I was a big fan of Masters of the Universe when I was a kid. My brother and I had a good deal of the figures, and we loved the imaginative mix of science fiction and fantasy that the line offered.
But does this new line capture some of the coolness of the vintage line? Read on!
Company: Mattel
Size: roughly 7.5"
Price: $20 at MattyCollector.com
Packaging: Carded
Looks: Both - 4.5/5
I was a bit hesitant about the figures when I ordered them. I wasn't sure if the nostalgic sculpts were too nostalgic, i.e. not enough improvement to be readily noticeable. Fortunately, that's not the case. Although inspired by the vintage line, the figures definitely have an improved look.
He-Man has his signature G1 facial expression and bulbous muscles. But the sculpt is different, with more detail and better proportions. The paint apps are also impressive. He-Man has some "spray" on his skin for variation, and the detailing paint apps are pretty precise (in particular on his armor and face). There are a couple of blotches on his skin, but they aren't too noticeable.
Beast Man also has a great G1-driven (yet improved) sculpt, with wonderfully-detailed fur and armor. Again, the face paint apps are precise and the texture on the horns is sweet. My main complaint with Beast Man is that I would like to see some paint washes on his fur to bring out some more texture.
Articulation: Both - 5/5
Both He-Man and Beast Man have ball-in-socket necks, ball shoulders, swivel biceps, hinge elbows, swivel wrists, hinge chests, swivel waists, ball hips, swivel thighs, hinge knees, and hinge ankles. Phew... that's quite a lot! About 19 POA, depending on how you count them! And all of the articulation is useful.
Accessories: He-Man - 5/5; Beast Man - 3/5
He-Man comes with 4 accessories: a shield, a full Power Sword, a half Power Sword (presumably to combine with Skeletor's), and a sweet axe. His chest armor is also removable. I can't ask for more there.
Beast Man only comes with his whip. His chest armor is removable, but you have to pop off the head to do it. His shoulder guards are separate pieces, but I don't think they're removable. Regardless, compared to He-Man, Beast Man got the short end of the stick in this category.
Value: Both - 3.5/5
This one is difficult to judge. $20 for figures of this size is normally way too high. The Mattel DC Universe figures are about the same size and only cost $10. On the other hand, these MOTU Classics are high quality, with solid construction and precise paint apps and sculpts. You pay for quality with this line.
Coolness: Both - 5/5
As I mentioned before, I wasn't sure about the design of the figures at first. But holding them in my hand, they blow me away. I think what I like about them most is that they truly seem like toys that you can play with. Maybe that's because of their toy-like proportions, or maybe they retain a lot of the qualities of the vintage line that made it so much fun.
Overall: He-Man - 4.5/5; Beast Man - 4/5
This was a strong showing for the Mattel. They seem to have a fantastic product on their hands with this MOTU Classics line. With strong paint apps, awesome sculpts, and quality construction, this is a line to watch. In fact, I would go so far as to say that I like this line better than the 2002 line. Although 2002 MOTU had a more updated style, it was too angular and anime-y. MOTU Classics gives me what I want: ultimate versions of the He-Man figures from my childhood.
Labels: He-Man, Toy Reviews
5 out of 5 - Simply incredible!
4 out of 5 - Pretty awesome!
3 out of 5 - Cool enough, I suppose.
2 out of 5 - Not quite good enough.
1 out of 5 - Horrific!
0 out of 5 - Total suckdom!
8 comments:
Wow! Very impressive figures. I like the ab crunch on these, but most articulation seems to blend in very well. I'm still not to keen on the tiny hands....well they look tiny to me. But the removable armor is just a great bonus. That was one of my favorite things to do when I was a kid was to switch everyone's armor around...since they just about all fit each other.
How cooperative were all the joints and swivels? Were the tight yet easy to move?
Beastman's head looks weird to me, and I'm not to hot on the limited foot movement, but as far as pose-ability seems to be, for the subject matter, it appears to be just enough. Heman wasn't exactly a kungfu cartoon, so now that I think of it, they shouldn't need to do backflips and jumpkicks.
I'll still hold off on these unless I find them cheaper, but as is the $20 buck price mark just makes it very hard to justify buying into the line.
Thanks for another great review and awesome pics. :)
So will you be buying more as they come out, or just your favorite characters?
I'm glad you liked the review, dude!
The joints were tight, but you don't have to "snap" them to get them to move like you do with the Street Fighter figures. My Beast Man has some leg joints that are a little bit loose, but they don't adversely affect the figure.
Beast Man's head actually looks even stranger without the chest armor. The neck is scrawny and sort of cranes outward... it's weird. I guess the figure wasn't really meant to be without the armor. It will be interesting to see if any other figures use that chest mold. Maybe Stratos?
As for the articulation, I think some collector-oriented action figures are designed with a mission to cram as much articulation as possible into the figure, and sometimes this backfires with articulation that either can't hold the figure up because of faulty design or POAs that distract from the sculpt. So, I'm glad that they didn't go too overboard with the articulation... although I agree that ball ankles would be cool.
I'll definitely be buying more as they are released! I might skip a couple of them, though... at this price point, you have to be picky. I'm not so sure about Stratos yet... he looks pretty doofy. And Zodac doesn't look too impressive either. But Skeletor is a must, as is Faker and Mer-Man.
Maybe the neck looks that way because of the way the head was sculpted. I think the only figures that would use the same body are Stratos and MossMan, and I believe Zodac used the same chest as beastman, but I can't recall.
This series does seem to have a nice balance of articulation. I'm glad they didn't go Marvel Legends on us, as if the articulation is poorly sculpted it can ruin the whole figure, but a ball ankle should have been a requirement at least.
I just hope they hit some of the more obscure characters in this series. Some of my favorites from when I was a kid were Scareglow and Rio-Blast, and Mosquitor...okay after thinking about it, I liked just about everybody.
Yeah, I hope they do some of the more obscure characters, too. Scareglow would be totally awesome! I would also like to get a Stinkor... he would be a straight repaint of Mer-Man, so he would be perfect for an exclusive.
i'm glad that they've decided to remake this line. these were my faves when i was a kid. i've still got my castle greyskull and snake mountain sets. they are heavily beatdown though. which brings me to my question. you said in your review that they're solidly constructed. do you think they'll hold up under play, or are they more likely meant as a collectible and shouldn't be overly played with?
i'm sure they'll make skeletor but i hope they make buzz-off, two-bad, roboto, and fisto. what about the cats? any word on the cats being released?
-dankingery
I think they'll hold up well under play. They seem to have the same level of quality as the Mattel DC Universe figures. However, the packaging specifically says "Adult Collector" and Matty Collector claims that you have to be 18 or older to buy the figures. I'm not sure what that means; maybe the figures haven't been through the quality control processes that would make a toy safe for kids, so they can't legally sell them to kids?
I haven't heard anything about the cats (nor any about other vehicles, playsets, etc). Pretty much everything that has been announced is on the Matty Collector website. I assume if the line goes well we'll at least see Battle Cat, but who knows.
Is there any chances these toys will be sold on the Public Market or not?
I doubt it, unfortunately. MOTUC is selling like hot cakes on the website, but selling at retail is an entirely different animal. The website distribution probably frees Mattel from worrying about large production numbers, case assortments, and retailer interest. I think retailers are still a little shy of MOTU after they had trouble selling the 200x line. So, I suppose it's possible that MOTUC will hit retail, but I wouldn't count on it.
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