Masters of the Universe Classics: Scare Glow

I don't pretend to know a lot about the Masters of the Universe, but when Mattel was launching their Masters Classics series via Mattycollector.com back in 2008 I was hooked. I purchased just about every figure released...probably because of that dang "collect them all" mentality that often sets in. However when I first saw the solicitation images of Scare Glow I could not wait to get him in my hands.

Just look at this figure! Everything about it just screams awesome. Did I mention that he glows in the dark too? Whether or not Scare Glow is the ghost of Skeletor or just a ghost that Skeletor commands from time to time, this figure looks great. He comes with his Scythe of Doom and a chained weapon of some sorts. 

Mattel loved to re-use and re-color the various body parts used to comprise the plethora of Masters of the Universe figures so it should come as no surprise that Scare Glow shares Skeletor's legs and feet.

The new, unique head sculpt is what really puts this figure over the top. The crack in the head, the recessed red eyes and the craggly teeth gives this guy a very spooky look...whether he's glowing in the dark or not.

The rest of his body is painted just like his vintage figure. He's got the full body look, but once the lights are turned off you've essentially got yourself a glowing skeleton! His purple cape is removable if you want more of that skeleton look.

I don't really know what this chained item is. Is it a weapon? Is it some sort of key? Al I know is that it attaches to his wrist via a bracelet and has a metal chain. On the end is a very intricate Castle Grayskull "carved" into the item.

While I don't collect Masters of the Universe figures anymore, this is one figure that I would've held onto had it not been for the amount of money he once commanded on the secondary market.

So long MOTUC

Well, kind of.  The troubles with being a collector with varied interests are plentiful.  When I had to consolidate the two rooms I had at the house into one I lost a lot of "real estate" for displaying my toys and such.  I feel like I'm constantly weeding things out of my collection to make room for something else.  This is one of those times.

As a child of the early 80's I was totally fascinated by a lot of cartoons and toy lines of the era, but I never was a huge fan of Masters of the Universe.  I never found the cartoon to be that entertaining.  If I'm being honest I thought it was rather dumb.  It also was launched before I really cared about toys.  By the time it hit shelves I was already enamored by the likes of Transformers and G.I. Joe.  What more could a kid want?!

When Ink and Paint released the original Filmation MOTU series on DVD I bought up most of the sets...I guess for nostalgia reasons.  As I re-watched the original show as an adult I began to grow a little more fond of the characters and the series as a whole.  Then I saw the Mike Young Productions cartoon.

The MYP animation and story telling was fantastic.  Since I wasn't a long time, hard core He-Man fan I could appreciate some of the changes they made (such as making Prince Adam a youngster).  That's around the same time that I discovered the awesome He-Man.org website and read up about everything and anything MOTU.  When Mattel got around to releasing the 200X series of figures based on the new MYP 'toon I bought up just about everything I could find.  Then like a lot of collectors I grew tired of the countless different versions of both He-Man and Skeletor that seemed to be shoved down our throats.

I eventually picked up a few of the NECA "staction figures" that the Four Horsemen continued to sculpt, but you could tell the end was near for MOTU.  Fast forward to 2008 and Mattel had once again teamed up w/ the Four Horsemen to develop the Masters of the Universe Classics line.  Based on the original designs with some modern tweaks, the series was a huge hit.  Figures were made available one per month (for starters at least) via Mattel's new web store, MattyCollector.com.  The first handful of figures would sell out within minutes after being made available to the general public.

2009 offered up a subscription service so fans didn't have to go through all of the hoop-la that was MattyCollector.  I bought every figure in 2008 and grab a subscription for 2009 and was happy w/ the decision.  Somewhere along the line though things just started to spiral down and my interest started to wane.  Perhaps it was the cost (originally $20 a figure + shipping) or maybe it was the craptacular customer service from MattyCollector and or Digital River.

This year I believe I've bought 4 figures - Kobra Kahn, Stinkor, Snake Man Man-At-Arms and Spikor.  I wanted the recent Snake Men 2 pack, but with the costs rising and a few other factors I decided to skip them.  Today I stand at a cross roads.  While my passion has dwindled a bit, I still can appreciate the great figures...but if you didn't already know my #1 toy line is Transformers.  Always has and will probably always will be.

That said I decided to cull at least half of my current MOTUC collection - keeping only a handful of figures that still have ties to the 200X series.  I couldn't figure out how I wanted to sell my unwanted figures at first.  Do I try some forums and sell directly to fellow collectors?  Do I try Yardsellr where I've had modest success at selling misc unwanted toys?  Or do I pony up and eat the fees and sell them on eBay?

I decided to take the eBay route as it was the fastest method of moving these figures.  I figured the sooner I can get rid of them the sooner I'd have some cash and free up a section on one of my shelves.  After all, I need more room for my ever growing Transformers collection!

If by chance you are interested in buying any MOTUC figures please contact me (flywheels at yahoo.com) or check out my listings on eBay.  It's been fun Mattel, but it's time for me to move on.

Masters of the Universe Classics: Webstor

QUICK INFO:
Name: Webstor
Line: Masters of the Universe Classics
Year: September 2009
Price: $19.99
Info: MattyCollector.com exclusive


Today we'll take a look at last month's Masters of the Universe Classics release from MattyCollector.com. As I'm writing this I'm waiting in my wife's hospital room waiting to become a dad for the very first time! What that means to you, the reader, is this review may be a little sporadic since I guess you could say my mind is a little distracted!

Webstor comes packaged without his body armor or backpack attached...similar to how his vintage figure was packaged. Like most MOTU figures his body is comprised of parts from previously released figures.

I love his head sculpt. The Four Horsemen hit a home run here. The red eyes really pop out on the blue skin and the additional eyes on the forehead are just large enough that they stand out. His large white teeth that protrude from the face gives him a very menacing look. It almost looks as if he's grinning in a devilish way.

Webstor's backpack now features 4 articulated spider legs modeled after the Mike Young Productions / Masters of the Universe 200x series. These attached legs are a ball type joint and allows the legs to be posed a few different configurations. The backpack itself also features a zip line of sorts. One end of the line has a small plastic tab while the other end has a 3 pronged wench or hook. The backpack slides freely along the attached rope. I will mention that the plastic used on the hook is very soft and could easily warp if you tried to hang the hook on anything. I'm sure this was done for various child safety laws. On the back side of the backpack are 4 rectangle pegs that allow it fasten onto the back side of the body armor. I found it a little tricky to get 2 of the 4 pegs to firmly stay in place, but with a little effort they plugged into place and haven't given me any problems.

As I mentioned above the spider legs do have a good bit of articulation allowing you to fold them down behind Webstor. That way if you aren't a fan of the 200x design you can have a more classic looking villain.

I love the spider leg look to Webstor, but I have to say I'm just as impressed with his "classic" look as well.

Webstor also comes with his classic orange blaster that he can wield in either hand. Ever since this figure was revealed I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. I loved he character in the Mike Young Productions cartoon series and this figure does a great job at capturing the animation model...although this figure seems to have more muscle or heft than NECA's staction figure resin statue. Whether you're a fan of the classic design or the more modern 200x do your self a favor and pick this up. As of this post the figure has already sold out on MattyCollector.com, but thanks in part to the subscription service that kicked in in September 2009 the figure lasted much longer on the website. This has also helped keep the price at a respectable level with third party vendors. I've read some reviews were people nit picked about some small blemishes on Webstor's back or with the softness of the plastic, but I honestly don't these things take anything away from the figure. My only quip with this figure is that the rope on the backpack is rather long and can get in the way. Other than that this figure is a must have and fits in well with Skeletor's other evil henchmen.