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<\/a> I love my MOTU Classics Battle Armor Skeletor, but he’s a bit difficult to review. For one, I’ve already reviewed most of this figure at least three times already. He does include some swanky new armor and a fan-demanded axe, but can I really prattle on about that for a whole review? I guess we’ll find out… <\/p>\nWell, if that teaser didn’t get you click your way into the review, I don’t know what will! I think the funny thing about Battle Armor Skeletor is just how much enjoyment I’ve gotten out of him. He was paired with King Hssss<\/a> for March and they’re really an odd couple. Hssss is almost entirely new, he’s got a ton more work put into him, he\u2019s an important character, and he’s the first Snakeman in the line. And yet, he kinda sucked. He wasn’t a bad figure by any means, but he wasn’t awesome. And I kinda wanted awesome for MOTU’s third string antagonist.<\/p>\n That said, Battle Armor Skeletor is almost entirely a repaint of the previous Skeletor that I’ve picked up in three decos already (four if you want to stretch and count Keldor in there). He has barely any new pieces for the $20 I paid for him, but when I have him paired on my shelf with Battle Armor He-Man<\/a>, he rocks. Though I will try to remember that I have to temper my excitement in relation to his value\u2026<\/p>\n Battle Armor Skeletor originates as the first of a handful of different armored Skeletor figures in the vintage line. The armor was never featured on the cartoon, but it does pop up in various other media – particularly the oil paintings – and it’s become the preferred look for some MOTU fans. While there’s no replacing the originals, some fans (like me) embrace the Battle Armor versions of He-Man & Skeletor over their tried and true original figures. A lot of that original love surely stems from the original action feature.<\/p>\n On the old toys, the chest emblem would take “damage”. Whenever they were hit – the inner chest piece would roll from a clean emblem, to a slashed emblem, and then a double slashed emblem. It was pretty cool at the time (there were some Hot Wheels that smashed up similarly that I loved) and, honestly, it’s still pretty cool now. My wife picks on me because I have to flick the Brave & the Bold<\/em> Metallo in the chest whenever we go to Wal-Mart.<\/p>\n Underneath the armor, Skeletor has the same sculpt we’ve all seen before. The only notable difference here is the loin cloth. The vintage figure featured furry undies only and that’s been duplicated here. I don’t mind the homage, but I almost feel like it would’ve been okay for Skeletor to keep his unique loin cloth for this figure at the same time. He could use a little more purple between his armor and boots.<\/p>\n The armor here is obviously the main draw and it doesn’t disappoint. It\u2019s got a nice sculpt, classic with updated details. Since the MOTU line can’t afford to replicate older action features, the original figure’s ability to take damage has been duplicated with interchangeable plates. Skeletor comes with three to recreate each of the settings of the original. I’m happy to report that the armor on Skeletor is much more collector friendly than He-Man’s. He-Man’s armor always sounds like it’s about ready to break when you take it off or snap it together, but Skelly’s armor feels and sounds like it\u2019s intended to be removed. I’ve already found myself much more willing to switch out the plates and have some fun with the figure while He-Man’s been mostly sporting his undamaged chest since his review was finished early last year.<\/p>\n Skeletor features a metallic purple chest with smooth abs under his armor, though his Battle Armor comes down pretty far forward in the front to hide all of that. Like Hssss and the other armored figures, the arms are forced to stick out a bit farther than normal which brings me to a question. Do these figures need to have normal chests underneath? The armor bulk annoys me on occasion (more so with Hssss than Skeletor here) and it’s got me wondering if Mattel has ever given any thought to making a new, slimmer “internal” torso that the armors can fit over without adding the bulk and interfering with the arms. I know it would make the armors less universal, but the armored figures would look better – and the armors would still be interchangeable between all of the ‘slim’ torso figures too. Continue to Page 2…<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The big paint issue heading into the figure was, strangely, the boots. There was some hullabaloo over them when Skeletor was first shown with his typical bare feet. After some fan input, this version of Skeletor features full boots like the classic figure, though it’s really just his blue feet cast in purple instead of something cooler like Hordak feet. Really, I’m fine with this combination, but I still don’t get the painted toenails on the boots thing. It’s weird. And why no paint on the clasps and hinges? <\/p>\n Boots aside, Skeletor didn’t feature too much paint, but there are some nice touches here and there. The metallic on the armor and torso is great and the mixed use of gloss and flat finish on the black armor and loincloth really pops. And Skeletor’s finally got a head that’s more like the classic toy! I’ve still come to really enjoy the all-yellow face of the TRU 2pk best, but it’s nice to finally get a Skeletor were the green stays out at the edges like the figures of old. Skeletor is also sporting painted fingernails.<\/p>\n Skeletor features the standard articulation of the line: ball-joints at the head, shoulders, & hips, swivels at the biceps, wrists, waist, thighs, & calves, hinges at the elbow, knees & ankles, rocker ankles, & the ab crunch. The joints around the armor are restricted by it, but only slightly. All the joints are tight – especially the waist! Geez! I’m not sure what was going on there, but the joint was frozen solid when he arrived and still tends to stick even after some play. I’m guessing the glossy paint on the loin cloth and the metallics on the torso are getting a little too friendly with one another. <\/p>\n With quarterly figures being included in the subscription this year, Skeletor probably should’ve come with more gear, but I’ll give Mattel the benefit of the doubt on this one and assume Skeletor was budgeted before the “all in” subscription was green lit. Bikini Teela looks to be a figure with more \u201cdevelopment\u201d, so things seem to be moving in the right direction for the quarterlies despite the apparent “cheapness” of this particular Skeletor.<\/p>\n That said, I’m really pleased by the one accessory Skeletor did get! We first campaigned for his purple axe way back in 2009<\/a> when we realized we were likely just to get another purple sword or havoc staff. It’s nice to have the accessory in a new deco and, truthfully, the battle axe just goes better with the battle armor than any of the other accessories Skeletor was likely to reuse. It’s got a nice deco and looks great with the figure. Course, now we really want a purple shield…<\/p>\n Amazingly, I didn’t have any issues with Skeletor other than the frozen waist, but fellow toy blogger Philip Reed wasn’t so lucky. Have a look at his Skeletor over at BattleGrip.com<\/a>. It isn’t so much that Mattel needs to replace it (they do), but shouldn’t someone be kicking the bad nuts out of the assembly line? <\/p>\n I probably should have placed this closer to the pic of the figures, but I wanted to mention that the chest plates are somewhat<\/em> interchangeable between the two Battle Armor figures. He-Man’s snap into Skeletor’s like just fine, but Skeletor’s have to be propped into place against He-Man’s chest. I find it odd that they’re not all uniform in size, but I suppose they all had to be sculpted invidividually and interchangeability didn’t really come up. I admit it’s a bit weird to want to swap ’em, but it did make for a funny picture, didn’t it?<\/p>\n Overall, I really couldn’t be more pleased with Battle Armor Skeletor. I’ve been waiting for him ever since we first saw Battle Armor He-Man nearly two years ago. As a fan that prefers the Battle Armors, I finally feel like I have “my” Skeletor. The armor looks great, though I might have liked him to keep his classic loin cloth. I did appreciate the classic toy face and purple axe quite a bit though. The only thing I\u2019m missing now is something for Battle Armor Skeletor to ride…<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.itsalltrue.net\/reviews\/motuimages\/2011\/bas1.JPG?w=640\")
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