Dragon Blaster Skeletor Press dragon's head to spray enemies! Masters of the Universe Origins Deluxe Action Figure Item No.: Asst. GVL75 No. HKM88 Manufacturer: Mattel Includes: Sword, 2-part armor, lock, removable dragon head, chain with green cuff, comic Action Feature: Squirting Dragon head Retail: $21.99 Availability: ca. July 2023 Other: Possibly at closeout but I've not seen it there myself
PREVIOUS	RSS	NEXT

While I have had more than a few conversations about the potential sunset of the 1980s toy collector world lately, part of its continued success comes out of its bonkers, oppressive marketing. I remember the chant from the Dragon Blaster Skeletor TV ads from the 1980s which maybe only aired a handful of times - but it was absolutely attention-grabbing and highlighted the goofy spitting dragon buddy quite nicely. If your soft, impressionable baby brain saw it you no doubt were left wanting to at least play with it, or perhaps you bought one. It was little more than the old Skeletor with no staff and new armor - a clever design.

Unlike the excellent Classics Dragon Blaster Skeletor [FOTD #531], this one has a working spray mechanism. I'm not saying you'll want to order both, but if you like the squat ones with working water action you'll want this one.

Click here to check availability at eBay.

Click here to check availability at Amazon.

Skeletor breaks no new ground, and that's on par with previous Dragon Blaster Skeletor figures. You've seen this body before, or one like it, in slightly different colors. The hood, sword, and boots are now more purple in color, with a nice blue body. His face has the typical green head with yellow face and black detailing, plus red eyes. Articulation is par for the course - it's good! You won't be shocked by the quality, as it holds together nicely and has no problems standing or holding his sword. Simple and effective, he Skeletors well.

I had some issues fidgeting him together, though, thanks to the armor and chain. You'll easily get the cuff on the wrist, but it was a little tricky threading the chain through the loop on the front of the purple chest armor. There's an opening with a big red highlight on it, which matches its trim, and it's a tight - but not impossible - fit. Getting the straps on the front of the armor through the loops on the back proved difficult for me, particularly since the dragon's head gets in the way of my adult-sized fingers. The armor detail isn't particularly sharp, but that's par for the course of most retro-style action figures from Mattel and Hasbro these days. I wonder why that is? I still don't know. Once you get it on, it's easy to keep together as the plastic is nice and tight.

The metal chain threads through the armor and around the back of the figure, and you put it on the green padlock which you put through the red mug handle on the dragon's collar. It's a nice detail kept from the old days, as metal adds a feeling of premium product to what owuld otherwise probably be a pretty good basic figure. It carries a distinctive texture and sound, and stays in place once you get it assembled. The dragon buddy himself looks almost exactly like you remember in those old TV ads with bright teeth, yellow eyes, and a bit of purple metallic detail on the back. Not that much detail, but enough where you'll look at it and go "Wow, that looks like an actual toy!" Or at least I did. The little guy has a hollow body and is not removable from the armor, so you can put a small amount of water in there for him to squirt out. (I did not test it as of yet, but the head is easy to press down.) It's a riff on the same mechanism we got with Kobra Khan back in the day, which Mattel opted to not keep with the Origins releases of that toy.

Other than having too many Skeletors, I can't find a reason to not recommend this figure. If you like what you see, it delivers the goods. I'd probably like it just as much if they cut the elbow, ankle, and wrist joints and cut the price but that doesn't seem to be how anyone appeals to the Xennial toy mobs. You've got $22 in your pocket, and Mattel wanted it - and based on how few of these I saw in stores, they got it. I have a soft spot for creature toys and Skeletor is arguably the best of the 1980s toy commercial kidvid shows, so I like this one a lot. I hope you do too - and if you don't, well, it's not like you'll be bothered by the sight of them in a store near you. Big box stores have seemingly eliminated the entire deluxe price point minus a few clearance stragglers by early 2025, and I'm not entirely sure I ever saw this one myself. I picked up one at Entertainment Earth during a brief restock in early 2025.

Additional Images

Click here to see more Mattel figures in Figure of the Day.

Click here to see more Masters of the Universe figures in Figure of the Day.