The Top 5 Masters of the Universe Classics: 2011 Edition!

Posted by plannedbanter on July 20, 2012 · 1 Comment 

Can you believe we’re back already? Last week everyone was absorbed in SDCC, this week everyone’s attention is being held by The Dark Knight Rises. Still, we’re here and we’re going to write another list of toys instead of doing something normal with our precious, precious non-job related time. Yay! If you haven’t already, you can read the previous two entries we’ve done for 2009 and 2010. If you did already, then you know that I’m in blue and Jaysun is in red so go ahead and distract yourself… from the normal things.

5.) Leech (September)

Going in, I think we all knew that the Horde characters would be among the hardest to translate to the MOTUC style; most of them are very keyed into their action features, and Leech is probably the most prominent example of this quality, next to Dragstor. Not everyone saw Leech as great but I think the Horsemen succeeded more than some give them credit for. Though Leech lacks his familiar gimmicks, all the elements you remember outside of them translate very well, including his eyes. The toothy mouth can take a little getting used to but this is a figure that had a difficult path to walk and, for the most part, does so artfully.

How many MOTUC figures can you pose break-dance style? As of now, Leech is about it. This is only the beginning for this massively under-rated figure. Most people didn’t like him initially for his bulk, and his bizarre hands. Guess what? It’s Masters of the Universe. It’s all ridiculous, it’s not about looking super cool. He’s got a GREAT head, giant mouth and all. The fact that there were probably 20 meetings about how his head should look, and I love that so much. The choice with sculpted teeth here was fantastic, giving him a new look with features the old figure could never have. It was a turn-off at first, but the more I look at his dumb face the more I love it. He looks goofy AND evil, the perfect combination for a member of the Horde. Many people have very fond memories of the old figure, sticking it to their bath tub walls and all. This Leech can’t do that, but you’d believe he could by the amazing hand re-creation the Horsemen gave him. As standard for MOTU characters, his armor is not symmetrical. Accessories aren’t great, with the weird crossbow and suction plastic net. Leech is a figure the Horseman should pat themselves on the back for, and then not read He-Man.org.

4.) Demo-Man (December)

Demo-Man was inevitable. The bio for Skeletor mentioned this silly-named character as part of his origin. No one knew what it was, and wild speculation of his appearance began. I thought he was going to be some wild stunt guy, like an evil Super Dave Osborne. He would go crazy with the stunts, die, and combine with Skeletor (not really). Then I thought of Demolition Man, who’s toy line was a bunch of New Adventures re-paints. And I HOPED it was going to be that. I was not. It was explained the name was a discarded idea for Skeletor. Even after more fan speculation (and drawings), it all came down to the Roger Taylor drawing since it was in the impossible to obtain art book. And now we have the figure. I liked him when I saw him. All green, bearded Skeletor is just fine with me. He has a very unique bottom half, as he looks way chicken-legged (this is good). While retaining the style of the line, he easily fit and brought a unique look to what sometimes feels like a re-use festival. Maybe akin to the Flesh Fair in A.I., only Mattel are the humans ripping apart the helpless bucks and re-assembling them with a “Crazy Woody” smile. Demo-Man is loads of fun to play with, more than I expected given what would be cumbersome parts. His sword looks great but the flail would have benefited from a real rope/chain. I understand they were looking to perfectly replicate the drawing, but as we’ve discussed in these lists, it’s sometimes not so great to stick precisely to the “vintage look.” The bent look makes Demo-Man look like he can’t lift the mine-sweeper part.  He’s extremely posable, besides the giant skin matching beard (that choice is so insane that I have to like it, have you seen a flesh colored beard anywhere else?). The should pads look GREAT, and most importantly, don’t hinder articulation. It’s nice to have bare feet, this way I know Despondos is basically Kentucky (as I type this, I am also bare foot, so it’s true). Plus, he has a tiara and a bone that look like a bow in his beard. He’s the prettiest little green inter-dimensional demon that ever roamed the galaxy looking for Hagar the Horrible: The College Years. Plus he comes with the UBER-beloved Alcala Skeletor head. I don’t love that head, and I don’t use it. I like me Skeletor hoods with a point tip, thank you very much! I like that the little skull from the picture was included, and even more pleased that it can be used as a head! Which makes him look more ridiculous than is necessary. His feet look great and are sadly my favorite part of the figure. I was not excited for him when revealed, and later loved him. Wait…is that a tooth showing in this ripped face side? Awesome.

After the initial excitement over Demo-Man’s reveal, things kind of jumped the rails; there were mutterings about how thin paint was going to make the figure look cheap, whether or not his loincloth was too short, if his tunic was too loose looking. When the figure finally arrived in December, it seemed like most of the anticipation diffused with things like Battleground Evil-Lyn not being a “true 200x version” or how the Wind Raider saw release at one of the most financially stressful times of the year for everyone. The result is, I think Dem0-Man is more than a little overlooked, being at the cross-section of customer irritation, fanbase fracturing, and quality control worries. Some people just don’t have any affinity for the character because he has almost zero nostalgia. Still, they’re missing out on an excellent figure, one that includes three of the best accessories in the whole of 2011. Demo-Man’s sword and mace are both beautifully crafted, unique armaments with details to spare; the tiny lizard head on the hilt of the sword is so cool, I have to display the figure where it can always be seen. On top of the excellent weapons (and neat little skull from the original sketch of the character), Dem0-Man includes an excellent new head for Skeletor, based on the art of Alfredo Alcala as seen in picture books and mini-comics from early in the original toyline’s lifecycle. The coloring of the figure might seem a little intense for some, but Demo-Man, and the Skeletor head with him, add a lot of flavor to both displays and the whole line. No detail is missing for this character and the Horseman produced a great toy with a great story behind it.

3.) Vikor (January)

Vikor was a hugely anticipated figure going into 2011 and it didn’t disappoint; to this day, I can recall how excited everyone was for the rest of the year based on the positive reception of this figure. That would carry over until the one-two punch of issues that marred March and May’s releases but Vikor remains one of the best releases for the whole year. His face is full of character, his weapons fun and unique, and every detail you could want is there all the way down to the real chains hanging from his wrists. Even his new covered ankle joints were a pleasant surprise, something that takes Vikor the extra mile. Like Demo-Man, Vikor’s based on a piece of concept art for the original MOTU toyline but the impact this toy makes as a singular release is pretty impressive. He could easily be one of the only figures you need in the line, and divorced from his place in the property he remains a fun toy with great articulation (the slightly stiff neck aside) and a very cool look. You don’t have to love Masters of the Universe to see what makes Vikor great, and his quality’s shared with the very next figure Mattel released…

Vikor overcomes his plain design with great accessories and a big fun factor. His axe is nothing but badass. His shield can be used as as a poking weapon. His sword…is a sword. The bone laced cape tie shoes the amount of cats he’s killed and eaten during his time across the Eternian Seas. His helmet/hair combo looks more like black fabric falling to cover his baldness. Best part of Vikor? The broken chains. After Vikor escaped from the Wheel of Pain, he ravaged, pillaged and raped across Eternia until he was given the power to protect Grayskull…or something. Back to the figure, the carefully sculpted furry cape may be a bit heavy and bulky-looking but still adds the the great aesthetic of the Northern protector of He. Vikor sticks pretty close to the Taylor sketches like his bearded-demon counterpart, but has a bit more life infused with his loin-cloth only wardrobe.

2.) Bow (February)

Amazing update. After the POP door was blasted open, this was one of my high priority wants. You can switch the heart to a circle so to erase the shame inherent. But guess what, I leave the heart in the chest. I’m a real man. Like bow. The “vintage” figure was thin and androgynous. This Bow is unmistakably MANLY. We get the Filmation accurate mustache face, which is the only way to go. I can’t imagine some one using the other head. He has a mustache. That should make him an easy number one. But he’s not. Accessories! He has a quiver with unremovable arrows, which is just a tease. The boots rule. His cape looks a bit bulky, but that’s not a problem for me. This helps his ridiculous look ten-fold. His belt buckle has a bow on it, all new. It’s the best of Filmation and the POP figure. And that’s all you can ask for. 

To this day, Bow remains one of the few Princess of Power characters that some fans can tolerate, something easy to see from his MOTUC figure. The two different heads, one mustached to recreate his popular cartoon look and the other clean-shaven to emulate the vintage toy, plethora of accessories, and detailed appearance make for a fantastic release and one of the biggest for the whole line. He even has an interchangeable emblem for his chest plate! This is an extremely clever figure from his elaborate paint to his extra arrows. His bow wasn’t stringed but that’s a small complaint when it’s obvious how much thought went into making this character one of the strongest appeals to the value of PoP characters as a whole. Bow’s kind of faded into people’s memories thanks to the rough months that followed his release but it’s almost impossible to not love him. I never had any Princess of Power figures except for She-Ra and Bow, but this figure represents what I’d always wanted from them: something that easily stands alongside the characters from the rest of the same shared universe without looking one bit out of step. Reaching out into the world of the She-Ra characters are sometimes a risky proposition (messageboards explode every time one of them’s revealed) but no one is denying this excellent figure a place in their collection.

1.) Clawful (July)

I think I was as surprised by Clawful more than I was by any other figure this year. I was expecting characters like Vikor and Bow to make for incredible toys but Clawful just looked really good but not outstanding. Actually having him in my hands changed all that and it was shocking to find one of the best realized translations of a character in this entire line. Clawful may not rewrite the book on this line but he takes the parameters that Mattel set for it and really shines with them: great colors, well-thought out accessories, solid joints, and a surprising amount of personality for a character with wildly different interpretations in different media. Everyone may have their favorite “version” of Clawful, whether it’s from the cartoon, mini-comics, 200x, or whatever, but this is a figure that satisfies almost all of them. It’s truly wonderful how great this line is when it sorts out of all its damn quality control issues and customer service drama, and Clawful represents the best 2011 had to offer.

I hate those feet so much. Even as a kid, I always disliked their feigned symmetry. I loved Buzz-Off, but always wished he had better feet. Clawful I liked in spite of those awful feet, even felt he was the best use. Still, the Tung Lashor version of the four-pronged pedi-ttack was far superior. When Whiplash was announced and shown I prepared myself for the terrible foot assault. And there they were, those awful clodhoppers laughing at me in their quadruple toe grin. It hurt Buzz-Off massively (I hope they do a more 200X version with some new feet), and then came Clawful. I was ready for Clawful, even excited. And then…plop. There he was, formlessly shaping around the edges of my enthusiasm. It’s not often I dislike a He-Man figure (Netossa looks awesome and I can’t wait), but Clawful just didn’t do it for me. Then he came, bundled in that gloriously plain mailer box. I opened him and shoved him aside with little fanfare to record an episode. Then, I started looking  at him, the BRILLIANT scale sculpting, the carefully painted shellfish armor, and his goofball head (that I thought killed the look). Can we forget about the shield? I easily place that in the top 5 shields of the entire line (future list?), matching his armor but looking like a functional attack absorber. Do the feet still bother me? I would be lying if I said no. I won’t lie to you…NOT THIS DAY. It makes his fantastically created top portion seem out-of-place with the boringly repainted bottom. But it doesn’t kill the excitement for his playability. Posing is never a pain and his giant claw can GRIP WITH THE BEST OF THEM. I wouldn’t trust many accessories to stay there, but it would look pretty cool every once in a while.   

Honorable Mentions:

Battleground Teela (Quarterly variant for June)

I toyed with creating a “best variant” category in the last list, just so I could force Jaysun to have to write about this figure, I really love it that much. She’s just an incredible (and attractive sculpt), a figure that can function both as a later storyline character and as a companion for Vikor. She a win on all counts, from being the rare comic based variant to being just a great toy period. Her ray gun is great fun and the sword is wonderfully simple, both of them adding to the great barbarian princess vibe she has. The sculpt is so nice I don’t even mind that they removed some of the articulation; it doesn’t affect playability at all and keeps her unique among the sometimes notoriously similar MOTUC females. She proudly stands alongside the normal MOTUC Teela, Adora, and She-Ra, once again absolutely destroying any other female figure Mattel and some of their competitors are offering. She’s a can’t-miss release, perfect in all the ways even the other 2011 females feel flawed.

Flipshot (October)

Icarius, blah blah blah. This was almost Sy-Klone (who I am alone in loving, he’s always been a favorite of mine), but Flipshot is just so bad ass awesome. From his Contra inspired regular head to his silver capped space deal. Flipshot is a GREAT character who can be annoying. Makes it better. His giant arm double barrel canon is so great, and the great wings that can carry him ALL THE WAY TO THE SUN. But this time he won’t burn himself, just our eyes in all his unique glory. The silver chosen is bright and futuristic, the blue is very close to the misunderstood New Adventures show. I was hoping Flipshot would come before Hydron because he would illustrate how great NA can be if done correctly, and I believe the job was done. He’s a massively fun toy.

Dishonorable Mention: King Hsss’ Shoulders

Fuck you King Hsss shoulders. Fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you. You tainted what could have been the crown jewel of the year. And Mattel basically said “Fuck you, we don’t care how much you’ve spent with us. Here’s your ruined figure.” Hsss has the great “nerd” Snake mode, and you can finally pose his arms in regular human form. The green chosen is PERFECT, absolutely. The shield is amazing, everything was primed for this to be THE figure to push the line forward for years. And it’s such a stupid thing to be so upset about, but their attitude about the “mistake” and no one took blame. So we get stuck with this dumb complaint and feel like a whining, entitle brat. AND THAT MAKES ME EVEN MORE ANGRY. Fuck you King Hsss shoulders, fuck you SOOO MUCCH. Fuck You.

I don’t have much to add to this; King Hsss’ shoulder debacle snuffed a lot of enthusiasm I had for this whole year, something that wasn’t really restored until Battleground Teela and Clawful. I probably didn’t appreciate Sy-Klone half as much because this was a huge flub and essentially ruined what was my most anticipated figure revealed by that point. I love the Snake Men and they deserved so much better than this. Hsss doesn’t even hang out on my counter being abused like Roboto; he just sits in a box, crying out for Mattel to fix him and worn down with the agony of knowing how great he could be if someone wasn’t asleep at the wheel.

Best Deluxe item: The Wind Raider

The Wind Raider represented something huge and amibitious for this line, it’s first foray into vehicles as well as experimenting with an expensive item that may not feel necessary for its nostalgia factor or the obscurity it had from a limited release. As much as Mattel seem to crab about the Raider not blowing the doors open with insane success, I think that it was as big a hit as it could hope for, especially since it was something of a leap of faith as well as a labor of love. All the gorgeous sculpted details, that incredible base, the firing hook, everything about this is the height of craftsmanship and embody a gamble that paid off on both Mattel’s and our part. The Wind Raider is magnificent, a great toy and an outstanding first effort to something I hope Mattel considers expanding on in the future. 

That box is the greatest packaging the line’s ever seen. The painted art and the blue print on the back? Only good things can come of it, and there were many. The hook shot that you can wind back up, like the old vehicle. But this looks SO much sexier, popping it in and out of the hood. The figures fit in perfectly, enough room to feel realistic but snug enough to not flap around. It has a mini flight stand that you can pose to near 90 degree angles. The set looks so near the vintage vehicle that it feels right, unlike many of the figures that have that hindrance. I throw in a random figure and fly it around the room anytime I have the chance. Fun is key here, and I am saddened by Mattel’s unwillingness to make more. I WANT AIR WARS. I believe I’ll buy another one when given the chance, and tangle up the ropes every time. I know how I play, I can’t help it.

2011 was a stronger year than 2010 but it was a little marred by some severe quality screwups. Catra’s inexplicable rubbery hand and King Hsss’ shoulder nightmare threatened to poison the whole year with an inconsistency that the 2010 figures most avoided (outside of Roboto). I liked the character choices more but in the third year of a line, the quality shouldn’t be less consistent than in the past. Still, the figures that were good mostly teetered towards great with a number of absolute slamdunks peppered throughout each quarter; this is easily the year that only picking 5 figures felt the most restrictive. 2010 was the year of off-the-wall-choices and 2011 is the year of extremes. We’re done for now, though it’s a sure thing we’ll be back at the end of the year to sum up 2012 even if I’m doing reviews for most of them. Doing all three lists was funny as it made me appreciate 2011 more and 2010 less, both defying the memories of what it was like to collect the line at the time.

Filed under Action Figures, He-Man, Masters of the Universe Classics, Mattel · Tagged with Action Figures, He-man, Masters of the Universe, Masters of the Universe Classics, Mattel, Top 5