Yee-HAW! Saddle up, partners – the old west is about to collide with Eternia, and come September, Rio Blast will be able to lay down the law against any lowdown, two-bit sidewinder to wrangle outta the depths of Snake Mountain.
After our preview of the SDCC 2014 exclusive Hordak and Imp figures, I honestly did not think that we would be able to bring you any more Masters of the Universe Classics First Looks prior to Comic Con. I am glad that I was wrong because I know a lot of people have been interested to see how the final production figure of Rio Blast turned out. Released in one of the last waves of the vintage MOTU line, Rio has come to Classics as one of the final Heroic Warriors to be updated by the Four Horsemen. As far as vintage unique characters go, can you believe we only have Gwildor and Rotar left? That “vintage mandate” goal is getting closer and closer to becoming a reality.
While the characters of the MOTU mythos have always been deeply immersed in gimmicks and/or action features, when the original line started to get long in the tooth, those qualities started to get more and more prevalent and slightly more derivative with the later characters. While that usually meant that there was less straight-up part reuse in many of the final figures, action concepts in figures like Dragstor, Blast Attack, and our featured Rio Blast became the driving force for the figures, rather than an effect to support their characterization. While this idea is still dismissed by some, I find that we got some cool and crazy additions to the troupe.
I mean, a cowboy on Eternia? Why the heck not, ya know? I will admit that a concept like that might test the depths of what can be largely accepted by MOTU fans, but I think that any concept can be find its niche, so long as it is done well. So, instead of just outfitting a standard MOTU base figure with a cowboy getup, the designers at Mattel, in true ’80s fashion, pushed Rio Blast to a level of extravagance. Armed with more firepower than any other MOTU character, Rio Blast became a one-man weapon, in addition to his Old West sensibilities. The guy has arm guns, thigh guns, a CHEST gun, and to top it all off, a giant flip-up backpack with two more guns. That is a lot of guns!
Naturally, this lead the vintage figure to be unique in terms of construction, and his entire arsenal was able flip open from his additional, um – body cavities? This lead to the common belief that Rio Blast was actually a robot or a cyborg, but I always just saw the holes as necessary to provide room for the guns on the figure, but they were actually meant to flip out from his costume pieces. To me, he was human, and his biography on Mattel’s official style guide seems to support this (see below), but again, since this is MOTU, you can have it however you like it. For Classics, though, we pretty much knew that the sculpt would not be sacrificed for the action feature, so right away, it was obvious that the Horsemen would have to take a different route.
So while some figures in the Classics line are (essentially) straight-up translations into the modern format, Rio Blast follows figures like Mekaneck, Ram Man, Spikor, and Man-E-Faces that take somewhat new interpretations to their execution. As you can see, in lieu of retaining the cavities in the chest and legs, and thus requiring newly tooled pieces, the chest flap and leg guards flip down and the guns are swappable pieces that can be added during Rio’s “attack mode.” I am personally fine with this as I like the idea of not killing a sculpt just for an action feature. With Double Mischief (Trouble) releasing this month, I think many are seeing that the alternative can be a risky design execution. He also has what appears to be a flip open codpiece. Now, it doesn’t actually open, but the buttons and shape make it look like it could. Just don’t start wondering about what might come blasting out. Lulz.
I am not sure if this choice will split the Classics collecting fandom, but since most decisions in this line do, I have a feeling we will be hearing from supporters and detractors when talking about Rio Blast. Again, I am perfectly fine with the choice and I think it was accomplished in a (mostly) convincing fashion. At any rate, my favorite part of the figure, the backpack, is executed pretty much in the same exact style as the vintage figure, so you won’t have much trouble recreating that nostalgic rush. That backpack is one the most memorable accessories from the vintage MOTU line for me, and even when I had left MOTU for the likes of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Rio’s pack made the transition with me and Donatello was seen sporting it on several occasions. But more on that in a bit…
For the most part, I find Rio Blast to be a good figure, but I do have a few quibbles with him, both from an aesthetic preference and design choice perspective. First, and foremost for me, is that Rio Blast’s likeness has changed considerably in translation from vintage to Classics. See, in the 1980s, Rio Blast had a feathery mane and mustache that I am pretty sure everyone’s dad sported at some point during that decade. Looking back on it, that hairdo was one of the most amazing parts of the entire figure. I mean, you need only bask in its ill-advised glory for a few moments to know that the hair certainly made the man for this cowboy. The Classics figure keeps some of the same shape to it, but it has been interpreted to have a bit more of a modern sensibility about it, so the feel has completely changed. I am personally very sad to see this go, but feelings will be mixed on this. I don’t hate the head sculpt or anything, but it doesn’t feel completely “Rio Blast” to me. Maybe one of the usual third party guys will speak to my tastes a bit more. That is not to say that it is not a FANTASTIC sculpt, because it is, and Rio enjoys a lot of nice paint applications on his face, something that many figures cannot boast. Again, amazing sculpt, but just different enough from the original to not feel completely right to me.
While the hair is a departure from a personal preference, there are a couple of shortfalls that the figure hit from a design perspective during production. First, and probably most obvious, is that Rio suffers a bit from the “puffy armor” syndrome that has afflicted a range of figures over the past year or so. This has never been too troublesome to me, but we know that the overlays can be executed without this side effect, so I hope that Mattel design has taken note and will “follow the form” more on future figures. Honestly, I thought it was going to be worse based on what I had seen, but in hand, it really is not that bad. The thing that bugs me the most about the “armor” though is that the chest flap that opens on the front cannot go flush with the chest when it is closed. It sticks out pretty far and this cause by the hole for the gun being raised instead of recessed. Did design get us again?
Another area that suffers a bit on this figure is in the paint applications on the accessories. Generally, I find MOTUC to be very much on the ball when it comes to paint. However, Rio Blast is hit and miss. While the figure itself has a lot of very nice paint applications, the accessories do not fare as well. Where it seems most apparent is on the gun backpack. As far as I can tell, this piece is one flat color with no highlights or variations to be found. While this might be okay for some areas, the pack has a ton of detail and technical intricacies that could be shown off well with some nice paint. I recognize that Rio is probably a more expensive figure to produce than some, but it hurts when all of the work that the 4H did is not brought to the fore with some nice paint applications.
Staying with the backpack for just a moment, I want to mention the “goggles” for just a minute. This might be on the verge of overly-nitpicking, but I wish the goggles sat closer to Rio’s actual face than they do when the guns a flipped forward. They don’t look bad, but seeing that gap is kind of weird to my eyes and from an engineering perspective, I cannot see a structural reason why they could not have been moved closer. In Mattel’s defense, it does look as though the original prototype had the goggle set far from the face, so they are just following the design. This is one of those instances where I with the design team would have made a slight tweak to help improve the original. We are all familiar with when “design choices” go awry in this line, this is an example of where a change could have been an improvement.
With a few design and hair style issues aside, I think Rio Blast is a pretty solid entrant into the Classics line from both a figure and character standpoint. I love the fact that we have our very own “space cowboy” and his boots, chaps and spurs speak to me so well. As an ally of He-Man, he might be a little quirky in terms of concept, but there is no denying that he cuts a very imposing form when he is all armored up. While many Heroic Warriors use traditional weapons like swords, maces and axes, Rio provides the fire power to take out all kinds of no-good varmints from more than ten paces. I know he is not one of the more universally loved characters, but I am very pleased to add him to my Heroic Warriors display amongst the likes of Snout Spout and his camping buddy Clamp Champ. At any rate, this figure is wildly fun to fiddle with and I think many collectors will be well-impressed when he starts arriving in two-bit towns across the west and beyond.
*Thank ‘ee kindly for reading, pardners, and thanks to Marshal Guru and his hombres for sending our favorite techno-cowboy along for a preview. We will be rustlin’ up more First Looks in the near future, so mosey on back soon!
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