 Sy-Klone
Heroic Fist-Flinging Tornado!
Masters of the Universe Origins Mattel Creations Exclusive Figure
Item No.: No. HTM97
Manufacturer: Mattel
Includes: Cyclone hand replacements, red ring, yellow shield, "The Fog of War" mini-comic
Action Feature: Wheel does not spin torso particularly well, but lenticular card on chest looks good. Hands may be swapped for cyclone parts.
Retail: $25.00
Availability: April 2024
Other: Mechanism not so hot
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I get excited when Masters of the Universe Origins figures have mechanisms and features. But Sy-Klone doesn't work so well. There's a red wheel on the belt that you can try to move, but it doesn't really make the torso move on my sample. The figure takes the original Mattel toy concept and adds some nifty "energy" hand replacements as well as the red ring we saw in the 200X line.
$25 seemed fair for the figure given the extra parts, the attempted mechanism, and lack of reuse for said no parts. It's a great figure to display or pose, and fits in well with the rest of the line.
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The item ships in a box, because all the stuff probably wouldn't fit in a standard bubble. The blue twisty things are about the size of a figure's leg, and you get two of them. The big red ring is about 4-inches across, smaller than a typical CD. His shield clips on his arm fairly well. The gear all fits as expected, and I didn't find myself fighting with any of the connection points. Mattel did a nice job there.
The colors are bright, and most elements are molded in color. The red ring piece is plastic, but the other red bits on the toy are painted. Much of the rest of it, like the yellow helmet and blue face, are largely unpainted. It's good for making sure the figure looks good over the long haul. I found the detailing to be as good, but not necessarily as sharp as some 20th century figures. For whatever reason, modern molds don't always get you results quite as sharp or precise. It's not bad, it's just different.
Articulation is the standard style, but it doesn't seem to come apart at the waist due to the mechanism. You can turn the waist, but the wheel on his belt is pretty useless. The important thing is that he looks cool, and that he can stand. While based on the toy and not the toon, he still seems like he fits in pretty well with the cartoon collection in absence of a superior option. Mattel's saturated colors really pop nicely.
If you leave the big red ring off, there's a bit of a hole on the back. I didn't find it to be a problem. Swapping the hands out for the cyclone fists is easy, and my only real complaint is there's no good storage solution for the extra gear. But that's my complaint for most lines. It's nice to see Mattel adding some bits to enhance displays or photography, but I don't have a heck of a lot of use for them. Most of my figures just stand around in or near the playsets.
As I write this, Origins Sy-Klone figures sell for about $50. You can also get the 200X Cartoon Collection version, which is a bit cheaper and doesn't seem to share any parts. I can't help but think this might have been better as a main line release, but such is life. I like this one just fine, and unless a Filmation one happens I probably won't need to buy a new Sy-Klone during my collecting career. Mattel has done such a good job between its Classics and Origins line that the only thing I could see making me re-buy the cast again would be a "Core"-style cartoony release of skinnier figures. But I assume after the movie's performance, combined with the aging fanbase, that'll never happen. So just get this one when you can find it.
--Adam Pawlus
Additional Images
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