn’t know I wanted until I had them.
Sculpt- Great. Paint- Great. Accessories- Great. Articulation- Great with no stupid problems.
And what does he add? He adds a bare skeleton, a classic Grim Reaper, and a Mythic Legions Skeleton boss.
Maxillius is a solid 5/5. And I suppose you have to agree with me, Hub City Geeks. What argument is there against this figure being a 5/5? No one ever comments, so LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, and COMMENT! Let me know your opinion of Maxillius the Harvester!7
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.
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.
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!
Who? I don’t remember this guy (or “these guys”) from my childhood in any way. Possibly they were in minicomics, or non-American media. I don’t remember them from Filmation.
I decided to get him when I saw it go up for sale as an army builder. But I already have an army of skeletons, with more to come. So I only got one. He seemed like he would go well with Battle Armor Skeletor and Undead of Vikenfell. I ordered it, and then had to wait about a month.
He’s OK…but how OK? Keep reading!
PACKAGING
Skelcon comes in the now standard MASTERVERSE packaging. You can see the figure from the belt up, with a spear on his left. Now, right away you can see one goofy expression on this face. He has such a long nose that the articulated face is askew. This is bad for a Mint-On-Card collector. I haven’t seen other examples, so I don’t know if this is how everyone’s will turn out.
We have nice artwork on the front featuring Skelcons fighting Stratos and Avionians. We can see Avion in the background. Wait-a-minute. I see a Skelcon with wings. (No wings with this figure…curious). Notable that we don’t have Stratos in MASTERVERSE (that I know of). I suspect this is a teaser for the future. And on the side we are treated to a lady Avionian, who totally could be done in MASTERVERSE.
The other side shows Skelcon standing with a shield, and his portrait floating above, making it completely possible to store and file easily on card.
The back is one of those dumb photoshop pictures. There is no cross sale, but we do get a bio that mentions Infinita, the nearly forgotten opposite of Eternia. (There was this “series bible” in Mattel’s files as they were designing the Masters of the Universe line. Infinita was a planet on the same orbit as Eternia, but diametrically opposite. This is where Skeletor and “his people” are from.)
FIGURE REVIEW
Just beamed in from Infinita
What do you get in the package?
Skelcon Figure
Battle Axe
Spear
Dagger with sheath
Shield
Alternate fist hands (not pictured)
I am not counting the harness or the girdle…though you might.
This figure has several re-used parts. I pretty much think he feels like the same figure as New Eternia Mer-Man, with a different head. But this isn’t so entirely. Just the legs and feet.
The Battle Armor Skeletor vibe is also unmistakable. But he doesn’t share parts…he “seems” to, but for instance Skeletor’s three-toed feet have these metal boots on them.
The best thing about the sculpt is the head. That articulated jaw opens and closes…and he has a nasty, gray…perhaps decayed tongue sculpted to the lower jaw. He has a horned helmet that is glossy purple, and black “highlights…(sounds wrong…outlines) there are red eyes that look like Skelcon is always in attack mode. I have a little bit of paint smudge over the eye on mine, but this adds to the figure! He looks like he has a scar or burn.
PICTURED: MASTERVERSE New Eternia Mer-Man and NE Skelcon.
He stands as well as Mer-Man, which is to say, he is lanky. I have a bit of a time getting him to stand independent of leaning on the wall.
This figure is in Skeletor blue. So kind of you can swap parts easily. The armor is in dark purple, almost black, and there are pops of glossy purple. The horned skull on the belt ties it together.
BUT, the paint on this figure is really plain compared to other skeleton warriors. From MASTERVERSE and other lines. And I am not sure it is from lack of application…it is color scheme. The SpartanNerd isn’t that great with colors…a problem that is getting worse the older I get. I don’t see the black straps on the armor right away…my eye gets lost in the forest and leaves the trees behind.
I do feel that the body could use some kind of “wash,” rather than being flat blue. Also, the chain mail on the armor could use some wash.
The armor is well sculpted, but the best sculpts are on the head and the weapons. The bone motif is very strong, with a consistent yellowed, aged hue.
Attack the usurper! PICTURED: MASTERVERSE New Eternia Skelcon and Super7 Ultimates! Black Falcon. You can see the bone paint job here in comparison to what is on the throne.
Once again, I have to complain about this shield. It is the same dumb shield we have had several times. This time even more boring because it is just flat dark gray. I sense some paint in the future. (It might snow on Wednesday and Thursday, so…). (It did not. And I did not paint.)
He really does come with a lot of accessories. He was the same price as New Eternia Evil-Lyn, who practically had no accessories. (I guess they spent the budget on this guy instead). These accessories are very useful and add a good bit to the rest of the collection.
PICTURED: Kitbash Conan the Barbarian fighting MASTERVERSE NE Skelcon. (Conan is Super7 Ultimates! Battle of the Mounds Conan alternate Schwarzenegger head, Mythic Legions Undead of Vikenfell cape, GI Joe Classified Gnawgahyde necklace. Notice the comparison of the two shield here…Skelcon’s shield vs. the same kind of shield in Mythic Legions.
SPARTANNERD RATING OF MASTERVERSE NEW ETERNIA SKELCON
Once again…Who?
I would have rather had Stratos, or even his sister. I would have rather had the more recognizable Eternian Guard…which I probably would have bought a few more of to army build.
The head sculpt is great, but most of the body feels so much like the other lanky figures, especially Mer-Man because of the three toed feet. But he doesn’t have that great paint that Mer-Man has, does he? BUT the accessories are well sculpted…among the best in MASTERVERSE.
He came with lots of accessories, and his articulation is very good with really no stupid problems. That knife sheath came off when I removed him from the blister, but it is designed to come off. Sometimes he is hard to get to stand, and he always feels lanky and leggy.
I am going to rate Skelcon a 3/5. He adds another skeleton to my collection, and one with a horned helmet no less. I like that Mattel is digging deep to give us a character like this…I just don’t know who he is. (I am looking it up after I publish this blog entry). But it is good to see Mattel bringing up Infinita again, remixing it into New Eternia, which has a story that I am not even sure is coherent.
Do you agree or disagree, Hub City Geeks? Let me know in the comments!
It has taken SO LONG for me to properly review this figure.
But she is pretty terrific! Let’s emphasize “pretty.”
My history with Evil-Lyn coincides with the end of my playing with toys as a child. At around the 11-12 years old mark. (December birthday…probably just turned 12). I received Evil-Lyn and Tyrantisaurus for Christmas, and my uncles had a fit making fun of me at my grandmother’s Christmas party. “You are playing with dolls!” It didn’t matter…I thought she was great. And she went very well with the cyborg dinosaur. (That dinosaur had one of the coolest missiles in all of toys).
The reason it took so long for me to review it … more like reasons…I had a horrible bout with the flu around the time I unboxed the figure. I filmed video of me talking about it, but it sounded so horrible. Not fit to publish. So I did another video about a week later. And THAT one had interference all over it. Background noises, etc. Making YouTube videos is more challenging than I would think.
Eventually, I was at the SCMEA (South Carolina Music Educators Association) conference in Columbia, South Carolina, staying at a hotel, and had sufficient time and a different environment to do some video reviews. So the photos and all that I post here and on YouTube will be a hodge-podge.
PACKAGING
She comes in the superior MASTERVERSE packaging, with superior art. You can see the figure in the window very clearly, as well as her wand. I have a complaint, in that she has drop-down hips, and on the blister they are pulled down, making an awkward look for those MOC collectors. (She doesn’t look as bad as the Green Goddess). The illustration of Evil-Lyn looks menacing and all business. She is in front of Snake Mountain, and there is a Skelcon to her left. (The Skelcon is one of the upcoming SpartanNerd reviews!) MASTERVERSE is in exploding rocks on the top, and Evil-Lyn’s name is on the side slant, which invites you to look at the side art.
We see her standing, cape raised with spellcasting right hand energizing the wand. She stands on alien ground, typical Eternia yellowish brown dirt and plants. Her head appears large above her. If I was a Mint-On-Card collector, I would absolutely display this side on my shelf.
Let’s see the other side.
More Skelcons, and lest we forget, Panthor coming down the stairs on the side of Snake Mountain. Notably, just in the past few days Mattel Creations posted Panthor for order, and I jumped on that so fast. (Panthor review coming hopefully before the end of February!)
Also notable on this side is a glimpse into where this line could go. That moon with a face on it is from the New Adventures line. (Nordor?) I believe the only New adventures MASTERVERSE figure out there is Slush Head. I have seen him on clearance in a couple of places. While I believe Slush Head is cool, and on of my brothers had this vintage figure, New Adventures doesn’t appeal to me very much. This isn’t “my He-Man.”
And here we have my least favorite thing about the recent packaging. This is a photoshopped image of the figure. Pointing out that she appears more “yellow” here, while the figure is Caucasian. (I prefer my Evil-Lyn figures to not be yellow in general). She stands in front of a fungus covered Eternian tree, with a blob of red magic photoshopped on a layer behind the wand, notably assembled in long configuration. Pictures clockwise around show Evil-Lyn raising her hand above the crystal ball, the soft-goods cape, a cross sell of Evil-Lyn (why?), a cross-sell of Fisto (review here), and a cross-sell of Flying-Fist He-Man (I am not getting that.)
BUT, check out this bio. One of the best! So good I am going to re-type it here.
“EVIL-LYN| Evelyn Morgan Powers. Evelyn Morgan sold her soul to the Subternian Warrior Goddess. She was given powers beyond her dark imagination, changing her forever into Evil-Lyn.”
BOOM. This right here is what this New Eternia line is about. Evelyn Morgan Powers being Evil-Lyn’s name has been a thing since the planning stages of Masters of the Universe way back in the early 1980’s. As far as I know it wasn’t mentioned again until Masters of the Universe Classics, when they began giving “real names” to characters. Also, “Forever becoming Evil-Lyn” totally bucks the story of Revelation/Revolution, where Granymyr declares her “good” upon his death.
That she sold her soul to the Subternian Warrior Goddess…Who is that? They probably won’t make this character, so, fill in with your own Mythic Legions!
HERE’S WHAT YOU GET IN THE PACKAGE
Yep. This is it. Basically this red package contained alternate hands and the bottom of the staff.
I am going to go ahead and complain about that. Mattel ABSOLUTELY could have given us more accessories.
This is the third Evil-Lyn from the MASTERVERSE line, and only one of those came with proper accessories. Revelation Evil-Lyn came with an alternate helmet-less head, two wands (one short and one long,) a pocketbook, and alternate hands. I complained about Movie Evil-Lyn not coming with many accessories, and the same here. There is no excuse. She is known to take that helmet off. We should have gotten that. She transforms into a fireball in Filmation all the time (I watched some Filmation while I was sick…comfort food!) Why didn’t we get some kind of fireball. Or even a magic effect. Kind of like they depict photoshopped on the back. NOPE. We get alternate hands. That’s it. And we have tons of alternate hands already that fit. I am not counting the bottom of the pole as an accessory really. More like “the bottom of the weapon.”
You can see that our new Evil-Lyn is more exhibitionist than the Revelation one. She is also about an inch taller, because the thigh cut is new tech. And also the new figure has new more flattering knees. I like the translucent blue staff, but I will say I prefer the more colorful staff that came with the earlier Evil-Lyn.
FIGURE REVIEW
Having gotten that negativity out of the way, the figure is all around beautiful. This is a wonderful sculpt, and she looks like a fashion model. She isn’t “busty” as some depictions, 200x for instance. No, she is elegant…maybe even “dainty.”
PICTURED: MASTERVERSE New Eternia Evil-Lyn with Mythic Legions Magic Effects. The blue effect proves my point about that specific product. (It matches Evil-Lyn’s wand very well).
This sculpt is so good. She shows a lot of leg, and that is appreciated. Unfortunately, you can see the seams on their thighs a little too much, but this was my complaint with Snake Sorceress Teela also. The “loin cloth” hangs down hiding the crotch area, and where the drop-down hips were a problem on card, the way they look adds to the curviness of this figure. A big improvement is the knees. Before, say in Movie Evil-Lyn, the knees looked like “cellulite.” Fat knees that took away. This is what Mattel came up with to maintain more articulation. But these knees looks so much better, and the articulation is just as good. I believe it makes her thigh and calf muscles appear more ripped.
She has sculpted boots with the appearance of a furry top around her calves. So with all this fur on loin cloths, boots, armor, whatever…maybe it stays pretty cold in Eternia? Seems like a contradiction because everyone is also half-naked.
PICTURED: MASTERVERSE NE Evil-Lyn with Mythic Legions Magic effect, and Mythic Legion Ninian Infantry (Review coming soon)
Her torso…she has an ab crunch right below the bodice. We have nice sculpted details in blue and purple color scheme. She also has blue bracers on her biceps and wrists. This top is sculpted on and is non-removable. (Masters of the Universe isn’t that kind of property!) Kidding aside, you COULD remove Battleground Teela’s in the Masters of the Universe Classics line, so it was worth pointing out. (Nothing to see there, people!)
The cape…it is solid black and soft goods. Evil-Lyn can’t hold it to the side like she often did in the Filmation show. (She is rather plain under the cape. Do I have to say it again…Nothing to see there, people!) I wish this cape had a wire to it so that it could be more posable. And why didn’t Mattel give us this? It would have only added to the figure and couldn’t have cost that much. I like the purple nails.
Her face. Who is this?
PICTURED: MASTERVERSE NE Evil-Lyn
No really. Is this some actress? Model? An attractive worker at Mattel studios? I’m just saying, this face sculpt doesn’t look like any Evil-Lyn from before. Which is fine. I mean, it’s just really different but well done. The helmet seems to be a little big for the face. BUT, this brings a point. Perhaps it is a helmet with a headdress on it. Something I never thought about.
SPARTANNERD RATING OF MASTERVERSE NEW ETERNIA EVIL-LYN
She gets a point for this terrific sculpt. Mattel needs to bring this A-Game to every MASTERVERSE figure.
Her paint is great, from her nails to the fur on her boots, to that wonderful vexing face.
Her articulation is usual…I will say I had a little bit of trouble getting her to stand at first, but after some wrangling this hasn’t been a problem…certainly not a stupid problem to deduct a point.
And she adds what to my collection…the best female sculpt I have. Better than Green Goddess, Battleground Teela, other Evil-Lyn figures…any of them! She seems to go right with King Conan and Boreus here.
PICTURED: Mythic Legions Boreus (Horse), Super7 Ultimates! King Conan, and MASTERVERSE NE Evil-Lyn. On an adventure in what tiny bit of snow we have had this Winter. In fact, for several Winters Spartanburg South Carolina has had no snow.
She loses a point because Mattel just didn’t give us more accessories. I think about this problem, and … I don’t know the business, but here is a thought.
She stands an inch taller than earlier Evil-Lyn figures. That’s an inch more of plastic and paint. That would be accessories, because they haven’t raised the price. Maybe I’m wrong. But regardless, Evil-Lyn should have more things. Filmation artifacts, scanners and collars from the movie, magic effects, or a fireball…something. And what about Screech and (and Zoar for that matter?) This would have been a cool addition.
So the SpartanNerd rates MASTERVERSE New Eternia Evil-Lyn a 4/5. 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.
I didn’t have Fisto as a kid. BUT, the character has always resonated with me. A guy with a huge prosthetic fist. That is a cool power! And that it is a metal tank of a weapon.
Back to the FOMO. When they released the Masters of the Universe Classics version, he was one of the first that you had to order online only, and like no one got him. Matty Collector crashed, and just like that. Bots or something snatched them all up when the site came back online, and just like that, all of them were sold.
The MOTUC version was REALLY COOL. He looked awesome, with some 200x flare, which was unusual for the time in the life of the MOTUC line, and also he came with this huge Final Fantasy VII kind of sword….Just an extra incredible detail. And I think that sword was designed for 200x but didn’t ship or something?
And so after-market MOTUC Fisto is a very high priced toy. Then they came out with a kind of lame version for Masterverse Revelation. What a letdown.
When they showed off this new Fisto, I was shocked and completely knew I would be getting it. No regrets this time.
Or are there? Keep reading, Hub City Geeks!
PACKAGING
Fisto comes in this awesome package, this time showing off some cartoon baddies not often seen. These are the orcs from the mini comic “Masks of Power,” where these little monster guys put on the masks and turn into big monsters. This mini comic was the pack-in with Fisto, and so it is a nice homage on the box. It would be TOTALLY AWESOME if they gave us these orcs sometime in the future. And why not? They are doing Skelcons.
The sides also show some of this action, with one panel featuring He-Man throwing one of the bad guys. There are also some notable flying enemies.
The back of course features a photoshop of the toy.
It is a cool addition to the story that he has bonded with the “mystical Iron Fist” in his bio. The three images on the cross sell art…I am passing on Flying Fists He-Man. Never been a fan. And this is the same bad face treatment as Thunder Punch He-Man had. Big Bad Toy Store has charged me for Evil-Lyn, but she hasn’t shipped yet. I expect she might be here before the end of the week. (What is it with me and Evil-Lyn? This will be number 3.)
One more thing. Inside the package is a little bag for his accessories, and I think this is the first time we have this specific style of baggie.
It features the modern font for Masters of the Universe in black over blue.
FISTO FIGURE REVIEW
Here’s what you get in the box
Fisto figure
Alternate vintage-style head
Alternate left hand (fist)
Curved sword (cutless?)
Battle hammer
The head that comes on him out of the box is an older, more wizened portrait with gray details on his beard, especially coming down from the “soul patch” to the goatee. There is also a mask that reminds me of something from She-Ra. That mask is not removable. He also has a top-knot ponytail.
The second head is the classic Fisto portrait. Younger and what you expect.
PICTURED: MASTERVERSE Revelation Sorceress, New Eternia Fisto, and their daughter Teela (this is a mash-up Teela) I am following the 200x story here, where Fisto and Sorceress are deadbeat parents and Man-At-Arms has to raise her.PICTURED: MASTERVERSE New Eternia Fisto rides on Mythic Legions Boreus. It just seems right to have Fisto ride on a horse. This is because he is often pictured riding Stridor, who we don’t have a proper MASTERVERSE version of yet.
This arm is also what is different. Fisto not only has a metal fist, but now for New Eternia has a whole robotic arm. This reminds me of the whole “techno-virus” story angle from the pre-ternia mini comics and more recently from the Revolution cartoon. In other words, watch out. Perhaps Fisto can be easily controlled by the likes of Motherboard and Skeletek.
ACCESSORIES
This is a character where the accessories and the figure kind of run together. The battle hammer has modular business ends. That spike looks like it could do some damage, or at least bust up some ice. The other “dome” end is similar to Man-At-Arms weapon. Now these two pieces can be swapped out. You could just have half a hammer, or you could remove Fisto’s metal fist and swap it with one of the hammer heads.
The other accessory is the purple “cutless.” Not a giant buster sword. BOO! This was a missed opportunity, Mattel! As a weapon on its own without that context, it is just fine. I think it might be a copy of the one that comes with New Eternia Jitsu, (which I don’t have…Maybe I should get?)
SPARTANNERD’S RATING OF NEW ETERNIA FISTO
The sculpt looks good. The paint looks great, with two heads for different looks taking that piece beyond the expected. I DO think the fist might be just a little bit too small (Beast Man, Snout Spout, and Ram Man have similar sized hands.) The accessories are fine even though I wish it came with an anime sword…but this can’t figure in to the rating. It is novel that you can swap the hammer heads with the fist, and as a bonus, Trap Jaw’s parts (and Roboto’s?) can also go with Fisto. And already the pirate hook looks cool, if just a little bit rustier of a finish.
PICTURED: MASTERVERSE New Eternia Fisto and Trap Jaw
And also importantly, he represents another good guy to go with the inferior force that the SpartanNerd has. (Still missing, Stratos, Buzz-Off, Extendar, Rio Blast, Roboto, Moss Man, Prince Adam, King Randor, and Queen Marlena. Yes, some of these exist but not in a proper form. OK, Zoar also.) As a contrast, I have every important bad guy represented except for Modulok and Cobra Kahn. OK, Screech. The Snake Men should be coming out soon in MASTERVERSE, at least there have been hints.
So with great sculpt, paint, accessories, no problems along the QC area or with articulation, and that he represents something special to the SpartanNerd, he gets a 5/5. We start the new year off with a bang of a punch.
spartannerd 