Review – Masters of the Universe Skeletor Micro Bust

Almost 4-inches tall, this Masters of the Universe Skeletor Micro Bust* follows the same design as the 200X Masters of the Universe Skeletor (review here) and it’s almost exactly the same as the action figure. Not really a shock, since this work was also sculpted by the Four Horsemen. This is a kinda neat, inexpensive addition to any Skeletor collection, but let’s take a closer look before we decide if it’s a must-own item or not.

Packaging

Completely disposable, Skeletor comes packed in a simple window box that protects the statue in shipping and shows it off in the package. The graphic design is uninspired but functional, and there’s nothing about this box that will save it from the trash can. If the statue were larger I’d hang onto the box to protect the work the next time I move, but since the micro bust is so tiny I don’t even need this box. So long, simple cardboard box!

A Tiny Collectible

Let me say right up front that this Skeletor micro bust, while inexpensive and kinda neat, isn’t the Skeletor statue I’d really like in my collection. No, that honor goes to the full-figure Skeletor Statue that sells for way too much money on eBay. Damn, that’s a gorgeous piece of work. Anyone out there have one of these to donate to my collection? No? I thought not.

Anyway, what we’ve got here is a cold cast, hand-painted statue that makes an excellent desktop decoration. The sculpt is beautiful, the paint is decent, and other than an ugly mold line across the head the cast is fantastic. But that mold line is awful; no real cleanup was done where the two parts come together and the result takes this from a “gotta have it” collectible to a pass. It pains me to say this, but I recommend that unless you’re planning to clean the mold line and completely repaint the statue you should just skip this item.

The photo above (right) shows the ugly line across the head. This is just a nasty bit of work and it takes what’s otherwise a great Skeletor collectible and turns it into an item that I’ll keep but may likely dump at some point in the future. After all, this is gonna look good in the collection, but the next time I clear items to make space I don’t expect this to survive the first round of “should it stay or should it go?”

Closing Thoughts

I’ve got nothing to add. If you love Skeletor and find this for $5 or so then go ahead and grab it. Otherwise I say skip this statue; that mold line on the head completely ruins the paint work and sculpt. And that completely sucks, since the Four Horsemen deserve better than this. They create amazing artwork and here their work was damaged by poor manufacturing and quality control.

Philip Reed wonders if it’s worth the effort to try to clean and repaint this micro bust. Or is it better to just let this live on the shelf and not put the effort into reworking what should have been a masterpiece?