Top Five – Why General Sunder MUST be made in Masters of the Universe Classics

All right, Masters of the Universe fans – we have made it through to 2013 with a last minute subscription surge, so I know we have all just had a collective sigh of relief. However, this is no time to rest on our laurels! There has been come cryptic talk about how 2014 and beyond might not have the release numbers to get out all of those essential characters from so many different factions. So, towards that end, the Fwoosh Staff will be doing some Top Five articles to show support for the characters that MUST find their way into the MOTUC. Well, it should be no surprise to anyone that I have chosen to come out to support the noble General Sunder for my part. In fact, I will be rallying the troops for Sunder Support quite a bit going forward. Don’t worry, though, I think I have five really good reasons as to why you will love a a MOTUC figure of him, too.

I know the rush for completing the vintage line has been kicked into overdrive, and while I want all of those characters too, I am much more of a fan of a well-rounded collection. I love the New Adventures characters and those from the mini comic and some from 200x as well. My heart really lies with the PoP and, most importantly, the FILMation characters that we finally have access to. It is unsettling to me that, just as we are able to get these characters in figure form, the line seems to have peaked. So we need to get the essentials like Evil Seed, King Miro, Vultak, Icer, Strong Arm, Lizard Man, Shokoti, Lord Masque, Huntara, Sea Hawk, Madame Razz and on and on. Frankly, I would like a FILMation sub all on its own to get to all of them. However, I am just going to concentrate on my favorite for this article and make sure you know that he will make a great character. Toy Guru, Four Horsemen, I hope you are listening!

#5: He is a very cool character

If you have never watched the She-Ra cartoon episodes “An Unexpected Ally” and “Return of the General,” I implore you to do so ASAP. General Sunder’s story is one that is similar to Adora/She-Ra in that he eventually SPOILER ALERT!!! defects from the Horde END SPOILER!!!, but his characterization is very different. Sunder is a noble man, but being a soldier is all he has ever known. Though he doesn’t immediately see the evil of the Horde, he is very just and will stand up to Hordak himself in favor of compromising his principles.

The two episodes I mentioned chronicle his development from high-ranking general (he commanded Adora during her Horde stint) to peaceful farmer and father to reluctant hero. The fact that he is featured in TWO episodes puts him ahead of most of the pack in terms of appearances, and he was never just a plot device, he was developed as much as possible in the time frame of two 22-minute cartoon episodes. He is a man on a mission after his family is kidnapped by the Horde and I fear for ALL of them. He is worth a plastic tribute for the bottle shooting revenge scene along. I remain sad that he was only in two shows and did not become a regular member of the Rebellion, but knowing that Farmer Sunder was just a call away was always comforting. Brave, strong and resolute general, defender of the weak and peace-loving family man make for a great character and the plastic Rebellion needs his character and skills as a seasoned commander on their side!

#4: Rounding out the Rebellion

Now, do not mistake me, I love my Rebel ladies, especially Frosta and Mermista, but there were a few featured Rebel men from time to time to balance out the gender gap constantly towed by Bow. Sea Hawk, the Red Knight and King Micah come to mind as standouts as well, and even thought I like all of those guys, General Sunder has a lot to offer the cause. Sea Hawk has personality and derrying-do of an Errol Flynn, but Sunder is the man with the military and Horde knowledge that can turn the tide for the noble Rebels. In my collection, he would be the master tactician and could plan valuable assaults on the Fright Zone. The Heroic Warriors have their Man-at-Arms for military mastery, the Rebels need their counterpart. Plus, we need every excuse we can get to add to the Rebel forces on our shelves.

#3: He looks frikkin’ cool

So you want to make the already awesome looking Horde Troopers even cooler? It is as simple as adding a crested helmet and a cape. Yeah, baby! The bad-ass assault robot just became the even more bad ass commanding general. I know that they left the Horde Bat off of his chest armor in the show to show kids he was not evil, but I would not even care if he had it or not in the toy, either way looks cool. For close detail he also has hip holsters for his twin laser pistols to round out the look. I think the Horde Trooper designs are some of the best in the entire MOTU line and making the additions mentioned above make the look even cooler.

#2: He is a VERY easy figure to make

Look, we all know that one of the strongest tenants of the Classics line is part reuse, and everything new needs to be used more than once to get the most bang for the tooling buck. So, you KNOW we will be getting the Horde Troopers at some point in this line and you know they will need a lot of new parts. Releasing a General Sunder figure that would be made up primarily of Trooper parts will get some good reuse out of the budget.

Better still, and listen up, Toy Guru, I have VERY inexpensive plan for getting him out without taking up a regular release slot: put him in that Horde Trooper pack. Yep, just think about it. I am pretty certain that the Horde Troopers will be released in a two-pack like the Palace Guards and Snake Men and if you remember, those guys came with lots of swappable heads and parts. Ah-ha! That just makes the good General Sunder so easy to do. Are you ready? All that would have to be added to the pack would be a new head and a red repaint of King Randor’s cape as the essentials. That is it. Swap the Trooper head out, add the cape and you have a pretty damned good General Sunder. If you really wanted to go for the gold you could add a interchangeable non-bat chest plate, non-helmeted head, his pistols and attachable holsters, but I am not even going to get bothered by those. That would still leave room for two regular Trooper heads, a battle damaged one and lots of weaponry in the pack so it will be inline with what we have gotten before.

See? I don’t just demand things; I give easy solutions for getting them done!

#1: The sooner this gets done, the sooner I shut up about it

You better believe it! Pixel Dan just got his Mosquitor figure after some back and forth good-natured banter with Toy Guru, so I am going to take this opportunity to get up on the podium and scream the good word of General Sunder. You better believe I will come to SDCC next dressed as Sunder if I have to. I am not afraid to use Facebook and Twitter as platforms, either. I have a strong suspicion that the Horde Troopers will be coming sooner rather than later so I am going to take every opportunity I can make sure Sunder gets his chance to be included in that awesome pack!

Okay, I have said my piece, so sound off in the comments if you agree. This is just the beginning, though. Be prepared to hear his name often from now until his plastic unveiling! I am sure Benty and Matt K will have someone to support as well,  but for me, it is time to bring our Universe a Sunder!

Thanks for reading, and Horsemen, Toy Guru, feel free to start work on the General ASAP!

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