World’s Smallest Micro Figures Masters of the Universe 4 Pack- SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review

January 3, 2023 by spartannerd

That is the longest title I have ever typed!

Here is a product I didn’t even know existed! And the SpartanWife gave it to me for Christmas! I knew about “The World’s Smallest Figures” but haven’t been collecting them. Last year someone put World’s Smallest Battle Cat in my stocking. But this year, I got a four pack, which like I said I didn’t even know was a thing.

The front is a nice window box. The back tells us what a Masters of the Universe fan already knows, with artwork that I think is from the new Origins line of figures. And I am pretty sure the art on the sides is Emiliano Santalucia’s art from the DVD collections. (I might be wrong about that.). I appreciate how the Masters of the Universe logo with the exploding red rocks on the bottom is present.

There is a black blister on the inside. This four pack is a great display on its own because of this blister. We also get a pamphlet showcasing other products by Super Impulse. The Micro Figures are there most prolific product. I didn’t know there was as much of it out there. We did have the MTG Jace vs. Chandra decks once. Isn’t Super Impulse the best name for a brand of novelty products like this?

Here are all of the items outside the blister. I went ahead and opened the hinged boxes on the two cats so you can see how these each have their own collector friendly package. On He-Man and Skeletor, you get the little door on the back.

You can see how this works. There is a little pull tab on the back of the micro blister. A polybag has all of the accessories.

For some reason He-Man came with two power swords? A mistake at the factory? I am not used to photographing such small things. You will have to forgive me. It is amazing how different the lighting can be when you focus on tiny objects. And then I cropped what I had and adjusted the lighting using Apple Photos.

I want to say how hazardously small these figures are. I am not even kidding. It is a feat of toy engineering! They are about the size of a dime. The sculpt is pretty good. The arms and the head move, but the legs are stiff and unarticulated. The armor appears to be glued on…I didn’t try and remove it. He holds the sword reasonably well and the shield snaps onto his forearms and elbow OK. The armor doesn’t have a functional holster for the sword or the battle axe. The battle axe really, really, really is hazardously small. The handle is loose in He-Man’s hand. It is like the thinnest piece of plastic. It is about as thin as a high e nylon guitar string.

Here is a size comparison for you. Sorry, not opening the 200x He-Man for this! You can see how very tiny this is. Someone at a toy store told me that the World’s Smallest figures go well in the Hot Wheels vehicles. I’ll have to try that when it snow. (You can see how the 40th Anniversary Masterverse figure’s sword isn’t holding up too well. :(. )

Amazingly, I have one smaller figure! This one came with GI Joe Classified Sgt. Slaughter. If He-Man wasn’t on a stand, the Sarge’s hat would not even tough his belt. However, this tiny figure isn’t articulated.

I KNOW. THEY ARE DIFFERENT THINGS. Still, the detail of the head sculpt on the micro figure makes the MEGA minifig seem derpy and comical. World’s Smallest He-Man doesn’t sit on Battle Cat so well…

Here is the whole set. Skeletor also doesn’t fit on Panthor so well. Both cats have the same articulation. All four legs move. Their heads can turn but not go up and down. Their tails are articulated, and you can remove their armor. This Panthor is not flocked.

Here is Skeletor beside He-Man. Once again, sorry about the blur! Skeletor can’t hold the Havoc Staff so good either. It has the same handle thickness as the battle axe. Also, his armor looks kind of wrong. But I do enjoy the redness of his eyes.

I had lots of fun taking pics of these guys. As miniature action figures, these are the smallest you could get without becoming a rubber slug like Sgt. Slaughter’s micro figure. (Still puzzled about them including that. It is cool though!). The sculpts are great and they come with appropriate accessories. I guess the issues with them holding the Havoc Staff and the battle axe are ignorable. Just be careful. The axe is so small I was afraid of it getting stuck under my Macbook Pro keys! They go right back in their packages, and then that goes back in the blister no problem. Panthor was an exclusive for this set, another bonus!

I am giving it a 5/5. Do you agree or disagree, Hub City Geeks? Let me know in the comments!

Mega Construx Snake Mountain Review part 1

December 17, 2022 by spartannerd

This is such a massive build, I am breaking up the review into sections.

You can find a review of the packaging and figures here.

Build Review part 1 (you are looking at it right now!)

Build Review part 2 (coming soon)

If it has been awhile since you checked in to the SpartanNerd blog, here is a link to the main page! I suggest starting with “catching up” from July 4, 2022.

Part 1 of this review is the “Filmation” side of the mountain.

I am also highly distracted, so I feel like this is one of the most ADHD reviews I have ever done. (’tis the season for chorus!)

It took me from mid-September until last week (second week of December) to complete this side. This is working in spurts of an hour and a half or two hours. when I felt up to it. I would get a couple of the polybags out and assemble those steps. Then put the whole project away until next time. I think there are 27 steps here?

This playset really gives you the scale of a mountain with the mini figures around it.

The trap door is pretty nice. But beware that the figures fall a long way. I had to wrangle with it so that the mechanism would work smoothly.

Webstor is doing the “trap door spider” thing. Notice these pink squirelly things and the horns. They look cool. This place “oozes evil.”

Grayskull with Point Dread and the Talon Fighter is only barely taller.

Snake Mountain is even taller than Master Grade Gundam Epyon EW on a flight stand with beam saber raised!

Shades of purple. The Land Shark and my custom “War Sled.”

I want to begin by saying that just like Castle Grayskull, each small section of Snake Mountain is packaged in its own plastic baggie. They give you this set in small and manageable chunks, and the instructions are pretty clear. Sometimes I personally have a hard time seeing the correct shape of a piece in respect of it’s orientation and position in the picture…But this is more of a SpartanNerd problem. Because it is in such small bite sized chunks, I don’t feel the need to always set out the pieces and organize them like I do smaller sets.

While the instructions are easy and the sequence is clear, the build HAS NOT been easy. I am of the belief that Mattel has opted to use cheaper or at least different plastic than they used for Castle Grayskull. The effect of that is…I really have to work hard to get the pieces to snap together! I mean…sometimes I set the pieces and the table and have to hammer them with my hand. And all of the SpartanPets go running. And then…If you make a mistake and have to take it apart…Let’s just say that the “brick separator” is our best friend. The forks on the end have worn out from me having to separate blocks that are wedged together too tightly.

I recently had to rebuild Castle Grayskull. (YAY. It has crumbled TWICE on me.). I managed to get the castle back together in about four hours. (Large pieces stayed together negating the need for a total rebuild.).

Rebuilding that set in the middle of working on Snake Mountain let me see the true difference of what is going on. Grayskull’s pieces don’t stick together so tightly…Hence the lack of durability. That roof is also dubious. It is barely attached to the playset, Snake Mountain…I probably could drop it from 8 feet in the air like I did Grayskull, and it would mostly stay together except for the little horn details and such.

(OK. I decided to move the castle to the top shelf to be beside the new Snake Mountain which is too tall for the better shelf on the lower level. I had also attached the Talon Fighter to the top of the tower. And I dropped it. In the closet. Pieces everywhere and underneath stuff in the closet. A real nightmare.)

Earlier I said cheaper/different plastic. This plastic has a problem. There is a tiny discolored nib on almost every piece. Sometimes it is on a stud. Sometimes it is somewhere else. But it is ugly and uncalled for in a set that costs over $300. Mattel knows they will get their money from people like the SpartanNerd. But every time I would see one of those ugly artifacts, I felt a little burned. I felt this bad enough to where I thought…”Would I buy a Fright Zone, Eternia Playset, or Crystal Castle?” All of those are possible sets on a similar scale and price point to Snake Mountain and Grayskull. They can do better.

Now probably the economy has to do with this. Oil/Petroleum shortage. Biden-flation. ETC etc. Maybe they purposely wanted the plastic to be more rigid so that the set wouldn’t crumble. I don’t know. But people who put pupils in the eyes of a Man-E-Faces Mega Mini Figure pay attention to details, and those ugly nibs are a problem.

Next up. I have a problem with this piece (First picture)

Notice how there is a white scar on each of these blocks.

@#!$%&*@. This large piece is stupid.

Maybe this was a reprinted piece from some earlier HALO set. Seems a little familiar. Mattel/MEGA, you missed an opportunity here. By giving us this large hollow piece you have deprived us of the ability to build that piece. And on this subject, there are some dubious design choices on some of the interior. Instead of solid blocks, they have us use large flat rectangular pieces back to back with a row of studs in between. MIND BOGGLING. WHY!? I think it might have been to save money on plastic? Maybe it made the set weigh less? I don’t know. But that design choice seems wrong on a building toy.

Last complaint. The wraparound snake. This is another missed opportunity. This snake should have been a complete snake. We should be able to remove it for a monster battle. You say, “SpartanNerd, it didn’t do that in Filmation.” True. But it did in 200x. My point is, if we received a proper tail piece, this snake would have been even more epic. We could have disconnected it from the mountain and used it. Too much fun, I guess.

On to some positivity. IT IS HUGE. A good problem, but also a problem. It is as tall as Grayskull with the Point Dread and Talon Fighter configuration. The figures look great posed on it. You get a real sense of “mountain” that I always felt that the vintage playset failed to capture. It is that sense that us collectors and fans crave that pushed the Super7 Snake Mountain to be so large and expensive.

The little horns and pink squirelly things make this really evil. Also the monster face at the base of the mountain just appears from the build, and as I mentioned before, I prefer that! The trap door is a nice touch, but the figures fall a long way down and can get busted.

The “faces of evil” are a Four Horsemen design if I remember correctly. In the middle, that purple support snaps off way to easy. It is only for looks…isn’t a functional piece for stability. I could not get the face on the left to attach without bulding up the layer underneath with spare parts.

The only “extra” on this side of the mountain is this “sarlacc pit” trap under the trap door. I put The Sorceress here, with Evil Lynn clearly summoning the monster. The Sorceress seems to wind up a prisoner quite often.

You can remove this trap and sit it other places. “The Well of Souls?”

So what is my overall feeling? Can I rate this yet?

I think it will be awhile before I begin on the second half. It seems kind of daunting. And that isn’t what a toy should be.

On the other hand, the other side has some of the cooler parts of this set. Skeletor’s throne for one. The magic table from Filmation is another. There are others…That lava slide. But I also never was a big fan of the face on the other side. Or the rat/wolf microphone. But I really liked the bridge.

Well, I am glad that we got this side with the snake, that really looks like a Filmation Snake mountain sort of. At least they gave us a little more snake.

I feel that a person might be able to customize this set a little bit. I am building it as it is meant to be first, for now.

So far Grayskull beats this set, however. It might be because of my own personal attachment as a child. But I find it is also just really awesome…in the sense that Mortal Kombat II was more awesome than Mortal Kombat I. It is more, More, MORE! I had Snake Mountain as a child, but this set departs from the vintage design enough to where it doesn’t hit me the same way that Grayskull does. I know that this is based on the Super7 Snake Mountain design, which summarizes the toy and the Filmation version. But that wasn’t “my snake mountain.” If it was dark black and gray with a giant snake wrapped around and lava coming out of its mouth…That’s “my Snake Mountain.” or if it was an exact copy of the vintage toy. It’s still cool and it’s still epic, though!

Masterverse 40th Anniversary He-Man- SpartanNerd unboxing and review

November 5, 2022 by spartannerd

I am going to take a moment away from Snake Mountain, which is slowly coming together, to review the 40th Anniversary He-Man I didn’t know existed. It was at Target, where I was looking for some Christmas presents for one of my sons. At $21.00 I decided this was a good purchase

Here are some pics for reference. The big one is the 40th anniversary He-Man. You can see the art on the back of the box, and how the cardboard tray can slide out revealing the blister with the action figure inside. You can also see my sealed 200x He-Man, and also my vintage He-Man. (Might be the re-issue. I know that the Grayskull door was mine from childhood.)

I have mostly avoided the Masterverse line of Masters of the Universe toys…The first wave, which featured He-Man and Skeletor, just threw me off. He-Man’s belt was colored too closely to his skin tone, making it seem like he had a “gut,” which just wasn’t right for the character of course. This one item, plus too much focus on the Revelation show just kept me from wanting it. It seemed to me right away that this line was going to be far inferior to the Masters of the Universe Classics line, which it was supposedly replacing.

Let me settle this up front: Mattel, Masters of the Universe Classics was the line of toys the fans deserved. It was a high bar that you set yourself. Now whatever you do that is pointed at adults has to match it. The Masterverse line does not match it. I have watched Scott Neitlich’s videos and I understand what is going on…that it was a small line aimed at collectors only and sold online. I get it. But you have set a gold standard as far as highly desirable action figures.

So now that I got my sermon posted, which they will surely never read or care about, here are my thoughts on this 40th anniversary figure.

This is my first purchase of a Masterverse figure. I have seen the boxes and all of the other figures, and thank you Mattel for giving us a good box for this one. The other figures in the Masterverse line come in boring and ugly blue boxes with plain text. But this box is not only great, it is collector friendly too! You can see from the above pic that you just open the top flap (mine had a little piece of tape) and slide the tray out. I was carefully able to remove the figure without damaging the bubble. I sold all of my MOTUC figures when I ran out of room. (This is where the funding came from that got me into the Mega line). If there is anything that this Masterverse line is doing better, it is this collector friendly package. On all of the MOTUC figures you pretty much had to destroy the package if you wanted to touch the figure. After selling the MOTCU collection, I have been collecting the Mega figures on card and also off card. This is economical enough, and helps me feel like a real collector. I have since picked up San Diego Comic Con She-Ra that had a similar collector box, and also GI-Joe Classified Cobra Commander. I am sad that in the instance of the 200x He-Man that I have on card he has to just stay on the card. (That figure seems to have come down in value recently. My box is in awful shape anyway. Notice my version is the more rare “cross” on the chest version.)

The figure looks OK in the box. Let’s get him out and play awhile.

He-Man comes with this: Power Harness (armor), Power Sword, Shield, and Battle Axe. He also comes with a fist hand and a chopping hand. I guess I should count the left hand Wrist Bracer that also comes off.

His articulation is pretty good. Shoulder, biceps, double jointed elbow, and wrist with a 360 rotation as well as a hinge for up and down. The hands just pop out of their socket, and as mentioned, the left hand bracer comes off which might help you to display him equipped with the shield. The classics version didn’t have the double jointed elbows…but…I’ll say in a minute.

He-man’s head has 360 rotation and can nod up and down. He has a torso that is more likely to bend backwards rather than ab crunch. (Remember what I said about the first Masterverse He-Man having a gut?)

You get a waist swivel, legs that come out to do a split, and now thigh cuts. Double-jointed knees, boot cut, and rocker and hinge ankles.

Go have a look at my review of MOTUC He-Man from 2013. Now let’s talk. The double-joints are supposed to be an improvement on the design. But they look bad. Also, the thigh cut doesn’t do anything for me. It is kind of similar to what we had with the female figures in the MOTUC line, where when you moved their waste, you had a flat surface that just “looked wrong.” The thighs here just look wrong. No other way around it.

The top left pic shows He-Man in the same pose as the artwork on the back of the box. (very nice art, by the way.). He has no trouble getting into this pose. The second pic shows a near-transformation pose. But can you see what I see? The arms are out of proportion. His hand is too long. This head sculpt has an unsettling facial expression. You can compare the original sculpt to the new one in the third pic. The original looked menacing. Barbaric. They have given him a more vertical head, larger eyes, and distinct eyebrows, making this He-Man appear less confident. And He-Man should exude confidence. You can really see this when posing the fist. This fist looks like Deadpool’s baby hand compared to the rest of the arm (don’t look it up if you don’t know). The backside pic shows off the way the sword fits in the harness, and the muscle flexshows the off-proportions. I will say, the furry shorts and boots have a nice wash. But there is a contrast between the molded plastic belt and bracers that seems incongruent.

He-Man goes back in the box nicely, where I think he will stay.

I didn’t have any trouble getting him back in the box. Here he is with my other carded Masters figures.

I think I believed this purchase would scratch the itch of collecting He-Mann figs again. In the box, maybe. But he just isn’t as inspiring as was the MOTUC figures were. I don’t think I am likely to remove him from this package again. Maybe when it snows.

So what do I rate this figure?

The packaging is a 5/5. The toy is about a 2/5. So this puts it in the 3/5 camp. You would think that a 40th anniversary figure would be a solid 5/5. It should be. At least it was affordable, unlike the Magic the Gathering 30th anniversary fake cards (60 fake cards for $1000). Thanks professor! I didn’t know this product existed, so it was kind of an impulse buy. I wonder if they will make a Skeletor. Surely they will. But I will probably pass on it.

UPDATE: I had a good look at the first release of the Masterverse He-Man today unsealed in a case in a store. This 40th anniversary figure has a MASSIVE chest in comparison.

ONE MORE THING: I was just moving the MEGA CONSTRUX Castle Grayskull to the top shelf…It crumbled. I guess I am taking even more of a commercial from Snake Mountain.

Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony…SpartanNerd’s Music Review

May 11, 2019 by spartannerd

Nothing could taint the experience of finally seeing the Ninth Symphony performed live! The Spartanburg Philharmonic absolutely nailed it…It may be the highest art Spartanburg has ever experienced, and this is an artsy place. Worries about three of my students who didn’t arrive couldn’t scar it. Neither the hazardous weather; neither the annoying synthetic buzz of the speakers in Twitchell Auditorium at Converse College: neither the horrible parking situation or record crowd audience. No. Beethoven’s music transcended it all. This is a piece that I have purchased several times over the years, the first of which when I was sixteen years old and had my family scratching their heads. A piece that I have taught about since my career began with glowing reverence. A piece that I have never seen performed except in odd snips and pieces, and never with singers.

The program started with the unconnected Modern piece, Charles Ives’ “The Unanswered Question,” which provided a point of variety and contrast, and set the stage for conductor Stefan Sanders’ remarks about the nature of life…the What, How, When, Why, and Where of life. This piece has a pretty and controlled strings component, and “questioners” who played from the balcony, disconnected from the rest of the players, and playing with differing keys and tempos. He explained that Beethoven strived to give us the answer that Charles Ives was also looking for with his greatest and final symphony. He described the first movement as having an urgency, the second movement as a type of demonic dance, the third movement a tribute to love, and the fourth movement all about brotherly love. I personally have always given deeper explanations of each movement…more technical ones. But Mr. Sanders let his orchestra do the talking…

As the first movement began, the straight sounds of open violin strings, the droning of the winds, the feeling of the orchestra being tuned, (a revolutionary idea in the great master’s day), the power of it all was too much for me. My heart began to race and, yes, I began to cry. How many times have I just sat and listened to recording of big-name orchestras? How many rides from college back to Pacolet have I let this play? (Yes. Years ago.). I remember listening to this to go and pick up a pet rabbit with one of my sons, and I explained each movement and what was going on to him. All of this crashed down on me at once. To me the Spartanburg Philharmonic’s rendition was devastating, powerful, and unashamed to make statements in every way. And the tempo that they played it in was perfect, not dragging at all. And as annoying as that droning synthetic speaker sound in that room was, It was completely washed away by the raw strength of the orchestra.

During the break between the first and second movements, you could hear a torrential downpour as a storm raged outside. This was God smiling at us as we listened…the second movement evokes a tempest, and this heavy rain made a perfect backdrop. As I listened, I noticed how perfectly balanced this orchestra is. I have a few recordings that sometimes when I listen to, and feel like the recording or the players don’t sound as spot on as they could. We had good seats for this concert…it’s true. But the orchestra itself was pristine. Never all night was there a single time that a horn was too loud, a section overpowering, or even a drum too tight. I mention that I have never seen the Ninth Symphony performed live before, but I HAVE seen this movement performed a few times. But the Spartanburg Philharmonic brought the greatest performance tonight.

As there was another break before the third movement, something odd happened that I didn’t understand until later. Four singers entered the stage and took a seat at the front. For this event, the choir that was to sing the Chorale at the end was seated onstage for everyone to see. But these four entered and took a seat up front, undoubtedly the soloists who would sing in the final movement. And suddenly I had a slight panic. There was to be no singing until the fourth movement? Were they skipping the third movement? (Blasphemy!). No. Nothing like that at all. I felt my tension ease as the orchestra began to play the prettiest part of the the Ninth Symphony, the Pastoral movement. I do enjoy the melody of this part…it reminds me of some of Beethoven’s other work. But I will be the first to tell you as a teacher that this is also the least exciting part of the whole work. After listening to the thing several times, you know the real treat is in the fourth movement, and sometimes it feels like some of the extended phrases and sections of the third movement are hoops Beethoven has you jump through to keep you anxious for the end. The orchestra delivered this movement nicely, and then…

So why did those singers come onstage so early? Mr. Sanders had about a fifteen second break in between the third and fourth movement. I don’t even think the players rested their instrument or turned pages. He froze in place, as many times I have done in conducting different groups…and then, with more electricity than the raging storm outside, the fourth movement began, and I jumped to the edge of my seat! And so the conversation began between the low strings and the rest of the orchestra, and it is like every single note is stamped on my soul. I look over at the cellists and bassists at the right, and then back at the other players on the left, anticipating and reveling in it all. Beethoven wrote this when he was COMPLETELY DEAF! And the classic themes of the three movements before, Orchestra Tuning, Thunderstorm, and Pastoral are all shot down, and then the low players begin to play the hymn of the ages, the Ode to Joy, and the rest of the orchestra follows suit. Then on cue. My kinsmen, the singers, they all stand in one accord at the right moment…the same electric music that made me sit up in my chair had me moving again as they all sprang into action. I was pleasantly surprised to hear that wonderful bass singer singing the classic German text as we hear the conversation yet again, with words. And how did this great chorus sound? I was worried about the balance. But it was sparkling and as pure as the greatest recording I have ever listened to. And did I mention that I was glad to hear them singing in German? My wife, sitting beside me the whole time, elbowed me in the side during the Turkish March and asked me if I was alright, and I realized again that I was crying. The quartet delivered part beautifully, and when It was time for the rest of the chorus to come in with those notes…the ones with the droning trumpet…the notes that let you know a cathartic moment is upon you, it was ecstatic. And the coda section of the piece, (should we really call it that?). This terrific group made it the greatest “mad dash” of all time. Literally, the second that it was over, the audience roared in applause and stood to its feet. The clapping went on for…five minutes? And then it kept going! Of course there wouldn’t be an encore, not after all that. But what a rush!

Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony was the closing performance of the 2018-2019 orchestra season for the Spartanburg Philharmonic. I want more. Our city needs more. Please keep this happening Spartanburg!

From the Vault: Transform…SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review

November 26, 2017 by spartannerd

I’ve been playing Magic, the Gathering for some years now, but this is the first time I’ve purchased a From the Fault product. I DID purchase the dated “Graveborn” Premium Deck, which was an all-foil set. I was highly tempted to get From the Vault: Angels last year, but never saw it anywhere for retail price. (I had most of the angels anyway.)

This being my first one, I thought I would really take a look at the packaging. This roduct feels like something a collector might like to keep MIB. I don’t see the fun in that, but it is what some people do. After spending time with this package, I’ve decided I am going to keep it to store the cards that I am not currently using. It looks very nice. The front is glossy and colorful with blue and orange graphics. The back show off an image of one of the sides of each of the cards in the set. There is a contents list on the bottom, and a message about the nature of the transforming cards.

It opens up nicely, revealing the frontside of Huntmaster of the Fells, the backside of Liliana, Heretical Healer, and the frontside of Delver of Secrets. You totally could stop here and just prop this product up on display somewhere.

The box feels like a display box, and upon further exploration, I discovered the correct way to open it.

There is a magnetic flap! So you don’t even have to destroy the package. NICE!

Here’s what’s inside.

The cards come in three cigarette wrappers. There is a spindown life counter with a special From the Vault Transform symbol, and a nice informational poster. Let’s look at that.

Nice art, with a description of each card and the story that goes along with it. That is a nice picture of the new Delver of Secrets art, and yet another picture of Gideon on the other side. (Gideon is very often depicted in promotional media like this.)

Now let’s look at and discuss the cards.

First of all, upon opening each pack, I discovered that they were stuck together. I mean. STUCK. TO. GETHER.

These cards have a special foil treatment, on both sides. I have owned a couple of FTV printings, one of VESUVA and another of AKROMA, ANGEL OF WRATH, and those cards have the same foil treatment, but only on one side. These cards being double sided…I guess what I’m saying is the foil treatment being on both sides is what made them glue each other together. And it was pretty stout. I mean, Bruna, the Fading Light was stuck to Elbrus the Binding Blade and Chandra was stuck to the Ixalan card while I began photographing. I hadn’t even noticed! Now separating them wasn’t scary, and there didn’t seem to be any accidents…no scratches or anything. I just want to point out that this happened to the SpartanNerd the first time he opened a sealed From the Vault.

So here are the cards with some commentary.

Garruk Relentless//Garruk, the Veil Cursed.

The first double sided planeswalker, and notable at that…he flips when he has a loyalty for two or less. He is a token generator, and essentially a planeswalker with five abilities not counting the transform mechanic. Having said all this, this is the least played of all of the cards in this set. It is nice that they paid some attention to Garruk, however. He hasn’t been seen since M14, when he was killing other planeswalkers all over the place. The Wizards have decided to feature Nissa mainly as the green planeswalker mascot.

Chandra, Fire of Kaledesh//Chandra, Roaring Flame

This set features all five of the Magic Origins planeswalkers. These each have a creature card on one side, that transforms into a planeswalker. Chandra is the mascot for red burn strategies. This card is a slow shock effect, and frankly a little hard to get transformed into the planeswalker form. IF you do ever get her to level up to Chandra, Roaring Flame, you still don’t have that great of a planeswalker for all of your effort. I supposed if you made Chandra a Commander, you might be able to do something with her. I am placing her in my Archangel Avacyn commander deck. (I played a match that heavily featured Chandra. In Commander, she isn’t so bad when you have a board presence and every little bit of damage you can deal counts.)

Liliana, Heretical Healer//Liliana, Defiant Necromancer

I have been slowly building an entire foil mono-black Liliana tribal deck. I have the stamped foil of this card, and thought that would be the prettiest version. I was wrong. The From the Vault printing with the extra awesome foil on both sides wins. So I guess I am going to upgrade!

As far as all of these cards go, Liliana is the most popular commander. She saw some fringe Standard play in her day, and still sees some Modern play sometimes in rack and zombie decks. It is pretty easy in black to get her to flip, and then Liliana Defiant Necromancer is pretty close to Liliana of the Veil, clearly the best and most useful of Modern-legal planeswalkers.

Speaking of my Liliana tribal commander deck, the rules change that came with the release of Ixalan now lets me have multiple Lilianas out at a time. And since I have each printing….

Huntmaster of the fells//Ravager of the Fells

A card that beat me a ton when I first began playing MTG. I began playing in tournaments during Dark Ascension. The Huntmaster is the definitive werewolf.

I haven’t seen this card played in Modern in awhile. Modern wants to be a three-turn win format (It remains a four turn, teetering on three turn.), and because this card is a four drop that doesn’t have haste, it’s a little slow. But if you can get it going, then it can win games all on its own. Remember Kalitas? Kalitas himself is just good enough. And the Huntmaster of the Fells is also.

Arguel’s Blood Fast//Temple of Alcazotz

When I saw this, I said, “What??? Whoever heard of that card?” Turns out that it is a new card from Ixalan. This one transforms from enchantment to land. I think this will be a nice addition to my Liliana tribal commander deck, as Necropotence is one of the things. (Pay life for cards is a sub theme.) The backside of the card is a powerful sac outlet.

Is this card a thing in Standard right now? I’m not sure. I have been out of the Standard scene for awhile. I do have a Tezzeret deck, but have only played in two Ixalan standard tournaments. This card has definitely not been on my radar.

Is there a precedent for this? A Standard card in a From the Vault set? I think they used to actually put preview cards in From the Vault sets. So that would be pre-standard…

Arlinn Kord//Arlinn, Embraced By the Moon

Here’s one that I saw played in Standard back before the last rotation every now and then. The “Shadows Over Inistraad” block didn’t feature as strong of a werewolf mechanic as did the original Inistraad. Here we have a werewolf planeswalker. She is also a planeswalker with five abilites, like Garruk, and she also makes wolves. (Like Garruk.) For werewolf tribal purposes, Arlinn is a must have.

Unfortunately, there is only one viable werewolf commander, Ulrich Krallenhorde, and he isn’t too great. Still, if you are into that, jam Arlinn Kord into your deck.

Nissa, Vastwood Seer//Nissa, Sage Animist

Here is an Origins planeswalker that did see play in standard. Really, anything that ramps for cheap works for green. People would cram four copies of this in their deck, and play it to get out the lands they needed, and eventually they would do this and flip one of them, and proceed to have huge advantage on the board. This is one I was glad to see rotate out!

I haven’t seen her play in Modern, however.

Kytheon, Hero of Aroas//Gideon, Battle-Forged

Nothing to see here. Move along.

(Just kidding.) Really, this card didn’t see much play in Standard, and hasn’t in Modern or Commander either. I think he is under-appreciated, and he probably would have fit better back in M13 standard.

He is basically a one-drop planeswalker. That isn’t Tibalt. So that’s something!

I think he is waiting for the right White Weenie moment to come along.

Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy//Jace, Telepath Unbound

And here is the money card in the set. Jace can be had for about $25, regular printing, and $35 in foil outside of this set. Back when he was Standard legal, he fetched $4o or more for the regular, not foil version.

Why is he so good? He is a two drop looting creature. You can play him early game or late game, and he is still good. When you do his loot ability, if you have five or more cards in the graveyard, he becomes an incredible control planeswalker, with a negative three ability that lets you reliably snapcaster an instant or sorcery from your graveyard.

Is he better than Snapcaster Mage? I don’t think so. Almost nothing can beat the flash-in flashbacker, who becomes a great surprise chump blocker and lets you get something out of your graveyard. Jace has to sit there for a turn before you can even activate his ability. But he is still useful, and if you can get him to flip and keep him on board, you get great card advantage.

I’ve heard of Jace played in almost every format, even Commander. This might be the best card in this set. Except it’s not…

Delver of Secrets//Insectile Aberation

This probably is (the best card.) Not many Magic the Gathering cards are as good as Delver. And he’s a common! So this card doesn’t cost a ton to own four copies. But this special art special foil printing is bound to be popular with people who relaly like hitting their opponents hard and fast.

Delver is great. He gets you card advantage. You don’t have to trigger his transform ability if you don’t want to. If you do want to, on turn you can begin wrecking your opponent in the air.

Check this scenerio. Turn one, shock in Breeding Pool. Play Delver of Secrets. Turn two, reveal Giant growth from the top of your library, flip your Delver Play your Forest as land for the turn. Declare attack for 3 in the air. Hit Insectile Aberation with Giant Growth twice, (Because you started with one in your opening hand.) You brought nine damage in the air on turn two. Congratulations. You are a jerk!

Delver is played in every eternal format. Because he is eternally good. That’s why!

Archangel Avacyn//Avacyn the Purifier

This is one of the funnest cards in the set. She has Flash. Flying. Vigilance. Makes things Indestructible, Sweltering Suns. All in one Legally Blonde package. Lots of flavor here, too. If you followed the story of Shadows Over Inistraad, you saw Avacyn twist into a self-righteous evil. When you Flash her in (Angel to the rescue!) everyone else on your team has indestructible until the end of turn. And incredible shock to your opponent if you played her from your hand. An incredible threat if she is your Commander. And when she flips, (because one of your non-token cratures died,) she hits everything on the board for 3, and lightning bolts your opponent (s) as well. And yes. That’s Commander Damage!

Fun! If you like a card that does stuff, look no further than this card.

Bloodline Keeper//Lord of Lineage

Here is the card that I think I will have the least use for. Maybe not. I like Vampires, and played Black Red vampires occasionally in the last Standard environment. And here is where I think I am not that interested in building a Vampire Tibal Commander deck. Vampires are OK. But how often have I had a ton of them? Not that often.

This guy is good, if you are interested in buiding such a deck. Most Vampire decks have Olivia VOldaren as their Commander. (She’s just sick!) But maybe Kalitas would be good. (No. I know he would be good. See above!)

Elbrus the Binding Blade//Withengar Unbound

I remember the first time I saw this card. I knew I had to have it! The flavor of the thing is pretty cool. This was in the very early days of playing MTG for me, and the idea of getting that giant flyer out and smashing people was just awesome. I had alot to learn…it is pretty hard to get seven mana to play an equipment. Then pay to equip that to a viable attacker. It really is pretty hard. (I was playing this in Standard, belive it or not!)

Now Elbrus remains one of my favorite cards. And to have this incredibly cool foi printing is just great. And it is something else to put into Liliana’s Commander deck!

I left the weirdest for last…

Bruna,the Fading Light//…//Gisela, the Broken Blade/////Brisela, Voice of Nightmares

Weird.

Basically, the Wizards pushed the transform mechanic as far as it could go, inventing the meld mechanic, and making six cards with the ability. Melding pieces two halves of a card on the backside of two creatures, combining them together into an eldrazi. Brisela here represents that, as she was the best example of a played meld pair in Standard.

Gisela actually made her way into decks that didn’t feature her other half. She is a good angel, with Flying, First Strike, and Lifelink.

It is Bruna that makes this a devastating thing. Say you played Gisela early on, and the opponent doom bladed her. No problem. Play your Bruna in your second main phase (turn six or seven) and at the end step, you have Brisela! An incredob;e 9/10 flying vigilance lifelink first strike hate machine!

THE SPARTANNERD’S RATING OF FROM THE VAULT TRANSFORM

Well. A couple of things. The cards sticking together is a little unnerving. I don’t know when these were printed and packaged, but I imagine the problem might be worse if they sit unopened on a store shelf for a long period of time. I immediately put “snugs” on mine. (form fitting side loading card sleeves for double sleeving.)

What’s here is good. But I think there is a glaring ommision or two. How about Westvale Abbey//Ormandahl, Profane Prince? I could have taken this over the Vampire, or over the Arguel’s Blood Fast. Thing in the Ice…Hello!

The Wizards also ignored Morph and Champions of Kamigawa Flip cards. Maybe it was economically better for the Wizards to print the double sided cards instead, but if they wanted us to get maximum power out of similar mechanics, when we could have done with Nazumi Graverobber or Willbender.

But I am happy enough. The new printings of Liliana, Jace, Withengar, the three angels, and Garruk make me pretty happy. I don’t play much red-green, but I am glad the Wizards printed Huntmaster of the Fells, which is about a $12 card.

The value I got for $39.99 (retail) at the Tangled Web in Spartanburg was very nice. You already can’t find this product cheaper than $65 on TCGplayer.com. And if the story of From the Vault Angels happens to From the Vault Transform, then it will eventually make its way above $80.

So I am happy to rate this product at 4/5, marking off because the cards sticking together worries me a little bit. It is a great selection of cards, that came in a nice, displayable package.

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

Archenemy: Nicol Bolas. SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review

June 17, 2017 by spartannerd

Long time no blog. Sorry, Hub City Geeks.

But I’m back with a treat! As you can see, for Father’s Day I got the Archenemy Nicol Bolas set! And I am unboxing it for you today!

The top image is the front of the box. Nice artwork. And you know you are getting something nice! Mine was actually slightly cheaper, as the Tangled Web in Spartanburg is holding a sale…everything 15% off!

The back has some inspiring words, and a picture of some of the content.

Opening the box, you are greeted with this. I was a little puzzled at first.

Also, note that upon removing the cellophane and the price tag along with it, you can see some information. Ages 13+, 2-4 players, and 30+ minutes.

What I’m telling you and showing you is that this is the first really successfully executed MTG all-in-one board game style set! While there is Arena of the Planeswalkers, which is “Heroscape” with Magic characters, Archemeny: Nicol Bolas retains the gameplay of Magic the Gathering. And just like any dedicated board game, there is some setup.

I was confused by the big white thing. What that is is an envelope, and it contained the four deckboxes, which you will have to assemble.

Adding to the board game feel of the set, you also get a special life counter, which can go up to 100. This is the “Commander’s Arsenal” style of counter, that hasn’t been released in a long time. (Incidentally, if you get the Commander’s Anthology,” you get four of these. I won’t be getting that product and reviewing it, however.)

The first pack of cards I opened were the scheme cards, of course! These cards are the same size as the Planes from Planechase. I am showing you the front and the back…I really like the design. And the back is almost like, “What if Magic the Gathering came out this year?” This might be what the card backs would look like. The front features more of that Egyptian style art, and a device resembling the “Talon Gates.” (Apparently, Nicol Bolas was one of the first planeswalkers, and the gates are a trophy remaining from the first planeswalker duel on Dominaria.)

The scheme cards are loaded with flavor. And I think there also may be some spoiler content from the upcoming “Hour of Devastation” set. Check out “A Reckoning Approaches.” Is that Razeketh on the card?

The Included Decks

Next I will unbox each deck and show you a picture of the rares. I will also point out the important commons and uncommons. All of these cards are reprints.

OK. First let me say I am disappointed that these aren’t foil planeswalkers. AT LEAST BOLAS SHOULD BE FOIL.

And while we’re at it, why didn’t they give us an oversize Nicol Bolas as well?

OK. Rant over. Let’s look at the tokens first.

They are double sided. One image shows one side. The other shows the same cards flipped.

It seems we should be making lots of horrors, zombies, and soldiers.

Now for Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker‘s deck.

Wow. This is a lot of rares! And so many things fly. Blood Tyrant…That guy’s a winner! Don’t have what you need? Prognostic Sphinx will get you there. Here is a needed reprint of Dreadbore. I almost think Harvester of Souls is a little boring at this point. How many times has that been reprinted? Icefall Regent was recently a big deal in standard. Archfiend of Depravity has been there…but never really shined. Bolas is a three color card, and it’s good that we get Dragonskull Summit, a buddy land.

Here are the commons and uncommons. Lightning Bolt. YES. Doom Blade. YES! Extract from Darkness has been fun in commander. Slave of Bolas. This is my first “upgrade.” I picked up a foil over my recent vacation.

Because Bolas is a three color character, you get some mana rocks that help you fix your colors. And you get these lands, notably Crumbling Necropolis.

Each of the Planeswalkers in this set are pretty good, but Bolas is the most satisfying. Still, he costs a ton to play. Luckily, his deck helps get him out a little earlier with certain cards.

Gideon Jura ‘s deck

These are some all-stars in white! (well, maybe not Aegis Angel and Lightwielder Paladin.) As I looked at these rares…I knew them right away. In the case of Fiendslayer Paladin, that guy was incredible in Theros/M15 standard. Sun Titan. Need we say more? Odric Master Tactician is so good he right out finishes regular matches of Magic if he hits the board with some friends.

Gideon Jura is an OK card. There are certainly better versions of Gideon out there. But this version is good and balanced for this set. -2 the Gideon to remove some of Bolas pesky fliers.

These cards are also pretty good, with excoriate exiling tapped cards. Fencing Ace was the title of my deck back in Theros/Ravnica standard. Pairing him with Fiendslayer is great. The Flickerwisp…It turns out that Bolas can steal your planeswalkers pretty easy using the scheme cards. But Flickerwisp says “return to the battlefield under its OWNERS’s control.” Which is just sick. Bolas can steal your Chandra, and you can just steal her back!

The SpartanKid made an observation…cards from Amonkhet have the Amonkhet expansion symbol. But cards from other places get a special Archenemy symbol…

(I thought of this because of the Aerial Responder, even though he has the Archenemy symbol. Somehow that triggered my memory, maybe because he is in Kaladesh?)

Chandra, Pyromaster‘s deck

Dualcaster Mage, Grim Lavamancer, and Inferno Titan. These cards are terrific! I don’t know if Dualcaster made a splash in Vintage or not, but this was one of the predictions when it was first printed in Commander 2015. This is my first copy of Grim Lavamancer…he is a staple in the Modern burn archetype.

Hammerhand and Coordinated Assault help your guys get through. Searing Spear…this is NOT LIGHTNING BOLT. Chandra now has at least three pre-constructed decks, and none of them have the best burn spell in them. That said, Searing Spear isn’t bad, it just can’t outpace Lightning Bolt. Volcanic Geyser. Why not just include Fireball? The geyser has the advantage of being an instant, but it is one red slower.

Chandra’s card is one of the best Chandras they ever printed.. Seeing that she has NINE DIFFERENT CARDS, that’s saying something. But a great many of those are not really tournament playable. This one is a contender.

Nissa, Worldwaker‘s deck

Gavin Verhey, who was the lead designer on this set, proclaimed in the now famous preview duel on the Mothership website, said that Nissa’s deck could do the best with a long game. And that may be because this is a two color deck, while the other two are mono colored.

She does have more resilient threats, but it takes longer for anything to get going. If Bolas sweeps the board and Thragtusk is there, you at least get a beast in his place. Forgotten Ancient can get out of hand really fast, (He was recently included in the Atraxa Commander deck.) Oran-Rief Hydra is big to start with, and just gets bigger.

Additionally, this deck can draw cards more easily, and Vision Skeins is incredible in a four player game. (Of course, Bolas gets to draw also.)

The Nissa card here is the best of the three Gatewatch planeswalkers. She pays for herself the turn she comes out. She makes lands into man-lands. And ultimateing her can be GG, if Bolas doesn’t sweep the board on the next turn.

PLAYING THIS SET.

I just got it yesterday! But there has been some playing here in the SpartanNerd Household. Last night me and the SpartanKid sleeved up Gideon and Bolas and had a traditional one-on-one. The funny thing is, that worked pretty good. It was a cute match, where each side would gain an advantage one after the other. But eventually, Bolas overpowered him.

Today, I ran the Gatewatch myself against the SpartanKid, who played Bolas as Archenemy. This match lasted about 70 minutes. It seemed everytime I would get some traction, the scheme cards would undercut my progress. That big splashy spell every turn really makes this a special set. But it is also HARD.

Eventually Bolas accumulated enough flyers to just start picking planeswalkers off one at a time. And what do you do when all you draw is pump spells while you have no creatures? The last man standing was Nissa, and two Turntimber Basilisks, and two Fertilids. Nissa had a ton of lands as well. Bolas had the abovementioned flyers, but all were tapped, making death inevitable. But I wasn’t going down without a fight. He had three walking threats. I landfalled the basilisks several times by using the Fertilid’s ability. And at least removed the threats on the ground. But it was a loss next turn. Bolas scheme card even made me lose life before the defeat! (The Mighty Will Fall)

This was a fun time, and it could only be more fun with more players. I will have to keep you posted here on SpartanNerd.com about future matchups.

SO WHAT DOES THE SPARTANNERD RATE ARCHENEMY:NICOL BOLAS?

It’s a terrific product, and the Board Game feel of it is very nice. Check it out.

Here is my Archenemy packed up and ready to play. But believe it or not, I had just put the top back on it and shook it around. The tray inside is perfect for keeping this set contained. Even the life counter has a well designed spot in the set. I haven’t sleeved the tokens or the schemes, but they fit nicely in their original spot underneath the deck box un-sleeved.

So this is a well designed package. Well designed experience.

And I COULD take for instance, the Grim Lavamancer to a tournament to play. And that is one of the rewarding things about collecting the sealed products the way I do, at least for Modern. Some of the included cards here are very nice.

I wish the Planeswalkers were foil. That is one of my complaints. You pay $59.99 for a MTG product, there better be some foils. Because these are all alternate art cards, they won’t be printed in foils unless the Wizards decide to reprint them in the future somehow. You could get foil regular printing but that shouldn’t feel necessary.

The decks included are tailored for multiplayer matches, and so that is one of the narrow focus things about the set. But you could play any decks against Bolas you wanted to, I suppose.

So I am going to rate this product a 4/5, knowing that my opinion will change the more I play the set.

Do you agree or disagree with the SpartanNerd’s rating of 4/5? Let me know in the comments!

spartannerd

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