Masters of the Universe Epic Battle 2-Packs – Toyark Photo Shoot

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.