Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Masters of the Universe Day 2020: Castle Grayskull from Masters of the Universe Minis by Mattel

    How could I ever devote a day to looking at toys inspired by the original 1982 Masters of the Universe toyline without taking a look at Castle Grayskull? Castle Grayskull has appeared in some shape or fashion in most MOTU toylines which is a testament to the popularity of the playset. Honestly, I think you could make a strong argument that Castle Grayskull is the most iconic action figure playset of all time. I mean, who doesn't recognize Castle Grayskull? While the greatest Castle Grayskull of them all is the Masters of the Universe Classics Castle Grayskull, today I'm looking at one of the smaller Castle Grayskulls of them all: The buildable Castle Grayskull from Masters of the Universe Minis by Mattel. The MOTU Minis line was released by Mattel through MattyCollector in 2013 and 2104 and each release during the second year included a piece to build a Castle Grayskull facade for minifigures to battle around. Let's take a look at this miniature Castle Grayskull after the break...



 The Facts:

Dimensions: 6 1/8ths inches tall, 8 inch1 3/8ths inches wide,  1 3/8ths inches deep.

Figures Needed To Complete: Battle Armor He-Man & Mer-Man, Battle Armor Skeletor & Moss Man, King He-Man & Clawful, Man-At-Arms & Faker, Scareglow & Stratos, and Zodac & Beast Man.

Year of Release: 2014
 The Positives:

* Castle Grayskull is really a pretty cool looking accessory for the MOTU Minis line. I love how it's actually stylized like the minifigures so that it fits in perfectly. It's plenty large enough to put multiple figures on and around it, too.



* The face of Grayskull is excellent. I really do love the massive teeth here and the expression. It's very clearly Castle Grayskull but it has the exaggerated style of the Minis line. The details are crisp and clear and the paintwork is neat and clean.


 * While the jawbridge on this version of Castle Grayskull is rather plain and not rounded like it tends to be in most depictions, I'm still impressed that it opens. It's a fun play feature that makes displaying this little Grayskull that much cooler.


 * I really like the rocks sculpted on the bottom of Grayskull's turrets. It's a unique look for the castle and, off hand, I can't think of any other of the toy versions with something like this.

* Both the two side turrets and the middle of Grayskull (which also looks like a turret here, too) have little ledges allowing figures to stand on top. It's a fun way to display the MOTU Minis, although it would also work well with other small MOTU lines like M.U.S.C.L.E., The Loyal Subjects' Action Vinyls, or the Pint Size Heroes
 FYI:


* Here's a look at the back of Castle Grayskull. It's really just the pegs and such which hold the set together (it stays together well and is one of those "one time assembly" items. I wouldn't risk taking it apart.
   I bet many of you forgot this Castle Grayskull even existed, didn't you? heck I bet there are quite a few of you who didn't even know it existed. It's a cool display piece that's a fun backdrop for a number of MOTU minifigure lines and it's a Great piece, especially if you liked the MOTU Minis line and just happened to end up with it. The Masters of the Universe Minis are actually coming back this year, making their way to retail for the first time. They're going to be blind bagged (boo!) but we're getting lots of new sculpts though (yeah!). You might want to track one of these down now as the sets that make it up aren't terribly expensive the last time I checked.



Are you in the market for a Castle Grayskull of your own? I've also checked out the M.U.S.C.L.E. green Castle Grayskull, the Mega Construx Castle Grayskull, and the Masters of the Universe Classics Castle Grayskull.



2 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. It certainly does make a lovely backdrop for MOTU minifigures!

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