Tag Archives: Two-Bad

MASTERVERSE Moss Man- SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review

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Check out this review on my YouTube channel!

I saw Moss Man’s reveal online at SDCC, and thought, “I better jump on that or I will miss it like I missed Blade.” (Yes. Still belly-aching about that). What I didn’t expect was for it to be offered FIRST to the people who subscribed to Club Grayskull last year.

All year long I have thought “What a waste of $10. All they have released are Origins figures.” I haven’t been collecting Origins Masters of the Universe figures, mainly because the first couple of waves had colors that pushed against my sensibilities. I mean, the vintage form factor is obviously cool, but the colors they chose just looked like…Play-Doh. And I couldn’t bear it. And even now, the Origins figures still have an off-putting quality. I do feel like what is up ahead in that scale for Mattel looks better, with the MOTU/Thundercats mashup. And then there is the 200x figures that they previewed kind of in the same form as the Thundercats thing.

But back to MASTERVERSE. The line aimed at the Classics collectors. Club Grayskull hasn’t put anything out for us until Moss Man. Now that he is out, I will be looking for more stuff.

Moss Man- This is a figure I remember playing with a lot as a child. That flocking…You know…I thought I imagined that piney fresh scent. I played with him a lot outside in actual moss. We had Stinkor, who definitely smelled “bad.” But Moss Man’s smell was at least not overpowering the actual smell of the pine trees, pecan trees, maple trees, oak trees in Spartanburg. I specifically remember having a large pecan trees on top of a hill behind our house, and there being moss on this tree and hill. It was a good place to play with Moss Man, and also freak out my mother! (“Moss is poisonous.” She might have been right…I looked it up.)

I would eventually get the Masters of the Universe Classics version, which was also flocked. There was controversy at the time…something about “flocked ears.” Mine didn’t have flocked ears.

This was my Classics Moss Man…I sold him off as part of my post-Covid purge. I am regretful.

So how did he turn out? And was he worth the extra $10 paid a year ago? Keep reading!

PACKAGING

Moss Man came in a plastic-free box that contained no blister, and no photography. All artwork. This is in line with Vykron and Snout Spout. This is a great box to keep for storage, or in my case to beef up the forest scenery in my diorama. It has a large picture of Moss Man’s face with energized eyes, reminding us that in recent versions Moss Man is considered a nature god. This is a wraparound image, that has more plants on both sides and some Eternian animals.

The back has an artwork rendition of Moss Man, rather than a photoshop. So this is very welcome in my book. More Art=More Better. If you watched my YouTube video already, you know I missed the faint images of the Roton flying in the background.

So Roton has been on several MASTERVERSE packages. Is this a hint, Hub City Geeks?

Inside there is yet another figure cover. What is disappointing here is that because the words Moss Man are so prevalent, this isn’t that usable as a diorama piece.

I’m complaining about it not being usable, but it really is. You could cut it up or photoshop it or whatever. They gave you something to work with.

Sorry for the blurry photo. This Moss Man title reminds me of a student at the school where I work’s t-shirt for the musical “Wicked”

The other side has an opening in the forest revealing the three Eternia towers. It also features a tree resembling Skytree…the oldest living thing in Eternia according to the filmation cartoon series.

This is a nice picture. But Moss Man is so large it looks strange behind him.

WHAT DO YOU GET IN THE BOX?

A new use for Mekaneck. Moss Man is ten neck segments tall. (8 inches at the tip of the horn on his back.
  • Moss Man figure
  • Alternate “plant” hand
  • Knife (dagger or machete?)
  • Belt with knife sheath
  • Club (or magic wand/staff?)

So not many accessories here. Notably, he didn’t come with any alternate hands. “The plant hand” thing is also usable in other ways around or on the figure.

FIGURE REVIEW

MASTERVERSE New Eternia Moss Man is very large. The horn on his back makes him slightly taller than Snout Spout, and this is saying something! But if you dig a little deeper, you can see what is really going on here.

Moss Man stands even taller than Snout Spout.

You basically have New Eternia Beast Man’s buck with an armor piece over the top of it. It is clear that the torso, the biceps and elbows, and the thighs are all the same parts that were on NE Beast Man. And this is kind of fitting, considering that the vintage figure was a repaint of Beast Man with flocking.

Moss Man IS taller than NE Beast Man. And yet they share the same basic parts. It is the feet and the head that pushes him over.

Sometimes I think big companies (like Mattel) want US to forget about stuff that came before. For instance, we had a Moss Man in MASTERVERSE already…it was based on the Kevin Smith show. I never picked it up because it didn’t look like MY Moss Man. And they probably want us to forget about the New Eternia Beast Man shown here. (They have two more recent Beast Man figures…the movie version and the ugly version with the articulated jaw. BUT THE SPARTANNERD REMEMBERS! And so Moss Man is using Beast Man’s parts.

I haven’t removed the armor, but that armor is what makes him so tall…it has the spikes on the back similar to Clawful’s armor.

In turning Moss Man’s head, he has so much Michael Bolton hair that his head can’t turn without popping off when his beard rubs against that armor. This is an articulation point worth mentioning, but it is a common problem so I won’t mark off for it. Just the same, don’t be disturbed if your Moss Man loses his head…it goes right back on.

He stands very well, with big feet. But he is kind of stiff in the articulation department. He doesn’t’ seem to be “lanky” like Two-Bad, but he is such a chunk at least I kind of want him to stand there and flex on my diorama.

THE FLOCKING DEBATE

I don’t know how I feel about this not having flocking. The flocking is such an embedded characteristic of the character.

I have two vintage Moss Man figures. One of these was definitely mine as a child. I don’t know why I have two. That flocking is NASTY after all these years.

The sculpt on NE Moss Man is undeniably good. But by removing that fuzzy texture (and piney scent,) it is like removing the soul of the character.

Now if he was flocked, we would lose those sculpted details.

By not releasing him with flocking, they increase their artistic opportunities. But I wonder if there might be a compromise somewhere. Also…maybe one day this will be releases with flocking. OK…one more thing. NE Beast Man and a few others have SOFT GOODS. It just seems like somehow that fuzzy furry quality could have been represented somehow. Maybe make that plastic armor piece cloth goods or something. Or the arm wraps cloth goods.

On the other hand, you can clearly see that my two vintage toys have taken a beating. And that flocking has rubbed off around the joints.

I don’t have to have a totally flocked Moss Man, but that part of his legacy needed to be honored here.

Check out this Earl Norem image from the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Magazine, May 1985 issue. (I haven’t removed the poster, so I can only show the bottom corner)

Over and over in old media, Moss Man is presented as a fuzzy-wuzzy.

Check out this DC comic, He-Man and the Eternia War Issue 10 (this one has Skeletor transforming on the front)

Moss Man kamikazes the Fright Zone in this story.

DC New 52 designed him with these horns, but just the same he is a hairy beast. He also wears the gold armor that they seemed to favor.

SPARTANNERD RATING

Sculpt- 1 point. My only complaint about the sculpt is that Mattel doesn’t take efforts to hide the joints. But this is across the board in this line. And at large the figures are under $25. So they aren’t Mythic Legions sculpted and engineered by the Four Horsemen studios.

Paint- 1 point. This is a good paint job. Maybe something could have been done to make his face “pop” a little better in a green context, however.

Articulation- 1 point, with no real “stupid problems”. He stands very well, AND in this picture where he is throwing Stinkor at Two-Bad, I left the room for awhile and returned and he was still standing there holding him all stable!

I did this photo as an homage to the minicomic “The Stench of Evil”. What…your Two-Bad didn’t come with a helmet?

Accessories- Why didn’t this come with more stuff? Why no left gripping hand? BOO! I would even be ok with paying more money for more appropriate accessories.

The feels- Well he’s Moss Man. I have so many fond memories! Playing with him outside in the moss and getting fussed at! On the heroic team, we have needed a Moss Man.

I am not marking Moss Man down for not being flocked. But I am marking him down for not having more accessories. I used that craft moss I got from Hobby Lobby. Mattel should have given us some plants and trees and such. In fact…I had this complaint about the Classics version. (That flower in the photo was in the wild when I took the photo.)

This is Figura Obscura Monkey King, with MASTERVERSE New Eternia Moss Man. Also MOTUC Temple of Darkness Zoar.

I rate MASTERVERSE New Eternia Moss Man a 4/5, losing a point for not having many accessories. I also feel that there should have been some way to present flocking on this figure, if not having him totally flocked. And it isn’t like the technology doesn’t exist…go check out the Mythic Legions “Bryophytis” (I don’t own this one)…he looks just like Moss Man should with a different head.

Do you agree or disagree? Let me know in the comments!

MASTERVERSE New Eternia Clawful- SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review

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I have fond memories of Clawful as a kid. A crab guy with a lobster claw that car really pinch you…that’s the good stuff right there! So this is the first Clawful figure I have owned in maybe 40 years. (I never had the 200x or the Classics version). So for me an important thing will be, “how does it stack up to my memories of the vintage figure?” Keep reading for my review and rating!

PACKAGING

You can see the main window box in the top picture. Once again this is the older style “boring” package. BUT…you can see everything in the box clearly, and I keep finding uses for that rock background in taking photos.

The back of the package has a terrific illustration that really captures the fantasy world of Eternia. Is this the Sea of Rakash? The swamplands? Clawful belongs in this landscape, and as a bonus we can see the Battle Bones parked on an island in the back! Strangely, we don’t get any bio or other story blurb.

The figures below…I don’t have any of them. They are listed as “on backorder” at Entertainment Earth, and I signed up to be notified when they came in. The only one I REALLY want is Faker. I have a Mer-Man (from Revelation), I prefer a hairy Grizzlor (rather than sculpted), and this Buzz-Off looks weird. BUT, I signed up to be notified. I wan’t Faker bad enough. That is an upgraded Mer-Man, and I need a Buzz-Off. so…

There is one more image.

The image on the back shows him fully decked in “New Eternia” mode. This side image is of the vintage appearance, which is actually what you see in the window box.

FIGURE REVIEW

Here he is, completely decked out.

Here is what you get:

  • Clawful Figure (with default vintage-aligned appearance)
  • back armor with horns
  • Bicep bracer
  • power harness with a blue gem.
  • The same orange shield that came with Teela (and Stinkor, but his was blue.)
  • a green mace

This figure is very articulated! The vintage Clawful had a spring-loaded fiddler crab claw. But this one doesn’t have the spring…instead you can pose it how you like and it will stay. The left hand also has articulated parts.

I think this is some of the best paint on a $25 action figure. Nice shading on the claws. The torso and loin cloth were obviously “washed” first, and then details applied. This head sculpt doesn’t look like a muppet, but it doesn’t look like the 200x sculpt either. And yet this is clearly Clawful. Dare I say they nailed Clawful much better than any of the He-Man figures they have done. The blue belt, boots, and horns are metallic and shiny, and you can also see that nice shading on the back shell with the blue into red. Every line of chitin is sculpted evenly. The ugly bumps add a delicious grotesqueness. It is terrific!

There is nothing restricting his articulation at all, either. AND he is one of the tallest MASTERVERSE figures. Here is a pic for some reference. Still shorter than Two-Bad at his tallest point.

PICTURED: MASTERVERSE Clawful and Two-Bad, as well as Marvel Legends Thanos (comics appearance)
PICTURED: MASTERVERSE Clawful and Ram Man. Ram Man is armed with MASTERVERSE New Eternia Beast Man’s spiked club.
PICTURED: MASTERVERSE New Eternia Clawful vs. Man-At-Arms.

The articulation of these figures makes for some dynamic combat poses.

ACCESSORIES

PICTURED: MASTERVERSE New Eternia Clawful and Revelation Mer-Man. Mer-Man is also armed with a sword from the Mythic Legions Skeleton Legion Builder.

The big shell adds so much to the character. And I’m pretty sure the green mace was the weapon that came with the vintage figure, so Mattel probably figured that an auto-include. BUT. Just like the old days, Clawful has a hard time holding it.

I have found this shield to be BORING. And I re-painted it too. (See it in my review of MASTERVERSE New Eternia Thunder Punch He-Man).

But now for the next big elephant in the room. The yellow power harness. Why? I mean, it looks cool. But what does this bring to the table? Is this a story element like Sir Lazer Lot’s Gem of Tamage?

PICTURED: MASTERVERSE New Eternia Clawful and Masters of the Universe Classics Sir Lazer Lot. Suggested dialogue “You have a gem? I have a gem!” Also pictured are Mythic Legions Magic Effects.

This armor with gem adds more to Mer-Man in my opinion. It looks better, and Mer-Man didn’t come with any armor as this is the Revelation cartoon appearance.

I’m not complaining that we got it…I just don’t believe it is an item that carries Clawful’s story forward any without us having context. Look at the back of the armor. That clip is so that you can clip the shell on. But that is completely unnecessary. The shell stays on around the neck just fine.

Is the gem removable? I spent some time with the hair dryer, and I am going to say “no.” It seems like I could have removed it, but then not been able to get it back in. It doesn’t seem to be glued, more like attached when the plastic was still warm or something. Or maybe its glue. I just review them…I don’t make them.

SPARTANNERD’S RATING OF MASTERVERSE NEW ETERNIA CLAWFUL

Clawful here is akin to Beast Man. Both New Eternia figures give you options on how to display them. And this is very welcome! You feel like you have a more “grown-up” toy. Like you could see this as a modern translation in some comic or movie or something. I say bring it on!

I don’t see any reason not to award MASTERVERSE New Eternia Clawful every point he can get. The sculpt and paint are spot on. The accessories are good, even if the harness is a little strange. The green mace even doesn’t fit right, which might be a point off except that is exactly how the vintage was, making this even more nostalgic. And nostalgia, Hub City Geeks, people pay the big bucks for nostalgia. But this was a low cost item.

I award MASTERVERSE New Eternia Clawful 5/5. Do you agree or disagree? Let me know in the comments!

Masterverse Tuvar and Baddrahh

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Pictured- Masterverse Two Bad heads on the bodies of Super7 Ultimates Black Falcon and Four Horsemen Studios Power-Con Exclusive Demistros.

APRIL FOOLS (a few days late…)

For the real review of Masterverse Two Bad, click here.

For a full Review of Super7 Ultimates! Black Falcon and Four Horsemen Studios Demistros Power-Con Exclusive, Click Here!

MASTERVERSE New Eternia Ram Man

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You can see my video of the package here!

Here I am back to Ram Man. The last Ram Man I had was the Super7 Ultimates MOTUC “re-issue,” that had that orange color scheme on his armor instead of the classic red. The orange was from the “cross sell” art on the back of the vintage figures. It was cool. Very detailed sculpt, with even the boots having skull details.

(Surely people reading the SpartanNerd blog are familiar with vintage Ram Man. But just in case…) The vintage Ram Man toy was so iconic…so incredibly cool and everywhere. Everyone had one. I always felt like his plastic was a little different than the other figures…it felt like some Christmas ornaments my grandmother put on her tree. And it had that springy leg action feature. You locked him down first by pressing his legs up through his armor skirt into his hollow body. Then you pressed this button on the back of the boot, and he would pop up. Only his arms were articulated, and he had this axe that really no one else could hold, and likewise he couldn’t hardly hold anyone else’s weapon. He was featured heavily on the Filmation cartoon, and was portrayed as kind of stupid. And he was shorter than everyone else as well.

But since 200x, Ram Man has been portrayed as larger. And more of a “Juggernaut” type who has powerful strength to smash things with his head. No version of Ram Man has had the spring loaded legs. (I don’t think the 200x toy had them.). I suppose the requirements of modern sculpting just keeps it from happening. But today, I am going to show what I think is a terrific attempt at giving us some of the feel of the vintage Ram Man’s action feature.

Here is what New Eternia Ram Man comes with.

Check out this pose! I know I already talked about what was in the box, so lets talk about these legs. What we have are evidently standard MASTERVERSE legs encased in a hollow rubber tube. It is bendy stuff, and you can see it kinking up behind the left knee. But this is a fine attempt to do something that calls back to that original idea. Just be careful when bending the knees. That green covering prevents you from seeing which direction the knees are facing. I had to feel around for awhile before attempting to pose the legs. I really, really didn’t want to break anything.

So some things I didn’t mention in the package video. The axe has a very nice “patina” on it. Some brown, rusty shading. The armor has the Battle Ram missile warhead on the front.

I haven’t complained too much about the quality of the toys in this line. The ones I have are pretty terrific. I am a very picky customer. There are a few that I am just not going to get, for instance Andra, Mercenary Teela, or any of the Virgil Abloh collection. There is no appeal to those specific offerings for me. I also am holding out for a better Gwildor than the Revolution one they are offering with Orko. I would like a movie accurate figure. Some of their products don’t appeal to me, but otherwise the quality has improved, and the New Eternia figures are giving some of the Masters of the Universe Classics figures a run for their money. Still not quite as awesome of sculpt work as the Horsemen do.

Which is why the next statement is shocking. Ram Man is the first MASTERVERSE figure I have that came with a problem.

Full disclosure. I opened and photographed this after 1:00 AM, (I went to a Disturbed concert. Very nice!) I was trying to remove this head, and I just couldn’t get a grip on it. The helmet has smooth surfaces, and my fingers kept sliding off. So my solution was to pinch it tighter. Perhaps I should have got out the hair dryer, but you see, after the Disturbed concert, I wasn’t in the mood to get that out I guess. At any rate, I heard a “crack,” and I knew something very bad was amiss. I got the head off and saw that a piece has cracked, and the neck is separating at the seam. BOO! So for the rest of the photos you will see, I am showing you the head barely on. You can’t tell it isn’t snapped down, but I just couldn’t risk it.

The armor has its own special issues. On Ram Man, I haven’t been able to get the straps to lock tight. The left side keeps bucking open. Why do we have this head? I would have rather had an unhelmeted sculpt like the MOTUC version, with the metal plate on top. This looks like Judge Dredd to me. Is it supposed to be a helmet for riding the Battle Ram? I don’t hate it and am glad to have it. This is one of the New Eternia “riffs” like Beast Man had, where he had awesome fur armor in addition to vintage style armor.

And here he is with the Samurai helmet. This one does remind me of Shredder from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I don’t have a problem with that, but I have never thought of Shredder as being so big. (This weapon is the samurai spear from Animal Warriors of the Kingdom.)

Oh yeah…I almost forgot. In the comparison of MEGA Ram Man and the back of MASTERVERSE Ram Man’s back right leg, you can see that he has a stirrup or something…this is a call back to that little switch that activated the action feature in the vintage line!

Speaking of size, Ram Man isn’t a towering Juggernaut as he has been in the past. He isn’t short. But he isn’t bigger than, for example New Eternia Beast Man.

So armor swap time. This armor looks OK on Beast Man. But there is still room. I tried it on 40th anniversary He-Man, but it was way too big. I suppose it could work on Two Bad. The issue is that Ram Man is just “fatter” than anyone else so far.

So I am a little conflicted on scoring this one. I love the character and am glad to have a new figure of him. The sculpt is very nice, and the solution they came to for the springy legs is novel. Nobody ever asked for those two heads, but they are nice additions. The helmet-less head would have been cooler. The armor that goes on top of the armor…really just, “why?” It is barely usable on anyone else, and the straps don’t want to connect. The axe is nicely done, and the paint all around is as well, though I think this Ram Man is a bit more youthful than I would prefer.

The neck joint breakage is a big problem. I am a grown-up. I am not going to cry about stuff getting broken. But what about a kid? And he comes with those alternate heads, but they are not easy to swap even for a dexterous SpartanNerd. But I feel a little burned every time something like this happens. Super7 Ultimate Cobra B.A.T. had a hand that snapped when I was swapping it, and it almost put me completely off of their stuff. But there were other hands. On Ram Man, this was the whole neck joint!

I have to give this figure a low 3/5. The armor is aggravating and the head swap resulted in a broken neck. Those are negatives outweighed by the positives of well-thought-out leg design, excellent sculpting and paint, and variety in the accessories.

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

MASTERVERSE Two Bad

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I mentioned that I got two MASTERVERSE figures for my birthday. These were Tri-Klops and Two Bad.

You can see a video of the packaging for both figures here.

[VIDEO OF THE PACKAGE]

Two Bad. What a legacy character! The fun thing about the vintage action figure was the spring-loaded arms. This was designed so that he could sneak behind someone and grab them. Of course, you could also take those spring loaded arms (that had closed fists) and make each arm punch the other one in the face! This was a gimmick that seemed to work its way into the cartoon also..at least the two heads didn’t seem to agree with each other.

I am in favor of the 200x design, where were two characters (Tuvar and Baddrah) merged into one body by Skeletor as punishment for allowing their own personal rivalry to botch the capture of He-Man. If you read the bio on the back of this package, the responsibility for them being merged is on themselves, as they were stealing some treasure that mutated them.

Here is basic Two Bad

I have him armed up with everything except his alternate hands. There is a clip on the back of the armor to store a weapon. ”Two Bad” I didn’t take a better profile pic so we could see the axe. Also, I have the shield stored on the back of the figure with a weapon. The problem is that there is a rotating piece on his back. The weight of the shield and in this case the mace causes them to hang down. (You can sort of see the orange of the shield behind him.)

Here are the accessories.

You get alternate punching hands. a shield. A green double headed, blunt piked square mace. A pointy spiked traditional mace, a double barreled ray gun, and a double-headed battle axe. The only paint on the weapons seems to be the hilt of the axe and a wash on the axe. I can’t tell if the spiked mace has a pearl coating or if that is the molded plastic. (I think it is the plastic.). The Axe is my favorite piece, of course. It looks like one side of it has received alot of use. Details on the shield…notice how half of the shield has a circle motif, and the other half a square/diamond motif. There is duality all over these accessories!

This is how I figure on properly arming them with maces.

No problem getting Two Bad into this pose. He is very articulated.

Check out this photo…one of my favorites!

Stinkor didn’t come with a weapon. (Stinky figure, really. I mean…he sucks.). But that green mace looks good with him. So these two are attacking Battleground Teela, who has her ray gun. As I was shooting the photo…at the exact moment…Teela decides to fall forward, creating the illusion of action!

I can’t give Two Bad anything but a 5/5. I mean…compared to Stinkor. Two Bad has everything you could want in the character. Great accessries. Two heads. I paid only $20! Highly posable. He is a good size too. I just wish they would release Tuvar and Baddrah.