Masters of the Universe Revelation Man-At-Arms review
No matter the iteration of Masters of the Universe, Man-At-Arms is a core, principal character. Heck, he was one of the three heroes that made the cut for the live-action movie nostalgia has made us think was better than the reality.
For Revelation, Man-At-Arms had a reasonably key role despite being phased out to some extent. My interest in the Netflix series is more focused on the cool redesigns of some characters and the chance for Mattel to release a new MOTU line with greater articulation. There’s no way to have a collection without MAA so let’s see if this take does this iconic character justice.
Packaging: The Masterverse Revelation line really stands out on the shelves thanks to the wide window showcasing the figure and accessories along with the unique blue color scheme.
Along the right side, there’s a nice ready for battle drawing of Man-At-Arms and the back has a more battle-ready portrait. I really appreciate that Mattel mixed up the artwork.
Between the WWE and MOTU lines, Mattel has the best bio writers in the industry. Duncan’s bio is expansive with a wide approach of his skills, allies and personality.
Likeness: While He-Man and Skeletor had dodgy head sculpts, Man-At-Arms has a great head sculpt. It reflects the Revelation style of animation without being too stylized. His helmet’s got the right amount of intricate detail without looking too garish.
Duncan has a stern expression befitting the character and his mustache is glorious. I’ve always loved Man-At-Arms’ design with the crop top armor with furry shoulder points, which makes a lot of sense from a comfort perspective.
Then there’s the huge shoulder pad, gauntlet and knee/shin guard on his left arm and leg. Duncan didn’t need a shield so long as he led with his left side in battle.
As usual, Man-At-Arms shares a lot of elements with He-Man with the ornate belt, right arm bracelet and furry loincloth and boots. No need to mess up a successful strategy.
Paint: Man-At-Arms’ paint job is more complex than you’d think at first glance. The helmet has two shades of blue with a more silver turquoise shade in the paneling along with some orange paneling framing it. This is mostly clean making for a nice effect.
No issues with the head or mustache. The armor parts are a mix of orange and red orange accents, which helps avoid it looking too much like a toy. The belt has the base silver turquoise along with a light blue lining, a red stone and dark blue stones surrounding it.
I wish the furry elements had some grey wash to them, but that’s my only minor issue with the paintwork.
Scale: The Revelation line is a 7″ scale so they’re taller than the Masters of the Universe Classics figures. Duncan isn’t a small dude, but he is looking up to He-Man, which is a nice touch.
MORE:
- DC Comics reviews 9/20/22 – Nightwing #96, Batman Superman World’s Finest #7
- Hasbro reveals Marvel Legends Mephisto as part of Engine of Vengeance HasLab
- The Book of Boba Fett TV Recap Episodes and Guides
- Star Wars The Black Series Clone Commander Bly review
Articulation: Man-At-Arms boasts 30 points of articulation so he won’t have any problems clobbering Skeletor’s forces with his mace or dodging their attacks. Although they’ve got 30 articulation points, the range isn’t as fluid as Marvel Legends figures and is restricted in some areas like the double-jointed elbow.
His chest armor also restricts some of his torso movement slightly. The bigger issue is the shoulder pad, which is not adjustable. You’ll want to move it up above the bicep joint to prevent it from slipping down his arm.
Masterverse Man-At-Arms has:
- neck
- ball-jointed shoulders
- bicep
- elbow (double-jointed)
- wrist
- wrist hinge
- torso
- waist
- hip
- thigh
- knee (double-jointed)
- ankle
Accessories: Man-At-Arms comes with his trusty mace.
It’s larger than we traditionally see and looks like it would pack a wallop. It seems like there’s a little dark orange wash here though not as distinct as I’d like.
There’s also swappable matching hands for the default ones — an open right hand and a clutching left hand. Additionally, there’s a set of fists. Both of the left hands carry the armor plating over. The left grip hand had a little orange runoff.
It would have been nice to see a helmet-less head included as another accessory since he takes it off enough.
Worth it? I got Man-At-Arms for $20, which felt like a totally reasonable price for a seven-inch scale figure with a good amount of accessories.
Rating: 9.5 out of 10
Man-At-Arms marks another exceptional figure in the line once you get the armor pad in place. I’d love for a better range in the elbows, but this is such a good line.
Where to get it? I got Man-At-Arms at a toy store for $20. He’s easy to grab on Amazon.