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Masters of the Universe Chronicles King Grayskull

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See the video review HERE.

It makes me wonder…

Mostly I haven’t been too pleased with Mattel Creations “Club Grayskull” subscription. It is $10 a year with the promise of exclusive pre-release access of products. But most of this has been Origins figures that pretty much nostalgia fans aren’t that interested in. I mean, Geldor, and He-Ro. And even more obscure that I did get, Sharella. What Masterverse figures did they offer this year? Panthor, Moss Man, and … Dragstor? Well they offered Blade but even I, a club member, missed that one.

So they announced the club at the beginning of April last year, and behold they knew they would get most of their renewals in April this year IF THEY OFFERED SOMETHING GOOD. Well here he is. Masters of the Universe Chronicles King Grayskull.

There has been a few leaked Chronicles Scare Glow figures out there, but King Grayskull is the first official Chronicles release. So all members surely ordered one to you know, have, a Chronicles figure, but also King Grayskull is pretty cool of a character anyway. It is still a mystery if he will make an appearance in the film, but there seems to be a possibility, possibly played by Dolph Lundgren. It seems like an odd choice to undo the race-swap they gave him for the Kevin Smith show. (That was an excellent rendition, and has been my favorite King Grayskull…no I think favorite KING figure. And that is saying something for a guy who has a few figures of kings.)

So how did he turn out?

PACKAGING

This packaging is similar to other offerings from Mattel Creations in that it doesn’t have a blister bubble or window box. it is all artwork, and the figure is tied into the box using paper strings. A great way to give us non-retail figures in appealing packaging that we will want to keep using.

The front features a great illustration showing us the Pharaoh King Hiss, Lady Slither, Sqquueeeze, a REMCO DRAGON (or similar, cool!), the Turbodactyl, Battle Lion, and of course the king himself on top of some skull cave stuff channeling lightning between not only his power sword, but also the battle axe. And that is AWESOME! The Mattel guy at Toy Fair told Pixel Dan that the red Masters logo means movie focus, and the blue logo means cartoon. But this figure wasn’t revealed there, and it is a black Masters logo. Just interesting.

Some of the things I wondered going into this was how much this figure would share with the previous King Grayskull. This package gives is in illustrated form much of the same details. KG has the 200x asterisk symbol on his chest, and also sports a cape with comfy pauldrons. The previous King Grayskull had a problem with those pauldrons being soft goods…

The back shows us some of that photoshop artwork I am not too fond of. We can see King Graskull decked out with the shield in the side window, and in action with the battle axe on the other.

The side has another barbarian illustration. And it invites you to look inside to see any changes to the character.

As you open the box, you can see this same illustration covering the figure. But you now have a logo-free poster if you want. Also notice that you can see King Hiss. Flipping this over lets us have this scene also.

This is the Snake Lair. All of this about the Snake Men kind of burns, because in MASTERVERSE, the only Snake Man we got was Kobra Kahn, and he was a pitiful figure. Maybe this is all a hint that Snake Men will be coming out soon. But we have seen them repeatedly on Masterverse packaging, but have really none to show for it. (See Snout Spout’s packaging, as well as Terror Claws Skeletor)

FIGURE REVIEW

Here he is in the package

Right between Revelation King Grayskull and King Conan. On the YouTube version of this video, I actually play the Palace Theme on this piano, in case you were wondering. I wanted to do something different!

What do you get in the package?

  • Chronicles King Grayskull Figure
  • Power Sword
  • Battle Axe
  • Shield
  • pair of punching fists.
  • You could count the gauntlets on his wrists as well.

I am going to go about this two ways. First I want to know about this new format. How is he different than a Masterverse Figure? And then I want to talk about this specific figure an offer a rating at the end like I do always.

PICTURED: MASTERVERSE Revelation King Grayskull and Masters of the Universe Chronicles King Grayskull. I am showing them in the same basic pose. Notice the 200x sword I have is from the 200x Castle Grayskull set that belonged to my brother. (I never owned this myself, but only wound up with pieces of it somehow. I am not a fan of the design.)

When you compare the Revelation KG to the new Chronicles KG, the scale is very slightly smaller. Where the size difference makes its appearance is in the knees and elbows. It is like there might be a slight “shave” off all around the figure for this new scale. It is something you notice if you look for it, but you probably wouldn’t at a glance. But it is enough to make black King Grayskull feel just a little bit more beefy and muscular than caucasian King Grayskull. (Just so you know, I believe the OG Masters of the Universe Classics figure would be shorter but still appear more muscular than either of them. I don’t have that figure, so…)

PICTURED: MASTERVERSE New Eternia Fisto riding Mythic Legions Boreus, and Masters of the Universe Chronicles King Grayskull riding Masters of the Universe Classics Battle Cat. I title this one “Sunday Ride.” You can see a good size difference in these two, even though it isn’t as drastic when comparing to Revelation King Grayskull.

Revelation King Grayskull had stunted articulation at the knees, but the new knees on the Chronicles King Grayskull are perfect to hinge all the way back to where he can kick himself in the butt. The forearms on the new figure are also new and skinnier, and no longer is there a hole at the end for a fist to peg in…now the fore-arm is a peg, and the hand is a double-jointed wrist. Nice improvements! As a consequence, the new hands are even smaller than before and could get lost easier. (But I haven’t lost these…yet). So what I am saying, you kind of feel the difference in scale around the wrists, knees, and feet most of all.

The only soft goods on the new figure is the cape. The pauldrons are thankfully sculpted in plastic. And I thought this power harness might be 1-to-1 the same, but it is a new sculpt.

So what about this figure specifically. I like the new thing they are doing with his hair. The 200x version had these long viking ponytails coming down, like a barbarian Wendy’s mascot. The Revelations version had Native American-type of braids. This figure has a sloppy top-knot with long locks, and so it is different. The face sculpt is passable for He-Man, but obviously a different character. Dare I say more “American” looking (as opposed to European). I mean, I am trying to see Nick Galitzine here, but he doesn’t look like him. He also doesn’t look like Dolph Lundgren. I think he kind of resembles Vanilla Ice.

PICTURED: “Mammals vs. Reptiles.” MASTERVERSE Revelation Sorceress Teela, Mythic Legions Ninian Infantry X2, Figura Obscura Monkey King, MASTERVERSE New Eternia Whiplash, Masters of the Universe Origins Sharella, and Masters of the Universe Chronicles King Grayskull.

His muscles are chiseled very nicely why the same ab-crunch that most MASTERVERSE figures have. He wears a girdle over his furry shorts making a more royal look. This new figure doesn’t have a thigh-cut, something I don’t think we will miss. I already mentioned the knees, but the elbows are also double-jointed. He has the furry boots you expect, with a leather strap look to them. The power harness has a ring on the back that allows the sword to be displayed outside of the cape. This cape is not removable without removing the harness as far as I can tell. (I haven’t done this). It does appear that the pauldrons have pegs that might make them swappable in the future. He doesn’t have trouble with articulation…he stands very well, but his lower legs…like at the boot cut is slightly loose, he can go pigeon toed pretty easily. Still I am giving him the full point for articulation. No real problems! He even has decent head articulation considering the sculpted hair that he has. And Mattel made a lot of that this figure can grab the sword while it is in the holster on his back…that no other figure could do that. But I think 1987 Movie He-Man might have something to say about that.

PICTURED: Masters of the Universe Chronicles King Grayskull and MASTERVERSE 1987 Movie He-Man. Contrary to what Mattel asserted at Toy Fair, King Grayskull is not the first figure that can grab the sword on his back.

ACCESSORIES

PICTURED: Masters of the Universe Origins Cartoon Collection Faker and Masters of the Universe Chronicles King Grayskull. Seriously, Faker’s sword is slightly bigger than King Grayskull’s, and this is wrong. KG’s sword does feel like it has more finesse somehow, though. Here is also a chance for you to compare an Origins figure to the new Chronicles figure.

We have the three main accessories that every He-Man needs. I even think they should include them with all the variants, but they don’t unless your company name is MONDO. I wondered if at least the shield would be the same as Revelation King Grayskull, but no it is a different sculpt. Larger and less cartoony, with gold highlights and fancy, barbaric texture.

The battle axe is pretty nice, with some color on its inner texture and the cap (don’t know what it is actually called) a circle with the 200x asterisk symbol.

But here is the big problem…maybe I should say small problem…This Power Sword is shorter than all of The Masterverse swords. It is a step backwards. Honestly, it almost feels like an Origins Power Sword as far as its size. Why did they do this to the most iconic weapon outside of a lightsaber?

For what it’s worth, I also think it is a missed opportunity to give us a new version of the 200x Power Sword.

SPARTANNERD RATING OF MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE CHRONICLES KING GRAYSKULL

PICTURED: MASTERVERSE New Eternia Battle Armor Skeletor vs. Masters of the Universe Chronicles King Grayskull. They are battling in Skeletor’s throne room (Also a New Eternia piece)

If I separate my feelings about differences in this and MASTERVERSE figures, it is a solid 5/5. He checks every box I ask for. Sculpt looks good, and paint also, if it isn’t conservative. He is better articulated than the MASTERVERSE KG. His accessories are what you expect, but the sword is too small. But he gets the Feels Point also…mostly because I generally like the character and also am excited to be one of the early reviewers.

PICTURED: Cosmic Legions Anthophilees (Buzz-Off KO), Mythic Legions Ne’Ve’ (Review coming soon), MASTERVERSE New Eternia Panthor, and Masters of the Universe Chronicles King Grayskull. Also notice there are sculls scattered around, these are from the Mythic Legions skull head pack.

So I award this figure a solid 5/5. Do you agree or disagree, Hub City Geeks? Let me know in the comments!

PICTURED: “Eternia Throne Room”. Mythic Legions Ne’ve’, Mythic Legions Kitbash “Gamecocks Knights” X2, Masters of the Universe Classics Sir Lazer Lot, MASTERVERSE New Eternia Ram Man, Masters of the Universe Classics Kitbash Battlefield Teela, and Masters of the Universe Chronicles King Grayskull. The throne is the Throne of Atlantis that goes with Super7 Ultimates! King Conan.

New Eternia Mosquitor- SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review

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See the video review of New Eternia Mosquitor here! I wrote this blog entry about two weeks after I unboxed it.

I know a guy has the market cornered on Mosquitor (Pixel Dan), but I also have fond memories of the mosquito member of the Horde. Mosquitor was one of the final MOTU figures I ever had. The last few I had were Rio Blast, Extendar, Evil-Lyn, Tyrantisaurus, and Mosquitor.

I am CONVINCED I saw Laser Power He-Man and Laser Light Skeletor on some clearance sale at a discount store, but didn’t get them. Maybe this is a Mandela effect thing? (The SpartanNerd is from Spartanburg SC, not Sparta, Greece. Not from Europe…)

I remember getting Mosquitor as an Easter present of all things. I loved the blood sucking gore effect, unique to this figure in the whole of Vintage Masters of the Universe. So how did he turn out for Masterverse?

PACKAGING

Mosquitor comes in the usual MASTERVERSE packaging. There is nice art on the front showing him with wings up and a long curly nosepiece. You can see the figure clearly in the window, which unfortunately for MOC collectors (not me) doesn’t have a full nose piece on. So it looks like his nose is sawed off.

As you look around the side you can see Imp, Hordak’s pet, sitting on the top of a cannon. This is definitely not safe for the little guy! Of note and interest…this figure is labeled “New Eternia” not “New Etheria.” The pet that came with the NE Hordak was not Imp. So it is odd that they used Imp in the art on Mosquitor’s packaging.

The other side shows the library image for easy storing, sorting, or otherwise alphabetizing your figures. (Just joking.). It is nice to have this as a feature, and showing off additional looks for the figure.

The back of the figure features a photoshop of Mosquitor with an animated style background featuring a large skull. We are given windows into how the “action features” of the figure works.

There are cross sell images on the bottom that show us Anti-Eternia He-Man, Mosquitor, and Hordak. I don’t know if I will get get Anti-Eternia He-Man or not. I don’t have a strong connection to him, and I have some other problems with the figure. For instance, we already have Faker. He-Man doesn’t need another doppelgänger. Especially not one more frightening. I have more rant about this offering, but this is a review of Mosquitor, so I will keep it at that. However, if someone gifts me Anti-Eternia He-Man, then…

FIGURE REVIEW

Mosquitor comes with everything you see here in the package.

  • MASTERVERSE Mosquitor Figure
  • Three alternate nose pieces
  • An alternate chest plate “dripping blood”
  • A laser gun
  • A hose
  • Should I count the wings as accessories?

The hose is the same hose that came with New Eternia Snout Spout. It plugs into the back of his head and connects to his armor. What would have been cool would have been the “blood tanks” on Emiliano Santalucia’s design…and then this hose would have been more logical and epic.

The paint. Well, there isn’t much. He is molded in the colors he is supposed to be. There are paint hits on his boots, and he has these red spikes on his shoulder armor which are one of the best details of the new design. After spending some time with the figure, I have noticed some paint slop.

There are two options for displaying Mosquitor. You can have a full tank on his chest, or a partially bloody “dripping” chest. This isn’t a pumping action feature, but instead a chest plate similar to what Battle Armor Skeletor has. The bat shape just pops off and can be replaced. Some of the paint slop mentioned above is on the full tank chest piece. At the same time, I wonder if in that case it was purposeful? It adds to the effect of “blood tank.” But I suspect this was accidental, by the same factory worker who did the other red paint on the figure.

Mosquitor has the same eye effect that some other recent MASTERVERSE figures have had (NE Panthor’s is the best). A 3-d effect where it is like a translucent cover that gives the illusion of a real eye. Except that in the case of Mosquitor, his eye doesn’t look realistic because it looks like the vintage toy’s eye.

All of his articulation is what you would expect from a MASTERVERSE figure, “30 points of articulation.” But it brings up a tired complaint. These figures are lanky, and yeah, they have good articulation, but the net effect is that they are not that posable. Most of them are standing on the shelf in a similar pose. Balancing well on their feet with their arms forward holding something. Maybe this is me not being creative? Don’t get me wrong…I prefer the option to pose as opposed to a statue. I just think it a little bit ironic.

PICTURED: MASTERVERSE New Eternia Mosquitor attacks New Eternia Thunder Punch He-Man. NE Snout Spout takes on New Etheria Hordak. And Panthor is just there.

ACCESSORIES

The wings attach to the back of the armor, and are interchangeable with Hordak’s wings. These wings are opaque muted pink, the same size as Hordak’s, and are just as posable. It is important that they remove or are easily hidden because some collectors might prefer to display him without this.

The gun…this is NOT a Horde crossbow. Instead it looks a little bit like the gun on Emiliano Santalucia’s 200x He-Man.org Christmas wallpaper artwork from like 20 years ago. (Once again, I wish this figure had those bloody tanks for his back more than I like the wings.)

PICTURED: MASTERVERSE New Eternia Mosquitor takes on Four Horsemen Studios Figura Obscura Monkey King. In the background you can see McFarlane Mortal Kombat Khotal Khan and Masters of the Universe Classics Sir Lazer Lot

The nose pieces can go on either the end of his nose or on the end of the gun…in fact on both ends of the gun. (This gives you the option of fashioning the gun into a melee weapon. One looks like the vintage mosquito nose. One looks like a curved dagger, and the other is a tentacle, which anatomically is a “proboscis” I believe.

RATING

I awarded MASTERVERSE New Eternia Mosquitor a 5/5 when I filmed the video two weeks ago, and I am going to stick to that notwithstanding the paint slop I began to notice. ***He has an asterisk :)***. I feel like he fits right in with NE Hordak and Mantenna.

He is one of my “need to have” figures, and he does it well. My “need to have list of” members of the Horde now only has Grizzlor, Modulok, and Multibot left to go. I didn’t have that many of them around when I was a kid. (I know there is a Grizzlor, but that molded plastic hair sucks.)

Do you agree or disagree with my 5/5* rating? Let me know in the comments!

MASTERVERSE Moss Man- SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review

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Check out this review on my YouTube channel!

I saw Moss Man’s reveal online at SDCC, and thought, “I better jump on that or I will miss it like I missed Blade.” (Yes. Still belly-aching about that). What I didn’t expect was for it to be offered FIRST to the people who subscribed to Club Grayskull last year.

All year long I have thought “What a waste of $10. All they have released are Origins figures.” I haven’t been collecting Origins Masters of the Universe figures, mainly because the first couple of waves had colors that pushed against my sensibilities. I mean, the vintage form factor is obviously cool, but the colors they chose just looked like…Play-Doh. And I couldn’t bear it. And even now, the Origins figures still have an off-putting quality. I do feel like what is up ahead in that scale for Mattel looks better, with the MOTU/Thundercats mashup. And then there is the 200x figures that they previewed kind of in the same form as the Thundercats thing.

But back to MASTERVERSE. The line aimed at the Classics collectors. Club Grayskull hasn’t put anything out for us until Moss Man. Now that he is out, I will be looking for more stuff.

Moss Man- This is a figure I remember playing with a lot as a child. That flocking…You know…I thought I imagined that piney fresh scent. I played with him a lot outside in actual moss. We had Stinkor, who definitely smelled “bad.” But Moss Man’s smell was at least not overpowering the actual smell of the pine trees, pecan trees, maple trees, oak trees in Spartanburg. I specifically remember having a large pecan trees on top of a hill behind our house, and there being moss on this tree and hill. It was a good place to play with Moss Man, and also freak out my mother! (“Moss is poisonous.” She might have been right…I looked it up.)

I would eventually get the Masters of the Universe Classics version, which was also flocked. There was controversy at the time…something about “flocked ears.” Mine didn’t have flocked ears.

This was my Classics Moss Man…I sold him off as part of my post-Covid purge. I am regretful.

So how did he turn out? And was he worth the extra $10 paid a year ago? Keep reading!

PACKAGING

Moss Man came in a plastic-free box that contained no blister, and no photography. All artwork. This is in line with Vykron and Snout Spout. This is a great box to keep for storage, or in my case to beef up the forest scenery in my diorama. It has a large picture of Moss Man’s face with energized eyes, reminding us that in recent versions Moss Man is considered a nature god. This is a wraparound image, that has more plants on both sides and some Eternian animals.

The back has an artwork rendition of Moss Man, rather than a photoshop. So this is very welcome in my book. More Art=More Better. If you watched my YouTube video already, you know I missed the faint images of the Roton flying in the background.

So Roton has been on several MASTERVERSE packages. Is this a hint, Hub City Geeks?

Inside there is yet another figure cover. What is disappointing here is that because the words Moss Man are so prevalent, this isn’t that usable as a diorama piece.

I’m complaining about it not being usable, but it really is. You could cut it up or photoshop it or whatever. They gave you something to work with.

Sorry for the blurry photo. This Moss Man title reminds me of a student at the school where I work’s t-shirt for the musical “Wicked”

The other side has an opening in the forest revealing the three Eternia towers. It also features a tree resembling Skytree…the oldest living thing in Eternia according to the filmation cartoon series.

This is a nice picture. But Moss Man is so large it looks strange behind him.

WHAT DO YOU GET IN THE BOX?

A new use for Mekaneck. Moss Man is ten neck segments tall. (8 inches at the tip of the horn on his back.
  • Moss Man figure
  • Alternate “plant” hand
  • Knife (dagger or machete?)
  • Belt with knife sheath
  • Club (or magic wand/staff?)

So not many accessories here. Notably, he didn’t come with any alternate hands. “The plant hand” thing is also usable in other ways around or on the figure.

FIGURE REVIEW

MASTERVERSE New Eternia Moss Man is very large. The horn on his back makes him slightly taller than Snout Spout, and this is saying something! But if you dig a little deeper, you can see what is really going on here.

Moss Man stands even taller than Snout Spout.

You basically have New Eternia Beast Man’s buck with an armor piece over the top of it. It is clear that the torso, the biceps and elbows, and the thighs are all the same parts that were on NE Beast Man. And this is kind of fitting, considering that the vintage figure was a repaint of Beast Man with flocking.

Moss Man IS taller than NE Beast Man. And yet they share the same basic parts. It is the feet and the head that pushes him over.

Sometimes I think big companies (like Mattel) want US to forget about stuff that came before. For instance, we had a Moss Man in MASTERVERSE already…it was based on the Kevin Smith show. I never picked it up because it didn’t look like MY Moss Man. And they probably want us to forget about the New Eternia Beast Man shown here. (They have two more recent Beast Man figures…the movie version and the ugly version with the articulated jaw. BUT THE SPARTANNERD REMEMBERS! And so Moss Man is using Beast Man’s parts.

I haven’t removed the armor, but that armor is what makes him so tall…it has the spikes on the back similar to Clawful’s armor.

In turning Moss Man’s head, he has so much Michael Bolton hair that his head can’t turn without popping off when his beard rubs against that armor. This is an articulation point worth mentioning, but it is a common problem so I won’t mark off for it. Just the same, don’t be disturbed if your Moss Man loses his head…it goes right back on.

He stands very well, with big feet. But he is kind of stiff in the articulation department. He doesn’t’ seem to be “lanky” like Two-Bad, but he is such a chunk at least I kind of want him to stand there and flex on my diorama.

THE FLOCKING DEBATE

I don’t know how I feel about this not having flocking. The flocking is such an embedded characteristic of the character.

I have two vintage Moss Man figures. One of these was definitely mine as a child. I don’t know why I have two. That flocking is NASTY after all these years.

The sculpt on NE Moss Man is undeniably good. But by removing that fuzzy texture (and piney scent,) it is like removing the soul of the character.

Now if he was flocked, we would lose those sculpted details.

By not releasing him with flocking, they increase their artistic opportunities. But I wonder if there might be a compromise somewhere. Also…maybe one day this will be releases with flocking. OK…one more thing. NE Beast Man and a few others have SOFT GOODS. It just seems like somehow that fuzzy furry quality could have been represented somehow. Maybe make that plastic armor piece cloth goods or something. Or the arm wraps cloth goods.

On the other hand, you can clearly see that my two vintage toys have taken a beating. And that flocking has rubbed off around the joints.

I don’t have to have a totally flocked Moss Man, but that part of his legacy needed to be honored here.

Check out this Earl Norem image from the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Magazine, May 1985 issue. (I haven’t removed the poster, so I can only show the bottom corner)

Over and over in old media, Moss Man is presented as a fuzzy-wuzzy.

Check out this DC comic, He-Man and the Eternia War Issue 10 (this one has Skeletor transforming on the front)

Moss Man kamikazes the Fright Zone in this story.

DC New 52 designed him with these horns, but just the same he is a hairy beast. He also wears the gold armor that they seemed to favor.

SPARTANNERD RATING

Sculpt- 1 point. My only complaint about the sculpt is that Mattel doesn’t take efforts to hide the joints. But this is across the board in this line. And at large the figures are under $25. So they aren’t Mythic Legions sculpted and engineered by the Four Horsemen studios.

Paint- 1 point. This is a good paint job. Maybe something could have been done to make his face “pop” a little better in a green context, however.

Articulation- 1 point, with no real “stupid problems”. He stands very well, AND in this picture where he is throwing Stinkor at Two-Bad, I left the room for awhile and returned and he was still standing there holding him all stable!

I did this photo as an homage to the minicomic “The Stench of Evil”. What…your Two-Bad didn’t come with a helmet?

Accessories- Why didn’t this come with more stuff? Why no left gripping hand? BOO! I would even be ok with paying more money for more appropriate accessories.

The feels- Well he’s Moss Man. I have so many fond memories! Playing with him outside in the moss and getting fussed at! On the heroic team, we have needed a Moss Man.

I am not marking Moss Man down for not being flocked. But I am marking him down for not having more accessories. I used that craft moss I got from Hobby Lobby. Mattel should have given us some plants and trees and such. In fact…I had this complaint about the Classics version. (That flower in the photo was in the wild when I took the photo.)

This is Figura Obscura Monkey King, with MASTERVERSE New Eternia Moss Man. Also MOTUC Temple of Darkness Zoar.

I rate MASTERVERSE New Eternia Moss Man a 4/5, losing a point for not having many accessories. I also feel that there should have been some way to present flocking on this figure, if not having him totally flocked. And it isn’t like the technology doesn’t exist…go check out the Mythic Legions “Bryophytis” (I don’t own this one)…he looks just like Moss Man should with a different head.

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