Rant Review: Masters of the Universe Classics Battle Ram with Man-at-Arms figure

As one of the first MOTU vehicles ever released, the Battle Ram was high on wishlists for inclusion in the MOTUC line. When sculptors the Four Horsemen showed up with a fully-sculpted figure-scaled Battle Ram, which they had made completely on their own time, at at SDCC in 2010, the reaction from everyone was ecstatic. With the expansion of the line following its success in the previous year, it actually seemed possible that we might get it, despite Mattel regularly claiming we would not. It wound up taking quite a while. Several years later, Mattel released just the front sky sled portion. It was cool, but also a merciless tease to those of us who still craved the entire vehicle. Finally, in 2014, the entire vehicle was finally released, with a Man-at-Arms variant figure that was also heavily fan-requested bundled with it.

Simply put, the Battle Ram is a marvel. It's not quite as big as the Talon Fighter-- incidentally, my other favorite vehicle from the vintage MOTU line-- but it's still quite large. Like other vehicles in the MOTUC line, it restores many details that were present on the original vintage prototype, but were cut from the released version. (An excellent breakdown at some of those changes in the vintage toy can be found here.) All details of the stickers on the vintage toy are sculpted here. The painting/tampo work here is mostly good, and there's a dark wash over the vehicle to help bring out the sculpted detail. There are also some nice metallic blue highlights on certain parts. The wheels roll well, and the missile, while a little on the soft side, works well. It doesn't fire as far as its vintage counterpart, but considering how hard that thing hit, that's probably a good thing.

There is one thing about the sculpt that could be considered a negative, depending on your point of view. Instead of the griffin head sculpted on the vintage toy, this version of the Battle Ram has a snake head, reminiscent of the sky sleds Skeletor's evil warriors used in the Filmation cartoon. Since the griffin head version of the sky sled had already been released, Mattel decided to use the snake head version for this release, enabling people to choose which version they wanted attached to the main part of the vehicle. This is a good idea in theory, but the problem is that it forces people to buy two pricey toys to assemble a MOTUC version of the vintage vehicle. Now that the stand-alone sky sled is long out of production and commands a high price on the secondary market, it's even tougher. I quite like the Battle Ram as it is, but I admit that I'm a little disappointed that I'll have to shell out a good bit more money to get a true MOTUC version of the vintage toy. If you're lucky enough to have the stand-alone sky sled, though, you're all set.

The included Man-at-Arms figure is kind of a mutt. He has a 2002 cartoon-inspired head, and the symmetrical armor of the Filmation version. He's basically a parts horse designed for use with various pieces of Man-at-Arms figures you already own to assemble your own ideal version(s). That said, the figure is pretty cool all on its own, if you choose to leave him as is. If you already have the original MOTUC Man-at-Arms figure, this one is pretty much the same, with a few key differences. Obviously, there's the new head. The sculpt is a very good representation of the 2002 cartoon version of the character, with a suitably determined expression. Some of the paint apps are also different, but not hugely so. The armor is softer, which means the clips on the back don't do nearly as good a job at holding the weapons. The figure is completely different below the knees. Aping the Filmation look, Mattel opted to use the Skeletor boot tops, with plain booted feet. While this does look closer to the character's Filmation appearance, it's completely incongruous with the rest of the figure, and it just looks odd. The figure would have been better served if Mattel had just included two sets of the normal Man-at-Arms leg armor instead. One other thing to note is that the armor just does not want to stay in place on the right arm. Even in a couple of these photos, pieces of it have clearly slid down or around. I just got sick of having to adjust it constantly. (This may not be a widespread issue, though.) As a pack-in with a vehicle, it's unsurprising that Man-at-Arms doesn't include the arsenal the stand-alone release did, but it's pretty close! He has his trademark mace, a silver Grayskull weapons rack mace, and a laser pistol, all of which can (sort of) be stored on his back. (Note that the silver mace is not pictured, as Teela is currently sitting in the Talon Fighter holding it, and I didn't remember until after I was done with all the photos.)

All things considered, the Battle Ram is an extremely impressive toy, particularly for a modern adult collector-focused line, which typically don't even get any vehicles. Its size, meticulous detail, and the fact that you can comfortably fit three figures on this thing with no problem, just like the vintage one, make it essential for any MOTU collector who has the space for it. (And you can totally get more then three figures on it if you want! It'll just get a little crowded.) I scored mine for $42 through the closeout sale Mattel has on their remaining MOTU stock. They seem to have all disappeared, but keep an eye on their Walmart and Ebay stores. You never know, they may reappear! In the meantime, keep scrolling down for more photos!