I’ve
got a post going up in a couple of weeks that addresses some of the
problems that modern toys are presenting to collectors. Essentially
the days of high quality at an affordable price are gone and it’s
harder for me to get excited about most of what’s being offered.
As
such, I am looking to the past. Almost every toy line that I have
ever collected has some holes in it. Figures or vehicles that have
eluded me for one reason or another. Sometimes I might have gotten
frustrated with a line and just quit, but liked the toys enough to
hang onto them.
Not
that every 200X toy that will ever be made has been made it’s a
good time to start looking around for deals on the figures that I
never saw. The same goes for many lines of the past. Or yesteryear,
if you will.
The
way that the Snake Men were used in the 200X Masters
cartoon was amazing. Their arrival was treated as a catastrophic
event for both the heroes and the villains. I love
this kind of story. I’m sure it dates back further than I’ll ever
realize, but I remember the first time this sort of third party
invasion happened in a show that I was invested in it blew my mind.
The
General here is actually Rattlor. Or General Rattlor. In the 200X
cartoon he was huge and terrifying and basically in charge of the
Snake Men. He also talked a lot about the Snake Men’s taste for
human flesh.
The
200X cartoon was way, way
different from the Filmation cartoon.
FIRST
GLANCE
Holy
crap, this figure is so much better than the Classics
Rattlor.
It’s stylish and colorful and just looks
like fun.
It
does, however, come with just another version of the lame Snake Men
staff.
PACKAGING
The
look of the line changed when Mattel introduced the Snake Men. I’ll
give Mattel credit for one thing – they sure do know how and when
to freshen up a line’s packaging. And they can make some
eye-catching designs.
All
of the figures from this wave came in Snake-centric packaging, with
scaly, green backgrounds and Snake logos all over the place. It’s a
damn shame we never got to see the Horde in full effect on the show.
I would’ve loved some Evil Horde cardbacks.
The
Masters of the Universe logo remains unchanged from previous releases
and is still a sticker, which I like. Rattlor fills up the blister,
looking quite large even for a line of large figures.
The
cardback is actually pretty ugly. It explains the General’s
features and showcases the other figures from the wave.
LOOKS
Rattlor
is a fantastic, unique sculpt. The head is covered in scales and has
nice, big ridges over the eyes. The protruding fangs are part of the
hinged upper head and look great separately sculpted from the jaw.
The paint is solid, though I would’ve liked black for the slitted
irises. I know I could do that myself, but I’m not going to.
The
inside of the mouth is painted pink and is more detailed than I
expected. Reflecting the gimmick of the vintage figure, Rattlor’s
neck extends. The sculpt is great, but the fact that it’s all
yellow is disappointing. It looks pretty bad extended, like a yellow
Cheet-o.
The
massive upper body creates a great profile, with the oversized
shoulders enhancing the character’s top-heavy look. The sculpted
scales continue down the torso and onto the arms, which have a great
reptilian Popeye look. I love the style and proportions on these 200X
figures. The chest piece is separate and sort of snaps onto natural
ridges on the figure to stay in place. Mine is slightly warped and
off-center, but a hairdryer should fix that. The harness has a
wonderful paint job and tons of textures. It’s actually in the
shape of four snakes holding a larger snake head in their mouths. SO
METAL. The shoulder armor in particular is nice and features some
cracks and damage.
The
stripes running down Rattlor’s arms look great, but I’d be lying
if I said the paint on the gauntlets didn’t bother me. It stops shy
of covering the upper portion and it’s super noticeable. While this
figure is overall great, this is classic Mattel. The sculpt of those
gauntlets is great, though. They match the shoulder plating and have
Batman-like fins on them, which looks cool. Rattlor’s hands are
three-fingered and have yellow talons. Thye look great.
The
scale mail kilt looks awesome. It hangs from a wide belt with the
Snake Men crest on the front and each scale has a distinctive, raised
sculpt.
The
worst thing about this figure is this tail. I can’t even imagine
someone thinking it was okay to not only make it this bronze color,
but to leave it entirely unpainted. I don’t care that it isn’t
articulated or a wire bendy piece. It just looks terrible and mars an
otherwise remarkable figure. This is part of Rattlor’s body, not a
strap-on device. There’s no reason for it to be the same color as
his belt.
The
calves are armored with greaves that match the gauntlets on the
figure’s forearms. Here the paint goes all the way to the top, but
Mattel didn’t paint the talons on Rattlor’s feet yellow! ARGH.
You might be able to notice in this picture that the blue in the
stripes is metallic. It looks great.
ACCESSORIES
Rattlor
comes with a very 2000s version of the vintage Snake Men staff, a
projectile, and a Masters of the Universe vs. The Snake Men sticker.
Yes,
I count the sticker because stickers are neat.
This
Snake Men staff is less of a staff and more of a wand. It’s only
one color, but that color is metallic blue, so that’s not awful.
The projectile looks like Riddler’s cane. It plugs into the
wand/staff nicely and stays put, a novelty for such things these
days. When you press the button behind the serpent’s head it shoots
out a fair distance.
Rattlor
can hold it just fine, but not in any way that suggests this is a
projectile weapon. I’m not sure how he’s supposed to aim, but
once I put the figure on the shelf this thing is going in a drawer
anyway.
FUN
While
that yellow neck is butt-ugly, the extension function and the hinged
jaw are great as far as the figure’s functionality as a toy.
They’re also concealed well enough that the gimmicks don’t ruin
the aesthetics. The neck is activated by pressing a button on the
figure’s back. It clicks into place when not extended and the head
even swivels on the end. Pretty great.
The
articulation is the same as most figures in this line. Since Rattlor
is so big there’s not much he can do, but his arms have a great
range and his wrists do turn. It’s simple, but far better than
vintage MOTU.
That
tail. It sure is an eyesore, but it does have a little shaker in the
end so that the General can rattle. It’s hilariously small and
unimposing, but it’s a neat extra feature that wasn’t necessary.
Those tend to be the kinds I appreciate the most.
Between
General Rattlor’s built-in features and his Snake Wand, this figure
has an above-average play value for the 200X Masters line. Well done,
Mattel.
OVERALL
I’d
love to score General Rattlor higher, but those paint issues are
really bothering me. I suppose I could excuse the neck since you can
– and most likely will – display the figure with that hidden. But
the unpainted talons on the feet are noticeable and that tail is
terrible.
The bizarre thing is that in the cartoon he was overall less
detailed, but his tail is clearly an organic part of him. They could
have at least made it red.
Otherwise
this is a fantastic figure and a worthy addition to your 200X Masters
of the Universe collection. It has tons of personality and aside from
the paint issues is the best Rattlor figure out of all the lines.
4
out of 5
Buy
one from Amazon and help Needless Things pay the bills!:
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