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...
Height: 5 3/4ths inches
Articulation: Swivel/ hinge ankles, boot swivels, swivel/hinge knees, balljointed hips, swivel waist, swivel/hinge shoulders, swivel/hinge elbows, swivel/hinge wrists, and a barbell jointed head.
Accessories: Helmet, cape, armor, loincloth, 2 bicep bands, sword, Shaping Staff, and minicomic.
Non-Scalper Price: $22 dollars
* The front of the packaging is similar to the other figures from The Powers of Grayskull but the back has some all new artwork depicting the Great Black Wizard fighting against Sharella and Red Shadow. There's also a female dragon warrior flying above and an absolutely wicked looking hovering castle in the back.
The Positives:
* The Great Black Wizard is a pretty cool character who definitely looks like a MOTU character. He's sporting an outfit that reminds me of a mixture of a classic fantasy wizard (I've heard that he's based on a classic Hero Quest miniature) and the New Adventures Skeletor design. There's some technological elements here, though they're subtle. He's reminiscent of Skeletor, but clearly not Skeletor. The included minicomic reveals that the Great Black Wizard was once a pupil of Eldor but he sought too much knowledge too quickly, leading him to rebel against the other mages. Now he's absolutely a force to be reckoned with, sporting purple skin and some incredibly ornate gear. His chest armor, bicep bands, and loincloth are all separate pieces, giving him a more complex outfit than your average MOTU Origins figure.
* When the Great Black Wizard rebelled against his master and the other mages of technomancy, he ended up with his face melted off. His skull is normal looking, not yellow like Skeletor's in most depictions, though you can see blue lights inside of his eyes. This is a cool skeleton head and I could see some folks wanting to use it as a portrait for Skeletor.
* The Great Black Wizard is a pretty cool character who definitely looks like a MOTU character. He's sporting an outfit that reminds me of a mixture of a classic fantasy wizard (I've heard that he's based on a classic Hero Quest miniature) and the New Adventures Skeletor design. There's some technological elements here, though they're subtle. He's reminiscent of Skeletor, but clearly not Skeletor. The included minicomic reveals that the Great Black Wizard was once a pupil of Eldor but he sought too much knowledge too quickly, leading him to rebel against the other mages. Now he's absolutely a force to be reckoned with, sporting purple skin and some incredibly ornate gear. His chest armor, bicep bands, and loincloth are all separate pieces, giving him a more complex outfit than your average MOTU Origins figure.
* My only criticism with the Great Black Wizard is that he has these cool thighs with panels and tubes and such but they don't get any paint applications. They look a bit odd just cast in plain purple, like his skin.
I really like this guy. He's a fun, imaginative character that both feels like a classic MOTU character while also having some interesting new flourishes, too. He's at once both new and familiar. If you were keeping up with MOTU during the MOTU Classics era then you probably remember this guy first getting name dropped and showing up in minicomics and bios. I was always interested in the guy and it's cool to finally have him. He's an excellent figure and a solid archrival for He-Ro. There are some great design elements here and lots of paint applications, making him feel a bit more ornate than most other Origins figures. He's an Epic figure and I'm thrilled to have him in the collection after over a decade of Mattel teasing him.
This is the first figure of the Great Black Wizard that has been released. For more MOTU Origins reviews check out the following:
This is the first figure of the Great Black Wizard that has been released. For more MOTU Origins reviews check out the following:
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Cartoon Collection (200X)
The Powers of Grayskull
Sketchbook Series
the Shaping Staff here and with Filmation Lyn looks more like the Revelation one than the Filmation one (and so more resembles the accessory that came with Masterverse Wave 1 Revelation Skeletor, which feels like aaages ago now). The main shaft forks into two before connecting to the crossbar, the Filmation one just is one straight unbroken pole before connecting to the crossbar.
ReplyDeleteJust a lil detail I thought was curious. :P