Freddy Krueger (Savage World)

When I was a kid, Freddy Krueger was the most badass thing at the school lunch table. I still recall a kid named Jeremy correcting me that his name was actually "Freddy Cougar" because of his iconic clawed glove. As an adult... Freddy hasn't aged very well. The movies are still fun, but pretty cheesy and definitely a relic of their time. Most of the 80's slasher movies were hair metal flavored, but none quite so much as A Nightmare on Elm Street. It's only appropriate that Funko gave him (and the other 80's slashers) the 'He-Man' treatment in their cool Savage World toy line. Savage World (or Primal Age for DC comics characters) was essentially five point five figures in the vein of Masters of the Universe or other similar type figures of the various licensed properties Funko has.

The designers got a little creative with Freddy. Taking his dream demon powers into account, he has a bit of a different appearance than you'd expect. His brown leather fedora is replaced with a leather hood, while his green and red stripped sweater is a raggedy sash. Combined with his pants and boots and Freddy looks like some weird Dungeons and Dragons villain. It's pretty creative and I love the imaginative design. Not to be outdone with his outfit, Freddy's trademark clawed glove gets the treatment as well. Not much of a reinvention, but more of a stylish re-imagining. Now it's a big gauntlet with some LARGE uneven claws. It's surprising just how well this works. Freddy really came out great in Savage World and blends right in with Skeletor's Evil Warriors. I should point out that I've gotten this far without calling him Fred Savage.

Warduke (NECA)

I've never been super big on Dungeons and Dragons. I tried, but pen and paper RPG just isn't for me. However, I've loved the old D&D cartoon since childhood. During it's time, I had a lot of fun with the toy line by LJN and the assorted kids books and stuff. I was actually quite disapointed that I couldn't get into the game itself despite multiple tries. The occasinal video game, sure, just can't do pen and paper RPG. That being said, how I've enjoyed D&D lead to me appreciation of one of the most badass villains of all time. Warduke.

I've actually spoken about my admiration for Warduke here before. This weird occult flavored cousin of Darth Vader who of course set off the Satanic Panic folks back in the day. My original action figure was destroyed thanks to a jealous cousin and replacing it hasn't worked out in my favor. There's various homages to him in independent toys (especially in the Glyos area), and I did luckily find his Funko Pop a while back. NECA recently has put out some premium D&D figures including the Duke of War here. Thankfully he was a birthday gift from my wife who absolutely spoils me on holidays.

NECA nailed it with this incarnation of Warduke. He looks 100% like you'd expect a 'serious collector' premium toy to look. All of his classic design is here with leveled up detailing and paint. I'm especially fond of the metallic pain on his helmet and the flame effect that can be attached to his sword. Warduke has his additional daggers and short sword as well as his trademark shield. They're all sorts of magical and NECA made them look it. The figure has a ton of articulation so the EVIL ACTION FIGURE can be put in all sorts of menacing poses. There's also a range of extra hands for this purpose.

Warduke is one of those characters that I keep on an untouchable high shelf. Thankfully this figure really drive home some of that prestige. He's pretty large, about 6 inches and scales pretty well with Masterverse figures from what I've seen in MOTU groups. Despite being from different series, he fits in nicely there. Warduke comes from that same 80's fantasy boom that He-Man came from, and both respective toy lines set off the Satanic Panic alarms of the time. This is an amazingly great figure of an all time favorite villain of mine. I'm definitely glad to have it and grateful of my wife for giving it to me.

Wild Fang/Tecmo Knight

When it comes to violent and bloody video games the same ones are brought up. Mortal Kombat or Splatterhouse usually. One particularly violent game from 1989 is often not remembered... and for good reason. It was pretty under the radar and your local arcade probably chose other 'barbarian' games at the time. That game would be Wild Fang or Tecmo Knight as it's known outside of Japan. At first glance you might think it's a generic beat 'um up style belt fighter. However after inserting a coin you'd find that it's REALLY bloody. Surprisingly so, blood splatter and decapitations every few seconds. I'm pretty surprised there's not more notoriety for the game considering the time, but like I said... it's a little under the radar. You probably were too busy playing Golden Axe or Rastan to notice it in the corner of the arcade.

Depending on if you're player 1 or 2, Duke and Fleet are your heroes. The two warriors have to face The Beast Demon Army in their mission to resurrect The Great Beast Demon Delgomes by large amounts of human blood gathered from sacrifice. The heroes become 'Wild Fangs' and take on these evil forces. Oddly, if you're playing Tecmo Knight the bad guy is named Wild Fang. How do the heroes become Wild Fangs? They are paired with 3 protective deities. Smokeman (a big strong giant), the tiger (a tiger), and the dragon (a dragon... as you probably guessed). Your character actually rides these deities throughout the game.

Thanks to a button on the controls you can swap between them during your adventure. Smokeman is a really strong giant, but slower. Riding the tiger is much faster, but a little weaker. The dragon is actually a special form and only granted when found. The dragon is invincible flies around breathing fire for a short time before reverting back to Smokeman or the tiger. Power-ups are gained through the skulls left behind after defeating enemies.

Enemies are various demon/beasts/monsters that make up The Beast Demon Army. You progress through each level fighting assorted army members as you go and kill them in gory glory. Nothing is safe from getting bloodied up either. A recurring enemy is a large King Kong style gorilla whose hands reach around the edges of the screen. After so many hits to these arms and they're pouring blood... it's insane. Game play is fun and swapping out deities keeps things fresh. It's unfortunate the game is lesser known. I could easily have seen a SEGA version.

Saint Sword 'round my neck

 

The funny thing about old video games is that there's a ton of them that you've never played. Saint Sword is a recent discovery of mine that I really regret missing out on back in the Genesis's glory days. The game takes place in ancient Greece mythology with you playing as the Titan Macress. The demoness Gorgon is trying to take over the world and you must stop her. She's either a demon named Gorgon or a Gorgon being described as a demon. That parts never really clear, but part of the charm of these older fictional settings. It's a hack n' slash action platformer with simple controls. Action platform games somehow always play good on the Genesis/Mega Drive and Saint Sword is no exception. While Macress feels a little slow, it's fun guiding him through his adventure.

As you could expect in a setting like this, you'll be fighting several monsters. The designs are pretty creative and some of the bosses are really far out. It's a Taito game, so you can expect creativity in the character designs. Macress gains abilities as he kills enemies. This includes wings and becoming a centaur or merman. It's a shame Saint Sword isn't more well known. I'd have loved to own a cartridge of it back in 1991 when it was first released and a shame it took 30 years for me to discover it. A neat game that's still fun to play with good graphics and music. I'd recommend giving it a go if you haven't already. 

Riders on the Styx

 

Dragonriders of the Styx was a fantasy line from the early 80's that's mostly forgotten about now. Probably thanks to being sued out of existence by TSR due to it's obvious unlicensed inspiration from Dungeons and Dragons. Made by Dimensions for Children, which is a pretty bad name for a toy company. I mainly remember getting the toys from discount and drug stores, but the larger sets could be found at regular retail. Initially the line started off with 'army man' style figures with themed play sets. Later it expanded into 3 3'4 action figures with various creatures and vehicles. 

My brother and I the entire standard carded figure assortment and some of those 'army man' play sets. Satanic Panic was a thing at the time, and like He-Man, I can understand it a little here. Toys like Duelin' Devils and Demons of Castleon might raise a suspicious eye or two. Lot's of these fantasy toys at the time had some really awesome horror art on the packaging that probably skirted the line for the intended audience. I can definitely appreciate it now though and not be cynical at all when people ask what's wrong with me. 

Earlier I mentioned mainly getting the toys from discount and drug stores. That's probably likely to getting sued out of existence by TSR. The realities of toy liquidation never crossed my mind when I was 6. The 'army men' style figures got bootlegged heavily, I was finding them up to the early 90's. I strongly remember getting the Wizard shown above on Halloween night. Mom was taking us home after a great night of trick or treating. We went to neighborhoods with my cousin, ate McDonald's, then trick or treated at the mall! I was Spider-Man. It was awesome.

Fortress of Necros

 

Nekurosu No Yousai was a very neat keshi line by Lotte sold in the late 80's and early 90's. Translated into English, the name of the line is technically Necros Fortress, but often called Neclos Fortress. Neclos is printed on the lines cards as l and r are often confused in translation. Necros/Neclos being the main villain character. Each figure would come in a box with a card and piece of chocolate. Readers know this is the exact kind of thing I go crazy for.

The line was a fantasy based with cool monsters and warriors intended to be used in a rpg game. The cards would be used for the figures stats as well as items and spells. There was a total of 320 figures released in 8 parts. The figures were in multiple colors and would often come in color change or metallic plastic depending on the release. Some with plastic jewels. I can see a fun evening spent with these. If you noticed that they resemble Monsters in my Pocket, you're not alone. It's only natural for keshi lines to look alike, especially ones based on monsters. Necros Fortress and Monsters in my Pocket do share a lot of the same monsters. Both even have video games. NES for one, PC Engine the other. A crossover would have been perfect.

Unfortunately, Necros Fortress figures are not easy to get. The line was exclusive to Japan in a per-internet time. Candy toys are no problem now, but the older ones can be a challenge. I don't have any myself but can still enjoy them through various pictures on the internet. They have great sculpts and I like the variety of monsters. I love the art. It's exactly the style and era that's a steady favorite of mine. I'm pretty jealous of those who got to experience them first hand. I could see myself in a local convenience store buying these up.

Castle of Devils XX

Castlevania is one of my favorite video game series. I love the mixture of fantasy and horror in addition to the platforming and action. Between the straight forward game play of the originals and the exploration of later ones, each game is usually a good time. One game though that doesn't get a lot of credit is Castlevania: Dracula X. Before you correct me, I'm not talking about the PC Engine classic Rondo of Blood. I'm talking about the Super Nintendo game.

While essentially being the same story, it's basically an alternative version of the game. Slightly different levels, difficulty, and other game play mechanics make for a new experience instead of simply being a port of the prior game. It both a substitute for Rondo of Blood to set you up for Symphony of the Night or a sequel to Super Castlevania (an alternate version of the original game). 

Basically the SNES games make for a fun little side pocket continuity that either does or does not connect with the overall series. For what it's worth, the Japanese version of Dracula X is called Dracula XX in Japan to differentiate it. Other differences between versions is the amount of gore (and there is a lot of it) is toned down for the American and European versions. It was a different time back then before games had a ratings system. Companies often tailor their products to meet regional norms. Nintendo in Japan was more open to things such as blood and religion, while in America... not so much at the time. 

Rondo of Blood is often seen as a benchmark in Castlevania games, while the SNES Dracula X is generally panned as an inferior product. Something I've never understood. Personally I've always liked the SNES game. It's a good game despite being different from the PC Engine version. Just different. There's never been a clear reason as to why the versions are different, but to me it kind of fits. Rondo of Blood is the epitome of a PC Engine game. While Dracula X is 100% full of that Super Nintendo flavor.

Recently when I bought Castlevania Advance Collection I was super pleased to discover it had the SNES game on it. That was a surprise considering the love the PC Engine gets. Getting reacquainted with it pretty much inspired me to write this post and show you all this cool game guide from Japan. Even if you can't read Japanese, it's still neat to flip through. That's actually something I plan to do periodically here when I talk about old video games is include some of the cool guides and magazines made for them. I've always loved them and willing to bet you'd appreciate them as well. The embedded reader can be adjusted to make it easier for you to flip through the pages or you can read it here.

He-Man In Space

While being off the past days recovering from my ICU stay, I've been taking in a lot of TV. Well, I've been taking in a lot of TV in between bouts of sleep. You'd be surprised just how tired you get after heart failure. One of the shows I've decided to spend some extra time with is 'The New Adventures of He-Man'. I spend so much time with G1 MOTU that the follow up almost gets forgotten sometimes.

Also, 'The New Adventures of old Christine' is always on late at night. This has nothing to do with that, but I am bewildered how such a long running show could air completely without me knowing.

With He-Man though, his new adventures are really a shot in the arm of rejuvenation as it takes the formula and changes it just enough. It's easy to dismiss as mostly forgotten by history, but it's pretty good. He-Man and Skeletor find themselves in the future on a planet named Primus taking part in their war. I won't go super into details as why, but that's the gist of it. Skeletor finds himself paired with the Evil Mutants while He-Man obviously is with the Galactic Guardians.

The toys are pretty different from the original. It's clear that a complete new direction was the idea. Later some of the molds would be reused for the Demolition Man toyline. The cartoon, while a western production, has a very anime look. It's pretty hard to ignore, so much that if you told me they recycled an anime to use... I'd have a hard time not believing it. It's distinctly in that 80's/early 90's anime style. Some scenes could easily be mistaken for Masterforce. Clearly I like it. While I'm not saying you should, I am saying it's worth checking out.

Tri-Klops Saw It Coming... Or Didn't

When I think about Masters of the Universe... I usually don't think about Tri-Klops. Like Zodak, I mostly remember only seeing him at the odd drug store several years after he was released. Recently I got his Origins figure and really want the Mega Construx version which comes with the Battle Ram (I haven't found it yet). Somehow the lack of attention over time passed has made him more desirable. Admittedly it's a 'new to me' type situation. I did grab his 2002 version back then. So I guess I haven't totally ignored him over the years.

Tri-Klops's place in fiction pretty much varies on whomever is writing. In mini-comics and the original cartoon he was practically He-Man's equal (or an oaf), and in the 2002 series he was more of a mad scientist type. The classics version has him as a blind bounty hunter and his visor allows him to see. The visor is pretty much Tri-Klops trademark gimmick. Once again depending on the writer, it's either cybernetic or magical. Generally the visor gives him a variety of vision related special abilities. Seeing all around him, around corners, through things, great distances, optic blasts... you name it. Whatever the writer comes up to match the hunter/swordsman's abilities at the time.

Sometimes I wonder if Tri-Klops inspired Blade from the live action movie. They're pretty similar. Aside from the visor, the two aren't that different. Weirdly enough, in the Filmation series bible gave him a more interesting back story. Tri-Klops, Evil Lynn and Beastman were originally crew members on Queen Marlena's spaceship (she was an astronaut who crash landed on Eternia). They had mutated in the crash which somehow lead to them joining the Evil Warriors. This origin was abandoned. Probably because somebody realized the awkwardness of the Queen watching her son beat up former colleagues on a regular basis. "Go son, stomp a mud hole in his ass and walk it dry. He never paid me back for that Starbucks."

Mortal Kombat

Like many others, I watched the new Mortal Kombat movie this past weekend. With a Doordashed order of Red Lobster (which in itself is another post), the Mrs. and I turned on HBO Max and started the movie. I just wanted to point out that I initially misspelled 'turned' and the spelling suggestion was turd. This is a reboot of the MK film franchise after the second movie was so bad that it took 24 years to hope people forgot about it. Sadly, this wasn't wasn't that great either. 

To be fair, Mortal Kombat doesn't have a solid track record outside of the games. The first movie is a pretty well regarded B movie. Video game adaptions are usually more miss than hit. After months of hype and an awesome trailer, this looked like it was finally going to be the breakout video game movie and really nail Mortal Kombat as most view it should.

I'm honestly not crapping on the movie. I enjoyed myself while watching the movie, as not so great as it was. It was a bad movie, but a fun bad movie. Actually, the first scene was great. I wish the movie was just more of that. Kano was generally fun. So was Kabal. Sub-Zero and Scorpion? Wonderful. I wish Goro has more to do, but liked what of him was there. Mortal Kombat didn't live up to my expectations, but I still enjoyed it.

Roboto Hates That Song

Roboto is a member of the Heroic Warriors who just happens to be a robot. In most fictional cases Roboto was made by Man At Arms. However in the original cartoon he hailed from a planet named... wait for it... Robotica and crashed landed on Eternia. Where he was then repaired by Man At Arms. This may account for the weapon arm gimmick.The man has a thing for arms after all.

Roboto is pretty freaking awesome. He's got the weapon changing arm gimmick giving him an axe, laser gun, or claw. Regardless of the fight, he has just the tool to whoop that ass! Roboto also has a clear chest which displays his robotic innards consisting of several gears and a heart. Twisting the figure at the hip makes the gears turn and the heart raise and lower. But wait, there's more! Roboto's robot mouth also opens and closes when this is done. 

What's not to love about everything I just described?

Mekaneck Can See You Read This

Mekaneck is one of the more fun Heroic Warriors that's generally well loved by fans. It's hard not too. He's this funky bionic dude who's a living periscope. If you ever need to understand the charm of He-Man, remember, robots and cyborgs are mixed in with all the swords and sorcery. It's weird and absurd, what's not to love? It doesn't hurt that he looks awesome. 

In the cartoon, Mekaneck was given his bionic neck by Man-At-Arms (who must have needed a Man-At-Neck) after his normal one was badly injured. This injury occurred during a storm in which he also lost his son. Later he found his son held captive by Count Marzo. 

Mekaneck also had issues with Count Marzo in the 2002 cartoon who takes advantage of our heroes insecurities. In that cartoon Mekaneck's bionic neck can seemingly stretch forever and bend all sorts of ways kinda like Plastic Man. He generally carries a big yellow club that I often used as the Cosmic Key when I was a kid. You'd think a guy who specializes in seeing things far away would be a sniper, but once again Eternia is a weird place. 

On his original toy you twisted his waist to extend Mekanecks bionic neck. He's had a bunch of toys since then and they've often used snap in extension pieces for the neck. I'm really looking forward to his upcoming Mega Contrux figure. I don't know if it's just my general favoritism to him and the line, but it just seems perfect. He'll come with the Battle Ram set that also includes Tri-Klops who also seems like a perfect fit in the mini figure line.

Fisto Will Knock Your Teeth Down Your Fucking Throat

Eternia is a weird place. You've got nightmarish evil freak shows all over the place being defended by muscle bound weirdos. One of the Heroic Warriors has a very special power, he will punch the dog piss out of your ass. Fisto (don't be weird) is a rough and tumble outdoors guy who has a GIANT FUCKING FIST FOR PUNCHING.

In the original cartoon he was originally a member of the Evil Warriors who changed his ways and joined the Heroic Warriors. In the mini comics he was a dude with a big ass fist and was matched up against Jitsu. During the 2002 cartoon he was Man-At-Arms brother. That family has no patience for feet. None.

Everyone loves Ron Swanson, so imagining Ron Swanson as a knight with a GIANT FUCKING FIST FOR PUNCHING THE SHIT OUT OF YOU is even harder not to like. He has a giant purple sword just to piss you off.

Eternia's Tower Of Power

There was a lot of members of the Heroic Warriors, each pretty unique in their own right. You had flying dudes, dudes with big fists, dudes with guns, and then you had Extendar. Extendar was a cyborg knight who had the ability to extend himself (get it) into a giant when things got tough. 

Fictionally he was a friend of Prince Adam's who was just a regular knight. Wishing he had special powers (I mean, apparently EVERYONE else has them), Hordak promises him them and does follow through. Giving him the power to transform into his new Tower of Power mode. 

Also Hordak turns him into his mindless slave because bad guys generally do that sort of thing. He-Man helps him break free of Hordak's spell and Extendar now has the super powers he craved. Also now his name made sense after all this time. Before that was just his name. Because Eternia.

There was also another origin story featured in UK comics in which Extendar and Dragstor of The Evil Horde were originally friends. A kidnapping by Hordak turned them into their super powered cyborg selves. Extendar was able to break free of Hordak's mind control, but Dragstor wasn't. Extendar went on trying to free his friend of Hordak's control as an ongoing plot. 

As a toy, Extendar is a more complex than the standard MOTU figure. He's thicker knight with basic standard articulation except for his waist and head. A really sharp looking figure too, pearlescent white with copper accents and a big red shield. To transform him, you literally just extend out his parts. It's in his name.

Knees, elbows, waist, and neck extend to form the Tower of Power. The extensions are sculpted with circuitry detail and a peace symbol on his neck. Because Eternia. The shield also unfolds into a larger shield as now he's a much bigger target. There's a MOTU Classics update in which the extensions are snap together parts instead of the extending gimmick. Also included is a lance that really fits in with the whole knight theme and I wish was included with the original toy.

I hope Mattel fits him into the newer toys. He was always this great figure that stood apart from the others. I don't want to say because he was a giant... but that was why. However, he transformed into the giant, making him even more unique. If he was a knight that didn't transform he'd still be pretty great. Wonder what his name would be then? Earl?

Stranger Things 4: From Russia With Love Trailer

Still no word on a release date, but Netflix gave fans a trailer just right for Valentines Day for the upcoming season. Just what every bodies heart needed. Man, I can't wait.

Masters Of The Mall

Mattel took it upon themselves in 1986 to set up a mall display in Indiana. This display was nothing short of amazing and maybe a little crazy. To start off, you've got a meet and greet with Hordak. One of the bad guys. There he is, just shaking hands with small children. Scary demon monster kissing babies. He-Man was a pretty big target of the satanic panic of the 80's and sometimes when looking back... you kinda see where those folks were coming from.

I can't mention Masters of the Universe without comparing it to a bunch of Halloween decorations, so I'll just point out the obvious spookiness of a skull faced mountain in the middle of a mall courtyard. A skull faced mountain that you enter through it's mouth. I can't say that without picturing a Castle Grayskull haunted attraction. Dang.

Inside the attraction a mountain scene with many of the 1986 MOTU toys on display, complete with narration and lights showcasing each one! This is pretty darn cool, especially with the Eternia play set on display. That thing was always amazing and looks fancier than the rest of the display. What takes it to another level is the projections of He-Man and Skeletor fighting it out on the mountain. That's theme park level stuff in a mall food court.

He-Man's Power Sword is off model though. They'll have He-Man appear and I'll usually make sure the sword looks right. If Hordak's outside recruiting new members of the Evil Horde at Panda Express, the sword is the least of our problems. The least of yours anyway, I'm nonsensically specific about a few things and that's the wrong fucking sword.

Crash The Rocket Ship To WWEternia

I can't express just how great the Masters of the WWE Universe toys are. As one can easily deduce, the line is a crossover series with wrestlers in MOTU bodies and styling. But it goes far beyond that. The toys are combining the classic homages of MOTU characters and each wrestlers personality. The Ultimate Warrior was born for this line and he's in the fist wave. At first glance you'd see him and laugh that it's just Warrior as a He-Man toy. They play that up quite a bit. The text from his character bio is taken from one of his promos as is the crashed space capsule in the artwork. It's insane and it's perfect.

However, he's not just the Ultimate Warrior as a He-Man toy. Before Prince Adam and the backstory we all know, He-Man was originally a warrior from a jungle tribe that came into owning the power sword differently. Later the Prince Adam origin came to be and this was dropped until the MOTU Classics series made a figure of this incarnation. Now a character known as Oo-Larr, whom was a previous He-Man prior to Prince Adam. It's amazing that Mattel took such lengths with a toy seemingly meant to be a novelty and made it so dang cool.

Kick Some Astyanax

Astyanax is one of those games that people tend to forget about. Not for any particular reason, it's pretty good, though admittedly 30 years after it's release I'm still trying to pronounce it's name correctly. Funnily enough, you don't play as the Greek Mythology character at all, you play as a guy named Roche. In the NES version you play as a kid named Astyanax, I have no clue why.

I'm sure most people are more familiar with the NES game, I was too until discovering the arcade version at my local Pizza Hut. It's one of those cases where a home version plays pretty similar to the arcade machine, but is practically a different game. So much so that it'll get it's own post sometime later. I'm talking about the arcade game today.

The Power To Go On Tour

As an avid subscriber of Masters of the Universe magazine, I don't have to tell you I was sold instantly on the Power Tour. Though being in the third grade... I didn't get to make these types of decisions on my own. BBBBuuuuttttttttt the thing is pretty much all over the internet and I could watch it if I want to. Looking back, it might have been a good idea not to go as holy crap did Skeletor have his own haunted house at the show or something? I've made my joke about He-Man's villains being a bunch of Halloween decorations before, but holy shit ALL of the villains look straight our of a Spirit Halloween clearance sale. I'd like to point out that each time I typed Power Tour while writing this, I accidentally typed Pour Tour. Because Orko looked drunk.

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?