While Mattel was still playing coy with regards to its plans for its Masters of the Universe Classics Castle Grayskull playset, Mat O’Toole was set on recreating his vintage Castle in the MOTUC scale. When he finished it, requests for him to produce more started flooding in from collectors worldwide, which he did in limited quantities. Over time, his Castle of Power has grown into a sideline endeavor for him – furnishing Masters-themed accessories for your Castle, whether it’s the official Mattel Castle or not.
I was one of the lucky fans who was able to get one of the replica Castles from Mat. And now that the official Castle Grayskull from Mattel has landed at my doorstep, I figured I ought to take some size comparison photos.
One of the very interesting things I learned during the production of Mattel’s Castle Grayskull was how packaging and shipping could affect a product. Pretty much everyone would have liked their Castle to be larger – one thing Mattel told us was that if they increased the height of the figure, it would mean a bigger box. That, in turn, meant they would not be able to fit as many boxes in those overseas shipping containers. And that meant an increase in cost that they could not bear.
The Castle of Power, in contrast, was designed as a scaled up version of the original Castle Grayskull – and not limited by what could be costed out in terms of shipping. As a result, Mat’s Castle is significantly larger.
From the vantage of a figure standing in the Jaw Bridge, while it’s clear that there’s more clearance with the Castle of Power, the work Mattel and the Four Horsemen did to lower the Jaw Bridge when open made a standing figure fit easily there.
A mounted figure, however, reveals a pretty stark difference. He-Man on Battle Cat dwarfs the Jaw Bridge opening on the official Castle. There’s still not enough clearance for the two when standing on the open Jaw Bridge of the Castle of Power – but Mat’s Jaw Bridge is removable – and once the extra height is out of the way, there’s clearance for a rider.
Don’t get me wrong – I am still very pleased with the official Mattel Castle Grayskull. There’s a lot of play value with the accessories and the internal workings of the play set. (One bummer for me, at least while shooting these pictures, was learning that King He-Man’s Power Sword would not open the Jaw Bridge.)
The Castle of Power, in contrast, is simply a display piece. Sure, it has its own Jaw Bridge, but the inside is just a smooth fiberglass shell – imagine what you might see if you walked around the back of a movie set. Plus, if you want to really make it shine, you’ve got to paint it. Once I knew I had Mattel’s Castle pre-ordered, I had the ambition to paint it in a more “realistic” color scheme, with rocks that looked like rocks covered with moss. Of course, I still haven’t gotten around to it.
Last I checked, Mattel’s Masters of the Universe Classics Castle Grayskull is still available from the December 16 sale – surprising given how often we were told that there was such a limited quantity. I’m not sure if Mat has anymore of his Castle of Power limited run, but you can check with him at the Castle of Power Facebook page.
It’s probably mine that’s still available, since they cancelled my order without a word.
Still not big enough!