Friday, January 7, 2022

Wrapping Up 2021: He-Man from Flextreme!: Masters of the Universe by Mattel

 

   2021 saw an absolute flood of Masters of the Universe toys. Seriously, I'm not sure if there's beena year since the 1980s where so MOTU product came out. Companies like Funko, Tweeterhead, Monogram International, Beeline Creative Inc. and Mondo, among others, all jumped in with product but Mattel was clearly the king this year From Mattel alone we had Masterverse, Origins, Eternia Minis, Mega Construx, He-man and the Masters of the Universe, Hot Wheels, Shogun Masters, Micro Collection, and now Flextreme!. Flextreme! didn't get a big release, though, and seemed to just show up at outlet stores like Big Lots and Ollie's (that's where mine were found) already on clearance. Maybe these were straight up intended as a bargain product for holiday shoppers looking for inexpensive gifts to fill stockings? So, what is a Flextreme!? They're 7 inch scaled hard rubber, bendable figures. Mattel has used the branding for a few other properties as well (DC Comcis, WWE) but they're nothing I've ever paid attention too. I was hoping they'd be a bit more like Stretch Armstrong or Goo Jit Zu, a toyline from Moose Toys that my daughter really likes which has some really fun designs and action features. They're not, though; they're just larger traditional bendy figures. Let's take a quick look at the Flextreme! He-Man after the break...



The Facts:

Height: 7 inches

Articulation: Bendable

Accessories: None

Non-Scalper Price: $6-$10 dollars

The Positives:



* I do like the caricatured look of these. They're a mixture of incredibly muscular, as is befitting a MOTU toy, with some slimmer parts to facilitate the bendable feature. This is a very classic looking He-Man with a decent sculpt and paintwork for a bendable figure. He's bright, bold, and quite heavy.



* Again, the portrait is quite caricatured but I do like it. It's a very classic looking He-Man with the friendly face you'd expect from a toy marketed at younger kids. 
The Negatives:

* For a figure marketed as being bendable and called Flextreme! He-Man just isn't, well, very flexible. He's made from a rather durable rubber but there's little movement here. His arms and legs move a bit and that's it. I was hoping he'd be more like Stretch Armstrong or something but he's not. He's just a moderately bendable bendy figure, which is disappointing. 
   I'm not terribly impressed with this guy. I like the look and design of the figure but as a bendable figure or as a toy he kind of fails. I'm really curious what the story behind the creation of these was as they seemingly went straight to discount stores. Were they intentionally created for discount outlets? Places like Dollar General and Big Lots do often get "stripped down" versions of regular toys so maybe this was Mattel's intention all along. This version of He-Man gets an Eh and a 1/2 from me. He's pretty dull as a toy but he's also pretty inexpensive. The way his hands are designed looks like he could handle accessories but he comes unarmed. Bummer.



I've reviewed so many versions of He-Man that he has his own review archive. Check out Fabulous Secret Powers for all of my He-Man reviews.  


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