Eternia is not a world known for its horses. Typically, its denizens ride around on panthers, griffins, even giant bugs, but nothing of the equine persuasion. Rather, all the horses appear to have gone to Etheria to hang with She-Ra. But if horses aren’t going to be native to the planet, wily inventors on both sides will have to build them! Hence Stridor and Night Stalker, two executions of the same basic idea. One robot horse for good, and another for evil.
Night Riding
Masters of the Universe Origins released Stridor a while back, and you might occasionally find him on clearance at places like Ross these days. Night Stalker, however, is a Mattel Creations exclusive. Whether you choose him to be ridden by Jitsu, as the classic ’80s packages had it, or Skeletor, as the new promo pictures suggest, he’s a versatile bad robo-horsey.
Night Stalker is based on the ’80s toy, but unlike it, has actual articulated legs. Like Origins Stridor, he comes with a stand and base for posing, though his is in the style of Snake Mountain rather than Castle Grayskull. He includes laser blast effects and two different helmets. Even bridle strings are included which imply that perhaps Night Stalker has a personality of his own, and is not fully programmable at all times. Robots in sci-fi can be confusing like that sometimes.
Sales begin June 18th at 9 a.m. Pacific time, so you don’t have to hoof it on over to Mattel Creations just yet. The mighty mechanical steed will cost $33 plus shipping, but comes in “easy-to-open” packaging featuring “vibrant artwork.”
Take a look at the images below to get a good horse sense of what to expect.
