While I am certainly not opposed to the
concept of King-He-Man, I wasn’t ecstatic about the idea of getting
one. Then I thought about it and I realized that aside from last
year’s Shadow Weaver, I think that all of the other Sub
Exclusives have been He-Mans. Wun-Dar was first in 2010 (and I still
need him), then Preternia He-Man in 2011 (the first year I had a
sub). Shadow Weaver is a great figure and all, but to be honest I
wasn’t even familiar with the character when they announced her. I
really think they should have stuck with special He-Mans as the Sub
Exclusive. That way it’s never going to be an essential character,
but it will always be something special and a sort of figurehead for
the line. I still think Shadow Weaver should have been a regular
figure and they should have done Oo-Lar or something.
So after thinking about all of that I
realized that King He-Man was a solid choice. I don’t really mind
the characters from different eras. I have a whole shelf of
time-displaced figures and characters that just don’t quite fit
with the “modern” continuity. King He-Man would look spiffy right
in the middle.
Now might be a good time… well, I
guess there will never be a good time… to admit that I don’t pay
a whole lot of attention to the Masters of the Universe Classics
bios. I don’t want to be mean about them because I know how much
effort and love went into writing them. And there are a lot of neat
ideas if you dig through them. But there are certain factors about
those bios that I just can’t get past. So I kind of skim over them
and then throw them out. And I’ll admit right now – if Matty ever
manages to release them as a book or something I’d probably buy it.
I’m curious to see the narrative in chronological order.
My lack of awareness of the bios means
that sometimes I don’t know where a character is coming from. This
was the case with King He-Man. But that’s okay because he looks
neat, and that’s really all I want out of any of these figures.
First Glance: Looks like
Triple H as He-Man. Which is a fine thing to look like.
Articulation: King
He-Man has the standard male MOTUC articulation.
Head – ball joint
Shoulders – ball joint
Biceps – swivel
Elbows –pivot
Wrists – swivel
Waist - swivel
Hips – ball joint
Thighs – swivel
Knees – pivot
Boot tops - swivel
Ankles – pivot
King He-Man’s head does not move a
whole lot aside from swiveling. The up and down motion just isn’t
there. And it isn’t his hair or anything. The joint just doesn’t
have much of a range of motion.
I wish the Horsemen had invested more
time at the beginning of the line in figuring out how to reduce the
profile of the seams on armor. It drives me nuts that so many of
these MOTUC figures cannot put their arms down in a natural position.
My guy’s knees are a little loose.
Not too bad, but looser than any other figure I’ve received in the
past several months. But he can still stand up just fine.
His rocker ankles seem to work a bit
better than recent figures. There’s a bit more side-to-side motion.
Otherwise King He-Man’s joints are
all good. Nothing stuck and nothing extremely loose.
Sculpt: King He-Man has
a new head. That’s it. But the other parts work so well together to
create a pretty cool new look.
The base is obviously just He-Man, but
with He-Ro’s boots. It works.
The new head is awesome. The crown
looks great with the Not Iron Cross on the front. The way it sits on
the hair is good – it looks like it has weight and is pushing down.
The face looks a bit craggier than we’re used to seeing and the
beard is full and long. The scar says a lot about what’s happened
to our hero. With all of the things that He-Man has been through and
come out unscathed, what in the world could have left a scar like
that?
Coloring: The new color
scheme looks great, but I do have to wonder why there’s no orange.
Orange is a big part of Randor’s color scheme and even the original
He-Man’s. It would have made sense. Now, don’t get me wrong –
orange is not the best, most regal color in the world, but within the
Universe that the Masters occupy it kind of is. King He-Man’s
colors are better, but I want to know what happened to the
orange, dammit!
He-Man seems to have regained his tan
in the time between living in Subternia and becoming King. His hair
and beard are definitely lighter, denoting some aging.
The paint apps on my figure are tight.
There's no splotching or errors of any kind.
Flair: The Horsemen used
Randor’s chest armor and added a new cloak and skirt; though I
always hate to call such things skirts.
Using Randor’s armor makes sense to
me.
While the new cloak looks awesome and
even features a sculpted furry hood:
I very strongly feel that it should be
removable.
The new skirt has sculpted, layered
plates, a stylized “H” and overall looks very cool. It is a
pliable plastic so it doesn’t hinder leg movement. I like the
illusion that the blue portion is a belt and the gold is a
continuation of the armor on King He-Man’s abdomen.
Accessories: The King
comes with a battle damaged Techno Power Sword, a repainted version
of Randor’s staff, and a minicomic - "The Secret Origin of Skeletor". Also included but not actually packed in with the figure is a map of Subternia.
The sword looks really cool and beat
up. It reminds me of Mick Foley’s original WWF Hardcore Championship
belt:
(picture from BleacherReport.com)
But I have to wonder – he’s King
He-Man. Couldn’t he have this thing fixed?
I know, I know – it’s just a cool
variation because they wanted to make a different-looking weapon. I
get it.
I am also constantly irritated by the
fact that there is apparently a China on Eternia and that they make
everything there as well:
That drives me FUCKING CRAZY.
Randor’s staff looks great with the
new paint job. Astonishingly, mine was not bent. Much.
It really sucks that they have to fold
these maps up. I can only imagine how much shipping would increase if
they sent them rolled in tubes. Knowing the assholes at Digital River
it’d probably be thirty bucks.
"The Secret Origin of Skeletor" is a new minicomic written by Scott Neitlich. I read it. I will be reviewing all of the minicomics soon. Don't get too excited.
The map itself is my favorite so far.
It’s just awesome.
I love Procrustus in the middle and the
relations between the three towers, Grayskull, and Snake Mountain. I
might actually consider having this mounted (to get rid of the
fucking folds) and framed. It’s awesome.
Packaging: It’s the
regular MOTUC blister card. Still neat and still effective. Here’s
his bio:
I find it interesting that this is
“King He-Man” and not “King Adam”.
Value: With the added
value of the map, King He-Man lands in the Acceptable Value bracket.
He’s a pile of well-managed farmed parts and the map is just
outstanding. I probably would have paid ten bucks for a non-folded
version from a store or Amazon or somewhere.
Overall: I could have
definitely lived without King He-Man and might even put him up on
eBay in my soon-to-be-coming purge. But he is a solid figure and
despite my little nitpicks looks good on the shelf. He just doesn’t
excite me all that much.
4 out of 5
I would imagine King He-Man is going to
cost a pretty penny if you want one. Especially if you want the map
of Subternia. I might sell my King, but that things stays here.
-Phantom
I am also constantly irritated by the fact that there is apparently a China on Eternia and that they make everything there as well...
ReplyDeleteIt´s usa fault that the toys are made in china... Low wages make high profit