So, I came home last week to discover a rather large box from Mattel on my doorstep. And what was inside? Toys, of course! Wonderful, wonderful toys! Including the 12″ Christopher Reeves Superman, the Gentleman Ghost/Hawkgirl and Superman/Parasite 2-packs, several of the Retro Action DC and Ghostbusters figures, and perhaps best of all, the Eternian Palace Guards!

Which means that, for the first time ever, you get an official PGPoA review of a MOTUC product before you can actually buy it. I have no idea whether this is a one-time deal or will become an ongoing thing. In any event, I’ll be reviewing everything over the next few weeks, starting with the Guards today.

“Army builder” action figures are figures of generic characters, often in uniform, who can be bought in bulk without making it look like you have a dozen of the same exact person. The classic example is the Star Wars Stormtrooper, and good lord there are collectors out there with a lot of Stormtroopers. In the vintage Masters of the Universe line, the only real army builder figure was the Horde Trooper. But after a big year of firsts for MOTUC–Battle Cat, Tytus, and 200X-created characters like Chief Carnivus, Mattel wraps it up with their first Army Builder 2-Pack. The set was scheduled to go on sale in December, but it’s been delayed to January. It will sell for $40. (more…)

I never owned Grizzlor as a kid. I do recall thinking that, like Moss Man and Panthor, there was something uncool about the fact that he had fabric parts. Fur, flocking, and fabric clothes were always a turn-off to me as a kid, I think because it made the toy seem perishable. Flocking could wear off; fabric could tear or get filthy; fur could fall out. Plastic, on the other hand, was forever (or so it seemed to a kid, anyway).

And so I’m fairly sure I was never interested in Grizzlor, and though I recall seeing him in friends’ or cousins’ collections, I don’t have a lot of nostalgia attached to the character. However, I’ve re-familiarized myself with Grizzlor, as with many MOTU characters since the advent of the 200X line ten years ago (remember, the announcement came in 2000, even if the figures weren’t on shelves until 2002). And now I think he’s kind of cool.

That mostly comes from my love of monsters. Grizzlor is a big, hairy, classic-looking monster, and while the fur may have turned me off as a kid, as an adult I find it charming. Yes, on one level he’s a ridiculous furball with hair like Cher and the face she would have if hers weren’t 90% polypropylene, and if you can’t roll with that, you’re probably not going to like him.* But on another level, he’s a really fun addition to Masters of the Universe Classics (MOTUC).

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By my count, Roboto is the 37th toy in the Masters of the Universe Classics toyline (counting Adam and Orko as two separate figures, counting Mo-Larr but not the lost-tooth Skeletor, and not counting the TRU 2-packs as separate figures, since they’re repaints). As a bonafide member of the vintage MOTU line–not POP, not NA, not 200X–Roboto was a guaranteed sellout. Frankly, it’s impressive he took as long as he did to sell out (three hours), though reverse-shoulders error may be partly to blame for that. (more…)

I’ve talked up Gygor so much since he was revealed earlier this year at Toy Fair, there was no way my review, eagerly anticipated by many of you, was going to do justice to him. I toyed with ideas like making some sort of mock-toy commercial, but I don’t have the kind of A/V equipment required to do that (though I do have a friend who might be able to help…but I only thought of that a second ago). So, my apologies for not having anything more momentous than a standard review to celebrate his arrival.

I love gorillas. Like great white sharks, alligators, and Komodo dragons, gorillas are living monsters–but they’re good monsters, the ones on us mammals’ side (more or less). What’s more, gorillas weren’t really known to exist in the Western world until the mid-1800s, before which they were simply tales brought back by the occasional adventurer of large hairy man-like beasts roaming the Dark Continent. They were Victorian England’s version of Bigfoot–except they were real.

While we’re discussing history, let’s talk about Gygor’s. Gygor was never actually produced for the original 1980s Masters of the Universe line. He only existed as a prototype. I first became aware of Gygor’s existence when reading Roger Sweet’s account of his time at Mattel, Mastering the Universe, and I instantly wished that young Poe had had the opportunity to play with a big yellow armored ape wielding a battle axe.

Like Battle Cat, Gygor was a repainted animal figure from Mattel’s 1970s Big Jim line. There were supposedly later revisions to the figure that featured a saddle for figures to ride on, but personally I think the version above is preferable.

In raiding the Mattel vaults for material for Masters of the Universe Classics, Mattel came across the original Gygor prototype photos Mattel was later given the above prototype photo by Emiliano Santalucia of He-Man.org. At this point, Gygor had gained some minor notoriety among He-Fans, but it would be false to say fans were clamoring for Gygor. I certainly was more than ready for one, but there were plenty of fans who were mystified by his appearance at Toy Fair in February. Of course, we now know (as many suspected) that Gygor was also a way to get at least two uses out of one mold–i.e., the Shadow Beast. (more…)

There have been few figures in MOTUC so far that have been as divisive as Chief Carnivus. When the figure was revealed at Wizard World Philadelphia in June, vintage fans groaned, 200X fans cheered, and casual fans said, “Who the hell is Chief Carnivus?”

MOTUC has reached the point where if you’re only into the line for the nostalgia of the figures you remember from the early-to-mid 1980s, you should probably skip the subscription. With Count Marzo in July, Carnivus in September and the Faceless One coming in May 2011, 200X characters are going to be a part of this line.

Anyway, to answer the casual fans’ question, Chief Carnivus was a minor character in the 200X Mike Young Productions He-Man cartoon. Part of Randor‘s Eternian Council of allies, Carnivus appeared in several episodes but never played a large role; something makes me think he might have in a future episode, though, given his increasing appearances as the show progressed. During the 200X era there were a good number of Carnivus customs, probably owing to his recurring role (however minor) and the fact that, as a feline humanoid, he represented an obvious but unrepresented type of design that–in my opinion, at least–fit in perfectly with MOTU. (more…)