Matty Collector’s Masters of the Universe Classics: Rokkon and Stonedar (Toy Review)

Mattel's STONEDAR and ROKKON figures

Mattel’s STONEDAR and ROKKON figures

As the opening day of Comic-Con 2013 looms closer, geeks, nerds, cosplayers and enthusiasts of every type are counting the days until the doors open on July 18th.  With as much magic and mystery behind them as that of those within Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, Comic-Con is always a blast.  Among the panels and presentations from TV and Movie studios that give fans a chance to see their favorite celebrity or get an exclusive first look at the the latest Hollywood blockbuster; the next biggest magnet to SDCC are the toys!!!  Yes, every booth from companies large and small, new and old are on hand showcasing the latest designs, prototypes and newly announced lines of statues, figures, replica props and more.

This year, our friends at Mattel and Matty Collector provided a handful of products for review that will be available exclusively at this year’s Comic-Com.  Our own Jonathan Seeliger from our BTM Arizona office had a blast toy-testing these products and  files this review of the Matty Collector’s Masters of the Universe Classics line of Stonedar and Rokkon…

Masters of the Universe Classics by Matty Collector

Masters of the Universe Classics by Matty Collector

Hello, Marquee-ites! This is our first review for Mattel’s Masters of the Universe Classic line, and we could not be more excited. I have been a He-Man fan almost my whole life. From the original Masters of the Universe in 1984 (I was 4), to a brief stint with POP (Princess of Power) via my older sister, to New Adventures at the turn of the decade. Yes there was even that research paper on projects that had not seen the light of day, such as Powers of Grayskull and He-Ro son of He-Man, and then my journey continued all the way through the rebooted series back in 2002 of Masters of the Universe. I had collected figures from each line, but was not able to really justify the difference in size and detail if I ever mixed them together. So when this Classics series began in 2008, I was beyond excited to finally have a universal standard for every character from each incarnation.

But despite my excitement for this new toy line, I only had the first three released: He-Man, Skeletor, and Beast Man.

In 2010, I had my first daughter, Capitola, and she has been a He-Man and She-Ra fan literally her whole life. She loves the cartoons, and pretends to be Battle-Cat as she sneaks up on us or other kids at play centers. When she was 1, she was allowed to begin playing with my action figures and continues to play with He-Man and Skeletor to this day. She is my partner in this review: our first ever toy review of Mattel’s Masters of the Universe Classics: Rokkon and Stonedar.

 

OUTSIDE BOX:

The box is roughly a third her size!

The box is roughly a third her size!

Boy howdy, this thing is massive! I knew the figures were roughly 7” in height, but to actually have the box in hand, we were floored by the size of this thing! It is the standard white mailer box, with their names on the front, and Capi was super excited to open it and get her hands on the figures.

 

Mattel's STONEDAR and ROKKON figures

Mattel’s STONEDAR and ROKKON figures

 

INSIDE BOX:

The display box is what I assume to be the standard 2-pack packaging for army-builders like Eternian Palace Guards and Snake Men, so what makes this package for Rokkon and Stonedar unique is the fact that it’s the first two-pack of previous action figures, and not of generic army-builders. There was also the DCU vs MOTU packs at Toys R Us, but that was a completely different package, and the Skeletor vs Mo-Larr packaging had a unique box as well. Since many of the vintage heavy-hitters have already been released, it’ll be interesting to see if any other familiar, named characters come out in this 2-pack casing.

 

Mattel's STONEDAR and ROKKON figures

Mattel’s STONEDAR and ROKKON figures

 

On the back are the bios for both warriors and something interesting to note is Scott “Toy Guru” Neitlich used what is essentially their only cartoon appearance for the bios, but it was on a She-Ra episode where they allied themselves with The Great Rebellion, but in the bio they allied with He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. It makes sense for the toy line, but still a little sad to see no love for the Princess of Power.

Another fun fact about these characters is on the side of the package.

 

Invincible Boulder Action!!!

Invincible Boulder Action!!!

 

It says: “Invincible Boulder Transforms into Mighty Warrior.” Now, when something transforms into something else, I take that to mean what they transformed into is the change, and what they transformed from is the original. Does that mean all of these boulders just randomly became sentient? I always assumed it was the other way around – that these warriors could transform into rocks. The other way around opens up a whole meteor shower of questions about the Comet Warrior origins. Perhaps we’ll learn more as we keep reading the bios!

 

CHARACTER BREAKDOWN (ROKKON):

Let’s start with the “Young Heroic Battling Boulder”. Referring back to my previous massive comment, I was shocked at how big these guys were! I’ve played along with Capi’s stories using He-Man and Skeletor, so I’m familiar with their height and overall build, but having these new figures, they just seemed HUGE in comparison!

 

You guys ever been to Boulder, Colorado?

You guys ever been to Boulder, Colorado?

 

The body has all the same articulation which, to be honest, I was surprised and impressed that they managed to keep the torso one. The articulation is really stiff in all the joints, but I did notice that the foot wiggles side to side quite easily. Given that my other figures have had a lot of playtime in the past 5 years, their joints are not what they once were, so I can’t say if this is going to be a problem, but it is definitely not one now. The figure stands without any effort when the rock pieces are NOT on him, and it’s almost impossible to knock him over with the rock pieces on. All of the rock pieces CAN come off, but his back piece is not SUPPOSED to. As you can see from his backside, without his rockhard ass-flap, he is Captain No-Butt.

 

Rock Hard Abs, but sorry ladies, No Butt

Rock Hard Abs, but sorry ladies, No Butt

Literally.

The figures come with a little instruction manual that explains both how to transform your rock figures, and what to do if the back comes off (SPOILER: you put it back on).

 

Translation: If parts fall off, put parts back on...

Translation: If parts fall off, put parts back on…

 

His weapon has a handle for him to hold it, or he can attach it to his chest, just like the vintage counterpart.

One thing that I really like about these new figures is how they kept all the little details, but just… detailed them more, if that makes sense. Here, look at the old chest,

 

THEN

THEN

 

and then the new.

 

NOW

NOW

 

The exact same details, just… better.

The Four Horsemen also updated his helmet, but as a perfect update, it just looks that much more like Tron.

 

The Helmet of TRON

The Helmet of TRON

 

STONEDAR

STONEDAR

CHARACTER BREAKDOWN (STONEDAR):

Now for the “Heroic Leader of the Comet Warriors”. I’m going to be up front with you: I always liked Rokkon better. Stonedar just didn’t look as cool to me, so Rokkon was the one who always got to fight as a warrior and Stonedar got to be a boulder performing reconnaissance. Mekaneck was for long-distance spying.

Same thing with Stonedar, the guy is just huge. I’m going to assume it’s the rocks that add to their imposing presence, but even without the rocks they appear so much bigger than He-Man and the two henchmen. Pictures don’t show it, so trust the words on this one, dear reader.

 

 

Wanna go grab a drink? Sure where? How about at the Hard Rock?

Wanna go grab a drink? Sure where? How about at the Hard Rock?

 

His articulation is fantastic – but something I neglected to mention with Rokkon is their decapitatability. I don’t know if it’s because I’m in Arizona, or if these guys have a different plastic, but their heads POP off really easily. They don’t FALL off, and they stay on as I pose them, but He-Man’s head takes a bit of effort, and these guys feel like it’s supposed to come off as an action feature or something. It’s great! Just a surprise.

Honestly, it makes sense that these two figures came together, and that they were the Comic-Con Exclusive. Their descriptions are pretty much the same, with the same weapon, and the same action feature. Speaking of which!

 

“ACTION FEATURE”:

As these are collectibles and not actual action figures, all of the characters have lost their action feature to detail (see: Hurricane Hordak).

 

Hurricane HORDAK

Hurricane HORDAK

 

However, for these guys, their action feature was in their posing, so it’s totally okay, you guys!

All of the rock pieces are removable, which I assume is to match the Filmation appearance, since the old figures were all one piece.

 

Get these guys a number for a good Massage Therapist please!

Get these guys a number for a good Massage Therapist please!

 

They attach right to the elbow pegs and knee pegs, which is ingenious because that meant no new forearms or thighs were necessary. Once all the rock pieces are on, you just fold them over and… uh-oh.

 

 

The vintage figure was able to fold into a rock using JUST his body. As these figures have different joints, they can’t quite make it. ( If only there was something we could add!)

 

 

Mattel planned ahead and added an extra piece strictly for filling in the gap and making them one GIGANTIC boulder. Seriously, look at this thing! The clasping is very easy even a child can do it.

 

 

If you can’t figure it out, though, there is that instruction manual I referred to earlier.

 

Connect Tab A into Slot C?

Connect Tab A into Slot C?

 

All in all, these are awesome figures to have. For the MIB collector, the package has a nice nod to the vintage line. For those who open them, these figures pose easily whether the rock fragments are on or off, and they make great décor pieces as well. But what if you play with them? I refer you to my daughter and co-reviewer, Capitola.

 

PLAYABILITY:

I think it’s both the newness and the action feature, but my girls can’t stop playing with them. He-Man and Skeletor have both found new love with the arrival of these two warriors. They each get two, and invariably one has Stonedar and the other has Rokkon or a fight breaks out. And these guys are tough. (for you collectors who have Moss Man, Goddess or Snout Spout, you may want to skip past these next few sentences). They have been in the tub, they have fallen down the stairs, they have been bent every which way as my girls try to figure out how to make the “People Rock work”, and they are still in perfect condition. These two guys have been picked for naptime, they have shared stories with many other characters from many other toy lines and cartoon, but since they have entered our house, they have been a staple for my girls. Speaking of girls, I am hopeful that the female Comet Warriors – Facet, Granita, and Quartzina – all show up eventually. It’d be an interesting story twist if there was a love triangle with Granita being Rokkon’s ex and Stonedar’s new “lava” because Rokkon took her for “granite”.

 

TOY CRITIC GRIPINGS:

Me personally, I don’t mind these things. But I know others are curious, so here you go: On Rokkon, he has paint chips on his knuckles, and on his stone-back’s butt-flap. The silver paint has rubbed off onto his armor under his right arm as well as on his left bicep. His rock has a little bit of silver plastic that has chipped off, but once it’s gone, you don’t notice anything missing. There are two silver lines on his gun’s radar bleeding onto the purple, but it’s symmetrical so it might be intentional. Stonedar has a silver sliver on his bottom lip, as well as some rock shavings rubbed off on both shoulders.

 

CONCLUSION:

These figures are an incredible update to their vintage counterpart, and are extremely durable and playable. They pose easily, their detail is incredible, and they are a fantastic addition to anyone’s toy collection, be it Mattel, MOTU, Exclusives or anywhere in between.

Rokkon and Stonedar will be available at the San Diego Comic Con July 18-21 and online later this year at www.mattycollector.com

 

See you at Comic-Con'crete

See you at Comic-Con’crete

Bye for now!

Cappy and Pappy

 

Mattel's STONEDAR and ROKKON figures

Mattel’s STONEDAR and ROKKON figures

 

MOTU Classics by Matty Collector

MOTU Classics by Matty Collector

 

 

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3 Responses to “Matty Collector’s Masters of the Universe Classics: Rokkon and Stonedar (Toy Review)”

  1. Mike45 says:

    Refreshing to read a review from a true fan who knows his toys. Thanks. Looking forward to more reviews from you.

  2. celsius says:

    Fantastic review. I hope you do many more.

  3. Ruddiger says:

    Hey.
    Stopped by because of the link from the Mattycollector forums.
    Good first review! Cheers!

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