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
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.
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| This guy is heading for Hell. (At the end of the Black Hole!) |
Now for the good stuff! THE
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!
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| Classic! |
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| I have virtually never seen a vintage Sky Sled who still had the stickers intact. That will never be a problem with this model! |
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| Both sides are the same. Here I would like to say, clearly this was designed for a future Battle Ram to dock with. |
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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!
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| The black handles are nice. But in a way they don't feel as rustic as the vintage method of the figures hanging on. |
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You can see that my vintage Battle Ram and Jet Sled have really done some serious ramming over the years.
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| "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!)
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| 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!
