Create-a-Character winner Castle Grayskullman Discussion

[FakeEyes22]

Scareglow, meet your new arch-enemy.

Every time you reach for that key of yours, CGM pops out and smacks it right out of your hand. It will be quite the game of cat and mouse! Your skull faced antics will be legendary!

Congratulations to Daniel! This guy is all kinds of spooky with the right touches of silly, cool and overall fun.

The design struck me as odd at first since I had a similar idea that I didn't finish before the deadline. I wasn't sure how I felt about this since my mental image was already set about a "Grayskull Spirit/Golem" kind of guy. Mine was something like an animated statue that may have included the other front door decorations in addition to the shield. I actually used Whiplash shoulders, strangely enough! I got stuck trying to work around the viking helmet since Vikor and Demo-Man's accessory made it seem redundant. I tried working a skull into the armor, and got obsessed with the idea of using a fade to translucent yellow or blue plastic towards the ends of the limbs to represent POW-AAHH!! I tend to get too crazy overthinking things like that and never finish a darn thing.

Enough about me. My point is, as someone who had quite a similar idea, I think this design nailed it extremely well with some simple and elegant solutions as well as things I had not even considered.

Swords from the flag? How cool is that?

His boots and gloves look like castle turrets! But it's kind of subtle since they still have the shape of regular boots and gloves.

And hey? How to work in the famous skull? Stick it directly on his face. Not as an elaborate helmet. Nope. This is either his face or a form fitting mask and it is awesome and terrifying. Seeing this guy reminds me of how unsettling the castle itself was when I first played with it as a kid.

The exposed hair is so strange to me and I love it. To me, it's exactly the kind of unexpected detail that keeps a solid design from looking too uniform and normal. I felt a similar way when playing with the original Trap-Jaw, looking at his green face that seemed to come out of nowhere. Heck, even a Skull on top of a muscular blue skinned body was a really bizarre thing that I found intriguing before ever watching the original cartoon. I enjoyed the mystery of it all.

Enough gushing from me, I'm just finding myself really drawn to the look of this design. I think a character honoring such an iconic image of the brand is a fun way to close out this 30th anniversary line. I'm really happy to have a figure that's similar thematically to thoughts I've had, but executed in a way that I find more surprising and appealing than art I was struggling with. And my eternal favorite Scareglow has a BFF/sparring partner. He needs that.

Oh yeah, the runners-up? I found all of them extremely cool. Congratulations to them as well.

[Sword-of-Grayskull]

All in favor of getting Masque on the next RGD podcast to talk about the creation of the character, say, "Aye!" Congratulations, Dan!

[Draego-Man]

Did they get someone to redraw it like they did the rest?

Yes they did. See the 32:25 minute mark of this video...

[Irian]

Is the Spirit of Castle Grayskull actually the Spirit of Grayskull (i.e. King Grayskull's spirit who resides in Castle Grayskull).

[facet]

That is what is above in Draego Man's post.
It's a great sketch. Love how the 4H interpreted the shield.

I do like more white on the hair, though you can see it looks much less blonde in the one in the case.

The BIO! A lot of us guessed this one, it seems. Plus... controversy will probably ensue from this one...
https://p.twimg.com/AxzQr-wCIAAK0Gl.jpg:large

Castle Grayskullman
Heroic Embodiment of Castle Grayskull
Real Name: Not Appicable

During the Second Ultimate Battleground, Hordak and King Hsss' grand army pressed in against the allied heroes of Eternia. In the darkest moment of battle, all hope seemed lost as many heroes fell, including Snake Man-At-Arms and Stratos. Reaching out through the Orb of Power, hidden deep inside Castle Grayskull, He-man and the new Sorceress used an unrepeatable spell to call upon the Power of Grayskull and infuse life into the very spirit of the castle itself. Rising from the castle's hidden Chamber of Defense; Castle Grayskullman marched into battle, swinging his dual swords of power, helping to turn the tide.

So in regards to the bio this is an actual human from of this character, The guardian of the secrets of castle grayskull

[mjw41]

To prove a point about Mattel which the result will end up either validating or showing that they have the cojones to follow their own rules for once. To use a saying you once used last year about people cheating the subscription method by canceling cards "rules are rules" .

Some men just want to see the world burn.

Dude stop playing police with Mattel and the runner ups to the CaC Contest. It's not your business and you wouldn't like it if someone tried doing it to you. Learn to just mind your own business.

[he-ron]

I like it excited for the bio... Can't wait with the swords I hop they are two whole swords,congrats.. to the winner Long Live MOTUC!!!!!!!!!

- - - Updated - - -

GOTTA GET A CASTLE GRAYSKULLMAN TOTALLY LOVE THE CONCEPT!

[Toymaker]

Congratulations Daniel, well done, and now I've seen some up close looks of this figure, I love it.

Gotta have the Whiplash shoulders though!

[Darkspecter]

Congratulations Daniel, well done, and now I've seen some up close looks of this figure, I love it.

Gotta have the Whiplash shoulders though!

Someone should go to MattyCollector and "Ask Matty" about the shoulders. I also, MUCH prefer the Whiplash shoulders. They look AWESOME with this figure!

In other Castle Grayskullman news, Catra's Wrath on MattyCollector said that the Four Horsemen said his hair would be more GREEN and less YELLOW.

http://forums.mattycollector.com/eve...7/m/1791089567

[he-ron]

Was that my main man pixel Dan chanting yes,yes,yes like Daniel Bryan!.... Dan we gotta get up!

[MLBfan]

I did a search for this and couldn't find it anywhere, not even in the SDCC reveals thread. But over at ActionFigurePics.com they have a picture of Castle Grayskullman from preview night with what appears to be another Man-E-Faces head sculpt. I can't figure out if it's new or the same as his secret accessory. It looks like He-Man is staring out and Orko's on the right side, but I'm not convinced that Skeletor is the third face. And TG doesn't normally just put random items from figures of almost 12 months ago just for the heck of it, does he?

Just find the head oddly placed.

Forgot to post link: http://www.actionfigurepics.com/category/events/page/2

[omee]

Actually it is Skeletor, here is another pic (from the Fwoosh) from the another angle and it shows Skeletors face.

http://thefwoosh.com/wp-content/uplo.../DSC_43151.jpg

[mekaneckpain]

I'm pretty sure that's the extra head that already came with Man-E-Faces. Why he would put it there is one of many mysterious TG puzzles. The guy loves to get people talking.

[MLBfan]

Actually it is Skeletor, here is another pic (from the Fwoosh) from the another angle and it shows Skeletors face.

http://thefwoosh.com/wp-content/uplo.../DSC_43151.jpg

Gotcha! Thanks!

[Brian Ozone]

Yea I saw that too....what's the deal. Does fit in his head?

[geooco]

There were a couple of odd things in those cases-- like why was Wundar on display? He was the sub-only figure from years ago. So strange.

[shadowfall1976]

Someone should go to MattyCollector and "Ask Matty" about the shoulders. I also, MUCH prefer the Whiplash shoulders. They look AWESOME with this figure!

In other Castle Grayskullman news, Catra's Wrath on MattyCollector said that the Four Horsemen said his hair would be more GREEN and less YELLOW.

http://forums.mattycollector.com/eve...7/m/1791089567

Another change????

I want the Whiplash shoulders, the flat ones don't look as fluid, the Whiplash ones transitioned the stone armor down to the bare arms, and looked much better....

[Skystalker]

There were a couple of odd things in those cases-- like why was Wundar on display? He was the sub-only figure from years ago. So strange.

Doesn't Matty typically show off everything that has been released so far for this line at SDCC??

[Stratos*Major]

I REALLY like Greyskull-Man!

I cannot wait to get him...he's a great stand alone figure and will make a great addition to the collection!

[Dr Kain]

So what happened to our Snake Woman discussions? I lciked on the topic and it brought me here, but I cannot find them anywhere.

[Darkspecter]

Another change????

I want the Whiplash shoulders, the flat ones don't look as fluid, the Whiplash ones transitioned the stone armor down to the bare arms, and looked much better....

100% agreed. They were darn awesome!

[masque]

Yes they did. See the 32:25 minute mark of this video...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ln435E1944

Awesome, thanks! Anyone know of a pic out there that shows it more close up?

[oICEMANo]

The proto looks waaay better (except for the blonde hair). Why on earth have they ditched the 'rocky' shoulders?? And the one sword is now pink!?

The proto matched the flag perfectly! (lemme guess it will be "a design decision")

[scott metzger]

I think Mattel made a good choice with the winner here; the idea and the figure are MOTU all the way. I think this character could easily have appeared in one of the pre-Filmation minicomics, and harkens nicely to the sword and sorcery side of the MOTU mythos. Including the swords from the flag as his weapons was brilliant. I really like this figure and that incredibly creeepy face (this guy walks up and most of the bad guys would wet their furry trunks). THe 30th sub may have fallen short with some figures, but this one ends it out on a high note. And given He-Man and She-Ra's connection to the Power of Grayskull, I think the blonde hair makes sense, although having it more green wouldn't be bad, either.

[Eternian Poet]

And given He-Man and She-Ra's connection to the Power of Grayskull, I think the blonde hair makes sense, although having it more green wouldn't be bad, either.

Not just that, but the rays of light on the flag's "good-side" are golden too.

His blond hair is great - makes GSM creepier in my view & I'll re-paint, if necessary.