Masters of the Universe: Masterverse

Cracked open the BBTS shipment and man, I just love this line. It's not as fancy as some lines, but it's just a workhorse run of figures.
  • She-Ra: I get the critiques about how she looks too much like a real person--looks like she's got face print work going on, whereas most of these figures look more like cartoons or toys, so she's a bit of an outlier, but I don't dislike the look. Her left hip sticks a bit, but I think I can work it out with some heat. Had the same issue with Evil-Lyn, too. I actually ordered She-Ra from BBTS not realizing I had a preorder in with Walmart, but Walmart's dropped the ball on half my preorders lately so I reckon I'll cancel unless I really can't fix this hip joint.
  • Claws Skeletor: The really can't miss with Skeletor, can they? I will admit my vision is garbage enough I struggle to line up his hands inside the mitts, but I like his overall design enough I wish he came with a sword or something!
  • Ninjor: How'd they take a character I REALLY didn't care about and make him legit cool? I never had Ninjor as a kid so he's not a villain I gravitate toward, but this character has so many nice little design choices. He's fantastic.
The Havoc Throne is a fricken riot. I love that the box doubles as a display piece - GIVE ME A REASON TO KEEP THIS BEAUTIFUL PACKAGING! And I really dig the included Skeletor. I mean he's a lot of parts from other Skeletors, but the wash they gave him adds a depth to him I really like.

Meanwhile I was feeling non-committal about what to do with myself after work, just wandering the house, and stared pulling out Masterverse villains who aren't currently on display and can I just throw some love at the first Mer-Man they offered, the scarred up old man Mer-Man? The scars are painted on so it's not technically impressive, and even his blind eye is just paint over a regular eye, but he's just... you know when an action figure tells a story just standing there? He does that. He looks like he's seen ten nautical miles of rough waters and is ready to see ten thousand more.
 
Last edited:
docsilence said:
Meanwhile I was feeling non-committal about what to do with myself after work, just wandering the house, and stared pulling out Masterverse villains who aren't currently on display and can I just throw some love at the first Mer-Man they offered, the scarred up old man Mer-Man? The scars are painted on so it's not technically impressive, and even his blind eye is just paint over a regular eye, but he's just... you know when an action figure tells a story just standing there? He does that. He looks like he's seen ten nautical miles of rough waters and is ready to see ten thousand more.
Click to expand...
I am non-committal every day after work and spend a lot of time wandering my figure rooms doing just that. I just love that we have so many Mer-Man figures in MOTU. He is one of the few that I even bought the Mondo 1/6th scale figure of too, just because I'm such a fan of Mer-Man. He has definitely been shown some love by Mattel over the years.
 
This line is slowly shifting to my favorite.

Despite my love for GIJOE: classified. The amount of Joe stuff they make is so large that its hard to keep up...then there's all the repaints, qc issues, Wal mart and target and Hasbro pulse exclusives that sell out inexplicably fast...

It can add an element of stress to a hobby that's supposed to get -rid- of stress. With masterverse, I just get a chunky piece of plastic that feels great in hand, and is pleasing to the eye, has cool color contrasts, mixed materials, and like I said before, the little "Easter eggs" on the figures that we get to find out when we hold them in hand.

I find myself genuinely excited for my Ninjor to arrive.

I'd love if Masterverse got into the SNAKE MEN.

king hsss

Squeeeze

rattlor

more of the horde too...
Masterverse Mantenna with four legs and that freaky monster face from the action figure...not the cutified cartoon....

a new Whoredak with grey skin and that terrifying toy based head.
multiple weapon arms etc.
 
Mantenna is actually coming to Masterverse. I know he and Mosquitor are scheduled for this year. Kobra Khan as well, so hopefully they do get into the Snake Men more after him. New Eternia King Hiss, Tung Lashor, Rattlor, and Squeeze could all be amazing.
 
Swoop716 said:
Despite my love for GIJOE: classified. The amount of Joe stuff they make is so large that its hard to keep up...then there's all the repaints, qc issues...
Click to expand...
Classified is having a rough year. There have been next to no releases in the first half of 2025; Zandar is the only one I've personally picked up. Meanwhile there's hundreds of dollars worth on pre-order, complicated by certain stores adding tariff charges. It sucks seeing renders of figures we won't have in-hand for another year. People dislike that and it kills interest in toy lines. You can't keep interest in what's next if you're showing what comes after that, just something I've noticed in common with action figure and doll communities I'm in.

Just talking product, it's hard to disagree. Masterverse is less prone to stuck joints, less prone to wobbly hips, less fiddly, and rarely comes with accessories that you are afraid of losing. I sometimes like to take action figures to bed with me, to relax while examining their detail and do some basic posing. Can't do that with Joes, I'll lose a magazine or find myself fully alert when the shoulder doesn't want to rotate. Even my most boring Masterverse figures are fun to relax with. Maybe Classified is the better figure, but Masterverse is the funner toy.
 
I see Masterverse and Classified as the equivalents within their brands. Increased detailing, articulation, accessories.
 
They're both also making new designs for existing characters rather than solely depending on existing designs.
 
I just got Ninjor to complete the new Wave. This figure is so cool. I love the New Eternia Figures. New Eternia/Etheria are some of the best-looking MOTU figures of all time, and this Ninjor figure only helps enforce that.

Out of the new 3 (now that I have them all), I'd rank them this way.

Ninjor
Terror Claws Skeletor
She-Ra
 
Yeah, I honestly love both lines for completely different reasons. Classified is SO intense, with beautifully crafted tiny little parts, heavy on the accessories, while Masterverse is more streamlined, less fiddly, but both are doing magnificent work creating new, modern versions of the original designs AND creating updated versions of the classic designs in the same toy line. I think you get more bang for your buck from Classified, but Masterverse is SUPER satisfying to buy and mess with, too. If you told me 40 years ago I'd be an adult collector with this level of cool new versions of my childhood being released every few months I wouldn't have believed you.

@Swoop716 it's funny I stared RIGHT AT that Sorceress and was like "she looks great!" but didn't even think about how we don't have a classic version yet. I actually modded an extra copy the Revolution version to make a classic but I'd much rather have an official one than my sloppy carved up shorter skirt version. (I swear I find Masterverse and Origins so tightly interwoven in my collecting I sometimes forget we got someone in one line and not the other.)
 
Swoop716 said:
Scare Glow(!!!) is one of the characters on ninjor’s package
Click to expand...
Ohhh you KNOW I noticed that!!

New Eternia Scare-Glow is my #1 want in all MotU right now.
My #2 want is Vintage Collection Scare-Glow.
😁
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top