Rant Review: Masters of the Universe Classics Blade figure

We're tackling another character from the MOTU movie today! As I mentioned in Saurod's review, the movie was a pretty big disappointment to me as a child. I even went so far as to call Blade "a poor man's Tri-Klops." My feelings about the movie, and the villains it introduced, have softened over the years. I now consider Blade a pretty cool character. He's still no Tri-Klops, but he's much cooler than the other notable character who's known by the same name! ;) As an apparently normal human-type character, he really stands out among all the beasts and monsters in Skeletor's crew. (I'll mention here that actor Anthony de Longis, who portrayed Blade in the movie, did some great work promoting MOTUC subs for the year that Blade was to be produced. It's well worth checking out his video if you haven't seen it!)

The Four Horsemen always do great work with their sculpts, but occasionally a figure comes along that is a true standout, where they really just knock it out of the park. Blade is such a figure. This sculpt simply kills! Many of the parts are reused, of course, but there is a lot of new tooling here, and the detailing on all of these new pieces is exceptional. The face is one of the best in the entire line, with a facial expression that has plenty of personality, and a strong likeness to the actor. Unfortunately, the metal "wings" on the sides of the figure's head are made of a very soft rubbery plastic, and are already beginning to wilt. That aside, the sculpting on the rest of the figure is just as great. Every link of the chain mail is lovingly sculpted, and the bracers and wrist-mounted launcher are nicely detailed. The only plain-ish parts are the legs and boots, but those are accurate to the source material. Blade does suffer a bit from the "fat armor" syndrome, which is a shame. It makes the figure look bulkier than he really should, but it doesn't throw off his look too much. There is a small gap between the top and lower sections of armor at the waist that is pretty annoying, but I'm honestly not sure how that could have been avoided in any practical way.The armor could have been done all as one long piece, but that would interfere with the articulation far too much.

Blade's articulation is standard for the MOTUC line, with ball joints at the head, shoulders, and hips, joints at the torso, elbows, knees, ankles, and wrists, and swivels at the thighs, wrists, and waist. The armor interferes a bit with the torso hinge's range of motion, of course. Blade's accessories include two swords, one based on the swords seen in the movie, the other based on the vintage toy's, and his laser whip. The whip has a handle that, while movie-accurate, is pretty damn tough to get into his hand. (See the photo above.) Now that I've removed it during the course of taking photos for this review, I doubt I'll ever bother putting back in his hand. Having two swords is cool, but it's a little annoying that they don't match. (It's also annoying that they each have "CHINA" molded into them in very obvious places, but that's apparently just something we have to live with on these figures.) Even with all the new tooling this figure has, I don't think two of each sword, so we could have a matching set of the sword of our choice, is too much to ask. The swords are almost completely unpainted, which gives them a rather cheap look that doesn't mesh with the rest of the figure. Apart from that, paint apps on the figure are good. The silver & black color scheme on the armor is source-accurate and eye-catching, and the paint apps on the face turned out quite well. My one gripe here is that the large chest emblem has a lot of sculpted detail that doesn't show up very well because of the light silver color it's molded in. A wash with black, or a darker shade of silver or gray, would have made this really pop. (That's an easy fix, though; I'll definitely be applying a wash myself.)

While he's far from an essential figure for any MOTU collection, Blade is a cool character and an awesome figure that will flesh out the villains' shelf very nicely. He pairs up well with Saurod, of course, but also looks at home among the numerous muscle-bound barbarians and beasts in the MOTUC line. Now that a "totally not based on the movie version, but it really sort of is" Karg figure is on the way, we'll soon be able to unite the MOTU movie villains on our shelves for the very first time! Now they just need to find a way to make a movie Skeletor happen! (I still say the "future Skeletor" from the last couple of issues of Marvel's MOTU series from the mid-'80s is close enough, since a straight-up movie version is off the table!) That's it for today. Scroll down for many more photos, and come on back next week!

Rant Review: Masters of the Universe Classics Stinkor figure

Welcome to the first review of 2018! (Some health and family issues prevented me from posting the first couple of weeks of the year, but things should proceed as normal now.) In a move that I sincerely hope won't set the mood for the entire year, let's kick off 2018 with a foul stench! I first encountered Stinkor, as I did most MOTU figures, when I saw him hanging on the pegs at a local store. On a trip to the mall, we visited McCrory's, one of the few stores in the mall I liked, since it had toys. I discovered Stinkor and his nemesis Moss Man that day, hanging next to each other on the pegs. Even without having seen any media featuring these characters, it was clear that they were good/evil counterparts to one another. I remember excitedly explaining to my Mom that they complemented each other, so I really needed to get both! Getting a new toy wasn't a regular thing, so I was shocked when she told me I could get both! (Of course, I now know how tight money was for us at the time, so Mom probably had to give up or delay getting something she was planning to get herself so that I could have a lump of plastic that reeked of patchouli. She always put her family ahead of herself, and continues to do so to this day.)

I don't think it's an exaggeration to claim that Stinkor is one of the best-remembered of all MOTU characters, despite never appearing in the Filmation cartoon. Like it or not, the cartoon is quite possibly the biggest cultural touchstone for MOTU to the general public. For a character who never once made an appearance on it to be one of the most famous characters is quite unusual. The figure's gimmick-- he was a skunk man toy who actually smelled bad-- is just that memorable. Even my own Mom, who can scarcely recognize any MOTU characters beyond Skeletor and He-Man themselves, knows exactly who Stinkor is.

The same gimmick that lent him such notoriety also made him a huge fan-favorite, and the excellent 2002 redesign by the Four Horsemen kept that flame alive. (Of course, we never got a figure in the 2002 line since Mattel's bungling led to its premature demise, but he did at least merit a statue in the awesome figure-scaled staction line that was produced by the 4H and NECA.) The 2002 tie-in cartoon finally gave Stinkor an origin story: Diminutive furry thief Odiphus was involved in an accident while trying to join Skeletor's crew, and was transformed into the hideous Stinkor! Initially kicked out of Snake Mountain, he was welcomed back once Skeletor saw how useful an appallingly smelly mutant could be against his enemies. Stinkor was one of the most-demanded figures in the MOTUC line almost from its inception, eagerly awaited by collectors of all stripes. Not bad for a character who started out as a simple repaint of Mer-Man!

As with the vintage figure, Stinkor is composed of many re-used parts. Unlike his vintage counterpart, the Classics figure has a few new pieces that allow you to customize him a bit to suit your own preferences. The 4H used the greater range of parts available to them to give Stinkor a furry body, while retaining the Skeletor gloves, hands, feet, and shin guards. (Though those forearms are new pieces too, as the furry texture had to be added.) The armor is the same as Mekaneck's, though this time around, Stinkor gets it first. We've seen all these pieces before, and they sport the same great sculpts. The furry body works far better for the character than the smooth parts the vintage figure was stuck with. However, there is a glaring issue here: The forearms are reversed. Swapped parts were an irritatingly frequent problem with the MOTUC line, and the forearms are particularly problematic. The muscles appear to be shaped wrong due to the swap, the points on the gloves face the wrong direction, and the wrist doesn't quite line up with the hand properly. Swapping forearms is not a difficult thing, but since the white stripes would then be on the wrong side of the forearms, it will also involve some repainting for anyone who wants to do it. Thankfully, Stinkor's status as a deformed mutant gives him a bit of an out here, for anyone who doesn't want to bother with it. The bigger issue was Mattel's handling of the mistake, claiming it was an intentional choice. (I don't think anyone actually bought that.)

Putting that aside, we can check out Stinkor's new parts. He has a new 2002-inspired head sculpt, which looks simply fantastic. The vintage-style Mer-Man head works great as well, so it really comes down to personal preference here. The heads are actually quite similar, though the 2002 head is much pointier in general. I have a slight preference for the 2002 head, but I honestly could go either way. Stinkor also has a neck overlay, like Mer-Man received. In Stinkor's case, it adds a lot of fur to his upper body. It looks great, though it does limit the head's range of motion a bit. Moving into accessory territory, Stinkor has several options to allow you to customize his armor a bit. First, there is the rebreather, molded to fit on the 2002-style head. It fits well and looks good, but I just can't bear to cover up that wonderful head sculpt! The dot on the front of the armor is also removable, and there is an air nozzle piece that fits in that spot nicely. Stinkor also include a set of air tanks that fit on back of the armor. All of these pieces can be mixed and matched any way you like to get just the look you want. This attention to detail is fantastic, and it would be damn nice if more figures had gotten this level of care.

Stinkor's other accessories are his shield and gun. We've seen the shield before, and I feel the sculpt is too soft on it, just as I did before. While the shield echoes the vintage figure's accessory, the gun is based on the 2002 staction's weapon, and has some nice detailing. Nothing too wild, though. Both weapons look nice, but they (along with the air tanks) were molded in blue and then sent out to die. There are no details painted in, no wash to bring out the sculpted detail, nothing at all. It lends them a cheap appearance that is totally incongruous with the rest of the figure. Odiphus would have been very cool to get as a pack-in, but for whatever reason, that didn't happen. (More than five years later, we still haven't gotten him!) Articulation is standard for the line, with ball joints at the head, shoulders, and hips, hinges at the elbows, knees, torso, and wrists, cuts at the biceps, upper thighs, calves, wrists, and waist, and rocker joints in the ankles. The head's range of motion is limited a bit by the fur overlay, as I mentioned earlier, but everything else works as you would expect. The ankle rockers are a bit loose, but not to the point where they cause any stability issues. As usual, the only change I would really make are the addition of swivel & hinge wrists.

All those words, and I still haven't mentioned that Stinkor is one of the only figures in the line with an "action" feature: He stinks! Like his vintage counterpart, the smell seems to be mostly (or entirely) patchouli, though the smell is nowhere near as strong. I still have my childhood Stinkor, and he still smells much stronger than the MOTUC version! I think they made the right call here, though, as a slightly underwhelming level of smell is preferable to the pine scent bomb of Moss Man! I could smell him from a couple of rooms away for weeks after opening him!

Though he was never part of Skeletor's core group of underlings in various MOTU media, Stinkor made an indelible mark of the children of the 1980s. As a figure in the MOTUC line, he's definitely in the upper echelons of vintage updates, with a nice mix of 2002 elements to let us get the look we want. It's great to get a figure that allows for that sort of fine-tuning right out of the package, and it's a shame that that happened so rarely in the MOTUC line. The swapped forearms are very annoying, though. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to fix mine or not; even with the necessary repainting, it won't be difficult. I'm just not sure if it's worth the trouble. Even with that annoyance, Stinkor is a wonderful figure, and an essential part of any MOTUC collection. That's it for today, be sure to swing back by next week!

The Top Ten Posts of 2017

It's New Year's Eve, and you know what that means: No, I'm not hosting a NYE party rife with drunken debauchery; it's time to review the most popular posts of the past year! (You can totally get hammered while you take in the list, though, I won't mind!)

It's quite a change from previous years. Since I began reviewing MOTUC figures when I resumed collecting that line as a way to return to updating the blog regularly, those posts dominated the year. Since all of those posts were reviews, I'll omit the "Rant Review" header from the posts. Without any further ado-- 'cause let's face it, that was way too much ado I was indulging in just now-- let's have a look at the list!

10. Point Dread & Talon Fighter playset with Teela 2.0 

9. Serpentine King Hiss 

8. Anti-Eternia He-Man 

7. Goat Man 

6. Battleground Teela

5. Clamp Champ 

4. Skeletor(s)

3. Octavia

2. Battle Ram with Man-at-Arms

1. Oo-Larr, the Jungle He-Man

A few thoughts: While it was a given that the MOTU reviews would have a stranglehold on the list, I am a bit surprised that the always-popular Free Comic Book Day primer didn't even crack the top ten! The FCBD guide is always one of the most popular posts of the year, but the popularity of the MOTU reviews pushed it right out of the top ten. It's also interesting to see a few underdog figures rank high, while heavy hitters like Beast Man and the Sorceress didn't make the list. I'm particularly surprised to see Octavia in the top three! Vultak just missed making the top ten, so the influence of figures many see as D-list at best was nearly even more pronounced!

Putting these reviews together is a lot of work, but I have fun with them too, and I truly appreciate all the messages and comments I receive. (Mostly on other sites, though. It's okay to post comments directly on the posts here, I promise!) I have no plans to end the weekly reviews anytime soon, and there will be the occasional horror-related posts, as always! I hope you all have a great New Year's Eve, and here's to a great 2018!

Rant Review: Masters of the Universe Classics Sorceress (Temple of Darkness)

One of the most impressive aspects of the Masters of the Universe Classics line is its diversity. While the all-embracing nature of the line has been a longtime gripe of many collectors who are only interested in one particular area of MOTU, it has allowed us to receive figures of characters who we really never expected to see immortalized in plastic. It's also given those of us who prefer alternate versions of some of the main characters to receive "our" version. This minicomic-based figure of the Sorceress is a perfect example. After the character transitioned from the snake-themed character seen in early MOTU media into the more familiar falcon-themed incarnation, variations of the look popped up frequently. This is especially true of the minicomics, where she didn't appear fully on-model until the final series. In the 1984 minicomic The Temple of Darkness, the Sorceress appeared in a fully white costume. It's a striking look that stuck with many MOTU fans who read it as children, myself included. For whatever reason, that rendition of the character superseded the far more familiar blue & orange look to become "my" Sorceress. (The full minicomic is posted over at He-Man.org if you'd like to read it!)

As a recolored version of the earlier figure, one would expect the sculpt to remain the same, but that's actually not quite true. While everything is the same from the waist up, TOD Sorceress eschews the thighs and hips used on Battleground Teela, so she has the hip articulation that is lacking in the original Sorceress figure. Her boots are also the standard leather-wrapped model, as opposed to the smooth boots of the earlier figure. (I'll point out here that the left hand on my figure has been swapped for the spell-casting hand seen on such figures as Castaspella and Battleground Evil-Lyn. The figure normally comes with two gripping hands.) The sculpt is quite good overall, capturing the look of the character very well. This face just looks like the Sorceress, without slavishly copying any specific version. The bustier-on-top-of-a-shirt look can look a bit odd, but it is accurate to the character's design. Even in the minicomic, the collar is partly drawn in, though not identical to this look. Still, it's close enough that I can't really fault them for not altering this part of the figure. I would like a bit more detail in the sculpt overall, but even so, there are a few areas that stand out in that respect. The headdress features some nice detailing, as do the wings.

Speaking of the wings... Let's go ahead and tackle the elephant in the room. The implementation of the wings has remained one of the major hot-button issues in the MOTUC line, even years after this figure was released. As seen in the photo above, the wings are divided into segments, which are attached to pegs on the figure's shoulders. Not-so-affectionately nicknamed "the drums" by collectors, these pegs allow the wings to swivel up and down, expanding as needed to match the pose of the figure's arms. Frankly, they look pretty terrible. They also impede the articulation, which is never a good thing. If you want an arm to be bent forward, you have to adjust the wing to do so, and then the wing just doesn't look right. To be fair, this was a big design challenge for this figure, and there really was no solution that would have pleased a majority of MOTUC collectors. That said, I can think of several alternatives right offhand that I feel would have worked better. This is the single biggest issue with the figure, by far. On the positive side, the wings are molded in a nice translucent white, matching their appearance in the minicomic. They could have easily just molded them in plain white, so this attention to detail is very nice.

Articulation is mostly standard for the females of this line, with ball joints at the head, shoulders, and hips, hinged knees, elbows, and ankles, swivels at the biceps, wrists, thighs, boot tops, and waist, and the aforementioned "drums" on each shoulder. As mentioned, the implementation of the wings severely limits the range of motion of the shoulders. The headdress also limits the head a great deal, and the "skirt" piece is definitely stiffer than I would like. It's a damn good thing that I was only planning to display my Sorceress standing around holding her staff, since that's damn near all she can do. Her accessories include her staff, molded in a nice pearl white, and a stand for the King Grayskull's shooter-- er, the Orb of Grayskull. If you have a Castle Grayskull, and the orb is currently residing in its chamber there, you'll have to find an alternate use for this stand. I reckon I'll toss some in-scale burgers or something on it so the Sorceress can have a makeshift grill for Grayskull cookouts. Or maybe I'll go the most obvious route and pose the various Zoars around it as a birdbath?

While I'm very happy to have a figure of "my" Sorceress, she is definitely a mixed bag. The figure's positive aspects are enough that I can easily get past issues like the stiff skirt and headdress, but the drums are a huge problem. They're not a big enough drawback that I'll be getting rid of the figure over them, but I will be leaving her on the shelf instead of getting her down and re-posing her regularly like I do with most of my MOTU figures. They don't ruin the figure, but they do drag her down to the point that she's a pretty good figure, rather than a great one. Still, if you want a minicomic-inspired Sorceress, she's the only game in town unless you customize your own. Thankfully, she does run significantly cheaper than the standard colors Sorceress, so she won't hurt your wallet too badly. I am glad I have her, but she won't be stealing center stage on the shelf from the Goddess. Scroll down for more photos, and I'll see you here next week!

Rant Review: Masters of the Universe Classics Prahvus figure

When the 2002 Masters of the Universe line met a premature end due to Mattel's total mishandling, it left collectors with woefully incomplete collections, with core characters such as Clawful and Hordak absent. Another casualty of the line's early demise was any and all figures based on the cool original characters that had been introduced in the tie-in animated series. One of the most frequently demanded of these was Prahvus. Appearing briefly via flashbacks in two episodes, Prahvus was a warlord who was active during the Great Unrest, the period that spanned the two decades between Keldor's defeat and banishment behind the Mystic Wall, and his return as the infinitely more dangerous Skeletor. And... that was all we really knew about him. Still, with his very cool and intimidating design, he made quite an impression on viewers. Now, once more, the MOTUC line is able to correct a wrong by giving us a figure we never got before!

The bio gives us a bit more information, in that he eventually becomes an enslaved member of the Horde, and that he dwells inside a magic lamp. The djinn motif carries over to several details of the figure, with his long, curling beard, glowing eyes, and pretty much his entire head evoking various djinn designs. The beard is a very soft plastic, while the horns are far more rigid. It's an impressive sculpt, and stands out even among the extremely varied heads in this line. The rest of the sculpt is largely reused parts, as per usual, but Prahvus gets all the new parts he needs. Everything is sculpted with the care and attention to detail we've come to expect from the Four Horsemen, with the texture on the cloak and loincloth standing out, in particular. The cloak is attached to the right shoulder, so it can look a bit odd in some poses. Here's a closer look at the cloak's texture:

Paint apps are kinda all over the place. Some areas, such as the eyes and blue tattoos, are very neat, while others, such as the red bumps on the belt, are quite sloppy. There is also a lot of overspray on the back of the cloak. Articulation is mostly standard for the line, with ball joints at the head, shoulders, and hips, swivels at the biceps, wrists, thighs, and waist, and hinge joints at the elbows, knees, ankles, and torso. Prahvus lacks the swivels at the boot tops that most MOTUC figures have. Despite the large horns and ears, the head has an excellent range of motion, and the large skull on the cloak rarely gets in the way. Prahvus comes with his large club and the lamp that occasionally serves as his prison. Both accessories are sculpted well, but could benefit from some additional paint apps, or even a paint wash to bring out the details.

For a character with such a tiny presence in the MOTU mythos, Prahvus definitely cast a long shadow, and it's very nice to finally have this long-awaited figure of the character! The few issues I noted above are really just nitpicks. This is a great figure, and his backstory is open enough that he will easily fit in with any faction you feel like plugging him into. He'll even work quite well as a Preternian antagonist for King Grayskull, or an ally of Demo Man menacing the mighty Vikor! Wherever he winds up on your shelf, Prahvus will make for a menacing presence, and a damn good addition to the collection. That's it for today, but be sure to come by next Tuesday for the Xmas review, which focuses on a figure I've wanted to get to for quite some time! In the meantime, scroll down for more photos, and I hope you all enjoy whichever holiday(s) you celebrate!

Rant Review: Masters of the Universe Classics Ultimate Ram Man figure

One of He-Man staunchest allies, Ram Man was present nearly from the beginning of the MOTU line. He received his own minicomic by Gary Cohn and Mark Texeira, which saw him duped by Skeletor into attacking Castle Grayskull. This characterization as a well-meaning but slow-witted physical powerhouse quickly became the standard depiction of the character.

 As one of the handful of MOTU characters who are well-represented in pretty much all media, Ram Man is one of the most important and well-known of He-Man's allies. As part of the vintage toy line's second series, he was also one of the earliest figures released. Unfortunately, since he required 100% new tooling that had very limited potential for reuse, collectors had to wait quite a while for him to receive a figure in the MOTUC line. As with many figures in the line, sculptors the Four Horsemen based his look on the vintage cross-sell art(seen below, image via the excellent Battle Ram Blog), but the decision was made to use the color scheme from the vintage toy rather than that of the art. This was a somewhat controversial decision, but now, with this reissue from Super 7, collectors can have it both ways! (Assuming they've got deep enough pockets, anyway.)

Unsurprisingly, the 4H has absolutely nailed the look of the vintage cross-sell art with this sculpt. As someone who used to look at that art on the backs of my minicomics and wish I had a Ram Man figure that looked that cool, I'm thrilled to finally have one who looks as if he stepped right off the page. The head sculpt is divisive, as many collectors dislike the squinty-eyed expression, but it looks great to me. It's a face with a hell of a lot of character. It would have been nice to get a different expression on the alternate head as a compromise, though. Speaking of that alternate head, it's similarly well-sculpted, and while I'm not thrilled with the design-- it just seems weird that the metal plate is apparently part of his head, and the huge ears look rather weird-- it's all sculpted and detailed extremely well. The body sculpt also has some nice details, with lots of studs and rivets in appropriate places. Ram Man is also HUGE. He's not any taller than the standard MOTUC figure, but he's nearly twice as wide! I've waited more than thirty years to have a Ram Man figure that is sized appropriately, and it's damn nice to finally have one! I only have two gripes with the sculpting. First, it would be nice to have some dings and dents in the armor. I mean, this big burly bastard smashed into all kinds of stuff head-first, so you'd expect to see a bit of wear here and there, right? Second, Rammy has no neck! The area between the pauldrons is just a smooth expanse of grayness, and while this isn't noticeable with the standard head in place, when you switch to the alternate head, it looks very strange. This isn't a problem for me, as I'll only be using the standard head with my figure, but it will be a serious issue for anyone who prefers the alternate head.

Articulation is standard for the line, with ball joints at the head, shoulders, and hips, hinged elbows, knees, ankles, and torso, and cuts at the biceps, wrists, thighs, boot tops, and waist. The head has a very limited range of motion due to the armor's design, unfortunately. The alternate head moves much more freely. Accessories include the aforementioned alternate head and Rammy's trademark axe. The axe is a perfect update of its vintage counterpart, and fits nicely into the figure's right hand. 

With the paint, we run into the only real problems with this figure. First, let's deal with the elephant in the room: The armor has a dull matte finish, instead of the shiny silver it had when first unveiled, when it was for sale on Super 7's website, and as shown on the packaging. Customers didn't find out about this change until the figures started arriving on doorsteps. It's unclear why this change was made, but it seems that most people were not happy about it. Personally, I think it looks fine, but not as good as the shiny silver armor does on the original MOTUC version of the figure. I'll be applying a gloss coat to my figure's armor to address this. The second issue is that the entire "skirt" piece is molded in the same dull gray, and the orange part of it is painted very sloppily. There's a particularly large unpainted gap underneath the belt buckle. (It should be noted that the gray belt and buckle are accurate to the cross-sell art on which this figure's look is based, so I can't rightfully hold that against it.) Again, I can fix this without much trouble, but I shouldn't have to. The third issue is that the hands were not molded in the same color plastic as the figure's arms, so they have a sickly yellowish tinge that doesn't match the rest of the figure's "skin." There is also some general sloppiness in the paint all over the figure. I've spotlighted a couple of the worst areas below. Paint issues are pretty easy to fix, but it's still a shame to see so many, especially on such a pricey figure. This many paint issues give the figure a rather cheap appearance, which is the exact opposite of what we should be seeing when these are being sold as high-quality adult collectibles. 

That last paragraph may make it seem as if I'm not crazy about this figure. The many paint issues are disappointing, but they can at least be corrected. Every other aspect of this figure is so well executed that I can't help but love it despite its flaws. Once I do a bit of repainting, Ram Man will be one of my favorite figures in the entire MOTUC line. He's a pretty essential character, too, so it's a shame that he's so damned expensive on the secondary market. That's it for today, but scroll down for more photos, and swing back by next week for the next review!

Snow day on Eternia!

We're having a rare snow day in the southern US today, with five inches and counting! That much snow is practically unprecedented here. Apparently, they're getting some snow on Eternia today, too! ;)

Rant Review: Masters of the Universe Classics Bow figure

We've got yet another character from the She-Ra: Princess of Power wing of the MOTU universe today! As I've said before, I never got into PoP, but I've got no issues buying MOTUC figures based on those characters, as I'm only out for cool figures. While Bow has often been the subject of much derision, I've never really understood why. He hangs around with a bunch of hot women, and he's got the whole Errol Flynn/Cary Elwes vibe going for him. Seems pretty cool to me! Turning the typical superhero romantic triangle on its head, Bow is in love with Adora, not her superpowered alter-ego.  Although, according to his bio, "he has a magical heart that beats frantically when She-Ra is in danger." Uh... okay then.

This figure has a fantastic sculpt, with quite a bit of new tooling. The Four Horsemen drew a bit more from the Filmation design than the vintage toy, while adding quite a bit of detail to bring the design to current standards. There are two heads included, a mustachioed Filmation-style head, and a clean-shaved vintage toy-style head wearing a crown. Both are great sculpts, though I prefer the one with the 'stache. The arrows sculpted into the quiver have a cool playing card motif. There is some nice detailing on his gauntlets and boots, and an intricate pattern on the side portions of his armor. Bow is a showcase for how much better certain figures could have been if the same level of detail and artistic license by the 4H had been applied to them as well.

There are a couple of issues with the figure, however, and both involve his armor. The armor doesn't want to stay in place, and is constantly sliding back or to one side. It really needed a pair of straps running from the lower front and around the back to hold it in place. The 4H seem to like giving us strapless armor whenever possible, for whatever reason. It's rarely as big an issue as it is here, though. The quiver has a cord attached, and there's really no good place to put it. The cardback shows it looped over his head and under his neck, but frankly, that just doesn't look good to me, and it impedes the ball-jointed head a bit. I tried looping it under his arm, but that only makes the armor slide to that side. I wound up just cramming it underneath the quiver to keep it out of the way.

Bow has the standard MOTUC articulation, along with a little something extra: In addition to the standard ball-jointed head, shoulders, and hips, hinged elbows, knees, torso, and ankles, and cuts at the waist, biceps, wrists, thighs, and boot tops, Bow also has a hinge at each wrist. This is to help pose him with his bow, and it helps tremendously in general posing. As with Green Arrow in their DC Universe Classics line, Mattel added a POA to a single figure that really should be standard across the line. It's damn nice to have those wrist hinges here, but it really drives home how nice it would be to have them on all figures. I had a few joints on my figure that are very tight, but I'd prefer that to loose ones.

Paint apps are below average, with a good bit more slop and over/underspray than I like to see, especially at this price point. Bow's hairline fared poorly on both heads, and I'll definitely be grabbing the brush to do some touching up. The white ring on the chest armor is very gloppy, and seems to have been applied quite thickly. There's also a lot of slop on the belt buckle, and the gauntlets have a few spots where paint simply wasn't applied where it should have been. These are just the most obvious paint issues; there are definitely more. This is significantly worse than we usually see in this line. Bow has a nice assortment of accessories, including his bow, and arrow, his harp, a different swappable chest armor logo, and the aforementioned extra head. The bow lacks a string, so you'll have to attach one yourself if you want one. Considering it was probably a choice between either a stringless bow or a molded plastic string, I think they made the right call here. The harp and bow both have a very cool horse motif. He does have some trouble holding the arrow, though, even though his right hand is sculpted to hold the shaft between two of his fingers. The chest logo swaps without much trouble, though I imagine you'll want to toss the one you're not using straight into the extras box to avoid losing it. I would have liked to see the 4H craft a sword or dagger for him as well, but I'm sure I can find something in the accessory box that's suitable for him.

I wish the paint apps were neater, and the sliding armor is annoying, but I still think Bow is one of the best figures in the entire MOTUC line. Visually, he really pops, and his suave head sculpt and extra articulation really help to make up for the relatively minor issues the figure has. Even if, like me, you're not a PoP fan, Etheria's resident archer deserves a spot on your shelf. That's all for today, but be sure to swing by next Tuesday for the next review!