Masters of the Universe - DREE-ELLE!

Masters of the Universe - 1:6 Orko (Timed Edition) - Mini Dree-Elle - Mondo 2024

This is the first Mondo figure I've ever opened. I also own She-Ra and Teela (and have Evil-Lyn and Goddess pre-ordered), but I don't know where to display those yet, so they are still nestled in their shipper boxes waiting patiently for me to make some decisions. But when I was photographing my Altaya Dree-Elle earlier this week, I knew I had to free this Mondo mini-Dree-Elle from her plastic prison and get her in my photo tent. It was very interesting that the 1:6 scale Orko came with two mini bonus figures. I don't believe any Mondo 1:6 figures have included anything like this before. It's also funny to call them "mini" - because they are almost twice as large as the MOTUC Trollans (So I would call these 1:8 or 1:6 scale). But I'm a sucker for the 80s animation of my youth so I couldn't resist splurging on her. I view Dree-Elle as one of the quirkiest recurring characters in MOTU. Now comes the the grand experiment to see if I can recoup my money by selling the Orkos. Let's check out Dree-Elle below!

Mastermind Creations - ERIS: KULTUR!

Ocular Max Infinite Finity - IF-01 Eris: Kultur - Mastermind Creations 2021

This Eris: Kultur figure from Mastermind Creations is a pretty unique purchase for me because it marks the first time I have bought a 3rd Party fembot that was a unique creation and not an homage to a classic Transformers or Go-Bots character. I splurged on her purely out of an aesthetic appreciation for the design. And that says a lot when you consider her high price point, her scarcity, and the abundance of collectibles on my want list right now that have a powerful nostalgia element giving them an unfair advantage. Eris: Kultur was a Planet Steel Express exclusive back in May that sold out almost instantly. I'm assuming this success means we will be seeing similar products in the future. Hopefully continuing their Reformatted trend from 2014 and focusing on female characters. I'm super curious to see what other designs the MMC team might come up with (and I better start budgeting for them now while I'm at it). Let's check out the 3rd Party Mastermind Creations Ocular Max Eris: Kultur figure below!

Ocular Max - AZALEA!

Ocular Max (Perfection Series) PS-04 Azalea  - Mastermind Creations 2018

Of all the 3rd Party Arcee figures out there, this Ocular Max Azalea from Mastermind Creations seems to be the most popular. There are already five variations of her announced (three released so far), and I have a gut feeling there will be more. Mastermind Creations first fell into my radar back in 2015 when they released their Reformatted line of fembots (Eupatorium (Elita One), Salvia Prominon (Solus Prime) and Azalea (IDW Arcee)). They were all fantastic and they marked the first time I ever spent real money on 3rd Party figures. But they were pretty stylized figures that didn't really fit in with official Hasbro or Takara products. Then three years later they shocked me by unveiling one of the most perfect looking G1 Arcee figures to date. It's not a perfect designs by any means, but it sure looks it. I hope they make more fembots, MMC did a deep dive with characters in 2015, so I hope this engineering gets the same longevity (beyond the repaints). Elita 1 would be amazing. Let's check out Ocular Max Azalea below!

Mastermind Creations - EUPATORIUM!

Reformatted R-09 - Eupatorium (Warrior) - Mastermind Creations 2015

Finally we get to the figure that triggered my avalanche of 3rd Party Transformers figures this week.  Elita One is the basis all modern female Transformers.  Sure, through new backstory, we learn that Solus Prime is probably the originator of all the fembots, but way back in in 1985, a full year before we met Arcee, Elita One burst onto the scene in a blaze of pink.  The season 2 episode "The Search for Alpha Trion" blew my mind as a child.  I had never even contemplated female Transformers.  Then comes this mysterious episode loaded with females.  In the opening scene we meet Chromia, Firestar, and Moonracer on a clandestine mission to steal Energon cubes.  Eventually we meet their wise leader, Elita One and the backstory starts flowing.  The absence of females prior to this episode is briefly explained by the simple phrase "I thought they were all extinct."  We learn that Elita One was Optimus Prime's girlfriend back in the early days of Cyberton.  She and her tribe have stayed with me for years.

Mastermind Creations - SALVIA PROMINON!

Reformatted R-10 - Salvia Prominon (Ancress) - Mastermind Creations 2015

Once again I am thoroughly won over by a 3rd Party figure.  This Salvia Prominion figure really confused me when I first saw pictures of her last year.  Basically this is because I had no idea who she was supposed to be.  After much reading on the numerous Transformer wikis, I discovered an interesting character called Solus Prime, one of the original 13 Cybertronian Transformers created to fight Unicron.  Solus was the only female Prime and was an expert weaponer.  Because of the historical deity-like flashbacks of the character, she is rarely shown in clear view. So with very little to go on, I think this MasterMind interpretation of Solus is amazing.  I never would have thought that lavender, gold, and translucent aqua would go so well together.  The Optimus-like faceplate adds a lot to the mysterious "Prime" status and the flowing details on her helmet and shoulders add a historic air to her design. She's surprisingly my favorite of the Reformatted fembots so far.  Let's check her out below!

Mastermind Creations - AZALEA!

Reformatted R-08 - Azalea (Avenger) - Mastermind Creations 2014

I've been struggling with the idea of plunging into 3rd Party Transformers for years. The major perk of 3rd Party figures (for me) is the fact that there is a lot of attention paid to female characters (at least in comparison to licensed brands), but the downsides are high prices and uncertain quality.  I say uncertain because you can't really ever browse these in a store, so you're really buying them blindly.  So last Autumn I found myself with a fully-loaded PayPal account and an itch to spend.  Fate would have it that this was the week that two new Mastermind Creations fembots went up for preorder.  This Azalea figure was already released at that time so after googling some reviews I felt very comfortable about the construction quality.  I pulled the trigger and all these months later I'm the happy owner of three gorgeous new fembots.  Azalea is the requisite Not-Arcee figure.  There are lots of 3rd-Party Arcees, but this one definitely appeals to me most.  Let's check out Azalea below!