It's official, Castle Grayskull did NOT WOW Me...

The first MOTUC Grayskull review is out... (Yes, Pixel Dan got his castle early... and he posted a review. I'm posting the link, just don't forget about me and my unprofessional reviews!)
I've already ranted about how Mattel's Apparent "Bait and Switch" tactics made the New Grayskull be a bit disappointing.

The Difference is impressive in the Sculpt Department.

Here's a screencap of the 200X Castle next to the MOTUC Castle.
While, yes, the Classics Castle is larger and better looking than the 200X Castle, the size difference isn't THAT Huge. The 200X Castle is Decent enough to work.

Now, don't get me wrong. The Classics Castle IS a Better Castle IN THEORY. It's just that there were some Kinks that weren't ironed out.

 These pics were supposed to go with my Earlier disappointment rant.

I took those measurements and compared them to the "crappy" 200X Castle... Here's what I got:
The Measurements from the Classics Castle came straight from Scott Neitlich's Castle Comparison video posted above.
Classics: To the highest Tower 22.5"h
200X: to the highest tower a bit shy of 20.5"h
Classics: Jawbridge Closed 8"h
200X: Jawbridge Closed about 7.5"h
Classics: Inside Front wall 15"w
200X: Inside front wall: 15"w
Classics: To the Lowest Tower 18.5"h
200X: To the Lowest Tower 19"h
classics: Jawbridge Open 7"h
200X: Jawbridge Open 7.25"h

Notice how the MOTUC Sy-Klone is on a higher ledge than his
200X Counterpart.

 So the difference isn't THAT Huge, but I feel it SHOULD have been bigger. Mattel DID tweak the castle a little bit so those measurements above are a bit obsolete. (Better clearance on the Jawbridge and better on each level.)

I'm glad that Mattel actually had the Audacity of making a MOTUC Grayskull... I just feel that the whole thing SHOULD have been planned a bit better. The whole process of concept to actual product has been an insane ride. Not to mention the whole Digital River screwing up the orders catastrophe. Sculptwise is a thing of beauty. I'll be honest... The sculpt is amazing but, it's the little things that screwed the castle for me... (aside from the size)

In all fairness the 200X castle WAS made for the 200X figures

Of course some would say that my "nitpicks" come from "sour grapes" but I disagree. The Size would be the only "nitpick" that could be called "unreasonable", even if it's not. Those 2 inches in height would have benefited the Castle.
Look at the Secret Doors (the one with the Scareglow Key and the one next to the Throne.) They could have benefited from the extra height Clearance.  (Width is another story) the Extra Height would have helped the hyper cramped Dungeon... Or in this case Time-Out corner or Castle Latrine. Which doesn't work for Classics Figures. It works with Vintage and 200X Figures, but not the MOTUC Figures this castle is intended to.
The extra inch of height in Level 1 from the missing 2 inches would have made the door taller and work correctly unlike it does in the actual castle as you can see on the Screencap below.

Eternian Press also hate this dungeon since it censors the face
of whoever is inside of it... Unless it's Cringer, Orko, Kowl
and soon madame razz and Broom

See, why the "2 inches" are VERY Important?
3 Nitpicks would have been eliminated by the extra height. The other main nitpick is The Throne. So, the Keeper of Castle Grayskull cannot sit on the throne because of the way She and the Throne were engineered... Design Team For the Fail!
OK so, you may argue that This isn't Filmation or MYP! The Sorceress doesn't NEED to sit on the Throne! That throne is reserved for the future King of Castle Grayskull!

As Pixel Dan shows on his review. King He-Man can't sit there.
Hell! Even King Grayskull can't sit on it... Unless you use the Santa variant WITHOUT The cape. See where I'm going with this?
So, the Throne still has the vintage feature where you twist and shout... OK, the one sitting twists and the one falling down the trap shouts! That is kinda cool... If you know, the character ACTUALLY FELL IN THE DUNGEON!! I kow I'm going back to the Dungeon since it's the biggest failure in the entire castle. I'm sorry fourhorsemen, but I speak the truth. If the Dungeon wasn't working as well as it should, then it should have been cut out... or at least make the walls of it removable.

Now the next "nitpick" is the Wind Raider Stand Hole. OK, so Mattel and the Horsemen made it for the sky sled. It still makes no freaking sense! Mattel Should have totally added a plug-in to cover that hole... It's a good thing that the Fan Community did come to the rescue here.

So to recap:
-Castle Size
-Dungeon issues (size and not working like it should)
-Wind Raider Stand Hole issues
-Throne and the characters who NEED to sit on it that cannot.
These are the things I see as the castle's shortcomings. It seems like a cool toy but for $300+ it needed to blow my mind something that it did not.

The size, I CAN Understand. I mean if that was the ONLY flaw, then I could say that it's a fudgetastic super awesome and sweet castle!

The dungeon is one of those inexcusable things. This has nothing to do with the elimination of the 3D Grate item, just to make it clear. that dungeon is perfect for a vintage figure. Take a look at this pic on the left and compare it to the Dungeon Screencap above.

The Wind Raider/Sky sled Hole is totally unneeded. Instead of wasting time on that Pie slice with a useless hole (since parking vehicles inside Grayskull is a stupid idea... It's NOT THE BATCAVE!!) why couldn't Mattel have the horsemen spend more time fixing the Dungeon issues.

The Throne is the Second Inexcusable issue with the playset. Design Half-assed their way to "fix" the issue with the throne and the Sorceress' wings. Seriously, Design Fixed the issue for the tail, but didn't Look into the wings while there was time to fix it.

Again, I'm not saying the Castle is bad. Just that I do NOT Regret not getting one... much! (A Grayskull sculpted by the fourhorsemen is an awesome thing. Not having one hurts a little.) The good stuff on it outweighs the bad stuff on it. It's just that two of the biggest faults, I find INEXCUSABLE!
I know some will be more forgiving than I am. Others may be more ruthless and scathing in their complaints.

In any case, those who ARE getting the castle, I only have two words for you:
Enjoy it!