Mattel MOTUC Eldor Review

Mattel Masters of the Universe Classics Eldor Review

There is definitely something to be said for an action figure that you are teased with, but then it ends up being ultimately cancelled.  Hasbro and NECA seem to do this to me from time to time.  Showing off some amazing new figure that I can’t wait to get, and then for whatever the reason that figure never sees release.  It takes me a while to let go when this happens.  I still badly want my Shaw from Prometheus and to finish my Marvel Legends Wrecking Crew.  At least NECA usually lets me know why when this happens, and it’s almost always due to lack of sales.  Hasbro’s decisions are a little more cryptic since they really don’t tell you anything; just a lineup gets changed or a series gets cancelled and that’s the last we hear.

This brings us to Eldor, a casualty of a proposed Powers of Grayskull action figure line.  I’d imagine general knowledge of him didn’t really exist until the internet came to be since the only reveal that ever existed was through a 1987 Mattel dealer catalogue.  Since then some box art and prototypes have surfaced from different sources with past Mattel affiliations.  So with Masters of the Universe Classics the 27 (probably a lot less for most MOTU fans) year dream has finally become a reality.  Eldor, the man who tucks his tunic into his speedo, is now a thing.

Masters of the Universe Classics – Eldor
Release Date: 10/15/2014 (Monthly Subscription)
Price: $25.00 ($27.00 non sub)
Title: Heroic Guardian of the Book of Living Spells

I’m not a huge fan of the look of Eldor.  I would not have been upset if the Four Horsemen had taken some liberties with his choice of clothing.  The tunic tucked into the belt has always been an eyesore for me.  I think either if they dropped the belt or gave him a longer tunic that may have worked better.  However, I’m sure the majority of Classics collectors are pretty happy with his vintage look.

Eldor comes packed with his stave, the Book of Living Spells, and an optional hood.  I’m not a fan of the removable hood because it sits too high above his head.  Star Wars Black has this same problem where instead of making an alternate helmeted head they make the helmet removable.  This either causes the head to be too small to make the helmet scale, or the helmet far too large so the unmasked head is in scale.  We live in the age of swappable heads!  A second sculpted head with the hood on would have been a much more effective option.  At least I have the option and I’m perfectly fine with him going sans hood.

I like his Book of Living Spells well enough.  It seems that a lot more engineering thought went into one book than the entire Rio Blast figure though, so that is slightly irritating.  They must have run out of budget at some point and decided to scrap any actual writing on the pages of his book.  So Eldor has the only two blank pages bookmarked.  Or maybe every page is blank and Eldor is some kind of lunatic that sees words that aren’t there?  Perhaps the Book of Living Spells is all a ruse, and only Eldor holds all this knowledge in his head.  It’s probably for the better that no lore was actually written on the page because somebody out there would likely throw a fit about it not agreeing with their carefully crafted Masters of the Universe fan fiction.

Mattel MOTUC Eldor Review

Eldor joins the likes of Fisto and Jitsu as having one of the more detailed headsculpts in the Classics series.  It’s very well done and I love it, but there is one slight blemish when you look REALLY close at his mouth.  Something is amiss.  He has an extra line under his lip which makes it looks like either he’s making a ridiculous duck face or he’s sticking his tongue out and that part was never painted.  It’s not notable when looking at him from afar, but once you see it it’s impossible to unsee.  He also has a problem that a lot of recent MOTUC figures have where their head sits too low onto their neck.  Either they need to not have the overlays go up the neck, or they need lessen how deep the neck peg hole goes into the head to remedy this.  I’ve found that I just end up letting the head sit on the peg loose because it makes them look better proportioned.

Eldor is a flawed but highly requested figure.  This seems to be the mantra of the 2014 Masters of the Universe Classics line.  He is by no means perfect but he is a pretty big step up from how much they botched Rio Blast (of course he required a lot less design and engineering work).  I’d imagine fans of the scrapped Powers of Grayskull line will be very happy to have Eldor join their King Grayskull and He-Ro.  If you are looking to buy Eldor I’d check out Amazon, I hear he frequents that place quite often.

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4 thoughts on “Mattel Masters of the Universe Classics Eldor Review”

  1. I think the design of this figure is stupid, but at least he looks well-executed. I just got my replacement Rio Blast in the mail today, and it just pisses me off all over again seeing all the other choices that could have been made just to get that stupid flap and those horrible thigh chaps to close completely.
    At this point I am regretting that I subbed for next year. We’ll see if the quality of the figures have improved, but if not…I don’t know I guess I’ll just wallow in self-pity.

    1. I definitely think there will be improvements going into next year. Even from the videos TG posted prior to leaving it seems the new design team seems to care a ton more than the old one, putting in some great details into the figures. I hope at least we don’t see anything as bad as Rio Blast next year … it’s the supposed “last” year, but from what I’ve seen it isn’t looking too bad from what we’ve seen.

      The only one I really don’t care about is Blast Attak … he’s fine, just boring.

  2. I wasn’t looking forward to this guy at all and figured he’d fall in the bin with dekker (who I didn’t care for in the least) but against all odds, once in hand I really like him. His fat suit bothers me but I can live with it. I enjoy the removable hood – and he will wear his- and like his overall look. He has pleasantly surprised me and exceeded my expectations.

    1. That’s good to hear! I feel about the same, some nitpicks here and there but he’s better than could be expected based off the original design.

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