Ladies and gentlemen, it has become clear that we are living in the golden age of Masters of the Universe customizers.
I have had the enormous pleasure of being able to bring features of add-ons and 3rd Party accessories kits for Masters of the Universe Classics for some time now, and any time I get to add another dimension to my MOTU collection, it makes me a very happy fan. I mean, say what you will about some of the challenges of the MOTUC proper line, it is very definitive, and the fact that we are able to add some amazing fan pieces to supplement that collection is really exciting. Be it obscure characters and weapons from the property itself, or kits to draw in compatible characters from other properties, artists like Mat O’Toole, Alessandra Fucarino, Joe Amaro, Kevin Kosse, Orsogranito, Evil Mike, and Alvis Underground (just to name a few) have been supplying amazing pieces to make your Masters of the Universe world even more rich.
So, needless to say, I love it when I am able to get a new piece from a source I have not yet had any prior experience with, and even though I am sad to say it took me this long, DJ Force Weapons Forge is responsible for my latest acquisition. Now, just because I am not timely doesn’t mean that he has not been at it for a very long time. Indeed, DJFWF has been around longer than most, and, as you can see from their Facebook gallery, they have tons of pieces to their credit. However untimely I might be, just by chance, DJ Force will be at this year’s Grayskull Con in a few weeks, so what better reason do you need to check out one of the most iconic pieces from this repertoire?
The piece I am speaking of is, of course, the Standard of Grayskull banner set that made its debut at the Grayskull Con a few years ago. This is something that I always wanted to acquire, but since it was (at the time) exclusive to a show in Germany, I thought I was out of luck. Stupid Pabs and his unwillingness to go and get one from me – it was just one country over! However, I was recently able to come by one and it is one of those pieces that instantly adds a new dimension to any Classics display.
I am often pleasantly surprised by the creativity and ingenuity that so many craftsmen and artists associated with our hobby have when it comes to their work. It has certainly become a lesson in “not knowing that I wanted something until I knew it existed,” and sometimes pieces are so obvious that it is hard to imagine a collection without them. This is the case with this standard; I never knew that I would need something like this, but now that it is displayed on my shelf, I do not want to be without it. Since we have gotten several “army builder” figures in the MOTUC line, it leaves us with a lot of troops that can become specialized within your collection. So, if you have any historical reference to large armies of yore, it was traditional for them to fly their colors on flag standards. Bringing this concept to MOTUC is such a great idea, especially if you have several troops just standing around not doing anything.
Bringing a standard and flag of an oncoming force is a really cool visual to add to an army builder display, and since the Standard’s inception a couple of years ago, DJF has added even more flags, so just about every single defined MOTU faction can proudly fly their colors as they move to obliterate their opposition. Included in this feature is the normal Standard pack, but also the flag pack that will bring armies of the Rebellion, Protectors, Snake Mountain, and all the rest to the party. I can already tell you that with so many different display options, I am going to need more of these, and pronto.
When you get your Standard set, you get the basic flag standard that comes in three pieces and then a set of three different flags to display. All of the pieces snap together easily, and the standard itself is pretty tall so the flags will not touch the ground and will fly high when held by a normal MOTUC figure. The standard itself has been produced by (what appears to be) a 3D printer, so you need to remember that this is a display piece and not something that you would probably want to subject to the normal wear and tear of play. The embellishments and design at the top have been created in such a way that they look appropriate in a regal setting (such as with Grayskull’s army) or imposing, if you are sporting the Horde emblem. All of the lines are crisp and the sculpt/modeling that was done to create this is very clean and professional.
Something I really like about these sets is the fact that the flags actually come in several different shapes and sizes. It would have been funny if the Great Rebellion used that exact same pattern as the Snake Men, so being able to create a lot of variety around one common base is always a good thing. That being said, all of the banners attach to the standard by slipping through a slot at the top of each of the horizontal crossbars. It makes for easy swapping between colors and the method is well thought out as it works seamlessly with both the “single” and “double” size flags.
Speaking of flags, here are all of the unique flags you get when you acquire both the standard and add-on kits:
- Army of King Grayskull
- Heroic Warriors
- Evil Warriors
- Great Rebellion
- Evil Horde
- Evil Horde II
- House of Randor
- Snake Men
- Galactic Protectors
- Castle Grayskull Flag
I have taken pictures of each of the different configurations so you can see the variance in size and shape depending on the faction.
The flags themselves are made of a cloth material that works really well for these purposes and for a variety of reasons. First, the material is somewhat heavy, so when the banner is displayed, it looks like it has some weight to it; this might seem simple, but it is really important since it is hard to accomplish at this scale. The emblems are also printed on the material so it is not like you are getting marker work or anything and there are details added to help simulate little imperfections so some of the banners look like they have seen some actual time in battle. Finally, the material used is crease-resistant, and it appears as though it is not prone to fraying, which is something I often take issue with in the execution of fabric items.
Personally, I like the Horde flag and setup the best. Since I picture the Horde as an army that is many times larger than any of the other factions, having a color guard within the ranks of the Troopers just makes sense. While any standard figure can carry the banner, I have several Horde Troopers so making one a standard bearer adds a brand new use to one of the drones. The same could easily be said for the Palace Guards or Snake Men, so having an imposing army march your way is really cool with these flags. That is not to say that the other banners don’t work great as well, you just have to be prepared for Beast Man or Roboto or Flutterina taking the standard in tow. After the Horde banner, the Castle Grayskull flag is my favorite, and it looks cool incorporated into the Grayskull facade.
Finally, I want to take a quick moment to comment on the packaging for these two items because it is really well done. Most of the time, 3rd Party accessory kits do not include any type of real packaging because, well, that is not really the point. However, since these were originally convention items, they both have artwork and card back information that looks really, really slick. In fact, the character art was done by none other than the revered MOTU artist Rudy Obrero! How cool is that? The pieces are held in Ziplock baggies that are stapled to the cards, but the overall effect is really great.
I am very pleased to have this standard in my MOTUC collection and my Horde shelf has been made even more imposing by its presence. This is a great idea for an accessory that can add some cool visual dimension to just about any setup you have going, so I strongly suggest that you check out the DJ Force Weapons Forge Facebook page to get the skinny on the vast array of diverse pieces they offer — there is something for just about everyone and the library grows larger every day.
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