Masters of the Universe Day 2023 - Part II

 

Welcome back to Masters of the Universe Day here at The Toy Box!

This next figure I've been holding onto for even longer than the movie figures showcased in my first post. I was hoping that further figures in the 40th anniversary would follow, but sadly that never came to be - Unless of course you paid out the nose for the SDCC exclusive two-pack.

I actually pre-ordered two of the 40th anniversary He-Mans, and when they arrived my plan was to put them in a case, one sealed, and one opened, with my Alan Oppenheimer signed complete DVD collection of the original series. Unfortunately, Mr. Oppenheimer ended up cancelling his appearance at Retro Con 2022, making me have to rethink what I was going to do. Ultimately, I decided I no longer needed both, and sent one to Alexis with my annual box o' stuff.

I also wanted a Battlecat for my He-Man, but didn't want to pay retail for the Origins version that was out. Patience paid off, and Entertainment Earth recently had a massive sale on them. Long story short, I was able to get two for the price of one, and sent one off to Alexis with the figure.

This is a solid figure, and I love the nod to the vintage accessories. The sculpt on the power sword is immaculate, down to the finest detail. Love it!

The inclusion of a holster for the sword was an appreciated detail.

With the exception of articulation, Battlecat hasn't evolved much from the original version. The joints were also very flimsy, and it often fell over as a result.

I clearly didn't take into consideration the size difference between the 40th anniversary He-Man figure versus the Origins ones. These scales are definitely off. Seeing this photo (below) just makes me wish all the more that Mattel made a 40th anniversary Battlecat.

Oh well...It's good enough (for now).

I've got one final post coming in the mid-evening, so check back for my final entry in celebration of Masters of the Universe Day!

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Masters of the Universe Day 2023 - Part I

 

Masters of the Universe Day is upon us again, and with it, I've curated three particular posts for the day. The first is what you have before you, and the other two will follow in the early afternoon and mid-evening.

I've been sitting on these items for quite a few months, waiting for the month of April to hit to finally open them.

Starting it all off are these two great figures from the Masterverse series from Mattel. 

I absolutely treasured the 1987 Masters of the Universe film from my childhood, and all I wanted at the time were the figures from Mattel to play with. While a few were released, Gwildor, Saurod, and Blade, because the film essentially tanked, that was all that came out.

When Masters of the Universe Classics came out, I completely missed grabbing the movie related figures, opting instead to stay out of the world of current toy lines. I've been looking at those figures ever since wishing I had taken the plunge on them. It didn't help that Mattel made the series incredibly frustrating for people to get.

Fortunately, Masterverse has me covered, well, at least with He-Man and Skeletor (for now). When I saw these figures announced I immediately pre-ordered them. I'm hoping beyond hope that they produce the remaining movie related characters, and even give us a Beast Man, Man-At-Arms and Teela this time around.

I like how the packages fit together to make a mural. It's too bad I have no interest in keeping packages.

Well, that's about it for the packaging. Let's bust those babies loose!

There's plenty of accessories here, and all the weapons have a place in various holsters.

Man...That head. So bad. Definitely not Dolph Lundgren. While I can appreciate them including an "original" head to swap out, that version simply doesn't go with the figure at all. So, unfortunately, we're stuck with what we have.

The details on the cape are impressive.

I had a bit of trouble getting the arms to move. The joint connected to the body simply doesn't want to move all that much.

Skeletor came with some great accessories. However, unlike He-Man, there are no holsters or hooks to put any of them on. That's such a downer when toy makers do that. Like we just want a bunch of loose accessories sitting around.

The details are fantastic, but the colors are all wrong. The films costume was black and blue, not brown and red. I would have much preferred that Mattel stay true to the source material.

Still, that head sculpt is pretty spot on. Of the two, it's the best feature.

Let this be their final battle!

Oops...Look's like Skeletor brought a knife to a gun fight!

Like I said, I hope we finally get a complete line of movie themed figures, screen accurate or not. It's been a long time coming, and I hope Mattel doesn't ditch the concept with just these two. I'm tired of lines that tease, but never fully commit.

But, for now, that wraps up this post. Come back later for my next post.

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