WIND RAIDER

The first vehicle to be released in the Masters Of The Universe Classics line is the Wind Raider. This was one of the first vehicles in the Vintage line, so it has been part of the Masters story from its earliest days. Fans of the minicomics will remember that Wind Raider was featured prominently in Battle in the Clouds from Series One and The Power of... Point Dread! from Series Two.

Classics Wind Raider has not been given a title unlike Vintage Wind Raider, which was titled Assault Lander. The new design is instantly recognisable and is a great tribute to the original vehicle. The Four Horsemen have done a great job in creating a craft suitable for the Classics figures.

There is a spring mechanism built into the vehicle which fires the 'grappling launcher' a short distance. Once released, it can be wound back in by lifting the 'Eternium location device' (dragon head) and turning it. The wings can be tilted and the tail fin can be moved from side to side. There are also two small compartments which can be opened.

Wind Raider is supplied with a large stand which gives more display options than the vehicle would have on its own. The stand is fairly robust and allows the craft to be tilted. There are handgrips for the pilot, although these look rather delicate and are probably best left unused to avoid damage. Wind Raider is a very good model and hopefully the first of several Classics vehicles.

Wind Raider is packaged inside two boxes: the outer box follows the standard theme of white packaging with a grey Masters Of The Universe Classics logo; the inner box is the first Classics box not to have a plastic window. Some fans are disappointed at not being able to display Wind Raider in its box. This is understandable, however the box art by Rudy Obrero (who painted the Vintage packaging designs) is worthy of display in itself. It is good to see artwork which revisits the dramatic themes seen in the earliest days of the Masters before the themes were softened by the Filmation cartoon.

Below are two photographs of Wind Raider and two scans of the packaging.