Masters of The Universe minis review

He-Man and the Masters Of The Universe (MOTU), the show that started the whole "cartoon-as-toy-advertising, genre. Even though it's been over a decade since there was a MOTU show on the telly, He-Man, et all, still carry strong retro appeal. And had a toy revival in the "classics" line (which are sold exclusively from online retailer, Matty Collector), to kept the core fanbase stated for new figures. Last year, Mattel released mini-figures, based upon the classics line- in a series of build-a-set two-packs.


Just like the original toys, and the current  "Classics" line, all characters share an identikit body type and incorporate aspects of the vintage toys, the Filmation cartoon, and the MYP show, from 2002.  The MOTU-minis have a very caricatured look, that's even more over proportioned than the originals- big on torso, little on legs- not unlike the recent He-Man mobile game with a touch of C.C. Beck. The mini-fig idea started as a special box-set of He-Man and Skeletor, sold at San Diego Comic Con, and are noticeably larger than the figures I'm reviewing here. But they've not lost any of the detail and actually have more paint apps! Compare the SDCC He-Man to the two-pack figure;

 You get much more painted detail, that you normally don't find on mini-figs of that size, but it's quite prone to chipping off (a not uncommon problem with the Classics figures), and I've found on more than one figure, the odd little paint scuff. But nothing a cotton bud, dipped in a bit of nail varnish remover (with acetone) can't fix. Articulation is, as one could expect from a mini-figure, fairly minimal. The head rotates all around, as do the arms at the shoulder on a basic peg joint, and they turn at the waist. Some wrist-swivel would've been nice, for more dynamic weapon holding, but to have any articulation on a mini-figure is a bonus. However, during the photo shoot, Beastman's arm came off. It popped back in, but clearly these figures are strictly for display, not for play.

Each figure comes with at least one weapon/accessory, also with nice painted details. And not forgetting the build-a-set Castle Grayskull, which makes a display piece for your figures. But, if you're not bothered about completing the set, lets look at each two-pack...

Battle Armour He-Man and Mer-Man

Keeping the same, but shrunken, sculpt as the SDCC figure, He-Man deviates by coming in his battle armour variant. The armoured vest has excellent sculpted rivets and "H" logo, realised with a sharp paint job, and a nice, silver on the vest. He also comes with the same power sword and shield, just like the SDCC one, but the sword has a two-tone paint job that's neat as a three-piece suit. that's been ironed with a steam roller. The tanned skin tone, sandy-blonde hair and detail on the belt and wrist bracers really screams "He-Man" (with added echo effect).

 Mer-Man is equally good. He comes with  his coral-like sword and trident weapons- both in the same yellow as his armour-with blue stones, and a little clip at the back of his armour to store his sword. His facesculpt is based on his MYP design- which I, personally, prefer.- Although I can't tell if he's really angry or surprised. That being said, his -gloss black on pearl white- eyes are really well done, and captures his wild, bug-eyes perfectly.

Simple clip, for easy storage

"Whadaya mean they're closing down the chip shop?!"

Battle Armour Skeletor and Moss Man

This fantastic looking, "Battle Armour", Skeletor is even better than his heroic counterpart. With even more sculpted detail of riveted straps and a badass bat logo on his chest- made all the better with with a lovely metallic purple. The facesculpt is a departure from the normal bonnet Skeletor usually wears. This mini-Skeletor has a proper hood, like the Filmation  Skeletor, but his face has a mostly green paint scheme, in homage to Alfredo Alcala, who drew the original 1981 mini-comics. Some may have preferred a more classic skull,  but you can't deny it's a well realised sculpt. And the two-tone purple sword and lovely little havoc staff are the icing on the cake. The only omissions being the bare feet- the original and classics toy has painted purple boots- and some battle damage to the armour wouldn't of gone amiss (same goes for BA He-Man) but he's still a looker, despite his severe under bite.

"I always liked Adam West the best"

Moss Man, just like all previous toys, comes covered in a green flocking. However, unlike other
Moss Mans, it doesn't smell of pine, but certainly looks the part of being literally a moss man. The flocking covers the figure evenly, but I would imagine (if the paint is anything to by) that it would rub off with continual handling. Normally, Moss Man figures are a Beastman, painted green, but some effort has gone into giving Moss Man an obviously different head sculpt- like his design in the MYP cartoon- resembling a noble ape.  His weapons are excellent; a  common MOTU mace(seriously, the MOTU line loves a mace), but with sculpted vine detail all around it and a feint, sculpted, wood grain, and a brilliant wooden shield, that looks like a cross section of a tree trunk, again, with added vine detail.

Stratos and Scareglow

Stratos personifies the "throw whatever at the wall and see what sticks" design mentality of MOTU perfectly. "You need a guy that flys for your toy line? Well here's a gorilla with wings on his arms and a jet pack!" It shouldn't work, but it does. Like the vintage toy, Stratos' body is Beastman, painted gray, but his distinguishing features (the feathers, flying goggles and jet pack) have been brilliantly realised. Lots of extra detail has been added, which really makes Stratos one of the standout figures in the line. And, despite his jet pack being so large, he's not back heavy. He stands a treat, even when you're not using the included staff of Avion to prop him up.

Into the blue!

 Scareglow is a skeleton that glows in the dark...what more do you need to know? Fine! Scareglow's gimmick is two-fold, the painted on shading creates the impression of being a skeleton, and not a buff man with a skull for a head. But turn the lights off and...

"Remember kids, say no to smoking"

Just expose him to direct some light for less than a minute,  and the glow-in-the-dark gimmick is set to go just like the original. You can't see it in the photo, but the blade on Scareglow's halberd staff also glows in the dark. Another nice bit of detail is his cape, which is slightly translucent, adding to Scareglow's supernatural charm. Another favourite.

Man at arms and Faker

Man at Arms is simply excellent. Instantly recognisable, with his Tom Seleck moustache and his amazingly detailed, orange, body armour. All the added gear and piping have been deftly sculpted in, with added fur detail around the shoulders. A great figure overall, made more so because of his weapons: a great, big  mace, like his vintage toy had. But, if you wanted your Man-at-Arms to  be more like the MYP design, he also comes with the arm canon he had in that show. And if you don't like it, it slips right off.

Faker -probably the worst example of the "evil impostor" trope ever- a  blue-skinned He-Man with orange Skeletor armour- which can hold his fanta-flavoured power sword, via a loop on the back. Lacking in originality he may be,but  he does come with a battle axe, so if you wanted the Battle Armour He-Man to properly look the part, you could paint the axe silver and Keldor's your uncle! He has a nice black wash on his metal bracers and belt, however, there's some orange blotches- from the armour- on his chest. Nothing that sets the world on fire, but nice if yours was painted properly.

"Who left this axe lying around? Oh well, finders keepers!"

Zodac and Beastman

Well these two boys are carrying heavy. Zodac (or is it Zodak?) - he of the confusing origin- shows off this line's penchant for detail, despite it's size. His helmet has little rivets and panel lines to add more depth to a faceless character. And kudos to the lovely pearl white belt. What Zodac lacks in striking looks, he makes up for in weapons. As well as his, 50s style, laser gun, he has the staff weapon, so you technically display him as Zodak. Or, for a third option, one of the end parts come off and it becomes a classic mace.

Beastman has great painted and sculpted detail. The blue markings around his eyes, the claws, the fur, the medallion and chain all help make this figure pop. My only gripe is that, as always, Beastman's face sculpt is the usual angry expression. For once, I'd like a Beastman toy to have the sad, "don't hurt me lord Skeletor" expression, that he often had in the Filmation cartoon. Impressively, he comes with two weapons; his customary whip, it's a solid piece, with a sculpted bend- to give a sense of weight- but, sadly, can't be wielded by Skeletor. But he also comes with a crazy-awesome morning star, which looks fantastic! It's a metal spiked ball, attached via a chain to a animal bone. It may not be canon, but it looks right at home being held by Beastman.

"Back Simba, hup!"

King He-Man and Clawful

King He-Man - if you don't read the current DC comic or have the classics figure- is a aged Adam, who has assumed the throne of Eternia and becomes He-Man full time. Design wise, he's really well done. A new, yet classic, look to his royal armour (including a little nod to the He-Ro fig) all done in shiny silver. He's got a big old billowy cape, a royal staff- with obvious He-Man styling, also seen on on his crown- and the electronic sword from the MYP cartoon! It all looks great, but, due to the way his feet are positioned, and the cape making him back-heavy, he simply won't stand properly. Either he falls back, resting on his cape or he's propped up on his staff, which makes him look like he's a hobbling old codger.

"Ooooh, the dizziness!

This He-man may be shaky on his feet, but he's certainly regal. And he comes with the MYP electronic sword to boot, just like the classics figure! It's just a shame he doesn't stand up straighter, to really show off his great paint job.


Clawful is just as good, but in a different way. Whereas King He-Man's appeal is in the paint job, Clawful's is in the sculpt. The level of detail in a figure so small is very impressive; the scales in his shoulders, neck and head; the texture on the claws and his back shell- which include two large scars- and a face so ridiculous, that it could only be a MOTU character- a toothy, heavy-browed crab guy. His weapon is a rather uninspiring green mace, which the smaller claw doesn't hold very well, but when you have a massive claw for a hand, who cares?

Last, but not least, is the collect-and-connect castle Grayskull. Being made from parts included in the blisters, you're, obviously, not getting anything like the playsets of old, this is a veneer of the castle. Like the figures, this is stylised slightly differently from the vintage castle. It's more squashed down than the original and sort of looks like he has eye brows, and the eyes are squinting. making castle Grayskull look like it's about sneeze.

 

Is it me, or does the castle have a beard?

The magic is ruined!

 It lacks some of the classic details, like the domed top, the drawbridge door is missing the coat of arms, and the large stones at the base have been replaced with jagged rocks. However, the green plastic, and dark gray shading instantly  reminds me of the original.  That unmistakable shade of green makes a not perfect, but respectable diorama piece. It passes the litmus test of having enough space in the door for He-Man to stand in (just), and the top of each tower has a ledge for one figure to stand on, as well as a ledge across the top of the skull. Beware, these ledges aren't very deep, so have the castle against a wall, and put a bit of blu-tac on the feet of any figure you want to put there. Worth buying all the figures for? Not quite, but still a nice bonus to display all the figures with.

FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!

All-in-all, despite the  very delicate paint apps,  a few paint scuffs, and pedantic design quibbles on my part, these are really good mini-figures.  They look great and it's nice to have something MOTU-related to buy, that isn't a small fortune on ebay.   As mini-figures go, these aren't that pricey- about £12, but if  you include the price of shipping, you're paying a little over £9 for slow shipping (about a month), or  £22 for the express service (usually about a week) so you have to factor in the extra costs- including import tax, if you buy all six sets.  But- at the time of writing- you can buy them all on Mattycollector.com, and I do mean "all". A second series was previewed. To be pre-sold, as a subscription. But that didn't get enough support, so this line is literally it. Seeing as Mattel treat MOTU like a third-class toy line, I don't see these ever coming out in retail. So if you like the look of these, get them before they sell out and you're left to the mercy of Skeletor's newest henchman, Scall-Por! Who buys up all the good toys  and creates a false economy by selling them at inflated prices on Yahoo Auctions Eternia.

Company: Mattel

Price: $20

Found: Mattycollector.com