Random Toy Pic :: Masters, Prepare for Battle!

Trying to get a bit more organized with my toys that aren't on display, and gathered together a bunch of MOTU figures that for some reason haven't been stored with my main MOTU collection yet. Zodac and Trap-Jaw (you can see the top of his head above He-Man) are actually the re-releases from around 2000. The rest are original MOTU figures from flea market finds over the past few years. And even with a handful of floppy limbs, they all stand surprisingly well!

Extendar, Roboto, Horde Trooper, Grizzlor, and even Battle Cat are all figures I did not own as a child. You can see a bit of Clawful too in the right lower corner - he was one of my childhood favorites and one I did own and love.

This Dorke's Horde...Trooper

Okay let's get one thing straight: Skeletor is a badass and Hordak is a ninny. Also, growing up I always considered Hordak and his minions to be girl's toys because they were featured predominantly on the She-Ra cartoon.

But since this Horde Trooper is hard to find, sort of awesome in a Stormtrooper kind of way, and is not a dolly (pants = not removeable) he has earned the right to be featured on Toyriffic.

"I renounce Hordak for the ninny he is and join Team Skeletor!"

Horde Troopers came out near the end of the Masters of the Universe line (he's marked 1985) so they are generally harder to come by than figures released during the line's peak. In fact, before seeing this guy at the flea market, I don't believe I've ever seen one in person.

Therefore I was willing to shell out a whopping five dollars for this guy. That's a lot in flea market dollars!

As with all Masters of the Universe toys, the Horde Trooper has an action feature. As with all Hordak minions, the action feature reflects his uselessness - basically any good guy or door knob hits the center of the Trooper's Horde symbol and poof, he falls apart!

Horde Trooper originally came with a staff (also useless) but mine does not have it.

I do admit I'm a bit jealous that Skeletor's robot minions never made it to plastic while Hordak's junkyard heaps did. But I'm not bitter.

Flea Market Finds :: SWAT Kats and Horde Trooper

This past weekend's flea market haul was small but powerful. A Remco SWAT Kat named Razor and a Horde Trooper by Mattel.

I know Horde Troopers are pretty hard to come by, and I've never seen a SWAT Kat in person before, so I consider these great finds!

Tune in for future posts featuring these guys in more detail soon!

I Horde it Through the Grapevine

I've discussed in length my aversion to Hordak and the Evil Horde in previous posts. Essentially, I always saw them as girl's toys due to their status as villains in the She-Ra cartoon. As such, I never owned any of them as a kid.

As an adult, my aversion to girl's toys has waned (dollies notwithstanding,) and cheap swap meet finds always help ease one into uncharted territory as well.

I found a near complete and pretty well conditioned Hordak at the swap meet a few weeks back. I must admit he's got a really cool design and a great color scheme. He looks pretty darn mean, alright!

My Hordak is missing his cape and a bat wrist band accessory, but he displays well enough with just his armor and the crossbow weapon many of the Horde preferred.

He's no Skeletor, but I guess when you're up against a bunch of girls and that twinkie Bow, you don't have to bring your "A" game.

(Modu)Lock Up Your Daughters...

I never gave a second glance to Hordak and the evil Horde as a kid. I always considered him and his cronies "girl toys."

Seriously. They weren't battling He-Man or Man-at-Arms or Man-E-Faces or Man-Man or Handy Manny on Eternia; Hordak and his minions were the main adversaries of She-Ra, battling for shoes or hair clips or rule over Princessylvania or some such nonsense!

So what if they were kind of cool looking space aliens and monsters. They were fighting a chick...and couldn't win, I might add! They were about as manly as a Ken doll.

But I've changed in my old age. Not intentionally, but you know how it is. You give them an inch and they take a mile. Pretty soon they'll be teaching about the Horde in schools. ("He's in the second grade!")

This past year I've actually added three Horde members to my collection. And you know what? I like them. I really, really like them. They're all very cool. Especially this guy:

This is Modulok. I got him in a garage sale lot of MOTU stuff. I was surprised that he was complete (except for his weapon.)

Modulok is a mess of legs, arms, torso components, and two heads which can all be snapped apart and rearranged into any number of funky configurations.

At first I kind of ignored him. He is a "horde" after all, and you know what they're like!

But as they say in the Potato Chip biz, "once you pop, you can't stop."

Seriously, this guy can be made into so many different monsters it's unreal. And with two heads, you can make two figures!

Two toys at the same time, it's every man's fantasy!

I could go on like this all day. Seriously. But I need to stop. It's almost time to watch The Dark Knight! Woohooo!