Recently at Platinum Al’s Virtual Hot Tub, I shared some photos of my Masters of the Universe toys. Last time, we looked at the Heroic Warriors – He-Man and his good guy buddies. This time, it’s time for the Evil Warriors to take a bow… Yes, Skeletor and his evil henchmen!
For some reason or other, I only had a few bad guys when I was a kid. That’s a bit odd, as in many ways the evil dudes are better designed and possess more interesting features.
The collection began with He-Man’s arch nemesis, the one and only Skeletor. You remember him from the cartoon, right? I still have the action figure from when he was first released, complete with power sword and staff. Skeletor is such a classic creation and a pretty rad figure.
Skeletor’s two original aides, Beast Man and Mer-Man, were never part of my collection first time around. I’ve added them to the group over the years from Comic Cons and collector fairs. Both are in nice but not mint condition – however they’re absolute must-haves for any gang of villainous Eternia marauders.
Two other bad guys I did have as a kid were Trap Jaw and Tri-Klops. Both of these characters are really cool concepts with great play features.
Trap Jaw, as well as having his movable jaw, also came with three accessories to place in his arm socket – a hook, a pincer and a gun. Sadly, only my gun accessory remains – the other two mysteriously disappeared. I replaced the pincer with one purchased from eBay, but the hook eludes me. Awesome toy, regardless.
Tri-Klops I owned as kid, but like Battle Cat (see previous blog) and Trap Jaw’s weapons, he went AWOL. Bloody loft insulation workers, I say. A few years back I replaced him with a pretty good quality eBay purchase, complete with sword. This figure has a revolving helmet, so Tri-Klops can “see” out of different eyes!
Up next is Evil-Lyn: despite being little more than a re-paint of the Teela figure, this wicked witch is actually an interesting character. No staff with her, as Evil-Lyn is a 21st centruy purchase.
Following Evil-Lyn we have another trio of bad guys – Jitsu, Whiplash and Clawful. None of these three are complete with weapons as they’re second hand purchases. In fact, Jitsu is also lacking his chest armour. Great figures though: Clawful in particular is an ingenious, gruesome design.
Finally, the last picture features a further frightful foursome: Two Bad, Leech, Spikor and Kobra Khan. No weapons, but a fun bunch of motley misfits with some wacky play features. Kobra Khan fires water from his head! Leech sticks to stuff! Spikor is Spiky! And Two Bad can punch himself in the face!
A wonderful bunch of toys that bring back happy memories. Hours of fun can still be had battling Skeletor and his lackeys against He-Man and the heroic warriors.
However, a big gap in my collection is Faker – the evil blue He-Man clone. Another example of Mattel re-colouring existing models, but I want him badly. Know where I can get one? Please let me know!