Rant Review: Masters of the Universe Origins Webstor figure

The villain-heavy wave six of Mattel's MOTU Origins line continues its rollout, and we're back to look at another member of Skeletor's crew of cretinous creeps, Webstor! This spider-themed villain-- or as spider-themed as you can get when you're only allowed tooling for a new head, anyway-- debuted in the vintage line's 1984 lineup, and quickly became a fan-favorite. His cool action feature, distinctive midnight blue hue, and decidedly un-spider-like, yet still likeably creepy and monstrous, head sculpt was instantly appealing to the hordes of little boys who made up a large portion of MOTU's fanbase. Like his wave-mate Stinkor, he was sadly absent in the 2002 MOTU line, so we never got a figure of that supremely awesome redesign, but this Origins version aims to recapture the magic of his vintage figure. How does it stack up? Read on...

As is the norm, this is a reused body with a newly-tooled head. It's Skeletor from the neck down, with the same sharply-sculpted details and appealingly exaggerated proportions. The head is excellent, capturing the monstrous head we're familiar with while amplifying such details as the ridges on the sides of his head, and the horns that run down its center. There area pair of tiny indentations, one on either side of the second central "horn," that haven't appeared on any previous Webstor figure. I'm not sure what their purpose is, or if they're intentional. They don't detract from the figure's appearance, in any case. 

Webstor has very few paint apps, but what's here has been applied pretty neatly. The red belt has no slop or overspray at all, and has been applied thickly enough that the underlying black doesn't bleed through. The orange and red on the chest armor are similarly flawless. Things get a bit less ideal on the figure's head, though the issue is lack of coverage, rather than slop. The two large red eyes are fine, but the two tiny eyes and the fangs don't fully cover the sculpted features. Still, they are very neat, and you have to be looking pretty closely to notice the lack of full coverage. It's not ideal, but not a major problem. Webstor has the line's standard articulation, with swivel & hinge shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees, and ankles, swivels at the waist and calves, and a ball-jointed head. As ever, this is a very good articulation model that is lots of fun to play around with, and the parts pop apart at the usual spots for easy swapping, though I recommend heating the elbows, hips, knees, and ankles before popping them apart. 

Webstor's accessories are updated versions of the vintage toy's, as we expect from the Origins line at this point. The rifle is a recolored version of the one we got with Castle Grayskull, appearing here in an eye-catching bright orange. His armor, the only top & bottom-clipped clamshell armor we've gotten in this line so far, is attached to the backpack that contains his signature action feature. Clip the grappling hook onto something, then pull the tab on the other end of the string, and the backpack's interior mechanism propels the figure up the line! It doesn't work as smoothly as the vintage toy's did-- toy companies' inability to properly replicate action features they nailed decades ago is basically a running joke at this point-- but it works well enough to be a fun play feature, even with its occasional hitches and snags. The hook is made from stiff enough plastic that it has no problem staying place without warping. (Anyone who tried to pose their Classics Webstor suspended by his hook will know how frustrating a hook made from pliable plastic can be!) With action features mostly relegated to the higher-priced deluxe line, it's great to see such a thing included on a basic figure! The backpack also has a pair of little hooks, one on each side, to aid in wrapping the string up when it's not in use.

As a fan-favorite villain with a great eye-catching design, Webstor is sure to be a popular figure. After the various issues that plagued his wave-mates, I'm happy to see that this fella suffers from no such problems, and even has a cool action feature, to boot! In a wave with a strong lineup, Webstor might be the best figure of the bunch, so don't sleep on this one! That's it for today, but creep on back next Friday for the next review. Until then, stay safe out there, and happy hunting!