NOTE: Episode 17 of the Needless Things Podcast was supposed to go up today. It's an interview with Adam WarRock and I am super-stoked about it. So of course Podbean shit the bed and isn't allowing me to upload the audio. So here's a review of Strong-Or. Hopefully I will be able to upload the WarRock interview tomorrow.
I am totally surprised at how bummed I am that Mattycollector.com’s Club Filmation has come to an end.
I
obligated myself to this sub-Sub with tons of reservations since it
was for six figures and only two were announced before the cutoff
date. The two shown – Icer
and Shokoti
were awesome, though. So I had hope for the remaining four. And I
have to give Matty a lot of credit because not only were the
remaining four pretty great (except maybe Nepthu),
they were very unique and different characters. They were individuals
that managed to stand out amongst your existing collection rather
than just oddities that you immediately wanted to stick at the back
of the shelf (like the Star Sisters and the Fighting Foe Men). Despite the fact
that most of these characters were fleeting parts of my childhood
that were forgotten long ago, they were interesting enough to be fun
now.
Strong-Or
was a heck of a way to close the sub out. Rather than shit out awful
or unwanted characters like Club Infinite Earths and Club Eternia,
Club Filmation released a bizarre, kickass figure to finish 2013.
Side
Note: I think I might as well go ahead and address Plundor, who I
recognized as the Worst Figure of 2013. After talking things over
with my Needless Things Podcast co-host Mr. Beau Brown, who explained
to me who Plundor was and why he is such a great choice as a figure,
I still hate that stupid piece of shit. I wouldn’t hate the figure
as much if it had been part of Club Filmation because I would have
felt like, “Well, that’s what I get,” but for it to be not only
part of the regular sub but the final figure of the year is just
awful.
I
have opened Plundor’s mailer box several times to try and look at
that pink pile of crap with a different point of view. I even
wondered if I could switch the head out with something else and
create some kind of genuinely weird new character. But I tried that
with an extra Mo-Larr I had and all I could come up with was this:
Blech.
So
the final verdict is that Plundor sucks and I am putting him up on
eBay with his fellow December Disappointment, Batzarro. Later,
suckos.
Strong-Or
is not a sucko. So let’s check him out.
FIRST
GLANCE
This is
one of the rare occasions where I feel like an overwhelmingly orange
color scheme works. Normally I abhor orange unless it is directly
related to a Halloween decoration, but Strong-Or is making it work
for him. With his crazy head.
PACKAGING
I have
at least twelve more months where I am going to have to come up with
new ways to extol the virtues of Matty’s Masters of the Universe
Classics simple yet attractive blister card. So hows about I take
this one off?
“Desiring
to become a super strong menace” is a candidate for the most
headache-inducing phrase of the line. And that’s saying something.
In addition to the minicomics collection I asked for in another
review I’d like to see all of these bios eventually collected and
put in order somehow. Though I’m sure even if Matty doesn’t do it
some insane person on the internet will.
Strong-Or
comes from the episode “She-Demon of Phantos”, which is the best
name of any He-Man
episode ever. I’m going to start calling my wife that. The
character’s actual name is “Strongarm”, but Matty couldn’t
call him that because never in anybody’s wildest dreams would this
loony character get made into a toy so they let the copyright on the
name lapse (if there ever was one) and some other toy line named a
character Strong Arm.
Side
Note: This marks the second time Hasbro has name-blocked Mattel in
the MOTUC line. First was Flipshot, which is a Transformer and now
there is a NERF gun and
a Transformer named Strongarm.
Also, I
am going to start claiming that I hail from Phantos. Until Hasbro
copyrights that, too.
LOOKS
Strong-Or
has a new head, right arm, collar, and trunks as well as new calves.
He has the standard human body and Mo-Larr’s (and others’, most
likely) left glove.
“So
I’ve designed this new character for the He-Man show that has a
cybernetic right arm that extends.”
“That
sounds kind of cool.”
“He
also has a head that looks sort of like a robot bulldog.”
“Okay,
yeah – I can see that. That might make a good toy.”
“It
also has big, blue spikes sticking out of the top. Like a mohawk.”
“Um…
well, kids like that punk rock stuff. Okay.”
“And
he also has ears like Mr. Spock.”
“Stop
smoking crack before work, Terry.”
“It’s
1983, Bill. The government hasn’t invented crack yet.”
“Shit.”
I love
Strong-Or’s crazy-ass head. It does, indeed, look like a robot
bulldog with liberty spikes and Vulcan ears. It’s fantastic.
The sculpt is strong with thick lines and well-defined features. The
spikes – which could have been short or overly blunted – are long
and as sharp as you could expect. His jagged teeth crack me up
because they are sculpted the way that I drew monster teeth when I
was five – just zig-zag lines up and down that result in one tooth
right in the center. And if you’re wondering how I can love this
weirdness while hating Plundor so much; well, me too.
The
paint on the head is actually a bit spotty. Nothing that will stand
out on the shelf, but the ears and spikes aren’t as tight as they
could be. I love the metallic blue of the spikes, though.
Plundor’s
collar is a new piece that is very distinctive and impresses me for
not being painted on. If this were a DC Signature Collection figure I
am positive it would have been. It looks great and adds a lot to the
profile. The flat blue with metallic blue trim (to match the spikes,
of course) is nice. The new trunks and boots match this scheme as
well. The trunks have the regular MOTUC studded belt with what I
would call “Robot Panties” if anybody were to ask me.
The boots
have a nice pointed top and some lines sculpted on to give them some
more character. In the future, everybody will wear ribbed boots.
Strong-Or’s
right arm is badass. It basically looks like Colossus from the
X-Men’s arm. The painted hinges and studs are a nice touch and I
love that it is actually bulkier than his regular arm. The fact that
it goes up to his bicep makes it different than Fisto, too. I do
think they could have sculpted this as an open fist, though. I’d be
okay with that for Strong-Or and Fisto. But it really isn’t that
big of a deal.
The
figure’s left arm has a dishwashing glove on the end. They say he
was injured when a mechanical press folder malfunctioned, but does
anybody even know what a mechanical press folder is?
From the sound of it, if your head was injured by such a thing I
think it would be injured right the heck off, not just maimed to the
point where you could get by with installing a cyborg bulldog face.
We’re talking a recreation of the final scene of The
Fly here, people.
I think
Mr. Beau Brown figured out what really happened (which you will be
able to hear on Episode 18 of the Needless Things Podcast – Masters
of the Universe Classics – 2013 Year in Review). Poor ol’ Dalmus
Fu was a lowly worker in the kitchens of the She-Demon (of Phantos –
keep up). He was scrubbing the blood off of some dishes one day when
a stray bolt of magic flew in the window and blew up all of his
dishes and also his head and right arm.
Because
everybody that inhabits the Universe is insane, the attending
physician decided the best solution was to cut Dalmus’ head off,
put his brain and ears in a punk rock robot dog head, put that
head back on Dalmus’ body, and also attach a giant robot arm. You
know – for punching.
Also,
looking at Strong-Or’s orange ears I realized that he is mostly
naked.
ACCESSORIES
Strong-Or
comes with a blaster and an alternate, extended right forearm.
Beau
informed me that the blaster was actually a shrink ray and I think he
said it wasn’t even from Strongarm’s episode. I think that’s
pretty cool. It’s an early indication that Matty (or the Horsemen,
maybe) are trying to get certain things done before the line ends.
Whatever this device may be, it looks great. I love MOTU items that
have a 50s sci-fi aesthetic, and this is certainly one of them. I’m
sold by the rings on the front, but the big, ovoid body is great as
well. Obviously Strong-Or can’t utilize the double-handled grips,
but this isn’t really for him. He’s a puncher, not a shrinker.
The
longer forearm is just that. It switches out easily and stays put.
Most MOTUC items like this work fairly well. I have to point out that
this is another instance of these figures being tremendously well
balanced.
Even with this oversized arm on Strong-Or can still hold
many poses unassisted.
FUN
I had a
blast with this guy.
He
sports all of the standard MOTUC articulation, plus a giant arm. All
of his joints work well and like I said above, he can hold poses.
All I
really wanted to do was put Strong-Or’s long arm on (I can’t
imagine displaying him with the short one) and punch other figures.
Fortunately, I had a bunch on my desk that hadn’t been put away
yet, so once I was finished with photographs I had a big ol’
punch-a-thon.
Note: No
toys were harmed during the punch-a-thon.
OVERALL
Like all
of the other Club Filmation figures Strong-Or is by no means a
must-have. And I can’t even really say he’s one of those figures
that any collector could appreciate because he’s ugly and weird.
But I’m thrilled to have him and he more than makes up for that sad
sack, Nepthu.
This
figure is almost as good as it could possibly be. The mild paint
stuff on the head is no big deal and the rest of Strong-Or is just
awesome. If you are collecting Classics, I highly recommend him.
Your
best bet for nabbing this guy is probably paying way too much on
eBay. I haven’t looked at any of the Filmation figures, but since
it was a special sub I bet there are a lot of people who wish they
had signed up.
4
out of 5
Something that I thought you may find interesting, this guy is actually selling for cheaper on Evil bay than Plundor. I guess people really like that bizarre guy.
ReplyDeleteThat is bizarre and upsetting. And yet not really because it means I'll get more cash for that stinkin' rabbit! If I ever get around to listing him.
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