After waiting several years for them to materialize, 2014 finally brings us the lil’est brain child the Four Horsemen have even had – the Masters of the Universe Mini-Masters. Yep, the pint-sized versions of your favorite MOTU characters are being released this year in six separate two-packs (one good guy, one bad guy) that, when you collect them all, come with parts to build a little Castle Grayskull diorama to serve as a great display backdrop. Fans have been requesting the release of these little guys since they were first unveiled at SDCC a few years ago and Mattel is finally delivering. But are they everything we asked for? Let’s find out.
All this time waiting in the wings actually led to better things for the Mini-Masters. Their design was eventually used for the He-Man game app so that alone gave them more spotlight than what we could have originally hoped for, and that gave Mattel the avenue to pursue in terms of release pattern. They were originally rolled out as a He-Man and Skeletor two-pack at SDCC 2013, but NYCC brought word that 2014 would be the year of the “Mini,” and thus we begin to downsize our Masters collections. Ah, but no new release is without a bit of a curve-ball, and these guys are not immune because the 2014 two-pack figures are actually in a different scale than the He-Man and Skeletor released at SDCC last year. I wonder if the Internet has any comments about that…
Why, yes, the Internet has had many comments on the scale change, and I have to admit that even I am a bit vexed by it as well. I mean, the only real business reason I can see for it is to reduce costs, but these guys are clocking in at 20 bucks a pop, so that makes the change even more noticeable. At first I thought that the scale would be close enough that you would be able to fudge them together, but as you can see, that is certainly not the case. So it kind of stinks because I am not sure that we will see the standard He-Man and Skeletor from last summer’s pack in the new scale, or if we will just be left with Battle Armor versions of the two most well-known cast members.
The thing is, I think I actually might like this new scale for these guys more than the SDCC pack. I know, that might sound weird, but I think it is more effective in terms of the aesthetic. Plus, the smaller stature puts them in closer scale to other mini figure lines that have come before them. These new Mini-Masters can blend well with DC Action League and the gaggle of Marvel, Joe, Transformers, and Star Wars mini-lines that Hasbro has produced. So to me, this works better. I was on the fence about getting these guys originally, but the ability to integrate them into a more encompassing mini collection (well that, and the fact that I have a debilitating weakness for all things MOTU) made me jump at the set that was for sale in February. Also because Mer-Man is my favorite MOTU character, so I just have to have him.
My Matty Collector order arrived, strangely enough, on the same day the sample of the second set (featuring Skeletor and Moss Man) came from Mattel. I think getting two sets at the same time helped in setting my affection for these because you can already see how the line is going to gel together, and it is actually pretty fun. The price is going to be the biggest issue for some, but, overall, I think this is a fun execution for these characters, and of all of the other properties that have had the “mini” treatment in the past several years, MOTU is one of the most effective.
As mentioned before, He-Man and Skeletor feature in their battle armors, and while those are probably NOT the preferred looks for the characters for most fans, they do look good, and you can see a lot of the style and panache from these figures in the game — the expressions really nail it. That being said, I count Mer-Man and Moss Man as my favorites from these first two assortments. This style was really meant for Mr. Squddish Rex, and his expression and colors make him adorably hideous. Moss Man is a lot of fun too because they carried over the flocking from his previous incarnations, and, again, it is really effective with this scale and style. We get a wooden shield for him for the first time ever, though I cannot help but think his more vintage-style head and expression would have worked better here, rather than the more serene modern head. It works fine, but angry little Mossy would have been a hoot.
Now, no one is buying this line for the articulation, but they do feature points at the neck, shoulders, and waist. That is about what you would expect, and I am not sure if any articulation could be cut in below the waist due to the very small size of the limbs, but the lower bodies are so small that I am not sure what it would accomplish anyhow. These guy also feature two accessories each: Mer-Man has his sword and trident, He-Man has his sword and shield, Moss Man features his club and shield, and Skeletor has the Havoc Staff and sword. These, balanced with the diorama/play set pieces, make for a pretty good accessory count.
Finally, you get a piece of Castle Grayskull with each set, and it is very much in the style of the figures. No, it is not going to be an in-scale play set with these, but from the looks of it, it will be a fun diorama that the figures will be able to interact with to some extent. Again though, the plus side of these getting smaller is that these will also fit better with the great Icon Heroes Castle Grayskull. So, even if the included pieces are not to your liking, you can always use that. I am willing to bet that we will be left with separate pieces until the end of the year when it can all come together, but I am glad this is planned the way it is so we can finish off the Castle. Maybe if this is a success we can see Snake Mountain in 2015.
So hear me out on this: the smaller scale works better for this line. I know that sounds a little strange, but the compatibility with other lines and sets lends itself to more playability. Now, there are two caveats to that, but I think that Mattel has the power to be able to mitigate one of them. The standard versions of He-Man and Skeletor NEED to see release in this scale; it just has to happen. I am not sure if making them SDCC-exclusive (again) is the way to go, but maybe a multi-pack with several other characters would be a good kicker for that. She-Ra comes to mind for a needed release, especially since she is a playable game character. I think that will help to win a lot of people over.
The big kicker, though, is the price, and I do not see this changing on either front. Mattel is not going to reduce the price, and I think people that will not commit now will be very hard to sway. At $20 a set, I know people are already balking. I think $12-15 would have been the sweet spot for these, but the new size is where this is going to hurt the most. People are looking for the most bang for their buck, and when you put these next to a MOTUC figure, you really start to (literally) feel the difference, even with Classics coming in at a higher price. I know the first set has sold out, which is great, but I am betting a lot of people are waiting to be “wowed” by what this could become, so maybe SDCC will bring some cool news.
Overall, these are fun, and now that I am two pieces of Grayskull in, I will likely be getting the rest. I would love to see a diverse array of characters, and past He-Man and Skeletor, I think character selection should be based on what designs fit the best with this style. We are getting Scareglow later this year and he is a great example, but seeing guys like Mantenna, Trap Jaw and Mermista would be prefect for these. The cost will be this line’s biggest challenge, but if that does not bother you and you are a fan of the “mini” style, these are fun and solid figures. At the very least you will be able to pick and choose with the characters that you want to get, so while a Faker figure doesn’t do much for me, the aforementioned Scareglow will be a must-get for me.
*Thanks for reading! We have more First Looks coming soon, but we will be changing our tune to DC.
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