Castle Grayskull's Secrets Unboxed!

The older you get, the more you realize that much of the excitement that surrounds the holiday season is based on nostalgia — that warm, fuzzy feeling that calls to mind the Christmases of our childhood as last-minute shopping, family bickering and cringe-inducing travel days threaten to shrink our hearts three sizes too small.

It’s that Yuletide wistfulness that made my Christmas night unboxing of the 2013 Masters of the Universe Classics Castle Grayskull a welcome, cathartic experience that brought me back to one of my earliest Christmases. It was nearly three decades ago that I found He-Man’s imposing fortress under my parents’ Christmas tree, and might actually be one of my first Christmas morning memories. Now, standing on the precipice of 30, I freed Grayskull from its cardboard confines, momentarily casting aside my concerns that A) This this is going to be a nightmare to store and B) I destroyed its resale value.

But, I mean, look at this thing. Far from a mere recreation of the 1980s cornerstone of Mattel’s Masters of the Universe collection, this thing has been rebuilt from the ground up, maintaining the overall look and spirit of the original playset while making it bigger, better and more detailed. This is Castle Grayskull as we remember it — not necessarily as it really was.

From the opening “Jawbridge” to the working elevator to the “trap door” in front of the throne, this new Castle Grayskull hits all the right notes, and even includes some added features that weren’t present in the original including a jail cell (with real chains!), secret doors and an additional third-floor ledge so you can stage epic battles in your displays.

Speaking of battles, I intended to pose a few of the MOTUC figures in this interior shot to show the playset’s scale and, well, this happened (click to enlarge):

I am almost 30, right?