| When you talk about major baddies in an animated series there’s nothing like Skeletor, the dark lord of destruction. But of course due to TV ratings and making it kid-friendly they made him a bumbling heap of comedy in the Filmation produced animation that put the Masters of the Universe franchise into the stratosphere for the general public to take notice to know more about his backastory.
The characterization was for intent ‘for kids’ but there are depictions of him being this terrible baddie, and not just about calling King Randor a ‘boob’ as the toys came with mini-comics that paints Skeletor as this evil monster from another dimension. This kept those kids that are now adults excited and curious that the action figures a must have for their collection. |
For years there have been many depictions of Skeletor in various media beside the kid-friendly Filmation cartoon, and so the diverse iteration of the character in action figure form. But none of those variations ever appeared in animation, but rather appearing in other form of media like comicbooks to only get sold as what the character was all about in toy form. Though Mattel never just put up that version of Skeletor they made sure there’s a backstory to tell through the mini comics.
The iconic Skeletor will always be that one true version of the lord of destruction, but the next version is not as popular with the casual fan. The Battle Armor Skeletor comes to mind, because there’s a version of He-Man that came with it too. For some odd reasons old bonehead needs to have his version of the Battle Armor, which as explained at the back of the card art of the toy pakcaging that is created from dark magic to combat the heroic warriors and to match up against He-Man’s upgrade.
Armored to be Relevant
The Battle Armor Skeletor in a business sense is just another product to be sold to keep the character fresh instead of being stuck to his basic form. But Mattel made sure there’s a backstory for every evolution of the character and the mini-comics is a significant part of the toy franchise.
Inside the fan circle it is a popular version of Skeletor with the ‘battle damage’ gimmick and this carried over with the MOTU Origins toyline. Though the minor difference between the vintage versions is the spring loaded drum that rotates on the chest for the Origins version is a little bit narrow compared to the original. But it’s not noticeable with Skeletor as obvious lacking for He-Man.
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Deluxe Contemporaries
Besides that popular gimmick this figure along with the version of He-Man have become a deluxe assortment with Ram Man, Clamp Champ, and Buzzaw Hordak. Mattel added some extra accessories the original version doesn’t have like the extra head, extra left hand and a new shield that somewhat doesn’t fit with Skeletor’s wrist due to the scales he has on both of his wrists.
It’s one of the figures I never had as a child that I would want to match with the He-Man figure I had back in the day. But this was an opportunity I don’t want to miss as I was slowly transitioning to other popular toylines when this was released, and Battle Armor He-Man was one of the last figures I got in the original MOTU toys.
Featured Articulation:
- Head at the Ball Joint
- Ball Joint at the Shoulders
- Swivels/Bend at the Elbow
- Hinges at the Wrist
- Turn at the Waist
- Hinge-like Ball Joint at the Thighs
- Swivels/Bend at the Knee
- Boot Cut Swivel
- Ankles Moves Side-to-Side
Modern Iteration
Clearly this is one of those figures that was fun to play with due to the battle damage gimmick and with Origins adding some extra accessories makes it even more interesting with the extra head that have a different expression was a benefit in using the figure for photography. Almost forgot to mention, Mattel also added a piece that at the back of the figure which allows Skeletor to have his half sword stored at his back, but in no way to attach the shield.
The Verdict
Overall it is a fun figure and you may need a Battle Armor He-Man to match that with tons of fun as this is not only made for collectors, but for today’s kids too. The sky’s the limited for MOTU Origins despite not being widely available to local retail stores and most of them are exclusively available at the stores Richwell owns, which is the Philippine distributor for the Mattel brand.
Battle Armor Skeletor is a Deluxe action figureas part of the third wave for MOTU Origins with a higher price point that features extra accessories and battle damage gimmick, which retails for at ₱ 1,299.75 (**$ 35.42 AUD | $ 25.99 USD) from Mattel locally distributed by Richprime Global Inc. in the Philippines, and was available at Ollie & Co Glorieta. For more about MOTU Origins and the store that carry this toyline, like & follow them on their social media via Facebook!
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