If you watched the Masters of the Universe cartoon from 2002, you know that it was pretty fun. It wasn't as bafflingly entertaining as the original show, but it helped to populate the world with new races like the Kulataks and their monarch King Chooblah. And I rewatched the show a couple years ago and do not remember him one bit. That's sort of where we're at with this line - it's a true collector range, nostalgists need not apply as we get figures that qualify as culturally obscure and are most likely going to succeed or fail by their own merits. If this were one of those designer figures from a few years ago made by fans, it'd feel about as welcome. Bits and pieces of the hairier figures were recycled along with new feed, giant arms, a new head, and furry accent pieces to bring you the kind of creature who probably did unspeakable things to Alexie Gilmore in Willow Creek.
At about 7 1/2-inches tall, he feels plenty huge without being a monster relative to the other figures. We're not getting the likes of Gygor here, this is just a regular figure with some plussed up bits and pieces. The sculpting continues to be spectacular, with plastic fur coming out quite nicely on a fairly exaggerated frame. The figure's proportions don't quite feel true to the range, but maybe closer in tone to Popeye. His big blue feet connect at a regular leg's ankle joints - very clever - and give him the illusion of being much taller. His hands are huge, and his forearms largely match this monstrous build. His biceps, on the other hand, are relatively small and his thighs aren't overly exaggerated. Thankfully his fur deco may distract you from this, with wonderfully painted textures and some greys wiped in to provide the illusion of depth all over his furriest of parts. It's worth noting he has bend-and-swivel wrists as well, but the construction of his arms prevent you from taking advantage of the feature. Such is life.
The figure's accessory is one of the most boring in the entire line to date, which is actually good news. Most of the gear has been fantastic, so Chooblah's green stick is just sort of there. Over the years we were often told new character designs in this line were reverse-engineered from the notion of what a 1980s toy might look like first - and after you remove its features and add in articulation, this is what you get. This figure doesn't feel like it was birthed from a phantom vintage toy, it just feels like you got what you got - and while neat to look at, it doesn't feel fun.
Slightly hunched over, the big guy has a lot of heft to him and a neat face with yellow eyes - plus eyeliner. There are little teeth painted on his mouth, and some of his skin is a dark blue color. He's even got a bone necklace, plus some sort of gem thing on his chest. They didn't skimp on the detail here, but it is hard to get super excited about a figure with a mission to look good on a shelf and not much else.
While some will love this figure thanks to his connection to the animated series, I assume most will get it because "hey cool Four Horsemen yeti." He's got big feet, a goofy face, and giant eyebrows - that has to be worth something. The subscription will continue with a few more, like Ceratus (meh), Queen Grayskull (neat-o), and Prahvus (?), bringing us into next year with what I assume will be the line's final victory lap before we see if Mattel really and truly wants to develop He-Man as a major, non-collector property again. I vote for Imaginext toys still, but until then I'll probably just be happy with my obscenely extensive (and incomplete) Masters of the Universe Classics collection.
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