Tag Archives: Savage He-Man

MASTERVERSE Revolution Sorceress Teela…SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review

by

8

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!

Action Figure Showdown-MASTERVERSE Battle Armor He-Man (He-Men?)

by

2

I began comparing figures with one another way back with Demistros and Black Falcon. Then I did the three kings. And now, two versions of the same character. Or are they?

One of my thoughts was “It looks like Revolution version only has a single damage mark option, while the older New Eternia version has two. Oh I get it! They are encouraging you to buy both for interchangeable pieces.” Well, keep reading to see how that works out.

MASTERVERSE Revolution Battle Armor He-Man

PACKAGING

The packaging of this features terrific artwork. Once again, this newer “transformers” style packaging really works for me. You can see the figure inside, along with his main accessory. It’s a good drawing, but you can clearly see that the figure’s head sculpt has fatter jowels and smaller hair. Also featured on the cover are the Eternian Guards, who no doubt if they are ever released will have the same armor design. I almost predict this as a reveal at the SDCC this week. (Nope. Skelcons and Horde troopers!) Link to Pixel Dan video.

The back of the box features something I don’t like so much. This is a photoshopped picture of the action figure posed in an artwork setting. The shadow beasts ARE cool though.

We are treated to the “selfie cam” image. But also we can see the other ways of displaying He-Man with this set. We get a traditional harness and a no-scratch plate and a one-scratch plate. The cross sell on the bottom…I have all of these except for the Tri-Klops, which I deem pointless. We already have a MASTERVERSE revelation Tri-Klops that was pretty good. I have seen this one on the shelf, and the sculpting is more detailed and better all around. But it is still just Tri-Klops. Mekanek is excellent, and King Keldor is … OK.

There is some side-art

We get a picture of Andra. Now the story on the back and in the show is that Andra, as Man-At-Arms, designed this battle armor and gave it to He-Man for extra protection because he didn’t have the sword. (Gwildor and Orko were working on it).

About Andra…she is a fine character, and I get why they promoted her to importance. Lots of reasons. But she is a character that won’t sell. I am saying this because I have seen upwards of 30 of them on clearance between two different Target stores, one dedicated toy store, Wal-Mart, and Ollie’s. The bounty hunter looks really cool. But given a choice between Andra and someone more nostalgic, me and the vast majority of MOTU fans will choose even the worst vintage character over her. Maybe this is my two-cents, but evidence is evidence. She is regularly marked down on BigBadToyStore also. She’s not moving for under $13, which is likely what they paid for her wholesale.

Overall, this packaging really isn’t as good as some of the other more recent packaging, and I hope they don’t move to that photoshop design instead of the terrific art that is for instance on the back of Clawful’s packaging.

FIGURE

Here’s what you get in the box.

  • He-Man figure
  • Chrome battle axe
  • Two interchangeable chest plates
  • Alternate traditional battle harness with the “H” symbol
  • Two punching fists
  • Should I count the bracer? OK.

So how does it work?

The armor is of hard shell design. It goes together with clips on the side. You don’t have to remove the armor to swap chest plates. (An improvement over the MOTUC version.)

Here I have He-Man holding a triangular guitar pick. (Rhombo pick). This is what I use to pry the chest plate off. You could use any “spudger” to do this same thing.

The classic power harness looks great, but there is no loop on the back to store the axe or a sword. Well, there is no sword anyway. You can see that this is easily the best battle axe, and is a reason for purchasing this figure almost by itself. He changed into battle armor mode by fist-bumping his chest if I remember correctly. Unfortunately, his muscles are too big on the figure to do this.

Here are a couple of reenactment scenes from the Revolution show.

He-Man crowns Keldor the king. OOF.
King Keldor sent He-Man away to take the fight to Snake Mountain. He slyly mentioned to someone else when asked where his crown was…”I left it at home.” PICTURED: MASTERVERSE Revolution Battle Armor He-Man holding King Keldor’s crown, looking confused standing in front of MASTERVERSE New Eternia Skeletor’s throne. (Review coming soon!)
Because I don’t have Prince Adam, mid-transformation face-plant will have to do. OOF. PICTURED: MASTERVERSE Revolution Battle Armor He-Man and Masters of the Universe Classics Battle Cat, both without armor.

MASTERVERSE New Eternia Battle Armor He-Man

PACKAGING

New- Eternia Battle Armor He-Man came in the decidedly worse old-style MASTERVERSE packaging. But you can see everything clearly. And we are treated to the 40th anniversary symbol.

Now THIS IS COOL ARTWORK!

A very barbarian image of He-Man, this version with the obvious beard I haven’t mentioned yet, fighting a skeleton guy and some kind of orc. He stands over them, furry shorts and boots engaged, ready to mete vengeance with his battle axe! His right hand open about to grip for a powerful swing.

The cross sell oddly features a brown beard on He-Man. I never have needed a Sun-Man (another character that is shoved at us.) I just passed on Jitsu yesterday in Columbia, SC. And He-Ro…meh.

Side art…( the other side is just block letter title)

FIGURE

Here’s what you get….

  • Battle-Armor He-Man figure
  • Shoulder pauldron
  • Plate armor belt
  • Two armor plates, one undamaged, the other two- scratched
  • A right hand fist and open left hand
  • Power sword
  • Battle axe
  • Shield with vehicle detail
  • Boot strap knife

This is an impressive accessory list!

The head sculpt…he doesn’t look as grizzled as the artwork.

SO HOW DOES THIS GUY WORK? (SpartanNerd shaking his head)

Very unsightly. Why? Mattel, we can do better.

Where to begin. Before trying to remove the armor, it is already clear they sculpted and painted his belly. But he is slimmer than Revolution, but really you can’t display this figure without the armor.

To swap plates, you remove the front armor. The back is sculpted on and not removable. There are these holes in his chest, where pegs on the back of the plates go. Awkward, and stupid. There is some circuitry design….just. Why?

Also, the boot knife fits in an indention awkwardly. (This is a different boot knife than 1987 Movie He-Man came with.)

I removed the belt armor for this one. Like Mekanek, He-Man’s shield celebrates a vehicle we probably won’t get for MASTERVERSE. This time Dragon Walker I believe. You can store the sword behind the shield, but there is no scabbard or loop. The shield pegs into a hole just like on the wrist bracer. The pauldron goes on with a snapping loop.

So for me, it’s the head sculpt that is the only redeeming factor of the paint and sculpt. Where did the beard “come from”? Masters of the Universe Classics had a “King He-Man” figure, who was more wizened, and grizzled. That figure featured a beard. I have neglected the slight scratch of red paint on his face. BLOOD. (I own a copy of DC comics He-Man: The Eternity War #6 which features King He-Man on the cover.)

PICTURED: MASTERVERSE New Eternia Battle Armor He-Man on Super7 Utlimates! King Conan’s throne. He-Man is wearing MASTERVERSE Revolution King Keldor’s crown, and holding MASTERVERSE New Eternia Thunder-Punch He-Man’s sword. (It’s gold…more “kingly.”

I think Mattel might have been going for a Mythic Legions or a Christopher Helmsworth look as this bearded version seems younger and more spritely.

Here is a kind of re-make of the artwork on the back. It actually isn’t possible to one-for-one that artwork. He-Man came with opposite hands.

COMPARISON

Both of these figures have strengths and weaknesses. Revolution has a more modern design, while New Eternia was one of the earliest figures. Mattel has had time to improve. This has something to do with the cheap, cheap price I was able to pay for New Eternia.

New Eternia really updated the design. Giving He-Man a beard was almost worth the whole figure. But throw in the other armor pieces (Pauldron, Girdle) and all of the accessories. This makes New Eternia more fun. I haven’t spoken much about it, but the hip armor plates have the button-on belt and after removing it I had to use the hair dryer to get it back on.

Revolution has a decidedly worse head sculpt. He doesn’t look like the cartoon. Maybe I’m stupid, but he resembles Shaggy from Scooby Doo, with blond hair. At least to me. I appreciate that the armor is shinier than New Eternia’s. And that battle axe is hands down the best painted one we’ve seen. But it is small. (Savage He-Man has a huge axe.)

The biggest problem for me with New Eternia is the design of the armor…how it removes and how you swap the plates. It is INCOMPATIBLE with Revolution Battle Armor He-Man. I wanted both figures, and it would have been a nice bonus to have interchangeable pieces, but Mattel just decided not to give us that.

SpartanNerd’s Rating of both MASTERVERSE Battle Armor He-Man (He-Men?)

Revolution gets 2/5. I find him to be kind of bland. The pop of chrome paint is most of his redeeming factor. That head just doesn’t do it for me. Why didn’t we get proper armor plates? He didn’t come with a sword or anything else. We could have done away with the bracer even and gotten plates to accurately represent the vintage switching look. Additionally, this armor makes him appear overweight. As a Masters of the Universe/ Transformers/ GI Joe guy, I value escapism. He-Man having a gut hits too close to home for me.

I am reluctantly giving 3/5 for New Eternia. He doesn’t look bland at all! Everything about him would be awesome if his whole torso-buck wasn’t sacrificed to make the armor work. I don’t like the way this was executed, period. What were they thinking? I feel like this buck was throw-away also. Who else could use it? Back then I bet they were thinking Battle Armor Skeletor, maybe Faker, maybe Eternian Guards. I’m willing to bet there was such negative feedback they scrapped it.

Soon there will be a New Eternia Battle Armor Skeletor released, and let me say, the preview images look AWESOME! I’m thinking that will take design cues from Revolution He-Man.

Hub-City Geeks…I did this so you don’t have to. Don’t go into purchasing both versions thinking you can swap them. It won’t work. I actually wanted both versions…I saw Revolution on sale at Wal-Mart in Westgate for $21, and New Eternia was marked down on Prime Day. I have like $32 worth here and feel I have my value. But as it is, Mattel needs to do better to give us better Battle Armor He-Man in the future.

Animal Warriors of the Kingdom Weapons Loot (Red)

by

1

To see video of the AWOK red weapons loot box, click here.

I already reviewed the gold weapons loot, which you can read here.

This time I really wanted to catch the packaging. It was more impressive with the gold weapons, but it still rocks pretty good. (The back is the same, featuring Pale.)

In this set, you get a pair of hooked daggers, a pair of axes (possibly throwing axes), a knife or short sword with a mysterious hole, a bow, the same two-piece spear as in the gold set, and a scimitar.

I decided to get out of the light box and outdoors for these pics!

Here you can see them racked with the gold weapons on my custom weapons racks. Notice that I added that string to the bow.

Here is Savage He-Man riding on my pet potbelly, Nori. He really lends himself to the use of spears. The spear that came with him is very nice, with nice paint. But the AWOK spear is longer. I prefer the red to the gold for a character like this.

Clearly Trap Jaw wins this exchange. Man-E-Robot has successfully parried the short sword attack with the scimitar, however Trap Jaw is swinging with his own dagger arm to cut the hoses. (It could be that Man-E could “ripost” and stab Trap Jaw.)

Least impressive are the curved daggers. I thought they would look good with Beast Man, but they are underwhelming. This is the final picture of the Mythic Legions arrow. After I moved Man-At-Arms from outsided to indoors, I dropped it somewhere.

I want to know why we didn’t get a proper string and arrow with this bow? Even a plastic molded string would have been sufficient compared to no string. I fashioned this bow string out of a piece from a party hat. Notice that the Mythic Legions quiver fits nicely on Man-At-Arms armor, and also notice the figure stand he is on. This is the Mythic Legions figure stand, and I planned on reviewing it in the future, but…spoiler ahead. It is terrible.

Finally, Ram Man with the two hand axes. Because he is an axe wielder naturally, I knew he would look good holding them both. Imagine this dynamo ramming in and swinging those axes!

Rating. Well, I mean they are different enough from the gold weapons…But female figures or figures with smaller hands can’t hold these weapons. I was very tempted to try the bow with Teela for instance, but I am not risking stretching those fingers out or breaking a thumb.

I feel like these want added paint more than the gold ones. The gold weapons have dark handles and wraps, with additional paint on the jewel in the sword. But these weapons are all the same sort of drab color. I have to mark down for the bizarre exclusion of a string or arrows for the bow (We could of at least had a molded quiver, like the Mythic Legions). The packaging is really good however, and these weapons add alot to what you can do with the figures. But they feel less glamorous. In fact, there is another blue and gold set that I have been tempted to pick up…I decided on this instead and kind of feel burned. (There is this shield with a face on it that looks too “smiley” for me). But at least that set had more color

So my rating? 3/5. They aren’t terrible. But I had to improve the bow, and I feel the need to improve the paint. What do you think, Hub City Geeks? Do you think a 3/5 is a fair rating? Let me know in the comments!

MASTERVERSE New Eternia Beast Man

by

7

Yay! New MASTERVERSE figures on sale for Black Friday/Cyber Monday. I picked up New Eternia Beast Man and New Eternia Trap Jaw. You can see a video of the SpartanNerd showing off the packaging and waxing poetic below!

CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO

(Anyone catch the huge mistake I made?)

So there you have it! This is one of the final figures in the boring package that I have complained about. Maybe they were reading the blog?

Here’s what you get. Beast Man, who this time sports a headdress and furry armor (real soft goods!), a giant spiked club, traditional Beast Man armor. Two fist hands, and the whip.

I paid under $20 for this, but I feel that all of the value is there. I passed on the Revelation Beast Man, finding it too humble and untrue to the original. But this deluxe figure feels like a sequel in the same way that Mortal Kombat II outdid Mortal Kombat. The whole of Beast Man is here, and you also get more bonus play for your money! If I were a sealed collector, I probably would pass on this one though. He would need to be dressed traditionally without the headpiece on.

I mean, the loin cloth looks kind of oriental, but other than that this vintage style is wonderful. I also like the loin cloth here, but if a collector wants a modern representation of the original, they won’t be happy with that.

Oh yeah. I forgot to mention. He’s Huge! He feels like a real chunk of plastic. With the fur on, he appears even more broad chested than 40 anniversary He-Man! Question, Hub City Geeks…Is that bat too big?

And now you know. Savage He-Man cant be properly strapped down for a beating!

The armor and the headpiece fit best on 40 anniversary He-Man, with that huge chest and all. I tried it on Savage He-Man, but he is just too skinny. The headpiece really can go on anyone.

I mean, what’s this story right here? It is fun to mix and match! (MASTERVERSE Two Bad, New Eternia Beast Man, MOTUC Despara body, modified Battleground Teela head, MOTUC Sir Lazer Lot mace, MASTERVERSE Movie Skeletor Cosmic Key, and New Eternia Beast Man helmet). So what animal is the headdress? At first I thought it might be whatever Battle Cat’s armor is. But that’s not it.

They are presenting this Beast Man as kind of a potential outlier from Skeletor. I really liked the MASTERVERSE comic where Battleground Teela saves Beast Man as he too is a shaman, and can interpret prophecies about He-Man. (Now that I think about it, I have a representation of all the characters except for the unicorn!)

But he just belongs here!

My rating of this fantastic figure is a solid 5/5. MASTERVERSE New Eternia Beast Man kills it like Mortal Kombat II. You get the classic look as an option. You get the New Eternia look as an option, (which is a real treat). You get a spiked bat and substantial whip. A headdress. The figure feels like a chunk. You really have something! I spent less than $20. Any gripe I have with the packaging is being addressed. (They are moving away from the GI JOE Classified style to the more Transformers style.). So 5/5. Do you agree or disagree, Hub City Geeks? Let me know in the comments. (Too bad no one ever does…)

SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review- Masterverse Savage He-Man.

by

3

Should Masterverse be all caps? MASTERVERSE?

Once I had Classics Prince Adam, who came with Orko. These were superb figures. I even made the SpartanNerd lead picture featuring Orko in the window of the vintage Point Dread. The way this went down was you got Orko as the figure and Prince Adam was the accessory. Hilarious! You would have thought it the other way around.

This time we get Savage He-Man, with Orko added in. But Orko doesn’t get any labels along with this product. It is as if he is the accessory…for real. But if you are going to do him that way, why not include him with the most naked and bear bones of figures. Savage He-Man fits that bill. I wonder if last minute they decided to add him in and then put that banner on the corner “Includes Orko!”

It is easy to see what you get in the box. He-Man and Orko. A spear. A barbarian axe. (Yes!) Masters of the Universe: Revelations power sword. And two alternate hands.

I got this as a part of Mattel Creation’s Black Friday sale…the one that went on throughout November. As a deluxe set, it costed slightly more than the other three figures I picked up. I think I paid $13?

The side of the package that features the name says “The Most Powerful Primate in the Universe!” No mention of Orko. The other side has nice artwork featuring the characters. The back shows another fantastic illustration with the side story summarized as “What happens if Adam calls the power without the sword?” This was Kevin Smith’s take, and one I would have never thought of! Essentially he transformed into “loin cloth only” He-Man, who was an incredible Hulk, and began destroying everything regardless of whose side…an angry tank of rage. And there was a King Kong component, where King Randor or Queen Marlena were able to calm him down. (If I remember correctly.). This brings up another idea…the power sword “tempers” the power of Grayskull in this story. It helps make it wieldable. There is a precedent…the Four Horsemen story for 200x had Man-At-Arms create a techno-sword that “harmonized” with the power of Grayskull. What Savage He-Man actually was originally is the Alcala illustration from the very first mini-comic. The (Green) Goddess gives him his armor and weapons.

This packaging has truly grown on me. There are some design choices that I don’t like. If they used the red rock explosions like the vintage toys had, I would keep the boxes. (I still have 40th anniversary He-Man in his box. It is good collector friendly packaging, but you do have to take care). As for the MASTERVERSE line, it is good to see them going about this similar to the way Barbie and Monster High are kept evergreen. They put out the same Barbie over and over, but she gets a new setting, outfit, and play pattern. What they are doing…New Eternia is nice stuff. The Revelations cartoon was beautifully animated, even if I didn’t care much for the story. And I still don’t like the manly designs of the female characters. But I guess this is all a rant. Let’s look at these toys.

Here is everything out of box, pretty much vanilla. I played with them for a few minutes. He-Man’s joints are very loose. You can see every articulation cut, as this is the most naked male MOTU figure we have ever had. (Battleground Teela from MOTUC is the most exhibitionist female so far). This is important for people who want to customize figures. You are given just about as raw of material as they can give you.

He-Man has a paint-wash that accentuates his muscles. This isn’t all good, however. around his biceps it appears that he has “granny beads.” This is where they had the joints collapsed in when they dunked him in the wash, and then it dried. Unsightly! And the headsculpt…This long hair restricts the head movement pretty badly. But I am OK with this. What I don’t like is that dumb expression on his face. It is like “George of the Jungle.” Not good. He looks clueless. Yes, unpredictable. Yes, ape-ish. I wouldn’t say savage. The spear and the sword both have good paint work, but what happened with the axe? The handle is brown, but the rest of it is a flat gray. Why? The sword is two-tone, with silver and gray. They should have made the axe compliment that. Being a fan of battle axes, I will probably improve this axe myself. At least the sculpt has some knicks and cracks, showing some wear.

Let’s talk about Orko. The head does have paint on it. The rest of the figure is bare plastic as far as I can tell. I like the little flight stand that he comes with. But here is a question…and yes I know this is the design from the Revelations cartoon, but why didn’t they stay true to filmation? I wondered this with the 200x, where that Orko was taller and highly exaggerated. The MOTUC Orko looked like it came straight out of the 1980’s. Did we need an update? I don’t think so. It’s those eyes I think. They are too detailed. and the down-turned ears make him appear sad rather than as a jovial jester. Here you can see the parts…he comes apart and so I suppose you could use that scarf somewhere else. His arms move at the shoulder, but there is no elbow or hand movement.

So what is the SpartanNerd’s rating of MASTERVERSE Masters of the Universe: Revelations Savage He-Man (and Orko)?

He-Man- The head sculpt is just wrong. And then the granny beads on the biceps. AND the lack of paint on the axe. That’s three dings…OUCH! On the other hand he comes with more hands and a good amount of accessories. I really like the spear, and this is the first time I have that Revelation design power sword.

Orko- The design accurately reflects the Revelations cartoon. I can’t complain about that even if I wish they hadn’t updated the design so much. But that he has no accessories and not much articulation have to take away.

I saw this set at Wal-Mart before for $30, and passed. I feel I got the $13 value. I am rating this set 3/5. Do you agree or disagree, Hub City Geeks? Let me know in the comments!