Lord Skeletor
Totally Bitchin'
Joined: 18 Dec 2005
Posts: 470
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 Posted: Sun Sep 09, 2012 5:48 pm Post subject: Masters of the Universe Classics: Weapons Rack |
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Greetings fellow He-Fans and She-Ravers,
Weapons are a big part of the line especially since Mattel instigated the "at least two accessories" rule. Some figures come with more weapons than they can hold so what do you do with the others? Well now you have a place to put them: the Weapons Rack.
Technically this could be considered the third weapons pack, but it is really the first diorama piece in the line. The rack comes on the same kind of card as the weapons packs with a series of bubbles holding and showing the various accessories. The back of the card shows off figures in the line but there is no bio or anything of the like.
The weapons rack itself is a recreation of the rack that came with the vintage Castle Grayskull playset and includes recreations of the weapons from the playset as well. The rack is sculpted to look like it was made of wood with metal parts attached and features a very nice paint job that brings out the details quite well. One thing to note is that, unlike the vintage rack, there is not a clip area for the shield but instead there is a pole on each side.
The other thing to note is this rack has a lot more pegs to hold weapons than the vintage. Not only are there more on the facing side, but this rack is designed to be able to hold weapons on both sides. This also makes the rack have a wider stance and thus is stays standing much better. Despite this, the rack is made of a hollow plastic so it is much lighter than I was expecting.
The rack is identical on both sides so there's no real difference which side you face out. Even the hanging hook is on each end above the pole on each end. This does mean you can't hang stuff exactly straight as the few weapons that can be put on the hook, like the mace, then hit the pole and wind up at a slight angle. Not a huge deal, just something to keep in mind while choosing what to put where.
As mentioned, the rack comes with a series of weapons, all repaints of accessories we've already seen, but at the same time a recreation of the full set that came with the vintage Castle Grayskull as well. They have been made in two color sets though. The first half is done in a metallic silver with a slight rusted over look brushed on, similar to Vikor's weapons, giving them an ancient long unused look. In this color scheme are the Scare Glow halberd, the Whiplash spear, the Royal Guard poleaxe, and the small Man-At-Arms pistol.
The rest of the weapons are done in a metallic deep red/maroon color. This is meant to be a nod to a special short lived offer from Mattel where Man-E-Faces came packed with extra weapons done in this color. This Man-E-Weapons as he's come to be called in the fan community is a somewhat rare collectible nowadays and even when one does show up it usually doesn't have all the weapons. I of course don't have him hence the stock photo.
It's worth noting that they didn't just randomly pick weapons but actually did the same ones that came with the vintage Man-E-Weapons in this color. There is the Webstor gun, the Man-At-Arms short sword, the Guard/Stinkor shield, the Guard mace -and it is the Guard mace not the Moss Man one with the vines- and the Buzz-Off axe. Something else to note is the vintage rack and Man-E-Weapons used the same mold as the vintage Buzz-Off but without the hand guard part. The Classics one however does have that feature.
Now while I don't have the vintage Man-E-Weapons, I do have the vintage Weapons Rack and most of the weapons that go on it. Sadly though my rack has many of it's pegs broken off so I can't really fully display it. I kind of have to lean the weapons against it rather than actually hang them up. Still you can see how the vintage design was taken and updated. One thing I'm kind of so-so on is the pole on each side rather than the shield slot. As I noted earlier it can get in the way a bit when hanging things off the side hook and also I find when I clip on the shield it tends to slip down the pole. It doesn't fall off completely it just won't stay in the exact center.
On the other hand I do love that the pegs are a much sturdier plastic and won't easily snap off like the vintage one. Plus the fact that there's two sides is great not only for holding more weapons, but also for keeping it balanced. The vintage one fell over at least six times as I was trying to set up this photo!
The Weapons Rack is a great nod to the vintage line and makes a cool diorama display among the Classics collection. Plus with so many extra weapons coming with the figures, it also helps serve as an organizer to keep track of those your figures aren't holding. I would enjoy getting some more cool diorama pieces in the line such as Skeletor's throne.
The Weapons Rack will be available on Mattycollector.com on September 17. Take note the sale says it is "remaining stock" so it's likely to sell out quick and not get another reissue. Good Luck and, until next time, Good Journey.
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MacGyver
Cowabunga!
Joined: 30 Jan 2005
Posts: 3280
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