Rant Review: Masters of the Universe Origins Stinkor figure

Wave six of Mattel's Masters of the Universe Origins line is popping up across the country, though not in my city, as usual. Thankfully, BBTS has me covered, as the set I had on pre-order with them showed up at my house a couple of days ago. My reviews of that set kick off today with a look at one of the most beloved and infamous figures in all of MOTU, the smelly scoundrel himself, Stinkor! I'll tell you the bad news right off the bat: Stinkor doesn't stink, despite the packages claims to the contrary. Stinkor's package is the only one lacking the little vent at the bottom of the bubble, presumably to prevent the figure's patchouli-infused aroma from escaping, but this was an unnecessary precaution. The figure simply doesn't have his signature smell, and from comments I've seen across the web, none of them do. I'm not sure exactly what went wrong, but it's a shame this figure's key feature is missing. With that unfortunate bit of business out of the way, let's move on...

The sculpt is no surprise for anyone familiar with the character's past plastic incarnations, as he is a recolor of Mer-Man. As ever, the Mer-Man head sculpt is oddly far more appropriate for this furry fiend than for the scaly undersea warlord, though the smooth body and limbs are a bit incongruous. The Classics version of the figure went with the furry body that was originally planned for the figure during the prototype stage, but as Origins nearly always draws inspiration from the vintage toys, the route the designers took here is no surprise. The sculpt works as well for the character as it did in the vintage line's days, and fans of the character will not be disappointed. 

Stinkor traditionally has some of the trickier paint apps in the MOTU range, as the white and red on top of black is notoriously difficult for toy manufacturers to get right. Mattel has applied thick enough coats of white and red to avoid the black bleeding through for the most part, though bleed through is evident in some areas. The right arm on my figure has coats of white paint of varying thickness, and the bleed through is at its worst here. The cut lines are nice and crisp, though the red of the gloves doesn't exactly line up with the sculpted points of the gloves. This detail doesn't really bother me, but your mileage may vary. There's a major color mismatch between the painted red gloves on the forearms and the molded red hands, and that's a much bigger issue. The mismatch looks awful, and once noticed, you can't un-see it. The figure's head has more issues. Mine has a random bit of white paint on one lip, but this is thankfully hidden by the armor in most poses. The eyes are fairly sloppy, with wavy, unclear lines around the rims. The ribbed area around the eyes has not been painted fully, with only a thin white strip around the outer perimeter. This doesn't look inherently bad, but if you're familiar with how Stinkor figures normally look, including the vintage figure from which this one draws its inspiration, it's something you're bound to notice. I was particularly annoyed to see that the white stripe down his back only goes down to the top of the figure's armor! Every prior Stinkor figure has had a white stripe that went most of the way down the figure's back, and this is a distinctive feature of the character and skunks in general. This move reeks of cheapness even beyond Mattel's general M.O. of cost-cutting. None of these paint issues ruin the figure, but they do compromise its look significantly. 

Stinkor sports the articulation model we've become accustomed to with this line, with swivel & hinge shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees, and ankles, swivels at the waist and calves, and a ball-jointed head. As ever, this is a very good articulation model that is lots of fun to play around with, and the parts pop apart at the usual spots for easy swapping, though I recommend heating the elbows, hips, knees, and ankles before popping them apart. Stinkor has his standard pair of accessories, his armor and shield. Both of these parts are traditionally reused, but we're seeing them for the first time in the Origins line. Stinkor's armor is a "pre-use" of Mekaneck's, and his shield is a blue version of the Castle Grayskull weapons rack shield. It was MIA in this line's version of Grayskull, however. It would have been nice to have the tanks that were added to the character's design in the 2002 days as an option here, but let's face it, that was never going to happen in this line. Armor and a shield aren't hugely impressive accessories, but at least both are new to the line, and Stinkor's main weapon is his stench, so he doesn't really have much need for a physical weapon, anyway. This wave's minicomic is also included, and while it's a nice bonus, it seems more than ever that these are simply dashed off  quickly, with little care. Still, I do love the fact that they're included, and I'm sure any kids who may get any of these figures will enjoy them more than the average adult collector! 

It may seem from this review that I dislike this figure, but that's really not the case. I actually like it quite a bit, it's just a shame that Mattel's cost-cutting has unnecessarily compromised its look. I'm not sure what happened with the figure's signature smell, as we were assured that it would be present, and the package even insists that the figure stinks. There may have been a mistake during the production run, or maybe the scent was applied and it simply wore off by the time it reached our shores. Whatever the case, it really sucks that the figure's main feature is simply not present. Stinkor is popular enough that the figure is sure to be a strong seller regardless, and I'm happy to have him in the Origins line. I just wish he wasn't a shadow of what he could, and should, have been. With a price increase incoming, Mattel really needs to be stepping up their game to justify the higher price, rather than doubling down on the cost-cutting. That's it for today, but swing back by next Friday for the next Origins review! Until then, stay safe out there, and happy hunting!