Enter: Whiplash!

Mattel unveiled their latest Masters of the Universe Classics figure a few days ago: Whiplash. While for many He-Man fans, Whiplash may be a rather minor minion in Skeletor's army, I remember the character fondly, not so much for who he is, but for how I first met him. My family was vacationing in Florida, and we found and bought Whiplash after the highlight of our trip, a day at Disney World. For the long flight back to Connecticut, I stood Whiplash on my folded down tray, swinging his spring action tail and waiting for the moment I could pit him against He-Man when we finally got home. In the midst of potential boredom, that single action figure helped my imagination soar, even as we did quite literally over the east coast. For that, I'll always be grateful to Whiplash. He earned his name that day, because I don't mind snapping backward at the memory.

A Moss Man-ic Monday

Mattycollector.com kicked off St. Patrick's Day week with the debut sale of He-man's greenest friend, Moss Man. I'd love to review him for you later this month . . . but he sold out in, like, four minutes. So much for the luck of the Irish being on my side! Fortunately, Mattel assures us he'll be available again soon . . . maybe in time for Earth Day.

Masters of the Universe Classics Battle Cat

Earlier this week, I received my Masters of the Universe Classics Battle Cat from Mattel's MattyCollector.com. He looks awesome, though I would've dug a swappable Cringer head, too. I haven't opened any of these figures, so I can't give Mattel's first MOTUC beast a really accurate review -- I can, however, offer this supplemental picture of my brother and me opening an inflatable Battle Cat from Back in the Day.

Masters of the Universe Classics Man-at-Arms

My Masters of the Universe Classics Man-at-Arms arrived yesterday from MattyCollector.com. Mattel's packaging department uses scraps of art from the original Masters of the Universe toy line to accentuate their characters' bios, reminding me of when purchasing an action figure was an event. As a kid, I always soaked up the art on the package, read the characters' history on the back of the box (often on a cut-'n-collect trading card), and, once I opened the figure, read the comic that came with it -- all before cracking the toy's joints. Now, you're lucky if the preview images of other figures in that line are large enough to look at, considering the legalese that clutters any toy's packaging nowadays. At least Mattel remembers its roots, and though these figures are 400% more than what my parents paid for them back in the day, at least they're still giving me at least 75% of the experience. Now, if only I opened and played with them . . .