Review – Masters of the Universe Classics Blue Mer-Man

Thanks to the kindness of Mario (blog, Twitter) I managed to score a Blue Mer-Man action figure . . . without being forced to buy the two-pack. You see, Mario wanted the Aquaman so when he got his hands on the set we split it. Perfect, since I got what I wanted without being forced to add an unneeded Aquaman to my collection. And that’s a good thing, since the two-pack* is selling for stupid prices for what’s effectively two repainted toys.

So is Blue Mer-Man worth the after-market prices? Not at all. No way in hell, in fact. But if you can get one at a decent price and like the idea of owning an oddity then go for it. Me? Well, I’m so happy to have Blue here that I’ve now got my fingers crossed hoping that Mattel releases a purple-colored Mer-Man.

Only One Head and a Sword

The original Masters of the Universe Classics Mer-Man came packed with two heads, a sword, and a trident, but for this two-pack set Mattel dumped the extras and stripper Mer-Man down to just a single head and his bizarre “corn” sword. At least they gave him the cooler of the two heads, but it’s kinda sad that Mattel couldn’t pack the set with all of the toy’s original accessories; if margins are really so tight on these toys that they couldn’t include the extra accessories then I have to wonder how long it’s going to be before we see a price increase. I mean, those two extra pieces were gonna break the bank? Unbelievable, especially when Mattel should have already covered their tooling costs on both of the toys packed in the set.

So Cool That I Can Overlook the Flaws

I’m a sucker for Mer-Man, and having two of these in different colors is just so much damned fun that I can overlook the fact that the paint is marred in a few different places. The white claws are scraped up, there are dark yellow blotches on the feet, and there’s spots of blue on the gauntlets. There are a few other spots here and there, but compared to some of the toys we’ve seen out there these are all minor blemishes. But it’s still annoying that Mattel’s QC is so weak that foul-ups like this continue to leave their factories.

No, Really, I Do Love this Toy

On his own Mer-Man has looked neat in the collection of Masters of the Universe toys on display at home, but now that Blue Mer-Man has joined the green version the two look even better. It’s kinda like the Transformers Cyclonus that I have too many repaints of (six total figures and counting); the more colorways of a sculpt that get into my collection the more I like the entire set. And fortunately the joints are tight and the paint errors are small enough that Blue Mer-Man looks great when viewed in the display.

Closing Thoughts

There really isn’t much that I can say about this action figure. The basic body has been seen and reviewed so many times before that anyone who collects this line should be able to identify every joint through memory alone, and about the only thing this toy has going for it is that it really is a great repaint choice.

I’m not suggesting that anyone rush out and buy this repaint, but if you’re as insane as I am and want a Mer-Man in blue then it’s worth grabbing at a low price. And watch your local ToysRUs, since you may just get lucky and find one of these in the store.

Of course you’ll still be stuck with an Aquaman . . .

Philip Reed never did get around to opening Panthor this weekend. Instead he spent a lot of time with Free Comic Book Day and then spent this morning at the office working on a secret project. Maybe Panthor will be set free next weekend.