Banished from the royal palace, in part due to distrust for the rare blue-skinned Gar race, Prince Keldor became an outcast. He traveled Eternia seeking knowledge and guidance, eventually discovering the ancient Spirit of Hordak. From Him, Keldor learned of the dark arts and came to realize that to truly unite Eternia, he would need to take command of the planet himself. He gathered an army of fellow outcasts and led them in battle against his brother, Captain Randor. Eventually defeated, and near death, Keldor once again turned to Hordak who, in exchange for his own freedom, agreed to save Keldor’s life by merging him with Demo-Man, twisting Keldor into Skeletor – Lord of Destruction!
Masters of the Universe Classics ‘bonus’ figure Keldor arrived this week – check out more pics and a brief review after the jump!
Capsule review: While overshadowed by beauty of the monthly figure She-Ra, there is still a lot to like in this ‘bonus’ figure. The new head sculpt fits the MOTUC aesthetic perfectly and the new parts and paint scheme make this a Skeletor variant worth picking up.
Accessories
Keldor comes with two halves of the purple power sword, a vial of acid and a removeable cape.
The acid vial is nicely done, cast in a clear plastic with painted details for the cap and trim. It does, however, serve as a reminder of one expected accessory we did not get – the acid damaged, mid-transformation head the 200X version had. Mattel has said the reason they didn’t include that alternate head is that in their current continuity the acid doesn’t transform Keldor into Skeletor, rather it is the merger with (snicker) Demo-Man (love that name) that twists Keldor into the Lord of Destruction. Fair enough, but an acid damaged face still would have been nice to have.
The cape is removeable and it’s nice to have that option, but I really don’t care for Keldor’s looks without the cape or Skeletor with it! It’s nice that they allowed extra room in the back of the cape so that the scabbard is still functional.
The halves of the power sword should be familiar to anyone who collects this line. We’ve received quite a few of these halves thus far. I don’t know about the rest of you guys, but the swords I have have a pretty tough time sticking together. He looks good dual wielding the halves for the most part, but I think I would have preferred two whole Skeletor swords for Keldor. I know a lot of fans expected to see the 200X sword and I think it would have been nice to include here, but as I’m not a fan of the design of that weapon it’s absence doesn’t really affect my enjoyment of the figure.
Sculpt
Keldor (obviously) shares many parts with Skeletor with a new head, cape, booted feet, and forearms from Tri-Klops.
Since the head is really the main new piece on this figure, your opinion of it will probably make or break this figure for you. I love it. The thing I love about it is that it is a take on a modern version of the character realized in a way that seems thoroughly classic.
This may be something unique to me, but have you ever noticed that the old He-Man figure”s expression can look a little different depending on the angle and situation the figure is posed in? Most of the time it looks like he has his teeth clenched in determination, but sometimes it can look like a half smile or an expression of frustration or anger. I think this ambiguity is something the 4 Horsemen captured perfectly in the modern MOTUC He-Man and they have done it again here with Keldor. From certain angles he looks like a perfectly pleasant guy – a charming swashbuckler type – think Nightcrawler from the old Uncanny X-Men. Tilt the head down a bit and the smile turns sinister.
I love that effect and it makes the figure for me.
Paint
I like how the blue of Keldor’s skin is a bit more vibrant than Skeletor’s and the purple of the armor is also a much darker shade. There’s a really nice dark wash on the armor chest piece that makes the bat shape there stand out nicely. I also like the silver dry brush on the bones at the center of the armor. My Keldor has mostly clean paint except for a little purple slop on the forearms from the bracers.
Articulation
The articulation is the standard MOTUC articulation but it’s worth noting that the loincloth is fairly flexible (much more flexible than the original Skeletor) and the cape does not throw off the balance too much.
Keldor has never really been a must have character or variant in my book, but Mattel has managed to do enough here to make the figure interesting enough to me to display. I’m not quite sure where I’ll put him on the shelf, though. There are a couple of obvious (to me) accessories not included and the power swords could be better, but those factors do not detract too much from the final figure.
Previous reviews:
