Masters of the Universe Classics Light Hope Figure Review (Mattel)

This review was originally published way back in November 2014 on Doomkick.com. It was written specifically for the Doomkick site so may contain specific references to the site etc. Due to the age of the article, some of the information contained within may have dated somewhat. This is the very last of my guest reviews on other sites to date. With the exception of the little piece I contributed to Dinosaur Dracula a billion years ago, all my off-site work has now been republished right here on Hoard World! Yay! You can check out the originally published version of this Light Hope review at the Doomkick site here. Thanks for reading!

Light Hope. Yes. That guy. One of the three extra special BFFs along with Madame Razz and Kowl who knew She-Ra's secret identity. Also pretty much one of the hardest characters to ever make an action figure out of.

Because he's just a beam of rainbow-esque light (see above). You know?

Unless you do something almost cool but mostly awful like NECA's "Lightning Gremlin" action figure, you're really up Snake Mountain without a power sword when it comes to making an action figure of Light Hope.

Yet they did. And here he is.

Masters of the Universe Classics Spirit of Hordak Review (Mattel) / Vale Earl Norem 1924-2015

The review included in this blog entry was originally published way back in October 2013 on Poeghostal.com. It was written specifically for Poe Ghostal's site so may contain specific references to the site etc. Due to the age of the article, some of the information contained within may have dated somewhat. For example, obviously since the Spirit of Hordak chase figure came out, we've had Loo-Kee and Kowl as well as the recent Spirit of King Grayskull (Which I still don't have! OMC*). This version contains slightly different wording as well as many new links that were originally removed from the final version by the editor. You can check out the originally published version on Poe Ghostal's site here.

Before we begin this recycled review, I'd just like to pay tribute to one of the greatest illustrators who ever walked the Earth: Mr. Earl Norem. Along with the likes of William George and Alfredo Alcala, Earl Norem was an integral element of the Masters of the Universe mythos in its illustrated form. Aside from MOTU however, he was just an all-round wonderful artist. I was literally only just looking at some of his brilliant work and reading the interview with him in the recent Masters of the Universe Art Book a few days before he passed. Here's some footage of the man himself hanging out with Stan Lee at a con a few years back. Rest in peace, Earl Norem. You will be sorely missed but thankfully your decades of amazing work will be with us for generations to come.

VALE EARL NOREM 1924-2015

*Oh My Crom!

MOTU DAY 2015: FIVE THINGS YOU CAN LEARN ABOUT THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE FROM THEIR VINTAGE GOLDEN BOOKS ADVENTURES

FOR THOSE WHO CAME IN LATE.......

MOTU Day is April 28th or so it was decreed back in 1987 by Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley.

He might not have meant for anybody to celebrate it in 1988 or ever again, but it's still an absolute fact. 

This actually happened. 

It doesn't matter that it was created for the sole purpose of promoting the POWER TOUR that was running through LA at the time - if it was good enough for Mayor Tom Bradley and the fine people of Los Angeles, it's good enough for you. 

MOTU has an actual day. (See: Los Angeles Times Article April 23rd, 1987 to read it transcribed in print)

So it was declared, so it shall be done. Forever and ever.  He-men.

MOTU DAY 2015 logo by The Toy Box

Masters of the Universe Classics Hordak Review (Mattel)

This review was originally published way back in April 2013 on Doomkick.com. It was written specifically for the Doomkick site's 1st Anniversary celebrations so may contain specific references to the site etc. Due to the age of the article, some of the information contained within may have dated somewhat. Although this piece was actually published before my "Mosquitor" guest review on Poe Ghostal's site, it is still chronologically (in terms of the order I wrote them) the second guest review I ever did. You can check out the originally published version (that comes with an introduction from Hoard World's "management") on the Doomkick site here.

Hi. I'm Hoardax.

Yes, the Hoardax. Maybe you've heard of me or maybe you've heard of me!

This isn't about me today, though. That was just a formality to set my new audience at ease. I am completely out of my comfort zone. Normally, I'd be talking to the legion of Hoard Worlders over on my Facey B page or on The Blog - to rapturous applause, often a standing ovation.

But today, I talk to YOU - The Doomkickers. Be gentle with me, won't you? Like many artists, or siblings of Evil Dictators who have become estranged due to a conflict of interests (He wanted to murder everybody all the time; I enjoy collecting nice things and sharing my love of said things with the world via the internets), I am very sensitive.

NEW YORK TOY FAIR REVEALS: NECA 8-BIT VIDEO GAME FIGURES - MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE CLASSICS - BATMAN THE ANIMATED SERIES - MARVEL LEGENDS - KOTOBUKIYA SUPER POWERS - BIF BANG POW 3.75" FIGURES - MEZCO 1:12

I weep both tears of happiness and sadness at the New York Toy Fair reveals.
Happiness at the beauty of the nice things.
Sadness at probably only ever seeing about 14% of them in real life and owning about 8% of those. 

Is it that time of year again already? It seems like only yesterday that I was ogling a sample of 2014's New York Toy Fair wares!

Well, it is. It is that time of year. And what a year Toy Fair 2015 has turned out to be!

There was soooooo much stuff displayed this year that it literally gave me anxiety. And I didn't even attend Toy Fair! Frankly, I blame the internet.

While many reputable sites have beautifully delivered massive amounts of footage and pics direct from Toy Fair already, here on Hoard World, I'm borrowing a mere selection of those very same pics and showing you the stuff that I am personally excited about. Ya dig?

Let's start right away, shall we?

Masters of the Universe Classics Mosquitor Figure Review (Mattel)

This review was originally published way back in May 2013 on Poe Ghostal.com. It was written specifically for Poe's site so contains many references (and links) to his other reviews. Due to the age of the article, some of the information contained within may have dated somewhat.  This is the complete, unabridged version. You can check out the slightly edited version on Poe Ghostal's site here.

The latest addition to The Mighty Horde's army is Mosquitor The Evil Energy Draining Insectoid, who was released last December. He sold out reasonably quickly after he went on sale but has since turned up on Mattycollector for sale as excess Customer Service Stock. Which has also sold out. If you missed out, there's a pretty good chance he's still floating around on eBay for prices somewhere higher than Chief Carnivus or Dekker but much less than Whiplash or Beastman.

To my knowledge, Mosquitor never made an appearance in the Filmation cartoon or the 200x version. He did, however, get his own front cover fighting He-man in one of those Marvel Star Comics of the late 80s. Issue 8, I believe it was.

As such, we've never really known that much about him. All we know is that he's one of The Horde, he has a Mosquito head and he sucks blood. Oh, and that he's actually FEMALE thanks to The Fwoosh and their magnificent, fact-based logic.

It's well documented that Mosquitor is Pixel Dan's favourite MOTU character EVER. This was irrefutably proven once and for all by this video where Dan's celebration of finally receiving a MOTUC version results in a Kafka-esque Metamorphosis....and Gangnam Style Dancing. These days it's hard to even think about Mosquitor without thinking about Pixel Dan. (Or do I have some kind of problem?) In fact, Poe talked to him just the other day about the concept of a Toy Fan's favourite obscure character being called "My Mosquitor."

The "My Mosquitor" definition revolves around a "guilty pleasure" character that isn't popular with everybody. Now, there's a chance Pixel Dan might read this but this isn't why I'm saying what I'm about to say.....

WHO DOESN'T LOVE MOSQUITOR? Seriously. I want a show of hands.

He/She is a MOSQUITO-headed vampire that SUCKS BLOOD! The vintage figure had a blood-pumping chest action! Are you kidding me? That's objectively the best thing that ever happened.

But is the MOTUC re-imagining of Mosquitor a piece of black plastic recycling? Let's find out.

DC Universe Classics Green Arrow Figure Video Review (Mattel)

It's 38 degrees celsius today on Hoard World (which is just over 100 degrees fahrenheit for people that don't do celsius), so it's important that you keep your fluids up, stay out of the sun and, where necessary, share your refreshments with your pals, just like I am here with Five Dollar Hulk. I'm lovely.

No, you're not imagining things. This is already the second blog entry of 2015: one in which I continue to wow the YouTube-o-sphere with more poor quality gonzo-style toy videos that involve elongated attempts to open a simple action figure package, surprise cats and royalty free rap music.

I can't believe you're not already watching it.

In case you can't be bothered, here's two pictures that I lazily took with my phone and no enhancements which give you some idea of what a Green Arrow action figure looks like; almost opened and out of the pack.

At this rate, I expect I will be the next Pixel Dan in no time.

Stay cool.

yr pal,

HOARDAX.

p.s. you can now be personal Facey B friends with me. 

Get on that if you feel like going that extra mile.

Total Heroes Ultra Firestorm comes with three interchangeable heads
plus a floating transparent Professor Stein head. That's just about the
best accessory that Firestorm could ever have. I love it.

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO HALLOWEEN ON HOARD WORLD? aka PLEASE READ MY GUEST POST ON DOOMKICK.COM

Behind-the-scenes pic from my guest review of Bob Hope's lesser known relative and She-Ra's BFF Light Hope over at Doomkick.com

Hi everybody!

My reasons for writing you all today are two-fold.

Firstly, I just thought I would let you know that my guest review of Light Hope has gone up and is ready to peruse at your leisure over at the Doomkick site!

If you've never been there before, then now is a good time to start. It's a lovely place. I highly recommend it.

You can read my guest review right HERE.

Secondly, even though Halloween has clearly come and gone, it would be remiss of me not to share with you how it all went down on Hoard World. It was pretty wonderful you guys.

Two of these things are not like the other.

SPOTLIGHT ON: INTERGALACTIC SKELETOR aka SPACE SKELETOR! aka NEW ADVENTURES SKELETOR by MATTEL

Intergalactic Skelly just flew into Hoard World and boy are his intergalactic arms tired!

You know, in all the years I've been doing Hoard World, I don't think we've ever done an actual spotlight on a Masters of the Universe Classics figure. Sure, there's been lots of pictures of them but never a focus on a single figure release. Well, maybe it's time to do more of that.

"Welcome to the Galaxy, bonehead."

The idea of Space He-man or Space Skeletor is a strange one (even though it makes perfect sense to yours truly) and something that never quite gelled with the children of 1989 or even the adults of the 2010s.

BRING YOUR MAN-E-FACES TO WORK DAY ON HOARD WORLD!

So there I was. At home. It was September 2nd. Just trying to do a nice, honest day's work. Taking pics. Listing on eBay. Being excellent on social media. That sort of thing.

That's when it happened. This guy (I think his name was "Manny") turns up. No hello. No nothin'. And he just won't leave me alone. He doesn't say a word. He just stands there. Watching me. Hugging me. Posin' for pics like the one you just saw.

6 OF THE WORST ACTION FIGURE LIKENESSES EVER MADE

These two guys are not some of them. In fact, I think that's a pretty good "Bad Tummy Time" Bill Paxton likeness. And that Michael Biehn likeness is undoubtedly superior to what you are about to witness if you read on. As a side note, both of these figures are currently on sale at the All Star Comics Melbourne Toy Cabinet!! Whoa. Shameless Plug.

There's something about enjoying a movie property that often makes us want to own merchandise of it. This wasn't always the case, but certainly these days it has become quite a common occurrence. It's practically expected. That's a good thing because otherwise I'd have nothing to write about this week.

And as the title of this feature may have already given away, I will not be focussing on the crowning glories of silver screen to action figure accuracy. Nay! I want to look at some of the ones that look nothing like their cinematic counterparts.

What you are about to read is by no means definitive. In fact, the chosen examples were literally the first that sprang to mind. I know, for a fact, that there are many, many more to choose from. As such, we may revisit this subject again in due course.

Note: This feature was written whilst sick with The Death Flu, and as such, I uncharacteristically have not sourced or linked any of my borrowed photos (which is pretty much all of the pics that don't have a blue background). Now I can't remember where I got them from - if this is you, tell me and I will add links. So sorry.

WHAT HAS HONG KONG PHOOEY DONE FOR ME LATELY? aka HOW TO KENNY ROGERS.

The answer is: Not enough.

Sometimes you have to be Kenny Rogers.

You have to Kenny Rogers the heck out of an aspect of your life.

And that can be a gamble.

But knowing when to fold 'em. When to hold 'em. When to walk away. And when to run, is how you be Kenny Rogers successfully.

And sometimes you have to be Kenny Rogers about something. You have no choice.

The time for me to be Kenny Rogers is NOW and that "something" I mentioned earlier is my vast collection of things I quite like.

HOARD WORLD: YEAR TWO - HOW TO CELEBRATE THAT DIFFICULT SECOND YEAR WITH A BIRTHDAY PARTY

It's my birthday. It's my birthday. I'm gonna spend my money.
p.s. I'm broke, so not really.

Long time readers might recall around this time last year when I took an exhaustive, obsessively critical and self-indulgent look at the first year of Hoard World in all its various guises.

For Hoard World's 2nd anniversary, let's not gaze into my plastic, slime-filled navel too much; instead, why not remember what it is that we actually like about Hoard World with a nice, laid back retrospective? (And then celebrate our difficult second year with a birthday party.)

SPOTLIGHT ON: HUGGINGTONS TWISTED TOYS PART TWO featuring THE SAVAGE BOBBY PIN! (RAGE BEAST EDITION)

Note: The Filmation-style MOTUC Trap Jaw in this photo shoot was created many years ago by Hunter Knight Customs. P.S. I love the way The Savage Bobby Pin is packaged.

Yesterday (hopefully) you read about Frankentrooper and PINCER M.D. in part one of our Spotlight on Huggingtons Twisted Toys.

Today I bring you another fantastic piece of Toy Art in the conclusion of our very special Spotlight on Huggingtons Twisted Toys.

Huggingtons Twisted Toys is the brainchild of artist J-F Tranquille (you can check out his new blog that goes behind the scenes of his work HERE) who is based in Melbourne, Australia and has had displays and exhibitions of his art, sculptures and toy creations all over town (most recently, and most often, at the awesome Art Boy Gallery).

All of the independently produced Toys you see in this Spotlight are either available to purchase now (or will be very shortly) from the Huggingtons Twisted Toys Storenvy.

Let's get started, shall we?

SPOTLIGHT ON: HUGGINGTONS TWISTED TOYS PART ONE featuring PINCER M.D. & FRANKENTROOPER.

Note: The Filmation-style MOTUC Trap Jaw in this photo shoot was created many years ago by Hunter Knight Customs.

It's been far too long between pop cultural drinks here on Hoard World.

To be fair, while I frequent the Facey B often, and update The Hoardstagram so regularly that one magnificent Hoard Worlder instituted the catchphrase "Hoard World: Bringing you toy insanity on a daily basis!", I have been rather lax with The Blogging and such.

Until now.

And golly gee willikers is this a doozy!

For today I bring you TWO fantastic pieces of Toy Art in Part One of our very special Spotlight on Huggingtons Twisted Toys.

Huggingtons Twisted Toys is the brainchild of artist J-F Tranquille (you can check out his new blog that goes behind the scenes of his work HERE) who is based in Melbourne, Australia and has had displays and exhibitions of his art, sculptures and toy creations all over town (most recently, and most often, at the awesome Art Boy Gallery).

All of the independently produced Toys you see in this Spotlight are either available to purchase now (or will be very shortly) from the Huggingtons Twisted Toys Storenvy.

Let's get started, shall we?

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE DAY 2014: THE CLIP SHOW

We hadn't really planned on doing anything for MOTU Day this year. Never say never.

FOR THOSE WHO CAME IN LATE.......

MOTU Day is April 28th or so it was decreed back in 1987 by Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley.

He might not have meant for anybody to celebrate it in 1988 or ever again, but it's still an absolute fact.

This actually happened.

It doesn't matter that it was created for the sole purpose of promoting the POWER TOUR that was running through LA at the time - if it was good enough for Mayor Tom Bradley and the fine people of Los Angeles, it's good enough for you.

MOTU has an actual day. (See: Los Angeles Times Article April 23rd, 1987 to read it transcribed in print)

So it was declared, so it shall be done. Forever and ever.  He-men.

The oversized He-man and Skeletor heads in this pic are actually vintage pencil toppers, in case you didn't already know. I just shoved them on top of their Classics counterparts. 'Cause I'm an artist.

SPOTLIGHT ON: E.A. HORDACUS & DARK RIDER by KABOOM TOYS

Geldor, E.A. Hordacus and your pal, Hoardax.

It's a great pleasure to be back again to spotlight more fantastic Toy Artists from around the globe.

This is the final installment of what has been a quartet of specifically focused Hoard World Spotlight Features.

The previous spotlights (in case you missed them) were:

• Luke Toywalker & Pablo Perra's Wrestlers Of The Universe. 
• Ryan Hall's 3-D Paper Toy Art pieces. 
• Eric Nilla & Wolf Voigt's M.U.S.C.L.E.S. of the Universe.

NEW YORK TOY FAIR REVEALS: ETHERIA SUB - SUPER POWERS 2014 RETRO LINE - BATMAN: ANIMATED SERIES - NECA ALIENS - RIO BLAST - MINI MASTERS

Upcoming NECA Aliens 7" Figures Series 3 featuring LANCE HENRIKSEN as Bishop!!
Picture Credit: Big Bad Toy Store

It's New York Toy Fair 2014, and while I'm sure, even as I type this, not everything has even finished being revealed, I thought I'd quickly chime in with the reveals that already, I am absolutely beyond stoked about.

Let's start with NECA's upcoming series of 7" ALIENS figures (pictured) that are on its way to a store near you in July.

The Lance Henriksen likeness? Just...WOW. Bishop looks amazing, and this guy is going to make brilliant custom fodder for all sorts of Lance Henriksen variants.

Add to that, the awesomeness of a 7" Kane figure with the facehugger suffocating him through his space suit helmet, and this line is really coming together.

Next up, is some of the fantastic Mattel announcements for their Masters Of The Universe Classics line.

VALENTINE'S DAY featuring EXCLUSIVE tips from TV's Bryan Cranston of Breaking Bad fame.

Welcome to Valentine's Day on Hoard World - the only blog that is 99.1% pure...ROMANCE.

Last year, that jerk Hoardax gave you the Top 5 Valentine's Day Tips of All Time.

Well, I'm here to tell you - his romance was inferior.

This is the new shizz.

Let's cook.

NEW ITEMS AVAILABLE TO BUY AT THE HOARD STORE: MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE! SPIDER-MAN! MARVEL LEGENDS! WALKING DEAD!

That one time I met Errol Flynn's son and MR. T's dad.

Oh hey.

Didn't see you there. It's your old pal Hoardax.

You remember me, right? Hordak's nice twin brother? Blogger? Ebay Store proprietor?

Anyway, I listed some awesome shizz over at the Hoard Store.

I don't mention stuff like this as much as I should because I'm too busy dream casting the upcoming Masters Of The Universe live action film or spotlighting awesome 3-D Paper Toy Art or filming Battle Cat doing stuff like this.....