I’ve been looking forward to this new “kids core” size class in Masters of the Universe—which, interestingly enough, is just labeled as standard MOTU without any extra branding like Origins or Masterverse.
These figures are slightly smaller than Origins. They’re still around 5.5 inches tall, but physically less bulky. It’s hard to describe exactly—they just feel closer to a more typical action figure in terms of mass. A big part of that comes down to the price. At $9.99, Skeletor is a welcome break from the higher costs of Origins and Masterverse/Chronicles figures. Despite the lower price, he’s not lacking. You still get around 14 points of articulation. There are fewer paint applications, but honestly, I didn’t really notice. He’s a good-looking figure—but we’ll get to that in a bit.
As for accessories, Skeletor comes with just his Havoc Staff. That might be the standard going forward at this scale. His armor is removable, and he includes a soft goods cape, which may be taking the place of extra accessories. There’s also likely some shared mold use here to keep costs down, similar to how the original MOTU line operated. Skeletor has the classic “bad guy” hands and feet, while the rest of the body appears to use more standard parts.
From what I’ve seen so far, a lot of this line is focused on movie versions of the characters, but this particular Skeletor pulls from classic MOTU. Specifically, this is a Walmart exclusive featuring a head sculpt inspired by the artwork of Alfred Alcala from the original mini-comics.
I’ve always preferred that earlier, more demonic take on Skeletor over the later Keldor-based version, so this really hits for me. He’s done in his traditional colors, but this exclusive version adds gold-painted accents and a gold skull. The packaging follows suit with a black-and-gold presentation, which looks really sharp.
For what is essentially a budget figure, this is a very nice release. The cape is pretty basic—doesn’t bother me at all, but I can see it being a sticking point for some. Mileage may vary there.
Overall, my first experience with this new MOTU format is a positive one. I’ll still be picking up Origins and Masterverse/Chronicles figures, but I can definitely see this line—and Mighty Masters—becoming my main focus going forward. The price is right, and the toys are fun. Not to mention… they feel just right for a Wednesday post here on the Base.
I’d end this by saying something like “they have the power”… but seriously.
When Blokees Transformers Blind Boxes first started introducing Beast Wars characters in their Defender Version series, I was beyond excited. Of course they included Cheetor in the initial lineup—he’s one of the main bots, after all.
Cheetor also happens to be one of my all-time favorite Transformers, so getting a favorite character in a format I already enjoy?
Yeah, I’m a happy camper.
Cheetor really comes alive in this Defender Version style, and honestly, that goes for the Beast Wars characters in general. Their designs translate really well into this format. That said, I can’t help but think of Duel Fight Transformers Beast Wars: Beast Warriors' Strongest Decisive Battles—specifically how the character sprites there have a similar chunky, stylized look. I played that game non-stop for a while, often as Cheetor, so this hits that same part of my brain. Double dose of giddy.
Cheetor comes with his Quasar Rifle—or, as most of us called it back in the day, the “gut gun.” It’s the weapon you usually saw him using in the show, as opposed to the extra gun formed from his tail on the original toy. It’s such a distinct look that it just feels right to include it here.
I’m also really into the metallic paint used on his blue parts. It pops nicely against the yellow and gives the whole figure a striking look. Cheetor has always had a strong design, and that carries over perfectly into this style. It just feels natural.
Good morning Zone Base readers and welcome back for another week of robots, monsters, and misadventure! I've got a fun week ahead, but before that, let's talk about the past weekend. I hope yours was well, mine was busy. After a visit to Walmart with the Mrs and enjoying some pizza while watching Five Nights at Freddy's 2, I got to work assembling a new pantry for her. Our old one was a basic cabinet bought after we moved in and now that we've decided to stay for a little longer, it's time to upgrade some of our stuff.
The new pantry is very nice, but with nice comes a lot of work taking 7 hours. I took an break around 3am to enjoy some Fruit Riot and wacth the TFCON West cosplay contest on YouTube with the Mrs before finally finishing the new pantry. It's in place and she's happy which in turn makes all the work worth it. Sunday, I slept in. After waking and enjoying some breakfast, I disassembled the old pantry and threw it away. Apparently we did it just in time as I was discovering all sorts of structural damage while doing so. Good grief. After a few more tasks, I started work on building some Blokees kits before dinner.
The Mrs made some excellent beef noodle and mashed potatoes. Mom came over and we watched Japanese camper van videos, a recent addiction of mine. I'm not an outdoorsman like my brother, but these are fascinating. Admittedly because I like the gadgets, but still. After dinner I finished the kits while watching paranormal videos with the Mrs. Went went to bed with her falling asleep before me. I watched the newest episode of Kamen Rider Zeztz which was very good as usual and also a little relieving. I was pretty concerned about the ongoing plot (no spoilers). I also updated my Evercade EXP-R as they finally resumed the Highlight of the Month program after a lengthy absence.
This months game is Biomenace Remastered, which as the name suggests is a remastered version of the game Biomenace. Biomenace is a old PC game I'd frankly never heard of before and was admittedly not excited about going in. I was pleasantly surprised to really like it and enjoy the first few levels I got in before calling it a night. I plan to play it a lot more before the Highlight resets next month. However next weekend Pragmata comes out and that's going to take up a lot of gaming time for the next few weeks.
As for toys I got this weekend, boy did I get a good haul. Walmart had a nice selection of Blokees. I got Transformers One related kits. From Galaxy Version series 7 wave 2, I got 2 blind boxes which resulted in Orion Pax (miner) and Soundwave! I also got a Classic Class Shockwave that I look forward to building. Last week I was happy to see that Walmart was now carrying Blokees Marvel kits, but this week noticed they also started carrying Jurrasic World Blokees! I grabbed a blind box egg which turned out to be the Indominus Rex!
Not all were models, Walmart finally had Masters of The Universe Mighty Masters! A new line of pleasantly vintage mini figures that I've been chomping at the bit for. I grabbed He-Man and Skeletor. Man-at-Arms and Beastman are left to find to complete the series, hopefully leading to more waves. Last, but not least is my first experimentation with Armorsaurs. Armorsaurs is a new figure line with a show on Disney +. It's a western adaption of the South Korean show Armored Saurus in the vein of Power Rangers. I haven't watched the show yet, but the toys have been a popular subject in Microfans latley. Considering the new Microman and Micronauts toys out, it's worth noting that something adjacent would gather so much attention.
Armorsaurs features armored heroes with dinosaur themed powers and mecha. The figures have snap on armor as well as dinosaurs available to use them with. The smaller dinos are mecha that the figures can ride that convert from dino to vehicles. There's larger armored dinosaurs also for the figures to ride as well. Right now I'm keeping it small as I dip my toes into the pool. I picked up Liam, who is the series Red Ranger equivalent.
I also got some chrome sticker paper to accompany the colored sheets I've been using for Zone Base stickers. They look cool and I can't wait to print off a batch. I'll be attending Rangerstop this May, so be sure to get one if you're there. Brett, the organizer of Toylanta has taken it over and invited myself to operate Transformers content there! It's been way too long since I've attended Rangerstop and helped it grow is something I'm excited to do!
Well, it's time to get this week started. I've got some site pics to take and stuff around the house to do before work this evening. Thank you all for reading Zone Base. Last Friday was the 10th anniversary of the sites first post and I'm really proud of it. It's super neat to watch it grow over the past decade and very flattering to see all of you come out and support it. Thank you so much. Please share the site with your friends and be excellent to each other.
