Playset Review: Fright Pit from Masters of the Universe Origins by Mattel

 

   I realize that I didn't review the three previous Masters of the Universe Origins playsets I own (Snake Mountain, Eternia, and the Fright Zone) and I didn't preorder/ crowdfund the Snake Lair, but I definitely wanted to check out the Slime Pit. Excuse me, I mean the Fright Pit. Yes, the 1986 vintage toy was called the Slime Pit because it used Mattel's own Slime (which they created and introduced to the toy market in 1976), but over the years Nickelodeon has somehow ended up with a trademark for a toy where a character is slimed. Therefore, calling a toy involving sliming a character the Slime Pit would apparently infringe on Nickelodeon's trademark, so Mattel has opted to call this the Fright Pit. You know what? That works for me. It connects it to the Fright Zone, where it belongs anyway, and it sounds pretty decent. Previously it was called the Horde Pit, but I think I like Fright Pit a bit better. Yeah, it's weird and utterly ridiculous, but that's the legal departments of major corporations for you. 

   The Fright Pit (if I slip and call it the Slime Pit, oops) is a very solid small playset and was a favorite of mine in the vintage line. I received it for Christmas when I was quite young, probably well after it was released, and I remember spilling the slime under our Christmas tree. Oops! For that reason, I'll let you know in advance that I didn't even open the included bag of slime. Instead, just pretend characters are being slimed or watch a YouTube video showing off the action feature. Ready to (pretend) to get slimed? Wait, since there's no slime, how about we just frighten the figures, huh? Ready to frighten some figures? Then join me after the break...

Action Figure Review: Ram Man and Fisto from Masters of the Universe Chronicles by Mattel

 

   Now that Masters of the Universe (2026) is on Amazon Prime, I've had the chance to watch it again. The second viewing has been incredibly enjoyable and I really do like the movie quite a bit. It's so much fun and the costume designs are incredible. Take Ram Man and Fisto here, who were released as a two pack exclusive to Amazon; Don't these guys look almost exactly like their toy and cartoon counterparts? There's no way anyone familiar with MOTU could look at these guys and not know exactly who they are, which I appreciate. I love MOTU because the characters are wild and over the top. One of my few criticism of the movie is that the jokes over Fisto's name got overplayed a bit and it would have been funnier to me if the joke was that no one on Earth believed that these guys' names were Ram Man and Fisto but, once Adam arrives back on Eternia, they proudly go by these wild names. Still, the character designs were great and Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson and Jon Xue Zhang were both excellent in the roles and brought a lot of power and physicality to the characters. At SDCC 2026 last weekend we learned that Mattel has plans for Masters of the Universe Chronicles and will be mixing up the line with new takes on classic characters and more movie based figures, so we'll hopefully be able to nicely fill out the movie roster in the next year or so. For now, let's check out this powerful duo after the break...