Skip to main content

Mega Construx MOTU Castle Grayskull



So, I finally picked up the Mega Construx Castle Grayskull. Amazon had it listed for $189 so I jumped on it. One bit of sad news, I like keeping box art but Amazon has a hassle-free shipping service where they just ship the box as is. I love Amazon but I am not a fan of this service as they put shipping labels all over the front of the box, ruining it. Luckily, the inside of the box delivered something even better...


How cool is that? So everything worked out in the end. The packaging by Mega Construx is actually very cool. All of the pieces to the Castle came in these great cardboard boxes...



Again, very cool. The vintage cross sell on the covers was a very nice touch. The manual included all of the cover art inserted throughout so if you wanted to toss the box, you didn't have to feel bad about it.


Speaking of the manual, this guy was a beast. Look at that thickness! Mega Construx wasn't joking with this thing, it took me two days to complete with only small breaks in between.


Next, let's look at the figures. The set came with exclusives of the Goddess and the Sorceress, as well as mini comic versions of He-Man, Man at Arms, Skeletor, and Beastman.


The Most Powerful Man in the Universe finally comes with all of his weapons in the same shade of grey. Also, you will notice the Power Sword is the Mini Comic version.


He-Man variations so far. You will notice a lot of these figures have more details than previous releases. He-Man has two-tone coloring on his boots as well as different color fur at the top of them.


The Goddess or Teela, depending on your head cannon. I like to think of the Goddess and an entity that came before most of what happened on Eternia, like the Eternal source of goodness for the planet.


Teela variations.


The Sorceress and Zoar. I wish Zoar was huge like the vintage figure. I always liked the original idea that he was a separate character from the Sorceress that characters could ride on... 

Book (Page 5)
(He-Man and Battle Cat by Kid Stuff. Image from He-man.org)


Man at Arms


Man at Arms variations. What is cool about this is that the un mustached MAA figures become Eternia guards. Instant army builder.


Beastman or Red Beast. Again, check out the details around the fur at his legs and the musculature on his thighs.


Beastman variations. Again, with the intro of the Red Beast character, it is like a new figure.


Skeletor. I did not expect it, but this is my favorite figure from this set.


Skeletor variations. Check out all of the muscle shading on the new Skeletor. And the dark purple really stands out.


Man at Arms showing off the two Weapon Racks.

And now, here is Castle Grayskull...



Unlocking the Castle...



Yeah, he has the Power.


The Castle easily snaps open on the side.


Also on the side is the secret exit like the Classics Castle.



The left interior and...


the right interior.

Here is a section by section of the left...




The computer display.


It swivels open to allow characters to view out the windows.


Man at Arms showing the scale.



Cool gold skulls at the top of the elevator shaft, just like the Classics castle.


And a level by level of the right...



Training area.


Use the Power, He-Man.


The dungeon, with tentacle arms, a nice touch! Also, another green skull above the cell door.



Up one level, we find the space suit, another computer device, the trap door and the throne.


The throne slides left to right and opens the trap door above the dungeon.


How cool are those flags?!


Bottoms up!


Sorceress on the throne.


We already know what will happen here...


Crime never pays.


The area that leads to the side exit.


Top level with the flag, crystal orb, and gun station.



Calling upon the Elders power.


The two sides to the flag.



Manning the guns.




Ready for battle.


Skeletor strikes!


Or is it a diversion...


The Goddess knowing the other secret exit out back.


And Man at Arms is never far away!


So, to me, this was a really great buy. Unlike most similarly priced Lego sets, I feel like I got more than my money's worth. And with more MOTU stuff coming out next year, it feels good to be ahead of the game!
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

King Arthur and the Knights of Justice - Lord Viper

I recently saw a tweet that stated that the best things of the 90's were really just backwash from the 80's. I'm still not sure if that is true but it does come up here with King Arthur and the Knights of Justice. It didn't last long but I loved it, especially that theme song! Definitely brought back feelings of Boorman's Excalibur. Also, the Round Table and Suit Up moments felt a lot like M.A.S.K. The biggest connection might be Masters of the Universe. A lot of the same voice actors from the New Adventures of He-Man show up in this series. Garry Chalk, who played He-Man in the New Adventures and Man at Arms in the 200X MYP series plays our main henchman and leader of the Warlords, Lord Viper. Also, let's not forget the Black Wing/Stratos similarities: One further connection, is that Mattel also created the toys for the short lived series. The figures were close in scale to both the vintage line and the New Adventures. The Horde Slime Pit was ev...
Post a Comment
Read more

Toy Biz Batman Batmobile

 Recently, I learned that the Toy Biz Batmobile was a two seater! Talk about a game changer. I loved my Kenner Batmobile, it had the engine missile, machine guns, and the pop out/rotating fire effect, but it could only hold Batman. As a 1966 Batman devotee, I always wanted Robin to ride batarang so that he could hear lectures about automobile safety as he approached his 16th birthday. It took a bit of searching but I found a pretty good one in $50 range on Ebay. The stickers were included but I decided not to apply them. I love the chrome features over the gold hubcaps on the Kenner Batmobile. The passenger seat is everything for me with this. The gear shift opens secret missile launchers in the front.  The Bat Trunk was an interesting feature. It has a lot of depth, which I guess can be useful for taking criminals to Arkham, or disposing of their bodies. I guess everyone has competing views of the Caped Crusaders thes...
Post a Comment
Read more

Funko Primal Age Batcave

With these toys hitting clearance prices, I decided to pick up the Batcave. You can tell from the above pictures, that the packaging is clearly evoking MOTU. Even with the cross sell on the back. Very nice artwork. However, what is on the inside is far cooler. First, let me say that all of the details on this playset are amazing. And, despite what you may have heard, this is some pretty good plastic and has some weight to it. Now, I am not a fan of the Primal Age series but I plan on using this as a stand in for Castle Plun Darr. I really like that standing area behind the Bat's head.  The Cave opens up just like Castle Grayskull and as some really nice features. The spine/ladder is really well made with nice details and it has some weight to it. I love the depth of the dungeon. I could honestly fit two more figures in there. I have to say, though, that while the overall set is very sturdy, the cage doors and the front door ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Transformers Legends Scale Jazz, Bumblebee, Cliffjumper, Starscream, and Thundercracker

Around the end of the G1 line, Transformers made the Pretenders which produced some smaller versions of some popular bots like Jazz and Starscream that would fit in different shells/skins. In 1989, they re-released these figures without the shells and just called them Legends. In the 2000s, Hasbro decided to bring this scale back with their Robots in Disguise, Transformers Universe, Reveal the Shield and various other lines. Over time, the scale has continuously fluctuated so that it is tough to understand just how different figures will line up. This proved particularly challenging for me when I was searching for an appropriately sized Optimus Prime for my GoBots. Well, now I have added some more Transformers to my collection, Jazz, Bumblebee, Cliffjumper, Starscream, and Thundercracker. They are all about the same size. This bothers me a little bit when it comes to Bumblebee and Cliffjumper, but when I put them with Optimus or the GoBots, it all works out pretty ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Custom Remco/Zoloworld style Conan the Barbarian

Conan has always been a favorite of mine. He is the end all and be all of Barbarian/Fantasy heroes. I got my start, like most, from the Arnold films but later on I would be sucked into the Savage Sword of Conan series by Marvel. I knew there was a Remco version of the figure but the price point for him has always been too high for me to toss at a single toy. Funko had planned a Conan series for their Savage World line that I was pretty excited for but that seems to have been scrapped. Recently, I remembered about the Zoloworld series of toys. I knew about Realm of the Underworld and Pirates of the Galaxseas but I decided to check to see if they had made a figure that looked close enough for me to use. They had. Using Champion as my base, and adding on a repainted Primal Age Batman cape, I finally have my Conan the Barbarian. I also gave him a Super Naturals glow in the Dark sword. I always loved this weapon so I was glad to give it to the origi...
Post a Comment
Read more