March Magic! Orko #566 from POP! Television: Masters of the Universe by Funko

 

Today is the sixth and final installment of March Magic, a month-long celebration of all things Orko!

 

   Let's take a look at one final Orko collectible this month: Orko #566 from POP! Television by Funko! Released in 2017 this was part of the second era of Funko's Masters of the Universe releases and was heavily influenced by the Filmation animated series. Orko is very Filmation inspired here although he does have a detail that seems more inspired by the 200x series and Masters of the Universe Classics: His wand! The vintage Orko toy didn't have a wand and his wands in the Filmation series were pretty plain so the Four Horsemen designed a new wand for Orko in the 200x toyline that was reminiscent of ripcord from his vintage action figure. Funko likely based their design on Orko's appearance in MOTUC which gave Orko the 200x inspired wand as one of his accessories. Ready for a POP! vinyl review of a 1980s pop culture icon? Then join me after the break...

 

Toy Review: Masters of the Universe 5-pack from Hot Wheels Character Cars: Masters of the Universe by Mattel

 

   Last year Mattel introduced the Masters of the Universe characters into the Hot Wheels Character Cars brand but I didn't find any until around mid-January. While I rarely gave these a second look when any other property got Character Cars Masters of the Universe always gets a pass from me and I was really excited by these. This set seems to be available through online retailers and it includes all five Character Cars from last year's line (Beast Man, He-Man, Skeletor, Teela, and Man-At-Arms) in one box. I only reviewed Teela and Man-At-Arms from their single packed releases so this is a nice chance to check out the other three in the set. Let's rev up our Road Rippers and check out these bizarre, oil leaking versions of our favorite Eternians after the break...

Toy Review: Battle Mode Kobra Khan from Vinyl SODA by Funko

 

   When Funko listed the exclusives for the Funko Virtual Con Spring 2021 earlier this month I was able to order both of the Vinyl SODA figures available: Kobra Khan and Man-At-Arms. I had already ordered the Mantenna POP! vinyl through Walmart but I missed the Pez set (had to obtain that one elsewhere) but I was glad to get my hands on the Vinyl SODA releases as they're one of my current favorite toylines. They arrived in the mail last week and I was thrilled to discover when I opened Kobra Khan that I actually got the limited variant: Battle Mode Kobra Khan! Each of the Vinyl SODA releases has a chase variant and this is the first time I've pulled one from a can. How exciting! This is actually the first Vinyl SODA chase variant I've owned, too! Let's take a look at Battle Mode Kobra Khan and see if he's worth the hunt after the break...

Barbecue's Bonfire 3/26/2021: Defeating Voldemort, Tak, and Lubdan Edition

 

 Hey everyone!

   Wow, what a week! We've had a mixture of gorgeous weather and crazy storms, I did a little plumbing, and I'm starting to make plans to see friends in the next month or so since my wife and I get our Covid vaccines today. We're also still making out way through Phase III of the Marvel Cinematic Universe but, first up, we gotta talk about the premiere episode of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier...

   The Falcon and The Winter Soldier is off to a good start although the two heroes have yet to meet up in this show so far. Still, it's nice to spend more time with Sam and Bucky. Their appearances in the films have usually been during crisis and this show gives us a chance to get to know them as people, seeing the unique struggles each of them faces. Sam's dealing with family struggles, celebrity, the fallout of having disappeared during The Snap, and the weight of Cap's shield and legacy, while Bucky is dealing with guilt, forgiveness, probably some form of PTSD, and the struggle of being a man out of time with seemingly no purpose. At first I really thought that Bucky's friend was a now very elderly Jim Morita (one of the Howling Commandos) but it turns out that he is Mr. Nakasima, the father of a man killed by the Winter Soldier who is still grieving for his son. While the opening battle scene between the Falcon and some enemy forces is quite excellent the episode excels in smaller, uncomfortable scenes like Sam and his sister, Sarah, trying to get a loan from a local bank while all the bank officer can do is want selfies with the Falcon. The scenes of Bucky reluctantly meeting with his therapist and going on a date are just as engaging as the scenes of Torres infiltrating the eerily too familiar riots of the Flag Smashers. TFATWS is a more straight forward show than WandaVision but there are still plenty of questions to be answered going forward like who will ultimately become the new Captain America, who are the Flag Smashers and what is their end goal, what will the Avengers look like when the next major crisis hits, and who is that smug looking fake Captain America? Obviously they're going with a US Agent storyline here but it'll be interesting to see how this show tackles it. So far so good and I'm excited to watch episode 2 tonight!

More of Barbecue's Bonfire after the break...

March Magic! Orko (Exclusive) from Masters of the Universe by Sideshow Collectibles

 

It's time for the fifth installment of March Magic, a monthlong celebration of all things Orko!

 While there has been no shortage of product since Mattel started heavily licensing out Masters of the Universe around 2013 most of it has relied on the designs of either the vintage toyline or the Filmation animated series. Sideshow's series of high end 1/5th scale Masters of the Universe statues presented collectors with some amazing new interpretations of some of Eternia's and Etheria's most beloved denizens, however, and that's why it's one of the most exciting MOTU endeavors of the past 5-10 years. Under Sidwshow, the line began in 2016 with He-Man and ended with Orko in very late 2018/ early 2019. That's not terribly long but fortunately Tweeterhead has picked the line back up and their first release in the same scale and style, Hordak, is shipping now. Of course we're here today to talk about Orko. Created for the Filmation cartoon series Orko had a very simple, animated appearance that clearly designated him as a Saturday morning comic relief sidekick. In the 2002 Masters of the Universe line Orko was redesigned and sculpted by the Four Horsemen to emphasize the character's role as a powerful mage. In most media Orko is depicted as being powerful but somewhat inept due to the magical laws of Eternia being different from his native Trolla. Sideshow's vision of Orko presents a character who still seems lovable but who also just exudes an aura of powerful magical ability. This is a spellcaster you'd surely want on your side, right? Sideshow released two versions of this statue: A standard release and an exclusive with an extra arm holding a magical text in his hand. We're looking at the exclusive version of Orko today after the break...

Action Figure Barbecue: Aerial Threat from Fortnite: Legendary Series by Jazwares

 

   Full disclosure: I'm just not a sports fan in any way. I never really have been, either. That being said, it shouldn't come as any surprise that I typically find sports figures pretty boring. I mean... why? Anyways, today I'm checking out the Fortnite: Legendary Series Aerial Threat figure from Jazwares. In a line filled with space skeletons, sentient bananas, and killer tomatoes, a plain old soccer player is pretty dull. Fortunately, Aerial Threat comes with a nice complement of weapons that convinced me to pick him up. Still, though; couldn't they have went with one of the female soccer skins? That would have least made the figure standout more since Jazwares doesn't seem to have any interest in putting the women in the line. Hopefully that's somethin Hasbro will do better when they take over the 6-inch Fortnite license in 2022. For now it's still Jazwares' party so let's check out their take on Aerial Threat after the break...

Action Figure Review: Skeletor on Throne #68 from POP! Retro Toys by Funko

 

   I'm pretty sure Funko has released more Skeletor POP! vinyls than they have He-Man POP! vinyls and the latest release is a pretty amazing one: Skeletor on Throne #68. Released as a "Funko Target-Con 2021" exclusive (which means scalper city), Skeletor on his throne is a deluxe release that features a regular sized Skeletor POP! sitting on a really cool version of his bone throne. I will give Target and Funko credit in that this guy has been available online quite a few times, so hopefully you'll be able to get your hands on one if you need this guy for your collection. And wow, do you need this guy for your collection. He's hands down one of my favorite POP! vinyl releases ever! Let's take a look at Skeletor on Throne #68 after the break...