Tag Archives: Masters of the Universe Classics

Mythic Legions Terpiculi- SpartanNerd Review

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To see the YouTube version of my review of this AMAZING FIGURE, click here!

Way back when the Necronominus Wave dropped, I saw a few figures that I really wanted. Maxillius and Belualyth were two, but also the Terpiculi. And I didn’t pick him up as soon as I saw him. I thought I must have missed him, but then the opportunity came to me to get him off the shelf.

Keep reading to see why he is the greatest skeleton in my collection!

PACKAGING

His packaging is the same packaging as most recent Mythic Legions. It is a big blister card window over a D&D style background featuring a demon and a dragon, with red and blue details and some fire. The back is the same that we saw with Belualyth and the Undead Legion Builder pack. But here is a picture anyway. You can see clearly everything in the package except for the oversized alternate hands hidden behind the Mythic Legions logo.

The cross sell shows Necronominus (the skeleton god who is flying in the center of the artwork,) Belualyth the Beastmaster, who was my 2025 figure of the year, the Terpiculi, and the undead legions builder. I have all of these except the over-the-top skeleton god. And in person he is really incredible, but he is also just a little bit “too much” for the SpartanNerd. The other characters in the artwork are Poxxus, Ilythia, and Arythyr. That I know all of these names means that I am out-nerding most people! I don’t know much about the lore of Mythic Legions, but I do know that these are the evil bosses.

There is a little bio on the side that says that this is truly a monster. If you read Belualyth’s bio, then you know that she led an army of these Terpiculi into battle. So this guy is a legion builder as well.

WHAT DO YOU GET IN THE PACKAGE

  • Terpiculi figure
  • Pair of angled swords
  • Bone or antler meat cleaver
  • Pair of small bird wings
  • tail
  • alternate head that doesn’t have horns
  • oversized alternate hands
  • regular alternate hands

I took it right out of the package and propped him up with the oversized arms. This is what you get right out of the box.

FIGURE REVIEW

I love how the colors match most of the other Mythic Legions skeletons. It is the best bone color…actually looking like old bones look in movies and such. Which I suppose represents real-life decay, bleaching, etc. Something else cool…like Maxillius the Harvester before him, he has “guts” molded in the ribcage.

This figure is basically a Modulok or Multibot kind of character, only based in skeletons, which is actually genius if you think about it. You can rearrange the parts in so many different ways…unlimited ways really if you are willing to combine multiple figures. Which for the SpartanNerd is an actual possibility. I wouldn’t mind owning more than one of these, and for that matter you can use these parts or the parts of other skeleton warriors to add to the fun of this figure.

I thought I might need the hairdryer, but I haven’t had to use it. To the contrary, the more I have messed with the figure, the more loose fitting the pegs are. Be careful with the tail. It is a bendy tail, and the vertebrae on it are angled by default. But if you are too rough with it no doubt your could break it. This already happened with one of the Ninian Infantry figures I have, where the tail separated from he top plug-in joint. I was able to get it back together, but it freaked me out enough so that I was extra cautious with The Mouse King and now with this Terpiculi.

PICTURED: MASTERVERSE Battle Armor He-Man and Skeletor, with MASTERVERSE Panthor and MOTUC Battle Cat. Does He-Man win this one? Seems he always finds a way.

And just as a default character, he is a walking battle machine. It is strange to only have three weapons for four arms. But he is so lanky and such that some of this is kicking, punching, and tail swipes.

The oversized arms. You can remove the chicken wings and the regular arms, and peg the oversized arms in where they were. Use the hornless head, and then you have a gorilla skeleton!

PICTURED: Mythic Legions Belualyth and the Terpiculi in an MTG “nightmare” configuration using Maxillius alien head.

These two photos represent a couple of nightmares. Above I have Maxillius default head put here, with the chicken wings for the arms, and the legs reverse jointed to make a chicken monster. Below I have the oversized arms and Maxillius’ blood wings halo thing.

A FANTASTIC UPGRADE

I already purchased the skeleton wings to use with my other warriors, but they are very natural for this figure.

PICTURED: Masterverse New Etheria Hordak, Revelation Scare Glow, Mythic Legions Maxxilius the Harvester, Belualyth’s chimera pet, several skull heads, and Mythic Legions Terpiculi on the worst flight stand you ever saw.

The bone wings are huge! Very impressive…there is really nothing like it. If you get the Terpiculi, you should definitely pay the extra $20 for the wings.

WHY IS THE TERPICULI THE GREATEST SKELETON FIGURE

Let’s compare the figures below. On the far left I have The Undead of Vikenfell, who is getting weaker and weaker and constantly has trouble standing. Maybe he (or she?) is too small and light for their own good. At the back we have Demistros, one of the first Mythic Legions skeletons I had, and a great boss for the skeleton tribe. I have MASTERVERSE New Eternia Viking Skeletor’s head swapped on, and you can see he really isn’t much of a skeleton warrior. Mostly a dark knight with an evil head. On the right I have the disrobed Maxillius the Harvester, who is basically a grim reaper. And he is the most anatomical of the skeletons and would be the greatest, but I broke his neck around October 2025 and have had to Gorilla Glue it a couple of times. I was able to swap his heads for this review without issue, thankfully. A big difference in the Terpiculi and Maxillius is the pelvis…Terpiculi has the regular 1.0 waist, while Maxillius has a properly designed pelvis. (There is a belt piece on the Terpiculi providing privacy for what looks like a diaper!). But that durability problem makes me worry with messing with Maxillius.

Terpiculi is the best because he feels like you need to mess with him…it is like he is inviting you to disassemble him and reassemble him in a different way. He is a Spooky Scary Skeletons figure, for sure!

SPARTANNERD RATING OF MYTHIC LEGIONS TERPICULI

Sculpt- 1 point. Excellent work!

Paint- 1 point. Love the color!

Accessories- 1 point. This figure IS accessories basically. Plus there is a whole bone-wings add-on that is perfect!

Articulation- 1 point. I haven’t had to use a hairdryer. I want to say that he is getting looser and looser the more I mess with it. It hasn’t been enough of a problem to deduct a point…it isn’t a “stupid problem” yet.

Feels Point- Look at the picture below, and tell me if he gets the “Feels Point”. Of course he does! And even if a person isn’t into Mythic Legions specifically, but loves creepy monsters. Well the Terpiculi belongs in that monster fan’s collection. I can’t imagine a collector of horror figures would be unhappy with the Terpiculi!

THE SPARTANNERD RATES THE MYTHIC LEGIONS TERPICULI A 5/5. Do you agree or disagree? Let me know in the comments!

MASTERVERSE “On Pause”- SpartanNerd Rant

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To actually see and hear me ranting, click here!

The NY Toy Fair was this past week, and the big news about Masters of the Universe…most everything is ON PAUSE for 2026, deferred to marketing for the movie. MASTERVERSE is “On Pause”, and almost all of Origins is also…some of them just started like the 200x Cartoon Collection. “On Pause”. Transformers Origins Crossover. “On Pause”. Turtles of Grayskull just ended anyway, but there is a Thundercats thing. “On Pause.”

I found this image at ToyTales.ca.

I really hope the movie does well. The toys they have revealed look cool. They are more in the scale of GI Joe Classified, and they are proportioned similarly as they are based on real human actors. It is a whole new system of articulation also. And there is a kids line coming out called “core” or something like that, not “the first ones” as was going around about a week ago. Both lines look pretty good. There are some things, like Tri-Klops not having a sword and Battle Cat’s armor looking stupid. There are a lot of really cool things like Trap Jaw and Idris Elba Man-At-Arms.

But putting MASTERVERSE “on pause” is a mistake.

We don’t have:

  • a non-Kevin Smith Orko
  • a non=Kevin Smith Battle Cat
  • Tri-Sorceress and He-Man husband and wife 2-pack
  • Sorceress of Havoc (she would be awesome!)
  • Rio Blast
  • Extendar
  • Rokkon
  • Stonedar
  • Zoar
  • Screech
  • King Hiss
  • Tongue Lasher
  • Sssqueeeze
  • Rattlor

Yeah there’s a lot more I could add here. AND I can complain. Why did we get Anti-Eternia He-Man instead of one of the above-listed figures? Why do we have four versions of Beast Man and Mer-Man but no re-issues of Buzz Off or Stratos? Why do we have Motherboard and not a vehicle? Or for that matter the other giant figures? MASTERVERSE had all of this to accomplish, but now it is “on pause.” What about the 1987 movie figures? There was only one short window where we could get Blade, and I missed him. There was a lot more they could have done here.

The SpartanNerd’s collector display shelf.

And there are two competing outcomes.

  • If the movie does well, everything becomes some shade of the Chronicles line. More He-Man and Skeletor variants. More Beast Man and Man-At-Arms variants. More Teela and Evil-Lyn. And some of the characters I listed above…ignored. And the MASTERVERSE style of toy, which was kind of serving in my mind as something evergreen like Hot Wheels or Barbie, is just outright replaced. (This is the best outcome I think. I hope the movie does well.)
  • If the movie tanks. (A very likely scenerio). Masters of the Universe goes back underground like it did after the failure of the 1987 movie. Mattel will not support it…they have a lot invested in the success of the film. As awesome as it looks to me , an enthusiastic fan, the moviegoing regular sheeple will probably not see this so much as better than a Star Wars or Marvel movie, (both of which have been suffering for a while).

Maybe this movie will find some of that Super Mario Bros. movie or Barbie movie magic from recent years, and will knock us all out with its awesome story and special effects. Maybe it will be what the fans have always wanted and the moviegoers didn’t know they needed in their lives. But I am 60% expecting “Rise of the Beasts” or “The Last Jedi.”

“On Pause”

I believe “On Pause” is a soft way of telling us they are killing the line. Someone might say, “They wouldn’t do that! Not with so much more stuff to cover!” But they would…they already have done this…look no further than Masters of the Universe Mega Books, (or Mega Constructs, or just MEGA.). Whatever. That brick shop that was promised has given us some Hot Wheels models. They haven’t done anything with Masters of the Universe in years, and that line was VERY incomplete…they even released the Central Eternia Tower, but never the Viper Tower of the Grayskull Tower. If they can leave ends like that loose, you can bet we won’t get any MASTERVERSE Snake Men.

SpartanNerd Cabin Fever-Cold Slither Concert Time

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See yesterday’s action figure photography post about the snow here.

An icicle spike, right at my tire.

Yeah…I’m going even more koo-koo crazy today…but at least I got out and drove to Walmart…it was dangerous at least on the way there. You have to worry about other drivers being nuts…I know I drive real slow over sheets of ice, while the cars pile up behind me. What is the hurry anyway? To slide off the road and crash into a tree?

My GI Joe Classified Series shelf has been in disarray, so I decided to use some of my boredom to fix it up. I thought I would make the Cold Slither look like the cover of the comic. So I cut the box up…(it was hard to bring myself to do that) and then got to setting them up.

My copy of the Cold Slither one shot by Tim Seeley. Seeley is more known for his work on Masters of the Universe.

You can pose them pretty close to the pose on the art. Unfortunately, their hair is too stiff to pose it like a fan is blowing it or something. (Once I saw Diamante in concert. She literally has fans on the edge of the stage to blow her incredible hair!) Torch is only barely balanced in that crouched pose. I added a little color filter to make it a little more in line with the comics colors. I glued some dice to the amplifiers to make them stand…they aren’t in the comic cover, but I can’t do the comic cover perfect anyway. The figures to a good job of standing like it, though.

Well, the Cold Slither concert went great. They played all the classics, plus a cover of “Am I Evil.” What was happening at the back of the venue?

Looks like Sgt. Slaughter led the Night Force to arrest Cobra Commander and Gnawgahyde. Cobra Commander was just trying to pay his bouncer, and then here come the Joes just messing things up. (I grew up typically a Cobra guy).

That packaging is so good, this back-of-the box really captures this seedy place where Cold Slither would hold a concert. I added kind of a smoky filter to make it even better.

Links to reviews of the figures above

Sgt Slaughter

Shooter and Tunnel Rat

Law and Order

Gnawgahyde, Porkbelly, and Yobbo

I never did a review of Cobra Commander. By the way, he is one of the most commonly seen GI Joe Classified figures. I believe they “over printed” him.

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

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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.

MOTU Origins Cartoon Collection Prince Adam and Cringer- SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review

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See the video review of this on my YouTube page!

I wasn’t collecting Origins. But I have been gifted several recently. And they are honestly great. Perfect upgrades over the vintage figures actually. And that is really saying something. But at generally $20 each, you really feel the pain since the 1980s, when they were worth $5.00 each. (That means, in 40 something years, $20 now is what $5 was worth. Makes you think…Maybe Back to the Future 2 was correct in their predictions about the future!)

But before all of this new stuff that I have, I thought about getting this as my first Origins figures. The reason…Cringer is a rare figure. Mattel hasn’t made many figures of him. He is a Filmation property, and I think in the 1980’s there was a feeling that taking the saddle and the helmet off of the Battle Cat was close enough to having Cringer.

It became apparent during the Masters of the Universe Classics line that adults really DID want an actual Cringer. So they made him the pack-in with Queen Marlena/Captain Glenn. (There is a visual guide on the internet). This was a non-articulated figure. But it was the first one! (I didn’t get it, but knew about it).

Anyways, the Origins Cringer that was released last year as a Target Exclusive (I think) was readily available. But I hesitated. I really just wanted to put my money into more Mythic Legions or Masterverse figures. But then…I was gifted some for Christmas and they are so nice I wanted it again…only to find…them NOWHERE! Not online. Sold Out. I visited Target, where they still had Moss Man on the shelf. No Cringer and Prince Adam. But at the Toy Federation in Greer, SC, I found one. Keep reading to see my feelings about this figure set.

PACKAGING

Adam and Cringer came in a nice window box with artwork all around (See the top image). You can see the figures and accessories inside with no problem. The top features Adam reclining on a rock with Cringer as his pillow. Classic! Looking on are some evil warriors, Evil-Lyn, Skeletor, and Tri-Klops. There is Eternia jungle swag all around the window.

The side features Imp also spying.

The He-Man and the Masters of the Universe logo is prominent. This was the Filmation Cartoon’s title, so does Imp belong here?

The other side features Pookie, the little creature from the He-Man and She-Ra Christmas Special that Teela takes up with.

All of this is very cartoon-retro, as it claims to be. Very nice. But the back is where this package really shines.

Oh yeah! Now this doesn’t look like the animation…I mean the castle and the lightning does, but Adam and Cringer are more detailed and shaded, and Adam is stoic and serious unlike the toy.

What I wish they would do is just give us the image of the castle…that would be the perfect size to pose Origins or any other figures in front of. Just think…if a casual collector picked this up on a whim, then they would get a lot of mileage out of that package if they would do that.

I really like the back of this package, and love the new art. But I think there is potential for more here that Mattel missed out on.

FIGURE REVIEW

What do you get in the package???

  • Prince Adam figure
  • Cringer figure
  • Power Sword
  • Alternate head for Cringer
  • Alternate head for Prince Adam

Is this $30 worth of paint and plastic?

Sometimes I think Mattel believes that Prince Adam won’t sell unless he has some other incentive. But I think this is a very good Prince Adam figure. The alternate head we get is more of the “laughing Prince Adam” head that was a meme a few years ago.

Like I mentioned above, Cringer doesn’t have many figures, and I feel like this Cringer will work great with Masterverse. What we don’t have in Masterverse is a good Prince Adam. My thought is that this Cringer is in scale with the Cartoon Collection…and this is also in scale with Masterverse because Cringer is a little wimp kitty, but Battle Cat is huge and fierce. Anybody agree with this logic?

Origins figures start at around $20, so at $30 for this set that seems like a good value.

PICTURED: Origins Cartoon Collection Faker attacks Cartoon Collection Prince Adam while Cringer covers his eyes. If anyone saw this…would they put two-and-two together to discover Adam’s secret?

Articulation…this is a big draw, especially for Cringer. The first thing I did was have him hide his eyes, and he can do this classic cartoon move very well. He has the same exact articulation as Masterverse Panther and Classics Battle Cat, only in a smaller Origins format. (Hips, knees, ankles, paws, shoulders, tail, torso, neck, and head. No articulated mouth)

Prince Adam’s articulation is hindered by his vest…he can’t move his arms as much as he could. BUT he has one thing going on that neither Faker (pictured above) nor Stealth Ninja He-Man has, and that is the ability to raise the magic sword aloft. In other words, Adam’s wrist can swing out forward to hold the sword up. (Or to chop down also)

PICTURED: Origins Cartoon Colleciton Cringer and Prince Adam transforming into Masters of the Universe Classics Battle Cat and Masterverse 40th Anniversary He-Man.

ACCESSORIES:

The only thing we really have is the Power Sword. All of Adam’s joints are swappable as expected. I’m not sure about Cringer’s. The heads interchange easily.

I discovered that the vest has a nifty design. There is a hidden “buckle” imprinted on the inside, where you can snap it together at the belt. My vintage Prince Adam always has problems with his vest, up until the point that I put a hair tie around him to secure it.

PICTURED: Origins Cartoon Collection Prince Adam and vintage Prince Adam. Also vintage Battle Cat.

You can see in the picture above what I am talking about.

So the colors match pretty good except for the vest. The other obvious difference is the head sculpt of the vintage toy is actually the same as vintage He-Man’s sculpt.

SPARTANNERD RATING

As a set this is a 5/5. Especially because of Cringer. If it was only Prince Adam, I would take off for there not being more accessories. But he comes as a set, and I love it!

Do you agree or disagree? Let me know in the comments!

Masters of the Universe Origins- SpartanNerd Review

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See a video review of my new Origins collection HERE.

I’ve kind of just skipped collecting these, focusing on Masterverse and Mythic Legions. Mattel has done a good job of updating all of their vintage designs, and finding space to make new characters, offer crossovers, and also make concepts come to life.

I was gifted these, and won’t offer a rating. I don’t think it is fair for me to judge the things I usually judge: Paint, Sculpt, Articulation, Accessories, and what it means to me personally. In the case of all three of these, they mean so much that I couldn’t offer more than a perfect score. As Origins figures, generally aimed at the children’s market, the sculpt and paint, etc aims for a lower target than adult collector toys.

Nevertheless, I am going to review them and talk about what this origins line is about.

First I was gifted Turtles of Grayskull Stealth Ninja He-Man.

STEALTH NINJA HE-MAN

My first Origins figure, but unfortunately the blister was loose from the card…Amazon’s carelessness I’m sure. But this is a good package featuring Masters of the Universe style font, and green exploding rocks, with some of the characters from the story that Mattel and Nickelodeon have come up with. (Also conspicuous the Masters and the Turtles logos on the bottom)

I mentioned that I passed on all of the origins at first. And the reason is that the very first wave that they released had this “play dough” color scheme. It was like I was looking at a vintage figure, but seeing something updated about the colors in a negative way. I was excited that the figures were in scale and went with the vintage line, so they could go with castles and vehicles, etc. But there was this “baby toy” color scheme.

When they announced the crossover, I saw it and immediately said I would get them all. The appeal to me was the wackiness, and if the colors were too bright, that was fine for Ninja Turtles, soo…But I wound up not getting them. These figures are around $20 each, and it was kind of like get a couple of Mythic Legions that I really wanted, or pay out for a full wave of TMNT as I found them at Walmart or somewhere, knowing I wouldn’t like all of them anyway. BUT, I did collect the full run with alternate covers of the Dark Horse crossover comic. Freddie Williams II is an awesome artists, and I really enjoyed his work on the Injustice crossover and the Thundercats crossover. (That Thundercats crossover story is dumb, though).

On the back, at the top you get a comic image of He-Man vs. Skele-Shredder. (I just ordered that guy today!). You can see the only action feature here, which is the shroud that he is wearing. You can place the sword in the slot on the back. There is a cross-sell of April O’Neil, which is the Sorceress, Hordak, which is just a battier version apparently, Stealth Ninja Leonardo (wasn’t he a stealth ninja anyway?) and the this figure, Stealth Ninja He-Man.

I had a question when I reviewed the Masterverse Mantenna…could the origins legs swap with it. The answer is NO. We get this little instruction card that tells us exactly what parts are removable. You can swap the waist with the legs attached, and change the feet with different feet. Also the arms and the head. but the legs are not meant to be swapped. Also, they are too small for Mantenna. It nerves me out to pop the torso off from the waist…the arms, the boots, and of course the head all seem right. But it feels like I am breaking something.

We have this mini comic…this is not the same story as Dark Horse put out. This comic is shorter than the vintage mini comics, but the art is cool. And this seems to be the ending of the crossover story. Stealth Ninja He-Man wears this shroud to change his appearance magically, so he only appeared to be mutated. (The first wave had Mutagen Ooze He-Man or something like that.)

The back of the comic has the same cross-sell images.

I set up all those comics I have to prove it!

This is Stealth Ninja He-Man right out of the package. There was a mask in there that I wasn’t sure what it was until I looked at it good, and so I removed the top of the shroud and fit it over his face, then put the shroud back on. (The shroud has two pieces…a cowl and a cape)

Other updates on the design, He-Man has exposed toes on his right foot. He has a leg grieve, an arm bracer, and a shoulder pauldron, all with turtle shell designs. There is a belt with armor similar to what Skeletor wears.

The sword in the slot on the back of the cowl.

I still have my vintage Buzz-Off figure, and wanted to show this off, along with my vintage Castle Grayskull door. The proportions between the vintage and the origins are practically the same. One thing I have complained about especially with the female Origins figures is the knees. With the Turtles of Grayskull line, it looks like they improved the knees. The arms do seem like they might be slightly longer, but this might be an illusion because they actually have modern articulation. Notice that He-Man’s sword is of the Alfredo Alcala design, rather than a Filmation or vintage toy design. I still have my He-Man who has a vintage Battle Axe, but I wonder if that Battle Axe is newer because it shows no signs of wear.

Here is Stealth Ninja He-Man next to Masterverse Battle Armor He-Man, so you can see the difference in scale. If you watch the video version, you can see me swap the cowl and put it on He-Man…it looks great!

Now if you take all this armor off, you have what is essentially an updated vintage He-Man, with exposed toes on one foot. And as I pointed out in the video, how many vintage He-Man figures have the paint rubbed off at the end of the boot? So this doesn’t even look wrong.

One more thing. Opening this. Holding it in hand and messing with it…this created an emotion in me that is hard to describe. I know it is a wave of nostalgia. It was like I was a kid opening a new figure all over again. Once I went to the Retro Toy Con in Greenville, SC, and they had the voice of April O’Neil announcing all of the events. Hearing her was great! Opening this toy created the same feeling for me.

CARTOON COLLECTION CATRA AND FAKER

These two are from the Cartoon Collection, evident by the Filmation rainbow colored logo. At the top you can see the specter of Hordak staring down at them. On the right side of the box there is a foil 40th Anniversary sticker for She-Ra. The background is Castle Grayskull, apparently on fire!

The back features a comic image representing the vintage cartoon episode they are from. “Magicats” and “The Shaping Staff.” Both have cross-sell featuring themselves and Leech. Neither figure really has an action feature, but Catra’s package highlights that you get her cat form, and Faker’s highlights that you can swap his head from the one with evil white eyes to a regular He-Man head.

Faker is especially notable, because usually Faker is a blue version of He-Man usually with Skeletor’s armor in orange or pink, but in the Filmation Cartoon they evidently didn’t know this, so they made him look exactly like He-Man except for the eyes. So with this figure and that swappable head, you really have a Cartoon Collection He-Man also, right?

Somehow I don’t have a photo, but they both came with a mini-comic that kind of ends with the evil warriors telling Skeletor that “Loyalty is for Losers.” Very entertaining, especially since the vintage cartoon always ended with a moral lesson!

Here is a side-by-side comparison of Stealth Ninja He-Man and Cartoon Collection Faker. you can see the cartoon collection design has some updated features. It is a “flatter” sculpt, and feels less “chunky” in your hand. I don’t experience the same “nostalgia” sensation opening and holding this, and I think it is because it “feels different” in hand, if that makes sense. It is designed like this because it is a reproduction of the cartoon rather than the vintage toy. So this head sculpt is different also. But if Stealth Ninja He-Man’s boots are bothering you, you could switch Faker’s out.

Here is a swap. I swapped the waist. Now Faker seems a little more vintage because he has Skeletor’s belt on, even if it is a shade of chrome.

Here is Catra standing on 200x He-Man. I wanted you to see a comparison with 200x She-Ra, but didn’t want to take the She-Ra off of the wall.

Catra has a mask, and if I remember correctly (I didn’t watch She-Ra much as a kid,) she would put on the mask and change into the cat.

That cat is a non-articulated rubber piece but is nicely painted and is the same armor that Catra is wearing, but with some dinosaur spikes.

The vintage Catra was a doll. So I never played with one, and in fact might not have seen one. My cousins (both girls of a similar age) had She-Ra figures but we rarely got together with our toys. I do remember playing with them a little, but not enough to speak with knowledge about Catra. I find the tagline “Jealous Beauty” to be hilarious…it is like…we can’t have Hordak as the villain of this toyline. It has to be another lady, and instead of EVIL…she is just “jealous.” Sounds like the kind of problem that female children have a lot. (I work in middle school…I know this well.)

You can remove Catra’s head and her cape comes right off, so that can go on another figure. (Check out Count Chocula). Otherwise, she didn’t come with a weapon.

Here she is standing next to Masters of the Universe Classics Despara.

This photo is from an upcoming video…you get rewarded by reading the blog! The video is “The Best of 2025” and this is a photo of the ladies category. PICTURED: Masterverse New Eternia Teela, GI Joe Classified Series Shooter, Mythic Legions Belualyth, all in front of some of my Batman/Catwoman comics. This is a good Christmas story also, so get to reading Hub-City Geeks!

Here you can see that she is much shorter than other lady action figures I have collected this year.

THE FUTURE

Well I already decided to order Skele-Shredder and Origins Sharella. So now they are on the way! Is this the new rabbit hole for the SpartanNerd…probably not. I’ve had my eye on Sharella for a little while, and actually saw one in a store…she was much shorter than I expected, and there was serious markup on the figure. Playing with Catra convinced me to go ahead and get it, and Skele-Shredder will be a great nemesis for He-Man.

Do you have Origins figures, Hub-City Geeks? Let me know in the comments!