First Impressions: Vintage Collection Man-at-Arms

Published by Collected Wonders on

I quite enjoyed comparing the two versions of Stratos in the last First Impressions article I did, so let’s do something similar here.

The Masterverse Vintage Collection sub-line is continuing and this version of Man-at-Arms rounds out the releases from 2025.

A photo of the Vintage Collection Man-at-Arms figure still in its box. The front of the box has a design that includes exploding rocks and lightning with the Masters of the Universe logo at the bottom. Above this is a window through which the green and orange figure of Man-at-Arms can be seen.
The Vintage Collection Man-at-Arms figure removed from its box but still in the plastic tray. The tray is a clear see-through plastic so that the cardboard backing is visible. It has a red and blue exploding rocks design.
The New Vintage Collection Man-at-Arms figure in its packaging. The red and blue exploding rocks design is very reminiscent of the original 1980s packaging designs.

Bright and Beefy!

What immediately struck me with the Vintage Collection version was how bright the colours are and how much beefier it is than the previous New Eternia version in the Masterverse line:

The Vintage Collection Man-at-Arms figure freshly unboxed. The figure is standing facing the viewer. It has the standard for this character orange armour over a green body suit.
A side by side comparison of the New Eternia and Vintage Collection Man-at-Arms figures. On the left is the New Eternia version with a deeper green body suit and orange armour over that. On the right is the Vintage Collection figure with much brighter greens and oranges.
The colours of the Vintage Collections Man-at-Arms are very bright, particularly compared to the New Eternia version.
Another side by side comparison but this time of the 40th Anniversary version of He-Man and on the right, the Vintage Collection Man-at-Arms. Both figures have had their torso armour removed so that it can be seen that they both use the same style of very muscly torso sculpts.
The 40th Anniversary version of He-Man alongside the Vintage Collection Man-at-Arms.

The colours are presumably intended to be close to the original 1980s vintage figure. The beefyness is down to the new figure using the same build as the 40th Anniversary He-Man. That means this figure is using the slightly taller and chunkier legs plus that huge torso too.

I can’t quite decide whether I like this style or not. I assume it’s a call back to the 1980s vintage figures which had very muscly physiques. I’m not sure it’s translated to the Masterverse style perfectly but it looks fine once the figures have their armour on.

Men-at-Arms

So comparing this new Man-at-Arms to the New Eternia version, the differences in colour and build are obvious:

A side by side comparison of the New Eternia and Vintage Collection versions of Man-at-Arms without their torso armour. This clearly shows just how much bigger the design of the Vintage Collection Man-at-Arms is. The figure's torso has huge chest muscles. It's legs are chunkier too.
A back to back comparison of the two versions of Man-at-Arms. On the right is the Vintage Collection version which stands a head taller than the New Eternia version.
This Vintage Collection version is much bigger than the New Eternia version!

The bright green on the newer figure is slightly muted by a darker wash over it. Interesting to note, while the Vintage Collection figure has a wash on the body but not on the armour, the New Eternia version did the opposite.

Man-E-Heads?

The other big difference is in the heads and faces of the two figures. The New Eternia version came with two heads and two helmets. This Vintage Collection version has just the one head and one helmet. Plus Mattel opted to go with a moustache-less look. This is accurate to the original figure as the facial hair equipped look wasn’t introduced until the Filmation cartoon was produced.

A close up look at the Vintage Collection Man-at-Arms' head. The face has a clean shaven look with dark brown eyebrows. It's wearing a light blue helmet which has moulded details picked out in orange and red paint.
The Vintage Collection Man-at-Arms' helmet can be removed, as shown in this photo. The figure's head is designed and painted to look like it is wearing a green skull cap.
A side view of the skull cap showing an over ear design and that the figure's brown hair is poking out at the back.
The Vintage Collection version’s helmet can be taken off, showing some details similar to the New Eternia’s version. However, the hair poking out at the back is new.
The moustached Man-at-Arms head wearing one of the helmets. This helmet is a metallic blue plastic with details picked out in an orange paint.
The alternative head that comes with Man-at-Arms sports a moustache. Otherwise it is identical to the clean shaven version.
The clean shaven Man-at-Arms head wearing the alternative helmet. Like the other, this helmet is a metallic blue plastic but the details are picked out in green and red. It's also thinner than the other helmet and flares out slightly at the bottom.
One of Man-at-Arms' heads without a moustache. In this photo, the helmet is removed showing that the figure has been designed with a close fitting cap.
A side view of the skull cap. It's moulded in a green plastic and has some tech details included such as a hearing device over the ear.
The extra head and helmet of the New Eternia version allows for lots of display options, something lacking from the new Vintage Collection version.

In early promo photos of the Vintage Collection figure, it looked like Mattel were going to re-use the moustache-less face from the New Eternia figure. I’m happy to say that that was either a mistake or simply a placeholder as the final face here is different. It does quite a good job of looking like the original Man-At-Arms but updated to fit the Masterverse style.

Worth It?

Because the New Eternia version of Man-at-Arms stuck to a fairly classic look for the character, these two figures are very similar looking. With the benefit of hindsight, I do now wish the New Eternia version had gone further with the changes it did introduce.

The New Eternia version though, does have those extra heads and helmets. On the other hand, the Vintage Collection figure has a better mace weapon and I quite like the brighter colours.

The Man-at-Arms figure holding the mace weapon in one hand with the ball and chain accessory hanging down. In the left hand the figure is holding the alternative accessory for the mace weapon which is simply the ball and club minus the chain. The mace weapon is moulded in a similar orange plastic to the armour.
The Man-at-Arms figure holding the mace weapon in the right hand with the ball and chain accessory being held up by the left hand.
Man-at-Arms holding the mace in the right hand while the left hand is holding the chain and ball attachment.
The newer figure’s mace weapon and accessory actually features a plastic chain with individual links. An upgrade over the New Eternia version.

I don’t think either is a bad choice at all but it might come down to this – I think this Vintage Collection Man-at-Arms is a Target exclusive which means it’s quite hard to get. Especially if like me you’re based outside of the US.

At the time of writing, the New Eternia Man-at-Arms is still readily available online and for good prices too. So if that’s what’s easier and cheaper for you, I’m going to stick my neck out and say the New Eternia version is the one to get.

A Third Option

The version of Man-at-Arms that was released to tie in with the Revelation cartoon. It features the usual green body suit, orange armour and mace weapon plus blue helmet. Here, the figure is posed with the right arm up and brandishing the large mace weapon.

I’ve kept things simple here and just stuck to comparing this new figure to the New Eternia version. However, if you’re after a no fuss, pretty classic looking Man-at-Arms then it’s worth considering the Revelation version of Man-at-Arms too. It sports a look that once again isn’t too far from the original figure and is still pretty easy to find online.

Categories: Action FiguresFirst ImpressionsMasters of the UniverseMasterverseNew EterniaRevelationVintage Collection
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