Topless Toy Chest: Masters of the Universe Jet Sled and Sky High
Collectors of Masters of the Universe Classics have a reputation for complaining, and I mean more so than just the average nit-picky toy geek. In fairness, there is some justification for that – we shell out hundreds of dollars sight unseen for a year of toys we may or may not like, and often get subjected to the personal whims of Mattel’s brand manager Scott Neitlich, who takes some undeserved abuse but opens himself up to it by making figures based on him, and recently saying he never really cared for fan-favorite figure Two Bad.
But sometimes he listens. At least to the more vocal fans. Buckle in for the backstory on this one, folks, if you don’t already know it…
Collectors of these figures had been asking for vehicles for a while, and Mattel obliged with the Wind Raider. It sold out within a week…so Mattel of course insisted that that was not fast enough, and there would be no more vehicles ever. The next year at Comic Con, sculpting team the Four Horsemen made a Battle Ram vehicle just to show they could. Mattel said it would not happen, yet fans begged for at least the detachable front section, called the Sky Sled.
Meanwhile, they made subscribers pay for a three-pack of figures called the Fighting Foe Men. based on box artwork from vintage model kits, and boasting especially stupid names like Dawg-O-Tor that were derived from horsemen coworkers, these figures went mostly unwanted…along with one lament: “If you were going to give us vehicle drivers based on box art, why wouldn’t you give us the Wind Raider pilot, who is the only one we actually asked for?”
And here it is. The pilot, Sky High, is mostly a kitbash save for a new head and armor, and I suspect the costs saved with his part reuse helped make this happen. He now has Wind Raider wings on his back, which is odd – if he has his own wings, why would he need a vehicle to fly? Why, you might as well ask why his ass doesn’t burn up being so close to the exhaust.
Like many MOTU box sets, this figure can’t really be taken out without ripping the box to shreds. The vehicle is held in with string. We don’t call this collector friendly, but I don’t care.
The sled is called the Jet Sled, despite the fact that that was the name for a different vintage vehicle – a matter of copyright, one assumes. It’s a solid piece of hard plastic, has multiple sculpted guns (this was hugely important to me as a kid) and it fits on the Wind Raider flight stand, but not perfectly.
Not many MOTU figures have two open hands to grip both controls, but thanks to swappable heads, you can easily imagine Sky High’s outfit as a generic flight suit.
Seriously, it could work for anyone.
“I’m the goddamn Sky Sled pilot!” |
Meanwhile, Sky High’s helmet is mysterious enough that it can work well with others too.
If you want to pose Sky High in the vehicle from whose box art he originally came, here is a look at how that works. I slightly favor Dawg-O-Tor on the Jet Sled, as his helmet looks more like an actual flying helmet. While we’re at it, Sky High’s red Wind Raider logo looks very Horde like, so you can easily pose him next to Hordak if you wish.
You may notice that when he’s seated comfortably, his back wings look like part of the vehicle.
They may never make the rest of the Battle Ram, but in case they do, clips are included in the sculpt.
The vehicle may have no action features, but the sculpt is far above the soap-sculpture look of the vintage version.
This, folks, is my workspace |
There is just one issue. Already the paint is scraping off the back peg that holds the wings.
Since this peg is a distinct piece from the armor, I don’t know why it wasn’t just left orange. The flaking looks bad, but once it’s all off that small part things should be fine.
As of this writing, the Jet Sled is “almost gone,” which bodes surprisingly well for more items like this. By the time you read this, it may be out of stock.
$50 is a fair bit to drop on this set; probably only a true fan would. But said fan would most likely not regret it.