Friday, December 15, 2023

Action Figure Review: Slush Head from Masterverse: He-Man by Mattel

 

   I really like Mattel's 1989 "He-Man" toyline. It's often referred to as The New Adventures of He-Man, although that was technically just the name of the Jetlag Productions animated series, but it's a good name for the "He-Man in space" era. That's the name I use most of the time for the line and era. While I'm not that big of a fan of the New Adventures animated series, I do love the "He-Man" toyline, it's accompanying minicomics, and anytime it appears in other media. It has some great character designs and I'm thrilled that Masterverse is visiting it.  I'm really hoping that Mattel puts out at least a couple figures from New Adventures in Masterverse of characters didn't make it into Masters of the Universe Classics line. Slush Head (also known as Kalamarr) was one of the series 1 figures from 1989 and a mainstay in the animated series, so it makes sense that he's revisited in the Masterverse line so early with a pretty impressive figure. With the effort that Mattel put into this release you'd never know that he was from the red-headed stepchild of the property. Let's check out Slush Head after the break...





The Facts:

Height: 7 1/8ths inches

Articulation: Swivel/hinge ankles, boot swivels, double hinged knees, thigh swivels, balljointed hips, swivel waist, balljointed mid-torso, swivel/hinge shoulders, bicep swivels, double hinged elbows, swivel/hinge wrists, and a barbell jointed head.

Accessories: 6 interchangeable hands, 2 swappable heads, chest armor, axe, 2 backpacks, 4 tentacle arms, 2 arm cables, and swamp water dome.

Non-Scalper Price: $33 dollars

Fun Fact: Prefers Icees to Slush Puppies.







The Positives:



* Even without his armor that allows him to breathe on land (he's from the noxious Quagmi Swamp of Denebria), Slush Head is a pretty nifty looking figure. I love his green, slimy looking body and his metallic blue gear. He's just a neat figure. There are some simple paint effects on his skin which do make him a bit more impressive than your average Masterverse figure.




* Slush Head comes with two portraits, both of which do resemble the vintage toy. This first portrait definitely gives Slush Head a pretty intense gaze as his eyes are absolutely bulging! His head looks thinner on this portrait.




* The second head makes his head look really funky and fat. This definitely seems to be more reminiscent of Slush Head's in the Jetlag Productions animated series, though it also could be Mattel's take on the way the vintage toy looked due to being in a dome filled with water.




* Slush Head just looks right with his dome on. Although the promotional photos and website listings show the dome as a separate piece, mine just ain't coming off. Still, it works and looks great. It's easy to put the armor on Slush Head and it nicely capture the retro space aesthetic of the line.




*  I love these cords that run from Kalamarr's biceps to his wrist. What do you think they do? I imagine they somehow help him control his tentacles. 


* Besides having crazy looking space mutant feel, he's also sporting these nice shin guards. I don't care who you are, where you're from, or what you did, as long as you love me it sucks to get kicked in the shin. I remember as a kid smacking my shin on a ladder rung or one of those big steps on the playground. Yikes! It still hurts to think about it.


* Do I love axes? Yes. Do I really like laser pistols? Also yes. What happens when you blend one together? My friends, Mr. Barbecue17 becomes one happy panda. This really looks like just a bigger version of the vintage accessory, but I still love it. It does it all!


* Slush Head's articulation is pretty much what we've come to expect with this line with all of the standard, modern features like double jointed knees and elbows and a balljointed mid-torso. Most everything has a good range of motion to it and it all moves quite smoothly. His torso and head motion is restricted when he's wearing his armor and dome but the presence of all of those crazy tentacles with swivel/hinge bases still keeps him looking dynamic. 




* Slush Head has six hands that you can utilize: A pair of fists, a pair of webbed swimming hands, and a pair of grips. 




* Slush Head also comes with two backpack. The first is similar to the backpack from the vintage toy with a tank of some sort (maybe swamp water?) and connection point for four of the tentacles.



* Slush Head's second backpack is a new design as best I can tell. It rounder and has a plug on top to place a head or the included swamp water pod (more on that in a moment) and eight ports for the included tentacles. 




* There are four tentacles included, all of which can swivel and have a hinge at the base. The first one (top) is based on one of the tentacles from the vintage toy while the second one (bottom) is a new design. 



* The top one here is also one of the original designs (it's kind of a standard mechanical claw) while the bottom one looks more like an anchor. 


* You can place all of the tentacles on the second backpack, place the swamp water pod (or is it some sort of mutant brain or perhaps even Trifusium Crystals)and have a drone of some sort. It's creepy looking for sure and makes for a nice companion for Slush Head. 




* The Here's that dome. I'm really not sure what it is but it is pretty neat looking. It's Masters of the Universe, so let your imagination run wild. 



* Instead of just the dome, you can also place a character's portrait on the drone. Make Slush Head have a new body or put almost any other figures head on there, too. In one of the MOTUC minicomics (He-Man Vs. Skeletors: Their Final Battle) Skeletor carried Flogg's head in a canister kind of like this. I wonder if we'll get Flogg anytime soon? 

The Negatives:

* The domes are supposed to be removable according to Mattel's press images that are used on the sales pages. Alas, try as I might, I have not been able to remove them. That means you can't take the dome off of Slush Head's armor and place it over a head on the drone body.




* It also means you can't put the swamp water/ mutant brain/ Trifusium Crystal dome on top of the regular armor, something else that was shown on the packaging. If I'm missing something, please tell me!

   This is definitely the best Slush Head figure ever released and just a really fun Space Mutant figure overall. There's nothing half baked about the design and figure at all, though I do wonder why the domes aren't removable when that's clearly a selling feature. I might try heating them up a bit or something as having the ability to swap domes would be amazing. Still, even with that flaw, I'm loving this guy. Slush Head/Kalamarr is a Great and a 1/2 figure and just a fun toy overall. There's a lot of creativity here and that just puts a smile on my face. 



   This is the first figure of Slush Head/ Kalamarr I've reviewed on the site. For more Masterverse reviews check out the following:
Tri-Klops
Masters of the Universe: Revolution
She-Ra
Sun-Man: Rulers of the Sun
Pig-Head




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2 comments:

  1. CarniviusDecember 17, 2023 at 3:51 AM

    Heya. Been a while. :)

    Anyways got this figure back in August. It's great but yeah the dome is glued on all of them. I managed to get mine off using hot water to make the collar pliable and a spoon (since the spoon curves nicely around) to prise the dome's tabs out. Took a while but worth it as I can now have the dome on the lil "mr freeze-like" walker thing. The crystal dome part does not attach securely onto the armour but it's fine just resting on it. Also having the dome removable means you don't have to remove his whole armour when you just want to turn his head round. :P

    Also, try to NEVER FORGET that the tentacles don't bend. Always pose them at the hinge joint. I forgot and snapped one. :P It's ok. I superglued it so well that I've forgotten which one of them broke. :)

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    Replies
    1. Barbecue17December 17, 2023 at 4:34 PM

      Hey, I'm glad you're back. Good to hear from you! We've missed you!

      Yeah, being able to move the head is definitely a plus. I'm going to have to try your trick. And yup, definitely don't bend those tentacles.

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