“After a
lifetime of searching, the Sun Scarab is mine. And with it I, Nepthu,
can rule Eternia! No - the whole universe!”
I
don’t dislike Nepthu like I do Karatti, but I also didn’t really
feel all that inclined to give him a full review. He’s basically a
guy in a towel and a dick hat. But before I even really had time to
think about reviewing this precursor to Mumm-Ra the Ever Living, Mr.
Beau Brown sent me his review, unsolicited.
I
was ecstatic.
So
this won’t be a standard review, just a collection of thoughts from
me and Beau about yet another weirdo from Filmation.
Oh,
and I either haven’t seen or don’t remember this episode and
He-Man
and the Masters of the Universe
is no longer available on Netflix. And I just couldn’t see shelling
out for that box set because as much as I love the characters of
MOTU, the 80s cartoon is… not always awesome. So that’s why I
took a bunch of pictures that make it appear that Nepthu and this
bird are pals. I thought it was some kind of magical minion.
Nepthu is the
Club FILMATION item for October. He is basically an Egyptian Count
Marzo. He is a Wicked Sun Sorcerer, who has a crazy magic
amulet-thingy which gives him your general evil Sorcerer package.
Flying, Energy Blasts, Forcefields, TK, Mind Powers - all that good
stuff. However if he loses the amulet he is a weak old man just like
200X Count Marzo.
Although on
second thought and some research into my handy copy of “The
unofficial cartoon guide to He-Man and the Masters of the Universe”
by James Eatock, we find that Filmation Count Marzo was in 3 classic
episodes and in none of them is he portrayed as he is in the 200X
series. He did some evil magician stuff, tried to get some kids
hooked on drugs and had a flower garden on Trolla, but nothing about
the amulet. So in actuality the 200X series took Nepthu's story and
gave it to Count Marzo.
We find in his
bio that he was a servant of Marzo. So they steal this guy's origin,
give it to Marzo and then make him Marzo's bitch. That's cold
Nietlich, cold. He vows revenge when Count Marzo's powers are taken
away and wanders around in the desert until he finds a magic scarab
which gives him his powers. I reckon he and Marzo had a little more
going on and when he was reduced to a feeble old man and Nepthu
couldn't snuggle into his oiled up Eternian pecs anymore he vowed
revenge to return his lover to his former studly evil sorcerer glory.
I bet Marzo was just using him... ‘cause he is evil. The Count
Marzo from FILMATION had a servant named Chimera.
Anyhoo, Classics
Nepthu has a boner for 200X Marzo and copies the origin story from
200X Marzo that FILMATION Marzo stole from FILMATION Nepthu in first
place... follow me? Good. Then he is given his powers back by King
Hssss (somehow) and serves him in the Second Ultimate Battleground.
No word on whether or not he survived it. King Hssss might very well
have eaten him. Because the Snake Men are cannibal Nazi snake people
and dicks.
So that's
Nepthu's story. He was with Marzo so you could put him on your Great
Unrest shelf with Marzo if you want, or put him with King Hssss, or
your FILMATION shelf if you do that. He might look good next to Marzo
both of them brandishing their magic items.
As for his
sculpt, the first thing is his face. He just does not look evil. Just
taking a look at his Bio pic he looks WAY more evil in FILMATION. He
needs that Egyptian eye liner thing going on and the crazy power mad
sorcerer eyes. I imagine we will see a custom head online very soon.
I think that would have made a huge improvement to a character
without a whole lot going on.
I
totally agree. Nepthu’s facial expression is not that of a power
mad sorcerer – it’s that of a big lug that likes puppies. He’s
almost pre-laugh, and it’s not a “I am about to destroy your bird
friend and bring ruin to your world” laugh; it’s a “Boy, that
Man-E-Faces sure does tell funny jokes” laugh.
Actually,
until I read the bio on the card I thought Nepthu was a good guy.
I
think I’m going to try and use one of the extra-fine Sharpies to
apply some guyliner. It might make him slightly more sinister, or at
least a bit douchier. If that doesn’t work I’ll add some
thick-rimmed glasses.
Nepthu is the
kind of figure that pays for other figures. He is mostly reused
parts. Which I am fine with - it is a fact of the existence of the
line. Without the Nepthus we wouldn't get Mantennas, Ram Mans, or
Moduloks. He has Bow's boots, a new loincloth, new arm bands, new
collar, and head. He has Marzo's spell casting hand which can hold
his Sun Scarab. The collar is cool - it might look good one someone
else too.
I
feel it is important to note that those aren’t just new armbands,
they’re new biceps. I’m not sure why Matty went to the trouble of
sculpting all-new ones rather than just making little slide-on
accessories like the Horde armbands, but they did. And they look
good.
His head looks
like a dick.
Yes,
yes it does.
He also comes
with a Crystal Zoar from his cartoon appearance. It looks cool. I
like that you can get him in a position where it looks like he is
taunting He-Man with shattering her.
I
think this bird looks great aside from the apparent and hideous
“China” stamped under its left wing. I wonder if I could scrape
that off.
Like I said above, I thought this was
Nepthu’s spirit friend or something. I had no idea it was actually
Zoar. This is another side-effect of Matty’s lazy refusal to
identify the accessories that come with the MOTUC figures. And my
lazy refusal to look shit up on the internet.
I
suppose this means we’ll be seeing a translucent bird stand in a
future Weapons Pack. Although didn’t they say no more Weapons
Packs? If so, how are they doing Lookee?
Nepthu
also comes with an ankh that Beau is calling a “Sun Scarab”.
Maybe the Eternian word for “ankh” is “scarab”. I dunno. The
thing is made of rubber and is all malformed right out of the
package. Once you straighten it out it looks pretty good and has a
decent little paint job. But it still isn’t a scarab.
So Nepthu is
just alright. He makes a cool character to add to Marzo since he is
mostly a loner. I am all about new crazy sorcerers. However, his lack
of new and interesting parts and accessories that could be useful for
someone other than him makes him lose points. His biggest problem is
his face sculpt. The 4 Horsemen missed it on this one, which is not
something they normally do. Especially on face sculpts.
(2 out 5)
Nepthu
is okay, but he isn’t weird enough for me to really like in the way
that I have the other Filmation releases. The face is the biggest
strike against this one. If he had some kind of maniacal expression
it might just be enough to tip this figure into the “Really Like”
category. As he is, Nepthu is potential eBay fodder once I need the
shelf space or some money. Which will basically be when Grayskull
arrives.
3
out of 5
Until next time!
Good Journey!
-Beau
What
he said,
-Phantom
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