Tag Archives: MOTU

MASTERVERSE New Eternia Mantenna- SpartanNerd Review

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See YouTube versions of this and other reviews HERE

I grew up with two younger brothers. Being the big brother and general winner, I usually had the good guys when it came to Masters of the Universe. One brother had Skeletor’s guys, and another Hordak’s guys. But near the end, neither of them were getting Masters figures. There were a lot more GI Joes, Ninja Turtles, and other stuff happening. So I got a few baddies of my own, and Mantenna was one of them.

I’m unsure of when I realized the character had four legs. The figure only had two…but if you look closely you can see that they are actually skinny legs sculpted together. Kind of genius. I probably realized it after watching She-Ra, but maybe from the mini-comic. But all around…one of the weirdest looking dudes. And he had a lever on his back to make his eyes pop up. So very cool to a 10-11ish year old.

So how did the MASTERVERSE version come out?

PACKAGING

You can see above that this is the same kind of packaging as we have gotten now for around three years. Why isn’t he from the “New Etheria” line? The recent Hordak was.

The wraparound image shows the Evil Horde attacking Eternia. The Horde mothership flies above the palace with a fleet of Klingon Birds of Prey (not). Isn’t that the Temple of Shakoti in the background?

The other side has the library image, with the alternate eyeballs extended on their stalks.

The back shows a photoshop of the toy, with what might be the Whispering Woods in the background. Mantenna is searching for pieces of Castle Greyskull. Interesting!

You have some action feature images…it shows off the weapon he has, which isn’t a crossbow (BOO) and his alternate looks with different eyes.

The cross sell features Anti-Eternia He-Man and Mosquitor (Review coming soon.)

I probably won’t get Anti-Eternia He-Man. Just…Why? I’ll accept it as a gift from someone, though!

FIGURE REVIEW

What do we get in the package?

  • Mantenna Figure
  • Eyeball Ray Gun
  • Two eye stalks
  • One alternate eye.

He was $23. So I’m saying this up front. He is a good hunk of plastic. But not much paint. Most of the resources here went to the four legs and the swapping eye feature.

I am actually showing you the closest you can get the figure to appearing like the vintage member of the Horde. You can’t pose the legs parallel to one another. Otherwise all of his articulation is good. I do wish you could close his mouth instead of him having this static toothy round cavity.

The good thing is, though, this may be a hint of how we will get Modulok and Multi-Bot. Both guys had four legs in their default mode. But here is a question…these legs have single jointed knees, and furthermore the knee area looks quite a bit like the Origins figures. So … are these legs swappable? I am not going to risk it, but if they are, then that is another hint about those two lego-type characters.

All around, the blue plastic…it is too dark and just needs paint. This was a cost-cutting measure I’m sure. I’m not a fan of Webstor or Zodac. Why? BORING colors. Mantenna wasn’t in that category for me, but they managed to do it wrong. Maybe the plastic is too dark…or maybe it needs a “wash” of some lighter color blue. I can’t really tell…photos and such that Mattel provides have super good lighting and it kind of offsets the effect. But if you don’t have it under that perfect jewelry store condition, you have overpowering dark blue.

ACCESSORIES

Is it really that hard to give us a crossbow instead of this dumb weapon?

You’ll have to make up your own story for this one. BUT…Snout spout can easily win by spraying water in his eyes. Thunder Punch He-Man can use that sword and … chop… the stalks… Same with Battle Armor Skeletor and the axe. If Mantenna shoots eyeballs with that gun, couldn’t Panthor just pounce on it? I’m just saying…PICTURED- MASTERVERSE New Eternia figures, Battle Armor Skeletor, Panthor, Two-Bad, Snout Spout, Thunder-Punch He-Man, and Mantenna. I DO appreciate that he is as big as Snout Spout, but at a lower price point.

I really wish they were giving us crossbows. Maybe updated ones. I wouldn’t mind this eyeball gun so much if they also included a crossbow. Or maybe if the gun was an eyeball-crossbow arrow or bolt.

The eye-swapping feature…to do it, you have to remove the upper face of the figure. THEN the eyeballs are in the socket pretty good. I had to use a guitar pick to wedge them out.

They alternate eyeballs they give us feel like a down-grade from the main eyes he is packed using. I don’t much see the point, these may be a reflection of the She-Ra cartoon. I haven’t watched it enough and don’t have much memory about it.

SPARTANNERD RATING

It’s a shame, but I just don’t have that much more to say. The blue darkness overpowers the positives. Mattel has opted to cut the paint and promote the plastic…something we see more and more. Kobra Khan was bland for this exact reason. That shiny green was OK on a snake, but not spectacular when seen through the larger lens of other available figures. GI Joe Classified…same price point, always better paint than this. Mythic Legions cost more, but face it…MASTERVERSE is competing against that brand, and all of the figures from plain skeletons to royalty have exceptional details in the sculpt and the paint.

It’s like Mantenna hits the big point from the 1980’s. He has bug eyes and a bizzarre head. Mattel hit these points, and everything else was an afterthought. I remember hearing the Four Horsemen talk about laboring to design figures. To make them epic. I’m afraid Mantenna doesn’t feel epic. It feels like a chore to take pictures of him…and that is a definite bad thing.

PICTURED: MASTERVERSE New Eternia Mantenna and Mer-Man. Do you see what I mean about Mantenna’s paint? Some of the same design elements are present in Mer-Man, but somehow it works better. Obviously more care was put into it. I feel like I have to add paint to Mantenna so that it will be right.
Mantenna decided to crash the office party. And you see what I mean. PICTURED: MASTERVERSE 40 Anniversary He-Man (retail), MASTERVERSE New Eternia Teela, Man-At-Arms, and Fisto. MASTERVERSE Revelation Sorceress Teela, King Greyskull, and Captain of the Guard Teela alternate head on MOTUC Battleground Teela body, and Super7 ULTIMATES! Battle of the Mounds Valeria.

You can see in the above picture different lines and even companies. And the colors on Mantenna seem to be more plain than anyone else. He’s big, blue and red. But that doesn’t make him epic.

Even if he is worse than these two, he does feel like he belongs with them.

I am awarding MASTERVERSE New Eternia Mantenna 3/5. He just doesn’t do it for me. The lack of accessories and the boring colors make someone who should be amazing rather bland. He gets a feels points because I NEEDED Mantenna on my quest to recollect the toys I once had. He doesn’t have stupid problems, but if a kid gets this they might have a hard time swapping those eyes. His sculpt is OK. Points subtracted because of accessory count and paint apps.

3/5…Do you agree or disagree? Let me know in the comments!

MASTERVERSE New Eternia Kobra Khan- SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review

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See the Video Review HERE

MASTERVERSE New Eternia Kobra Khan- So easy to misspell! So forgive me if I mess up, Hub City Geeks! I remember Kobra Khan seemed to come out before the rest of the Snake Men. Growing up there was Kobra Khan in the SpartanNerd household, as well as Tongue Lasher and King Hiss. So we didn’t have an army of Snake Men. The SpartanMom is deathly afraid of snakes. I kind of lumped him in with Skeletor’s crew, rather than seeing the Snake Men as a different faction. He had a water squirting action, and there were a few other toys in He-Man that had this…Dragon Blaster Skeletor and Snout Spout. Water action was a cool thing then in the 1980s and continues to be a feature in toys today.

Of course, the MASTERVERSE figure doesn’t have a water feature. So how did they deal with that? Keep reading!

PACKAGING

This package is just as great as any of them. But let me say something here…I have had a rush of reviews lately…So Belualyth, New Eternia Moss Man, Cold Slither, New Eternia Teela, and New Etheria Hordak. And this character just feels…less epic. How much of that is my bias, I don’t know. But this is the reason I waited to do this one last. Apparently, like Battle Armor Skeletor and Blade, he has pretty much sold out everywhere. (I’m still feeling burned about Blade…just saying. That is the SpartanNerd failure of the year.)

So I need to keep it focused…I like that we have an image of Tongue Lasher, who is my favorite Snake Man. Hopefully he will come out soon.

The wraparound image features Rattlor.

Yeah…So Rattlor wasn’t on my radar as a kid. I think I must have been aware of him, but I never saw him and didn’t have him. So there’s that. Also, I didn’t even know about Blast Attack until I was an adult. AND…why is he considered a Snake Man? I did have a cousin or someone who had Snake Face, but I pretty much hated it. So Kobra Khan, King Hiss, and Tongue Lasher were MY Snake Men growing up. I did eventually own SSQUEEZE in Masters of the Universe Classics. (Tangents, Tangents)

The other side features the library image that also shows the alternate way of displaying the character…more vintage style or with the hood. Also, notice the Snake Men logo. This is either Classics or 200x. Good that they are keeping that.

The back is once again what you expect. A Photoshop image of the toy on an illustrated background. The bio reinforces the 200x story that it was Kobra Khan who released King Hiss and the other Snake Men from the pit in Snake Mountain. I like how they made this story track with the way the figure was released practically as one of Skeletor’s guys but then double-crossing Skeletor.

The cross-sell art might help confirm the first statement I made about why I was less excited about this one. (He looks dorky in between Hordak and Teela)

FIGURE REVIEW

What do you get in the box?

  • Kobra Khan figure
  • Cobra Snake Hood
  • Blaster Gun
  • Mace
  • Alternate chest piece
  • Alternate claw hands
  • purple “venom” spray effect
after messing with it for awhile, I swapped the hands for the claws for a more vintage feel…thinking maybe this would help me out with my problem here. Not really.

Kobra Khan is sculpted in pearlescent green plastic. Or is that metallic? He has the same lanky build as the other MASTERVERSE figures. There are bronze and brass painted details on the figure…his hands and the claws have a darker color than the main figure. (The hands make it feel like he is wearing gloves.)

Kobra Khan has the same eye effect that Panthor and Mer-Man have. A very realistic looking eye, that in this case kind of feels like it is something different quality than the rest of the figure.

Here is a little comparison with the Mythic Legions Ninian Infantry. I gave him Savage He-Man’s spear to make things even. And you can see that the Mythic Legions is easily a better sculpt. Kobra Khan should have more scales all over.

I guess the paint is alright. I mean, he is a green guy. But the big elephant in the room for me is the head sculpt. He looks “Rabbity” with those teeth. It is good that he has an articulated jaw…I was in fact worried that this was a static piece just from looking at the box.

ACCESSORIES

So kind of…the accessories and the figure run together a little bit. The hood and the breastplate…are these accessories? Similar to the wrist bracers…I guess they are technically accessories.

The hood just isn’t epic enough. So…weak head sculpt with a rabbity look, combined with a less-than-epic hood, means that Kobra Khan has kind of a “muppety” thing going on. BOO! (Serpentor hood? Cobra symbol? Mattel could have done better to compete with Hasbro here.)

Retreat! Wascawy Wabbit. For real, notice Cobra Commander’s snake on the hilt of his sword. Better hood than Kobra Khan. And those Cobra symbols from the GI JOE Classified Series packaging also look more epic. If there is a Serpentor, I will probably get it and compare, but I bet…

The venom spray effect is how they handle the water feature. This is purple, and not until taking the final photos did I start to realize that it looks kind of barfy. (I already did a video, and didn’t even have this thought then…)

She is the Snake Goddess. Shouldn’t he be more respectful?

Luckily, you can attach it to the end of the gun. Unfortunately, Snout Spout’s spray effect isn’t interchangeable with this one. Another missed opportunity by Mattel to do something cool that couldn’t have been that hard to accomplish.

I think it is great that you can swap out the chest plate. I prefer the one with the Snake Men logo, but the plain one is just fine and feels more vintage.

The gun has a snake sculpt to it. At first I thought it was the same as Zodac’s gun, but it is different and more flavorful. (I don’t own a MASTERVERSE Zodac…I am referring to my memory.)

And that mace. This is the weapon that came with the vintage figure, and is in fact the same that Clawful has. Which is stupid because those claws don’t hold it well.

SPARTANNERD RATING OF MASTERVERSE NEW ETERNIA KOBRA KHAN

Originally I rated this figure as a 4/5. But it has been a few more days with it, and I have changed my mind. The gun and the mace need paint apps. The hands are a strange color. The head sculpt looks rabbity and even worse when the hood is on. The sculpt doesn’t stack up to other Snake Men figures on the market. (Mythic Legions Ninian Infantry, for instance). The purple venom effect reminds me of the purple vomit scene in the movie The Sandlot.

Aww look…they are dancing. Kidding aside, even MASTERVERSE Revolution Sorceress Teela (a different sub-line based on Kevin Smith’s cartoon,) her hood looks more epic. In general New Eternia figures look better than the cartoon figures.

No. He isn’t anywhere close to a perfect five. I am awarding MASTERVERSE New Eternia Kobra Khan a 3/5. I am giving him the feels point because I needed him for my collection. He doesn’t have stupid problems…he stands well and has good articulation. And he came with a lot of accessories. But the paint and sculpt are just too bad.

I hope Tongue Lasher and King Hiss turn out better. Do you agree or disagree? Let me know in the comments!

MASTERVERSE New Etheria Hordak- SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review.

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See the video review here

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

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

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

PACKAGING

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

NEW ETHERIA HORDAK FRONT PACKAGE

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

NEW ETHERIA HORDAK SIDE OF PACKAGE

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

NEW ETHERIA HORDAK BACK OF PACKAGE.

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

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

WHAT DO WE GET IN THE PACKAGE?

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

Cold Slither Review was video only.

Here’s what you get:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ACCESSORIES

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

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

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

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

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

SPARTANNERD RATING OF MASTERVERSE NEW ETHERIA HORDAK

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

MASTERVERSE New Eternia Teela- SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review

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See the video review of this figure HERE.

I ordered MASTERVERSE New Eternia Teela from BigBadToyStore when she was first released, and this time I did something different…I ordered three other things that I sent to the “Pile of Loot.” So lots of reviews coming soon! (New Etheria Hordak, New Eternia Cobra Kahn, and Mythic Legions Belualyth…I will update links as I review them)

And why did I order this Teela, when I already had three other modern Teela figures? Keep reading!

PACKAGING

In this box you can see her very well. And she is looking upwards.

Teela came in the typical “Transformers” style packaging. (I use that term in reference to the way Hasbro has been doing TF toys for awhile…it increases the artwork and minimizes the blister plastic). We have a good image of her on the front holding the Staff of Ka…but you could mistake her for rowing a boat! After all, there is a Merfolk warrior looking on. (Aquaticans, I believe in Motu lore). As the image wraps around you can see her golden horse that was depicted in the early mini comics. (OK, so if Mattel doesn’t give us such a horse, this is the Four Horsemen’s chance to capitalize on what people surely will want!) Also in that wraparound image, we have an image of Castle Grayskull, but in 200x style! And we all know, Mattel and Mondo are both going to be issuing some 200x style toys. (This is a whole blog entry itself when more details get revealed).

The other side has the library image for people who store their action figures in the box, with her having windblown hair and wearing the “warrior goddess” snake headdress. And so we have homage to four different iterations of Masters of the Universe…200x with the castle, mini comics with the golden horse, filmation with the main presentation, and vintage toy with the hooded look.

The back has kind of generic photoshop of the figure, and just like the Green Goddess and Evil-Lyn, they have “airbrushed” off the seam at the thigh cut. We all know it’s there. Come on Mattel, why lie to us? Teela has a bio indicating that she has embraced her destiny as “the avatar” of “The Goddess of New Eternia.” Underneath this bio there are three cross-sell images that in addition to this figure includes Hordak and Kobra Kahn. I suppose the other figure in this was is New Eternia Moss Man, but he was offered only through Mattel Creations, mostly to Club Grayskull members at that. (The cross-sell functions for retail store shelves).

WHAT DO WE GET IN THE BOX

I told you there were seems in the thighs!
  • New Eternia Teela figure
  • Snake headdress
  • shield
  • Staff of Ka
  • Warrior Spear
  • a pair of punching fists

We have the accessories here for two different looks: “Captain of the Guard” and “Warrior Goddess.” And this starts to get into the weeds of who even is this character. Most people will remember Teela from the Filmation Cartoon and other iterations (200x) as the Captain of the Guard. And the presentation here is clearly homage to the vintage action figure, being a repaint of MASTERVERSE New Eternia Evil-Lyn with a different head. (In the vintage line, it was the other way around!) The whole Warrior Goddess thing comes from the early mini comics, which is basically an entirely different story from the Filmation show. When I was a kid I was confused by this, but you know…pretty much since I was in high school and began to get back into Masters of the Universe that there were different forces writing different stories has been clear. As Warrior Goddess, in the first issue she was green. (This is why I tend to call MASTERVERSE Revolution Sorceress Teela “The Green Goddess.” This is a fan nickname, like Baby Yoda for instance). In subsequent issues she was colored caucasian, and sometimes blonde instead of ginger. There is this whole story about Skeletor cloning her to be his bride also, and so that is why there is a Sorceress and more of a princess Teela. (It feels so weird typing all that. The mini comics were indeed different!)

Yep. This actually happened in the mini comics story “The Tale of Teela.” Funny how Skeletor says his plan is “simple.” I didn’t imagine all of that about Dolly the Sheep in the 1990’s did I? Also, this is a creeptastic plan. And this story was meant for CHILDREN TO READ. This story kind of explains why Teela has blonde hair and the goddess has red hair and wears that headdress. I’m pretty sure after this story, they began to use the word Sorceress to soften the religious connotations.

The vintage action figure came with this hood and snake staff, as well as a sword I believe. I never had a female action figure until I was 12 years old and got Evil-Lyn for Christmas, so I only know what I have seen in vintage toy stores. But I can see how all of this can be confusing for who this character actually is. But it is just fine to think of her as “He-Man’s girlfriend”.

(In the newest Netflix cartoon, Revolution, Teela and He-Man are practically married by the power of Grayskull at the end! If they make figures of this, I am the first in line! The designs were so pretty!)

FIGURE REVIEW

Well, I am at the point of wondering what the greatest action figure of the year is, and I was starting to think they couldn’t be better than MASTERVERSE New Eternia Evil-Lyn, but Teela has proven me wrong!

Teela jumped right into the den of zombies and skeletons! Notice Skeletor’s Staff of Ka being very large and unpainted BOO!

She has the same body as Evil-Lyn, only painted with lighter colors as Teela. The same boots, arm bracers, everything. She has a different skirt piece, and this is a point to bring up because in my figure, this was flattened down far too much, and also askew from the position it should be in. I was able to fix it, but if you are a mint in box collector, look out!

So this sculpt and paint are brilliant. Maybe the best part is that she looks like a real woman with maybe legs that are only slightly too long…(Mattel Barbie dolls famously have this too, so…) In other words, no hyper-sexualized design like something from Street Fighter. The upper body is tastefully presented, and that is kind of refreshing.

Her face sculpt and paint. The image on the back makes her look like the face is more round than it is. She has her hair pulled back in a ponytail, which I guess gives her a high forehead look. But her eyes…They are done very pretty. But I asked the SpartanWife if she thought the same thing as I do. I think she is looking upwards? So for Force Captain, this looks kind of strange if she is just standing there, but not if she is stabbing something with that spear. For the hooded goddess look, this looking up looks more spiritually powered up and otherworldly appropriate.

ACCESSORIES

This Teela proves that Evil-Lyn didn’t come with enough stuff. Sure, you could argue that cape was something, but really it was inexcusable. Teela’s accessory count is very welcome in the MASTERVERSE line. They are bronzy-gold in the same color as the highlights painted on the main figure. BUT…this means the Green Goddess’ Staff of Ka remains the best of the three we have been given. (Skeletor’s throne came with one also)

The Green Goddess’ Staff of Ka is still the best one we’ve been given in MASTERVERSE.

This shield looks very royal and feminine at the same time, and has that barbarian spike in the middle. The spear as well looks like it belongs in the throne room. The only paint of the accessories that I see is the spot of green on the eyes of the snake mask and a brighter colored ring around the “neck” on the Staff of Ka.

The headdress fits loosely to her face, and yet feels snug. How did they do that? I managed to get the Masters of the Unvierse Classics Weapons Pack snake armor on the earlier MASTERVERSE Revelation Teela figure only with a hairdryer. (Granted, it was for a different line…) Teela’s tiara is hidden perfectly by the mask when she has it on, and it really kind of is that she is presented as a different character. A person could be justified in having two of these! (I won’t. I’ll wait on Sorceress of Havoc to come out…that will be AWESOME if they do that!)

Four Teela figures. From top left clockwise. MASTERVERSE New Eternia Teela, MASTERVERSE Revolution Sorceress Teela, Masters of the Universe Classics Battleground Teela (with Revelation alternate head), and MASTERVERSE Revelation Teela kitbash, with Classics weapons and Super7 Ultimates! Conan the Barbarian ceremonial snake dagger.

In the above picture I have kitbashed some MOTUC with MASTERVERSE. Ultimately, the earlier MASTERVERSE Teela seems a lot more “babyish.” You can also see the improvements they have made in the knee joints so they look less lumpy. I heard another reviewer complain about having single jointed elbows, but I think that is the best choice…the arms just look better this way.

SPARTANNERD RATING OF MASTERVERSE NEW ETERNIA TEELA

I can’t say enough good stuff about the sculpt. (1 point). The paint is very good even if the choice to have her looking upwards is questionable…but she isn’t derp. (1 point). Very good articulation and she stands very well with no stupid problems. (1 point). Her accessory count is very good also. (1 point).

And OK. This is my new “go-to” Teela. I am retiring the kitbash that I have used forever. I’ll keep using MOTUC Battleground Teela for that even more barbarian “skimpy” look, but this figure is downright beautiful, and fun to play with to boot. So with the “feels point” I award MASTERVERSE New Eternia Teela a 5/5. Do you agree or disagree, Hub City Geeks? Let me know in the comments!

Super7 Ultimates! Conan Battle of the Mounds Valeria (Spirit) and MASTERVERSE New Eternia Teela. Valeria is a spiritual descendant of the Masters of the Universe Classics.

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!

Mythic Legions Undead Builder Pack

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(See the video unboxing and review on the SpartanNerd YouTube channel!)

I went with my Apple Cash to the Toy Federation, hoping to find Beaulythe to be my first Mythic Legions lady. (I know I didn’t spell that right!) They had a few Mythics there, but not who I came for. So then I started looking around at other stuff. Eventually I came to something I actually never heard of…”The Undead Builder Pack.” Seemed like a winner for a guy with a big collection of skeletons. Keep reading to see how it turned out!

PACKAGING

This is the same Mythic Legions package, with the same “classic” kind of art. BUT. This time it is a full oversized image in the background, meaning I can now throw away the older small ones I have around.

The card image behind the blisters

You have a double blister inside that you can see the figure very well. And all the accessories. And that is what this figure is REALLY about. The back features the art from the Necronominus wave, but zoomed out.

The big skeleton god is appears smaller in this exposed version of the image. And let’s take a second to talk about him. I have been critical of this image…that the figure looks goofy. Blah Blah Blah. But I saw it in person…Like I almost bought it instead of the undead builder pack. That headdress can’t look right in a 2d image…too goofy. In full on person, it looks amazing. It is kind of like Maxillius the Harvester, with all these intricate bone details all over the armor, etc. The cross sell also features the other figures released in this wave, including the one I came to get but they didn’t have, but also the Turpiculi, which I suppose I will eventually get. I was just really shocked at how cool Necronomius (I can’t say it or spell it) came out. And so this means…the Undead Builder Pack must have been cool enough to come away with instead of those guys! Also of interest to the readers, the skeletal horse, Conabus (spelling?) also has far more details in person than I had detected from images.

We do have a brief bio…it says something like “the dead do not rest in peace on Mythos.” But it says it in a verbose and over-the-top way.

WHAT DO WE GET IN THE PACKAGE?

Rather than get the figure out and put him together in some way, I figured it would better serve us all to show a picture of the items in the two blisters. There is so much here!

  • Undead figure, with translucent ghostly jaw-less skull, arms, hands, and thighs, and feet.
  • two different “smoke” effects
  • Three alternate head sculpts
  • Opaque rotten arms
  • Opaque Rotten thighs
  • translucent and opaque angle joints
  • Opaque Feet
  • Mace
  • short handle axe (halberd head)
  • curved sword (khopesh?)
  • belt
  • shoulder armor
  • Back adapter set
  • small smoke effects
  • handcuffs with metal chain
  • alternate collar piece
  • Six ghostly hands
  • eight opaque rotten hands

And this is the WINNER! I have no other action figure with this many parts. Not even Black Falcon!

BUT…

FIGURE REVIEW

As a figure with all of this, like if this was the only one you had, that would be incredible. But I think the Four Horsemen were thinking people like me would be adding the parts of this as accessories to our other existing figures.

As a figure, vanilla out of the blister, he is pretty good. These translucent ghostly parts have a “gumminess” to them that is very welcome, and makes this figure extremely versatile.

It wouldn’t have been my choice to market him with the translucent half skull as the main look. It is OK, but that screams “ghost” to me and not “zombie.” They should have put the head with the open mouth on there. But this is me nit-picking about their choice. This doesn’t have any bearing on how great this set is!

The half skull head with ectoplasm effects really improves Warrior Beast Head Hunter. Also, add extra arms to Skeleton Legion Builder II!

He comes apart easily and is very modular, and also highly articulated as a positive consequence. The opaque undead parts are masterfully sculpted. These feel like the classic Mythic Legions, and you might need a hair dryer. (I didn’t). And the details. Wow! We could have had two symetrical thighs, but no the Horsemen went the extra mile and gave us different decayed details on each one. And this is so throughout the character.

Wal-Torr the Mad showing off those spectacular thighs!

ACCESSORIES

Yes. This can be a standalone action figure for a fan of zombies I guess. But the real magic is what it brings to everyone else. As such, I am giving you lots of examples in Mythic Legions as well as other figures.

The three weapons…we already have the axe head. The other weapons were new to the SpartanNerd.

All of those heads and hands!

And so here is my only one complaint. And the Horsemen did this on purpose I’m sure. We are a torso/waist, set of wrists and lower legs from having a second figure. In fact, I wish they had done this. Gave us TWO full figures in the package. One fully ghosted and the other fully zombified. I mean. We are literally six parts away from that.

But the nature of this set is that we will customize our other figures.

SPARTANNERD RATING OF THE MYTHIC LEGIONS UNDEAD BUILDER PACK

MASTERVERSE New Eternia Evil-Lyn energizes her staff while holding the spectral skull of an evil master.
Thulsa Doom, a figure that woefully lacked snake themed items, can hold the little smoke effect as a magic serpent.
In honor of Mattel giving us all kinds of cool origins figures in the $10 CLUB GRAYSKULL membership, I put the decayed head on Masters of the Universe Classics Despara. See the irony. The sarcasm! Why no MASTERVERSE in the Club Grayskull? They didn’t make this clear!

It can’t give anything but a 5/5.

  • Sculpt- The Four Horsemen bring us another incredible piece of art
  • Paint- The opaque parts are sickening gray, and the armor and weapons have very nice paint. The head sculpts are also painted very well. The translucent parts don’t have paint and don’t need it. (There is a dab on the face sculpts)
  • Articulation- The ghostly parts are very modular, and I didn’t need a hair dryer for the parts in this set.
  • Accessories- This figure is almost ONLY accessories, if you like to count alternate hands and feet as accessories. Otherwise the smokey energy effects and the three weapons are very nice.
  • Significance- I bought this so that it could add to my skeleton collection. And it does that very well!

And we are moving into the “Mega Bloks” kind of aspect of Mythic Legions. Masters of the Universe Modulok. This kind of figure. And I actually have the blue knight builder on order, so there is more like this to come eventually to the SpartanNerd. AND…Back to the Tupiculi. That guy is firmly one of my future buys.

I award the Mythic Legions Undead Builder Pack 5/5. Do you agree or disagree, Hub City Geeks? Let me know in the comments!