Mattel Masters of the Universe Classics Castle Grayskullman Mattel, 2012
Day #567: January 4, 2013
Castle Grayskullman Heroic Embodiment of Castle Grayskull
Masters of the Universe Classics 30th Anniversary Action Figure
Item No.: No. W8895 Manufacturer:Mattel Includes: 2 swords, shield Action Feature:n/a Retail:$22.00 Availability:November 2012 Other: Designed by Daniel Benedict, Create a Character Contest Winner
There are now two Create a Character Contest winner action figures. One is Fearless Photog, designed about 25 years ago and released in February of 2012. The other, Castle Grayskullman, was designed in (I believe) 2011 and made it out pretty damn fast-- he was announced in July 2012 and was here in my office before the end of November 2012, which isn't a bad turnaround time. Fan Daniel Benedict beat out thousands of entries, and came up with a design that's so mind-bogglingly obvious and awesome that it's a wonder Mattel never came up with it.
Made up of a surprisingly large amount of new parts, Castle Grayskullman has a new head, new armor, new hands, new forearms, new feet, new shins, and of course, new weapons. The paint job looks great, and the overall presentation looks much more expensive than other toys in the line. The hugely popular figure sold out in just 14 minutes, besting the other 30th Anniversary figures by days and that makes this one of the fastest sell-outs of 2012. This was, in part, thanks to some fans deciding this is an army-builder (if the forums ring true) and also confirmation that this is a solid design that fits right at home in MOTUC.
The design borrows elements from the original Castle Grayskull, like the chest armor and symbol matching the original castle's door. (The 2002 castle has a different symbol.) The swords are based on weapons seen on a flag on the original toy, so it's nice to see the figure take so much inspiration from a classic playset which, at the time, was not known to be a possible 2013 release. But I digress. It's fantastic, the rocky texture of the castle carries on the figure's armor, hands, and feet with the head resembling the "face" of the castle. The one place it gets weird is the hair, which is sort of a greenish yellow on the final figure. Earlier samples looked more yellow or white, while the artwork on the packaging makes it look like the hair is some glowing, flowing green mass of energy. I like the figure way, way better than the package art.
This is one of those figures that really, honestly should have been in stores around 1988. It feels like a lost, late-line entry of Masters of the Universe that fell out of some time warp and into my toy box. Kudos for Mattel for running a contest and picking a design that feels right at home, and I really do hope they consider doing another one down the road. I doubt they'll come up with something this strong again, but hey, what do I know? This thing's great.
16bit.com is best not viewed in Apple's Safari browser, we don't know why. All material on this site copyright their respective copyright holders. All materials appear hear for informative and entertainment purposes. 16bit.com is not to be held responsible for anything, ever. Photos taken by the 16bit.com staff. Site design, graphics, writing, and whatnot credited on the credits page. Be cool-- don't steal. We know where you live and we'll break your friggin' legs.
RSS 
This is one of those figures that really, honestly should have been in stores around 1988. It feels like a lost, late-line entry of Masters of the Universe that fell out of some time warp and into my toy box. Kudos for Mattel for running a contest and picking a design that feels right at home, and I really do hope they consider doing another one down the road. I doubt they'll come up with something this strong again, but hey, what do I know? This thing's great.
