Mattel Masters of the Universe Origins x Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Turtles of Grayskull Michelangelo Action Figure Mattel, 2024
Day #2,773: October 24, 2024
Michelangelo Heroic Captain of Cowabunga!
Masters of the Universe Origins Action Figure
Item No.: Asst. HPR00 No. HTH13 Manufacturer:Mattel Includes:Wig, removable armor, shell shield, nunchucks and a comic Action Feature:Removable toupèe Retail:$19.99 Availability:May 2024 Other: He rode his horse to Hollywood and did a wondrous dance
I took a while to open Michelangelo from Turtles of Grayskull, and then I thought "Hey, this is a perfect Halloween review!" You get a good figure and it might be in stores near you right now. You get a decent suite of gear, like removable shoulder pads and armor that looks inspired by the classic Battle Armor He-Man and Skeletor toys. You also get nunchucks with real plastic chains, the obligatory shell shield, and weirdest of all, a wig. It looks sort of like the 2002 He-Man figure's hair, or maybe like some goofy surfer rag mop he just kept around for when he disguises himself as a human. The figure is expressive with a huge smile, a radical departure from the generally grimmer looking figures in this and all toy lines. He's happy to be here, and I'm happy to have him.
The figure itself is similar to his brothers, but the torso is armored this time. He still has the two-toed feet and three-fingered hands, plus a reuse of Leo's loincloth ad a distinctive orange harness to which you can mount his shell. Articulation is standard Masters of the Universe Origins fare, which is to say, it's good. It's not amazing, but for a modern figure it is generally excellent for the asking price with articulation that's on par with a lot of the mass-market 6-inch collector figures these days. He's a little shorter, but that's because these guys are generally in scale with the original 5 1/2-inch Masters of the Universe toys. The range of leg movement isn't as good due to the loincloth and other design decisions, but he can still work with a lot of vehicles and playsets.
The decision to make him a stand-in He-Man while Prince Adam was a big blue mutant made for a great gag, even though he has no sword or fabulous secret powers. He's just having fun, with a big 1980s-style toothy grin and an absolutely gleefully stupid wig. It comes off easily, and goes back on easily. I wish it snapped in place a little better, but on my sample it just sort of floats.
I love the vibe of the toy, but the face is the one area where it both delights and angers me. Mattel's mold masters put the seam right on his nose, which is somewhere you're going to notice. Thankfully his wide, expressive eyes and big smile may distract you from this, but you're going to see it. It might annoy you. But it doesn't get in the way of the figure looking like he just fell out of a costume closet and is looking for a laugh from his friends. It's perfect.
It reminds me a lot of the 1990s, when Playmates' own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line was not only cheap, but seemingly an endless supply of Turtle variants that came out of meetings where someone said "there are no bad ideas," and truly meant it. Sewer Surfer Mikey, Storage Shell Mikey, and Movie Star figures were just normal, sensible things. But we also got The Invisible Man, Scotty, Frankenstein's Monster, and in more recent years Mikey has also been Peter Venkman. WWE wrestler Kofi Kingston will also been Mikey. There are robot versions of the turtle, Bandito Bashin' Mike, Cyber Samurai Mike, Midshipman Mike... it's just a rich vein of insanity and success here. He-Man Mike is just a very normal and sensible choice.
He mask is molded on his head in orange plastic, matching his armor and nunchucks. You can store his weapons on his shell, or he can hold them in his hands. Unlike the figures I had as a kid, this one has a simulated plastic chain. Those are real links that really fall according to gravity! They must have had a good budget, or improved manufacturing techniques, to do something like this on a basic figure. (Or their savings on reusing tooling are huge.)
If you told me someone came up with this costume, and then Mattel built the rest of the line around it, I would believe you. New versions of the green teens are coming all the time and I found this version of the quartet to be one of the hardest to ignore in quite some time. It's just so goofy and fun, it makes me hope we see more of this kind of thing down the road from Mattel when they do ThunderCats in 2025. I don't know what it will be like to cross those brands over, but I doubt anyone is going to put on a cheap wig and armor. I can hope. Maybe Snarf will have Orko's hat. Until then, give these a look, especially if you happen to find a sale somewhere.
16bit.com is best not viewed in Apple's Safari browser, we don't know why. All material on this site copyright their respective copyright holders. All materials appear hear for informative and entertainment purposes. 16bit.com is not to be held responsible for anything, ever. Photos taken by the 16bit.com staff. Site design, graphics, writing, and whatnot credited on the credits page. Be cool-- don't steal. We know where you live and we'll break your friggin' legs.
RSS 
