There
was a time when I was pretty sure we would be getting Tuvar and Badra
as individual figures in the Masters of the Universe Classics line.
With the line almost undoubtedly in its final two years I don’t see
that happening. Maybe
as Con Exclusives, but probably not.
I
honestly can’t even remember Two-Bad from the original He-Man
cartoon, though it’s probably safe to say Tuvar’s voice was
sibilant and Badra’s voice was gruff and they both sounded mildly
retarded. I do remember the vintage figure and how it’s action
feature was being able to punch itself in its heads. That was pretty
awesome.
I don’t
think He-Man and the Masters
of the Universe did an
actual origin story for Two-Bad, but the 2002 cartoon did and it was
horrifying. Tuvar and Badra were bounty hunters that pissed Skeletor
off, so he did the only rational thing he could have – he fused
them together. That scene horrifies me. I think about some of the
people that mildly irritate me – let alone one that I hated so much
I would come to blows with – and the thought of being permanently
conjoined with them is enough to make me want to curl up in a ball
and whimper.
Despite
that, this is a nifty design for an action figure and I was delighted
to see it arrive.
FIRST
GLANCE
WOW. If
this is any indication of what the rest of the waning line is going
to be, then I am excited beyond words. Two-Bad looks fantastic and
has a ton
of new sculpting. And that upper torso is huge. No scrimping here.
PACKAGING
I don’t
know that I have ever discussed the mailer boxes before, but I am
going to now. Up until 2014 the mailer boxes have all been white, so
I was surprised when I opened the outer carton and found this inside:
I
haven’t checked the Matty forums, but I have to think that there
are some people that are enraged by this. While I don’t care one
little bit about what the mailer box looks like or what it’s made
of (as long as it isn’t poo or bees or something), I do think this
looks neat. I don’t know why. I’m sure it’s some
environmentally motivated thing that gets Mattel a tax break.
Since I
managed to use some words talking about the mailer, I don’t feel
obligated to once again discuss the excellent MOTUC blister card.
Nothing
new in this bio, except maybe for the fact that Skeletor’s spell is
“unrepeatable”. What, exactly, does that mean? Once uttered it
can’t be used again? Or nobody else is capable of casting this
particular spell? Or that it’s just super hard to pronounce?
Unfortunately I think there’s a possibility that this was supposed
to be an “unbreakable” spell and somebody got confused. That
would make a lot more sense because I am sure that most people –
like me – are wondering why Two-Bad doesn’t just go and find
himself a sorcerer to split him back into Tuvar and Badra.
LOOKS
The
Horsemen were clever here, as they did manage to re-use a human
bicep, lower abdomen, thigh, and upper lower leg. But there’s still
plenty of brand new on Two-Bad – heads, torso, right forearm and
hand, entire left arm, entire left leg, and right boot, including the
foot! Mattel will do new boots all day long, but they seem to hate
making new feet.
Tuvar’s
head is the more repellant of the two to me. He kind of looks like
Webstor, but that might be racist of me to say. But how many folks
are running around Eternia with red eyes, fangs, and blue skin? The
detail on the head is good and for some reason his tiny little fangs
seem more sinister than great, big ones. His face is all wrinkled up
like he’s disgusted, which he should be because I bet Badra smells
terrible.
While
Tuvar comes off as a bit bland, Badra is awesome and is the reason
why I want separate Tuvar and Badra figures. He has horns for ears,
which must suck but looks really cool. His fangs are slightly larger
than Tuvar’s and he has a croissant for an eyebrow. The face has a
ton of character and the scaling on the body carries up onto the
head.
Both
heads have solid paint jobs, though I can’t figure out what’s
going on with Tuvar’s eyes. They’re a little muddy, but I suppose
it’s intentional. Otherwise the paint is plied well and covers what
it is supposed to and nothing else. There’s no blotching or
anything.
Two-Bad’s
torso is wonderful. Size-wise it definitely has the look of two MOTU
beings that have been fused together. The blue and purple blend into
each other at the joining point rather than just being a solid line.
This looks great and is one of those little touches that makes MOTUC
feel as modern and updated as ti should be. I’d like the chest
armor a little more if it were two different colors, but the vintage
figure’s was all orange as well, so I can’t complain. It does
feature two different designs and they are nicely distinctive despite
the matching paint.
Tuvar’s
matching glove and boot are pretty wicked looking, with studs all
over them and some armor plate detail. They’re just plain silver,
but I kind of like that. Badra’s corresponding parts are much more
detailed and intricate. I love the vicious-looking fins on his
forearm. I do think some of the details on this side could have used
some paint – the studs and parts on the knuckles and shin that
actually look like armor – but the sculpt is tremendous.
ACCESSORIES
Two-Bad
comes with a double-headed mace and a shield.
The
shield has a neat sculpt. It’s got Tuvar’s round studs on the
left and Badra’s square studs on the right. Obviously it should
have metallic orange paint on the trim and studs like the chest armor
does, but Matty cut corners.
I do
like the way it fits over Badra’s gauntlet:
It
slides on easily and there’s no doubt as to how it is meant to sit.
The mace
matches the motif. It has one rounded head and one square one. It has
paint on the grip and looks fine aside from the “China” stamped
on it. It fits into Tuvar’s hand perfectly.
FUN
Two-Bad
has twice the head articulation of any other Masters of the Universe
Classics figure!
Haha.
That’s my little joke.
He has
the same general articulation as the rest of the line, but with the
extra head. All of the joints on my figure were tight and functional.
His large upper body didn’t give me any problems posing thanks to
the generally excellent balance of the figures in this line.
I messed
around with this gut for a while. I couldn’t get quite as many
poses out of the arms as I would have liked, but that’s just how
this line is. I’m not a huge fan of the weapon, either. I’m not
complaining because this is what the vintage figure came with and
that’s how this line rolls, but I’ve just never liked the look of
this thing. It makes sense for the character and in the grand scheme
of the silly Universe, but I’d prefer if each side just had its own
weapon. Which I could make happen except for the fact that Badra’s
hand is a closed fist.
Dammit.
I guess
there’s a reason he comes with that shield.
Wait –
what, exactly, is going on under that shield?
HOLY
POTATOES!
I guess
these two get along better than we were led to believe.
Side
Note: I couldn’t quite make it look like the heads were kissing,
which disappoints me but was probably a wise move on the part of
Mattel. I could, however, poke Tuvar in the eye with Badra’s horn:
So
there’s that.
OVERALL
Every
problem I have with this figure is a result of the Horsemen and the
design team doing what they are supposed to do; which is to update
the vintage figures. Two-Bad is an almost perfect update of the
vintage figure and one of the best Matty has sold us. I am
disappointed at the lack of paint on the shield, but not at all
surprised.
Overall
this figure looks fantastic and is a welcome addition to my Evil
People of Eternia shelf. I’m not sure that I can do the thing where
I recommend Two-Bad to any
toy collector. He is a great example of a difficult concept being
realized, but I’m not sure he transcends the line. If you’re a
MOTUC fan or collector Two-Bad is absolutely a must.
As
always, check BigBad or eBay if you’ve got plenty of dollars.
Otherwise wait to find this guy at a local con.
4
out of 5
Yes, he
lost a whole point because of the shield. As was the case with
Stinkor,
I feel like the whole figure suffers because the accessory looks
cheap. I would love to have scored him higher, but I only do whole
points and a what I feel is such an obviously missing paint app means
I can’t give a perfect score.
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