Action Figure Barbecue: Minifigure Review: Battle Armor Skeletor from Masters of the Universe Eternia Minis by Mattel

Wednesday, June 2, 2021

Minifigure Review: Battle Armor Skeletor from Masters of the Universe Eternia Minis by Mattel

I reviewed the Masters of the Universe Eternia Minis Battle Armor He-Man last month and I'm just finally getting around to reviewing his counterpart, Battle Armor Skeletor. Mattel showed off the third series of Eternia Minis last year at Power-Con but now that they've showed up in stores we're getting a different assortment of figures that are missing the cool Slime Pit themed cases that they were originally shown with. Battle Armor Skeletor is another "re-do" of one of the figures from the 2014 MattyCollector exclusive Masters of the Universe minis line. The first two series of the Eternia Minis came "blindboxed" in plastic cases although they did have a code identifying the figure inside so you could make sure not to get duplicates. Now they're sold on little mini blister cards so you can pick exactly who you want (if you can find them). Let's take a look at Battle Armor Skeletor after the break...

The Facts:

Height: 2 1/8ths inches

Articulation: Swivel waist, swivel shoulders, and a balljointed head.

Accessories: Power sword and Havoc Staff.

Non-Scalper Price: $5 dollars

Comparison:

* The new Eternia Minis Skeletor is on the left while the previous MOTU Minis Battle Armor Skeletor is in the middle and the Eternia Minis Skeletor is on the right. The Eternia Minis Skeletor is basically a repaint of the 2014 MOTU Minis Skeletor with the head from the Eternia Minis Skeletor. He's not as good as the older figure and has less paint applications overall.

The Positives:

* Overall, I do like the sculpt and design of these. Skeletor does have a nice amount of detail on his Battle Armor and on the emblem on his chest. The print is quite neat and clean. It's a great looking minifigure for the most part.

* These are nice little minifigures with decent articulation, especially the ball jointed heads. They're very durable little figures and would probably fit in well with lines like Imaginext and the Hasbro Heroes figures, so if you have a little one who's into MOTU these could be some decent starter toys. They're fun to play with and have a lot of shelf presence!

* Skeletor comes with a purple Power Sword just like the vintage toy did. It's a nicely sculpted extra with a lot of character.

* Skeletor also comes with his classic Havoc Staff. It's miniaturized (just like him) and has a pretty decent sculpt for the skull as well.

The Negatives:

* The MOTU Minis Skeletor has the purple and black paint scheme on the back of his armor but here it's just straight up molded in black. That's kind of a bummer because I've always found the detail of the back of the armor to be quite cool.

Despite getting two weapons with this guy I have to admit that I'm not feeling him that much. He's a big step down from the previously released MOTU Mini Battle Armor Skeletor. He's got fewer paint applications, an inferior headsculpt, and now you don't even get the cool clam shell cases that the first two series of Eternia Minis came with. I mean, for $5 bucks he's not terrible or anything, but there's better mini Battle Armor Skeletors out there so just pick one of those up. This one's an Eh and a 1/2. Not terribly but not thrilling, either.