Ferociously Furry February: Grizzlor from Masters of the Universe by Mattel

 

   

   Welcome to the first review of Ferociously Furry February, a month-long special review series paying homage to one of the greatest Masters of the Universe characters of them all: Grizzlor! Grizzlor was released as part of the fourth series of vintage MOTU figures in 1985 and was part of the initial members of the Evil Horde. In the vintage MOTU toyline the Evil Horde was presented as a group ruled by Hordak who are out to destroy Eternia. They were an evil faction pitted against both the Heroic Warriors and the Evil Warriors and Grizzlor was kind of their berserker. Billed as the "Hairy Henchman of the Evil Horde" and "The Ferocious Figure with Fur" Grizzlor was a wild creature who seemed more intimidating than most of Skeletor's cronies. This is my original childhood Grizzlor and I'm darn proud of how great he still looks after all of these years! Let's take a look at one of the most unusual Masters of the Universe figures produced in the vintage toyline after the break...

Barbecue's Bonfire 2/4/2021: Watch, Rewatch, Read, Reread Edition

 

Welcome to this week's installment of Barbecue's Bonfire! I was pretty busy this week it seems. I watched quite a few movies, played quite a few games, and finished a few books. Before I get into my thoughts on a myriad of subjects, I do want to point out that I just released the annual list of My Top 10 Toylines of 2020. I always have a great deal of fun with it and I'm curious as to what all of you regulars think. Comment on it! I'm curious to hear your opinions, too. What should we talk about first this week? Let's stick with my title theme and go with a watch.

 

   I don't want to spoil too much about WandaVision episode 4 so if you haven't watched it yet just skip on ahead. OK, that being said this week's episode was interesting with Jimmy Woo and Darcy Lewis acting as surrogates for the audience as they're trying to figure out what's going on. Kat Dennings is the only reason to watch Thor: The Dark World in my opinion and I'm glad to see her back in this. I liked the way this episode took the three very unique episodes we've gotten so far and connected them to the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe and to specific other Marvel characters and films. I'm definitely enjoying this show as much or more than any other Marvel show I've watched (Daredevil is the only other one that would come close for me) and I'm liking it better than quite a few of the films, too. I'm excited to see it jump back in to a few decade specific "episode" episodes before we get back into the larger story. There's a terrific pacing here and I hope it's adding up to something big.

More watches, rewatches, reads, and rereads after the break...

Minifigure Review: Fisto & Cliff Climber from Masters of the Universe by Mega Construx

 

   

The Masters of the Universe Mega Construx range is off to a strong start in 2021 as they've already released the Skeletor & Panthor set, the Battle Ram is shipping out now, and the three character and accessory sets packaged in Skeletor heads are showing up on store shelves. Yes, the most recent subset of Mega Construx MOTU characters consists of three figure and accessory packs which come packaged in small plastic Skeletor heads. They're quit neat and definitely will catch your eye on the shelf. The first set I found is the Fisto & Cliff Climber set, which I'm reviewing today. Fisto was already released last fall in a single pack but this one's a bit different and is intended to work alongside the Cliff Climber. Remember the Cliff Climber? Released in 1987, near the very end of the vintage Masters of the Universe line, the Cliff Climber was a motorized accessory that allowed you to outfit a MOTU figure for battle in the mountains. It's not an easy set to find, especially complete, so it's kind of cool to see Mega Construx paying homage to it. Let's take a look at the Fisto & Cliff Climber set after the break and see if this one is worth picking up...

My Top 10 Toylines of 2020

 

   2020 is in the rearview mirror now and today I start my look back at the best parts of what has been universally been regarded as a "dog turd placed in a brown paper bag and lit on fire on your front porch with caltrops hidden inside so that when you step on it your feet bleed" of a year. In some respects, however, particularly when it came to action figures, 2020 wasn't too bad. In fact, it was pretty good, really. Creating my "Top 10" lists is always one of my favorite things to do at Action Figure Barbecue and I always spend a great deal of time going over my notes from the previous year of what toylines were the coolest and most fun to collect. This is now the ninth year in a row I've created a list (the earliest ones were posted at The Epic Review) and it's always interesting too see how my lists fluctuate from year to year, reflecting my changing interests. This year the list wasn't as hard to narrow down to ten candidates as in past years but it still did take a little thought. I've made some changes to my collecting habits over the past couple of years with most of my collecting focusing on Masters of the Universe and Star Wars: The Black Series but there are some other fun lines like the Fortnite: Legendary Series and the G.I. Joe Classified Series that also captured my attention. With Masters of the Universe being my main collecting focus, I definitely a great deal of my collectible funds there, sometimes buying pricier items and vintage pieces, so I tend to jump into fewer random lines than I have in years past. I passed up a lot of lines that interested me this year as well, including McFarlane's DC Multiverse, Marvel Legends, lots of ReAction stuff, NECA's Back to the Future, and Super7's TMNT Ultimates, simply because of space, money, and enjoying my more focused collection. 

    A few years back I divided my Top 10 list into two separate categories: My Top 10 Toylines and My Top 10 Individual Releases. Today I'm starting with my top 10 Toylines as it's my standard best of list. These are the 10 toylines (action figures, statues, minifigures, etc.) of the past year that I most enjoyed collecting. They may not always be the best or the most expansive lines, but they're my favorites for one reason or another. As I reiterate every year, the two key word for this list are "my" and "favorite." My list isn't really based on a toyline's true merits and I don't typically go outside of what interests me. This is really a snapshot of the ten toylines I had the most fun collecting last year. As always, these are listed alphabetically rather than by merit. And now, for My Top 10 Toylines of 2020...

Toy Review: GameStop Masters of the Universe Box from Funko Boxes by Funko

 

  I don't think GameStop's recent surge in stock pricing has anything to do with getting back at short sellers or a group of Reddit users or even their new management hires. If you ask me, it's because GameStop has been carrying lots of Masters of the Universe product! 😉

   Last year when Funko really seemed to show interest in ramping up their efforts with the MOTU license GameStop listed a Masters of the Universe box for pre-order. I'd had mine on pre-order for the better part of a year it seemed but a couple of weeks ago I got a call from my local GameStop that my box was in. This one wasn't a mystery box as Funko and GameStop were pretty transparent about what was in it but, if you saw this in the store, you wouldn't know what you were getting. I'm not often a fan of mystery boxes like this and while I did like the Smuggler's Bounty boxes when they were  subscription service I don't pick up many. Considering that Masters of the Universe is my main collecting focus, however, and I love almost anything MOTU, this was a safe bet. The box has four items in it and as far as I'm aware they're all exclusive to this set. Featuring four of the most popular MOTU characters, He-Man, Orko, Evil-Lyn, and Scareglow, there's defnitely a lot of appeal here. Let's take a look at the GameStop Masters of the Universe Box after the break...

Minifigure Review: Skeletor & Panthor from Masters of the Universe by Mega Construx

 

   The Mega Construx Masters of the Universe line has really delivered far more product than I ever thought it would and it looks like 2021 is going to be a big year for it. 2020 had a few good releases, too, but 2021 feels like it could be the biggest year yet. It's starting off small, however, with this small set featuring Skeletor and Panthor. This is by no means the first Skeletor in the line (there have been multiple Skeletors) nor is it the first Panthor as he came with last year's Panthor at Point Dread set. What's the selling point of this set? For one reason, it seems like a more vintage toy accurate Skeletor is included here. For another, Panthor is flocked. Yes, flocked. Just like the vintage toy! Flocking Panthor is apparently a go to variant for companies putting out MOTU product currently and Mega Construx has now done it, too. Ready for a look at Skeletor and his malevolent feline? Then let's check these two out after the break...

February 2021 is Ferociously Furry February at Action Figure Barbecue

 

February 2021 is Ferociously Furry February at Action Figure Barbecue!

   I've always loved Grizzlor and I still have my childhood Grizzlor from the vintage Masters of the Universe toyline who will absolutely be getting reviewed this month. I haven't done a MOTU theme month since Trap Jaw-ly last July and I've been wanting to start the monthly celebration of a particular MOTU character or theme back. Funko released two different Grizzlor POP! vinyls last month as well, so that put Grizzlor at the front of my mind. The vintage figure had a little blurb on the front of the package that said "The Ferocious Figure with Fur" which I've always liked, so that's where the month's name come from. Ready to roll with the wild man of the Evil Horde? Then check out these previous Grizzlor reviews and prepare yourself for a month long tribute to Grizzlor!

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe by Super7 (2018)

Grizzlor

 

Masters of the Universe Classics by Mattel (2008) 
Heads of Eternia  

 

Masters of the Universe: ReAction by Super7 (2015)
Grizzlor
Grizzlor (Dark Variant)
Grizzlor (Toy Variant)

 

M.U.S.C.L.E. Masters of the Universe by Super7 (2015)
Trash Can Wave 4 (Slime)  

 

POP! Retro Toys by Funko (2020)

Grizzlor #40 from Masters of the Universe

Grizzlor # 40 (Flocked) from Masters of the Universe