Review – Masters of the Universe Classics Tri-Klops

I warned you guys. After looking at the Masters of the Universe Tri-Klops Micro Bust (review here) and Masters of the Universe Tri-Klops Figure (review here) there was no way that I couldn’t jump right into this Masters of the Universe Classics Tri-Klops action figure. So how does this action figure stack up against the micro bust and tiny toy? It’s easily the best of the bunch.

Packaging

Attractive, simple, and the same thing we’ve seen used throughout the life of the line. I’ve actually got several more toys in this series then you would think if you just went by reviews I’ve posted — Beast Man was reviewed back in February 2009 — but if I had one thing I could say about the packaging is that as soon as I’ve opened each figure I’ve thrown the package away. It’s functional but dull.

Articulation

The same thing we’ve seen in every other release in the series. Michael Crawford’s Tri-Klops review breaks down the articulation and points out that the armor restricts the ab crunch joint and there’s really nothing I can add to that. The more I play with these toys the more annoyed I am by the ankles — the hinged ankle is fine but a swivel would help — and how I seem to keep finding toys with semi-loose joints. Fortunately Tri-Klops seems to be standing okay, but I am worried that his knees are going to give out and he’s going to fall over.

Sculpt

While a lot of the body is reused from previous releases in the line, the head and accessories are new sculpts and generally look great. The head is a bit too chiseled and angular for my tastes — a problem we saw with the Masters of the Universe Tri-Klops Micro Bust (review here) — but the helmet and armor are excellent. Poe Ghostal’s Tri-Klops review shows the face under the helmet and it’s weird but kinda neat.

Paint

A few sloppy spots here and there and flaked paint on the feet means that Tri-Klops’ paint job is adequate but definitely not anything special. I’m betting that if this toy was sold in stores there would have been a lot of fans digging through searching for a better paint app than this particular version has, but as a display piece it looks good enough. Michael Crawford’s review shows that he had paint issues with his toy and summed up the situation perfectly with:

If we got something like this in a figure off the pegs at Target, we’d be pretty happy. But considering the higher cost, and the ‘collector’ focus, we expect more of this line.

I can get behind this opinion. Yeah, for a $30 “adult collectible” we should get a higher quality of paint app than we got with this toy. And yeah, the toy is priced at $20 but as we all know the shipping basically bumps each of these to $30.

Doomseeker

Tri-Klops’ worn/carried accessories are cool and all but it’s his companion — the mechanical Doomseeker — that is the prize accessory in the package. This flying, sweet, bird-like robotic machine looks fantastic and I kinda wish Mattel would release these as singles for $3 or $4/each. I’d love to get my hands on two more of these to display with Tri-Klops. It’s a simple accessory, but it looks great.

Closing Thoughts

A mostly-reused sculpt, weak joints, and sloppy paint combined with a high price leads to a toy that, if it wasn’t relying so much on nostalgia, would have a lot of people very angry. But the quality is just good enough that fans are happy with the results and continue to buy the action figures in the series. I’ve been quite selective when it comes to the Masters of the Universe Classics series — sticking mainly to villains that interest me — but seeing these displayed as a group shows me why hardcore Masters of the Universe fans have been snatching up each release in the series.

Tri-Klops’ distinctive appearance comes through in the final toy, and on the shelf he looks great, but if this was meant to be played with I suspect it would quickly become unusable as the joints weaken from use.

Mattel is a large corporation, owns their own manufacturing plants, and should be able to give us a better quality of toy than we got with Tri-Klops. But I can admit that I will continue buying the occasional release in the series; the character designs are just too neat to ignore.

Philip Reed will now stop reviewing Tri-Klops toys and statues . . . but only because he doesn’t own any more. You’re lucky, because if he had another one you’d see pics and words about it online very soon. What’s up next for review? Maybe another Transformers toy. Or a statue. Or a Transformers statue.