Monday, March 7, 2022

Action Figure Review: Tri-Klops from Masterverse/ Masters of the Universe: Revelation by Mattel

 
   I haven't reviewed a new Masterverse figure since last year! There hasn't really been anything new out for the line but sometime in February it seems like Tri-Klops started showing up in stores and I managed to get a hold of one. This version of Tri-Klops is based on his appearance in last year's Masters of the Universe: Revelation and features Tri-Klops with two outfits: His classic green armor and his ceremonial robes from the Motherboard cult. MOTU: Revelation gave most characters two different appearances (some had far more) so it's kind of cool that this deluxe Tri-Klops features both of his looks in one package. I'm really curious to see if MOTU: Revelation continues. While there are still a few MOTU: Revelation based figures scheduled for Masterverse (Trap Jaw, "classic" Teela, Mer-Man, and King Grayskull), there are also a number of figures from other areas of MOTU scheduled and rumored for the line. Let's take a look at Tri-Klops after the break and see how this version of the Evil Master who sees everything turned out...




The Facts:

Height: 7 inches

Articulation: Swivel/hinge ankles, boot swivels, double hinged knees, thigh swivels, balljointed hips, swivel waist, balljointed mid-torso, swivel/hinge shoulders, bicep swivels, double hinged elbows, swivel/hinge wrists, a barbell jointed head, and swivel visor.

Accessories: 4 interchangeable hands, sword, harness, 2 swappable portraits, robe, and ceremonial armor.

Non-Scalper Price: $35 dollars




Comparison:

 

* Tri-Klops, on the left, uses most of the same body as the standard He-Man figure, on the right. That's not too surprising as it's pretty much a MOTU tradition at this point.





The Positives:

 

* Here's Tri-Klops in his classic outfit. I think this might be a fairly popular figure as the Masters of the Universe Classics version of Tri-Klops has gotten insanely expensive. If you're looking for a modernly articulated, classically styled Tri-Klops, this is the way to go. He looks fantastic with the lean, muscular build of this line and some nicely detailed armor. There are a couple of colors of green here as well as both orange and an orangeish-copper. There even seems to be some light grey drybrushing on his furry trunks and boots to bring out some of the detail.



 

* Tri-Klops' appearance is quite traditional though he does have sandy blonde hair opposed to the black hair of the vintage toy and the reddish hair of the Filmation version. The chinstrap for his visor has a more noticeable chin piece here while the visor itself has lots of etched details in it. Tri-Klops does have three eyes, as he should, and the visor rotates nicely. Here's his square eye (with a straight "eyebrow" above it.


 

 

* Next up is the eye in the shape of an isosceles trapezium.





 

 * The third eye is a simple circle with an arched "eyebrow."









 

* Technically, these technical details on his shoulders and hands are designed for the Motherboard robed variant of Tri-Klops but they do add an unusual look to the figure, too. Kind of cool, right?







 

* This line has very solid articulation, really some of the best I've seen on a Mattel action figure, and Tri-Klops is another hit. He moves freely, has a nice range of motion, and the joints are plentiful. You can get him into some great sword-fighting poses for sure.






 

* Tri-Klops has two pairs of hands: Some open palms and two gripping hands. They swap easily and work well with both outfits.




 

* Tri-Klops comes with a repainted version of Fisto's Sword, just like the vintage figures. Well, in the vintage line Tri-Klops was released first. the sword has a few paint apps which looks great. I'm always happy to see this level of detail on a weapon.






 

* Let's take a look at Tri-Klops' second outfit, his ceremonial robes for he Motherboard techno-organic cult. First up is a soft goods robe. He does look weird wearing this by itself but it's meant to be worn with his armored piece. I'm just showing it off here. It's quite nicely tailored. There's a Velcro strip on the back to make it easier to put on the figure, too.



 

 

* This armor fits over Tri-Klops robe and really looks pretty cool. I like the stole with the three symbols that match the shape of Tri-Klops' eyes. This is such an unusual and cool look. While I don't like it better than the classic Tri-Klops look it sure is neat to see a different look for Tri-Klops who has basically had the same look for going on 40 years.


 

 

* Tri-Klops also has a soft goods cape that is permanently attached to his armor.












 

* The alternate portrait is similar to the first below the visor but above the visor things get crazy. His visor is red this time around and the top of the visor has a miter like helmet on top.

 

 

* Tri-Klops still has three different eyes and the visor spins around easily.


 

* I'm not 100% sure this is intentional but Tri-Klops' sword fits perfectly in the back of his armor here. That's pretty cool, right? It fits perfectly so I'm assuming it really is a feature.





   Tri-Klops is a deluxe figure so you'll pay a deluxe price but considering you get two completely different looks out of him, one of which has two soft goods pieces, I'm pretty satisfied here. He's a really fun figure with alternate heads, hands, some solid paint work, a working action feature (the rotating visor), and solid articulation. Personally, he's one of my favorites in the line to date. I know not everyone is wild about the Motherboard robes but I'm pretty excited to see something do different for Tri-Klops. This is an Epic figure with a lot of coolness to it. I've got Trap Jaw on the way, too, so he'll have someone to boss around. 

 

 If you're a Tri-Klops fan I've also reviewed the MOTU Origins Tri-Klops and Tri-Klops ("The Terror of Tr-Klops"), the M.U.S.C.L.E. flesh Tri-Klops and green Tri-Klops, the POP! + Pez Tri-Klops dispenser, the Loyal Subjects Tri-Klops ("GID Edition"), the Mega Construx single packed Tri-Klops and Tri-Klops from the Battle Ram set, the Monogram International Tri-Klops bag clip, and the POP! Tri-Klops #951.

For more Masterverse figures check out the following:





16 comments:

  1. Yeah he looks cool. No idea when mine is showing up. UK releases a bit behind US. I still haven't managed to get Andra and Fisto yet even though I finally got Scare Glow and Stinkor a few weeks ago. Should have my Mega Construx Land Shark and Monstroid sets turning up at some point too.

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  2. Oh and I think they made his hair too light. Supposed to be a reddish brown (going by the first episode and the character model sheet Powerhouse released) but I got a lil pot of paint for that I've used on other figures anyways so no problem. Will add a bit more paint on his armour too for the trims.
    Also curious they designed the lower part of his armour to be like an upside down copy of the belt. The Classics one did that too. The vintage toy does not (nor does the Origins update of it), but weirdly the vintage cross sell art does.
    And I've seen some people complain the eyes don't look different enough unlike the previous toys. But this is accurate to the cartoon (both Revelation and Filmation) which do have them all with brown irises and simple shapes. I would have preferred different colours at least but I'm not that bothered. This figure still looks great and the Motherboard robes are really nicely done. Curiously my pre-order of him is priced the same as a regular figure. :O

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    1. After finishing the review I started wishing that he came with the chalice from the Motherboard cult. And yeah, I looked at the character model sheets, too. The hair is definitely wrong.

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  3. A nice deluxe figure. He's one of the better ones from the line me thinks. His cult outfit also looks good. I might pick him up soon too because...well, he's Tri-Klops!

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    1. He really is a very solid, classic Tri-Klops. I'm waiting for Trap-Jaw to show up any day now. I'm digging the different outfits included with some of these deluxe releases.

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  4. Yeah, awesome in both modes. Lots of shelf presence. Only problem I had on this one is the visor on the second head ("priest" head) won't rotate. Like, it was glued or something.
    Another thing I enjoy with Masterverse is, unlike the Origins line, all the figures in the line are readily available in Europe (with the exception of King Grayskull and Trap Jaw). Collecting Origins when you live in Europe can be a bit of a nightmare (ie : I've never been able to locate a Snout Spout or a Leech, except for a couple of times when they were selling for extortionate prices..).

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    1. On my copy, the priest visor rotated fine but the standard head's visor didn't want to turn at all. I managed to prise it off (after heating up with a hairdryer to make the plastic pliable) and shaved down the notch bits a little bit (that are supposed to make the visor stay in place once you center whichever eye you want). They were slightly too big for the visor to push past. Now it's fine. :)

      Trap Jaw was out here in UK easy enough when I got him a year ago but yeah no King Grayskull. Haven't had Hordak either. And Jitsu was rare and I missed out and still trying to track him down. This year though I have managed to get some recent figures such as Two-Bad, Bat-Lyn, Stratos, Roboto and the movie versions of Skelly and He-Man but cannot find Frosta anywhere.

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    2. MekaneckfrenchiefrogFebruary 19, 2023 at 2:19 AM

      Thanks for you comments on the visor - hopefully it will help me fix the problem on mine. It's funny that we had the same problem with different heads, though.
      If you want some of the more recent or harder to find Masterverse figures, there is an excellent ebay seller in Germany called smalltinytoy. He isn't cheap (but he isn't too expensive either) and has these in stock - like he currently has the Two Bad and the Hordak too. And he had the Frosta and He-Ro a couple weeks ago (if you ask him, he can get restocks - like I asked him to get more copies of Origins Rattlor, because I had missed it..). And he offers a great service too - his packaging is beautiful and very sturdy, and he sends things very quickly.

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    3. Thanks Mek. I'll look into it. I dunno what shipping costs are like from Germany to UK but I imagine it has to be cheaper than from US to UK. :) I just need Hordak, King Grayskull, Jitsu and Frosta to get myself up to date (I don't care for the CGI He-Man and Skelly, they're great figures for those who like that aesthetic but it's not for me and they don't blend with other Masterverse figures) before Sorceress, Shadow Weaver, Man-E-Faces etc. I'll look into that seller and see if he does some good prices on them. Hope you've had a nice weekend. :)

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    4. MekaneckfrenchiefrogFebruary 20, 2023 at 3:49 AM

      You're welcome, Carnivac ! I think I saw a Masterverse Jitsu on ebay France actually, but it was crazy expensive (ie : 71 Eur. or something like that..). Yeah, I too cannot wait for Sorceress and Man-e-faces to hit the shops in late March - those leaked pictures are just so promising ! These 2 will be top prorities for me too..

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    5. Don't need to see leaked photos. Some folk have got those new wave figures already in the US. A couple of my fellow collectors on Instagram have been using Sorceress, Shadow Weaver and Man-E-Faces in their cool figure photos already. :D

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    6. I actually found Man-E-Faces, Sorceress, and Pig-head this weekend at a local toy shop that has a Mattel account, so that was a nice surprise. Reviews coming soon, of course.

      Also, I hope everyone gets their Tri-Klops heads fixed.

      Man, we've got Leech and Snout Spout on shelves everywhere over here in the states. If I can ever ship anything for anyone let me know. I'm happy to help out. We can always investigate the best shipping rates.

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    7. MekaneckfrenchiefrogFebruary 21, 2023 at 2:43 AM

      Yep, I actually managed to fix the visor on my priest Tri-klops head just by pushing his "top hat" slightly upwards.. Thanks for your offer, Barbecue17, I'll definitely remember that if I can't find some of the new Origins figures.. but for now I'm catching up with all the cool Masterverse figures I have missed. I've just ordered Faker and She-ra, and next on my shopping list is New Eternia Beast Man.. :-)

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    8. I forgot about Pig-Head, yes I want him too. Looks like another solid wave for sure. :)

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    9. Man-E-Faces is superb. Very cool figure. I haven't opened Sorceress or Pig-Head yet.

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  5. Well, he currently has Frosta in stock actually, and Hordak too !

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