I never intended to get so caught up in Mattel’s Masters of the Universe Classics line. I had some He-Man toys as a kid, but it was never one of my big obsessions. When Mattel put out the Four Horsemen sculpted updates in 2002 I bought a good number of those because they looked so awesome but, like everybody else, was frustrated by the availability of the line.
When Mattel started offering these latest updates through MattyCollector.com I really wasn’t that interested. I knew I’d get Trap-Jaw (my longtime favorite MOTU character) whenever they got around to him, but had no plans to collect more. The high price of the figures contributed a lot to that decision. Twenty bucks a piece plus around nine bucks shipping is a little (a lot) steep for one seven-inch action figure.
And then came Scareglow. As soon as I saw the pre-production photos last year, I was in love. This guy was almost like a figure custom-made for me. A glow-in-the-dark skeleton with a purple cape. What could be better? I wasn’t even familiar with the character, I just knew that when MattyCollector offered him in November I’d be ordering.
Having been a Sideshow customer for years, I knew all about being online and ready to order when a new product is offered. I was sitting in front of the PC with my finger on the “Buy” button right at noon when Scareglow became available. I’m not going to go into the pros and cons of Matty’s process here since I’ve already gotten four paragraphs into my Moss Man review without mentioning Moss Man (until now), but suffice it to say if you don’t do what I just described you aren’t getting your MOTU figure. Which I found out when I was forty minutes late getting online for Trap-Jaw day (It’s okay, though. Matty has already said they’ll be offering him again later this year and believe me when I say I’m going to be up for that one).
So anyway, between the awesomeness of Scareglow (whose review is here) and the excitement of the process involved in getting these guys, I’ve kind of been sucked into the new MOTU stuff. I’m certainly not buying everything, but I did pick up Skeletor (whose review is here) when they offered him and I just couldn’t say no to The Pine Scent of Justice. I’m eyeing several future offerings as well, such as Optikk and Evil-Lyn. Hell, I might even have to pick up Mer-Man when they re-issue him in May. And there's Hordak in April... DAMMIT MATTEL!