As covered in this post looking over a few figures, I’ve found myself collecting Masters of the Universe Masterverse figures! I won’t go over the reasons again, but it’s basically the figures’ scale, detail and articulation won me over. Although I was very tempted by the Origins line and I’m very happy with the Clamp Champ we got.
Masterverse New Eternia?
As this is my first review of a Masterverse figure I’d better quickly go over this. Back in 2021 when Netflix’s Masters of the Universe Revelation cartoon was released, Mattel took the opportunity to start up a new line of 17cm/7 inch scale of highly articulated figures that tied into the new cartoon.
This was the Masterverse Revelation line but note the “verse” in “Masterverse”. Because everybody and their pet dog has to have a multiverse of alternative versions of everything, so does Mattel with “Masterverse”.
However, considering Masters of the Universe has been going – off and on – since 1982 there are quite a few different versions of characters and this Masterverse line acts as an umbrella term for a whole different set of sub-lines doing new versions of figures from the various periods of the franchise.
Although the line very much started off with Revelation and tying into the cartoon from Netflix, it now has sub-lines covering the New Adventures of He-Man, the 1987 live action movie, Princess of Power and more.
Okay, but What About New Eternia?
The New Eternia line was the second sub-line to be launched by Mattel in 2022. It’s a loose line really without a concrete backstory – something about the power of Grayskull being scattered across the New Eternia – but it essentially allows for Mattel to create different takes on the classic characters.
The latter really caught my attention as Mattel seem to be drawing inspiration from early concepts as well as cooking up completely new and different designs.
Viking He-Man!
That finally brings us to this figure, Viking He-Man. Although the box art names this figure simply “He-Man”, I think it’s generally known as Viking He-Man for obvious reasons.
I really love the look and design of this version of He-Man but why the Viking inspiration? Well I really recommend checking out the Battle Ram Blog in general but this page on the development of He-Man in particular.
The whole article on the history and development of He-Man is fascinating and well worth reading. However, out of the many working prototypes there were some that while beginning to look like the He-Man we know and love, had a horned helmet. Some of these prototypes even had jewels on the helmet, like this figure. So I think it’s a fair bet that the New Eternia designer took a lot of inspiration from these prototypes.
Box Art
Right! That’s enough preamble. Let’s get on with this review!
The box art by the way, is amazing. The back of the box has a full image of He-Man surrounded by menacing monsters. It is a bit obscured by various safety notes in many languages and the cross sell at the bottom, but nonetheless it is really good.
This continues on one of the side of the box too which gives a hint as to the different looks for this version of He-Man.
Note that in both pieces of art, He-Man has a shield. Unfortunately, the shield is not among the figure’s accessories.
Figure Essentials
Considering this is a ‘normal’ release figure – not a deluxe, or a Mattel Creations exclusive – there is quite a lot going on here!
A quick look over the figure and I’m really impressed. It’s a new take on He-Man while leaving enough classic details in place for it to not be a complete departure.
As you can see from the photos, He-Man here is sporting a bit of a tan. So although he’s got a Viking look, there must be some sun where he’s from!
The figure itself is actually a little taller than the Masterverse line’s standard of 17cm/7 inches. With the pointy helmet horns, Viking He-Man actually comes in at about 19cm/7.5 inches.
The figure boasts thirty points of articulation so you can really go to town with creative poses. The joints all seem solid, although there is a little bit of “wobble” in the hip joints. The rest of the leg joints are fine, so the figure stands with no problems.
There’s quite a bit of detail to the figure particularly in the shoulder armour. However there isn’t much in the way of paint washes so some of the detail gets a little bit lost. There is a bit of a paint slip on the front of the harness which is a shame. Haven’t spotted anything else like that elsewhere and the rest of the paint application seems pretty tidy.
Accessories
There’s a pleasing amount here: three weapons, harness, shoulder armour, removable bracer, choice of two heads and four hands.
No shield as per the box art though and the torso harness isn’t easily removable.
Armour
He-Man’s famous harness has had a bit of a re-design but it hasn’t moved too far from the classic look. There is a new take on the central “He-Man cross” but it’s still very recognisable and even has the red square embosses on the shoulder straps.
I think it’s been molded in the brown of the straps with the central “cross area” painted grey. There’s that minor paint slip up I’ve mentioned but the rest of the paint application seems pretty good.
Attached to the harness are the shoulder plates/armour plates. These are a light gold in colour and sport designs which (to me at least) hint at a technological background along with a central piece that references the cross from the torso harness. Plus a nice little fur trim is molded and painted on to them. Can’t have He-Man suffering from chafed shoulders!
The torso harness has an extra strap at the back where you can stow the Sword of Power. The battle axe can also be fitted here, but takes a little bit of fiddling with to get it to fit.
The torso harness can be undone by pulling the straps out of the loops on the back. Unfortunately it can’t be completely removed, at least not easily. The lower straps do not come undone so the only option is to try to slide down over the legs. Seems to be a bit of an oversight but I’m sure not a deterrent to customisers.
Bracers
The bracer on He-Man’s left arm can be removed. It’s bigger than the vintage figure’s and almost doubles up as a hand guard too. Clearly riffing on the design from the Revelation version of He-Man, however here the inner side has straps and leather or maybe fur molded in. All serving to tie into the Viking look.
The smaller bracer on the right hand can not be removed. However, it’s probably only lightly glued in place and somebody more determined could take it off.
Weapons
The Sword of Power design is very classic and I really like it. It’s much longer than the version from the vintage figure and looks like it means business! Although the only paint application is the brown on the straps of the hilt, the sword is molded in a slightly sparkly grey which is a nice touch.
The battle axe is molded in the same grey but with no paint applications at all. It does have a lot of detail however. The straps are molded into the handle area along with a lot of wear along the edges of the axe blades. These details along with the sparkly grey make sure it doesn’t end up completely plain looking.
In another nod back to some of the prototype designs, this He-Man has an ankle dagger! The sheath is molded into his right lower leg so as to look like the straps of his boot hold it in place. The dagger can be unsheathed which is brilliant and acts as another weapon accessory.
Hands
This He-Man comes with four hands to choose from: a pair of grippy hands, a fist and an open hand. All serve to give choices when posing although the open hand is a bit of an odd one! I’m not really sure what it is meant for. I’m wondering whether it was originally intended for slotting a shield over, however the shield got omitted. Having said that, looking at other Masterverse figures, quite a lot of them have these odd looking open hands too!
Belt and Boots!
Just a couple more details are worth mentioning.
The belt is a gold colour to match the shoulder armour and is much more detailed than on the vintage figure. This style for the belt forms the standard design for figures from the New Eternia sub-line. Rather than being furry, the loin cloth here looks like it might be made from ragged strips of leather.
The boots are fairly classic looking. I think the furry tops to them is a bit well, floofier than seen previously on He-Man. Perhaps a reference to the colder climes this version of He-Man might come from!
A He-Man for all Seasons
The final accessory to mention is the alternative head and is a really fun inclusion. This is the same face sculpt just minus the horned helmet and it has a very classic He-Man style about it.
Swapping the heads out is simply a case of popping one off of a ball joint and then pressing the other one on. In this case, the joint is tight enough to avoid a wobbly head but loose enough that I didn’t feel like I was going to break anything.
Although there isn’t an awful lot of paint work on the rest of the figure, it does look to me like the face has a subtle wash on it. The hair certainly does and it all helps to bring out the detail.
If you also take off the shoulder armour, you’ve then got a fantastic classic looking He-Man! You can mix things up a bit too and I really appreciate the choices this figure gives you.
Final Thoughts
This was the first Masterverse figure I bought and what a great introduction to the line! Yes, compared to later figures in the line it is a bit plain. Nonetheless it comes with quite a few accessories and I love the display choices these give you.
Not only is the design an interesting call back to the early He-Man prototypes, it also gives this figure a more barbarian look and contrasts well with the Revelation version.
Although this figure came out back in 2022, it still seems readily available in the UK.
I bought Viking He-Man at the same time as the New Eternia deluxe version of Beast Man, so I’ll be taking a look at that next.
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