Toy Review: ‘Masters Of The Universe’ Origins Megatron Armor Skeletor Sure Is A Thing

We’re already talked quite a bit this week about Masters of Universe Origins as a line, and even further back about the line’s crossovers. Well, I was unexpectedly able to get my hands on the latest crossover and … well, it’s sure something

If there were any property that kids from the 1980s to cross He-Man over with more than Ninja Turtles, it was Transformers. With the success of Turtles of Grayskull, it was only natural for Mattel to try to make it happen with Transformers as well.

When this crossover was announced, fan response was incredibly mixed. Naturally, a lot of millennials were thrilled to finally see two of their childhood favorites together. But the designs themselves were met with a cold reception at best.

I’m personally not a huge Transformers fan. I’ve always liked them, but they’re pretty far down my list of fandom likes. That meant this crossover wasn’t a must-buy. However, I did find the figure on clearance this week (it’s a Target exclusive by the way), and so I had to at least give him a fair shake.

First impression is that this is one of the coolest packages a MOTU figure has had. It’s fully branded with both franchises and has great art. So, off to a good start, at least until the figure is out of the package.

So there’s two main things about it.

First, this is the second best of the four mash-up designs (the best being Scare-Glow/Starscream). It took the most recognizable elements of Megatron and pair fairly well with Skeletor’s classic elements. Megatron’s helmet has a great one-to-one comparison to Skeletor’s hood. His chestplate blends great into Megatron’s armored chest as well.

The accessories are designed fantastically too. The Havoc Staff is blended into the classic arm cannon, there’s a completely original sword with the staff’s ram’s head, and I love the Energon mace. They look great in hand too.

But the second thing is that this figure is almost over-designed to a point that it holds the actual figure back. The chestpiece is bulky and squared off in a way that makes it stiff, and the shoulder pauldrons are rigid, holding back posing the arms. It probably would have been better if the Megatron armor had been a removable piece over a traditional MOTU body, rather than one solid piece.

The head does have a great range of motion though, and you can still hit some great poses despite some limitations. It’s not bad, but it’s far from the level of other figures in the line.

It’s definitely good to be a great looking piece on the shelf though.