Mattel reveals MASSIVE Fall 2023 Masters of the Universe Origins Release Catalogue
This past Monday saw Mattel dropping an huge reveal of their upcoming Masters of the Universe figures as part of their Fall 2023 Catalogue announcement.
There were a ton of tasty Masterverse figures unveiled (check out our in-depth recap HERE), but for now we’re taking a look at the announcement of the latest batch figures from their much-loved Origins line. And, as you’ll see in a moment, the Snake Men are very much center stage here. Oh, and there’s also a Snake Mountain playset that has been announced, but I’m not including it below as Mattel haven’t dropped any decent quality photos yet so we don’t really know what we’re working with yet.
Let’s see what we have on the horizon:
Spikor
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A personal favourite of mine as a kid, the “untouchable master of evil combat” is recreated perfectly here for the Origins line, complete with funky orange ‘traffic light’ club and awesome colour scheme. As has become a bit of a recurring trend with Origins, the functioning trident action from the ’80s is removed here and replaced by a set of alternate ‘hands’, one extended and one retracted. Not the end of the world, but worth noting. Should be a fairly essential purchase for a lot of nostalgic fans, myself included.
Flocked Moss-Man
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Ol’ Mossy is apparently going to be a Walmart exclusive but certainly looks the business, although I’d question the inclusion of the recoloured Beast Man armor which, let’s be honest, nobody is going to use. I do like the addition of an alternate head for those wanting their Moss-Man to be a little more fierce, and the flocking looks pretty great from what we can see here – although I’m guessing the “pine scent” which Mattel included back in 1985 is going to be notable by its absence (UPDATE: apparently, the pine scent is back, baby!)
Skeleton Warrior Two Pack
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A pair of glow-in-the-dark fellas who collectors have been itching to get their hands on since they first made their low-key debut on the box art of the Origins Castle Grayskull set, these two are going to be fantastic for the army builders. They look great with their Viking helmets and purple/silver armor, but it’s the Scareglow-esque glow-in-the-dark feature that’s going to seal the deal for a lot of collectors. A great addition to the shelf, and it’s nice to see something that feels fresh and new rather than a straight-up repaint.
Dragon Blaster Skeletor
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Oh boy did I love this guy when I was a kid. The colour scheme, the tiny chain, the water-pumping spray action… Dragon Blaster Skeletor was the business. As you’d expect, the Origins version is pretty darned faithful to the 1985 version, although it’s difficult to tell (for my uneducated eyes at least) whether he also has the oversized feet of the original that stopped the figure toppling over all the time. The water feature looks to be gone, as expected, although the dragon does have a poseable head which is something.
Snake Men Bundle
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Okay folks, it’s Snake Men time! While it’s mainly repaints and mash-ups here, the overall bundle is actually pretty nice (particularly if you don’t already have a Snake Armor He-Man) and again, is going to be a real hit with the army builders who like to display their figures in a vignette style. I particularly like the unnamed blue Snake Man, who I instantly want a fully fleshed-out backstory for. A solid pack if you’re not too picky about repaints.
Eternian Guard Infiltrator
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Honestly, I’m not sure what to think about this one. It’s a cool enough concept I guess, although unless you already have some Eternian Guards for it to infiltrate, it’s going to feel a little out of place. It also feels more than a little on the lazy side, and something you could easily make yourself with an Eternian Guard some tiny pots of green and red paint. The silver Snake Staff is cool, but yeah, definitely not worth the purchase price. Easy one to skip, unless you’re a hardcore completist.
Snake Man-at-Arms
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Another one from Mattel’s “lets see how far we can push these repaints before people stop buying them altogether” in the form of a lazily repainted Man-at-Arms with an ugly-looking Snakey hook thing accessory. The colours don’t even look good either, with an ugly olive green and a sickly blue for the helmet and cuffs. Just… no.
Snake Face
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Back on the good side of things, we get an actual unique sculpt (or as unique as these things get) in the form of Snake Face, one of the lesser known Snake Men but, in my opinion, one of the coolest looking. This is pretty much the 1987 version brought back to life, albeit without the eye and body-popping snake action feature which has, as expected, been replaced by an interchangeable head. Still a great looking figure with a striking colour scheme and a unique aesthetic. Great stuff.
Sssqueeze
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Our final Snake Man release of this announcement comes in the form of Sssqueeze, a figure that manages to look both incredibly dumb and weirdly cool. A figure that honestly doesn’t even really look like a Masters of the Universe character, his appeal is going to fall heavily on just how Mattel have recreated the “slither hold” feature in 2023. Previously the arms were soft rubber with an internal wire that allowed them to be manipulated and ‘sculpted’ in a lot of fairly cool ways, but it remains to be seen how that translates to this new release. Cool enough, but probably more of a curiosity than a must-have.
Minicomic Man-e-Faces
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I mean… this is fine, I guess? Especially if you missed out on the initial Wave 2 Man-e-Faces release. However, given how incredibly similar this is to the non-minicomic version (essentially exactly the same figure but with dark purple armor highlights as opposed to the pinky-magenta ones of the original), there’s absolutely zero reason to pick it up if you have the first one. Like, none. Fairly pointless, to be honest.
Screech & Skeletor Two Pack
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Ohhhh baby. Probably the crown jewel of this whole Origins release slate, at least for me, we get a gloriously recoloured Skeletor (yeah, I’m fairly fickle when it comes to criticising repaints – get used to it!) alongside the eagerly anticipated Screech, who looks fantastic. The colour scheme is great, and the highlights on Skeletor’s armor really pops alongside Zoar’s own unique look, and while yes, it’s yet another Skeletor to clog up your shelves, I’m not sure anyone can be too mad about this one.
Talon Fighter & Point Dread
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This has the potential to be fantastic. One of the cooler He-Man vehicles gets its long-awaited Origins release, and – without flogging a dead horse – looks to have been pulled directly out of the ’80s with its sculpting and colours (hell, it even has the neat little decals and control panel inside Point Dread.) What’s going to be the clincher for a lot of people is how well it works with the Origins Castle Grakskull, as the original perched quite nicely atop of the castle making for a fantastic play and/or display piece. Discussion is already rife in the online communities about how it fits, if at all, and hopefully Mattel can offer up some clarification sooner rather than later. For now, you can put an asterisk next to this one.
Rulers of the Sun Three-Pack
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Rounding out the announcement we have another three figures from the Rulers of the Sun series in the form of *checks Google* Zap Man (yellow armor), Kikto (white armor) and Holographo (pizza chest armor.) They’re certainly colourful, and if you’re doing your best to get your hands on all 10 of the original Rulers of the Sun figures into your collection, this should hopefully help finish things off – assuming you were able to snag a Duplico on Mattel Creations a while back. As before, these really aren’t for me as I have no nostalgic connection to them, but I’m sure a good chunk of people will be fairly excited by this reveal.
The writer of this piece was: Craig Neilson-Adams (aka Ceej)
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