Tag Archives: Skeletor throne

Mythic Legions Belualyth- SpartanNerd Review

by

1

The SpartanNerd has a ton of action figures…so much so that I no longer can comfortably display them all. And I have a lot of lady action figures also, with several Teela and Evil-Lyn figures among them. But until now I have had no Mythic Legions or Cosmic Legions ladies. Belualyth is my first one. So how did she turn out? Keep reading!

PACKAGING

Belualyth comes in the typical Mythic Legions box, but she is a deluxe figure, so this box is larger than the general standard figures. Think the same size as the box that the Ogre Scale Accessories came in. It is a large window that you can see the figure in very well.

On the side we get a little bio. Evidently Belualyth is big daddy evil skeleton god guy’s daughter. It also mentions the Turpiculi, a figure that I know I will get before the end of the year very likely. (Maybe more than one?)

On the back you can see that Turpiculi as well as other figures in this “wave.” You also see the big bads on the back. I don’t know enough about Mythic Legions Lore to tell you much more about them other than the skeleton god is “Necronominus,” who this wave is named after.

Don’t know who all these characters are. The guy with wings is definitely Poxxus…I saw his figure in a store. Necronominus is the flying skeleton god. I don’t know the other two. The cross sell is Necronominus, Belualyth, Turpiculi, and Undead Legion Builder.

WHAT DO YOU GET IN THE BOX?

Rather than take her out, I decided to get the top blister off. First of all, a little baggie came off of the backing card (that features the sort of generic D&D artwork that includes a dragon, some flames, and a demon). That baggie contained the additional hairpiece)

So going around the box clockwise

  • Birdcage with snake skeleton inside
  • Bird skeleton, probably a vulture
  • Alternate undead head with rotten nose
  • Belualyth figure
  • Shoulder pauldron with strap
  • Cage hanger
  • Bone saw
  • Alternate hands…gloved fist and ungloved fist for the other hands
  • Chimera skeleton pet
  • Witchy alternate hands
  • And also, alternate hairpiece

So Belualyth comes with a lot of pieces, and this was one of the big draws for me to get her. I have a ton of SpartanPets, and so I can relate well with her. If she is a good pet owner, then she is good people. (Maybe…)

Stop and think about all this. She didn’t cost that much! So WOW!

FIGURE REVIEW

Fully loaded!

Her sculpt and paint…we are talking about the Four Horsemen Studios. You know it is among the best in the business! There is a cloth skirt piece, and that belt hangs loosely there. Speaking of, that belt is one of the best pieces, featuring different animal skulls and a skelly hand. There is also a chain and a whip, and a pouch on the back for us to wonder what is in it. (The Four Horsemen are known to add these as details).

She is what is termed a “Mythic Legions 2.0” build, meaning she consists of smaller skinnier parts than say, Demistros, or the Gold Knight Legion Builder. The SpartanNerd has two such other figures…Undead of Vikenfell and Father Christmas. The addition to my collection then is the upper torso, which is obvious female.

She has very good articulation, with no real stupid problems. She stands well, even overnight on what I term to be a difficult surface to accomplish that on (Magic the Gathering playmat). Everything moves like you would expect, and the pieces are also modular like basically all mythic legions. (You can swap them with parts from other figures…be careful though. Use a hairdryer to soften the plastic).

I have never successfully removed the “normal” head from the neck to use the noseless head. Just saying…my example is on tight! I could do it if I really wanted to, but I don’t like that head. I prefer my ladies to have a nose, thank you! There are two hair pieces if you want to give her a different look. And I haven’t done it, but I can’t wait to try using the alternate wig on other action figures. (Maybe in October)

ACCESSORIES

It seems the pets are such an ingrained piece of the character I almost reviewed them in the above section!

Let’s start with the bird. It is stuck on the arm guard. If you have ever witnessed a falconer, then you know they have to use a tough piece of leather on their arm to protect themselves from razor sharp talons. It appears that Belualyth is worried about that, but unfortunately the bird doesn’t come off of that arm guard. You can’t have it stand any other way except by precariously balancing it on something like the tree in the snake cage. (We’ll get to that in a minute).

To get that bird on her arm, you don’t have to remove the forearm. At first I thought you had to, but I’m glad I came to my senses after looking at some photos of her online. Just remove the hand and slide it over the forearm bracer.

And now the snake in a birdcage. The cage comes apart, letting you get a better view of the skeletal snake and the tree perch inside. The snake is bendy, but I wouldn’t stress it too much. It seems to be a delicate piece and I would hate to break it. But you can wrap it around things or characters arms or whatever.

The pet tree can be used to prop the vulture, but it is a delicate and precarious process. It looks good in pictures though!

You can’t put the bird in the cage. And this is kind of a shame. The Four Horsemen missed an opportunity here if they had just designed the cage or the bird a little bit differently.

So about propping it on Belualyth’s back. I totally get why she would want to carry all these pets with her everywhere she goes!

Pearl
Love
Toby

The SpartanNerd has lots of pets, and he loves them so! AND his wife has a sticker on her Jeep…”There’s like a lot of dogs in here!” She takes her pets everywhere, and so why wouldn’t Belualyth do the same? I think this is why the character appealed so much to me.

So to get the birdcage on her back, you have to use this hanger that I discussed in the above section. And it snapped right in the spot on her back like it was supposed to twice, but then it was too loose. The Horsemen thought of this, and that is why the shoulder pauldron is different for this than what we usually get with say the knight characters. The strap is necessary to hold the piece to her back.

(I couldn’t tell what the shoulder pauldron even was until looking at photos on the store horsemen. It looked like it might go with the pets or something).

This strap is a tight fit, but totally necessary. And the pauldron keeps her from having the “cold shoulder.” Remember that talk about how good her balance is? This is crucial to having the character be displayed properly.

Now onto the biggest most obvious pet. The Chimera…originally I thought it was a Cerberus. But it actually only has two heads, but also the tail of a snake. It is about the size of a German Shepherd in comparison to Belualyth. The heads are some kind of tiger skull and antelope or cow skull. Both are on ball joints and could be used on other figures. AND that’s a double neckpiece that is removable and could go on another figure.

There is a leash that is permanently attached. Its four legs are articulated only at the shoulders and hips, and there is a slight splay on the back legs, but not much. The tail is a snake head. It seems to be a little bendy, but I wouldn’t push it too hard. It does have a swivel joint so you can move it some, but if you do it looks a little awkward at the joint where it breaks up the vertebrae sculpt. And I guess I need to mention this one other thing. When I reviewed Maxillius the Harvester, you can see that they have sculpted and painted blood wings and organs, etc into that figure. They didn’t do that here…for reasons of cost I’m sure. I’m just saying that for a customizer, there are some opportunities to improve the details between the ribs and around the joints. But the paint isn’t bad at all! I’m actually comparing a full price figure to what is an accessory!

PICTURED: Super7 Ultimates! Snake Eyes and Timber, and Mythic Legions Belualyth. They are giving belly rubs to their pets! The pets are doing the leg thing…

I could complain a little bit about the articulation and such on these pets in light of some other better articulated pets in competing lines, but she is an absolute Michael Jordan slam dunk of a figure. Where say the GI Joe Classified pets might be more articulated, the paint and sculpt on those isn’t as great.

PICTURED: Mythic Legions Belualyth with Chimera, bird, and pet snake in a cage, and GI Joe Classified Gnawgahyde with Porkbelly and Yobbo. Notice that both characters have their knives ready.

OH yeah! Almost forgot about the weapon. She comes with a bone saw, which is highly detailed. It is a bone saw made of bone…not creepy at all, right?! There is a razor end and a serrated piece. There are spikes on the backside of the hilt. In other words, Belualyth could really mess somebody up with this if they got past those pets.

SPARTANNERD RATING OF MYTHIC LEGIONS BELUALYTH

I just mentioned complaints. I really don’t have any except writing the name Belualyth is hard to spell and harder to type! Let’s break these points down

  • Sculpt- Awesome!
  • Paint- No slop here. she is a drab figure, and is painted wonderfully so in sickening hues of blue and with bronze patina. Her nails are black. Her eyes stare vacant.
  • Articulation- Terrific! The only hindrance comes when she is wearing the hairpiece and the cage. But you can work around these problems easily for display purposes. And no real stupid problems.
  • Accessories- Are you kidding me? Maxillius came with a lot of accessories…the Undead of Vikenfell came with a lot. The undead builder pack basically IS accessories. But Belualyth has managed to just about outdo them because she came with three pets and a weapon.
  • The feels point- Well she adds a female Mythic Legions to my collection…that counts for something. But look how great she looks in my diorama of skeletons and undead guys. Yeah…she adds a lot.
All kinds of necromancy here. PICTURED: From left to right. Demistros, MASTERVERSE New Eternia Evil-Lyn, Undead Legion Builder, Maxillius the Harvester, Undead of Vikenfell, MASTERVERSE New Eternia Skeletor on the Havoc Throne, Skeleton Legion Builder, MASTERVERSE New Eternia Panthor, MASTERVSERSE Revelation Scare Glo, and Mythic Legions Belualyth

THE SPARTANNERD AWARDS THE MYTHIC LEGIONS BELUALYTH 5/5.

You might think I am going easy on her, considering that my recent review of MASTERVERSE New Eternia Teela was also a 5/5. But there really isn’t a comparison of the two. The MASTERVERSE figure was way cheaper and still hits the same sort of boxes that a 5/5 hits. This Mythic Legions among other Mythic Legions absolutely is a solid 5/5, compared to say Warrior Beasts Head Hunter.

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

The Warrior Beasts Head Hunter

by

3

(NOTE: Some photos were taken from the YouTube review).

I think a big part of me hanging on to Masters of the Universe so long as a child was the figures were cheaper, and we were able to amass a sizable collection among me and my two younger brothers. When Mattel came out with Snake Men and the Evil Horde, this was like treasure. The SpartanBrothers could each have and collect and play a different team. (We kind of put the Snake Men in with Skeletor).

I bring this history lesson to come to another idea. What if…you have all of the figures available at the store. What if you see something else that looks cool. It always bothered me that GI Joes were smaller than He-Man. Eventually the ninja turtles were close, but didn’t quite fit. But wrestlers? These guys usually went right with He-Man. And then there were the KOs. The bootlegs. The knockoffs. The cash-grabs. You could typically get one of these “generic” figures somewhere like Dollar Tree or some other discount mart for even less than a Mattel MOTU figure. (See the review of Demistros and Black Falcon)

Which brings us to Warrior Beasts Head Hunter. Who is this guy, and why should we care? Well as soon as I saw him during the Four Horsemen’s special Spring sale, I knew I would need to get him. I’ve been collecting skeletons. He would probably sell out immediately. (Nope. He’s still available). So this was kind of a knee-jerk buy. Was he worth my $40? Keep reading!

(Extra detail- I believe this to be the among the first of “Infinite Legions”… IP licensed to the Four Horsemen to make Mythic Legions/Cosmic Legions style toys).

PACKAGING

This packaging isn’t anything great. But it is exactly what it calls out to. Head Hunter was a KO Scareglo or Skeletor variant. The Warrior Beasts line was evidently the enemies of the Remco “Lost World of the Warlord” line of toys. (A quick question of Siri tells me that Remco Toys was purchased by Jakk’s Pacific when Remco went bankrupt in 1997). Both toylines, (it’s easy to look them up on the internet) were meant to be playable alongside He-Man and Skeletor. So this packaging, it looks like the original packaging. And I can’t fault that. Otherwise, it is the same style as other Mythic Legions, with a collector friendly card back and re-usable blister. The front has an orange sign of The Warrior Beasts, just like the originals had, and then there is some “spray” colors behind the figure. The back has a photoshop of the character in action, showing an articulated jaw. One of the sides has a bio that says something like, “The Head Hunter waits around in the swamp to collect your head!”

FIGURE REVIEW

Here’s what you get in the package

  • Head Hunter figure
  • Alternate head with articulated jaw
  • Halberd weapon (this is in two pieces, the pole and the axe head)
  • Two alternate, more open hands
  • A wired cape.
Doesn’t he say “Scare Glow” to you?

This is it. A Scareglo knockoff with a big axe and swappable heads and hands. Those heads are identical, by the way. AND, we have both heads for other figures. AND, those are the same legs…maybe the same lower body…as the Headless Horseman. The top is the Mythic Legions barbarian. So what we have is a 100% re-used parts figure with a different paint job. And that is SO in the spirit of Masters of the Universe and knockoff versions, isn’t it!

As such, we know what we have. He stands well, very stable. He is as posable as a Masters of the Universe Classics or MASTERVERSE figure. His sculpting is the work of the best in the toy business, the Four Horsemen Studios.

His (I should say “it’s” to go with the bio) entire paint is white over a black body. I mean…the plastic is molded in shadow black. And then the white bones are painted on. The only other pop of color on the figure is the green eyes. So very effective paint, and it’s what caught my attention. That said, the way Scareglo is presented nowadays is reversed from the 1980’s.

ACTION…

The Halberd…we already have it in Chrome. It came with Mythic Legions Dark Knight Templar. But this is a different color. Be careful not to scratch the paint off of it getting it in Head Hunter’s hand. I haven’t had this accident, but it seems like it could happen.

Does he glow….NO. (Sadness)

That said, the white coloration really takes to colored lights. He looks best under pinkish, purple-ish light.

COMPARISON

First, let’s put him with Scare Glow. MASTERVERSE Scare Glow does glow in the dark. It is also more reactive to the blue light…that light energizes the glow in the dark paint on his ribs. But we could say that Headhunter is stronger as a figure as his whole body reflects that light, it just isn’t a phosphorescent effect. (Good job SpartanNerd. “Phosphoresent…”). And just like Scare Glow, I don’t see how people can confuse him and Skeletor. I get it…some kids only had “generic” or “off-brand” Skeletor. This is what they had to get because they couldn’t get the real thing. But other than a skull head, they don’t look alike.

PICTURED: MASTERVERSE New Eternia Bone Throne, MASTERVERSE New Eternia Battle Armor Skeletor, Four Horsemen Studios Warrior Beasts Head Hunter, and MASTERVERSE Revelation Scare Glow.

What about other Grim Reapers?

He has an alternate head that goes perfectly with Mythic Legions, so try putting that other head on Maxillius the Harvester…but set Maxillius to classic mode by removing the awesome blood wings, and check out how you have kitbashed a “Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey” Grim Reaper!

Heh Heh. Black Falcon lost his lunch again!

Here he is with most of my other skeleton figures

Funko Magic the Gathering Liliana commands her undead army. PICTURED: Demistros, MASTERVERSE New Eternia Skeletor, MASTERVERSE Revelation Scare Glow, Mythic Legions Skeleton Legion Builder, Mythic Legions Skeleton Legion Builder II, Death (From Marvel Legends Thanos), Mythic Legions Maxillius the Harvester, Four Horsemen Studios Warrior Beasts Head Hunter, Super7 Ultimates Black Falcon. You can find reviews for all of these at SpartanNerd.com, except for Liliana.

As with all good action figures, you can do some cool stuff with Photoshop. This took like, no effort, but terrific effect! I used ToyPixx’s recent “graveyard” backdrop, and green screened Head Hunter, layered him on the graveyard and made him a little bit transparent.

I just moved into a new house, and I kind of walk around in my yard in this same way.

SPARTANNERD’S RATING OF FOUR HORSEMEN STUDIOS WARRIOR BEASTS HEAD HUNTER

At the beginning of my review, I asked the question, was this worth my $40? Kind of yes. But also…kind of no.

He’s cool and scratches a kind of nostalgic itch even for a guy who never owned this as a kid. A color variant of Scare Glow is a nice thing to have. And if you go back and look at old pictures of the original, the Four Horsemen have updated him perfectly. “The feels”… he gets this point because I felt like I saw something I just knew I needed when I saw it.

I’m not a “parts collector,” but someone who is might be upset that there is nothing new here. On the other hand, maybe someone wants those white boots and that white cape could definitely be used on other figures. The accessory count here is just sad. I’m always joking about Super Seven Ultimates! Black Falcon, but that figure came with more accessories than any other just about, and he hit that same generic “feels.”

Lost your lunch? Let’s eat the SpartanNerd’s food. PICTURED: Super7 Ultimates! Black Falcon and Four Horsemen Studios Warrior Beasts Head Hunter. Also Mythic Legions Evil Magic Effects on the halberd. And a frozen turkey sausage English muffin.

I am awarding Four Horsemen Studios Warrior Beasts Head Hunter a 4/5. He is a nice update on a generic figure from the 1980’s, but he needs more accessories. It is a great thing to add another skeleton to my collection, even if he has that “Karate Kid” skeleton costume vibe. Sculpting, paint, articulation, all this is good. But he just needs more accessories, and this is where he loses a point.

Do you agree or disagree, Hub City Geeks? Let me know in the comments! Did you own this as a kid? Let me and the world that reads the SpartanNerd blog know!