MOTU Minis Pack A Lot Of Power

Mattel finally released the long-awaited Masters of the Universe minis at Comic Con, and they’re totally cool!

I’ll admit, there are a lot of times Mattel’s humor falls flat on me.  Sets like the Mo-Larr vs. Skeletor, while kinda cool, lacked a certain charm to me.  But the new Masters of the Universe minis, which made their debut at Comic Con, more than make up for the charm that fell short in some past silly exclusives.

We first saw Mattel’s mini MOTU figures well over a year ago, when sculpts for the now-released he-Man and Skeletor accompanied some other classic Masters characters, with no clear release plan for them.   I’m glad we finally get  at least the two heavy hitters, and they’re super cool!

Both He-Man and Skeletor feature great sculpts and an adorable super deform style, with removable weapons (always a welcome sight on mini figures) and some wonderfully expressive cartoony headsculpts.  Big and beefy, despite their 3″ height, these guys adapt the exaggerated MOTU proportions perfectly to fit in nicely with Action League and other mini figure series.

Each figure sports a ball neck with a good range, swivel shoulders, swivel wrists and swivel waist.  While not super articulated, this is above par for most mini figures, and you can get some great poses out of them which highlight the fun sculpts and awesome heads.  He-Man sports the sword of power, which can be held or stored on his back, and his shield.  Skeletor includes his own sword (again with storage on his back) as well as his staff.

These figures are neat by themselves, but the packaging they come is doubles as a fun little playset, which enhances the value.  The box is modeled after Castle Grayskull, with gatefolds on the sides to replicate the castle’s shape and a drawbridge that opens and closes to reveal the interior of the fortress.  The back of the package features two additional environments– the Sorceress’ throne room and the dungeon, for more neat dioramas for the mini figures.

I’m very impressed by how much thought Mattel put into these little guys, and the MOTU minis are one of the most fun and charming exclusives from this year’s Comic Con.  I’m very hopeful that this line will continue, because I would absolutely love to expand my world of charming, small scale Masters heroes and villains in the future.