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Masters of the Universe Stactions Series 4
Leech, Webstor and Snakeface 

Tonight we have a new guest reviewer - Christian Lopez!  He checks out the latest wave of Staction figures from NECA...

Just in time for Christmas, NECA delivered Wave 4 in their series of Masters of the Universe stactions. For all of us in this dead and glorious resurrection of this line since the Mattel action-figure relaunch of the MOTU brand death in 2003, the four horsemen a group of exceptional sculptors have being in our side to help our dreams come true.

With Leech the master of suction, this time the circle is complete bringing the top primary characters of the evil horde to their frightening assemble.

Next we have Snakeface a member of the Snakemen, who has the power of turn people into stone. His power and appearance make him look like a male version of medusa. 

And finally we have the 'Master of Escape' Webstor a member of the evil warriors he is a cross between a man and a spider. 






Packaging - ***
Since wave 1, NECA created card-and-blister packaging that resemble likenesses to the packaging of the Mattel action-figure line while making them to be distinctive at the same time. The packaging of Wave 4 picks up where Wave 3 left off, substituting a blue color for a distinctive color red that looks like the same that lunched the Mattel line. Once again, Emiliano Santalucia and Val Staples do the fine art with the illustrations of the featured characters. 

Sculpting - ****
The Four Horsemen, once again do these characters honor by bringing their amazing talent to this world popular franchise. 

First we have leech this as his ‘80s predecessor if you look closer the motif of this character is that an amphibian-like creature, of a large and bulky build with green skin and suction pads on his hands, feet and mouth. It is these suction pads that provide him with his main power - to suck and drain the life-force from his opponent, rendering them helpless against him. Once again like his vintage predecessor the armor looks dead on but this time looks very intimidating because the creature itself bares it with such a strong presence a that is all to the impressive sculpt of this beast. On his chest arms and shin guards the motif of a red bat that pledge allegiance to his evil horde and master of all Hordak himself says it all. 

Now on to Snake Face. Again his sculpt once again like the classic version the looks are very similar but this time Snake Face from the new Masters of the Universe series is more terrifying than ever! This mini statue captures him brilliantly because the sculpt itself bares it with such power. He’s got plenty of the awesome intricate details and design we’ve come to expect from the horsemen so he’s scaly, lean and menacing. The thing that makes every master of the universe different from one another is that each character represents his or her own culture this time the armor again with the motif of his respected clan of snakemen, his chest armor bares the two snakes facing each other, also in his bracelets and shinguards. On his belt the same motif of a snakeface and a crown like piece in his forehead. The snakes coming from the mouth and back of the creature is more of the sculpt power because here we have no action feature but these are made from a soft vinyl material so don't worry the wont brake .

Last we have Webstor like I said before, he is a cross between a man and a spider. On his chest armor is the symbol motif of a black widow spider. He is now much more insect-like, and bug-inspired, multiple eyes he has four vestigial arms in his back. The segments of his exoskeleton overlap naturally, and his limbs are thin and spindly. He is a eight-limbed creature.

On his back also he has the classic long rope with a grappling limbed like organic hook at the end, which he uses to help him scale walls and escape, but again not here cus this item it`s part of the overall look and not like the vintage action feature his past predecessor had.

Paint - ***1/2
I ordered this set on-line, which of course didn’t allow me to pick the best paint schemes. But again i have no complaints with the paint application on these figures. I find leech the most impressive: All of those wash like effect in the armor, the gloss like wet finish on the mouth and suction pads on his hands. All three characters stick pretty closely to the color scheme established by their 80’s predecessors, with a couple of differences taken here and there.

Articulation - Bupkis
Since they are statues, it should be no big surprise that there isn't any articulation. So again these puppies aren’t poseable.

Accessories - ***1/2
All three figures also come with stands, color-coded as to whom they pledge allegiance, but there is an error and that's with leech base; it came with a hero base.

When i saw this i thought mine had this packaging error but when i looked at the he-man.org forum the four horsemen 
themselves had this to say:

Crap! That base is supposed to be red!

The blue base that was used at Comic Con was only a place-holder, because the original red base had gotten lost in the shuffle somehow.

If they're all like this, maybe the way to remedy it is to release one of the heroic characters with a red base instead of blue. You can find this post at the he-man.org forum, on thread Leech Staction with Blue base! For all you guys that display your figures without the stand ( like myself) that won`t be a problem. 

Now let`s get right on to the weapons:

While this 80’s predecessor came with only the standard Horde crossbow, for this upgrade , the Horsemen decided to give him a suction theme, to go with his standard look.

Webstor came with his modern vintage gun . And at the end SnakeFace came with his snakescrossed shield.

One thing i have to mention is that in order to get webstor on his feet it is necessary to use the base that's why is the only statue in the pictures with the base. 

Fun Factor -Bupkis
Again these are not action figures, they're statues, that means they aren't intended for kids to play with-just for display, for your eyes only.

Value - **
I paid at around $20 each, still, the price isn't way out of line for the level of quality and detail.

Things to watch out for-
When picking out webstor , be carefull with his grappling hook cus it`s very fragile, but I think that’s pretty much it.

Overall - ***1/2
The Four Horseman deserve every credit for going to the extreme everytime, NECA deserves kudos for making them physically. the fans for making their voices heard to Mattel and to keep this line alive. 

SCORE RECAP:
Packaging - ***
Sculpt - ****
Paint - ***1/2
Articulation - Bupkis
Accessories - ***1/2
Fun Factor - Bupkis
Value - **
Overall - ***1/2

Where to Buy -
I picked mine up at CornerStoreComics.


Figure from the collection of Christian Lopez.

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