Toy Review: Kobra Khan & Spikor from POP! + Pez by Funko

 

   Ready for another review of one of the four Masters of the Universe items that Funko offered up at the Spring 2021 Funko Virtual Con? Then how about we check out the POP! + Pez 2-pack of Kobra Khan & Spikor? Yeah, let's do that! The POP! + Pez line is still creeping along with mostly exclusive releases these days it seems and this is one was limited to only 1,000 pieces. It was originally intended for Emerald City Comic Con 2021 (which had some exclusive POP! + Pez dispensers that were only offered online last year, too) and it has the ECCC 2021 sticker on it rather than a generic Funko spring convention sticker. This was the only set I wasn't able to obtain through Funko or an exclusive partner so I ended up having to hunt this one down secondhand. Kobra Khan has been popular with Funko this year as he has had a POP! release and a Vinyl SODA release while Spikor has always been an odd favorite of the Funko team, appearing in the first set of MOTU POP! vinyls back in 2013. We still don't have a Teela but we've had Spikor for 8 years now. Anyways, these guys are definitely popular B-list villains and it's cool to get two of them at once. Let's take a look at the set after the break...

Collectible Review: Orko from Geeki Tikis by Beeline Creative Inc.

 

  Guess who's just a bit late for March Magic? Orko! Yeah, I originally intended for the Geeki Tikis Orko mug to be one of the installments for last month's celebration but, unfortunately, it just didn't happen. Oh well! Do I really need any excuse to review an Orko item? Nope! Orko is the fourth of the Geeki Tikis mugs I've reviewed and I really like him. Not as much as Mer-Man, of course, but he's up there. Ready for a look at another Masters of the Universe mug? Then join me after the break...

Barbecue's Bonfire 4/9/2021: The Baron Zemo Shuffle Edition

 

   This week was a bit different as we finally got to see my wife's parents after 16 months of being separated. Wow! They came for a visit over Easter and it was great to get to spend some time with them. There was a lot of cleaning prep and such (our guest suite hadn't been used in a year and a half) and then once everyone was here we were mostly busy visiting. Also, as of today my wife and I have been vaccinated for 2 weeks, so that's a big deal! We've been busy with company and Easter and, yeah, I was down for a day or so with what I feared was the making of a wicked sinus infection (the pollen is horrible right now) but, still, lots of stuff to report, starting with last week's episode of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier....

   Last week's episode of TF&TWS was excellent as we got the return of both Sharon Carter and Baron Helmut Zemo. Getting to see those two team up with Bucky and Falcon in Madripoor was amazing and the action there was some of the best yet. Poor Sharon really did get a raw deal, didn't she? Who thinks she might be the mysterious Power Broker? Anyways, despite everything else good about this episode the absolute standout is Zemo. He's just incredible though his awesomely awkward dancing is definitely one of my favorite memes in quite some time. Seriously, director Kari Skogland should have went full on David Lynch and just given us five straight minutes of Zemo dancing. This show is another hit and my only complaint about this episode was that we didn't get much of Walker Captain America. I'm kind of starting to like him in a way. He's not Cap by any means but I do want to see him succeed. I watched this episode twice over the past week and I'm ready for tonight's episode!

More after the break...

Masters of the Universe Month 2021: Faker Mask from Masters of the Universe by Mattel

 

   

   It's time for another review for Masters of the Universe Month 2021 and today we're taking a look at a really cool, random item based on Faker, another member of the 1983 Masters of the Universe cast. I've said a few times that the 1983 line was all about symmetry and that year the line introduced Faker, an evil robotic He-Man wearing Skeletor's chest armor. What fun Faker item are we looking at today? How about this really cool Faker mask from 2018? These were sold as a Mattel SDCC 2018 exclusive in a set along with He-Man, Anti-Eternia He-Man, and Horde Zombie He-man, and I think they were also offered up at PowerCon 2018 as well. Reminiscent of the 1980s' Ben Cooper MOTU Halloween costumes this is actually a foam mask with an adjustable elastic strap. It's kind of a cool item and I love how these masks look displayed on the wall. I'm trying to pick some interesting items from my collection this month as we look at the 1983 MOTU cast over the years and I hope you'll agree that this is a pretty unique item. Join me after the break for a look at the Faker Mask...

Toy Review: Terror Claws Skeletor (Metallic) from POP! Pocket Keychain by Funko

 

  

 Just a little over a month ago I reviewed the standard Terror Claws Skeletor POP! Pocket Keychain from Funko and today I'm going to take a quick peak at the Hot Topic exclusive metallic variant. This is the exact same piece as the previous keychain, just with a metallic paint scheme. Since they're so similar I'm reusing most of the text from the previous review so if you're experiencing déjà vu or something that's why. Let's take a look at the metallic version of the Terror Claws Skeletor POP! Pocket Keychain after the break...

Action Figure Review: Mantenna #67 from POP! Retro Toys: Masters of the Universe by Funko

 

   Funko continues to make their way towards offering a respectable selection of Masters of the Universe POP! vinyl collection (though still no Teela) with Mantenna, another offering from the Spring 2021 Funko Virtual Con. Now that the MOTU POP! vinyls are listed under the POP! Retro Toys banner rather than POP! Television (where they were since 2013) the figures are influenced by the vintage toys rather than the Filmation cartoon series. Mantenna looked pretty different in the toyline than he did in the cartoon so this one is definitely a character where the distinction matters. Mantenna #67 was a shared exclusive with Funko Shop and Walmart and I ended up grabbing him off of Walmart.com since they listed him earlier. He arrived really quickly with free shipping, too, which is one of the few positive experiences I've had with ordering product from Walmart.com. Let's take a look at Mantenna, the Horde's evil spy with the pop-out eyes, after the break...

Toy Review: She-Ra from Masters of the Universe Magnets by Monogram International

  

 A little over a month ago I reviewed the He-Man magnet from the Masters of the Universe Magnets  by Monogram International. In March 0f 2020 I reviewed Monogram International's Masters of the Universe Figural Bag Clips, a series of blind bagged "chibi" styled bag clips/ key chains and these blind bagged magnets are in the same style. She-Ra, however, wasn't part of the set last year so where did this sculpt come from? Well, it turns out the She-Ra bag clip was part of a NYCC 2019 exclusive set along with He-Man and Skeletor, so that's where this sculpt originated.  There are five magnets in the set (He-Man, She-Ra, Orko, Skeletor, and a glow in the dark chase Skeletor) so I ordered five of them from Hot Topic. I only got two different characters, which was kind of a bust, but my daughter was eager to grab a couple of the extras.  Currently we have a She-Ra magnet that my daughter moves around to different places at my parents' house as kind of a game. I really like these and since I didn't get the NYCC 2019 bag clip set I'm glad this magnet gave me a chance to have this sculpt in my collection. Let's check out She-Ra after the break...