Back in April, Super 7 surprised Masters of the Universe fans by opening up pre-orders for their retro style Masters of the Universe Epic Battle 2-Packs. There were two separate sets. The first featured He-Man and Skeletor, while the second featured She-Ra and Hordak. Each figure stands about 5.5″ tall and is based on the original toys released in the 1980’s. They have been updated to more closely resemble their appearance in the Filmation cartoon. The figures includes two to three accessories each.
The sets were priced at $45 each and were part of an extremely limited run, which quickly sold out. Thankfully, the figures are available again in single carded releases at $20 each. During the initial sale, I was able to grab each of the sets. After the jump, check out my gallery and thoughts on the figures.
Masters of the Universe Epic Battle 2-Packs by Super 7
Pros
- Nice updates to the classic figures
- He-Man and Skeletor include standard Power Sword and half swords
- Great vintage style packaging
- Excellent concept for fans of the originals
Cons
- Sloppy paint application
- Every figure has issues with their hips
Overall
For this release, the figures come packaged in a retro style window box. The design features classic MOTU artwork on the front and check list of upcoming Vintage Collection figures on the back. The figures themselves are twist ties to a cardboard inset, while their weapons and accessories are in plastic bags, taped to the sides. He-Man includes a Power Sword, a half Power Sword and a shield. Skeletor includes a staff, a Power Sword, and a half Power Sword. She-Ra includes two different Power Swords and a shield. Hordak includes a removable arm cannon and a crossbow.
From the moment these were announced, I couldn’t wait to pick them up. I only have passing interest in the Classics, but always loved the style of the original figures. Since these would make up a fresh line, I knew this was a solid place for me to jump back into Masters of the Universe. Once in hand, the figures immediately scratched the nostalgic itch I had. The sculpts resemble the original figures very closely and feature all the trademark details. From the super bulky upper bodies (save for She-Ra), the fur loin cloths. to the rubber head sculpts, it all feels very familiar. Updating the paint schemes to match their cartoon counterparts is a brilliant idea that is mostly successful. The colors are bright and look great on the retro style sculpts. I love the accessories that are included here, especially including full sword and the retro style half swords.
My excitement for these were tempered a bit once I started inspecting them more closely and running them through the paces. The paint application on each of the figures is noticeably sloppy. The most noticeable areas are yellow paint splashes on He-Man’s face, a gold smudge on She-Ra’s torso, unevenly applied yellow paint to Skeletor’s head and paint bleed from Hordak’s blue head fin. A bigger issue comes with the hips of the figures, which appear to be newly designed for these releases. He-Man, Skeletor and Hordak had completely paint locked hip joints. A hair dryer was used to loosen them up. While Hordak and Skeletor’s hips loosened within a few minutes, He-Man’s hips took nearly a half hour of heating, gently moving and then re-heating to finally get them loose. She-Ra, on the other hand, can barely stand as he hips are completely loose.
These figures wound up being a mixed bag. While on the whole they look really cool, my figures included some noticeable issues. However, I’m style really happy to own them and do plan on continuing with this line, so long as QC issues don’t persist or get worse. Check out some select photos below and see the full gallery after that.
Masters of the Universe Epic Battle 2-Packs – Toyark Photo Shoot




QC issues were a given, but these are still better than actual vintage MOTU figures that will loose their legs in the years to come. If it wasn't for craptastic exchange rates and international shipping/taxes; I'd be all over these. Great review!
These pics make me more the happy I opened my set. Yes my figures all had issues with the hips. The paint was actually quite good. But heman and skelly are still stuck in the outward position. Super7 is on to something here but those hip joints are a huge fail. They need a simpler design for these.
Overall I'm beyond glad that I bought these,but if super7 does not get their QC up to standards then we won't need any more shelf space for these.
Please super7, a more simple design for the legs. These should have been 10's!
How to the hips work? Are they not supposed to be better? I hope they do all the vintage figures again. I don't buy vintage stuff on eBay because the joints are always so loose and the figures are usually crappy. I bought some G1 vintage Dinobots and they looked good and everything was supposed to be good with them but they sucked big time and were a huge bummmer. I returned them to the seller. They were all just so loose.
I was warned before I opened the set, so I was prepared to deal with it. I use a hair dryer and heat joints up and then slowly worked them loose. Alternating between a few minutes of heat and then gently trying to move the legs.
Joe Moore, you really need to do a tutorial on taking such beautiful photos! They are simply stunning!
Man so disappointing to hear about the problems. Was gonna get multiple sets but not so sure now. I’ll get a He-man and Skeletor and see how I feel before getting the rest if at all.
Not sure why they just didn’t use a ball peg joint like vintage TMNT legs. I’m sure they still could have kept the same look where the legs connect to the hips.
I never got around to opening mine. I was on the fence about buying the single-carded versions in addition to the 2 packs, but after inspecting them closely, I decided to sell them off. There were multiple, hard to ignore paint issues that I wasn't cool with. I ended up getting rid of them for a nice profit, so I'll probably still order the single cards, hoping that some of the QC issues will be fixed.
They could have used a regular ball joint. I don't know. I'm sure the next batch will be much much better
Thanks for the explanation. I hope this line continues. The hip issues should be easy to fix
I was warned before I opened the set, so I was prepared to deal with it. I use a hair dryer and heat joints up and then slowly worked them loose. Alternating between a few minutes of heat and then gently trying to move the legs.
wow, these are shiny. Like going to a bodybuilder show or watching "Pumping Iron" again.
Maybe it's me, but the human faces (He-man/She-ra) look derpy. Maybe it's the shiny or something, but they just don't look right.
Why is She-Ra taller than He-man?
Full Thread: MOTU Vintage Style 2-Packs - Toyark Gallery
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