MOTU Eternia Minis Review and Package Codes series 1 & 2 (Mattel, 2020)

Masters of the Universe "Eternia Minis" (Mattel, 2020)

Way back in 2014, Mattel released a series of Masters of the Universe mini figures.  They were sold in 2-packs and each pair came with a different piece of Castle Grayskull so if you bought all 6 packs, you could put together the castle!  I thought they were great, but they didn't sell all that well and ended up on clearance.  Fast forward to 2020, Mattel is trying again and this time, it seems like they're a hit!

Original Masters of the Universe Minis 2-Packs from 2014

I'm glad they're back!  Even though those 2-packs offered my favorite figures, it's nice to be able to add more characters to my collection!  Also, although the 2014 figures may be better in the eyes of some collectors, I actually really like the bright colors of the new figures.  Sure, maybe the paint applications on the 2014 figures was a little better than on the new ones and many of the 2014 figures came with 2 accessories rather than one like the new figures, but the new figures have a little bit more charm to me.

2014 Faker Minis vs. 2020 Faker Minis

From what we've seen so far, it looks like all of the figures that are coming out this year are either  characters that weren't released at all in 2014 Minis line or at least variations of characters that were released back then.  In addition to the darker colors on the 2014 figures, notice that the two Faker figures have different heads!  The New Man-At-Arms figure doesn't have a mustache while the 2014 Man-At-Arms did have a mustache.

2014 Man-At-Arms Minis vs. 2020 Man-At-Arms Minis

I think the 2-packs were geared toward the adult collector.  I certainly never saw them in Walmart or Target!  However, these new figures seem to be designed more with kids in mind.  First of all, they are made in brighter colors.  Second, they are being sold at a lower price point (they're just under $5 each before tax), and third, they come in an awesome plastic cases!  Wave 1 figures came in cases that look like Castle Greyskull and wave 2 figures come in cases that look like Snake Mountain.  Both cases have little foot pegs on the roof for your figures to stand on!

Wave 1 figures were sold in Castle Grayskull packages while
Wave 2 figures were sold in Snake Mountain Packages!

Each wave includes eight different figures.  The basic He-Man and Skeletor figures were included in both waves, so if you have completed wave 1 and are now moving on to wave 2, there's no need to pick up He-Man and Skeletor again.  However, if you missed them in wave 1, they should be easy to find in wave 2!  Horde Zombie He-Man (aka Slime Pit He-Man) is the chase figure for wave 1.  He's tough to find!  Despite many people claiming that Stinkor is the chase figure in wave 2, the chase figure is actually Golden Armor Skeletor (aka Disco Skeletor).  If you look closely at the insert for wave 2, you'll see that Golden Armor Skeletor has an * which, according to the text at the bottom right, means that he's the chase figure.  Below are the inserts that come with each figure to let you know which other figures are available:

Masters of the Universe Eternia Minis wave 1 (Mattel, 2020)

Masters of the Universe Eternia Minis wave 2 (Mattel, 2020)

Over the last decade, I've seen many "Blind Box" or "Blind Bag" toys in the stores.  Yeah, it's sometimes fun to open up a mystery package, but when you're trying to complete a line, that gets old pretty quick.  Fortunately, the Eternia Minis have a code letter on the bottom of each package so that you'll know what you're getting.  Here are the codes for wave 1 and wave 2 of the Eternia Minis (The SKU # for both waves is 598563680) :

MOTU Minis Package Codes wave 1 (2020)

MOTU Minis Package Codes wave 2 (2020)

From what I've heard, we have at least a couple more waves of Minis getting ready to come out over the next few months!  The Slime Pit is the theme for wave 3 which means figures will come in packages shaped like the Slime Pit!  Characters for wave 3 are supposed to include Battle Armor He-Man and Skeletor, Anti-Eternia Man-At-Arms, Anti-Eternia He-Man, Clawful, Teela, and Zodac.  It's interesting to me that two Anti-Eterina characters are supposed to be included in wave 3 because the theme for wave 4 is listed as "Anti-Eternia."  Also the Road Ripper and Roton are apparently on the way for our Minis!
MOTU Eternia Minis Ram Man and Man-At-Arms from wave 1

What do you think of the Masters of the Universe Eternia Minis?  Do you have any of them in your collection?  Tell me in the comments below!

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Comments

  1. Really wanted more Loyal Subjects as opposed to these, but I absolutely love the packaging!

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    Replies
    1. I like both! I'm definitely disappointed that we didn't get more characters in the Loyal Subjects line.

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