Rant Review: Masters of the Universe Origins Fisto figure

There are many ways to battle evil, but sometimes, you just can't top smashing it with a big metal fist! One of the best-known and most beloved MOTU characters, Fisto stood out from the moment I first saw him. Rather than first becoming aware of him via a toy commercial, as was often the case, I first came across him when I saw the figure in a store. With his neatly groomed hair and beard, he had something of the air of an old school boxer about him, and apparently that impressed me to some degree. His big-ass metal fist surely didn't hurt, either! Mattel even took the unusual step of associating him with a steed of his own in Stridor. On package art and advertisements, vehicles normally went to He-Man or Skeletor by default, so having Mattel itself showing Fisto with a mount of his own made him seem like kind of a big deal. His included minicomic, The Clash of Arms, also went a long way toward establishing him as a burly brawler to be reckoned with. Captured and forced to battle a succession of foes in the gladiator arena that Skeletor apparently has, Fisto bashes his way through his opponents with He-Man-like ease. Sure, he eventually gets into trouble when facing Whiplash, but he had already been through quite a lot by then. All in all, it was a strong showing, and it made me like him even more. Fisto was immediately a featured player in my MOTU adventures, and remains so to this day. 

The sculpt is very familiar, of course, apart from the new fist and head. The head sculpt captures the essence of the vintage figure quite well, without duplicating it exactly. There are a couple of oddities, however. For some reason, there is no sideburn sculpted on the left side of the head. One is sculpted on the right side, but most of it is left unpainted as if to match the left side. (See the photo below.) It's very odd, and impossible not to see once you've noticed it. It gives the head an unfinished feel, and I can't imagine why they put the figure into production like this. The trademark giant fist is a pretty straightforward duplication of the vintage design, and is molded in a nice metallic silver. 

Fisto has the sparse paint apps we've grown accustomed to with this line, but they're not as neat as usual. Both of my figures have the sideburn oddity mentioned above, as well as a fair bit of slop with the silver paint on his armor and left wrist. The sculpted area of the beard is not fully painted around the mouth, resulting in some fleshy whiskers underneath his nose. The eyes are very neatly done, thankfully. Unlike most of this line, Fisto's colors are largely darker than those of the vintage toy, particularly the purple. 

Fisto has swivel & hinge shoulders, elbows, left wrist, hips, knees, and ankles, a swivel at the right wrist, waist, and boot tops, and a ball-jointed head. The giant fist loses one point of articulation, but I doubt anyone is truly surprised by that. It also lacks the spring-loaded punching feature of the vintage toy, of course. While most of the pieces pop apart at the usual places, Fisto's right fist does not. You can probably remove it without too much trouble if you apply some heat, but I haven't tried it yet. 

Fisto's accessories are his armor, previously seen on Clamp Champ, and his purple sword, previously seen in green with Tri-Klops. The wave five minicomic is also included. That means we only have two pieces of new tooling for this entire figure. It would have been nice to get an Origins version of his massive 2002-style sword, but Mattel has made it clear that they're going the cheapest route possible with the vast majority of these figures. I still feel we're getting an okay value with these retailing for under $20, but with a price hike on the way, Mattel really needs to start giving us a bit more for our money. 

Despite feeling a bit light on accessories-- and honestly, it always seemed weird to me that Fisto had a sword, anyway, as a hammer, mace, or even shield seems more appropriate-- Fisto is a cool character, an essential figure, and a great addition to the Origins line. And for me, at least, the Champ finally has his brother! If you still haven't secured a Fisto of your own, keep a check on BBTS and Amazon, as he's been available several times for retail. (It might also be worth keeping an eye out for a possible running change that addresses the odd sideburns issue, if you're into variants. I have no idea if they're going to do anything about that, but it's a possibility.) That's it for today, but bash your way back here Tuesday for more! Until then, stay safe out there, and happy hunting!