Tag Archives: Super7 Ultimates!

GI Joe Classified Jinx and Zarana- Action figure showdown

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I’ve done a couple of action figure showdowns…Black Falcon vs. Demistros, Battle Armor He-Man (He-Men?), King vs. King vs. King. And now a version featuring the ladies.

I picked up Zarana and Jinx at the Toy Federation in Greer, SC. (Also Studio Series Soundwave). Why these two?

My favorite scene from he 1987 GI Joe movie was where Beach Head is training with Jinx. (I in fact love the whole part of Beach Head in this movie!) Beach Head interrupts Jinx while she is training, and proceeds to kick her butt…then PG-13 cussing at her (remember…this movie released on TV only!) As he begins to leave, she puts on her blindfold, breaks the training pole into two, and then beats the snot out of Beach Head.

Zarana is THE girl on the Dreadnoks team. There might be more, but I don’t know them. She is Zartan’s sister, and this came crashing back to me when I got the 2025 SDCC Cold Slither set. As you open it up, Zarana is sitting in the ticket booth. I knew then I would be picking her up if she was available. So here we are.

A “good girl” and a “bad girl.” Who will win?

PACKAGING

Zarana’s packaging

The back of Zarana’s packaging

Jinx’s packaging. More modern, but less splashy.
The back of Jinx’s packaging.

Both figures come in the kind of GI Joe Classified packaging you expect. I believe that Jinx’s is more recent, while Zarana’s appears to come from one of the early waves. As such, Jinx package is more sporty and as a consequence boring, while Zarana has actual illustrated comic-style art on her package. I am not figuring the packaging into the head-to-head score. I am grateful that neither was in a windowless package! So what will I use to score? The same criteria I always use. Sculpt, Paint, Accessories, Articulation, and the feels point.

FIGURE RUNDOWNS

What do you get in Jinx’s package?

  • Jinx figure
  • alternate head
  • Double-bladed Naginata (Bo staff with sai on both ends)
  • alternate fists
  • katana with sheath
  • Bandana
  • choker necklace (I’m counting this as it is easily removable)

What do you get in Zarana’s package?

  • Zarana figure
  • alternate hair
  • machine gun with skill saw blade
  • backpack
  • heat knife
  • ice-pick style dagger

The figure articulations are exactly the same. Notable…I hadn’t payed attention to this before…they both have butterfly shoulder joints! This is just now making it into Mythic Legions, for instance. And it will be a feature of the upcoming Masters of the Universe Chronicles line. And so once again they both receive a point. Jinx 2 points, Zarana 2 points. Jinx feels like the more important to have great articulation, as a martial artist. I suppose it is worth saying that Zarana’s upper arm pads kind of restrict how far up you can raise her arms…but actually it isn’t bad enough to count off a point.

The sculpts and paints. Here is where there is more a clear winner.

PICTURED: Super7 Ultimates Snake Eyes and GI Joe Classified Series Jinx.

Jinx is a red action figure. Hasbro has painted details over the red jumpsuit. And her shoes are not military…they are workout shoes. And if you use the alternate head, that is also molded in red plastic. Her arms are bare, but she has a flowery tattoo printed on her arm. Her face is a strong representation of the character, which is to say she aint no Scarlett or Baroness. In the movie, before she tries sparring with Beach Head, she makes a kissy face at him…and this ticks him off. He isn’t about playing around. But I don’t think he would have had the same reaction with Scarlett or Cover Girl. She just isn’t very pretty if you ask me. I’m just not a fan of that red plastic and sparse paint…do the clothes make the woman? They do in Jinx’s case, because this is all she has going for her. You could put almost any other female figure’s head on this body and it could work to make a new ninja.

PICTURED: GI Joe Classified Series Cold Slither with Zarana.

Zarana is a different story…and I don’t think she’s pretty either. More like tough. But clearly more care was put into sculpting the details into her denim. Every tiny hook, buckle, strap, etc. is sculpted and has a paint hit. Her boots cover all of her lower legs and end with knee guards at the top. And this is painted and includes stirrups. Her jeans have large rips with pink tights (leggings?) visible underneath. I looked up an image of the vintage figure thinking this might suppose to be exposed flesh, but no it was pink back then also. I believe it was stylish patches, but they have updated it for the fashion of the 2020’s. Her top…this exposes a midriff with … abs! I looked at all of my female action figures, and none of them have abs like this. (Masters of the Universe Classics Battleground Teela barely has abs). This crop-top is pink with silver details and a brown strap. You get my point…her sculpt and paint are far superior to what Jinx has going on. Her face is very Dreadnok. Not pretty…more like an “I will mess you up” kind of face. She has shoulder protection that is also pink. Her hair is two-toned…or maybe even three shades. She’s a beast!

So Zarana gets these two points.

Accessories.

OK…I eventually got a Beach Head! Review coming soon. (PICTURED: GI Joe Classified Retro Cardback Beach Head)

They both have a similar number of accessories actually. I do wish Jinx came with a gun. On the other hand, she came with hands (see what I did there)? You can count her blindfold and also her choker as accessories. But on this line of thinking, you probably could remove Zarana’s top. (I’m not into customizing like this, but you probably could with a hair dryer). Jinx’s accessories tell a story of a ninja. Especially the katana and naginata. Both are painted well and she has no trouble posing with them. Zarana’s accessories are a little bit wingnut…a machine gun with a skill saw on the end? It took me a little while to figure it out, but the “heat knife” is an electric turkey carving knife! My grandma used to use one…but hers didn’t heat up. So I guess Zarana can cut the turkey and cook it at the same time! She has a backpack which also serves a storage for that knife. I believe Jinx wins this one only barely…she can’t be who she is without her weapons. Zarana’s stuff is in line with what a Dreadnok would have as a weapon.

PICTURED: GI Joe Classified Zarana vs. Night Force Shooter. Shooter is “cuter” than either of them in this review.

Zarana- Articulation, Sculpt, paint- Three points.

Jinx- Articulation, Accessories…and THE FEELS POINT.- Three points

So why would I give the feels point to Jinx and not Zarana? Well I wanted both figures, so there’s that. But Jinx is in my favorite GI Joe The Movie scene (besides that hair-raising introduction music video. CObra–coBRA!) I just needed to have her, which also gives me most of the Rawhides movie scene. While Zarana is of Cobra and is a Dreadnok, which I also love.

So these ladies tie in this contest. It was my contest anyway. I said this could happen!

BUT LET’S GET OBJECTIVE

Zarana is clearly a better action figure when you take away the feels point. Just better paint and sculpt. You can tell she is huge on personality even if you don’t know anything about her character. These two tie in my contest, but if I put them against Mythic Legions or MASTERVERSE or any other modern action figures aimed at the SpartanNerd, then actually Jinx is more like a 3/5 and Zarana is a 5/5.

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

G.I. Joe Classified Law and Order – SpartanNerd unboxing and Review

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See the video review at my YouTube channel here!

As a longtime G.I. Joe fan and now the owner of a real-life German Shepherd, this Classified called my name throughout December. Between nostalgia from the G.I. Joe movie and modern Classified Series design, Law and Order was exactly what the SpartanNerd wanted with some of his Christmas money.

(What I really spent it on was Heatboys TMNT Donatello…you’ll have to wait for that review to drop…let’s just say SOLID 5/5!)

Packaging

Law and Order came in the typical GI Joe Classified Series window box. The last two Classifieds I reviewed came in that dumb windowless box. But I’m not sure they could sell this figure without such a good window where you can especially see the K9 dog.

The side has artwork similar to other GI Joe Classified series figures. I will be removing this and adding it to my diorama.

The back features a photoshop scene from the 1987 GI Joe movie. Law was one of Beach Head’s new recruits in training. Beach Head sent him in to a mockup town to find a bomb. But what Beach Head didn’t know was that Law was going to cheat, calling in Order to help. Order finds the bomb right away and brings it to Beach Head, but wants to play tug-of-war with it. Law gets it away and throws it, where it explodes away from the town. And then Beach Head says a famous line, (but doesn’t cuss this time), “I hope you both get fleas!”

Too bad the figure didn’t come with a bomb accessory. I kind of hoped that I just couldn’t see it in the package, but nope. There would be no hiding it with this window, and there was no surprise bomb this time. (Jokey Smurf reference!)

Of course, the other side of the box is useless, containing the coded bio symbols and a QR code that links to Hasbro’s main site.

What Do You Get in the Box?

  • Law action figure
  • German Shepherd K9 figure “Order”
  • Order has a K9 helmet and, collar, and harness
  • Multiple interchangeable hands
  • Alternate snarling dog head
  • Removable hat
  • Handcuffs
  • Nightstick (tonfa)
  • Uzi submachine gun
  • Pistol
  • Dagger

I mention the K9 helmet, as it wasn’t clear that it was removable. (for all we know it could be hard-sculpted on.)

Articulation

Law

Law features the standard G.I. Joe Classified articulation we’ve come to expect: excellent range of motion at the head, shoulders, elbows, wrists, torso, hips, knees, and ankles.

His removable hat fits well, and his tactical vest appears removable with some effort, but I don’t feel the need to take it off. (There might be a glued seam under one arm. Sculpted details like the flashlight and body cam add realism, making Law feel like a true modern military police officer.

Order

Order can rotate his head and has a slight up and down on his neck joint. He has jointed knees and elbows, as well as ankles on some kind of joint that can be angled in any direction. His tail is also on a ball joint. His front and back legs have “splay” and he can stand very well. There is also a mid-body articulation (do we call this a “torso” on a dog?)

The mouth does not close—Order always has his tongue out in the default head sculpt—You can swap the head for a more menacing “snarling” look.

Accessories

We have a lot of similarities…We can remove our helmets, and have large scary pets! PICTURED: Masterverse New Eternia Battle Armor Skeletor and Panthor, and GI Joe Classified Series Law and Order. Both are posing with their helmet and pet.

The Uzi machine gun is painted green-on-black, and looks like real guns I have likely seen at shows or just around my son who was in the army. I don’t know hardly anything about guns, but this one looks very realistic.

PICTURED: Law leads some NPC GI Joes and Tunnel Rat, while busting Cold Slither. Notice Zartan is escaping! All GI Joe Classified Series figures.

Be careful with these handcuffs. They are made of the thinnest plastic. Honestly they feel like that plastic that Hasbro uses to tie figures into a blister card. Flimsy stuff. There isn’t a way to unlock them…they are permanently closed. If you want to put them on a figure you have to remove their hands.

My son says he believes this pistol is not styled after a real pistol. I tend to believe him…

PICTURED: Masterverse New Eternia Man-E-Faces and GI Joe Classified Law. Both showing off their fictitious pistols.

The knightstick is a nice piece, but I wish the flashlight wasn’t permanently attached to the belt. I know some real police, and these flashlights are also meant to be used as nightsticks if necessary.

The dagger…I never could find a place on the figure where this dagger was supposed to sheath to. This was some kind of oversight at the Hasbro I believe.

Order- OK. This isn’t an accessory if you ask me.

Mythic Legions Belualyth’s Chimera is OK to take apart…but I am not showing this heroic K9 disassembled.

No problem removing his helmet. It comes right off past the ears with a little force. BUT, in order to remove the harness…this is where there is a problem. There is no buckle or snap on this harness, instead you have to remove the head and neck (the neck doesn’t come off easy), and the two back legs.

It works, but it feels wrong—especially for younger collectors or anyone sensitive to pulling apart a dog figure. But he looks great without it on, and I prefer him not to wear it, though I know he is supposed to.

PICTURED: Super7 Ultimates! Snake Eyes Timber and Order. I have nine dogs. I see this scene every day.

Order is of a similar scale to Mythic Legions Belualyth’s Chimera skeleton pet, Super7 Ultimates! Snake Eyes Timber wolf companion, GI Joe Classified Series Gnawgahyde’s Porkbelly warthog is bigger, but I believe this is accurate. (In a fight, my money is on the Warthog)

PICTURED: GI Joe Classified Series Law and Order and also Porkbelly, Gnawgahyde’s pet warthog.

SpartanNerd Rating of GI Joe Classified Series Law and Order

Such a good boy…he has Cobra Commander’s gun!

I am rating GI Joe Classified Series Law and Order a 5/5. I award points for sculpt, paint, articulation, accessories, and “feels.” The set gets all of these, especially the feels point because I also now have a German Shepherd, but also because of my love for the 1980’s GI Joe movie. I believe I will be completing the “team” of Beach Head’s recruits, because now all I need are Beach Head, Jinx, Big Lob, and Lt. Falcon.


I rate GI Joe Classified Series Law and Order a 5/5. Do you agree or disagree? Do you have a German Shepherd of your own?


Let me know in the comments, and don’t forget to like, subscribe, and check out more GI Joe Classified Series reviews on SpartanNerd.com.

Mythic Legions “The Legendary Barbarian”- SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review

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See the video review of this figure here!

In toys, companies push the limit. There are dozens…maybe hundreds of Transformers KO figures that outclass anything Hasbro is doing. How do they get away with it? One thing is change the name of the thing. Megatron becomes “Makkron.” Optimus becomes “Ray of Light” or something like that. AND, these KOs (knockoffs) get a snappy brand name that resembles “Masterpiece” somehow.

The Four Horsemen Studios have had a special relationship with Mattel…they sculpted the 200x line of Masters of the Universe toys, and kept pushing to create “stactions” to kind of complete the basic lineup of characters. Then they sculpted a prototype Classics He-Man when “Teh Lien” was officially dead, and put it in a display case for fans to begin demanding it get made. This scored them the Masters of the Universe Classics designs for what became the greatest action figure line of all time. AND helped galvanize the fanbase so that Masters of the Universe has become a reliable brand again for Mattel, even if it is mostly for adults.

Only to get dropped, evidently. After Neitlich left, the line changed hands, and then the brand was liscenced out to Super7, who also apparently purchased all of the tools to kickstart their own Ultmates! line. The Horsemen kept doing some work, however with their final Masters of the Universe contribution being Super7’s massive Classics Snake Mountain. (Which I don’t have!)

Now the Four Horsemen Studios makes a competing fantasy toyline for adults, “Mythic Legions,” which stands on faith from their fans pretty much alone. The characters feel generic enough for anyone to like, but they fit right along with 6-7 inch scale figures designed for adult collectors. And while they obviously can’t make straight up copies of existing figures they don’t have a license for, they CAN recolor what they already have. (My Whiplash figure is actually Sskur’ge from Cosmic Legions.)

“The Legendary Barbarian” is one such figure. Keep reading to see how it works!

PACKAGING

The package is exactly what you would expect. It is a nice collector-friendly blister card, but has that D&D style of art behind the figure that we have seen so many times. You can see the figure inside and most of what he comes with. Conspicuously, the helmet has empty holes where horns are supposed to attach. The back however has the chrome foil Four Horsemen Studios brand symbol and a bio for the character that essentially references all the different barbarians that this could be. There is a bio on the side, and on the other side a map of Mythos. (Mythic Legions fantasy setting.)

The Map of Mythos

It is all around average packaging for Mythic Legions, but the foil details are welcome as we don’t see those that often. Earlier this year I unboxed and reviewed the “Red Leather Knight” Legions Builder figure, and it had these details. Speaking of that specific figure, this figure also has the “pee plastic” smell when you opened it up. (It goes away after a few minutes).

FIGURE REVIEW

What do we get in the package?

  • The Legendary Barbarian figure. (Actually, the “The” is only on the website.)
  • A pair of horns.
  • An alternate head
  • A blonde hairpiece
  • A black hairpiece
  • A brown hairpiece
  • Lots of extra hands with varying grips
  • Two wrist shackles
  • One larger shackle
  • A weapons strap
  • Two shoulder pauldrons
  • A sword
  • A shield with two handle options
  • A battle axe

So alot here!

First of all, the head that is on the figure in the package is their way of flying under the copyright radar. This is a bearded Viking head with reddish brown braids on the beard. No one would ever believe this was He-Man or Conan. You can swap this head with the alternate, which has slots in the top so that the hairpieces can be changed. This head looks tough and weathered. It isn’t the kind face of He-Man, but more the grizzled face of Conan from especially the Dark Horse comics. Basically the hairpieces serve as different wigs to make him a different character. AND they included a brownish red piece also, just letting everyone know that it is up to the fans to use whichever option they would like.

The complexion is one of the most striking things about the figure. Typically He-Man is caucasian and tan, and Conan the Barbarian is either the same or just of a darker complexion. Somehow I didn’t expect this…but even more than this there is a black wash of paint over all of the hair and skin that makes him appear dirty. And this is perfect and what the Horsemen were going for.

PICTURED: MASTERVERSE 40 Anniversary He-Man and Mythic Legions Legendary Barbarian. Furry boots>cuffed boots for barbarians in my opinion.

My only complaint about the design of the figure is the boots. I would prefer the figure to have furry boots rather than cuffs. These cuffed boots are the same from the “Warrior Beasts Head Hunter” and other figures. These boots look way too civilized. I would have especially liked to see strapped sandals in this case instead of any boots at all.

Of course the figure is entirely modular. You can pop-and-swap with other Mythic Legions, Cosmic Legions, or Figura Obscura figures easily, though you probably need to use a hairdryer or hot water on some parts like the hands and feet.

ACCESSORIES

I am just going to go over these one at a time, as usual.

First of all, the shackles and chains. I don’t believe these can be opened. It took me a few days to realize that I could take the wrist bracers off and then slide these on. I STILL don’t know what the large cuff is for. At first I thought if was for his feet, but it doesn’t fit over the end of the ankle when you remove the foot. You CAN slide it over the wrist bracer, and maybe that is the intention, so you can have a quick wrist chain without removing the hand.

PICTURED: Super7 Ultimates! Thulsa Doom, Mythic Legions Legendary Barbarian, Mythic Legions Ninian Infantry army builders, and Mythic Legions kitbash Gamecocks Knight. This fight in the woods is a good way to see the chains on Legendary Barbarian’s wrists.

The weapon strap is the same that comes with most Mythic Legions figures, but this time it has painted buckles on it. You can criss-cross it over his default strap, and make this appear more like the X-shaped armor that He-Man has. You of course can also just swap them out, or even make this into a belt piece.

PICTURED: Super7 Ultimates! King Conan and Mythic Legions Legendary Barbarian. You can see how you can cross the weapon strap over the default. Also note the shoulder pauldrons and the sword.

The shoulder pauldrons work the same way as most Mythic Legions work, pegging into holes on the back of his shoulders. There is also a useless slot on his back. The pauldrons DO hinder his arm articulation, and they don’t fit tightly. But some Mythic Legions pauldrons like this are such a tight fit they don’t even work well. They look great, with sculpted cloth details underneath the metal details.

The sword…this sword doesn’t look anything like He-Man OR Conan’s sword. It looks like a sword from Zelda Breath of the Wild, or maybe a Transformers sword. It doesn’t look bad, though. But it isn’t quite as barbaric as I would like. It is oversized and more anime.

The battle axe resembles the one from Masters of the Universe Classics Vykron, and a few other viking axes I have seen. This is a cool piece that is analogous to the size of He-Man’s axes.

PICTURED: Masters of the Universe Classics Battle Cat and Mythic Legions Legendary Barbarian both in an iconic He-Man pose. The battle axe is reminiscent of several other barbarian battle axes, and is analogous in size to most of He-Man’s.

The shield is the same that we got with the Mythic Legions Undead of Vikenfell figure, only in a different color. This time we have two options for attaching it to the figure. The typical way of attaching a handle that fits in the gripping hand like a weapon. But this time we also have a clip that is reminiscent of vintage Masters of the Universe figures. Unfortunately, it fits loosely.

IT’S COMPARISON TIME…(Pixel Dan reference)

Only one of you is an actual soldier! Notice that I swapped Gamecock Knight’s horns with legendary Barbarian’s. This makes Gamecock Knight look like Shovel Knight. Oh Yeah. PICTURED: MASTERVERSE New Eternia Ram Man, Mythic Legions Kitbash Gamecocks Knight, Mythic Legions Gold Knight Legion Builder, and another kitbash gamecock. Legendary Barbarian is about to supervise some training. You can find reviews of all of these figures at SpartanNerd.com.

My favorite barbarian figure has been Masters of the Universe Classics Vykor. At this point, that is a ten-year or older figure. I have acquired MASTERVERSE Vykron, King Grayskull, Mythic Legions Balthor the Tower Ogre, Super7 Ultimates Conan the Barbarian figures, etc. But Vykor has remained my favorite. Vykor was my favorite Classics figure, and I made a point to keep him when I sold off my collection. Yes…I let go He-Man, Skeletor, Battle Cat, Panthor…everyone that I had. Even the Sky Sled and Battle Ram. Vykor stayed with me. But like I said, he is kind of dated. He was the first MOTUC figure with hidden ankle joints. But you can see the pins on his knees and his elbows. The plastic cape that he came with is heavy and weighs him down, and so I have replaced it with the one from the Undead of Vikenfell. (It fits Vykor better anyway). His sword, axe, and shield remain great, but the plastic loin cloth is also a problem. Vykor has never been able to ride Battle Cat, for instance.

PICTURED: Masters of the Universe Classics Vykor and Mythic Legions Legendary Barbarian.

The Legendary Barbarian doesn’t have the weaknesses of Vykor, as it is a modern figure. But his accessories aren’t quite as good. On the other hand, the ability to swap out the heads is incredible. Someone out there with deeper pockets than the SpartanNerd has bought several of these to display each one. I don’t kneed to do that, as I think changing the head/hair is great and also genius. AND he can sit on Battle Cat.

SPARTANNERD RATING OF MYTHIC LEGIONS LEGENDARY BARBARIAN

PICTURED: MASTERVERSE New Eternia Faker on Panthor using the Cosmic Legions snake head, MASTERVERSE Movie He-Man, MASTERVERSE 40th Anniversary He-Man (retail version) armed with Mythic Legions battle axe, MASTERVERSE Kitbash Battle Armor He-Man on Masters of the Universe Classics Battle Cat, and MASTERVERSE New Eternia Thunder Punch He-Man. Each has their own strengths in their way. But Legendary Barbarian is better than the average of the others.

I mean…he is better than any of the MASTERVERSE He-Man figures except for the 40th Anniversary figure. His sculpt, paint, articulation, and accessories are really good. You have so many options for displaying this figure…I venture to say for the value you have basically four options for heads. I’ve come to think about the default head as the extra head actually.

Do I even have to mention the “feels point?” Of course this figure gets the SpartanNerd’s point for that. It is coming to the end of 2025, and I am thinking about what I think might be the best figure of the year. Legendary Barbarian is certainly a candidate!

So this figure is a 5/5! Do you agree or disagree, Hub City Geeks? Let me know in the comments!

MASTERVERSE New Eternia Mantenna- SpartanNerd Review

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See YouTube versions of this and other reviews HERE

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

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

So how did the MASTERVERSE version come out?

PACKAGING

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

FIGURE REVIEW

What do we get in the package?

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

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

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

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

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

ACCESSORIES

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

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

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

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

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

SPARTANNERD RATING

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mythic Legions Undead Builder Pack

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

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

PACKAGING

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

The card image behind the blisters

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

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

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

WHAT DO WE GET IN THE PACKAGE?

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

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

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

BUT…

FIGURE REVIEW

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

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

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

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

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

Wal-Torr the Mad showing off those spectacular thighs!

ACCESSORIES

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

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

All of those heads and hands!

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

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

SPARTANNERD RATING OF THE MYTHIC LEGIONS UNDEAD BUILDER PACK

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

It can’t give anything but a 5/5.

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

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

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

The Warrior Beasts Head Hunter

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(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!