Monday, March 18, 2024

Action Figure Review: King Grayskull from Masters of the Universe Origins by Mattel

 

   Today I'm taking a look at the Masters of the Universe Origins King Grayskull, an early backer bonus figure included with the Mattel Creations Eternia playset if you ordered it between October 12th and October 19th of 2022. Since I backed Eternia pretty early on, I was able to add this version of King Grayskull based on the Masters of the Universe: Revelation animated series to my collection. Interestingly, he arrived separately from my Eternia, showing up a week or so before I received the actual Eternia playset. So, yes, I do have Eternia, but it's so huge I'm not sure if I'm going to get around to reviewing it. Maybe at some point. For right now I'm having to figure out how to rearrange my Masters of the Universe museum room to display both the vintage and modern Eternias. The Origins Eternia is truly as large as the original playset and is definitely a very high quality product, though it still adheres to the aesthetics and design of the Origins line and knows that it's a toy first and foremost. King Grayskull is really getting to be a pretty hot item, though, and since their are fewer figures of him than there were Eternias produced, he's definitely got some rarity helping to build his hype. Ready to check out the Origins version of King Grayskull (who comes complete on a collector friendly Powers of Grayskull backer card)? Then join me after the break...

  

   

The Facts:

Height: 5 3/4ths inches

Articulation: Swivel/ hinge ankles, boot swivels, swivel/hinge knees, balljointed hips, swivel waist, swivel/hinge shoulders, swivel/hinge elbows, swivel/hinge wrists, and a barbell jointed head.

Accessories: Harness, cape, and sword. 

Non-Scalper Price: $N/A- Included if you were an early backer of the Mattel Creations Eternia Playset. 







The Positives:



* While in-universe He-Man takes inspiration from King Grayskull, in reality King Grayskull is designed to capture elements of He-Man's look. King Grayskull has gold and cream highlights on his trunks, boots, and wrist cuffs and a removable harness that uses the asterisk styled logo of the 200x He-Man and King Grayskull designs. Overall he's a nice looking figure that captures the barbarian/swords and sorcery look of Masters of the Universe quite well.  



* King Grayskull is voiced by Dennis Haysbert in MOTU: Revelation, so you might want to pretend he's asking everyone "are you in good hands?" He definitely looks like a guy who would inspire confidence. I'd really like to see all of the Preternian heroes in Origins and Masterverse.






* King D'Vann Grayskull has some seriously nice hair with long braids in the front and a long braid in the back. He's also rocking a really cool decorative item in the back of his hair, keeping everything in place. 





* Grayskull's cloth cape is nice, plus he's got that luxurious furry collar. It's good to be the king! The cape and collar are connected but they can be removed from the harness as they're held on by Velcro straps. 

* The MOTU origins figures are built like the vintage toys but with more modern articulation. While their bulky frames make the articulation a bit clumsy, they do feel like an evolution of the vintage line. Imagine what you would get if you mixed a vintage figure with a MOTUC or Masterverse figure. They're quite fun to play with and pretty durable, feeling more like a toy than a collectible. They're also modular and can be easily separated in many places to make your own lazy boy customs! 



* King Grayskull comes with a translucent blue version of the minicomic Power Sword, inspired by the glowing blue sword from the Masters of the Universe Classics King Grayskull.




* There's a slot for the sword in the back of King Grayskull's harness.




The Negatives:

* Too bad it's so tough to reach. It just looks weird trying to use it unless you completely hide it under the cape and mantle. But that's weird, too, right?
   Yeah, I know he was surely "built" into the price of the Eternia playset, but considering he was only offered as a backer for the early birds who pledged to fund the set the first week, King Grasykull is a nice extra. He's a solid Origins figure and the inclusion of the collector friendly blister card is a great extra, so you can still open him but put him back on that slick looking Powers of Grayskull card whenever you want. An extra accessory or two would have been welcome, but it's not like he doesn't already come with a glowing Power Sword. He's a Great and a 1/2 figure and likely to be one of the least common modern MOTU figures out there.


If you're looking for more figures of King D'Vann Grayskull also check out my reviews of the Masterverse Masters of the Universe: Revelation King Grayskull, the MOTUC Spirit of Grayskull, and the Spirit of Grayskull from the MOTU Origins Mysteries of Grayskull set.

For more Masters of the Universe Origins reviews check out the following:

















Posted by at

1 comment:

  1. CarniviusMarch 19, 2024 at 5:17 AM

    He looks great. I don't need him as I don't collect Origins and didn't buy the Eternia set. And I have the Masteverse figure anyway. But yeah, it's cool to see him in Origins. Though it has upset a certain group of people who still refer to him as 'fake King Grayskull' or 'woke King Grayskull' and that the only 'real' one is the 200X guy. Who still exists in 200X... but they don't like this version being the one who now exists in 'vintage continuity' by being part of the Eternia playset.

    I do find the comic rather odd though... especially the inclusion of Skelegod which is an even more Revelation-specific event than King Grayskull. :O

    ReplyDelete

What'chu talkin' 'bout?

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)