SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review...VINTAGE ALERT! 200x Two Bad

SpartanNerd, you wanted a MOTUC Two-Bad.   Well.  Too bad!

So I will settle for the next best thing.  200x Two-Bad.

IMHO, the vintage 1980's Two-Bad was not very good.  I remember making him punch the opposite face all the time.  And that's about it.  He couldn't stand very well, because he was top heavy.  He couldn't hold weapons because his hands were permanent fists.  And his shield didn't fit on his arms correctly.  I did enjoy the power of punching with the spiny loaded arms and waist feature combined, however.  This was the strongest action feature in the original figures.

200x Two-Bad doesn't have any of those problems, and the action feature is also pretty cool.  So he is an advance in every way!

Here is Two-Bad in his original packaging.  Notice the price tag.
The dude at the Barnyard Fleamarket shaved a little off.

This back is different from Beast Man and He-Man.  We get a nice large pic of the figure.  It still has the annoying foreign languages all over the package.  They should have made a different card for the foreign languages, and gave people something else to collect, rather than this all-inclusive strategy.  I like the white outline around the figure.

I took this pic when I removed him from the packaging.  Impressive!

Two Bad has no problem standing.  The weapon is cool,
sporting a hinge between the two pieces.

No big button behind this figure.  His arms are spring loaded themselves.

Notice that the Baddra side of Two-Bad is the exact same color as Spikor!  In this pic you can see that Two-Bad is noticeably shorter than the MOTUC figures.  :(  Also, both heads seem a tad smaller than He-Man and Beast Man's heads.

Here is a shot of all of my baddies together.  The best thing about Two Bad is he helps fill my ranks a bit!

So, what is my rating of Two-Bad?  I like that he is an improvement on the 1980's figure in every way.  His arms are way better.  The Horsemen sculpted him, and he is very detailed.  He has excellent weapons.  He stands nicely.  The only point was taken off because of his slightly off scale build, which was probably done to save money on a fig that was fully tooled.

I rate 200x Two-Bad 4/5.  Do you agree?  Let me know!

SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review....Sir Lazer Lot, Round 2

Once upon a time...a certain SpartanSmurf #2 set eyes on the most ridiculous Masters of the Universe Classics figures ever made, (except for maybe the Star Sisters or the Mighty Spector)...and it was love at first sight.  He said that he wanted it, and I was obliged to see that he got him.  I might have thought he looked like some kind of Papa Smurf wannabe, but if it was something He-Man related, and an actual child was interested, I was ready to deliver.

Sir Lazer Lot arrived, and several hours of play were had with him.  The SpartanSmurf #2 carried him places, and one fateful day decided to take him to school.

Now there was a thief committing thievery in those days.  And in fact, two Ninja Turtles had been stolen from his book bag already.  And Sir Lazer Lot was next.  So that makes two kids who thought he was swell.

(This thief was eventually caught.  But her (that's right, her) stolen items were never recovered, and so the SpartanSmurf remained brokenhearted and forever longing for him still.  He got other MOTUC characters...Flipshot, Faceless One, etc.  But one day he told me that he didn't play with them that much because they reminded him of Sir Lazer Lot and what happened.  Heartbreaking to hear this from an eight year old.

All of this came to a change yesterday, however!  When at the Barnyard Fleamarket in Greer, SC, we happened upon a toy vendor who sold tons of He-Man items.  I daresay I shall return!  One of the items on the wall was....SIR LAZER LOT!  So now, we have one that I can review, and the joy of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe has returned to the children in the SpartanNerd household.

Sir Lazer Lot came in the regular package.

Notice the little flash over the word, "Sir"  It says "Created By Geoff Johns.
Sir Lazer Lot was a part of the anniversary line of MOTUC figures.  We also have Draego Man.  You will also notice the price, $35.  But the guy cut me a deal since I also bought some other stuff from him.

The back sports a little Bio.  I personally like the digital comic that came out last year.  And along that line,
would like an un-helmeted head.  SLL is also one of the rare black characters.  So bring on the mask-less head!

This is quite odd.  I did some searching.  Nowhere does SLL have furry shorts except in this picture on the back of the card..

A close-up of that bio, if you care.

NOW FOR THE GOOD STUFF.

Really, as a comic-book knight, SLL is all right.  He might not seem to fit
the rest of MOTUC, but he isn't bad by himself.  Here I show a lofty battle pose.
This figure has tight joints.  He looks sort of graceful here, no?

Here is a charging pose.  The Laser sword is pretty cool.  And I like the tribal design on the shield.

The other accessory is what I call a big sucker.  It looks like a spiky lollipop.  It is supposed to be a laser mace....
SLL has the problem that Marvel Select Thor has.  His weapon wants to slide down..
If he holds the bottom, it doesn't look right.

I managed to capture it sliding down in his hand....

His left hand holds this better.  I have a theory...that the  sword handle is fatter than the mace handle.
So it has stretched the hand out somewhat.  The left hand hasn't been holding anything.
Which is why it is tighter.  Maybe.

Here is a backside shot.  This cape is pretty nice.  I don't care for the plume.  The plume is supposed to be sparks coming out of the top of the helmet.  I wish it were removable.  But hey, it isn't my toy anyways.

As a MOTUC figure, this guy is shaky.  And he shouldn't have been put out to honor the Masters of the Universe 25th anniversary.  The Castle Grayskull should have been what they put out.  Instead, you paid as much for the six figures that you probably didn't want half of, and paid around $300 anyways.  We could have got Draego Man some other way, he is so cool, and we probably would have.  We would have got Photog too, and also Castle Grayskull Man could have still been made.  But SLL, Mighty Spector, and Cy-Chop were kind of duds IMHO.

BUT.......Remember what I said at the beginning.  Sir Lazer Lot appeals to kids.  Guess what, SpartanSmurf #2 also said he wants Mighty Spector.  What can I say.  If Masters of the Universe is to live on with people younger than 30 years old, then it is going to have to make some headway with the children.  It is going to have to anchor in their hearts the way it has mine and the many other MOTU fans.

New Media, appropriate for the kids is needed here.  There needs to be a cartoon.  There needs to be a video game.  There needs to be a movie.  I have definite opinions about these.  And the media today isn't kid-friendly.  (For the most part I haven't allowed my kids to read the new MOTU comics.  The oldest kid can handle it, but not the younger.)

Major nerd tangent alert!

So SLL appeals to kids.  And that is what's important.  I wish more kids could see him.  And want him.  I wish there was a CGI cartoon featuring his adventures.  I wish there was a video game where he gets to slay dragons on the scale of Draego Man, or even Granymyr.  In short.  He gets a 4/5 for this potential.  He is solid as an action figure.  It is a stretch to make him a He-Man and the MOTU figure.  But he is.  And he does belong with Stinkor and Snout Spout.  I think I'll take another point, because we saw that Geoff Johns had designed a non-helmeted head in the comic, that we did not get here, and that was an African-America styled head at that.  So another ding.

My final rating is 3/5.  He is solid as a figure, and makes me dream of MOTU's future.  But we didn't get his awesome black unhelmeted head, and he doesn't necessarily fit with everyone else.  What is your opinion, oh Hub City Geeks?  Comment!

Masters of the Universe Classics Unboxing and Review...Weapons Rack!

Happy New Year!  Do you now have swag stacked upon boxes piled up on returns as well as items not yet sitting in a permanent spot?

My MOTUC characters have been like this for awhile...extra weapons scattered about, or stored away in a little baggie.  But not anymore!  Here is my review of the MOTUC Weapons Rack!

I wondered if this box was going to say "Weapons Rak."
It was misspelled on the Matty Collector Website!

The Weapons Rack was something I wanted when it came out, but couldn't fork over at the time.  And the way that Mattel does things, it disappeared and I never had a chance to get it again.  With Castle Grayskull having been on sale (didn't sell out as they predicted, did it?), They wanted to be sure that people could display the castle with the proper Weapons Rack.  After all, the vintage version CAME with a weapons rack, which is what this thing I bought is modeled after.

(I have not purchased a MOTUC Castle Grayskull.  There are a couple of problems. 1.I don't have that many figures.  2. It costs way too much.  3. Where would I put it?  I do however, think it is terrific, and am glad they made it.  Maybe someday I will have it.  But there are other ways I have to spend $300 + shipping right now.  I am a cheapskate, remember?)

Here's what you see when you open the box.  A nice window on card,
featuring the furniture and the weapons, packed in weapons pack style.

This is what is on the back.  Oddly, only one palace guard?

Here is a picture of the weapons that came with it.  The red ones are especially nice!  The silver ones have a little patina to them, that might not be coming through in my picture.  The silver ones are supposed to be an homage to the original weapons that came with Castle Grayskull, and the red ones are supposed to be an homage to "Man-E-Weapons."

Here is the rack, with nothing on it.
Rows of pegs to display your weapons!

Here is how I set it up at first.  Front view.  I like how there is a little post to put
the shields on on both sides, as well as pegs to hang some weapons on the sides.

Here is the back view of my initial setup.
Here you can see the mace hanging on the right side.

How do other weapons work with this, that is, other than those that came with it?  I decided to do a good and evil theme!

My evil theme!

My good theme!

What are the limits of the weapons rack?  I went and found all kinds of MOTUC weapons to load it down with!  Here is a front and back view!  Read the captions for a contest!

Can you identify all of these weapons, readers?!  Send a comment for prize!

I will respond back and you can send me your address!  (The prize will go to whoever names the most.  Look at both the front and back view pictures, please.)  

This weapons rack is worth fighting for!

My rating for the Weapons Rack?  5/5!  It is a superb sculpt, serves its purpose well, and looks amazing with the figures.

Masters of the Universe Classics Unboxing and Review....Sky High with Jet Sled

OK.  So I had some worry about this package arriving.  I ordered it on Cyber Monday, and it showed up on Dec. 23....(This was supposed to be a holiday special item).  As I worried, the tracking information indicated only that it was in Georgia.  I was going to call and complain, when lo and behold, the information updated to Greenville SC, and it was magically at my post office before the end of the day.

As I moved from my car to the house with box in hand, I thought..."Odd.  Seems a little light."  Indeed, compared to the box that came with the Griffin and Teela, it was a little lighter.  But it was something else that added to my worry....(was it really there?)

But on with the show.

The item was in the box...It was boxed in another mailer box, as expected.  I was halfway expecting one of the brown boxes that people have been getting.  Boxes that are supposedly more environmentally friendly or something.  But this is the exact same kind that all of my other figures have shipped in!

The first thing I noticed when I opened the mailer was WOW I CAN SEE THE DETAILS ON THAT SKY JET SLED ALREADY!

To clarify something, in case I slip.  I always called this vehicle "The Sky Sled."  And over the years I have named a few USB flash drives "Sky Sled."  Sometimes including a picture of the vehicle from the cartoon as the icon!  I realize that the terms may be interchangeable.  To me it is the Sky Sled.  To you it might be Jet Sled.  Tomato.  To-mah-toe.






When you get the box out, you see it is in a battle cat style window box, where you can also see the pilot, "Sky High."

And you flip the box over for these not so boring details.

You see, Sky High isn't a vintage figure.  So he has no back story except what they included here.

Sky High was one of the  model kit pilots from the rarely seen model kit box art.  Wow that's obscure!  He really belongs alongside the Fighting Foe Men, who I am a fan of, but do not own.  I think the bio-story here is separated from the FFM because the FFM were meant to pay homage to the Four Horsemen's staff, and Sky High here not so much.

(I run into another nerd problem.  Does Sky High fly the Sky Sled?  That sounds stupid.  His real listed name here is "Darid."  Darid flying a Sky Sled sounds better.)

I suppose I will go ahead and review him.

This is a cool new figure, that seems to largely reuse parts.  I don't own Trap Jaw, but it seems his lower body is just Trap Jaw's stuff.  That is new armor, and a new helmet, but I think those gloves may be Sir Lazer Lot's.  Since the SLL at my house was stolen....








He comes with a weapon that represents the Wind Raider.  It fits in his hand in the middle, making a "fan sword" like Hotaru used in Mortal Kombat Deception.  Or you can clip it to his back to make a jetpack.  I personally think the paint job is excellent.  I don't see any slop. I like his color scheme as well.

Sky High here feels generic.  Kind of like Vikor, Blonde Teela, Draego Man, or the Griffin.  He could be any pilot, really, and that is what is cool about him.  You see, you could just forget there is someone named "Darid," whose nickname is "Sky High."  This could simply be someone's flight suit!  Just do a head swap!  Or maybe He-Man was feeling safety conscious, so he wore a helmet on his romp towards Snake Mountain in the Jet Sled.

Tired of seeing Teela as a Blonde?  (The head swap doesn't really work here.  Her peg is too small.)

How nerdy is the SpartanNerd?  Sky High's mask reminds me of Maximillian from "The Black Hole."  I think it is the facelessness of him.  And those eyes.  He also resembles Boba Fett somewhat.

This guy is heading for Hell.  (At the end of the Black Hole!)

Now for the good stuff!  THE SKY JET SLED!

It is amazing!  Should I get a Wind Raider!?  I am super impressed with the SKY SLED!  Those sculpted details that I first saw when opening the box are all over it!  There isn't one lazy decal anywhere!  Just sculpted, painted, fine details.

I love the Sky Sled so much because it was a Good Buys/ Bad Guys vehicle.  Though you never seemed to see the baddies driving one connected to the Battle Ram.  Somehow, I also seem to think that the bad guy version looked just a tad more evil, like maybe had a more definite dragon head rather than the cat/bird looking thing the good guys had.*  Hey.  Maybe I'm wrong, but I did remember Maximillian!


Pictures are worth 1000 words.  So here goes!

Classic!

I have virtually never seen a vintage Sky Sled who still had the stickers intact.  That will never be a problem with this model!

Both sides are the same.  Here I would like to say, clearly this was designed for a future Battle Ram to dock with.

The underside of the Jet Sled also has a ton of detail, and...What's with that hole?  It is a hole for the Wind Raider flight stand.  (Not included here.  So maybe I SHOULD get a Wind Raider too?)  You can also see where the horsemen have added some additional guns!

What does Sky High look like on this vehicle?  Pretty cool.  But why fly a Sky Sled if you have a jet pack?

The black handles are nice.  But in a way they don't feel as rustic as the vintage method of the figures hanging on.

You can see that my vintage Battle Ram and Jet Sled have really done some serious ramming over the years.

I am including some comparison pictures.  The Jet Sled here along with pilot is as large as the vintage version COMBINED WITH THE BATTLE RAM!  That just shows that the real scale differences in the MOTUC figures and the vintage figures.

"It's comparison time!"

The Jet Sled feels just as hollow as the original, and I am sure it is.  The original has a pretty definite seam running up the line of symmetry...The same thing seems to be the case here, so I wouldn't REALLY send it in the air, as I am certain it would break in half.  This explains the "lightness" of the packaging I am sure, as it is hollow plastic.  That said, the seam isn't pronounced, and really just adds to the vintage feel of the thing!


I rate Sky High 5/5 as far as a flight suit is concerned.  3/5 as a Masters character.  I mean, I am deducting points here simply for the fact that he wasn't ever originally there, and is non-essential to people who are really only interested in updated versions of the vintage figures.  His model pilot origins are pretty obscure, so my question here is, why not have included a different figure here?  Someone more deserving.  You could have put Dekker here, (or who taught him?).  You could have included Trap Jaw or Tri-Clops (technology type bad guys).  Or even another Man-At-Arms.  Why put someone new here and "waste" a SKU, (as Mr. Nitelich points out is necessary to do a figure.)  Or even this.  How about white space-suit Marlena that people seem to want, or an articulated Battle Suit for Castle Grayskull, which was on sale at THE EXACT SAME TIME.  (See...The SpartanNerd knows how this should have been done!)

How do you sell Jet Sleds?

But the Jet Sled gets 5/5...A solid, Solid, SOLID 100%.  It feels vintage.  Plays vintage.  But is totally updated in scale and quality.

Now, I can't wait until they release a Battle Ram to go with it!

*James Eatock uses the term "War Sled" when referring to the one Skeletor is riding on the "He-man and She-Ra Christmas Special" commentary, which is on You Tube.  I have never heard this term, but like it as a contrast in that it sounds more evil.  (I will never argue with Busta Toons, and you shouldn't either!)  Oddly, Skeletor is flying a version that has extra room on the seat, as if he intended to carry two earth children when it was designed!