As
I’ve mentioned before, the 2002 He-Man
and the Masters of the Universe
cartoon is my preferred MOTU canon. I won’t disparage the original
Filmation cartoon, but the deeper characters and ongoing narrative of
the more recent cartoon captured me in a way that the original never
did. It was what made truly dig the franchise and gave me that “I
must
own these toys” feeling that all toy collectors know so well.
The
2002 cartoon was better, but only by so much.
Callix
is the first offering from Mattycollector.com’s Club 200X
subscription. Matty offered figures of six characters of varying
significance from the 2002 cartoon and they all looked great.
To be honest, as much as I like the Mike Post Productions update, I
didn’t recognize all of them at first, but I did like them. I
didn’t particularly want to add another six figures to my bill for
2015, but I knew I’d end up kicking myself if I didn’t get them.
FIRST
GLANCE
I
liked his looks when pictures first showed up, but in person I love
this guy. His proportions are so different and cool, and yet he
totally fits within the MOTUC aesthetic. The sculpt on the rocky
portions is just outstanding.
PACKAGING
The
MOTUC blister card never disappoints.
There’s
nothing special in Callix’s bio, but also nothing absurd. I wonder
if the “ability to crumble into pebbles and rebuild himself”
thing is a retcon for him surviving Hordak’s blast.
LOOKS
Callix
uses the same basic buck as all male Masters of the Universe Classics
figures, but thanks to his numerous unique parts he seems quite a bit
bulkier than the average figure. And yes – obviously it would have
been super if that buck had been rock like the added parts, but
that’s simply not something that is going to happen in a Masters of
the Universe line. I’m also not going to point out that the shapes
of the figure’s new parts leave it looking somewhat poodle-like.
Because then you wouldn’t be able to unsee it.
His
head is fantastic. It looks like Doomsday and Darkseid had an evil
rock baby. The massive jaw and brow set the tone for a very different
figure. It’s a great adaptation of the slightly exaggerated
aesthetics of the 2002 line. His coal black eyes sit deep in his face
and are painted with a glossy black. The sculpt of the rest of the
head is jagged and uneven – it has a very natural rocklike
appearance, as do the rest of the craggy portions of the figure.
The
upper torso is covered by a separate piece that looks great but
amazingly doesn’t restrict movement or add unnecessary bulk to
Callix’s torso. The rock sculpt is all asymmetrical and the Horde
crest on the front looks wonderful. I like the pale colors used for
this and the “belt buckle”. It creates a much nicer look for the
figure than if Matty had just gone with the standard red. And
obviously it’s better than a straight adaptation of the cartoon
version, where those parts were the same color as the rest of Callix.
The
lower torso piece is ingenuous. The front mimics the standard MOTU
loincloth, but the back is shaped in such a way that it minimizes the
visibility of the smoother buck – it rides quite high and leaves a
negligible gap between it and the upper torso piece.
The
forearms and hands are equally great. Thanks to smart sculpting
around the elbow, Callix retains a standard degree of bending. His
hands are massive and yet still retain a nicely humanoid appearance –
they haven’t turned into mitts or talons.
Callix’s
big, stompy feet are my favorite part. They give the figure so much
added presence but aren’t overly bulky. He can stand normally and
they don’t look awkward or oddly placed. The feet have just enough
definition to look like feet, but not so much detail that he looks
like a cartoon. As much as I like the well-defined fingers on the
hands, toes would have been a mistake.
Callix
has a very simple paint job that accomplishes a lot. All of his parts
share the same grey base tone, but there’s a textured wash over all
of the rocky parts that really sell the sculpt. His face is slightly
darker than the rest of him to bring attention to it, and the Horde
crest and “belt buckle” have the same paint effects, but in
different colors. This results in a wonderfully uniform look while
still adding a bit of color to break up the grey.
ACCESSORIES
Callix
comes with an ax/crossbow and a shield.
The
ax/crossbow is rubber, which sucks, and also means that the handle on
mine is bent. I will never consider rubber accessories to be
acceptable. Unless it’s a whip or something. But for an ax or
crossbow? No.
Otherwise
this thing looks awesome. I’m amazed at how good it looks in either
mode. It has the same great paint job as the figure itself and is a
brilliant piece of design work by Matty.
The
shield is a bit on the small side, but looks good. It’s simple, but
just by virtue of the excellent rock sculpt and paint job it becomes
one of the more interesting shields in the line.
Callix
can hold both accessories with no problem.
FUN
Callix
has the same articulation as almost every other male MOTUC figure, so
I’m not going to waste time there.
The
figure’s head is the only part that has any sort of restricted
movement, and that’s just a bit. It mostly moves well. The shoulder
pads of the upper torso armor are rubber (okay in this instance), so
the arms can move fairly freely. Thanks to the design of that armor,
his abdominal joint is free to move, as well.
These
figures are all designed well for the most part. They aren’t going
to be able to recreate your more advanced wrestling moves, but they
can achieve about as many poses as you might want them to. We all
know the drill here by now.
I
suppose it’s also worth noting that my figure had no stuck joints
or overly loose ones. For the most part, those days seem to be a
thing of the past.
OVERALL
I
don’t see how Callix could have been any better. I’m utterly
happy with this guy and feel like even though he is a very strong
start to Club 200X, there is much better on the way.
This
isn’t one of those revolutionary figures that I would recommend to
everyone, but it is a very good figure of a rock guy. If you’re
collecting MOTUC but were unsure about Club 200X, you should
definitely check Callix out.
5
out of 5
Buy
one from Amazon and help Needless Things pay the bills!:
Nice review of Callix, man. I totally see the Doomsday and Darkseid resemblance. Good eye catching that!
ReplyDeleteI keep meaning to take a picture of him with Darkseid, Stonedarr, and Rokkon. I don't own a Doomsday. Never saw the appeal.
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