 Rise of Evil Keldor and Kronis
Dark origins of Two of Eternia's Evil Warriors! Evil Apprentice of Hordak! Evil Criminal from Another Dimension!
Masters of the Universe Origins Target Exclusive Figure Set
Item No.: No. HBJ16
Manufacturer: Mattel
Includes: Skeletor head, Havoc Staff, Sword, Cape, Blaster
Action Feature: Swappable head
Retail: $29.99
Availability: ca. Spring 2021
Other: Clearance is a real thing
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I dragged my feet buying Masters of the Universe Origins because I had Classics. But some new guys and crossovers made me pick up a few, including Rise of Evil Keldor and Kronis because I tripped over it for $14.99. That price was no fluke - look on eBay and you'll see sets frequently sold for roughly that price, or around $20 delivered before tax. That's pretty amazing for two fantastic figures.
Target has supported this line pretty well, mostly on the side of exclusives. They tend to be generally easy to find, and of good character - even the bad guys. This set cheats by giving fans both Keldor and a really plussed out Skeletor all in one, plus the slightly less enticing Kronis - who was pre-cyborg Trap Jaw. They use pretty much the same parts as many other figures, but they're distinctive enough to make me stop and say "Wait, how cheap did you say that was?" Even at $30 they're decent, but at $20 or less? How can I say no?
Click here to check availability at eBay.
Keldor is the pre-Skeletor. Before he lost his head, the wizard had a nicely manicured face with long hair. The paint is closer to a vintage-era figure, with black dots and no whites of his eyes. The eyebrows and beard are great, the mustache is great, and the white teeth were honestly unexpected. The deco kept coming with a nice green bat on his armor, and a pink gem in the bones. Even the Skeletor head is a treat with jewel-like eyes and a nice yellow to green gradient for the bonest. The teeth are uneven with some purple plastic showing through for the shadows. For the current era of cost-cutting, this is pretty spectacular. It looks a lot like the Alfredo Alcala mini-comic artwork in the 1980s, which is probably the set's main selling point.
Like in Classics, Keldor tweaks his build a bit with bright blue skin and actual boots instead of monster feet. I prefer the boots, but I was a cartoon kid who didn't have the original toys. Not content to sit on any paint budget, Mattel cast both the sword and staff in clear green and add a purple painted fade. It looks great. Will it last for the ages? Probably not - you may notice some purple flaking off the staff from the photos fresh out of the box. Well, it was $15, I'm not going to cry.
Keldor also adds a cape, and of course you can swap any of these parts with your favorite Skeletor. Or just make this your favorite Skeletor. Mine is Filmation, but this is a close #2. Since this item was blown out years ago you don't need my recommendation for it at full price, but I can say it might be worth getting at current secondary market prices.
Articulation for both figures is pretty much the same. Heck, some of the body parts are shared between figures. There isn't a lot to write about here other than to laud things like rocker ankles, swivel and bend wrists, and extra joints at the knees and elbows being welcome. This line hasn't done much to develop and advance since its debut, which is both charming and probably irritating to some fans. I appreciate that Mattel is not giving fans too much reason to upgrade beyond "we based this guy off of a different bit of fiction." You can buy a new one, you can be happy with what you have, or you can just shrug and go back to the search engine that brought you here.
Nifty but by no means thrilling is Kronis. Mattel technically gave us this figure in Classics with its original Trap Jaw, which had parts to swap out and make the blue guy right out of the box. It was a preposterously good value in its day, and one we probably didn't really appreciate at the time. Oh well. This one has a similar head sculpt with brighter colors and a brighter smile. While I like the option parts on the Classics guy, I also really like the brigfht pink, blue, and green here. The wrists are different and now feature a less specific look, with a head that looks fine. The blaster is a nice bonus here, as he needs something... but you can see that Keldor is really where all of this set's budget went. And that's OK, this is a nice bonus.
As I've been collecting Origins my personal taste went from these guys standing on Snake Mountain to eventually putting them away and replacing them with the Filmation-inspired Cartoon Collection Evil Warriors. Hey, that's my preference. This Keldor with the Skeletor head ruled the roost until that moment, and I still think it's the best version of bone dome at this scale. Keldor feels more like filler at this point just because of how massive this line has become. It's by no means bad, but I've got so many flavors of Trap Jaw that Kronis might be best as a vehicle pilot - or as a place to start collecting. Some lines are best bought cheaply and as-available, and if that's how you like your Eternians? Get this set. Check out comic shops and eBay "lots" for sale. You can probably scare up some very cheap stuff right now, but not everything. As someone who's been doing this for a long time, I'd probably just grab whatever I could get cheap if I ever started collecting again. These guys are just as much fun as the full-price ones at the store or the rarities on the secondary market. Or that's what I am telling myself, as I have neither the Eternia nor the Snake Lair playsets and am not thinking I will ever win enough in the lottery to say "Sure, send them to my office."
--Adam Pawlus
Additional Images
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