Action Figure Overview: Masters of the Universe MegaConstrux - Scareglow (Mega Construx, 2018)
MegaConstrux Scareglow (2018) |
The original Masters of the Universe toys first came out in 1982. Each year, new figures were introduced all the way through 1988. The character "Scare Glow" was part of the sixth wave of figures which was the last full wave of figures that came out in 1987. Scare Glow's gimmick, aside from being an awesome skeleton, was that he glowed in the dark. As a kid, I never knew about him. Apparently, a lot of people didn't know about him at the time and only discovered him when they returned to the line as adults. Because Masters of the Universe was winding down by the sixth wave, not as many figures were produced and many of the figures from this wave are more difficult to find. Scare Glow is one of the most difficult to find and because he is so cool, he's also in demand which means an original, vintage Scare Glow figure is very expensive these days.
Scare Glow: The Evil Ghost of Skeletor! |
When the series was re-launched in 2002, many of the vintage characters were released with a new look, but Scare Glow didn't appear in the 2002 re-launch. In fact, despite his popularity, Scare Glow has only been released in a handful of different lines. The second version was released as "Scareglow" (one word) as part of the Masters of the Universe "Classics" line in 2009. This version is also amazingly cool and prohibitively expensive. A line of Masters of the Universe "Minis" included a 2-pack with "Scareglow" (one word) and Stratos along with a of Castle Grayskull in 2014. Although I think they're absolutely awesome, these figures didn't sell very well and I was able to pick up a Scareglow for a very nice price! In 2017, "Scare Glow" (two words) was released as a San Diego Comic Con exclusive funko POP! figure. He too sells for more than I would want to pay. A 3-pack of Funko Dorbs released in 2017 included Scare Glow along with Trap Jaw and Spikor and this version of Scare Glow isn't quite as expensive as the first three. However, although he's still pretty cool, he's certainly not as awesome as the vintage or Classics version. 2018 saw the release of Scare Glow as part of the Super7 ReAction line of 3.75" figures. This version retailed for about $15, but is currently selling for $20 to $30 on the secondary market. A clear variant of this figure was released in 2019 at a slightly higher retail price and is already selling for about the same as the 2018 version. Also in 2019, a 1/6 scale Scareglow was produced by Mondo, but the retail price on those guys was $185 and, just a few months later, they're selling for as much as $1,000!
My Small Collection of Scare Glows and Scareglows L-R: Dorbz, ReAction, MegaConstrus, Minis |
Because of the high price for most Scare Glow figures, I was very happy to see that he was going to be included in the Mega Construx line for around $5 retail. Unfortunately, the MegaConstrux "Scareglow" (one word) was included in wave 5, which was extremely difficult to find at retail. I looked all over for this figure and even contacted the manufacturer to find out what stores carried them. But I had no luck at all. To this day, I have never seen any version of Scare Glow from any line for sale in any retail store. As a very strange twist to this story, the MegaConstrux Scareglow figure ended up in closeout stores priced at around $2 to $3.50. Although I wasn't able to find one, I was lucky that a friend of mine was able to find him and that's how he was added to my collection!
Scareglow poses for a photo |
The MegaConstrux figures are about 2 inches tall and highly articulated. They have heads on ball joints that move around very well. They are jointed at the shoulders, elbows, wrists, waist, hips, and knees. Many of them have removable chest armor and I believe that all of them (at least in the Masters of the Universe line) come with weapons or other accessories. They retail for around $5 each, so if you can find them when they first come out, the prices are very reasonable. Even through re-sellers on sites like Ebay or Amazon, they're not priced so high that they're unattainable.
MegaConstrux did a great job capturing the overall look of the vintage Scare Glow in their format for this figure. He comes with a purple cape and his neon green Scythe of Doom (or halberd...or long axe). To me, one of the coolest things about the MegaConstrux Scareglow is that he actually glows in the dark just like the original! I wasn't sure that MegaConstrux would make the extra effort to give us a figure that glows, but they did and he's awesome!
Turn the lights off and he GLOWS! |
I would love to own more Scare Glow and Scareglow figures, but with that said, I'm very glad to have the ones that I do have! The Mini from the 2-pack with Stratos and the MegaConstrux version are my two favorites in my collection. Even though it's unlikely that I'll every be able to get a vintage or Classics Scare Glow, I'm happy that these little versions were released so that I could at least have some figures of this awesome character in my collection!
Scareglow takes on Man-at-Arms! |
What do you think of the the character Scare Glow? Do you have any version of Scare Glow (or Scareglow) in any of his various incarnations? Tell me in the comments below!
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Sweet!
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite characters!
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