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Flea Market Fun: M.U.S.C.L.E. in My Pocket
I haven’t written anything for a while, so I thought I’d get back into the swing of things with a flea market find. I hit my local flea market last month, which snuck in before the region was blanketed with a beautiful white layer of what the local news referred to as “heart attack snow”. So the place was fairly busy for December, with more things to see than I expected.
Nickelodeon’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: April O’Neil
No TMNT line would be complete without their link to the human world, April O’Neil. Since I collect April figures, there’s no way I would pass her up, but was she worth it?
Zombiepaper: The complete lineup so far features the turtles, Shredder, a Foot Soldier, Splinter, April O’Neil, Kraang, Metalhead, Fishface, and Dogpound.
Super Mario Large Figure Collection: Koopa Troopa
On a recent stop into Kmart I was quite surprised to see a Koopa Troopa from the 5″ Super Mario figure line looking down at me from the top shelf. I love these Mario figures and new ones are so few and far between. I had to have it.
Masters of the Universe Classics: Cy-Chop
A creation of Mattel designer Terry Higuchi, the penultimate figure in the MOTUC 30th Anniversary subline is Cy-Chop, joining Fearless Photog, Draego-Man, The Mighty Spector, and Sir Laser-Lot. This has to be the most unusual figure in the bunch. So let’s take a look.
Masters of the Universe Classics: Rattlor
Rattlor is one figure that I’m not entirely sure I remember having as a kid. He seems really familiar and yet unfamiliar. I know I had King Hiss and Tung Lashor and liked both of them a lot, but I probably just remember Rattlor from their packaging and minicomics. Well, I definitely have him now, but this time he’s bigger, has more articulation and a better paint job.
Masters of the Universe Classics: Frosta Review
It’s good to finally be getting a core member of the Great Rebellion in MOTUC again. It’s been a while. So far there’s been 3 versions of She-Ra, Bow, a trio of one-episode-wonders, and a horse. Frosta has been my most anticipated She-Ra character and one of my most anticipated MOTU characters overall. Could be because she has a decent design with a color scheme that doesn’t make your eyes bleed, or that one amusing episode where she’s pawing all over He-Man while he looks pretty uncomfortable about it. Either way, I like the character and wanted a 7″ hunk of plastic that looks like her. So how did she turn out?
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Masters of the Universe Classics: Great Unrest Weapons Pak Review
Why aren’t there more accessory packs these days? Back in the 80s you could buy packs of weapons, armor and equipment for your figures or vehicles. MOTU had them, G.I. Joe had them, and (personal favorite of mine that doesn’t get talked about much these days) Wheeled Warriors had them. The 3rd (4th if you count the Weapons Rack) such pack in MOTUC is the Great Unrest Weapons Pak, which is the first one to include newly tooled accessories instead of just redecos. A number of items that were cut from figures due to cost this year have been included in this pack, as well as some fan requested items.
Masters of the Universe Classics: Scareglow Review
I’ve been wanting to review some older figures, and with Halloween coming up, I thought Scareglow might be a good choice. Scareglow was one of the later figures in the vintage line and didn’t get produced in the same numbers as earlier figures, so it’s pretty hard to find now. I didn’t even know it existed until more than a decade later. With its glow-in-the-dark feature, it’s exactly the sort of thing I would’ve loved though. Scareglow is now updated to Classics standards, so let’s see how it turned out.
Masters of the Universe Classics: Snake Men 2-Pack Review
The Snake Men didn’t get much exposure in the 80s. They were the focus of a couple of comics, and Rattlor and Tung Lashor showed up in the Filmation She-Ra series at times as members of Horde and other times as Skeletor’s goons. The 2002 Mike Young Productions cartoon featured them as the main villains of season 2 though, and King Hsss had an army of unnamed Snake Men warriors at his command. So an army-builder 2-pack of Snake Men seemed like a great idea for MOTUC.
Masters of the Universe Classics: Dragon Blaster Skeletor Review
I didn’t have the regular Skeletor when I was little, with Battle Armor Skeletor filling that role. That was a cool toy, but once I got Dragon Blaster Skeletor it became my favorite variant. He wore armor with a dragon clinging to his back, with the same water spitting action feature as Kobra Khan. It was great! However, under the armor was just a regular Skeletor, so after I found some accessories at a garage sale, he was also able to become my regular Skeletor. Now he’s back with the usual MOTUC update in detail and articulation. He lost the vintage figure’s action feature, like most MOTUC, but with a new mix of parts, you may be able to armor swap your way into your own preferred version(s) of Skeletor.
