Wrapping Up 2019: Anti-Eternia He-Man (Clear Smoke) from Masters of the Universe: ReAction by Super7

   Well, it's official folks: Super7 is currently finished releasing new Masters of the Universe product. Yeah, they'll still be completing the preorders for the William Stout based movie figures (which should begin shipping tomorrow), Club Grayskull series 4, and Snake Mountain, but nothing new is coming out after this for the near future. Mattel seems to want to hold the MOTU license fairly close to their chests at the moment and they're apparently being very selective about the licensees they're allowing to keep making stuff (apparently Mondo gets a pass as their items are definitely much higher end than anything Mattel plans to make). Prior to Christmas Super7 released a few new items in the ReAction series: A new series of five translucent variants (Mer-Man, Orko, Skeletor, Scare Glow, and Anti-Eternia He-Man) and then the 2-packs of Battle Cat and Panthor with He-Man and Skeletor, respectively. I'll be reviewing the cat packs shortly but I only picked up two of the translucent figures for the time being. One of those is Anti-Eternia He-Man, the evil He-Man of Anti-Eternia. Based on a character appearing in a 1985 German audio-play, Mattel released Anti-Eternia He-Man in the MOTUC line in 2016 as an online chase variant and in 2018 Super7 released a ReAction Anti-Eternia He-Man. Anti-Eternia He-Man is currently the prime antagonist in DC's current He-Man and the Masters of the Multiverse comic series, so Super7 is definitely striking while the iron is hot with this one. Let's check out this "Clear Smoke" variant of the evil black and red He-Man after the break...

Wrapping up 2019: Purge Stormtrooper from Star Wars: The Black Series Phase III by Hasbro

    While Hasbro released quite a few figures in Star Wars: The Black Series during the last few months of 2019, they really didn't release that many from The Rise of Skywalker: 8 were from Episode IX, 5 were from The Mandalorian, 6 were from the Original Trilogy, 2 were from Clone Wars, 1 was from the comics, and 3 were from Jedi: Fallen Order (I'm not counting the Carbonized variants, because those are just chase variants). For The Black Series releases from Triple Force Friday, only 32% were from the new film. That's pretty crazy, right? I liked The Rise of Skywalker but it definitely seems that Hasbro didn't have that much faith in it moving merchandise. They've got some cool stuff coming out in the next few months, although definitely not the amount of product you'd expect to show up based on a new film. Anyways, let's talk about today's figure: The Purge Trooper from Jedi: Fallen Order, the new single player Star Wars video game. I preordered to deluxe edition of the game which actually came with this figure, although GameStop did sell some of the figures by themselves (presumably figures from preorders that folks didn't pick up, as the figure wasn't packaged with the game). The Purge Stormtroopers first appeared in the Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith comic in 2018 and are a special group of troopers under the command of Vader and the Inquisitorious. Apparently these troopers are the last batch of Jango Fett based clones and they definitely dress in similar armor to the clones. There are multiple different types of these guys in Jedi: Fallen Order, but this guy is actually a Purge Stormtrooper Commander. Let's check him out after the break and see how this guy turned out after the break...

Wrapping Up 2019: Sting from Masters of the WWE Universe by Mattel

   Today I'm checking out my second single carded figure from Mattel's new Masters of the WWE Universe line and this time it's the Mysterious Vigilante of Vengeance, Sting! While Finn Balor may be based on Beast Man, it's pretty clear that Sting is based on Clawful due to the presence of his giant scorpion claw. Yeah, it's a scorpion claw here, because Sting is all about Scorpions. Sting was a WCW guy for years but he finally made his way to the WWE at Survivor Series 2014, and while he didn't wrestle with WWE for long (he as injured in 2015 and retired shortly after) they've definitely been sure to merchandise the character. Sting has a great look and actually makes for a cool MOTU inspired warrior. Let's check out Sting after the break and see how he fares in the land of WWEternia...

Wrapping Up 2019: Sith Trooper from Star Wars: The Black Series Phase III by Hasbro

   I'm still wrapping up the Star Wars: The Black Series releases I picked up in 2019 and I've only got five to go (six if I ever manage to find the Mandalorian). Let's check out the last figure from Hasbro's releases based on The Rise of Skywalker: The Sith Trooper! The Sith Troopers have an incredible appearance but, sadly, they didn't get much screen time in the film. The Sith Trooper was first releases last summer as a SDCC 2019 exclusive with five accessories. For the standard release three of those accessories have been cut (the larger repeating blaster, a claw of some sort, and a bladed weapon) but the two standard blasters are still here. As part of the Final Order, these troopers bring to mind the red bladed lightsabers of the Sith and the red robed Royal Guards of Emperor Palpatine. Let's check out these Sith Troopers after the break and see how they compare with the standard First Order troopers...

Wrapping Up 2019: Finn Balor from Masters of the WWE Universe by Mattel

    I was expecting more of a presence for Mattel's Masters of the WWE Universe during this Christmas shopping season but I never even saw the individual figures or the single boxed ring on shelves. The excellent Grayskull Mania set hit Walmart shelves pretty consistently, complete with its own bunker, but they often got stuck somewhere outside of the toy department as Walmart is just consistently at actually putting toys in places where they make sense. Walmart.com did have all of the single packed figures in stock on multiple occasions, though, and the first one I was able to get my hands on was Finn Balor, the Heroic Demon King. I actually haven't watched WWE for a few months but I always enjoy Balor and his Demon King persona makes for an excellent MOTU inspired look. I'm kind of getting a Beast Man vibe from him, possibly because his collar reminds me of Beast Man's furry collar. Anyone else see a figure that more directly inspires Finn Balor? Anyways, let's check this guy out in more depth after the break...

Wrapping Up 2019: Rey & D-O from Star Wars: The Black Series Phase III by Hasbro

  Hasbro really didn't release all that much new product for The Rise of Skywalker, which is a real shame. The movie had lots of characters that seemed very "toyetic" and far more interesting visually than in the previous Sequel Trilogy installments. Of course, Hasbro definitely delivered a new Rey figure and I'm glad to say that she turned out great. It's crazy to look back at Hasbro's initial Rey & BB-8 offering from 2015; The Black Series really has improved drastically over the past few years, hasn't it? Anyways, this version of Rey is based on her appearance in The Rise of Skywalker. Like with the original release from The Force Awakens, Rey also comes with a droid companion. This time it's D-O, the unique wheeled droid who once belonged to the Sith assassin Ochi. Let's check out this set and see what all Hasbro packed it with, as there are a few surprises. Join me after the break...

Wrapping up 2019: Omega: Max Level (Purple) from Fortnite: Legendary Series by Jazwares

    Happy New Year! 2019 was actually a pretty solid year for action figures and one of my favorite new lines of 2019 was Jazwares' Fortnite: Legendary Series. These are some of the best 6 inch scaled action figures on the market with great character design and I'm going to be covering most of series 3 over the next few weeks as I'm wrapping up 2019 release in time for my annual best of the year awards. While the rest of the Fortnite: Legendary Series retails for around $20 dollars, Jazwares did release two deluxe versions of the Omega: Max Level figure. The Omega suit is an upgradeable suit from Fortnite's fourth season, and thus the Omega: Max Level figure features multiple pieces of armor. 24 pieces of armor, to be exact. Yeah, this guy comes with a bunch of armored pieces to put on. Remember Ronin Warriors and Power Force? For some reason he reminds me of those lines, although he's got even more armor. He's built the same as the rest of the Fortnite: Legendary Series figures, but his body is designed with lots of holes that allow the armored piece to plug onto the figure. I actually held off on buying this guy for a few months but I finally found him on sale and decided to pick him up. Let's check out the purple version of Omega: Max Level after the break...