Malevolent May: Hordak (Tweeterhead Exclusive) from Masters of the Universe Legends by Tweeterhead

 

   Sideshow's series of 1/5th scale statues is definitely one of my favorite range of Masters of the Universe products ever. Sideshow started the line in 2016 and released their last statue, Orko, in late 2018/ early 2019. During their time they released He-Man, Skeletor, She-Ra, Orko, and two versions of Evil-Lyn. Last year Tweeterhead announced that they were continuing the line in the same scale and style and their first release was Hordak. Hordak went on sale last year in both a standard edition and as a Tweeterhead Exclusive with a run of 300 and he just shipped at the end of March for folks who preordered him through them directly. There has been so much MOTU stuff lately that it's taken me a bit to get around to it all but I figured this guy should kick off Malevolent May since this might be the greatest Hordak collectible ever! I'm using the back of my daughter's playroom today since Hordak is so massive and mighty that he just won't fit in my usual photography area. The colors are kind of Etheria-ish, right? Let's take a look at the Tweeterhead Exclusive version of Hordak from Masters of the Universe Legends after the break...

Action Figure Review: Stephanie McMahon from Masters of the WWE Universe by Mattel

      So far Becky Lynch is the only figure I have managed to find from the fifth series of Mattel's Masters of the WWE Universe line but I've now found all of series 6. I've reviewed Goldberg previously so let's move on to Stephanie McMahon, the "Evil Billion Dollar Skull Queen." While I would have preferred Alexa Bliss as an Evil-Lyn homage gear Stephanie McMahon definitely makes sense. Not only is she an established name and part of the McMahon dynasty but she also partners with the Skull King Triple HHH from series 1. She's also legitimately dressed in an outfit sort of similar to this so it really is a good fit for Stephanie McMahon. Are we destined to get Vince McMahon as King Grayskull someday, too? Let's check out what we have for now and what we've got is Stephanie McMahon as Evil-Lyn. Enjoy it after the break...

Action Figure review: Keldor from Masters of the Universe by Mondo

 

   While Keldor was alluded to in the vintage minicomics the connection between Skeletor and Keldor wasn't fully realized until the Mike Young Productions animated series . To go along with that show and the 200x toyline Mattel released the first Keldor figure as an SDCC exclusive back in 2003. Ever since then Keldor has been a popular Skeletor variant. Currently there are two Keldors on the market; the Target exclusive Masters of the Universe Origins Keldor from the Rise of Evil 2-pack and this very cool 1/6th scale Keldor from Mondo's Masters of the Universe line. Today I'm checking out Mondo's Keldor, who went up for sale on April 13th. He sold out pretty quickly and was part of a fairly limited run of just 1,000 figures. While Keldor is a variant of Skeletor he has plenty of new pieces that make him a pretty exciting release and far more than just a repaint or a head swapped figure. This is the first Mondo MOTU release of 2021 so let's get things started after the break...

May 2021 is Malevolent May at Action Figure Barbecue!

 

   Uh oh! A dark shadow falls over Action Figure Barbecue this month! That can mean only one thing: The Horde is here and Hordak is with them!

   This month I'll be doing a monthlong tribute to Hordak, the ruthless leader of the Evil Horde. Released in 1985 Hordak served both as the leader of a new faction for He-Man to battle in the Masters of the Universe toyline and as the main antagonist of She-Ra and the Great Rebellion in Filmation's She-Ra: Princess of Power.  Mattel and Filmation developed Hordak together so he's equally a part of both of those MOTU incarnations. The Battle Ram Blog has an excellent history of the development of Hordak and I'd encourage you to check it out!

 

   For He-Man/ MOTU Mattel used the storyline that Skeletor had once been Hordak's apprentice until Skeletor trapped Hordak in another dimension. When Hordak escaped and brought his evil Horde with him he was determined to rule Eternia, fighting against both the Heroic Warriors and Skeletor and his Evil Warriors, thus adding a third faction into the mix. Hordak is much more of a magic wielder being an ancient, evil wizard. For She-Ra/ PoP, Hordak is the leader of the Horde's techno empire on Etheria, though he's not the top dog; there's also a Horde Prime elsewhere in the galaxy. 

    This month I'm to be looking at quite a few different Hordak items! I hope you enjoy this celebration of one of the MOTU A-listers! To get started here are some Hordak reviews I've written on the site previously:

Masters of the Universe by Mattel (1982)
Buzz-Saw Hordak

 

Masters of the Universe by NECA (2005)
Hordak

 

Masters of the Universe Classics by Mattel (2008)
"Buzz Saw" Hordak  

Spirit of Hordak 

 

Masters of the Universe: ReAction by Super7 (2015)
Hordak
Hordak (Grey)

 

M.U.S.C.L.E. Masters of the Universe by Super7 (2015)
Trash Can Wave 4 (Slime)  

 

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power by Sonic/ C3 (2020)
Hordak 

 

 

Barbecue's Bonfire 4/30/2021: The Captain Falcon America Edition

 

   It's Friday and you know what that means... It's time for this week's installment of Barbecue's Bonfire! It's been a great week (Masters of the Universe Day always makes for a memorable experience) and it's time to talk about it. Let's start by looking at the final episode of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier!

   Did this show end on a high note or what? The second Disney+ MCU show is another fantastic installment in the MCU and I'm still wrestling with whether or not I liked it more than WandaVision there's no doubt that it was the more significant and meaningful show. TFATWS was a thoughtful and timely take on issues being faced by both the United States and the entire planet such as radicalism, equality, jingoism, unchecked power, and race that still managed to be a fun, exciting superhero experience. Anthony Mackie definitely has proven himself worthy of the shield and delivers an excellent monologue at the end of the episode. Between that, Bucky's final steps in closing his book on the Winter Soldier, and Sam's trip with Isaiah Bradley to the Captain America exhibit, this episode stands out as one of the finest moments in the MCU The episode is nearly one long action scene until the end and most of the major players get a chance to shine and, in some ways, to redeem themselves. There's a lot of loose ends left intentionally which gets me all the more excited for the upcoming Captain America 4. I was hoping that Bucky would take up the title of White Wolf after making amends with those he hurt and laying the legacy of  the Winter Soldier to rest but maybe that will be saved for Captain America 4 along with Sharon Carter's continued role as the power broker and John Walker as the U.S. Agent. The end title card proclaiming the show as Captain America an the Winter Soldier was just too cool and really sealed the deal. Steve chose his successor well and it will be exciting to see what's in store for Sam Wilson as Captain America next!

More after the break...

Toy Review: 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. When mine arrived in the mail I was thrilled to discover that I actually received Battle Mode Kobra Khan, the limited chase variant. Of course, knowing that I was able to order the standard figure for retail price or less made acquiring the garden variety Kobra Khan a pretty easy sell and I scooped him up shortly after getting my exclusive version. How's the regular Kobra Khan? Let's check him out after the break...

Masters of the Universe Day 2021: Twelve of the Most Expensive Vintage Masters of the Universe Figures

 

   Happy Masters of the Universe Day 2021! 

   Today I'm proud to present a very special Masters of the Universe Day collaboration between Action Figure Barbecue and The Toy Box! Matt from The Toy Box contacted me and suggested that we create a post discussing the most expensive vintage Masters of the Universe currently out there. Matt handled the art while I handled the research and the write-ups. As I notified Matt who was on the list he returned some pretty cool MOTU art to me so fast your head would spin! Collecting the vintage Masters of the Universe line has gotten crazy expensive over the past decade or so and it's pretty wild for one line to have so many incredibly rare and expensive pieces. Sadly, I don't own any of these vintage figures so I'm just enjoying them from afar. So what was the criteria for making it onto this list?

1. Only the vintage toylines are included (Masters of the Universe, Princess of Power, and He-Man/ New Adventures. Unfortunately, there just aren't any New Adventures figures as expensive as the guys on this list (though a few were awfully close) so none of them made the cut.

2. I'm only looking at standard figures (though we did include the giants) rather than vehicles and playsets and only at the loose items. There are so many factors that change the value of carded figures that it wasn't really feasible to make a list.

3. Consider this a snapshot in time. These kind of things can change from month to month and prices absolutely fluctuate. The releases of new media, new toylines, and new documentaries like The Toys that Made Us and Power of Grayskull can all have an impact on the prices of MOTU items. 

4. There are figures who I know are extremely rare (most of the Leo Toys and especially Leo Faker) but for whom I just couldn't find enough current sales information to make a good estimate as to their pricing. If you have some information toss it our way!

Enjoy! If you have these figures bask in their glory and share with us how you acquired them! If you don't have own them then think about what organs and body parts you could do without in order to earn some sweet cheddar cheese so you can buy them. Let's get things spinning with Rotar...

Rotar -1987

   Loose and incomplete you can sometimes find Rotar for under $100. When you start trying to find his accessories, though, the price jumps up and you can expect to pay up to $400 dollars for this really odd looking Heroic Warrior. He's He-Man's top man. Top. Man. Get it? Yeah, the Energy Zoids were top-like warriors who were supposed to interact with the Gyratakker, a never released vehicle. I was collecting MOTU stuff at this time (I'm a bit younger than most fans) and I don't remember seeing this guy on shelves at all back in 1987.

The rest of the crew are after the break...