This is my non-official, non-commercial site about the beloved Masters of the Universe. My intention is to spread and share my enthusiasm about this fantastic toy line that accompanied my childhood.
Bob’s burgers is a fantastic cartoon! Bob’s face hair remined me a lot on Rio Blast, so that a crossover was very simple! From black to brown hair, and from weapon-rich armor to an apron. The pocket on his apron is exactly Rio’s flap, where he hides his weapons. His family counts three females, what was a bit of a problem, since MOTU doesn’t give many options here. Though I think I could have invested some more fantasy here.
Queen Marlene is Marlinda now, and she lost the queen-like serious attitude, plus she wears glasses. The rest of her appearance is very much the Queen. Teela is Teena, and that didn’t work out so well. I’ve combined Tina’s shirt with Teela’s amour, and I gave her Teela’s hair color. Below the belt she is dressed like Teela, though Tina’s legs are a bit weaker… She also has the Bob’s burger’s character’s attitude with sloping shoulders, what is the opposite of Teela.
Louise became Louork, because both have pointy ears. There isn’t much left from Louise, maybe only the eye leashes. I guess she would be happy to be just Orko.
Last and least there is Genetendar – the chubby knight. I think he is okay, I didn’t know how to combine both heads, so I went with Gene’s. Arms and shoulders are nice, but I couldn’t get the right angle for the six pack on the amour (?). Below the head he is basically Extendar in blue shorts.
The black background was meant to highlight the colors, but I noticed later it is too far from the burger place, and didn’t really fit. But since this is one of the early sketchbook drawings, I made it all in one layer, so that changes aren’t that easy. To be honest I lost interest in this peace early, because except for Rio I don’t like it.
Ok two of the three kids are fine to float, but Teena is as always a bit weird…
This was a very confusing character to me when I was a child, and it didn’t get better after writing this.
First of all, he wasn’t very present in the cartoon. There is so much info about MOTU out there, that is was easy to find out from this page (amazing!), that he had only two short roles in the cartoon. Also he was never very famous or popular I would say. There are so many more popular figures, that Sy-Klone is just one of the easy to forget ones.
Second: His face and haircut resemble Heman’s a lot. In fact he looks like a wiser, more relaxed 80s version (remember the Jetsons?!) of a future – Heman. This fact was totally ignored in my opinion, it seems almost like the Superman / Clark Kent thing (ok this was recognized by most of us). The name however suggests that he is a clone of someone. As you can read on the linked fandom page, he was considered a cyborg. But the story line wasn’t very straight in the different comics/ cartoon/ books. That is confusing, but also opens the door for your own version, which is great for kids, isn’t it?
Third: His cool sticker shows some kind of universe. But space travels wasn’t a thing in MOTU (BTW the Jetsons were very popular in the 80s). It seemed a bit like a test run whether the customers would ask for more space stuff or not. But was the sticker meant as a screen, or a window to a universe inside him, or just decoration?
Fourth: While I’m writing this, I notice that the name is also very confusing. You’ll find different versions like Cyclone, Sy-Clone, or Syclone. There is a photo of a box on Google with both versions, Sy-Klone and Cy-Klone on it. So maybe there are also regional differences.
Apart from the confusing and weak background story of this figure, this is a cool, high quality toy. I can’t think of any reused parts (except for the face) on other figures. His arms are a little bit like Mantenna’s though… He came with a clip-on shield, that is also unique. It was necessary because of his tiny fists. Sy-Klone is very colorful, in a bright, maybe royal blue, and sun yellow, combined with some wine-red applications. The colors are of very high contrast and exist in almost equal amounts (maybe a bit more blue). IKEA wasn’t that popular these days, so this combination of colors wasn’t prejudiced, though I would say Sy-Klone isn’t exactly beautiful or pleasant to the eye. He is rather flamboyant. The legs got some mold over the years, same as King Randor did.
And there is one coincidence, or maybe a hint from the makers? Other figures with a high amount of royal blue, like Mekaneck, King Randor (the blue cape!), Man-E-Faces, Faker, Two Bad, Dragstor, Roboto have blue combined with red or orange colors. This is much more pleasant than the bright yellow, and obviously very popular amongst MOTU figures. The only other blue – yellow combinations happen on “drums” … Skeletor, and Evil Lyn!!! The standard Skeletor only has the yellow face, but else he is totally blue, same as Evil Lyn. Does this color scheme tell something about the real attitude of the clone Heman space android?! I guess not. Or?
While blue is a standard color for MOTU figures, real yellow is very rarely seen. Buzz Off had to be yellow, sure. Mantenna’s and Mossman’s belt, and even more Panthor’s and Orko’s eyes are really tiny. Heman’s and strangely also Prince Adam’s hair (so similar!) are yellow, but that is it. Merman’s armor is of a greenish yellow. Oh yes, Mekanek’s bumbum weapon is also yellow, but his armor is red, so the contrast is lesser. Not sure why this is the case, in X-men blue and yellow go so well together…
The chest has this 3D like holographic planet-design – which is of good quality and never came off. His wrist can be rotated by a wheel, which works well. His arms have a different joints from the standard figures (and tiny fists!), so that the arms lift up during fast rotation. This means also that he is a bit wobbly, like a doll. This feature is well-made, but also some how isolates him in the MOTU universe. I guess he wasn’t the cheapest in production.
To me his isn’t a standard Master, so for the Titfortat tournament he is one of the special guests…
Sy-Klone in UV light, note how much the blue body glows!
Teela and Beastman meeting in the 1991 Disney version of Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve’s Beauty and the Beast (1756). The viewer takes part in the dancing scene. Beastman holding Beau-Tee’s hands, obviously attending to look at the camera, but then distracted by we-don’t-know-what, gazing to his left. Is this a sign of his bad conscious? Does he feel trapped, maybe even caught in the romantic act with the enemies daughter? His dress is a bit off-shape, for sure Beastman never learned how to take care of a doublet. It is a clear night, we can see many stars shining through the large windows.
Beau-Tee looks like she is fully dissolved in the situation, admiring Beastman’s strength. Her head is half a size too small for her body, and maybe that small head is what explains the situation.
Writing about Whiplash got me thinking about the color schemes of MOTU toys.
Wiphlash is a fully green figure with a special feature: his huge green crocodile tail. Also is he one of the most famous villains. And green is a commonly used color amongst MOTU figures: Man at arms, Kobra Khan, Mossman, Leech, Triclops, King Hiss. Squeeze and Snake Face also have a lot of green.
Color schemes can be explained using the color wheel. This displays the colors of a rainbow. Starting from yellow, the colors are orange, red, purple, blue, green, and back to yellow. Green, blue, and purple are considered cool colors, whereas the others are warm. Looking at green and orange, we have one cool and one warm color, that means it is balanced out. This happens with most figures, think of Syclone, Roboto, or Faker! Snake Face does only show cool colors: green and purple, with grey and black. All green figures, except for Snake Face, got the orange color. This results in a low contrast, or signaling effect. Maybe that’s why I have my problems with Snake Face, who only has some purple, but no orange. Purple is not the exact opposite of green in the color wheel. Yellow would be, so the green- purple combo is a bit off. That feels unpleasant. Look at Panthor vs. Battlecat. While Panthor is mystical or scary, Battlecat has matching opposites: red and green. Some orange is right between those colors and makes it even more pleasant. I will focus more on the colors in the next reviews!
Whiplash got it on his spear and belt in orange. The quality is amazing. In opposite to Man at Arms, the squeezable head keeps his color for ever. Even the rubber tail is stable and flexible over decades. He stands perfectly solid, with the tail as 3rd stand. His chest is crocodile like, it is not the standard body. The arms are not as muscular as others. Believe it or not, just as I am writing this, I realize that Whiplash and Clawful have the exact same legs. The color is so different, that I never saw the same shape! Did you? Ok, yes Buzz Off has it too. Reusing body parts was a thing, I did not really notice that when I played with them.
The UV light I used for the photography highlighted the arms and legs, plus his pants. The tail is invisible in the picture.
Evil vs. evil? Why? Spikor is a victim of Evil-Lyn’s. When she tortured his home village near the swamps, he was the one to stand up against her. With nothing more but a trident, and arrows made of porcupine spikes, he had the idiotic idea to fight the witch. And no one was surprised that she punished him hard, made him a monster, decorated with his own weapons. Abandoned by his own people, he had to live in the swamps. The leeches didn’t kill him surprisingly. Sick of being a homeless monster now, he later followed Evil-Lyn to join her evil army. And guess what, she didn’t want him, made him nothing but a cheap gift for Skeletor. When Spikor heard that Hordak trapped a Leech in his home swamps, he decided to switch sides to fight at a Leeche’s side, hopefully to once defeat Skeletor and Evil-Lyn. This battle is Skeletors revenge for Spikor leaving him! Skeletor chose nothing less than Beastman, the furious wild monster, to pay him back! Spikor is already impressive 2.1m and weighs 140kg, but in the ring with Beastman, 2.7m, and unbelievable 80kg more, he looks like a tiny hedgehog.
So let the fight begin: The orange Beast starts as expected: With a fast and powerful jump towards Spikor, he fearlessly fires a punch straight onto Spikors head. The porcupine monster is down! Seriously shattered, and on his knees, he realizes – that the he is still alive. The Beast isn’t tearing him into pieces. Beastman is sitting down! Not that the dozens of spikes in his left fist would hinder him. But Spikor must have risen his Trident in a reflex. Beastmans right shoulder is bleeding heavily, he seems unable to move his arm. A terrifying scream, like a bear, a lion and a wolf in one, comes out of his mouth, before he starts calmly starring at Spikor. Knowing that the Beast has the power to take over control of animals, Spikor tries to focus on the human part left in his head. He feels Beastmans mind attack, but manages to move towards him. Once close enough, he smashes his fist in the Beast’s face and wins the first tit for tat! What a surprise, the defensive Spikor defeats the Beast.
