Okay, last one for today, I promise. We have brought you six Looks already and we are ending on a, um, large note? Yep, while it is cliche to say that our planet is getting smaller and smaller every day, with each passing month, the planet of Eternia is getting bigger and bigger. However, in May it is going to get really big because the the first giant figure in MOTUC is getting a release in the form of Tytus, the Heroic Giant Warlord!
Before the internet took over as the largest provider of information in the world, if you grew up in the USA you probably did not even know that way back in the 1980s your beloved Masters of the Universe toy line had two giant figures that were released only in Europe. How can that be? Well, they were slated to be a part of the spinoff/continuation of MOTU in the form of the Powers of Grayskull but unfortunately, the plug was pulled on Masters before it could see fruition. Last year’s SDCC figure, He-Ro, was to be the main attraction of the line and he would have some seriously large friends and foes in the form of Tytus and the evil Megator (who, by this point, is just a question of when for this line). So really, for a lot of people, this is first crack ever at getting a figure of Tytus (the vintage figure goes for large amounts of greenbacks in the eBay) and he is well worth the wait.
One of the most exciting aspects of MOTUC so far for me has been the expansion of “Preternia” – a time about 500 years prior to the Prince Adam incarnation of He-Man. We have met a lot of new/old characters, we are finding out the history of the Snake Men and the Horde and we have learned that in olden times, the likely cause of dinosaur extinction was due to a techno-virus. Take that meteor and ice age theories!
Tytus is no exception to this and his biography is one of my favorites so far. He was apparently a peaceful dinosaur shepherd whose flock grew techno parts so he got motivated, joined up with King Grayskull, helped to build Castle Grayskull after the death of He-Ro and then died when he attempted to stop Megator when he when on a rampage. Whew. That’s a lot of living for a guy that has not has much history behind him until now.
One of the great things about the MOTUC line at this point is that is has been successful enough that the collection is expanding in all sorts of ways. We are seeing MOTU, PoP and NA figures, beasts, and now giants and by this time next year, your MOTUC shelves are going to look very cool and extremely diverse. Tytus is also the first rotocast figure in the line so there are certainly some differences from the standard figures to the big guy.
Yes, he is rotocast. From day one when he was revealed at Toy Fair 2010 Toy Guru made it clear that he would be rotocast (so he is essentially hollow) and that due to that and cost restrictions, he would also clock in at fewer points of articulation. A few years ago knowing that a figure was rotocast was kind of code for saying it was “made cheaply” and you have lower expectations for the actual figure when compared to the a standard action figure. Well, times have changed and rotocast figures can truly be toy works comparable to some of the best figures on the market. That said, I think Tytus is one of the nicest looking rotocast figures I own.
He has all of the attention to detail in sculpt that you should be expecting from the Four Horsemen. His belt and chest armor (removable) are particular highlights and they have tons of little details while staying brutally accurate to the original material. The big “G” is for Grayskull in case you didn’t know and the lightning pattern means you don’t wanna mess with TyTy here. The paint is also pristine and that is very important in the case of larger figures. With six inch guys there can be some imperfections here and there and they can often go unnoticed. Not with the big boys. Tytus here has very clean paint on his clothing, boots and bracelets and his face is pretty damned perfect. He also has a lot of very subtle airbrushing on his skin to bring out the sculpting details. Long story short – if you did not already know that Tytus was a rotocast figure, you would not be able to tell just by looking at him. He is up to every visual standard previously set by the MOTUC figures that have come before him.
Now, where Tytus does take a hit is in the articulation count. Toy Guru did his best to prepare everyone for this and set the expectation that Tytus would not have as much articulation as the standard MOTUC figure. What he does have is a ball jointed neck, partial ball joint shoulders, elbow hinges, wrist cuts, waist cut, T-crotch hips, knee hinges and shin/boot swivels. All in I count about 15 POA, which is pretty good compared to the standard MOTUC scheme of about 23 POA. For joints like the abdominal crunch and ball hips (his loincloth would prevent most of that movement anyway) I am not at all troubled by the loss. I do miss the biceps cuts and ankle joints, however. If they could have held on to these four points I would not have a thing to say, but for posing, I do wish they were there. However, it is not a total loss and what he does have works great. Articulation is always a balance of form and function but because of his size, Tytus had cost as a factor as well so I think the Four Horsemen and Mattel Design did a good job making their choices – I am sure if they could have made it cost, we would have gotten them all. Overall though, Tytus moves very well and you will be able to pose him in lots of dynamic action scenes.
Tytus also has his rather odd-looking vintage weapon. From the first time I saw this, well, whatchamacallit thingee in its vintage form I had no idea what the heck it was. Well, no, it is not a vacuum or a salon hair dryer, or even a metal detector. What it is designed to do is grab opponents by the head and pick them up. While that might sound pretty benign at first, if you thing about it, if you pick up some dude just by his head you will essentially hang the poor bastard so it might be a pretty ruthless weapon after all. Or, you could imagine it having a “blender” feature so when Tytus grabs one of those nasty Snake Men he can flip a switch and make snake tartar right down to the waist. That might be even worse. Well, at least in my own imagination I have turned Tytus from peaceful dio-shepherd to a ruthless Horde-hanger and Snake chopper. That might say a little something about me though.
The weapon itself is beautifully sculpted and is packaged in two pieces that easily snap together. A word of warning – the round part feels a little fragile to me. It is light (probably due to the size so Tytus can hold it without toppling over) and very hollow. That being said, it probably isn’t gonna break on you with normal posing/play, but if you take a heavy handed approach to your toys, be careful with this one.
Tytus represents some pretty big things for MOTUC in both size and scope. I love that I can finally have a figure of this giant after so many years and he will really help flesh out the variety and Preternia corner of my shelf. He also tells me that there are a lot of exciting things coming to MOTUC in all kinds of shapes, sizes and executions. We are just getting started here and I cannot wait to see some of the possibilities the future can hold. SDCC cannot get here soon enough.
Bottom line – Tytus is one of the nicest large figures I own, rotocast or no. He will be essential to any MOTUC collection so be ready to get him on Matty Collector on May 17th, I am sure he will go fast. Duh. I cannot wait for Megator!
*Whew, thanks for taking the time to share all of these First Looks, and a huge thank you to new dad Toy Guru for making all of this possible! See you on the forums!
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