Masters of the Universe Review: New Eternia Deluxe Vykron

Published by Collected Wonders on

“Ultimate Eternian Champion!

The legend of Vykron’s glory in the gladiator arena is known far and wide across Eternia. After every victory, he claimed a trophy: the armor and weapons of his fallen opponents. After mastering each armor’s battle techniques, Vykron became an one-man arsenal who defeated everyone who dared challenge him, no matter the foe or terrain.” – Box art bio

A detail from the box art for the New Eternia action figure Vykron. This is a close up of Vykron with his barbarian warrior helmet on.

Well, I’ve got a standard New Eternia figure in Viking He-Man and a deluxe in Beast Man. So it’s time to look at a figure that’s exclusive to Mattel Creations.

Vykron, Who He?

Once again, I’m going to refer to the Battle Ram blog, specifically these articles on the history of He-Man and Vykron.

The idea of Vykron goes back to the original trio of concept designs put to the decision makers at Mattel in the late 1970s. These comprised of a barbarian, a tank warrior (which literally had a tank cannon for a head!) and a sci-fi themed warrior kit bashed out of parts which included a Boba Fett head!

Out of the three, they chose the barbarian and this was eventually developed into He-Man.

Fast forward to 2012 and the Masters of the Universe Classics line. The three designs were given an overhaul and re-created as different armour sets for one warrior – Vykron.

This is a very simplified history of the character and I really recommend reading those Battle Ram blog articles. In a very real sense, Vykron started out as one of the earliest He-Man concepts.

I guess after Viking He-Man, I had He-Man prototypes on my mind!

Mattel Creations

I ought to cover Mattel Creations before moving on. Creations is Mattel’s online shop front where they sell exclusive items from their various brands and Masters of the Universe is of course among them. These exclusives include figures that are deep dives into the lore along with figures that have been given that extra special touch.

The figures exclusive to Mattel Creations tend to be extra special. Sort of like a deluxe++!

Box Art

The Mattel Creations packaging is quite different to the standard releases. Unfortunately, I’ve long since unboxed Vykron, but let’s see if I can recreate the experience a little:

A photo of the Mattel Creations outer mailer box the action figure of Vykron came in. It's a brown cardboard box with some designs on it plus a barcode.
The open to the mailer box for Vykron has some fun wording printed on it: "Cue dramatic box opening music".
A photo of the gorgeous box art on the actual box for Vykron. This has Vykron kitted out in his three sets of armour in different sections of the art. At the bottom Vykron is in his green tank armour, in the middle he's dressed as a barbarian as he attacks a group of skeleton warriors and at the top Vykron is in his space warrior armour which is orange and white.
Some more Vyrkon box art of the action figure dressed in the three sets of armour standing along side each other. The barbarian is at the front while the other two are standing behind. The barbarian has a battle axe and wears a helmet and a white fur cloak. The modern warrior has green armour and wears a sort of tank battle helmet and finally, the space warrior has orange and white armor white a space helmet and laser blaster.
Vykron's biography from the box art: "Vykron, Ultimate Eternian Champion! The legend of Vykron's glory in the gladiator arena is known far and wide across Eternia. After every victory, he claimed a trophy: the armor and weapons of his fallen opponents. After mastering each armor's battle techniques, Vykron became a one-man arsenal who defeated everyone who dated challenge him, no matter the foe or terrain."
The Vykron action figure in the box. It's dressed as the barbarian and has brown and white armour accessories. Some of the weapons and accessories are tied to the box alongside. These include the battle axe, battering ram, jet pack and tank head.
In this photo we have the key to the contents on the accessories box. The box is black and the key and text is printed in white. The key has diagrams of the various pieces with the number of them next to each.
In this photo, the accessories box for Vykron has been opened and some of the contents is visible. Visible is some of the tank warrior's green armor and the orange and white armour for the space warrior.
The packaging for Vykron, from outer mailer box to the accessories.

In the previous two reviews I’d already singled out the box art for praise. Here, it’s raised up a notch with gorgeous paintings of Vykron in the three armour sets in various vignettes. On one side of the box is Vykron’s bio.

Opening up the box you are greeted with an insert with even more excellent art. This insert is double sided with a fantasy/sci-fi scene on one side and Vykron in battle from the outer box art. This insert opens out and can be used as a backdrop for displaying the figure – as I did for the photos for this review.

The box insert for Vykron. If you take it out of the box and fold it open, there's a gorgeous painting of Vykron in barbarian gear fighting skeleton warriors.
The reverse of the box insert has another painting, this time of a fantasy / sci-fi scene. A futuristic city with white towers standing on cliff with prehistoric looking creatures flying in the air and in the foliage in for foreground.
The front and back to the box insert. The art is amazing!

Quite a lot of thought has gone into the packaging, which is completely plastic free. It’s very well designed and contributes to making the figure feel like a premium product.

Figure Overview

Take off all of the accessories and it’s clear that the Vykron figure uses a standard Masterverse He-Man body as seen with Viking He-Man. No great shock really, considering the character it’s based on started out as a He-Man prototype.

Accordingly, there’s a lot that is pretty similar between the two figures. They’re about the same height (19.5cm/7.5 inches) and the arms, torso and legs are all using the same moulds.

This photo has Vykron standing alongside Viking He-Man showing their similarities. Vykron is set up as a barbarian and He-Man has shoulder armour and a Viking helmet on. They also have very similar bodies so they look quite alike. However, Vykron has a darker skin tone and dark brown hair in contrast to the blonde He-Man.
This photo has Vykron standing back to back with Viking He-Man showing their similarities. The two action figures are very similar in height and build.
This photo has Vykron standing alongside Viking He-Man, this time without some of their outfits. Vykron is without the fur cloaks and Viking He-Man is minus his shoulder armour.
Vykron standing along side and back to back with Viking He-Man. Really shows the two figures’ similarities.

The belt is the standard New Eternia design like Viking He-Man’s, but the loin cloth is the more traditional fur variety. Looking at other Masterverse figures, the fur cloth is the standard look so Viking He-Man is actually the odd one out here.

A close up photo comparing one Vykron's boots with one of Viking He-Man's. Vykron's lacks a boot dagger, has a creamy white fur trim at the top and the straps are bigger than on Viking He-Man's.
A close up of one of Vykron’s boots next to one of Viking He-Man’s!

Similarly with the boots, Vykron’s follow a more standard Masterverse design. Unlike Viking He-Man’s which have more straps and a different fur trim. Vykron’s boots also have a nice painted wash over them. No boot dagger alas!

Articulation

With the Vykron figure using the same He-Man body, the articulation is also the same. So it’s good but nothing new here.

Most of the joints are solid but the knee joints have a slight wobble. This can make standing the figure slightly fiddly. The ankle joints are pretty good though so they make up for the knee joints somewhat when posing the figure.

Accessories

This is what the Vykron figure is all about and there’s a lot to cover here! Aside from the armour sets, Vykron comes with the removable barbarian head and two pairs of hands – a grippy pair and a pair of fists.

I’ll cover each set separately in the sections below:

Barbarian

The barbarian’s accessories are:

  • White “fur” cloak,
  • Torso harness,
  • Pair of bracers,
  • Pair of shin guards &
  • Battle axe.

This is what the Vykron figure comes out of the box set up as. Untying the battle axe from the packaging and putting it in his hand completes the look.

The Vykron action figure out of the box. Standing up the figure has grey shin guards and bracers, a brown torso harness with white fur cloak and a grey metal helmet.
Vykron the barbarian with his battle axe. The axe is held up over his right shoulder.
A close up look at Vykron's head and face with the helmet. The helmet has a red gem on the front and Vykron has very dark brown hair.
This photo shows Vykron from the back with the battle axe stowed in the back of the torso harness. The axe shaft goes behind the white fur cloak so the twin axe blades stick out at the top.
The barbarian version of Vykron. A really good update from the original He-Man prototype.
Some of the accessories for Vykron: battle axe, white fake fur cloak and four pairs of hands.
The torso harness for Vykron's barbarian look. In this close up photo the central cross design is front and centre. The straps of the harness are brown with the embossed cross is silver with a central part that's a light blue. On the top and bottom straps are also embossed silver squares.
Vykron's barbarian shin guards. This pair of shin guards are standing side by side in this photo. Both are a metallic silver in colour and both have an embossed cross design on them. The middle of the crosses area light blue in colour.
The backs and insides of the barbarian shin guards. This photo shows the brown straps used to attach the guards to the lower legs of the figure. Inside each guard is a letter - "L" for the left guard and "R" for the right guard.
A close up photo of the wrist bracers for Vykron's barbarian look. They are both a metallic silver in colour with a painted red stone gem on each.
A very close up look at Vykron's head. The face is slightly tanned with brown eye and dark brown hair. It's wearing a dark silver helmet with a point on top. At the front of the helmet is a painted red stone.
The barbarian accessories and a close up of Vykron’s head.

Seems to me, this is a pretty good update of the original Vykron/He-Man prototype. It’s really interesting that the cross-style chest icon goes all the way back to the very first prototype!

The icon design is reflected in the designs for the bracers and shin guards. Both of which can be easily removed. On the inside of each is an “L” or an “R” so you can keep track of which side of the figure each piece of armour is meant for.

This photo shows how the white fur cloak attaches to Vykron's torso harness. The cloak is lifted up on the side exposing the velcro strip that loops under the harness and over to attach to the underside of the cloak.
This photo shows how you can stow Vykron's battle axe in a loop on the back of the torso harness. The white fur cloak is lifted up to show this better.
A close up look at the battle axe. It's moulded in a shiny grey plastic. It has a scrolling design around the shaft The twin axe blades have a hollowed out design in the middle.
A closer look at the fur cloak and the battle axe.

The fur cloak attaches to the harness with velcro strips and is easy to take off. On the back of the harness is a loop where the battle axe can be stowed. The battle axe is something else that takes design cues from the original prototype. It has a nice finish to it too.

The right hand for gripping weapons is hinged so that you can move the hand up and down. This helps with positioning accessories such as the battle axe in this photo. The hand is angled so that it is more or less horizontal and the battle axe is held vertically.
The battle axe!

In some ways, the barbarian is the plainest of the three looks for Vykron. I really like it though. It hits the classic barbarian warrior look perfectly. Definite Conan the Barbarian vibes too!

While swapping out accessories and posing the figure, I noticed that the right grippy hand is hinged so that you can move the hand up and down, as opposed to left and right. This means you can get some good poses with the weapons held in that hand.

Modern/Tank Warrior

This armour set has the most elaborate accessories:

  • Large “tank head”!
  • Torso armour,
  • Bracers,
  • Shin guards &
  • Battering ram.

Comparing this to the original prototype design, this isn’t quite as outrageous! The original had a literal tank cannon for a head which was even replicated for the Classics version. Part of me is disappointed that the design for Vykron isn’t quite as out there, however this version does have a more refined look. The bird of prey design calls to mind vintage vehicles like the Battle Ram, Road Ripper and Dragon Walker.

A photo showing the details of the tank head/helmet for the modern warrior version of Vykron. This helmet is green in colour with silver guns mounted on each side. The fron of the helmet resembles a bird of prey's beak and is slightly open.
Another photo showing the details of the tank head/helmet for the modern warrior version of Vykron. This photo shows a liitle more clearly that the helmet has eyes to go with the bird of prey theme. The eyes are a gold or metallic yellow in colour.
A photo of the inside of the tank helmet. It shows the small opening where the point from Vykron's barbarian helmet is supposed to go when fitting the tank helmet over it.
The tank helmet! It’s a cool design. A bit fiddly to attach, the third photo shows the small opening inside the helmet, where the point of Vykron’s barbarian helmet fits into.

The rest of the armour has an Earth-based militaristic feel. Although there are some touches that give it a Masters of the Universe Eternian vibe. The front of the torso armour has a feature that’s reminiscent of a piece of Man-at-Arms’ armour for example.

Generally speaking, swapping out the various armour sets is pretty simple. However the Modern Warrior’s torso armour was a bit of a sod! The pegs at the back are quite big and it is tricky to get the corresponding hole in the waist strap to go over them. A bit of perseverance gets the job done though.

A close up photo of Vykron's modern warrior torso armour from the front. It's mostly a dark green in colour with a brown waist band. The shoulder covers are silver with a black band running over them.
A close up photo of Vykron's modern warrior torso armour from the back. It's mostly a dark green in colour with a brown waist band. The shoulder covers are silver with a black band running over them. In the middle of the armour are a couple of hollow slots which can be used to attach the sci-fi warrior's jet pack if you want.
The pegs on the back of the modern warrior's torso armour. These were very difficult to attach the black waist straps to.
A photo of the Vykron figure missing its head and hands but with the green modern warrior's torso armour successfully fitted on.
The torso armour for the modern warrior. A bit of a pain to attach fully due to the pegs on the back.
A close up of the bracers for the modern warrior. They are green in colour with a darker green paint wash on them.
A close up of the shin guards for the modern warrior. They are green in colour with a darker green paint wash on them.
The battering ram weapon for the modern warrior version of Vykron. It is moulded in a silver plastic and has a creature head on the front.
The rest of the modern warrior’s accessories. The bracers and shin guards have a dark paint wash on them which brings out the details.

The weapon is a battering ram – well with the huge guns on the head I don’t suppose any more were needed! It can be held in both hands and looks great.

A photo of Vykron decked out in the modern or tank warrior outfit. He's got green armour on his shins, fore arms and torso. The helmet is a large green bird of prey themed design. With a beak at the front and side mounted cannons!
A photo of Vykron decked out in the modern or tank warrior outfit and holding the battering ram. The battering ram reflects the design of the helmet a bit and has a bird of prey or reptile head on the front. It's moulded in a metallic silver plastic.
Another view photo of Vykron in the modern or tank warrior outfit and holding the battering ram.
In this photo, Vykron is holding the battering up in air using his right rand. The figure is decked out in the modern or tank warrior outfit.
Vykron in the modern or tank outfit. It still manages to look a bit bonkers!

Sci-Fi Warrior

Finally we come to the sci-fi themed warrior. Perhaps not as elaborate looking after the tank armour but this outfit has a striking white and orange colour theme and a fun and distinct sci-fi flair!

The accessories for this outfit include:

  • Torso armour,
  • Jet pack,
  • Space helmet,
  • Bracers and
  • Laser blaster.

No shin guards this time.

The jet pack for the sci-fi themed warrior outfit. The main central part is moulded in a silver plastic while the wings are in a slightly sparkly white plastic. The jet pack has thrusters at the bottom and the top has a part that looks a little like the tpo of a missile.
The laser blaster for the sci-fi outfit. This is moulded in a bright orange plastic with a barrel of the blaster highlighted in a silver paint. It is pointing to the left and the end of the blaster's barrel has a finned design.
The bracers that form part of the sci-fi themed armour for the Vykron figure. This pair of bracers are moulded in a bright white with an orange oval design on each.
The sci-fi themed armour for the Vykron figure. This is moulded in a bright orange and white with a silver box like device on the chest. This is connected via a tube to the helmet. The helmet is a bit like an astronaut's helmet and is also orange and white with details picked out in silver.
The accessories that make up the sci-fi themed outfit.

The space helmet is attached to the torso armour via a tube. It looks like with a bit of force it could be separated but I’ve not been brave enough to try. There is a spare hole in the silver chest box (some sort of air supply?) on the armour, so it does look like that is the intention.

In this photo the sci-fi themed armour has been fitted onto the Vykron action figure. The helmet hasn't been fitted but is attached to the armour via a tube.
In this photo the sci-fi themed armour and the helmet have both been fitted onto the Vykron action figure.
The space helmet replaces Vykron’s barbarian head.

Instead of going over Vykron’s head like the tank armour’s helmet, the space helmet actually replaces the head. Makes sense as the space helmet is a lot smaller than the tank armour helmet. A simple bit of head swapping and the helmet is in place!

The helmet itself has a design that brings Zodac’s to mind. Something about the silver “ear pieces” on the side of the helmet in particular makes me think of the Cosmic Enforcer.

This photo shows Vykron fully kitted out in the sci-fi armour. This is the view of the front, with the action figure wearing the orange and white futuristic armour and space helmet. Vykron is holding up the laser blaster in his right hand.
Another look at Vykron fully kitted out in the sci-fi armour. The action figure is holding up the laser blaster in his right hand while his left hand is in a fist and raised half way.
Sci-fi themed Vykron pointing the orange laser blaster straight at the viewer!
A few views of the sci-fi themed armour. The bright white and orange colours really pop!

The jet pack is another cool feature and something else that goes all the way back to the original trio of prototypes. It attaches simply enough onto the back of the armour via a pair of slots.

The jet pack’s fins are moulded in a slightly sparkly, transparent white, which is a neat design choice. They can also be removed as they themselves slot into holes on the side of the middle of the pack. They don’t fit that snug however so they do rattle around a little bit.

In this photo, Vykron has been turned round so that the back is towards the viewer. This gives a clear view of the jet pack with has a central silver part and white fins on either side.
Another photo of the jet pack on Vykron's back. Here, the fins have been removed from the jet pack leaving just the middle silver part.
In this photo, Vykron in the tank armour, has been turned round so that the back is towards the viewer. This gives a clear view of the jet pack with has a central silver part and white fins on either side.
Vykron’s jet pack with and without fins on the sci-fi themed armour and the tank armour.

It’s worth mentioning that the jet pack also fits onto the back of the tank warrior’s armour. The pack fits into the overall design well here and gives options for mixing things up.

Talking of Mixing Things Up…

One of the real fun things with Vykron is doing just that with the various accessories the figure comes with. You can really go to town and be much more imaginative than I’ve been in the photos in this review!

The Vykron action figure in the green torso armour holding up a battle axe in each hand. On the left is his battle axe while on the right is the battle axe from Viking He-Man.
Vykron dressed in the figure's military themed tank armour. The tank helmet is down by Vykron's feet and the figure itself is standing with its hands on its hips.
Vykron in a couple of different poses, mixing up the tank armour with the barbarian head and battle axes.

Final Thoughts

I’ve really enjoyed re-visiting this figure for this review. Do I have any complaints? The figure joints are a bit loose although that will vary figure to figure. The armour parts can be tricky to fit in places and can be painful on the fingers!

It feels churlish to say this considering the number of accessories the figure does come with. However a shield for the barbarian would have been good and perhaps something similar for the sci-fi warrior.

These are simply niggles. This is a great addition to the Masterverse line up and a piece of He-Man history!

Where to Buy Vykron

Released in 2023, Vykron was a Mattel Creations exclusive. At the time of writing, the figure is still available from the Creations online shop.

However, if you’re based in the UK you can no longer order older figures from the US based online shop. Mattel has recently set up a UK based online shop which is great but is much more restricted in what it stocks.

In this case, your best bet is probably resorting to hunting on websites like eBay.

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