Wednesday, August 31, 2022

Action Figure Review: Pig-Head from Masters of the Universe Origins by Mattel

 

   Ready for another figure from series 9 of Mattel's Masters of the Universe Origins? Then let's get ready to take a look at Pig-Head, the "Wicked Enemy of Sun-Man." Yes, Pig-Head is Sun-Man's archenemy and he's part of the cast of Sun-Man: Rulers of the Sun rather than Masters of the Universe. Well, he was, anyways, until recently when Mattel worked out a deal with Olmec Toys to bring the Sun-Man universe into the Masters of the Universe...universe. Pig-Head was originally released in 1985 and you'll have a much easier and much less expensive time trying to find this version than the original. The prices are crazy high on vintage Sun-Man toys. This is a great version of Pig-Head that really looks to capture the look and feel of the vintage toy on the modernized MOTU Origins body. Let's take a look at Pig-Head after the break...




Tuesday, August 30, 2022

Accessory Review: Weapon Set A by Mark 2 Design

 

   I've always been loved the accessories that come with an action figure. Honestly, cool accessories are probably the biggest selling point for me when it comes to attracting my attention to a new toyline. When I was in middle school and even into high school, I had a big plastic case that I stored lots of loose accessories in: G.I. Joe gear, the fantastic weapons from Coleco's Rambo line, the cool extras from McFarlane's Metal Gear Solid series, the spy gear from Tradewinds Toys' Mission: Impossible line, and anything else I had from random toylines. Me and a couple friends would create a "mission" and then take turns selecting which gear our agent would use to carry out the mission. It was more like role-playing as we'd discuss why and how our chosen gear would work to help us complete the objectives using our extensive knowledge of video games and spy movies. Anyways, that's a long way to preface the fact that I love picking up more accessories and weapons for me action figures and we're in a golden age of 1/12th scale accessories. Mark 2 Design is a new small business from Mark, the guy who contributed weapons sculpting to Valaverse's Action Force line. Those figures have some fantastic weaponry and now Mark 2 Designs is selling some of their own sculpts in very affordable packs. I ordered both sets available and they arrived very quickly. Today I'll start with Weapon Set A which includes eight 1/12th scale firearms to use with a variety of 6 inch scaled action figures. Let's take a look after the break....




Monday, August 29, 2022

Action Figure Review: Mantenna from Masters of the Universe Origins by Mattel

 

   While Series 9 of Masters of the Universe Origins does have a He-Man and a Skeletor variant, there are also two new figures: Mantenna and Pig-Head. If Pig-Head doesn't sound familiar, it's because he's originally from Olmec Toys' Sun-Man: Rulers of the Sun line, but Mantenna ought to be familiar to most every fan of Masters of the Universe. Mantenna had a figure in the vintage MOTU toyline (I ended up with two as a kid after I found one buried in a sandbox) and was a prominent character in Filmation's She-Ra and the Princess of Power. Mantenna is one of the main members of the Evil Horde and while he was bullied by Hordak in the cartoon, the toy version of Mantenna is pretty terrifying. There was a point some time last year when I was really worried that Mattel would burn through the easily made vintage lineup figures (i.e. those who use the basic He-Man body) and would neglect the characters with unique bodies. Mattel seems to be on track to really deliver with Origins as characters like Leech and Mantenna have really turned out to be excellent releases. With next year focused on the Snake Men and Mattel releasing a solid amount of deluxe figures, recreating the vintage line-up in Origins seems now more doable than ever. Mantenna is a standard figure, though, which really surprised me. He has an action feature and four fully articulated legs. That's pretty impressive! Let's take a look at the Horde's "Evil Spy with the Pop-Out Eyes" after the break...




Saturday, August 27, 2022

Toy Review: By the Power of Grayskull from Masters of the Universe by Mega Construx

 

   Mattel actually had a couple SDCC 2022 exclusives for Masters of the Universe this year which they also sold through Mattel Creations. For Mega Construx, the exclusive is the "By The Power of Grayskull" set, a fun display piece that allows you to transform a Mega Construx Prince Adam figure into He-Man in front of a Castle Grayskull facade. It captures what is perhaps the most iconic image in the franchise in brick built form and does a pretty neat job of creating something that's fun to display and show off. My set arrived in the mail last week and I've had a fun time building it and messing around with the "transformation" feature. Ready to hold aloft you magic sword and say those familiar words? Then join me after the break...



Thursday, August 25, 2022

Action Figure Review: He-Man (200x) from Masters of the Universe Origins by Mattel

 

   Wow! It's been almost two months since I last reviewed a He-Man figure! Let's change by taking a look at the new Masters of the Universe Origins He-Man figure from series 9. This isn't your standard vintage inspired He-Man, however; this version is actually based on the 2002/200x Masters of the Universe toyline. That's one of my favorite He-Man designs ever so I'm super thrilled that Mattel is bringing some of those designs into this line. Mattel did release a 200x inspired Evil-Lyn last year, but she was really just a repaint with no new sculpting or accessories to further differentiate her from the classic yellow figure. For He-Man and Skeletor in this series, Mattel did give them new portraits, new armor, new weapons, and one or two new sculpted bits to capture the unique look of the 200x toyline while still making the figures fit in with the rest of Origins. This series contains the 200x versions of He-Man and Skeletor, along with Mantenna and Pig-Head. All of those reviews are coming soon, but let's start with He-Man after the break...



Tuesday, August 23, 2022

Action Figure Review: Kol-Darr from Masters of the Universe Origins by Mattel

 

   Kol-Darr just arrived on my doorstep a week or two ago and it's about time that I review him! Kol-Darr isn't a character that I was anxiously awaiting for in action figure form, but I am pretty thrilled that we're getting him since he is a character we've never had a toy of before. Kol-Darr appeared in the episode Double Trouble from the second season of Filmation's He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. He definitely feels like a character we could have gotten in Masters of the Universe Classics but he works really well in Origins, too, as Kol-Darr has a very classic look that's evocative of the first two years of the vintage toyline. Kol-Darr was a Mattel Creations exclusive and he went on sale on May 27th, 2022. Let's check out another ally for He-Man after the break...

Friday, August 12, 2022

Action Figure Review: Storm Shadow from G.I. Joe: Classified Series by Hasbro

 

   While Hasbro released Arctic Mission Storm Shadow in 2020, the first year of the line, and the movie based version in 2021, it's taken until 2022 for a standard Storm Shadow to be released in the G.I. Joe: Classified Series. Why so long? Probably because Storm Shadow was caught up in the Classified Series' move towards more classic/vintage renditions of the characters. I was a big fan of many of the modern Classified Updates and I was pretty excited to see the version of Storm Shadow we saw in the advertising art and the video game turned into an action figure. More faithful renditions of the vintage toys are definitely where this line has been headed for the past year, though, and thus this new Storm Shadow is quite reminiscent of the 1984 version of the character. Storm Shadow is a really good figure (there's a "retro" carded version coming, too, with more classic inspired arm wraps and all black weapons) but I do miss getting to see what that redesign would have looked like as a toy. Let's take a look at Storm Shadow after the break and see how he turned out...




Wednesday, August 10, 2022

Action Figure Review: Spirit Iron-Knife from G.I. Joe: Classified Series by Hasbro

 

  I'm having a tough time deciding if Spirit Iron-Knife or the Cobra Officer is my favorite figure from this series as they're both incredible figures. I never owned Spirit as a kid as he was part of the 1984 series, which was about two years or so before I got into G.I. Joe, so it's possible he just wasn't on shelves anymore by the time I was picking up figures. I was always familiar with him from the comics and cards but the first Spirit figure I owned was probably the 2005 G.I. Joe: Sigma 6 version. Spirit has had quite a few different looks over the years but the Classified version is a modernized take on his classic appearance. I believe that in one of their streaming events the Classified team discussed that they had Native American/Indigenous designers to help work on the figure and create the packaging art, which is pretty neat to hear. The G.I. Joe team was always quite diverse with at least three Native America/ Indigenous members that I can recall offhand (Spirit, Airborne, and Altitude) and it's cool to see these characters still part of the crew and being reimagined over the years. I find Spirit Iron-Knife to be one of the best examples of a figure that has kept the appeal of the vintage design while also being modernized with some cool new touches. Let's take a look at Spirit Iron-Knife after the break...





Friday, August 5, 2022

Action Figure Review: Cobra Officer from G.I. Joe: Classified Series by Hasbro

 


   The most recent series of basic G.I. Joe Classified Series figures have been showing up slowly and I'll start reviewing them by taking a look at the Cobra Officer. The Cobra Trooper and Cobra Infantry have been two of the best figures in the line, so I had high hopes for the Cobra Officer. Since those figures were released earlier in the line, the aesthetic of the figures has changed a bit with the designs more strongly favoring their vintage counterparts. I was a bit concerned that we'd get a downgraded, less modern feeling figure but, fortunately, the Cobra Officer nicely pairs with the Cobra figures we've already received. The vintage Cobra Officer was released in the original 1982 series and has shown up multiple times over the years in different designs. This one takes the cake for me and is an amazing figure. Let's check out the Cobra Officer after the break...



Thursday, August 4, 2022

Action Figure Review: Gung-Ho from G.I. Joe: Classified Series by Hasbro

 

   Like they've done with most of their collector focused lines, Hasbro has now started offering retro carded figures in the G.I. Joe Classified Series. Hasbro really doesn't seem to be referring to these figures any differently (maybe to prevent confusion between these and the 1/18th scale G.I. Joe Retro Collection) but they're definitely packaged on the larger blister card like the similar Star Wars: The Black Series and Marvel Legends Series lines. While some of the figures are largely repaints with more vintage accurate color (Destro, Baroness), Gung-Ho is a very different figure from his previous Classified Series release. There was a lot I liked about the first Gung-Ho figure from series 2 but also quite a few things that disappointed me. While I wasn't one of the fans clamoring for the Classified Series to be 100% vintage accurate, I do like this more vintage accurate Gung-Ho. He's honestly one of my favorites at the moment. These are technically Walmart exclusives although Hasbr Pulse does have a quantity available for preorder as well. Let's take a look at the retro version of Gung-Ho after the break...



Wednesday, August 3, 2022

Action Figure Review: Teela from Masterverse/ Masters of the Universe: Revelation by Mattel

 


   Mattel really supported Masters of the Universe: Revelation in Masterverse (or did MOTU: Revelation really just support Masterverse?) and we're still getting figures from the show. Today I'm checking out the "Classic" version of Teela from Masters of the Universe: Revelation. This is how Teela appears in the first episode and in the flashback segments. Mattel released the "Modern" Teela last year but since she's such a popular character she's definitely deserving of two figures. I feel like I said everything I wanted to say about Teela's role in MOTU: Revelation in that review so no need to retread old ground, right? This is a cool figure and definitely captures a classic Teela look with a few new elements thrown in for fun. Let's take a look at Teela after the break...





Monday, August 1, 2022

Adora's Collection

 



   Hey guys! It's Umbreon 13 (AKA Adora) and, if you do not know, I collect Pokemon. I mainly collect Eevees and I want to show you my collection.  I have many more but my whole room would of had Eevees in it.  I thought that before I talk about my collection I would tell you how I started collecting.  When Super Smash Bros. Ultimate came out my dad got it for me and we started playing and got a trophy. It was the Eevee trophy and I thought it was the cutest thing ever!  On Christmas morning of 2015 I got my first Eevee (She's the one on the left of the Sylveon Pop!), and that is how I started collecting.

   In this picture there are 52 items that are part of my collection.  I will start from top to bottom. First, big Eevee; she is the largest of my collection and is 17 1/2 in. and on top of her are the two smallest stuffed Eeves in my collection. They're 4 in.  There are three of the the Build-A-Bear Eevee's: Glaceon, Flareon and Eevee and, yes, Glaceon and Eevee are wearing fake ears. In the back there is Evoli ( Eee-voo-lee) a French and English speaking Eevee.  And then we have my medium Eevees with my giant Eevee Pop! The Jazwares and Tomy plushies are some of my favorite brands of Pokemon toys because I like that they're sitting. Then there are my Funko Pops. I like to collect them the most since they have shiny Pops, flocked Pops ,and all of the characters.  And last, but not least, my outfits I have four different outfits including my Vaporeon blanket.  
 
 Before it's finished I'd like it if my dad, AKA Barbecue 17, would say a few things about it.

   Hey everyone! Barbecue17 here. Pokemon came out when I was a freshman in high school and while my friends and I liked it and played the games and the card game, I secretly wished it was something that had been around when I was a kid. I always liked the characters but I sort of lost interest in Pokemon until I introduced it to Adora when she was quite little. It was seeing that Eevee trophy in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate that seemed to seal the deal for her, though, as this kid is now obsessed with Eevees! Seriously, she goes crazy over these little guys and goes nuts when she find a new one. Eevee and her evolutions are all incredible designs and they're absolutely adorable. She really loves all things Eevee and it's been fun to help share in her collecting. I always wonder if she'll still be enamored with Eevee when she's my age in the same way I'm still enamored with Masters of the Universe, G.I. Joe, Star Wars, and the other things of my childhood. I think it's probably a given.