Layers of Action Figures, Pumpkins, and Masters of the Universe toys in a rich, chocolatey coating!
I realize that I didn't review the three previous Masters of the Universe Origins playsets I own (Snake Mountain, Eternia, and the Fright Zone) and I didn't preorder/ crowdfund the Snake Lair, but I definitely wanted to check out the Slime Pit. Excuse me, I mean the Fright Pit. Yes, the 1986 vintage toy was called the Slime Pit because it used Mattel's own Slime (which they created and introduced…
Now that Masters of the Universe (2026) is on Amazon Prime, I've had the chance to watch it again. The second viewing has been incredibly enjoyable and I really do like the movie quite a bit. It's so much fun and the costume designs are incredible. Take Ram Man and Fisto here, who were released as a two pack exclusive to Amazon; Don't these guys look almost exactly like their toy and cartoon…
If you're a regular around here then you know that Moss Man is my favorite Masters of the Universe character. I'm nuts about the guy and I'm always down for a new Moss Man figure. I'm even down for guys who kind of remind me of Moss Man, and that's why I'm reviewing Arboryous from Formo Toys' Legends of Dragonore line today. This guy is an incredible looking figure that is very inspired by the…
I intended to review quite a few G.I. Joe: Classified Series figures in July in celebration of the semiquincentennial of the United States of America but I've been a bit buys and this is the first figure I've had the chance to look at: David "Crazylegs" Thomas from the retro carded releases. While we already received Crazylegs in the Classified Series back in 2024 , that version was based on the…
I'm finally ready to check out the last of the four action figures I picked up from Fresh Monkey Fiction & Big Bad Workshop's The Order of the Crimson Moon line: Wolfsbane! Who is Wolfsbane? He's a mercenary who supplies weapons and provides knowledge on arcane magic to the Order of the Crimson Moon. He's a cool arms dealer sporting black leather with red highlights, metal hands, and wrist mounted…
I ordered three of Big Bad Workshop's Soldiers of Fortune figures when the preorders went up and while I reviewed the first two back in May ( The Agent/ The Spy- Black Tuxedo and The Agent/ The Enemy- Light Blue ), it's taken me a couple months to get to the third: The Saboteur! The cool thing about Soldiers of Fortune is that the figures are generic enough to fill various gaps in your 1/12th…
Since I reviewed Gray last week , it seems fitting to review his main adversary this week: The Great Black Wizard! Like Gray (and He-Ro, Sharella, Red Shadow, King Grayskull, and Veena), the Great Black Wizard is a character from Preternia, Eternia's ancient past. Now part of The Powers of Grayskull subset, the Great Black Wizard was created by Axel Gimenez during the Mattel Masters of the…
Let's check out the third of the four The Order of the Crimson Moon figures I ordered from Big Bad Toy Store a few months back: A nameless, faceless member of the cult itself, the Order of the Crimson Moon. Yes, this guy seems to be a generic army builder figure who is a member of the werewolf cult and he comes with three different hooded heads to allow for some variation if you're army building…
Today I'm really excited to check out one of the Mattel Masters of the Universe Origins: The Powers of Grayskull figures: Gray! Yes, Gray, the son of King Grayskull and Queen Veena and the secret identity of He-Ro. That's a newer background for the character, though. Gray existed as a character back between 1985 to 1987 during the planned Masters of the Universe expansion "The Powers of Grayskull"…
I really appreciate the great response and kind comments I've received for my review of Count Ironmoon from Fresh Monkey Fiction and Big Bad Workshop's The Order of the Crimson Moon toyline so today I'm excited to check out Major Noir, another figure in the line who pays tribute to the Action Force villains from the vintage Palitoy toyline. The Order of the Crimson Moon is definitely a spinoff…
Want to check out a somewhat obscure Masters of the Universe villain? Then let's take a look at Blast-Attak from Masters of the Universe Origins. Blast-Attak was part of the 1987 series of action figures and is a bit unusual as he was initially listed as an Evil Warrior summoned by Skeletor but his minicomic appearance shows him as being part of the Snake Men as a creation of King Hiss. He's an…
Some of you might be wondering where I've been for the past couple weeks as it's been about that long since I last published a review. We actually went on a family vacation and took a sleeper train (with a dining car) to New Orleans for a week. It was a lot of fun and I had the chance to ride in an airboat, go on a ghost tour, eat at a vampire cafe, visit some great book stores, visit a filming…
Mattel is releasing quite a few figures from the Mike Young Productions/ 200x cartoon in the Masters of the Universe Origins: Cartoon Collection subset and I recently picked up Tri-Klops, so I figured I'd take a look at him. How cool is it that we're getting so much product from that era? Remember when Mattel couldn't say enough that the "Hyper Anime Detail" style was retired? Well, now we're…
Today I'm finally starting to check out The Order of the Crimson Moon, the latest collaboration between Fresh Monkey Fiction and Big Bad Workshop. This line shares parts with other Big Bad Workshop lines such as Operation: Monster Force, Soldiers of Fortune, and C.O.P.S. & Crooks but has a unique story set in the 1970s that involves a Transylvanian werewolf cult, the Order of the Crimson Moon.…
Today I'm checking out another figure from Mattel's "Core" Masters of the Universe movie line : Mekaneck, the Heroic Human Periscope. Like with my review of the Skel-Knight last week, I'm planning on talking about this figure, sure, but I'm also planning to talk about the move a bit. If you haven't seen Masters of the Universe yet, I'd definitely encourage you to go. I really enjoyed the movie and…
Back near the end of April or early May the two newest World Warriors from Jadas Toys' Ultra Street Fighter 2: The New Challengers arrived on my doorstep: Balrog and E. Honda. I'm going to kick things off with Balrog, the last of the four original "Bosses" from Street Fighter II. Balrog is probably my least favorite character to play as in the classic games since he only throws punches but he's a…
The 2026 Masters of the Universe movie is now out and I had the chance to see it on Thursday night. I absolutely loved it! It's an incredibly fun and colorful love letter to the property filled with fun Easter eggs and deep cuts for the fans and I look forward to speaking more about it in the days ahead. This is not a review for the film, though, so I'm not really going to delve into much that I…
So, know, this isn't a Masters of the Universe review, but I've had Emma Frost (Diamond Form) sitting on my desk for a month or two and I decided it's finally time to check her out. Emma Frost has received a few figures over the past five years or so and this one is a Target exclusive that's part of the Marvel Legends Retro Collection. What's that mean? She comes on a classic Toy Biz inspire card…
The Masters of the Universe movie is upon us! That's something that seemed like it would never happen, right? My local theater doesn't start showing it until Thursday evening but, from folks who have seen it who love MOTU, I've heard nothing but good things. I'm going to be checking out quite a bit of MOTU stuff this month but first up I'm checking out a new MOTU Origins release from 2026:…
I am incredibly excited to finally check out Bulletproof, the first release from Big Bad Workshop and Fresh Monkey Fiction's 1/12th scale C.O.P.S. 'n Crooks line. I love Hasbro's C.O.P.S. 'N Crooks line from 1988 and I collected it pretty actively as a kid. Heck, I still have most of my vintage figures , though I have sold off a couple figures and vehicles over the years. While C.O.P.S. 'N Crooks…
It's usually pretty exciting when one of the Original 13 G.I. Joe figures gets made in the Classified Series as those 13 original characters definitely hold a special place in the hearts of many collectors and fans of the comic. I wasn't even born when the first series of A Real American Hero figures was released but I still love that team, particularly due to their excellent characterization by…
I found two of newest series of Retro carded G.I. Joe: Classified Series on a store shelf a couple months back and then received the third in the mail directly from Hasbro Pulse. This series includes the female Crimson Guard, Zap, and Crazylegs. Let's start checking these out by taking a look at the female version of the Crimson Guard. The first Classified Series version of the Crimson Guard…
Back in 2024 Hasbro released some action figures of "generic" soldiers in the Classified Series to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the original G.I. Joe. Since then they've released four soldiers (an Action Sailor, Action Marine, Action Pilot, and Action Soldier) along with a firefighter and a police officer. Today I'm checking out the newest figure in this subset, the Action Soldier…
With the release of The Mandalorian and Grogu this week, I am well aware that I don't review many Star Wars: The Black Series figures these days. The main reason is that there just aren't that many releases that interest me. Please bring back some high quality Star Wars Micro Machines and playsets, Hasbro! Still, every now and then a figure comes around like Kyle Katarn or Dash Rendar that…
I don't believe I haven't reviewed a G.I. Joe: Classified Series figure since last month! It's time to remedy that as I have a few more lined up for review, starting with today's Cobra-La Royal Guard. Cobra-La is definitely getting more respect these days with their inclusion in the Energon Universe comic books by Skybound and the excellent redesigns we're seeing in the Classified Series, which is…