Whew! Buzz-Off must’ve eaten his ambrosia because just a couple of days after he arrived at the Mattel offices, he has found his way into our latest First Look. Toy Guru must use Eternia Express, better than even a Wind Raider. So, just in time for his on-sale time this Wednesday, we off you a preview of everyone’s favorite Heroic Spy in the Sky.
For the last Matty Day of 2010, the MOTUC property is finishing strong with a rapid fire of fourth quarter vintage goodness, culminating with everyone’s favorite Andreenid. You know, of Roboto, Grizzlor and Buzz-Off, my favorite as a kid was always Grizzlor and I am glad my new MOTUC figure carried that love over. However, Buzz-Off is the one that really makes me feel like a kid again and I’ll be Twigget’s cousin, but I now like him even better.
I don’t think I was original in my imagination when I made Buzz-Off the long-range heroic scout as a kid. Yah, he and Stratos teamed up for recon on a very regular basis, but Buzz was always the one that would fly for the long distances to give reports of Skeletor’s evil ado-ins. For that, the character usually served his purpose well, but I do have to admit that he was often shot out of the sky and taken prisoner in Snake Mountain when old Bone Head was anticipating a touch of espionage.
But even though we has always been (well, I guess not in the stringy 200x incarnation) just as jacked as the rest of the Masters, he was never much of a melee fighter. So, when it got nasty in hand to hand combat, Buzz-Off was usually dispatched fairly early on. However, the updated MOTUC design, while (thankfully) keeping close to the vintage aesthetic just seems so much more bad ass to me. I don’t know if it is the detailing or bulk (he is heavy due to the wings) or what, but I think my new Buzz-Off just might be ready to rumble. To me, that is what MOTU characters need to be able to do, slug it out when all else fails. Sure, they have their specialties, but on that Final Ultimate Battle Ground when it’s death or glory, they need to be able to give their all in the final push, for good or ill. This Buzz-Off is going to be able to do that.
Like I said, with a couple of exceptions, this figure is brought into the MOTUC aesthetic with a lot of vintage influence. For me, that is perfect. I think I have made it pretty clear that the MOTUC look is my favorite visual representation of Masters yet, and a lot of that comes from updating the great designs of the 1980s. There has been a bit of a movement from some people around the internets that love for the vintage looks comes solely from blind nostalgia. I say nuts to that because, believe it or not, I feel that the vintage line was amazingly designed and Buzz-Off is a prime example of that.
Sure, the skinnier and spindly bee man might seem more “realistic”, but the minute we start having the realistic conversation about MOTU is when we all just send the whole thing out the window. Big muscly Buzz-Off is MOTU to me, and that means right down to his lack of stinger and happy smile. I really like the colors of brown and yellow that the Horsemen used for the color pallet on the figure and, like his figure of yore, Buzz-Off’s shiny green eyes really pop. He is a big bee guy with an axe and claw hands, so yah, he is smiling because you are peeing your pants in fear that he is going to pinch your head off.
The sculpt is so spot on and detailed, I am running out of creative ways to praise the Four Horsemen. If you have Whiplash, you know the detailing that is in the feet, legs, torso and shoulders that Buzz-Off shares, but his head has a ton of detail in it as well. Since his face is yellow and his head is a dark brown you have to really look at it, but there are a ton of very small sculptural details that they have brought out. When it comes to the sheer number of sculpting lines and intricacies Buzz-Off is very near the top of the MOTUC heap.
Along with the look of the figure, the Four Horsemen have improved on every aspect of design of any previous Buzz-Off figure. His claws rotate and he can easily and securely hold both of his weapons. His detailed bee helmet can stay firmly on his head (unlike the vintage counterpart), and his wing “rig” is really fantastic. The joints allow for movement along all three axis – up, over and forward and backward. You can get a ton of movement from them and the posing possibilities are, well not endless, but you can get them in a lot of poses. The wings are also made of the pretty thick and strong plastic so they are not flimsy and they don’t seem like such a weak spot for him any longer. They do have, of course. all of the “electronic” detail of the 80s figure. He also has two little insect leg thingees (think Webstor) that you can display out if you want, or tuck them away so they are hidden.
For accessories, he comes with his aforementioned helmet which is textured and will snap snugly over his head, as well as his vintage style axe and 200x spear. Both of these are very nice and the vintage has gone two tone with copper instead of just flat brown and the spear is a good hefty update of the original. This one will be able to take you out and it will take a big bee man to swing it, for sure. Both weapons have a touch of metallic shine to them in the paint on the blades, a nice touch.
So, the Masters now finally have their primary reconnaissance man, but this time, Buzz-Off is going to be able kick some serious butt too. I know that the lack of basically any 200x influence is disappointing to some people, but right now, Mattel has made it pretty clear that that is not where this line is at. So, the look of this Buzz-Off fits in great with rest of the MOTUC figures; don’t worry guys, when refreshers of characters are needed, I am sure there will be more 200x influences. I think this figure will win over a lot of people once they have him as he is better in hand than on a computer screen. I like him quite a lot even though he is not one of my favorite characters. But you know that old Adreenid saying: “Tzzztzztttzzzt tztztttzt ttzzz tzzzztzztzzztzt tztztztzzztz!”
*Thanks to Tzzt Guru for sending Buzz-Off along in such a hurry, we appreciate the effort! Next up: the greatest Conan to never be a Conan!
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