Toy Review: Masters of the WWE Universe Grayskull Mania Playset

It’s odd that since Mattel relaunched Masters of the Universe as mainstream toy line with their Origins line, they’ve done more with the WWE crossover side of it than with He-Man, Skeletor and the gang. Those classic characters are just now arriving in stores; meanwhile, Masters of the WWE Universe is several waves deep. Initially, it looked like specific WWE characters were cosplaying as specific Masters, but that’s largely been abandoned since some work well with multiple performers. For example: Triple H, costar of Blade: Trinity, has long blond hair and uses the iron cross as his logo, just like He-Man. Yet in the Grayskull Mania ring playset, he wields Skeletor’s Terror Claws. (Notably, he also uses a skull mask at times.) John Cena (The Suicide Squad), on the other hand, utilizes a He-Man style harness and weapons, and looks obvious as the main good guy.

Like all the figures in the current Masters of the Universe Origins style, they break apart for mix and match action. So if a kid wants John Cena’s head on Triple H’s iron cross-sporting outfit, that’s quite doable. And the style works better for the WWE guys, perhaps because the real-scan heads make them look more like deliberate caricatures and less like old things. As a bonus, for anyone who still has AWA action figures from the ’80s, made in the style of vintage Masters of the Universe, those should play well with these if they haven’t deteriorated completely.

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“Grayskull Mania” comes as a ring with two figures (Triple H and Cena), though a more common version that’s just the ring exists as well. The ring shares the somewhat split identity of Triple H, in that it’s green brick in the style of Castle Grayskull, but with ring posts sporting Triple H’s bad-guy skull mask. And the ring steps have clips to hold John Cena’s weapons, a translucent ax and shield.

The ring assembles and disassembles easily. No tying of the ropes required, and the posts go deeply in without having to snap in place. The ring steps hook under the whole thing, and it all pulls apart for transportation, without being too frail for play. The ropes — described as energy ropes on the box, and light blue to convey that effect — stay taut enough for figures to grandstand.

In this hybrid fantasy world, the battles in the ring include weapons, so who knows if these figures really need all the flexibility to do every move. But it’s the same articulation as other Masters Origins figures, which leave the torso fairly inflexible but allow plenty of leg and arm poses.

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One thing that is clear, though. The ring isn’t really scaled to them, if the idea is that it’s a wrestling ring. Here’s why: the top rope comes up to their necks. It ought to land just under the armpit. And this may make sense when it turns out that the ring actually looks scaled to Mattel’s slightly taller WWE figures.

It’s a smaller ring than a TV taping ring regardless, but equivalent to many of Mattel’s basic rings. Designing a totally new scale for rings might be harder than modifying existing parts, but as a themed ring for wrestling figures it makes more sense than a Masters of the Universe playset. Works for AEW wrestling figures too.

If the goal is for a playset where He-Man and Skeletor work out their differences, however, the upcoming Castle Grayskull seems a much better bet. And more in-scale, too.

Check out the rest of the images in our gallery below. Then tell us what you think in comments.

Recommended Reading: The Toys of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe

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