Okay, I’ve got
to take a minute and be fair here.
I talk an awful
lot of shit about Mattel, mostly because of all the stupid and easily
avoidable problems they have created and failed to do anything about
with MattyCollector.com. and the products it offers. But I recently
had an experience with my Matty subscriptions that could have gone
very badly and didn’t.
I called Matty’s
Customer Service number the day after I received my stuff and told
them the problem. The lady said that the additional shipping would be
refunded and that the combined shipping issue would be sent to the
Escalations Department. That’s all she really told me and I didn’t
have a very good feeling about the whole thing. It just seemed too
simple and most of what I’ve read online has suggested that
interactions with Matty’s CS department is anything but.
But within a few
days I received an e-mail stating that about ten bucks had been
refunded to my credit card. I checked my account and, sure enough, it
had. The e-mail also said that the Escalations Department handled the
future combined shipping. Sure enough, Spikor, Starman, and that
piece of shit Rocket Red figure all arrived on the same day in the
same box.
So I had a great
experience with Matty’s Customer Service Department and I have
nothing but positive things to say about them. So there you go.
Lots of people were really excited that
Matty was finally getting around to making Spikor back when he was
first announced. I think he was even one of those that had his own
topic that stayed relatively close to the top of the MOTUC forum on
MattyCollector. One of those where people would speculate on which
parts would be used and how certain things would be done.
I didn’t know who the heck Spikor
was.
As I’ve said before, my recall of the
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe cartoon and corresponding toy
line isn’t great. I had a few of the toys and definitely watched
the cartoon religiously, but it wasn’t one of my favorites. I
honestly think the articulation bugged me.
Once I saw pictures of Spikor I was all
in (not that I had a choice). He looks crazy and weird; just like I
like my MOTUC characters. Also there’s purple spikes. And a
trident. Total win. This is one of those figures that just baffles me
when held in comparison with stinkers like Clawful and Snout Spout
(but not, oddly enough, Stinkor). Spikor had so much potential to be
goofy or stupid or ugly. He’s none of those. He looks interesting
and vicious. What looked like a dog’s chew toy in the vintage line
now looks like a dangerous creature.
First Glance: Until I saw
Spikor in person I kind of thought that his arms and legs should be
spiky, too. But looking at him in person I see how the look works
this way. For some reason I really like that he has regular furry
boots rather than villain feet.
Sculpt: It’s not just
Spikor’s boots that deviate from the villain norm. His whole body –
torso, legs, arms – is the regular He-Man buck.
Like all MOTUC figures Spikor has ball
joints at the neck, shoulders, and hips. There are swivels at the
biceps, wrists, waist, thighs, and boot tops. He has single pivots at
the elbows, abdomen, and knees. Finally, Spikor has rocker ankles
with the enclosed joint.
All of the joints on mine function
nicely and the guy can hold a pose. The head and abdomen are a little
restricted by the chest armor, but not too much. I find the resulting
range of motion perfectly acceptable, though I will say you’re
going to end up with some punctures after playing with this guy for a
bit.
The new, unique head looks great. I
like his ugly, dumpy face nestled in the midst of all those spikes.
I’m going to count the chest armor as part of the sculpt because
it’s one of those things that you can take off but don’t really
ever need to. It looks awesome and the Horsemen managed to make the
spikes just long enough and just sharp enough to look really good. I
also like the neck collar that runs down the back. It breaks up the
design nicely and adds a bit more character.
Spikor has the tiny, creepy human hands
that the hero figures tend to have, but with one crucial difference –
his left hand can be removed and replaced with various trident
pieces. It pops off easily – but not too easily – and you can
attach either a red cuff thing with one of two tridents on the far
end or just one of the tridents. I prefer it with the cuff, but just
one of the tridents looks pretty brutal – like he just jammed it in
there after he got his hand cut off. And there’s no doubt he got
his hand cut off. Probably trying to open the door to Grayskull or
steal a baby or something. Spikor is one of Skeletor’s goons, after
all.
Design: Spikor has some
great, dark colors. His body is a purple with some nice washes for
detail. The spiky parts are a very dark blue that contrasts nicely
with the metallic green of the collar/spine thing. I kind of wish his
belt had matched that metallic green. The red breaks things up, but
is maybe a bit too much. And I’d kind of like it if they had
created the illusion that his belt and the collar were all one piece
with the spine stud thing.
I do like that his torso is the same
dark blue as his chest armor. In general I prefer that so it doesn’t
look like my warriors are wearing belly shirts. I want them to look
fierce, not fierce.
The boots are definitely more villainy
than the furry boots you’re used to. Even more so than Tri-Klops’.
Spikor’s wrist bracers are also a fiendish shade.
His face is pretty simple, as the
sculpt does most of the work here, but it does look good and mine is
straight and well-placed. I’ve read about some folks’ Spikors
having a bit of derpage. Mine doesn’t. I like the yellow, slitted
eyes very much. It makes the guy that much creepier. I mean, just
imagine running into this guy. Not literally – obviously that would
suck. I just mean catching sight of him out in public. It wouldn’t
even have to be a dark alley or anything. You’d freak out.
Accessories: Spikor
comes with a spiked club, the two trident attachments, and the red
cuff.
The spiked club looks pretty awesome,
but I’m not sure about the orange. I know that matches the vintage
figure, but I think a metallic black or maybe even green would have
been cooler.
The tridents are a little weird with
the balls on the ends of the tines, but they look pretty neat. I
think it’s funny how the extended one has ridges in the shaft like
a functioning version would.
The red cuff is a little weird, but only
because it’s red. Like the club, I think I would have preferred
this be metallic black or green. But maybe my version of Spikor
wouldn’t be as exciting to look at.
Packaging: The standard
MOTUC blister card. I still love it and am glad Matty never saw fit
to change it in any way. I love the bulk of the package and the way
these figures fill it up. The new bios are mostly pretty great too:
“Spikor” may seem a little on the
nose, even for Masters of the Universe, but I think we should all
thank our lucky stars his name isn’t “Dorkupine” or
“Porkuspine” or “Pointdexter”.
Overall: This guy is a
lot of fun. For what is essentially the standard human sculpt with
three new pieces, Spikor looks awfully busy and interesting. I think
he’s a great addition to the collection and I’m pleased Matty got
to him before things ended.
4
out of 5
Maybe he should be a “5” since the
color choices are accurate to the vintage version, but they just bug
me. I feel like he’d be perfect with just a couple of more subdued
parts.
You can buy Spikor from BigBad or hit
up eBay. I’m guessing he might be one of the pricier eBay buys
since he’s actually a pretty awesome and different figure. Or maybe
I’m wrong and other folks hate him.
-Phantom
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