We are living in a pretty amazing age for action figures. Not so much for their overall appeal since I feel, more and more, they are losing ground to video games and other short-attention-span media with kids, which is a shame because it is like imagination is going right along with them. But when it comes to action figures aimed a collectors, there is a ton that is going on right now. Star Wars, Transformers, Marvel, and a ton of 1980s movie properties are getting all kinds of figures, but when it comes to getting collector-grade figures while scratching that nostalgic itch, there are few lines that can do it on the same level as Masters of the Universe Classics. The vintage MOTU and PoP lines are getting remade, and we are finally getting figures of characters that originated in the Filmation cartoons, something that a lot of us have been waiting decades for. I am going a little out of order with these First Looks right now because I just could not delay a feature on today’s subject: Plundor the Spoiler! Easily one of the most polarizing Filmation characters ever, the great Paul Dini’s creation has been met with great anticipation from some, and great anxiety from others. I am not even going to try hide my adoration for this character, so just know that going in. As I said before, when we are getting figures of characters like Plundor, we are living in pretty good times.
Plundor may not be one of He-Man’s most well-known enemies, but he is certainly portrayed as one of his most evil adversaries. In fact, He-Man needed to be rescued from Plundor’s evil clutches by Ram Man, Orko, and Cringer in the despot’s starring episode, “The Quest for He-Man.” On the surface, the premise of He-Man being saved from a giant purple rabbit-man might seem a bit thin, or even contrived, but this episode is actually one of the most symbolic and message-laden episodes of the entire run of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. Not necessarily in the “in today’s story” kind of way, although it did have that, but Dini actually took a creative path in speaking to kids directly about some pretty heavy subjects, without pandering or talking down to them. But what about the giant evil, purple rabbit? Well, that was kind of the point.
As awesome as the ’80s were to grow up in, the decade of excess was certainly not without its downsides. There are just too many to list or get into here, but a lot of half-brained policies surrounding corporate robber barons and environmental policies met the commentary of Dini and this episodes. To dismiss Plundor because he is a bunny-man is to fall right into the entire point of the episode. Plundor’s looks and personality represented the characters used by many companies to target children directly for their audience to sell products. Be it the soft end with the likes of Mickey Mouse and cereal mascots, or something more dangerously overt like Joe Camel, Pludor was a warning for children to not trust those “characters” that seemed friendly and good-natured because there was often something more sinister going on beneath the surface. Heck, even with Filmation’s morals and the studio’s desire to create quality programming for children, the original intent of the show was to sell toys. I would say both worked well on me personally, but the point was to make sure kids were able to see things with a bit more reality to them.
Plundor’s starring episode was also a pulpit to show how important protecting the environment is to preserving our quality of life. Plundor took over an entire planet to strip it of its natural resources for a profit and to enslave the inhabitants in an industrial wasteland. Sure, he was not a hand-to-hand fighting machine, but Plundor had a lot in common with unchecked business men and politicians that were making similar choices on our own planet. So, even though some of those direct allusions might have been lost on most of the viewing audience, kids were still able to learn that protecting our planet from pollution and the destruction of the natural world is very important. Looking back on it, was the episode a bit heavy-handed to adult eyes? Maybe, but the fact that some people still miss the entire point of the episode seems to suggest that maybe it was not direct enough. C’est la vie, I suppose, but I have a fond appreciation for the commentary and the send-up of corporate and political charlatans of the highest level.
But does Plundor make for an appropriate action figure? In the world of Masters of the Universe, I would say, “Oh, you betcha.” Masters of the Universe has always been about diversity and the ability to meld just about anything into the mythology. I am not quite sure how a purple rabbit can be out of place amongst a skunk man, bee guy, and cybernetic-elephant-head dude, but so it goes. Frankly, I cannot believe how awesome it is to have a figure like this in my collection because I think the design is absolute genius, and Plundor can gel into my mythos with Vikor and the best of them. So sinister, yet unassuming — this is what makes him great. That, and the fact that I actually embrace the fact that strictly on a superficial level, he is a giant, purple rabbit-guy. It is just one of those things that you either appreciate or you don’t. I have always been about that in MOTU, so the fact that he divides opinion is just another notch in the MOTUC post, so I don’t see what makes him any different than those other characters that cause disagreement (see: all of them).
Frankly, I think that the Horsemen have done a great job of integrating Plundor’s design into the Classics aesthetic. Like most Filmation designs, the details were simplified to assist with expediting the animation process, so in order to give Plundor’s look an upgrade to mesh with the other Classics, the Four Horsemen got to flex a lot of their sculpting and fabricating muscles. All of the spirit and colors and shapes are there, but they have been heightened with added detailed embellishments. Pludor’s pelt has all of the fur sculpted in and it is appropriately built on the Beast Man base body. His expression is absolutely iconic, and while many people vocalized their fear that he would be given a dull or even happy expression, everything from his ears to his teeth support his sinister expression. The likeness is dead-on and the 4H were able to skate that fine line to make him evil and not cheesy. His outfit retains the basic shape from the cartoon, but there are added lines and color changes that bring out some details. It is free-floating but sits snugly on his frame and will not spin or shift about just because it is not strapped on.
This figure also keeps the pretty clean 2013 quality record running strong. Plundor is made of good plastic that is strong where it needs to be, like in the joints, but soft and flexible where appropriate too, like in his short-shorts. If you could not tell already, I will tell you that you do not have any other figure that looks like Plundor in your MOTU collection, and that is not just because he is a rabbit-man. His purple fur and outfit of brick with inset wine coloring is like no other color scheme in the collection. His big yellow eyes have been embraced instead of abandoned too, so just when you think you have a pretty big wall of purple hues running together, they are met with his evil eyes of complimentary colors. What you are left with is a unique figure that I think looks really cool, though your opinion on that may vary. And probably does.
For accessories, Plundor comes with two, one great and one okay. Though it is meant for Skeletor and not him, the Filmation axe is pretty sweet. This is the unique axe that Skeletor used in the show, and aside from being a big blue axe, it also has a crystal ball that can fire beams from the top end of it. The axe is all blue, but it has a matte blue with metallic blue highlights. The crystal ball at the end is clear and looks really great on top. I am really glad we got this as it is one of the most important Filmation artifacts, though it might be a touch too long. The other accessory is meant for Plundor himself and it is a simple repaint of the Webstor rifle. It looks nice and I really like the paint scheme, but it is not terribly exciting. Plundor did not really have a weapon in his episode, so I am glad he got something, but it would have been way cool if we could have gotten a rumored rabbit-robot troop from the episode. That would have been a pretty big one-time accessory, though.
So let the celebrating and decrying commence. Plundor is one of those characters that either speaks to you, or he doesn’t. So, if you want to come over and join the celebration party, we have plenty of snacks worthy of an intergalactic despot’s soiree. If not, off to eBay you go because if you are a Club ETERNIA subscriber, he will be heading your way in December. Yep, that is ETERNIA, not Filmation. I think maybe he and Strong Arm did a little do-si-do late in the game before Comic Con, but if you are an all-in type like me, you will welcome him in any way you can get him. I think he makes for a great addition, but we still have a lot of Filmation characters to get to, so even though the mythical purple rabbit is in the can, there is still a lot of work to do. But that kind of raises a question: how in the heck do you follow up Plundor?
*Thanks for reading and thanks to Toy Guru and crew for finally getting to Plundor and for sending him in all his magnificence to our offices for a First Look. Stay tuned, we are just getting warmed up…
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