Tag Archives: Revelation

MASTERVERSE Battle Armor Skeletor

by

11

Watch the YouTube video HERE

The SpartanNerd has been SO SICK. The Type A Flu has done a number on me and the SpartanFamily. So I have been home on these cold, cold days, with no motivation to do anything but sleep. Not much eating. Some TV watching. But the idea of taking action figures down and getting photos of them…as non-intense as that is. The motivation just hasn’t been there. And it is a shame because I have so many nice reviews waiting to happen.

I’ve had Battle Armor Skeletor for awhile. After Christmas break, you know, back to work. And then the flu. I filmed the video unboxing of Skeletor and also The Undead of Vikenfell before Christmas break was over. I can’t say my greatest video. (You can watch that video HERE). But today, January 21, I am determined not to lay around anymore. I’m GOING to do this. And get the review of the Undead of Vikenfell up, and New Eternia Evil-Lyn, and then four other Mythic Legions should be arriving today.

PACKAGING

Once again, the MASTERVERSE packaging is really good. On the front you can see Skeletor very well. Notable that Skeletor’s helmet is kind of loose in my example. A MOC collector might look out for one that is fit on the figure better.

There are illustrations of Skeletor fighting Snake Men along with New Eternia Evil-Lyn, and as you turn the box around you can see an image of King Hiss. Severe hinting that by the end of the year we will have some Snake Men. We already had hints about this with Snout Spout’s diorama…that is kind of a non-sensical thing to include with a firefighter.

The other side has an illustration of Skeletor without the helmet at the top, and standing there holding the battleaxe looking…Reverend SpartanNerd will say BadAss. How else can you put it? Mattel propping up the more barbarian side of Masters of the Universe is terrific, but with Skeletor they could have gone full-on mage. Instead we get the surprising champion, conquerer, victorious, “I dare you to mess with me” version of Skeletor. And I can’t get over all of the completely Death Metal spikes they put on the helmet and the armor. What a terrific redesign!

As usual, I do not like what they are doing with the backs of the new packages. They are showing us a photoshopped picture of the toy, and they have done things like airbrushed out the seams on the thigh-cuts, etc. Little windows on the side show the features of the figure, and this figure is in berserk mode swinging the axe and the sword. There is cross-sell on the bottom, this time featuring Man-O-War, Sorceress Teela, New Eternia Mer-Man, and the Battle Armor Skeletor that you already have. I own all of these now except for Man-O-War, and just don’t care for him much.

FIGURE REVIEW

Here’s what you get in the package

  • Skeletor figure
  • Removable horned (and spiked!) helmet
  • Battle Axe
  • Scimitar
  • Alternate battle-damaged armor plate.

Skeletor has the three-toed monster feet with boot cuts. Think about that for a minute…this means that these shoes were tailored specifically for his specialized feet. Depending on your view, this is awesome or ridiculous. (I’m leaning towards awesome)

There is a chain mail loin cloth that looks like soft goods, but it is sculpted plastic. He didn’t come with any alternate hands, but now I have five Skeletor figures PLUS King Keldor, so if I need an alternate hands I have them. Both hands are gripping hands that rotate and have hinges, and probably he is usually going to be holding weapons..

PICTURED: MASTERVERSE Revolution King Keldor opens a portal to his home dimension, summoning his people through the portal. (This is a remix of the old miniternia story). The two Skeletor figures in the portal are both New Eternia Skeletor figures. (Viking and Throne)

His head sculpt is just a little bit too jolly for my taste. It looks good, and the chain mail skullcap is a very nice touch. The jolly-ness comes from the smile along with the pointed chin and pointed cheek bones. Definitely more of a smile than a grimace. This is an articulated jaw, but it has limited mobility and opening the mouth doesn’t help much. As it is, I prefer the Alcala inspired head that came with the Havoc Throne. (There is some opinion that that head looks too much like a chimp skull. I say those people need to go back and look at the source material.)

PICTURED: New Eternia Battle Armor Skeletor with New Eternia Skeletor (Havoc Throne) hoodless head, wearing the helmet.

The shoulder pauldrons might be removable. I can’t tell and am not willing to force it. A customizer can probably do a lot with this. I love how there are these spikes on the shoulder. Blood Bowl anyone?

You don’t have to remove the armor to swap the scratch plate. It easily pops out and then you can easily replace it by slotting it in behind that little skull emblem on his chest. I did eventually remove the armor out of curiosity, and the whole thing structure reminds you of the armor power up you can get in a game of DOOM. There is also a girdle of armor protecting his hips. And this is also removable.

I believe they learned from their mistakes with the two Battle Armor He-Man figures we have been given, and perfectly addressed concerns with those.

PICTURED: MASTERVERSE Revolution Battle Armor He-Man battles MASTERVERSE New Eternia Battle Armor Skeletor.

ACCESSORIES

MASTERVERSE New Eternia Fisto
Mythic Legions Legion Builder Skeleton
MASTERVERSE New Eternia Man-At-Arms

The helmet is really one of the things that was the biggest draw for getting this figure. It is what caught my eye first. I was a big fan of that helmet that came with MOTUC Panthor, but there were a lot of critics of that. I say “WHY?” Horned helmets are awesome, and Battle Cat has a helmet…Panthor should too. In Skeletor’s case here, he is given something the character has never had before in his normal context. He always has a hood. He might be bare-skull occasionally. There is Skele-God from the Revelation cartoon, and the golden god Skeletor from the movie (more of a spiky headdress), but these don’t look so metal. I say this because this helmet adds a lot to Battle Armor Skeletor as a character. Anyone remember “Molar?” This was the Eternian Dentist from the Robot Chicken skit. Mattel gave us a figure of Molar with an accompanying Skeletor, and that figure was missing a tooth. It took no time for people to put that head on MOTUC Battle Armor Skeletor and add some effects to create an awesome kitbash.

This is what I am talking about. OAFE.Net

This horned helmet does something similar to the character of Battle Armor Skeletor. It doesn’t “snap” on…it fits loosely. But you can put it on many other figure’s heads because of this loose nature. It has curled horns that would belong on Panthor or on the Havoc Staff, and spikes up the middle for even better effect. Skeletor wears this way better than Super7 Ultimates! Black Falcon. (His non-removable helmet has spikes up the middle and Viking horns.)

The Battle Axe is one of the best battle axes. I like how it is large and epic. It has that asymmetrical nature like Snout Spouts that we can tell where the main business end is. It has wraps around the handle also, and is well painted, and once again LARGE. It’s true that Revolution Battle Armor He-Man’s axe is spectacular chrome paint, but it is smaller and doesn’t bring that well-used patina. And yes, I am being picky.

This is some of my battle axes. Lines represented: MASTERVERSE, Super7 Ultimates!, Animal Warriors of the Kingdom, and Mythic Legions.

The Scimitar is different than other curved swords we have in MASTERVERSE. It feels like more basic of a weapon than the battle axe, but has a deadly and savage feel, as opposed to say what we got with Fisto. (This is the same scimitar that came with the first New Eternia Skeletor (Viking) but in a black and silver color scheme.)

PICUTURED: Curved sword collection. Bottom to top: Mythic Legions Undead of Vikenfell (review coming soon), MASTERVERSE Revelation King Grayskull, MASTERVERSE Revelation Merman, MASTERVERSE New Eternia Skeletor (Viking and Battle Armor)

SPARTANNERD RATING OF MASTERVERSE NEW ETERNIA BATTLE ARMOR SKELETOR

Not only does Skeletor excel in all 5 areas I check for, (sculpt, paint, articulation, accessories, and significance), Mattel has built on knowledge of making two less-successful Battle Armor He-Man figures. He has all of their strengths, but none of their weaknesses.

So he gets a 5/5. Do I have any complaints? Skeletor feels like he needs to have the Havoc Staff. You might argue that the helmet IS the Havoc Staff, and with recent comic book stories it seems like his skull gets melded with it or something. So perhaps that’s what is happening here? And then that face sculpt is just a little bit too happy for me. But that is offset by the sheer Slayer-ness of the rest of the presentation, plus it is backed by a chain mail skullcap. I can’t mark off for that.

So the SpartanNerd’s rating of MASTERVERSE New Eternia Battle Armor Skeletor is 5/5. AND, if you watched the video, you know I have to declare a winner between this figure and The Undead of Vikenfell. Stay tuned!

Boreus-Mythic Legions Horse…SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review

by

6

I have been eyeing getting a Mythic Legions horse for awhile. I’ve seen them in stores and conventions for around $80, and they are a large item seemingly worth all that. You start to get into issues of “do I have enough room?” Etc. And there are a few different ones. I’ve seen a brown one, for instance, and the Headless Horseman comes with a scary black horse with red eyes. There’s an undead one, and one with batwing ears. There are a few other animals, one a moose, and a bear coming out next year, There’s a centaur, and also a skeletal horse next year.

But at his heart, the SpartanNerd wants to be economical. And on Cyber Monday this year (2024) Boreus was on sale at Storehorsemen for $55.

I was purchasing the Figura Obscura Father Christmas and started to look around for what else I might want,,,I considered the Ghost of Christmas Past, but at $60 and a buy-in to the Scrooge ecosystem, (‘cause you know I couldn’t only have one, Jacob Marley, the other two ghost, probably eventually Scrooge), I decided to skip that for now anyway, even though she is exceptional.

I started looking at other offerings, and there were other things that seemed like a good opportunity to buy. But seeing Boreus at $55, a gray horse that could be used by anyone, This was too good to pass up. On top of that, I received a Cosmic Legions ashcan comic for my double order.

This is the ashcan Cosmic Legions comic on top of the Father Christmas packaging. Not much story-wise here, but a cool item with sketch drawings and panels without dialogue.

So how is Boreus? Keep reading!

PACKAGING

Boreus comes in a large box with a large window, where you can see everything inside, which includes the horse with saddle, bridle, etc already on, and an extra “flowing” mane for added action.

Unfortunately in box there is unsightly plastic around straps holding him in. This is to protect the paint, but for a MIB collector this is unfortunate. That doesn’t describe me, but I thought it important to point out.

Here are the sides of the box

One side shows the aforementioned horse with bat ears, but has Boreus bio. It turns out that Mythic Legions horses are spiritual beings (think Torrent from Elden Ring). This is a cool thing, and this bio gives even more life to this horse. The other side shows the aforementioned moose. All this terrific art is by Nate Baertsch,

Here is the back…

The top cross sell is Duban the Ranger…this is the supposed owner of Boreus. A figure I haven’t seen except in a promo photo.

A big epic image, showing the shiva-like main villain, some demon guy, and a couple of other evil characters. I actually own the Xylernian guard, and so that is something rare for the SpartanNerd in reference to Mythic Legions. That other text is general Mythic Legions story, which itself is vague.

There is a very nice backdrop that I actually have used already in the nerd closet.

BOREUS FIGURE REVIEW

It’s a horse, sculpted and designed by The Four Horsemen. As such, it is very similar to MOTUC Battle Cat. In fact, I think it has exactly the same articulation besides the articulated jaw on the tiger.

So it has a neck that goes up and down, and a head that has up and down, side to side motion. The front legs havc a shoulder and knee joint…these are back and forward. The hooves are rockers.

The back legs have some spread on the hips. The legs are jointed the same as in real life, and once again the hooves are rockers.

The tail is on a ball joint and is fully articulated.

Unfortunately, Boreus can’t lower his head low enough to drink.

I’ll point out that my Battle cat is secondary market and over ten years old. So his joints are loose, especially the head and neck. Boreus joints are nice and tight, and the hooves have a ratchet, which makes it easy to have him rear up for a pose.

ACCESSORIES

The saddle and bridle are nice pieces of work, with plastic stirrups and also loops to store weapons. (The same loops that Battle Cat’s saddle has).

The reign is liberal, and feels to be real leather. It fits in gripping hands with no problems.

This saddle is removable, but I don’t have a reason to remove it. It doesn’t have a strap belt across his belly that undoes…instead you would have to make the legs straight and the move the head down with hairpieces removed, and then slide it over the head. I haven’t done this and have no pics of it, but it can be done if they ever release more saddles. Also notable, the bedroll on the back of the saddle is swappable with another bedroll, if you ever somehow get one. (Maybe a different horse has a different color one.)

The only other accessory is the mane, which is easily removed and swapped. Now the unexpected nuance of this is that the horse also has a “toupee” that is removable, and allows the hair to layer over the bridle how you would like.

PICTURED: Super7 Ultimates! King Conan holding the axe from Battle of the Mounds Conan. The king rides on Mythic Legions Boreus, who has the Sword of Atlantis mounted on the saddle. MASTERVERSE Revelations Scareglow leads Mythic Legions Skeleton Legion builders in the attack.

THE ART OF BOREUS

PICTURED: Masters of the Universe Classics Battle Cat, who is evidently entranced by the evil Super7 Ultimates! Battle of the Mounds Thulsa Doom, jousting against Mythic Legions Boreus and Mythic Legions Gold Knight II Legion Builder. Thulsa Doom is armed with the Bident that came with Super7 Ultimates! Black Falcon, and Gold Knight is armed with a spear from the Animal Warriors of the Kingdom Red Weapons loot. (Link to the similar gold version) My money’s on Thulsa Doom for this one…

Boreus is great. He is just so fun to photograph. He is this generic gray or flat black color, so he could be anyone’s horse. He is billed as “Duban the Ranger’s” horse, itself a cool figure, but above you can see that Gold Knight Legion Builder really pops.

Check out this cuteness.

PICTURED: Mashup of MASTERVERSE Revelation Evil-Lyn and Figura Obscura Father Christmas, feeding Mythic Legions Boreus.

This totally works.

PICTURED: Figura Obscura Father Christmas, leading Mythic Legions Boreus.

A Mythic Legions horse is just…it is the most useful item. And this sculpt…

Earlier I mentioned that I had thought about getting one for awhile. Some of my hangup is that there are toy horses out there for much cheaper. Like…at the dollar store kind of thing. Even Barbie horses are cheaper.

But you want to get the scale right, and you want a quality product. Boreus is a CHUNK of plastic, and there just is none better that the Four Horsemen sculpting any toys out there. I did see a McFarlane Gunslinger Spawn on a horse at GameStop for around $50 sometime in the past year. The workers advised me that it would probably go on clearance soon, and I haven’t seen it since. Now I am curious to compare the two…maybe I will.

SPARTANNERD RATING OF MYTHIC LEGIONS BOREUS

I don’t have any complaints. So let’s look for something to complain about…

Crickets….

OK. So he can’t lower his head low enough to drink. There’s one. If you look at him from above and the back legs are kicked out to the side, there is a lot of daylight around the joints and tail.

Really. That’s it. I had to dig deep for that last one. OK…the plastic around his neck in package was unsightly. Boreus doesn’t lose any points for these!

SCULPT: Superior

ARTICULATION: Superior

POSABILITY: Superior

USABILITY: Superior

SPARTANNERD HAPPINESS: Superior!

I award Mythic Legions Boreus 5/5, and he is going to be celebrated as one of the best of the year for me. Furthermore, I am CONVINCED to get the Headless Horseman.

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

New Eternia Mer-Man-SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review

by

5

So, I already reviewed a modern Mer-Man, didn’t I? (Yes. HERE)

My complaints about that figure were the sculpt and the accessories…It was based on the Revelations cartoon rather than vintage sources. Well as you can see, New Eternia Mer-Man solves some of that.

PACKAGING

The top picture shows the typical recent MASTERVERSE packaging. I love this art, and it also features a giant pink octopus. That octopus is very typical of Mer-Man, but I can’t help but think about Aquaman. (The SpartanNerd is a longtime Aquaman fan…from the Superfriends to Jason Mamoa. I always wanted the MOTUC/DC collaboration. I missed it though 😦 )

The back also shows more of that octopus. Once again, I am complaining that this is a photoshopped image of the toy and not more illustration. Furthermore, this specific picture makes him appear too “muppet” ish. It is because this must have been a prototype with a more closed mouth. So Fozzy. We get some action shots of the weapons and also a little profile picture with “MER-MAN: Ocean Warlord|With New Eternia shattered into thousands of islands, Met-Man terrorizes everyone foolish enough to travel the oceans in search of Castle Grayskull.”

Flavor text. Magic the Gathering Cards and descriptions of items in Elden Ring. Mattel has caught on.

The cross-sell images. I have Masters of the Universe Revolution Sorceress Teela (review), but have passed on the Man-Of-War. Battle Armor Skeletor is a bag of hurt. I missed it. I currently have a pre-order at Entertainment Earth for it…maybe January sometime. The truth is I pre-ordered this whole wave on “Backorder” with them. Then got frustrated. So I went ahead and picked up Mer-Man at Target and got Sorceress from Amazon.

This side illustration shows how ugly he is. YES!
I like this extra illustration showing Man-E-Faces doing something useful.Throwing Beast Man into the water.

WHAT DO YOU GET IN THE PACKAGE

Contents:

  • New Eternia Mer-Man figure
  • Ocean Warlord spear
  • Coral sword
  • Pair of swimming hands

What do I wish it came with? A TRIDENT. A fish monster friend. An alternate head.

NEW ETERNIA MER-MAN IN ACTION

Here is New Eternia Man-E-Faces throwing NE Beastman into the water on top of NE Mer-Man. This was a really hard picture to get. Everything kept falling.

Notice the “bump” on the coral sword. (Most of us call this the corn-cob sword.). That stupid bump is so you can mount the sword on a hole in the back of the armor. Which would be fine if it didn’t look stupid.

Comparing the older and the newer. Really, not fair. Revelations Mer-Man has that “play-doh” color scheme when compared the paint on NE Mer-Man. He was based on the cartoon, so he has those scars and stuff which is fine. But compared to NE Mer-Man that one now appears to be generic side henchman. NE Mer-Man also has a much glossier finish. The head sculpt is far better. And don’t think these two share parts…Maybe the feet and hands are the same sculpt?

We don’t see a lot of combos between these two. I wonder why? (Also notice Mekanek is using his new underwater scouting role)

This trident came with Cosmic Legions SSKUR’GE. A weapon befitting the ocean warlord.

SPARTANNERD RATING OF NEW ETERNIA MER-MAN

I need to consider this product objectively, separate from the version that came before. If you read my previous review, you saw I awarded a 3/5. In that context, this is a strict 5/5 improvement. If you are ever given the choice of the two to have, unless you are just a huge fan of Masters of the Universe Revelations I don’t know why you would choose the earlier offering.

So let’s ignore that. New Eternia Mer-Man has a monstrous green paint scheme, with nice paint details, and the grading between the green and yellow on the arms is one of the elements that brings the whole thing together. The armor is meticulously sculpted, bringing that “corn-cob” of scales feeling into it all. The spikes around his collar make him fit with other NE villains like Beast Man. The actual face of the actual toy is an evil look with nice fins on the face. His articulation is pretty much exactly like every other MASTERVERSE figure. He does have single hinge elbows, however.

The accessories…That spear is very savage. Like I said…I prefer a trident for this character. The coral sword looks good on the front, but that stupid bump can’t pass as anything but poor design. If they had done something like paint it red or made it somehow a power gem…that would have been very cool. But it’s just an ugly peg. And that’s where this figure loses a point. I would have preferred a scabbard, or a loop on the armor, or nothing at all…this bump was a conscious and irresponsible design choice.

So SpartanNerd’s rating of New Eternia Mer-Man is 4/5. A strict upgrade over the Revelation Mer-Man. He could use an alternate head, some other accessory like a sea critter, and some other way of mounting that sword on his back that doesn’t compromise the sculpt of the toy.

4/5. Do you agree or disagree, Hub City Geeks? Let me know in the comments!

Mythic Legions Ogre Scale Accessory Pack

by

1

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

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

PACKAGING

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

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

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

WHAT IS IN THE BOX?

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

From left to right clockwise you get

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

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

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

SO HOW IS IT?

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

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

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

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

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

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

So what about SKKUR’GE?

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

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

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

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

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

THE MOST CHALLENGING THING

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

MASTERVERSE Revolution Sorceress Teela…SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review

by

9

Looks like the SpartanNerd is playing with his dolls again…

At this point I have several female action figures. I really value my girls. But I was on the fence about this one because of the preview photos, but also…I mean you can see what threw me off of getting her. She is beautifully painted and sculpted, but that upper thigh cut and the execution of the leg joints makes her look awkward right away. And not just me…I asked a few others and they felt the same way.

I get that MASTERVERSE figures have advanced articulation, but Mattel…KNOW YOUR CUSTOMERS. Who are we? Middle-aged adults who are more into displaying or photographing our figures. To that end, anything that makes the figure look worse…at least give it second thoughts. This has been a thing since the MOTUC She-Ra had the hole in her head…since the MOTUC Sorceress had big drums on her back to execute wing articulation.

Now depending on your feelings…maybe you LIKE the way this looks. It doesn’t work for me, and is why I almost punted on this purchase.

PACKAGING

You can see the window box at the top of the post how she looks on the shelf. It is a big MASTERVERSE-style window box, showing a great illustration of the character surrounded by magical snakes. I am going to say that it is notable that she is called “Sorceress Teela.” This is one of the Revolution designs from the Netflix show. In the past she has been known as “The Goddess” or sometimes “The Green Goddess” and also “The Sorceress of Serpos.” But they are going to stick with “Sorceress Teela” which is fine. I kind of like the idea of her being a different character, and maybe someday there will be a “New Eternia” release, maybe even with translucent plastic like they did with MOTUC. (I’ve only seen that one in box…it has notorious crumbly plastic). Readers should know…there is ANOTHER figure out there with the same name, with a more traditional “sorceress of Zoar” design. Maybe I’ll pick it up one day, but I am salty still about the MASTERVERSE Revelation Sorcerss’ problems.

They absolutely cheated on the back of this box…that is a picture of the toy…notice that they photoshopped out that seam at the upper thigh articulation. The cross-sell on the bottom features Man-Of-War, Sorceress Teela, New Eternia Mer-Man, and New Eternia Battle Armor Skeletor. I really want Battle Armor Skeletor, but it looks like I might have missed it.

I generally like what is on the back and sides. One of the sides shows Sorceress Teela holding the Staff of Ka and the other shows all three staves (Havoc Staff, Staff of Ka in a neutral pose, and Staff of Zoar). In the cartoon, she had to master all three kinds of magic to become the “Tri-Sorceress.”

Just a side note…I’m completely into the design of husband-and-wife He-Man and Teela the Tri-Sorceress at the end of the show. AND I think they could sell those two as a set and I would totally buy it. In fact…don’t tell anyone…I would buy this as a BARBIE set! (Also…when will we get the completely awesome Sorceress of Havoc?!)

WHAT DO YOU GET IN THE BOX

Contents:

  • Sorceress Teela figure
  • Staff of Ka
  • Snake magic effect
  • Alternate hands (she has gripping and open hands)

Not many accessories…

FIGURE REVIEW

PICTURED: Sorceress Teela using the Snake Men backdrop that came with New Eternia Snout Spout. This photo makes her look a bit like an Egyptian goddess. Egyptian has already proven to be OK for the Sorceress back in the 200x days.

As a figure, the paint is really good. This is green plastic all over, but such a pleasing shade! They painted the toenails black and the fingernails red. The armor is non-removable (painted on). That she has long sleeves painted on and naked legs makes her more reptilian. They also gave her painted anklets.

I don’t know if it is the bare feet or not, but I have had a hard time getting her to stand.

PICTURED: Sorceress Teela with Savage He-Man. Savage has 40th anniversary He-Man’s head, and she is presenting him with the armor and weapons similar to the first “mini-comic.”

You can see in the storybook homage photo above that Savage He-Man doesn’t have trouble with his bare feet. But he has big boats while she has dainty green princess feet, and maybe it’s the giant hood that causes the balance issues.

PICTURED: MASTERSE Force Captain Teela and Sorceress Teela, both with their heads swapped. Notice Force Captain’s headdress is the MOTUC weapons pack version, as well as the Staff of Ka. I only did this head swap for the review…why would you ever do this for a main display?

Speaking of the hood, I wish you could remove it from her head. That this is glued on takes away from what could have been an amazing feature of the toy.

The tail is soft goods…effectively making this a “dress.” I know you are wondering out there, so here you go…(pictured below)

PICTURED: Sorcerss Teela and Conan Battle of the Mounds Valeria (Spirit)

If you have Sorceress Teela “half-cheek” it you get an unsightly view of those upper leg joints. Similar to Super7 Ultimates! Conan Battle of the Mounds Valeria. And if you zoom in you will see that the black stripe visible in this picture is a shadow, not paint. (That’s how bad it is…Cringy)

Ultimately, though, the tail isn’t meant to do this…it is meant to always cover her backside. And it doesn’t look bad. I wish it had print on both sides of the dress, but one sided works just fine.

ACCESSORIES

PICTURED: MASTERVERSE New Eternia Skeletor Throne and MASTERVERSE Revolution Sorceress Teela. She is showing off the Staff of Ka that she came with, as well as the one that came with the throne.

The Staff of Ka is really what pushed me over the edge to go ahead and purchase this. This is the best painted snake staff we have had in Mattel Masters of the Universe ever. You can see how lacking the Skeletor one is by comparison in the picture above. In fact, I plan on painting Skeletor’s now (maybe one day when it snows).

PICTURED: Sorceress Teela with Mythic Legions magic effects.

The snake magic effect is cool…I just wish there were more of it. BUT…you can use Mythic Legions Magic Effects with her just great!

SPARTANNERD’S RATING OF MASTERVERSE REVOLUTION SORCERESS TEELA.

Why does The Sorceress always get messed up in action figure form? Below is a picture of four versions of Teela and Sorceress Mattel has given us.

Each of these have had some kind of issue except for MASTERVERSE Force Captain Teela. MASTERVERSE Revelation Sorceress (Teela-Na) has those stupid soft-goods wings. Masters of the Universe Classics Battleground Teela has the strange “table” effect on the waist when you turn the body. And now the Green Goddess has the strange thigh-cuts that make her pelvic region awkward for Reverend SpartanNerd to talk about. And notice I “kit-bashed” Battleground Teela and Force Captain Teela. I still think the legs on the MOTUC version are the better female legs. That double jointed knee looks like cellulite. And the MOTUC version also just didn’t have a thigh-cut. It wasn’t needed and the Four Horsemen knew it.

As it is, Force Captain Teela with the MOTUC gear is still the best. But as much griping as I have done about Snake Sorceress (Green Goddess and Snake Sorceress are the names I usually use), as an action figure she is great. She really “feels” like a different character, actually in the show as well. And she is very enjoyable to play with…not displeasing to the eye. I think the thigh cut problem looks its worse while the figure is standing in the box, which is too bad for MOC collectors. As you are posing her around, you can minimize her un-sexiness actually much better than you can Super7 Valeria (Spirit).

So positives…Terrific paint, on both the figure and also the Staff of Ka. She is very articulated and is currently the most “free” to pose female figure because her armor is painted on. Negatives…the articulation seams are unsightly visible and especially distracting from what would be a great female body sculpt. She didn’t come with many accessories, and that the hood is non-removable is a missed opportunity.

I am going to rate this figure a 2/5. She’s a lot of fun but has her problems…problems that are poor design choices that could have been handled differently. Do you agree or disagree, Hub City Geeks? Let me know in the comments!

MASTERVERSE Revlations Evil-Lyn

by

4

Apparently at around 1987 when I was in 4th grade I got some of the final Masters of the Universe Toys I would ever have for Christmas. These were Tyrantisaurus, Rio Blast, Extendar, and Evil Lyn. So I took Tyrantisaurus and Evil Lyn with me to my grandma’s party, where I was promptly made fun of. (That’s a doll! You have a girls toy with a purple dinosaur!) Didn’t matter to me. I loved those toys! 

I haven’t owned an Evil Lyn since, (if you disregard the many MEGA ones I have.) So I didn’t even feel bad about picking up two at the same time. I got MASTERVERSE Movie inspired Evil Lyn, and MASTERVERSE Revelation Evil Lyn. (See the review of Movie Evil Lyn Here.)

Revelation Evil-Lyn came in this basic style of packaging that all of the first wave of MASTERVERSE figures used. You can see everything you get clearly. Unlike other figures I have opened in the line, this one had a “double blister”. And if I was keeping it MIB that would have been very nice. The top images, you can see that my crop tool hasn’t been working right, but you get the essence of the rest of the packaging. There is a nice artwork of Evil-Lyn on the side. I heard somewhere that Eamon O’Donahue was doing this artwork? I don’t think there has been a piece of MASTERVERSE artwork that I haven’t liked. I might not care for some of the Revelation designs, but this artwork is very good. Evil-Lyn has the tag “Evil Warrior Goddess,” which I am pretty sure was the vintage toy description. (I am saying it one final time, I don’t like this blue window box.)

I was tempted to get the “Bat Sorceress” version, which was SO DC Comics Eternity War.Maybe I still will someday. But I got this one because she fits with the style of the rest of the bad guys that were dear to my heart. Now I am only waiting on Whiplash and Clawful! Then I will have the whole of MY bad guys. (I place Modulok in with the Horde. Never had Webstor, Ninjor, or Jitsu. Kobra Kahn and Tongue Lasher go with Snake Men, and that will be another collection for me when they ever come out.)

Here’s what you get. Evil-Lyn with an alternate, not helmeted head, a short staff and a long staff, a pocketbook, a pair of punching hands, another gripping hand, and another spellcasting hand. This is a lot of stuff, considering Movie Evil-Lyn came with basically nothing. I am especially fond of the un-helmeted head with white hair. In Filmation we only saw this a couple of times…maybe even only once. 200x and Revelation did this right. In fact, this updated Revelation design has absolutely nothing wrong with it. Nothing to complain about. The sculpt is great! Not sure if it was intentional, but the white haired head also has two-toned eyebrows, giving the appearance of some age. Notable that the other head doesn’t have this detail. (I don’t like God-Lyn. But I do really like the reformed Evil-Lyn (just Lyn?) design. Beautiful and princess-like.)

You can tell that the same designer did these two hairstyles. I in fact double checked to see if this was a re-used part. (It isn’t). The short staff and the long staff. I believe they are the same weapon…she can extend it to use more as a bo staff, and for general magic casting she uses the short staff. (This is Savage He-Man’s head. Later in the post I also show the Orko that came with it.)

Notice that these 6 to 7 inch scale figures with staffs like to be posed in this way. I have already posted a few pictures of mythic legions, Savage He-Man, and also of Mer-Man doing this pose. Probably even more characters. I will say that the joints are much looser than I would like, and also I was afraid I was going to break the right hand thumb on the gripping hand trying to get her to hold this.

And because Movie Evil-Lyn came with basically nothing, one of the staves is a good weapon for her. Either one only needs one magic staff at a time anyway. Despara (also a DC Comics creation) here is taller, but doesn’t she seem more stiff? It isn’t an accident. The more recent figures are more posable. Movie Evil-Lyn has no problem standing or being posed. But Revelation Evil-Lyn has looser joints.

Let’s talk pocketbook. If I remember the Revelation Part 1 series, Evil-Lyn carried something around in her pouch. It contained some of the last magic left in Eternia. But no one would have to know that, would they? This is a fine purse, for any female figure actually. I couldn’t resist making this photo!

The alternate head goes nicely on Masters of the Universe Classics Battleground Teela’s body to make basically an entirely different character. I’ll concede that Evil-Lyn has less of a tan, but if she is wearing makeup then this is a fine shade of skin for her face. At least we don’t usually see Evil-Lyn in barbarian armor. See how nice of an added detail the purse is?

These two finally reunited! (The 200x story presented The Faceless One as Evil-Lyn’s father. He was the original protector of the Havoc Staff, and that green face in his off hand is the Ram Stone…magic that can take down any wall.)

That these two bonded in Revelation was quite a surprise. We got more backstories for both characters from that!

I read the Revelation comic book that detailed Skeletor’s origin story. (Spoiler…he is like the Joker. You can’t tell if he is being truthful). My point is…I don’t think Evil-Lyn could be attracted to Skeletor. Not as a bare skull face. She is too beautiful herself for that. True, she lusts for power and Skeletor provides that for her as something to admire as well as gives her an ambition to overthrow. 200x was more believable, that she thought Keldor was handsome, but then the transformation “hideous.” January 25, 2024 UPDATE- Watch Revolution! See how this turned out!

There is a loyalty of Beast Man to Evil-Lyn. Why? I don’t know. She treats him bad. And in Revelation Part 2 she turns him into a gigantic attack dog, that gets thrown into the abyss. AND that is a loose end for the next installment I suppose.

So my rating for this figure. I only have one complaint, and it is that the joints are a bit loose. She can stand just fine, and hold her weapons (but be careful of the thumb). But it isn’t as tight as I would like. I am surprised at how small she is compared to the male figures. (Trust me. Most of the camera shots I took has her standing more in the front, skewing the effect of this). Beast Man pictured above kneeling really makes her look small. But I appreciate her femininity, especially in comparison with the design of Teela. Loose joints, but lots of accessories, another head sculpt that can be used on almost any other female figure with a removable head, a great sculpt and terrific paint job. A versatile pocketbook accessory. Two wand staffs. Nice artwork on the package. I am giving this a 5/5. I mean…maybe 4.5/5 if that is allowed. (Why not. It’s my rating system).

So what do you think, Hub City Geeks? Am I right? Let me know in the comments!