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...

Action Figure Review: Arboryous from Legends of Dragonore by Formo Toys

 

   If you're a regular around here then you know that Moss Man is my favorite Masters of the Universe character. I'm nuts about the guy and I'm always down for a new Moss Man figure. I'm even down for guys who kind of remind me of Moss Man, and that's why I'm reviewing Arboryous from Formo Toys' Legends of Dragonore line today. This guy is an incredible looking figure that is very inspired by the Green Man mythology in a similar vein to Masters of the Universe's Moss Man. If you're not familiar with Legends of Dragonore, it's a 5.5" fantasy toyline based on the classic fantasy lines of the 1980s in that same scale. You know, things like  Remco's The Lost World of the Warlord, Arco's The Other World, Soma's Fantasy World, Olmec Toys' Sun-Man, and Galoob's Blackstar. Oh, and Mattel's Masters of the Universe. We can't forget those, can we? Anyways, Arboryous is part of the second series of releases and I just had to get him as I'm nuts about that design. Let's check out Arboryous, the Vernal Sage Healer of Botanika, after the break...

Action Figure Review: David "Crazylegs" Thomas (Retro) from G.I. Joe: Classified Series by Hasbro

 

      I intended to review quite a few G.I. Joe: Classified Series figures in July in celebration of the semiquincentennial of the United States of America but I've been a bit buys and this is the first figure I've had the chance to look at: David "Crazylegs" Thomas from the retro carded releases. While we already received Crazylegs in the Classified Series back in 2024, that version was based on the Night Force release of the figure, a Toys 'R Us exclusive from 1988. This version is based on the classic 1987 figure, who was one of my favorites as a kid. I loved Crazylegs. Maybe it was the funny name, maybe it was the fantastic rifle, maybe it was because his parachute pack was so different than most others in the line, or maybe it was because of his great color scheme that stood out. The 1986 and 1987 years were when I first got into G.I. Joe and he was definitely one of my earliest figures. I've been looking forward to this release, though I will say that there are a couple odd issues with this figure that do bring him down a bit. He's still solid, don't get me wrong, but only having a screaming headsculpt is certainly a choice. Ready to check out Crazylegs? Then grab your parachute and join me after the break.....

Action Figure Review: Wolfsbane from The Order of the Crimson Moon by Fresh Monkey Fiction & Big Bad Workshop

 

   I'm finally ready to check out the last of the four action figures I picked up from Fresh Monkey Fiction & Big Bad Workshop's The Order of the Crimson Moon line: Wolfsbane! Who is Wolfsbane? He's a mercenary who supplies weapons and provides knowledge on arcane magic to the Order of the Crimson Moon. He's a cool arms dealer sporting black leather with red highlights, metal hands, and wrist mounted weaponry. Oh, and he comes with an alternate robotic head. Hey, wait a minute... this guy sounds just like.... Red Jackal from Action Force! That's it, Red Jackal. Red Jackal does kind of look familiar too, though, right? OK, yes, Red Jackal was a repaint of the G.I. Joe Destro figure. At some point during the run of Palitoy's Action Force run, Hasbro began taking more control of Palitoy and released many of the G.I. Joe A Real American hero figures with different names and different paintjobs. Destro was renamed Red Jackal, the driver of the Hyena, and was given a slightly different paintjob with the Red Skulls skull and crossbones on his chest. This is a cool figure who can supplement your Order of the Crimson Moon team, help out the bad guys in Operation: Monster Force, aid the Garrison in Valaverse's Action Force, or help out Cobra or the Iron Grenadiers. He's versatile and cool as heck. Want to check him out? Then let's take a look at Wolfsbane after the break...

Action Figure Review: The Saboteur from Soldiers of Fortune by Big Bad Workshop

   I ordered three of Big Bad Workshop's Soldiers of Fortune figures when the preorders went up and while I reviewed the first two back in May (The Agent/ The Spy- Black Tuxedo and The Agent/ The Enemy- Light Blue), it's taken me a couple months to get to the third: The Saboteur! The cool thing about Soldiers of Fortune is that the figures are generic enough to fill various gaps in your 1/12th collection. I'm thrilled with how many great 1/12th scaled military themed lines we've been getting over the past 5 or 6 years and even with how much great stuff we've received, the Saboteur still feels quite unique; he's just your average guerilla or terrorist. Need some generic bad guys for any 1/12th collection? How about some of your heroes on an undercover, black bag type of operation? The Saboteur fills that niche and scratches that itch. Let's take a look at this basic bad guy after the break...

Action Figure Review: Great Black Wizard from Masters of the Universe Origins: The Powers of Grayskull by Mattel

 

   Since I reviewed Gray last week, it seems fitting to review his main adversary this week: The Great Black Wizard! Like Gray (and He-Ro, Sharella, Red Shadow, King Grayskull, and Veena), the Great Black Wizard is a character from Preternia, Eternia's ancient past. Now part of The Powers of Grayskull subset, the Great Black Wizard was created by Axel Gimenez during the Mattel Masters of the Universe Classics era (2008-2016) as a villain for Preternia and he appeared in a few of the MOTUC minicomics. He was offered earlier this year on Mattel Creations as part of the Masters of the Universe Origins: The Powers of Grayskull subset and is a Club Grayskull exclusive, meaning you do need the $10 dollar yearly subscription to purchase him. The Powers of Grayskull/ Preternian era has been one of my favorites since the MOTUC days and I'm really excited that Mattel has released so many figures for it over the past two years. It's quite exciting to finally have this guy as a figure as he was teased during the MOTUC days. The Great Black Wizard is a technomancer who gave some of the Snake Men their powers and created Draego Man, so he's clearly a pretty powerful character. Ready to see how he turned out as a figure? Then join me after the break...