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Series: Masters of the Universe Classics
Real Name: Keldor of the House of Miro
Title: Intergalactic Overlord of Evil
Year: 2014
Wounded by Hordak's final buzz saw attack at the end of the Second Ultimate Battleground, the victorious Skeletor mended his body with a techno virus from Preternia. Having learned of the might of the Horde Empire, he abandoned Eternia in search of a grander prize - the entire universe! Finding a Laser Gate at the far end of his own galaxy, he passed through it to the Tri Solar System just above the planet Denebria. It was here he recruited the Horde's Mutant Army in a plan to lead them in a mutiny against the Empire. But Skeletor was followed by He-Man, She-Ra, and many of the Masters of the Universe, who had themselves allied with the Galactic Protectors. Skeletor now fights a new intergalactic battle; to rule the universe and destroy He-Man once and for all!
Prelude: Long before Skeletor was turned into a Cyborg against his will in the Netflix series, the Overlord of Evil turned himself into one for the New Adventures of He-Man line. And while that portion of the Masters of the Universe franchise is not particularly well-liked by the majority, I’m a fan and thus eager to get an updated version of this figure. Enter Classics Intergalactic Skeletor, Nya-ha-ha-ha! Let’s say go!
Review: This Classics figure here depicts Skeletor as he looked in the New Adventures of He-Man, a very close match to the original figure. He is still quite clearly Skeletor – blue skin, skull head, dark blue boots – but with some distinct changes. His classic chest harness is replaced by a maroon chest plate with technological sculpting that resembles a skull. Small skulls clasp a maroon cape to his shoulders and a skull belt buckle adorns his waist. He also wears a golden helmet with, you guessed it, a little skull on top. Skeletor is really living his theme here.
In New Adventures, Skeletor has become a cyborg (more on that below) and you can see a lot of appropriate details here. Cables run along his limbs and up his neck, he has mechanical-looking muscles and joints, and on the back you can see a cybernetic spine peeking out from behind his cape. Removing his golden helmet shows more technological stuff on the back of his head. Even his fingers have sculpted details, something that almost looks like pistons. It’s a very cool new look for Skeletor and may I just say that his skull head has never looked more skull-like than it does here. Very nice detail work.
Skeletor has the standard articulation for a Classics figure, not quite as good as a Masterverse figure, but still a lot better than any older figure. That said, his articulation is a bit limited by his bulkiness. Especially his arms, as Skeletor’s torso is very, very bulky. He actually wears a chest harness over a standard Classics torso to appear more muscular. The harness is glued in place, though, and not removable. Same goes for the cape, by the way, which cannot be removed, either. What you can remove, as mentioned above, is the golden helmet, and while I love the sculpt, it could fit a little more snugly.
Skeletor’s only weapon is his staff, which doesn’t have any ram elements this time around, but instead features – you guessed it – a big skull in the middle. Some cybernetic detailing is added here, too, and the staff itself is very large. Maybe a tiny bit too large? He can wield it one- or two-handed, though the grip of his hands is a bit loose.
Skeletor also comes with an additional accessory, a battle-damaged head for Classics Faker. Now technically Skeletor can wear that head as well and it even kind of fits with his skin tone, but the head doesn’t really peg in properly. Which brings us to the final problem of this figure: Skeletor always looks down a bit. Now while that might fit his personality, it’s caused by the high “collar” of his chest harness. In theory he can nod and look up, but not with that thick collar.
So bottom line here: awesome looking figure, extremely nice detailing, but a few problems that mostly result from his bulky chest harness. Might have been better for this figure to receive an entirely new torso, a bit slimmer than this one, instead of slapping on a chest harness onto an existing one. Apart from that, though? I love this guy!
Remarks: Depending on whether you first saw the cartoon or read the mini-comics, the origin of Skeletor’s new look in the New Adventures of He-Man is decidedly different. In the cartoon he simply turned up looking like this, his obvious cybernetic nature never commented upon. In the mini-comics, however, Skeletor was gravely injured when he attempted to use the Starship Eternia to siphon off the Power of Grayskull. Escaping into the future, he used technology to mend his wounds, emerging a powerful cyborg warrior. Also, in the comics Skeletor quickly subjugated Flogg and took over leadership of the Mutants, while cartoon Skeletor was content to leave Flogg in charge as a figurehead.
Despite many MotU fans disliking the New Adventures era of He-Man, we have seen the return of most of the cast in the Classics line and He-Man and Skeletor have also received new figures in the Masterverse line, too. This is the first of three different versions of Skeletor from New Adventures, the other two have yet to receive an updated figure. I bought this figure here at a MotU convention in Germany and while it does have a few problems, I very much like it for the look and detailing alone. Now I just have to find a He-Man to go with it (that doesn’t cost me an arm or a leg). So if you’re a big Skeletor fan like me, you should take a look at this guy here, too, no matter what you might think about the New Adventures of He-Man.
Rating: B
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