Skeletor (Alcala Face) [Masters of the Universe]

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.

A little Green with Evil

When I initially started talking about Micro Action Figures here, I intended to do group posts on various series. A Transformers post, a Masters of the Universe post, etc, ... and I totally failed to do that. So in attempt to talk about these cool little figures I like quite a bit, instead I'm just gonna talk about one at a time. Just to keep it simple. Today, we're going to talk about Slime Pit He-Man.

Slime Pit He-Man is a basic repaint of the already released He-Man figure. However, it's a pretty interesting one. Obliviously He-Man is representing himself recently slimed via Slime Pit (it's in the name) and is now a mindless zombie under Hordak's control. To emphasize his slime coated physique, He-Man is cast in translucent green plastic. I don't know why being covered in mind controlling evil sludge would turn you translucent... but it looks awesome. Meanwhile He-Man's clothing and axe are opaque. The mixture of can see through and can't see through looks fantastic.

The pictures probably don't convey that this figure is TINY. At just around an inch tall, He-man had movable arms and waist with an axe that can be held. The original use of this mold had more accessories, but I guess inflation affected that as the cost is still around the same. They still come with a stand. I really like these little toys, but finding them can be a pain. Thankfully, the Mrs found me this one. Slime Pit He-Man is from the newest series of Master of the Universe micro figures and represents a deeper dive into the series than the expected characters. I do hope to find more as I like these little guys quite a bit. There's even a micro Castle Grayskull now. Slime Pit He-Man is a great example of a well done repaint. Just changing some simple colors turns something completely recognizable to something really novel.

By the Power Of Grayskull, I HAVE A DOLLAR

I thought it I didn't need to haunt the Dollar Tree for a little while, until I saw these He-Man mini figures. These small pvc figurines of classic MOTU characters will be impossible to resist like those Nacho Trays. They look decently sculpted for such small figures and have little bases to stand on. I kinda hope they make more, which to be fair I always want more characters as mini figures. For additional fun, pair these little guys up with the spooky trees and such that will be out for Halloween soon. You could recreate all those classic MOTU posters for just a few dollars! And while you're there, grab one of those Nacho Trays. It's quite the tasty treat, which you'll need building your little scene from Dollar Tree Halloween decorations and MOTU figures. Did I mention they sell slime?

A Mountain Of Snakes

Hey Rob, are you going to make another comparison to He-Man's villains and Halloween decorations/satanic panic? Yes. Since Skeletor was inspired by a skeleton in a haunted house that scared a Mattel toy designer when he was a kid, it's only natural that he would live in a haunted house. Rivaling Castle Grayskull as the headquarters of the evil warriors on Eternia, is the freaky Snake Mountain. Once again as an adult, I kinda see where some of those parental groups were coming from. That talking mountain face you saw in the commercial above? It's literally a demon. It's one of the toys selling features on the box.

Just look at that thing. A scary bridge to cross in front of terrible monster faces, evil lurks behind every corner. Somebody chained Man-At-Arms up by his arms. Or by his At-Arms. Does he have legs or At-Legs? Look at the front door on top of the mountain. Big bat adorned gate with a wolfs head door and guarded by a giant snake. Classic spooky shit. Like I said, Skeletor was inspired by a prop at a haunted house, so he naturally lives in one. Makes me wonder what that haunted house the designer was at looked like. Because if it's anything like this, I kinda want to go.

In the cartoon, Snake Mountain was basically just that. A mountain with a snake on it. I don't know if that's due to designs not being finalized at the time of production or somebody at Filmation got the creeps. Thinking about it, the toy line and it's assorted artwork is a lot more scary looking than the cartoon. As if somebody thought to sanitize it out before putting on TV. For example, let's look at Skeletor. Below is a head shot of his toy, a story book, and the cartoon.

see what I mean?

I've always wondered, ... is Snake Mountain alive? When my cousin would come over and we'd play He-Man, who got to be Snake Mountain was a regular subject. For those who are either not in the know, or couldn't tell in the commercial. The wolf head was a microphone that you could speak into and a speaker would amplify it in a 'scary' voice. The mountain was covered in heads, a wolf head, a demon face, a few other faces, and the giant snake.

Now the snake was probably alive as it could move around to attack heroic warriors. Or solicitors. The demon face's mouth can move, which would make you think the scary voice is coming from it. I guess. I wonder if the demon uses the wolf head as a conduit for possession. I mean, just look at the kid using it in the commercial. Forever cursed. Forever dammed. Forever the voice of Snake Mountain. Giant asshole.

Running Wild On Rattlesnake Mountain

I had totally assumed Masters of the WWE Universe was going to end when MOTU Origins started, but here I am being wrong and happy about it. Previews of the new Rattlesnake Mountain set have been popping up on various toy news sites and let me tell you something brother, I want it. My luck with the line has been pretty spotty unfortunately. So far I haven't been able to find anything past wave one. Which is pretty disappointing as I've really wanted figures like Macho Man and The Undertaker.

I'm hoping this set will be like the Grayskull Mania bundle from last Christmas. They were pretty easy to find and hung around for awhile. You can get a Greyskull ring no problem, but the set with Terror Claws Triple H and John Cena was only around then. It just makes sense that this would be on a pallet for the holiday season. Give me a hell yeah. The theming of a Snake Men Stone Cold to match one of his shirts vs. Hulk Hogan as early He-Man is pretty great. And that's the bottom line, because Stone Cold Rob said so.

Not Yet Fair

Toy Fair is this weekend. Which pretty much means an insane amount of toy news is going to be spewing out from every seam. Early looks and leaks from the days leading up help some, but there's just going to be a ton of news over the weekend. It's fun... and a little overwhelming. Like always, I plan to give my thoughts on some of the stuff. Thing is, this is a fan blog, not a news site. I'm enjoying the things I like with you here. We're enjoying things together. Not to mention, I generally don't post a lot over the weekend. So I figured it'd be a good idea to post my early thoughts here from those early leaks and leaks and follow up Monday with post con thoughts. Cool?

GIJOE Classified is actually happening. A new line in the partnership between Jazzwares and Hasbro is giving us new high quality 6" figures of classic characters. I am stoked. I love GIJOE and am really glad to see it come back. Jazzwares is on a roll lately, their Fortnight figures have been really impressive and they've even got a collector line for AEW Wrestling coming as well. I'm all up for getting these guys at my local stores and just ecstatic over them in general.

There is a ton of new Transformers coming this year. I've already talked about Earthrise, but more of it keeps pouring out as well as Cyberverse, BotBots, and Studio Series. As the owner of a site named after a Micromaster Base, I don't have to tell you how thrilled I am for even more Micromasters in Earthrise. I probably already have and probably will a million more times. The fact that most of the larger bots have a base mode and the Battlemasters have a third mode which is a base connector piece is just... Know when something you like is made even better? That, that's what's going on here. I like that. A whole freaking lot.

Masters Of The Universe has all sorts of cool stuff coming this year. This sneak peak image of the upcoming MOTU Orgins Sky Sled with Prince Adam is great. It's nice to see all the He-Man love from Mattel recently and I hope they keep it up.

The new Ghostbusters toys from Hasbro look amazing. Among all the cool stuff on the way, what I'm really excited for is the Fright Features figures and the Ghost Gushers toys. The Fright Features figures are modern day The Real Ghostbusters figures (speaking of) and there's not one thing I don't love about that. The Ghost Gushers are outright Maba Zombie style toys of classic Ghostbusters ghouls and I'm completely amazed at them for existing. Ghostbusters and slime go hand in hand, but this is legit awesome. I can't wait for the Maba tag to explode on Instagram this summer when these are released.

That's it for now. Like I said, I'll have a follow up post likely Monday with my post show thoughts. Also like I said, the glut of news can be overwhelming and I might miss a few things between the more shared news posts. It's a good thing I'm going to have a somewhat busy weekend, so I can spend time looking through news later after the end of reporting and not try to keep up with it as it seeps out. Good thing I don't pretend to be a reporter, I don't see how those who do can keep up with it all. It's exciting though, a lot of the stuff I really like is getting stuff I really like this year. Who could complain about that? Well, buttholes I guess...

I have the Championship!!

One of the toy lines for 2020 that I'm super excited for is Masters of the WWE Universe. Mattel is doing a lot with He-Man in 2020 with the Origins toy line due in fall as well as other fun stuff like more Mega Construx toys (love) and the upcoming Netflix series. Mattel also makes the WWE action figures that are pretty popular among wrestling figure collectors.

Somebody had the idea to mash He-Man and WWE together in a fun toy line exclusive to Walmart. That somebody is a genius. I hardly watch WWE anymore, they lost me somewhere awhile back. I keep casually informed as to whats going on, but I'm more into other wrestling companies. That however doesn't keep me from loving this. Fortunately a good deal of the figures are older wrestling stars that I'd be more likely to buy like Sting or The Ultimate Warrior.

The toys seem to be using Origins bodies and weapons, so they'll match right along with those figures. It's kind of funny. Back in the day, companies like Remco would use their MOTU 'inspired' toy molds to make wrestling figures. Battle Tribes homages this with their figures. Now Mattel is even in on the act.

It's silly, but it's fun. The Grayskull Mania set is proof of that. Five point five customizers have been using wrestling figures for year, because duh. I'm really looking forward to where they go with these. Specially after some of the Savage World/Primal Age customs I've seen. It's just neat, you know?

Cheap Super Heroes

I've mentioned before my love for capsule toy machines. Probably one of the reasons I love blind bag toys so much and wish I had access to the gashapon haven that exists in Asian countries. As a kid and even now I can't pass one by without checking out what they have inside. Sometimes it's just those crappy rings (pass) and sometimes it's gold (dammit, I need quarters!). Before I go any further, this is one of those posts where all the images came from screen shooting Google image search results from shady auction sites. Bootleg Voltron figures sold in gumball machines don't exactly always pop up on Amazon, gnaw meen brah?

I didn't know what a keshi or a bootleg was when I was 8. But I did know these neat little rubber monsters and super heroes I'd get from the machines at the grocery store looked like Godzilla and guys from video games. Later in life when learning more about such things... turns out they were from Godzilla type productions and video games originally. Or hey, when my childhood arcade got prize redemption counters. That little bucket of colorful dudes have tiny Masters of the Universe mixed in with the dinosaurs. Luckily those always were the cheapest options, so a few dollars worth of skeeball really paid off. Or man, these little robot model kits in the Kroger machines look like the guys from Robotech. Some reason that one Kroger had those model kits on lock down.

One of the more odd outlets for these toys was party supplies. Thanks to curiosity getting the best of me on a faithful trip to the store, I noticed the party supply section had more than just balloons and birthday candles. Baggies of cheap toys intended for goodie bags usually contain those crappy race cars and planes with the wheels that fall off. Or those stupid little games where you have to make the ball bearings fit into the clowns eyes by rolling them around. But sometimes... dude are those Madballs?

Next thing I knew I had a bag full of tiny rubber Madball rip offs for a dollar. This is still a common occurrence. Next time your around a party supply section or store (the more ratchet the store, the better) check those out. Usually it's just crappy kazoos, but on occasion you'll find M.U.S.C.L.E rip offs or whatever. One time I saw some Street Fighter figures. They were from a gashapon series originally, bootlegged in weird plastic that kinda smelled like fish. That's the gambit you run with el cheapo bootleg toys. They're usually pretty sketchy and might be made in a facility next to bathtub meth. So uh... be careful mang.

Ninjor likes to kick it

I'll never be a ninja. Mainly because I'm 41. Sure I've still got a lot of life to go... but there's a window for learning somethings and I'm pretty sure the life of a middle aged cnc programmer doesn't line up to that skill set. Ninjor is a ninja though. An evil ninja, who has all the cool weapons from that glass case at the gas station. The one by the cash register that has knives, dragon ash trays, and that one stuffed tie dye bear they all seem to have.

Ninjor is 100% the awesome ninja that has graced your favorite t-shirt and is probably exactly what you want to be for Halloween. The perfect evil doer to join the ranks of Skeletor in his quest to master the universe. Man... thanks to release timing, they liked to pair him off against Clamp Champ. Clamp Champ is a fine heroic warrior who worked with He-Man quite a bit in the mini-comics and magazine. Though... his special ability was a clamp (it's in his name). Pretty sure he's loosing in a fight against a ninja.

Meteorbs and Tamagoras aren't just words that drive autocorrect crazy

I've briefly talked about Meteorbs here before... and dammit I'm gonna again. A cool and overlooked addition to Masters of the Universe, Meteorbs were comets that transformed into little robot and animal dudes to fight with or against He-man. Transforming comets were a thing on Eternia, so why not?

The toys were made from Bandai's Tamagora line of egg based robots. If you're into transforming toys, chances are you've come across your share of toys that transform into eggs. Bandai pretty much makes the best ones as evident in the more recent Hatch 'N Heroes toys.

Tamagora and other egg robot toys are often bootlegged, so if you can't find original versions of the toys, chances are a knock off is sitting on the rack at an odd discount store or gift shop.

 

While they may not be for everybody it's hard to deny their charm. Simple fun little toys full of charm. Even Takara got into the egg game in Microman. Those molds got used later in Transformers Beast Wars and Kiss...*shudder*.

While I'm not very wordy on how great egg robot toys are here, I think that's because it's a pretty simple concept. Egg turns into something, simple fun toy, neat. Though I absolutely have to show you this Tamagora commercial featuring the batch that got made into Meteorbs.

We are all a little better for seeing that. Even if just for the little peep peep at the end looking at the toy wondering if it's food. The toys are commonly found in gashapon machines and oddball (egg?) stores. Like I said, if you're into transforming robot toys, chances are you have a few or at least came across some. Honestly, I'd love for Bandai to sell these here in America.

Happy Halloween... is that Cop-Tur?

I've never been to Terry's 5&10. In fact I've just heard of it. From all appearances, it looks like a charming small down general store. I know stores like that still exist, but none near me currently. Either way, holy crap Terry's has an amazing Halloween selection. Or had... not sure if they're still open or how old this commercial is. If you just glance at the commercial, you'll see the standards. Candy... decorations... masks and make-up kits... Collegeville costumes... wait... that wall of masks... what did I just ...

Man, check out that selection! Megatron, Man at Arms, Beastman, Spider-Man,  Leader-1 AND Cy-Kill! Merman! Some generic monsters... I think that's Batman... who's that next to Batman? Or under him? I feel like they're somebody, but the angle of the image and blurry colors of local TV quality video is just enough to make it hard to... DUDE IS THAT COP-TUR NEVT TO MERMAN? I WAS SO EXCITED I MISSPELLED NEXT!

What's amazing is... you realize some of that stuff was probably there every Halloween until it got sold. While I don't really have any small town local stores like Terry's 5&10 currently, I have in the past. Depending where I go, I still do. I've been in these types of stores a million times. I remember once on visit in the early 90's to see my Grandma and going in one of these stores. There was a Thunder Lips figure from Rocky 3 sitting on the spinner rack next to the water balloons. Probably should have grabbed that. Man... just thinking about strolling into that store and seeing those masks on the wall... Terry... want to make a deal?

He-Man and his Adventures

Not long after Master of the Universe ended, Mattel reintroduced He-Man in a new more sci fi themed line named simply 'He-Man' with a new cartoon series called 'The New Adventures of He-Man'. While I'm pretty much a G1 guy with MOTU, I did get some of the toys and watch the cartoon as a kid. It doesn't have the goofy charm of the original line, it's still pretty fun in it's own right. This promotional video is pretty weird, you got late 80's CGI putting the toys in random adventures. Of course it hasn't aged amazingly, it's pretty novel in it's own right outside of selling He-Man toys. 

Creepy Bug Freaks

I've made mention before of my fondness for insect based toys. I have no clue why I like them as much as I do, but I do. Maybe it's the way the insect parts resemble armor or work out in the design. Who knows? If I think too hard about it, I'll still get nowhere but bore everybody who'd rather me just get to the point. So for clarification, bug based toy/characters are good. Bugs in real life, I'm probably going to pummel with a flip flop while yelling to the heavens. Looking at the newest series of Kabuto Mushi toys has gotten me thinking about the creepy crawlies and that's a fun thing.

 

The Insecticons always come to mind when thinking about bug folks, and while I've focused on their Diaclone and Beetras roots, the various insect Transformers that came since were pretty damn great also. Beast Wars had some great bug bots (particularly fond of Transmetal 2 Scarem). Insecticon from Energon was also a really good bug bot. It's hard not to like an insect robot from space.

Earlier I was thinking about Baxter Stockman from TMNT. Despite the weird changes they made to his appearance at the time, the 80's/90's cartoon version remains my favorite. That mad scientist changed into a fly monster is awesome. It's classic horror in a cartoon, good design for a toy, and solid boss character in a game.

Insects just work in sci fi and fantasy. There's not really denying that. They can be gross or high tech. In a swarm or as an individual. Bugs are great... unless one is on my car. Then I'll have to buy another one.

Transform Squadron 008 - The He-Mandella Effect

Listen Here

In the April 2019 edition of Transform Squadron, Rob talks about his birthday adventure before talking Beast Machines Obsidian.

The Evil Horde

Toylanta is like a month away

Toylanta is a month away and I'm pretty excited. Been making a mental shopping list that I won't adhere too, but I'll still make it. I really enjoy this con. There's no fandom drama or personalities crowbarring their way into the forefront, just a bunch of like minded people wanting to have a good time. The dealer space is this amazingly huge nebulous that just keeps expanding into each nook and cranny of the con space full of just about anything. While I'm certainly looking forward to the Transformers panel Dusty and I will be running, I'm really excited for the Kenner designers panel. That's going to be awesome. That and the parachute drop. It's always insanely fun and maybe a bit dangerous.

I'm really looking forward to this one dealer who has a huge set up of just random stuff. A back wall of things like Sideshow Dolls, and a table full of various bins. There's gold in them thar bins. Random themed bins with random prices lined up and fun to look through. Not to mention, the Micronauts and Transformers assorted around the dealers space. A little extra digging and you can find some really unique things. Oddball bootlegs or random Diakron figures. Stuff that you didn't expect to find. There's always this pair of dealers, facing each other in the same ailse each year. One just has a ton of cool stuff, including a plethora of fairly priced TF. The other, tons of capsule toys and sofubi. I like to plant myself on that aisle and just take it in.

There's a few places local to the con to eat, but I know I'll eat at the McDonald's at least once. It's nearby and a Big Mac is my favorite con food. It's time to prepare my con backpack for the show. I've got a new Samurai Tactical Backpack waiting to hold whatever random Cobra Viper I pick up. I do need to get a new hand sanitizer to clip onto one of the straps. Sure, I could just reuse the one from my TMNT backpack that used to accompany me, but it's very important that I match the sanitizer to the backpack. This is the utmost most serious of businesses to business and I won't take any exceptions to the business. I mean business. That's how you do business.

PAAS Halloween kits were the bomb

I have a legitimate love for Halloween make up kits. I love looking through the tacky sets on store shelves and checking out what's new this year and whats's been repeated. What's cheap and what's expensive (they're usually pretty cheap, but occasionally there's that giant one for $20). The love came from my annual ogling of the PAAS (the folks who make Easter Egg dye kits) display at the local grocery store or pharmacy every year during my childhood. I loved these kits and was always blown away at how amazing the pictures on the boxes made the finished product look (your results may vary). Usually the back of the box (it was literally the same packaging as the Easter Egg kits) would have cut out accessories to accentuate your costume.

In 1986, thanks to my reading of Crestwood House Monsters books in the library and regular showings of Teen Wolf on HBO, I was destined to be a werewolf that year for Halloween. I spent the entire season researching werewolf's and getting my werewolf down. Even told kids in my class I was actually a werewolf and Halloween was the next time I'd change. I had my costume down, a black sweat shirt (I've spent my entire lifetime wearing those fruit of the loom shirts)..ok, jeans and my Nikes (I did say Teen Wolf) and... and...

boom goes the dynamite 

Thanks to PAAS, I was the best werewolf ever. The back of the box had cut out wolf ears and a full moon medallion (I had to source some string). Halloween was on a Friday that year, and it was pretty great. We ordered pizza, my cousins came over, and we hit my neighborhood with our pumpkin pails ready for action. After we got home, we watched Teen Wolf and I don't mind bragging that my werewolf costume was so much better than my cousins crappy bed sheet ghost with cheap white face paint. I even got some extra Double Bubble for my efforts, and not because the old lady across the street was giving more to neighborhood kids she recognized... ok, that was probably it. The next day my Mom took us to the mall and I got a Rio Blast Master of the Universe figure. Would it have been such a great Halloween without my PAAS make up kit?

No, because PAAS Halloween Make Up kits were magical.