Review – Masters of the Universe Classics Karatti

If you stop and look at a calendar you may be as surprised as I am to see that Matte’s Masters of the Universe Classics action figure series (Amazon.com search*) is closing in on six years of sales. I think that’s considerably longer than anyone expected the line to run.

And with so many years of sales in place it’s not surprising that Mattel has produced unexpected figures in the line. Digging into concept art, entirely new designs, and even the late eighties New Adventures of He-Man series Mattel has worked to combine everything under the sun into their Masters of the Universe Classics series . . . and that’s where Karatti*, the focus of today’s review, comes into the scene.

Focusing On What’s New

As with several of the action figures in the series, Karatti* is a mix of old and new parts, with more old than new used in the construction of the toy. But that’s perfectly acceptable when the new stands out as so marvelously perfect and really grabs your attention. The new parts are:

• Head – Everything else wouldn’t work as well as it does if Karatti* wasn’t given his own head sculpt. If you compare this new head sculpt to the original 1990 version of the character (see he-man.org) I think you’ll agree that the new work is far, far superior.

• Armor – As awesome as the head sculpt, the new armor that snaps over the body really transforms the old parts into something entirely new. In fact, that armor only makes me think that my insistence that Mattel create outfit sets for the Masters of the Universe Classics action figure series (Amazon.com search*) is exactly right. See “Outfit Set vs. Accessory Set” for more on this topic, but basically I feel this armor demonstrates how plastic snap-on clothing could serve to expand the line without requiring we buy completely new figures.
  
• Weapons – The last two new parts — the weird axe/gun thing and the short bladed weapon — give Karatti* some ways to harm others. I like the axe/gun — if only because it is so strange — but I can understand the Doomkick review’s complaint that:

  “The weapons on the other hand are rather disappointing, they are cast in all black with no paint aps which really makes them look a little too much like toys compared to some of the awesome weapons already in the line.”

Paint

Fairly nicely done paintwork, which isn’t too unexpected when it comes to the Masters of the Universe Classics action figure series (Amazon.com search*). The green body, purple underarmor, and gold armor are clearly unusual color combo choices — especially when combined with the orange dreadlocks — but for some reason it all comes together nicely and I really like the overall effect. There are a few rough spots, but generally I’ve no complaints with the paint.

And I do find myself disagreeing with the Karatti review at ThEpic Review when Barbecue17 writes:

“. . . but I don’t like how dark the eye sockets are. The eyes look to be a shiny black to stand out a bit, but that detail is almost impossible to see with the too dark eye sockets.”

I can’t say why, but I really like the face and I feel those dark eye sockets add to the sinister look of the toy.

Closing Thoughts

He may be mostly old parts, but the new parts that help make Karatti* different — combined with those terrifyingly bring colors — all work to make me quite happy with the toy. It’s great to see Mattel slowly building their Space Mutants subline and I say that this toy fits right in with the other evil figures in the line.

Definitely recommended if you collect evil action figures and want a Predator-like addition to your Masters of the Universe Classics collection.