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Packaging - ***1/2
Since I bought this off ebay, and I found better deals (free shipping)
if I went with a loose version rather than a carded one. So I'm only
guessing here on the package, but I'm betting it's pretty much the same
as the previous releases, and I liked those quite a bit. My only past
issue has been with the ability to see the figure clearly in the
bubble, but Poe
says that's improved, and I trust him.
Sculpt - ***1/2
Since I babbled on about Mattel's e-commerce problems in my intro, I
didn't get to say much about old Man-At-Arms. One of the good guys,
Man-At-Arms was adviser to Prince Adam and a military man. The term
'man-at-arms' goes back to medieval times, and meant a professional
soldier, and Mattel absconded the term for his moniker.
MAA
wears sculpted armor, and while it is removable, I'm not counting it as
an 'accessory', but part of his main sculpt. The armor looks terrific,
covering his torso and neck, left shoulder, bicep and forearm, and left
knee and shin. The armor has a fairly complex sculpt for this series,
where the animated style tends to imply a simpler look. The
sculpt is a little soft in some places, with some of the details of the
torso armor lacking the kind of sharp edges you'd see in some other
lines, but it's a minor nit.
As I said, the armor is
removable,
and my biggest issue was keeping the covering for the left forearm,
elbow and wrist in place. It tends to slide down the arm, and pushing
it up too far tended to pop the little snap that holds it together wide
open. I found it mighty frustrating, but I may just have gotten one
that's too stretched out to fit perfectly. I do like how the upper
section of the sculpted forearm piece fits over the lower part of the
bicep armor, so that when the elbow is full extended, the lower armor
can pass over the upper armor.
The design of the armor is sort
of a cross between actual military gear and a space suit, making it a
very unique look.
There
are two head sculpts included with this figure, mirroring the two looks
of the original character. He comes wearing a clean shaven face, much
like the original MOTU action figure. The helmet looks a little too
squat to me, but that's only an issue if you're expecting these to
match some previous incarnation exactly. Instead, they are looking to
emote the originals, not reproduce them, and I think the helmet and
head sculpt do that extremely well.
The second head comes wearing
the funky 70's 'stache that the character had on the filmation cartoon.
They were going for an older, wiser look, and guess they figured making
him look like Ron Jeremy was the way to go. Both head sculpts have nice
detailing, and show off the skills of the Four Horsemen quite well.
He
stands about 7" tall, like the rest of the series, which isn't
surprising since the body parts are re-used quite liberally throughout
the series.
Paint - ***
I've heard that some folks had serious issues with their MAA figures,
but I was spared most of that.
There is a bit more slop here
than you'd like to see, especially
around the blue belt and dark fur loincloth. While there's lots of
smaller sculpted details, the paint ops that highlight them are often
sloppy or thickly applied, reducing the appearance of the excellent
sculpt.
Articulation - ***1/2
If you've been buying these figures, then you know the drill. Ball
jointed shoulders and hips, pin joints for knees, chest and elbows,
ball jointed neck, cut joints at the waist, calves, biceps and wrists,
and a combo joint at the ankles that allows for forward and backward
movement, as well as slightly side to side movement.
The
ball jointed neck works much better than I expected, with little
restriction from the armor. Of course, the armor does hide the face in
some poses, but that doesn't mean the head can't tilt forward, back and
side to side.
The rocker style joints in the
ankles are nice for
putting the feet flat on the ground in extreme stances, but I found
that all the joints in the legs - hips, knees, and ankles - were a bit
loose.
Accessories - ****
I love when they give us a ton of extras, and Man-At-Arms does even
better than Hordak in this respect.
I
already mentioned the extra head, which is a huge plus, but there's
also four additional weapons! There's a small sword, his traditional
club (which is actually designed based on the artwork for the vintage
figure), and a pistol. These all fit in the back pack of his armor for
easy carrying.
Finally, he comes with a large,
ornate sword based
on the 2002 version. This Power Sword looks excellent, with a great
sculpt and better paint work than usual, making it a nice add to the
display. Give it to He-man and he'll be happy.
Fun Factor - ****
These are great toys for kids, especially if you've gotten them
indoctrinated with the old cartoons.
Value - **
Yep, he's a cool figure, but I'm still saying he's not quite $20 cool.
As prices on other figures continue to rise, my tune may change.
Things To Watch Out For
-
If you're stuck buying this off ebay, you might ask the seller for an
actual photo of the one you'll be getting. The paint ops seem to be
highly variable, and you wouldn't want to get stuck with one of the bad
ones.
Overall - ***1/2
Mattel has managed to do an excellent job
with the actual figures in this series, and I'm really looking forward
to the future releases. MAA is one of the key characters in
the
world of MOTU, and they managed to do him up right.
If you're
going to get into this line, I really do recommend looking at the club
membership. If you're going to buy them anyway, you might as well do it
with the least effort and trouble.
Score Recap:
Packaging - ***1/2
Sculpting - ***1/2
Paint - ***
Articulation - ***1/2
Accessories - ****
Fun Factor - ****
Value - **
Overall - ***1/2
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