March is nearly over but we are far from finished discussing the releases from the Masters of the Universe Classics line by Mattel. March will go down as one controversial month for the fabled MOTUC line with the release of a New Adventures character in figure form and the unveiling of the mysterious figure: the Unnamed One! Well… at least we got a cool map? Read on for the look at these two figures!
Hydron
Originally released in the New Adventures of He-Man toy line, Hydron is the third Galactic Protector released for the MOTUC line (this includes NA He-Man.) He comes packed in the typical MOTUC packaging. There is a very bulky appearance to the figure in the package. The colors look very nice through the bubble.
Flipped around, the card has the standard previous MOTUC releases. (I keep waiting for the one day where the MOTUC surprises me with something different.) There’s nothing but NA love on the back card. I can’t help but feel a little bad for NA. This is literally the entire line up of the NA figures from the MOTUC line. It seems crazy that this is all NA fans have gotten. I’ve actually grown to like the NA characters. I never really cared for NA He-Man. The cartoon never really had enough for me to get devoted to the stories, but these new figures have been sculpted within an inch of their lives and they simply work.
Hydron’s bio is very interesting. The MOTUC bios have been very fascinating with the story unfolding towards certain factions. Since the NA characters came around towards the end of the story, their bios give hints to how Mattel wants to wrap this stuff all up. Not that the bios are the end all for the He-Man and She-Ra mythos. I tend to prefer my own imaginative stories for these kooky characters.
Out of the package Hydron is ready to fight in space and under the sea! His size is pretty impressive. Articulation is similar to the other figures. His joints are tight; nothing is loose at all on this figure. The helmet is large, but not too large. I absolutely love the colors and over all aquatic theme of this figure. On a side note, the sea accessories did not come with this figure at all.
Turned around, the yellow pack on his back really adds to the unique look of Hydron. The pack can come off, but the different shades of blue with this yellow really make the figure pop.
Up close the vest is highly detailed. I enjoy the tubes and fan. Everything looks really fun. Though there is this issue of the giant helmet on his head. I bet you are wondering if it can be removed, huh?
It can! Which I think is just the coolest thing. After removing the yellow pack on his back and the tubes across the helmet, the clear helmet easily slides off revealing Hydron’s nice detailed head sculpt. The fin on his head adds to his aquatic theme. Sadly the mouthpiece cannot come off of Hydron, which I would have liked to see.
This shot shows off more of the detail with the fin and the back piece with the yellow pack off. I know virtually nothing about this guy. I remember the toy from the vintage line only vaguely. As I mentioned I never really watched this show, but this figure is nice looking.
Also included with Hydron is his Triton Spear Gun. Both images above should show off the detail of this weapon. It is a very interesting piece and is a nice break from all the swords and shields that most MOTUC figures come with.
Placing the Spear Gun in Hydron’s hand is not the easiest, but once in, the gun does look fitting with Hydron. He’s ready to fight against all kinds of vile villains!
Or maybe he is just waiting for a certain mermaid to show up in the line… I really enjoy aquatic themed characters in a toy line and this whole image shares just why I plan on keeping Hydron in my collection. (Which, I never expected to be doing.)
Grade: A (I may not have the nostalgia bug for this figure, but he does look like a nice figure.)
Unnamed One
If you have not seen the images of the Unnamed One yet, do not keep reading! If you don’t care, by all means, keep reading! The Unnamed One was the 2014 Subscription exclusive figure for the line. A figure so exclusive that fans weren’t going to know the identity of the figure until the figure showed up on folk’s doorsteps. (This would not be the case of course since images would leak online long before the figure would come out.) Either way, there was a great deal of suspense regarding just how this figure would look. This is what we got…
I’m not sure what to say. At first glance the Unnamed One looks like an evil Orko. There is a lot of detail given to this small figure. So let’s get the big elephant out of the room. This is not what I had thought of in terms of the Unnamed One. I don’t know exactly what I was thinking we would get, but I know this is not it. This figure looks like something we have already seen before, even if there are new sculpted parts.
However, I don’t exactly hate this figure either. I think the problem is that there was a great deal of expectation riding on the reveal of the Unnamed One. If I were to see this figure in another form of media I’d think it was cool. It doesn’t look awful, I just had expected more. The Unnamed One comes with a Green Lantern-inspired magical burst piece, a staff, a comic, and an alternate head. Not too shabby. But I must say, why couldn’t we have gotten a cool snake lady figure? I would have died for the exclusive Unnamed One to turn out being some female snake lady as the creator of the Snake Men. With that said, I don’t mind thinking of this figure as Dre-elle, the female Trollan that fell in love with Orko. (Hey, this version of Dre-Elle is simply her on a drunken bender.)
The back of Uno’s card features some mega evil bad guys from the MOTUC line. The Snake Men are featured heavily on here and for good reason! They are a major part of Uno’s bio.
Essentially the Unnamed One created the Snake Men. His name is also Gorpo, which sounds like something one could order at Taco Bell. I am just really torn on this figure. On the one hand the figure does not look awful, but on the other it could have been so much more. I really liked the idea of a Snake Lady character being the reason that the Snake Men were created, not what comes out to be an evil looking Orko. With all that said though, I am not as upset as some fans are. At this point in the line I am far more interested in seeing it finished. Come on summer of 2014, I’m ready for the Club Etheria Subscription.
Grade: (I’m choosing not to grade this figure. But if we never see a Dre-Elle figure, I will be content knowing that I have an evil looking version of her.)
Bonus: Horde Empire Map!
Every year the MOTUC subscription not only issues out the exclusive figure, but also the bonus map of our favorite He-Man and She-Ra worlds. We’ve gotten maps based off of Eternia, Etheria, Preternia, and Subternia. Now we have a map of the Horde Empire! Check out the images below.
I like this map for its uniqueness. I love that there is a map of the solar system according to Mattel. Space is always one of those fun places that I’d never like to visit and this extra addition is a fun item to look at. Enjoy the images and learning more about the inter-connectedness of the Horde Empire, Earth’s quick trip to Eternia, and all the other various planets that are just brimming with interesting life forms ready to take down or help the cause of He-Man and She-Ra. Some interesting points to note are that one of Eternia’s moons is called Bright Moon, which I wonder if there’s any relation to the Bright Moon on Etheria. I also noticed that Huntara’s home of Sylax is missing, so I am curious where that place falls into the grand scheme of the universe. Either way, this is a very fun map. I really enjoy the maps that are included in the subscriptions. So until next month, enjoy this MOTUC review!
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