Panthor
Real Name: Panthor
During his exile from Eternos Palace Keldor saved a young dylinx cub from a hunter’s pit in the Corridors of Lithos. The cub remained fiercely loyal to Keldor, who named him Panthor after a tribal story his Gar mother told him as a child. The purple skinned feline stayed with Keldor even after he was transformed into the Lord of Destruction by Hordak’s magic. Finding a new home in Snake Mountain, Panthor is forever at his master’s side, carrying him into battle or curled up at the feet of Skeletor’s throne, loyally growling at any who disagree with the Overlord of Evil.
I kind of like the parallel between this bio and Battle Cat’s – Adam saved Cringer as a cub and and Keldor saved Panthor when he was a young dylinx. That’s a pretty loyal critter, sticking by Keldor’s side even after he lost his face!
Accessories
Panthor comes with his classic saddle repainted from the Battle Cat release last year and a newly designed battle helmet. The helmet is an interesting design which borrows design cues from Battle Cat’s helmet and Skeletor’s staff. It sticks securely on his head and holds it’s position well, without weighing down his head so much that his head droops.
The design doesn’t really appeal to me as I feel like the helmet itself is a little too small while the horns are a bit overlarge. I don’t love it, but I’m all for adding new stuff into the line that wasn’t in the original, so I’m glad to see they included it. I kind of like the look of it sitting around the the figures as scenery more than on the actual figure.
I was thinking a repaint of Battle Cat’s helmet in Panthor’s colors would be a cool inclusion for another weapons pack, but Battle Cat’s helmet won’t fit Panthor as his head is too different.
Articulation
Panthor has a hinged jaw, a ball jointed head, a hinged neck, a swivel hing torso, a swivel hing tail, swivel hinged shoulders and hips, swivel hinged elbows, swivel hinge paws, and hinged knees and lower legs. the ball jointed neck doesn’t really have much up/down or side to side movement, so it’s really more of a swivel joint. I think that’s the only articulation disappointment for me on this figure. He can’t really look from side to side. The shoulders/hips have a limited outward movement so Panthor can pose in a slightly wider stance.
Sculpt
The sculpt is mostly re-used from Battle Cat with a unique head sculpt and helmet. They could have just repainted Battle Cat’s head sculpt and I would have been satisfied, but I’m glad they went the extra mile. The head sculpt looks to me to be based on the Panthor box art which pleases me greatly as I love that bit of artwork and the box art for vehicles and beasts in the classic line in general.
He’s got an absolutely feral look. The only thing I think I would like more is if they had added some new front paws with more extended claws for mauling action. I could see why they wouldn’t do something like that as it would make it difficult for him to stand, but swappable front paws might have been cool.
Paint
Panthor appears to be cast in purple plastic with a darker purple shading to add definition to the muscles. There is some drybrushing on the face to highlight the fur sculpt. The plastic of the body is a little bit shiny, and while it doesn’t look bad, I think it would have been better and a bit more natural looking if the plastic was darker and the entire body drybrushed with a lighter purple.
Overall
Panthor is a figure I’ve been looking forward to and he does not disappoint. He was one of my favorites as a child, though I don’t miss the flocking. It’s immensely gratifying to have Skeletor and Panthor together to ride into battle against He-Man and Battle Cat. He’s an exceptionally well articulated and versatile beast. A must have for any MOTUC collection.
Turnarounds
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