Action Figure Review: Moss Man from Turtles of Grayskull by Mattel

 

   I'm absolutely loving Mattel's Turtles of Grayskull line and I was pretty thrilled a month or so ago when I walked into my local Walmart and stumbled upon a full row of the Turtles of Grayskull Moss Man. Turtles of Grayskull is far more well thought out than most of the TMNT crossover properties and there are some pretty interesting changes made to the characters. Moss Man is another of the unfortunate heroes who has been transformed by mutagen ooze and is now at the beck and call of Shredder and Krang. An evil Moss Man who reminds me of a Resident Evil villain? Sign me up! Let's take a look at Moss Man, the Mutated Master of Nature, after the break...

  

The Facts:

Height: 6 3/8ths inches 

Articulation: Swivel/hinge ankles, calve swivels, swivel/hinge knees, balljointed hips, waist swivel, swivel/hinge shoulders, swivel/hinge elbows, swivel/hinge wrists, and a barbell jointed head.

Accessories: Chest armor, 2 shoulder pads, vine weapon, neck extender, standard head, and fly trap head.

Non-Scalper Price: $25 dollars

The Positives:

* In Turtles of Grayskull, Moss Man has been transformed by mutagen ooze and is now a servant of the bad guys. Moss Man has always been an incredibly powerful character (he's essentially an Eternian nature deity or demi-god), but now that he's been mutated he's exercising no restraint and becomes less human/ sentient and more plantlike. Rather than having green flocking now he's wearing some armor and shoulder pads that look like they're made from the same vines and such that grow around Snake Mountain. That and some bones, too. His green color is brighter, too. To give him longer, lanker proportions, Moss Man utilizes some parts from the Masters of the Universe x Stranger Things Demogorgon, particularly the new hands and feet. I wonder which was designed first? The Demogorgon or this new take on Moss Man? Oh, and the armor will be used for Vecna, too. 

* To further enhance the mutated look Moss Man is molded in bright green translucent plastic. I love how he looks, especially when you display him in different shades of light. 

* This is a fantastic Moss Man head. There's not a lot of paintwork on it, but the sculpt with the red eyes and teeth definitely make it clear who this is and that he's not someone you want to mess around with. Personally, I'd like to see this head used in a 200x take on Moss Man at some point in Origins, too. It looks like an excellent sculpt and more unique than just a repainted Beast Man head.

* There's a neck extension piece that is designed to connect Moss Man's body to his mutated Venus flytrap head. It also can be used to allow him to hold the flytrap by itself as a weapon, but I think the best use of it is to allow him to extend his head. How creepy and weird, right? He looks like something out of The Thing or a Junji Ito story. This is pretty incredible looking.

* The pirahna plant/ flytrap head fits on top of the stem and gives Moss Man a crazy different vibe. He reminds me of an Ivy from Resident Evil 2. Those bright colors definitely warn you that this is a dangerous figure!

* The jaw is hinged, too, and opens the flytrap up. Check out that translucent green tongue! This is pretty wild and definitely a very fun accessory. It's also making me think of the vintage Kenner Swamp Thing line, especially the large Venus flytrap from the Swamp Trap playset. 

* Moss Man is articulated like nearly every other MOTU Origins figure, so you should know what to expect here. The parts are also swappable, so you can use his new parts to make more wild, crazy creations. You can have him pretty basic or add on the crazy neck extender and the flytrap head to really mix things up. 

* Moss Man also has some crazy purple vines growing off of his armor. These are another element that looks like it's going to be used with Vecna in the upcoming He-Man vs. Vecna MOTU X Stranger 2-pack. They look pretty cool and he base of each set of 3 vines rotates can swivel a bit.

* Moss Man has a massive mound of claw-like vines that he can grip firmly in his left hand. It's a very heavy piece, so it's tough to keep it standing in the air, but it looks pretty nifty. There's also a cylinder in there that might just be a canister of mutagen ooze. 

* There's no minicomic included but you do get a thick, sturdy art card with a bio on the back.

   Moss Man is my favorite MOTU character and I'm really impressed that Mattel did something quite unique with him. He's really quite cool, isn't he? He's a deluxe figure, so he's a bit more than a standard figure, but I think Mattel has included enough extras here to justify the price and give you some versatility in displaying him. He's really just a lot of fun and a figure who visually stands out on the shelf. This certainly isn't my favorite take on Moss Man ever but I'm not at all opposed to the new take. He's an Epic mutant for this very cool line!

   Moss Man is one of my favorites and along with the vintage Moss Man I've also reviewed the 200x Moss Man, the Masterverse Revelation Moss Man, the MOTU Origins Moss Man, the M.U.S.C.L.E. Moss Man, a stick of Eternia Pine Deodorant, the MOTUC Moss Man, the Dorbz Moss Man and Beast Man 2-pack, the POP! Moss Man #568, the POP! + Pez Moss Man dispenser, the Vinyl SODA Moss Man, the Pint Size Heroes Moss Man, the Monogram International Moss Man bag clip, the Masters of the Universe Minis Battle Armor Skeletor and Moss Man 2-pack, and the Mega Construx flocked Moss Man that came with the Battle Bones set and the standard Moss Man.

For more Turtles of Grayskull check out the following:

Beast Man

Krang

Mouse-Jaw

Ram Man
Raphael
Shredder

Sla'ker