But lets start with the strange. Snout Spout was a fireman with a mechanical elephant head. His feature was that you filled up his backpack and he shot water out of his snout! I have no idea if he was supposed to be wearing a helmet, or if this is really his head, or even if he's supposed to be human or a real elephant man. For the MotUC bio, at least, he was originally just a human who was transformed by Hordak (I believe that particular story was obtained from a comic in a magazine). I'm not sure how I want to use him personally, but I'll figure something out.
As for the toy itself: He's fun! Not as fun as something that shoots water, but it's cool. I agree with the removal of that feature, but I'm not big on the new snout - it's the old fashioned bendy wire in a soft plastic. Most bendy items are in a rubbery plastic, but this one is in a much softer type...like foam, almost. I didn't think it was that great of an idea, and when I got it in hand I knew I wouldn't want to bend it too much. Sadly, a few folks have gotten big cracks in the foam, so it makes me even more nervous to move it.
Beyond that, I do like the figure! All his articulation works well (the "shorts" are very rubbery and don't get in the way of the legs at all) and his accessories are cool enough. He comes with a fireman's axe and a pair of Jaws of Life for his fireman-like duties.
The only pics I took were some mixes:
I'm not keeping him this way, but I wanted to see what he would look like as a Captain with a couple rescue guards at his side. I imagine them rushing around towns under attack and putting out fires and helping people get out of the war zone.
Next thing in November was She-Ra's horse, Swift Wind.
He-Man rides a giant green tiger, and She-Ra rides a colorful winged horse! Well, not quite as colorful as the vintage one. It's funny; I'm not a fan of pink, but I find the vintage horse more aesthetically pleasing than the one here, which is based on the old cartoon. Regardless, the figure is just as cool as Battle Cat; as usual, the Four Horsemen are experts at sculpting animals. There isn't as much articulation, but he has more than enough to get some good horse poses. Only problem with this guy is the wingspan - it's HUGE. I mean, it's good that it's impressive, but at the moment I've got the wings detached and the horse in a storage bin, because I just don't have the space!
Now I think I mentioned in the She-Ra post that her skirt made it impossible to ride any beasts. They fixed that with a She-Ra variant:
Bubble Power She-Ra. Now of course you know anything from Princess of Power was originally built for little girls, but...come on. Just look at anything with an artistic mind and you see cool things. Granted, regardless of that she still has a goofy bubble gun, but it's not any more or less goofy than Sy-Klone's random space radar or...you know, Snout Spout.
Anyway, this figure is actually rather brilliant! It's the variant figure, but when you take off the Bubble stuff, then it's a slightly new version of She-Ra! They changed a few things: for one, her skirt is now slit up the sides a bit, so she can sit on her horse (or anything else). Awesome! Next, they added some more details from the vintage figure, namely the wrist cuffs and her boots. She looks much better all around!
On the accessory side, the added a face mask that is an exact replica of the vintage one. The mask from the first She-Ra was redesigned and plugged into her forehead via a hole. This one clips on so that She-Ra doesn't have a hole in her forehead...though I don't really have a reason to display the headgearless head. Finally, they gave her the sword that the vintage Bubble figure has as well, which is a chunky little sucker with a big 'ol pink crystal in it. I like it, and I've thought of reasons for it based on the Star Sisters, which I'll cover in the next post or so.
So, in the long run, to make a perfect She-Ra you need to have both. Kinda sucks, but this toyline is sadly all about rewarding loyalty. I mean, it's cool, but it also doesn't allow for many new people to jump in without having to track down the old figures and pay after-market prices. It's pretty much the only reason why showing off these figures isn't as exciting as showing off others...I mean, I can't just tell you folks to go out and get 'em! It's not that simple, in some cases; especially if you don't want to pay more than they're worth.
That sounds like fuel for a future post, though. For now, here's what I did with my mixed She-Ra and how she looks through my personal timeline:
That's my basic She-Ra now: Masked and unmasked. As I explained in my original She-Ra post, I think there's a good reason early on to hide her identity, so the mask is nice until she makes a name for herself and hiding doesn't matter anymore.
I won't go farther than that; basically the toy is cool, but I do wish they had added the toon head with the winged tiara so people buying just this version didn't have an incomplete figure. They need it to ride Swift Wind, but they also aren't getting a complete She-Ra.
Ah well; I suggest both She-Ras for mixing. They're both fantastic, for the most part.
I'm one of those folks not rewarded by jumping into the party late. I'm going to be collecting this toyline like the Sarlacc Pit: Slowly, over the next 1,000 years, likely with some agony involved.
ReplyDeleteWell just try not to eat Boba Fett at any time during the collecting. Fans won't let him die, so you'll just be blown up from the inside out.
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