Reviews > Adora (Masters of the Universe Classics)

January 23, 2010 | Poe

When Mattel began developing a toyline counterpart to Masters of the Universe geared toward girls, they didn’t stray too far from the formula that was working so well for He-Man and his pals. Eternia became Etheria, Skeletor became Hordak, the Sorceress became Lighthope, Battle Cat became Swift Wind, Orko became Cowl, He-Man became She-Ra, Princess of Power (POP), and Prince Adam became Adora.

Unlike Prince Adam, Adora never got her own figure back in the 1980s. I’m not sure it was ever even in development (though I’m sure a better MOTU/POP historian than I would know, and could perhaps let us know in the comments below). Therefore POP fans have spent nearly a quarter of a century pining for an Adora figure. Mattel has proven their committment to fan desires with MOTUC several times already (He-Ro being the most obvious example), so it comes as no surprise that Adora is the line’s first foray into Etheria.

One interesting aspect of Adora’s story (which is really only implied in the bio below) is that she was actually on the bad guys’ team for most of her life, serving Hordak as his Force Captain. This plot twist is a bit weakened by the subplot that Hordak had Shadow Weaver cast a spell on Adora so she wouldn’t ever question the Horde’s methods, but it’s still more than we ever got about Prince Adam’s life before He-Man. (more…)

Not Quite Dead Yet

January 22, 2010 | Poe

I’m working on my Adora review, and I should have Battle Armor He-Man done by Monday. I’m also looking to create a new Odds ‘n Ends photo and some other surprises.

In the meantime, I want to thank Paul for making up for some of my laziness. He’s the real American hero. He’s also a Real Ghostbuster. Well that’s what I heard.

Paul’s Peg > A Look at Hasbro’s New AT-ST (Not a Review)

January 21, 2010 | Paul

Out of my Christmas haul my biggest get (at least toy wise) was the new(ish) AT-ST put out by Hasbro. If you don’t remember this bad boy, I geeked out for it a few months ago and never thought I’d actually see it, much yet own it. If you’re on the fence or want to know if you should go out of your way to get one I thought I’d throw together my non-review for you all.

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Evil-lyn’s bio revealed

January 21, 2010 | Poe

Via Facebook:

Real Name: Evelyn Morgan Powers
Raised by her father in the ruins of Zalesia™, Evelyn left her home in a fit of teenage rebellion. Taking the name Evil-lyn®, she traveled Eternia® learning from many of its great masters the ways of magic and the dark arts. While searching for new ways to increase her power, she met and met and fell in love with an ambitious alchemist named Keldor™ and agreed to join his cause. After Keldor™ was transformed into Skeletor®, he lost all emotional attachments to Evil-lyn® and she began to scheme against him. In a series of miscalculations, she helped release both King Hssss™ and Hordak™ from their inter-dimensional prisons. Evil-lyn® uses her crystal ball to foresee the evil future!

Fans over on He-Man.org are already deep in debate over this bio. The target of most of the ridicule is her name; for what it’s worth, it is derived from the original He-Man Bible, though that’s hardly a good source for names–if it were, Skeletor’s #1 punching bag would have been “Biff Beastman,” which makes Raqquill Rqazz sound like Horatio Alger.

As for the rest of the bio, there’s some complaints here and there, particularly because Evil-lyn is responsible for unleashing both King Hssss and Hordak due to “a series of miscalculations” (making her look like a bit incompetent), though I think that was actually what happened in the 2002 cartoon.

There are also some complaints about how the figure looks too toy-ish, which is entirely due to the Bright Molded Plastic Factor (BMPF) (see also).

TNI has new pics of Evil-lyn

January 20, 2010 | Poe

What the title said: Evil-lyn pics

Still unhappy about the Teela feathers/leaves on lower part of the outfit, but pleased with the yellow skin, head sculpt, Screeech, and wand/staff option.

Paul’s Peg > A Jedirrific Star Wars Find

January 20, 2010 | Paul

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I’ll let you in on a secret. I’ve almost given up entirely on buying single carded figures in the 3 3/4ths scale. This is due to the fact that I’m poor and can’t fathom paying over seven dollars for one tiny figures. That’s why I’ve been digging these “Blockbuster Value” two packs that I’ve found at Target. How can you go wrong with getting two figures for the price of one? And yet, many of the two packs have been auto passes due to the crappy B side figures. Well, I found this guy the other day and thought that he was a pretty good A side, so good that the B side must be pretty damned bad. I picked him up and turned him around and was amazed to find…

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God of War: A Newbie’s Impressions

January 19, 2010 | Poe

One of the main reasons I was really excited to get a PS3 this past Christmas was because Sony was releasing the God of War Collection–the first two God of War games in a single $40 package and updated with hi-res graphics and anti-aliasing. I’d been aware of God of War since the first game came out, and I certainly knew its reputation; and NECA’s great action figures made me even more interested.

I finished the game last week. Here are my impressions. (more…)

Well that was fast

January 19, 2010 | Poe

On Saturday I received my shipping confirmation for Adora, due to arrive Thursday. Last night I received my shipping confirmation for Battle Armor He-Man, who’s due to arrive…Friday.

Is this genuinely impressive, or am I just that pre-conditioned for less-than-standard service by Digital River/Mattel? Don’t answer that.

On Adora’s Sellout

January 16, 2010 | Poe

Regarding the Adora sellout: to clarify, I definitely think they were more, possibly a lot more, total Adoras than total Battle Armor He-Men. What I was suggesting in the comments to the Adora post was that the total number of Adoras available on Mattycollector yesterday might have been exceeded by the total available BA He-Man because the entire stock of BA He-Man was available, whereas a large portion of the Adoras were taken up by the subs.

I didn’t expect BA He-Man to sell out before Adora. Actually, I didn’t think about it at all, but if you’d asked me before yesterday I would have thought Adora just as likely as BA He-Man, perhaps more so due to the subs. BA He-Man is a variant, and plenty of people already have the regular He-Man, and these figures aren’t cheap–BA He-Man has all of that working against him. (And then there’s this–which I don’t agree with, but could represent the view of some casual fans.)

What gave me–and I think many others–pause is Adora selling out within half an hour. I don’t even expect that of Trap Jaw. Battle Cat yes, but partly because I suspect he was produced in a relatively low numbers so Mattel could hedge their bets with their first larger-scale item.

I’m perfectly willing to entertain the idea that Adora is just a really popular character. Rob of Topless Robot has said Adora alone makes the entire sub worth it to him, and he even ordered an extra one (I know because I was ordering it for him).