This month’s Mattycollector.com Club Eternia Subscription figure is the explosive Blast Attak! Well, he’s not literally explosive because the blast-apart feature from the original toy is not present, but we can pretend, right?
Blast Attak™ Bio
Real Name: Program Robot Serial number 1710
Blast Attak was originally brought to Eternia in a spell of light by Skeletor to boost his ranks before the second Ultimate Battle Ground, but the android was quickly stolen by the Snake Men and reprogrammed to act as a mercenary in the army of King Hssss. Literally a walking talking time bomb, Blast Attak’s body is comprised of a series of microscopic nanites which can reform after detonation allowing him to blast apart over and over in an explosive attack against enemies. Although created with some semblance of artificial intelligence, his evil programming often overrides his own commitment to self-preservation. Blast Attak is a robotic muscleman with an extremely short fuse. He loves to surprise enemies with his sudden blast apart power!
This bio pays tribute to his origin in the mini-comics as a Snake Men invention and his appearance in the Marvel comics as a Skeletor henchman.
I have to admit, he doesn’t seem all that snakey to me, but I really don’t have a strong opinion one way or another as Blast Attak is one of those later-in-the-line figures I never developed an attachment to.
I like the idea presented by Veebs on our forums that Blast Attack was developed by the Snake-Men-controlled Man-At-Arms, but I l also like the idea that he’s a mix of old tech and sorcery that Benty proposed.
I figure he needs some sort of magic element to be reconstituted every time he explodes.
Accessories
Blast Attak comes with a large axe and whip. The axe is a faithful recreation of the vintage accessory with more detail and a sharper sculpt. I like the cobbled-together feel of the design.
The plastic is solid and there is a little bit of metallic paint on the blade to highlight that area. It kind of makes it look sharper, if that makes any sense.
The whip is kind of fun because it’s based on the trigger chord for the vintage blast-apart feature. The chord is a super-soft plastic, so it can wrap around victims well.
The end of the whip has a cool three-pronged blade. I think this is one of the more successful transformations of vintage features into weapons.
Sculpt
This guy is a wicked-looking techno-zombie. The head sculpt has bold, sharp features that definitely give off a dessicated-corpse vibe.
All the technology also has a solid, almost clunky feel to it that feels very ’80s, but also recalls some more steampunk design style. He’s a lot of new parts, and though he doesn’t split apart, the chest has a nice, thick seam down the middle that recalls the vintage figure.
The reuse of Roboto arms works really well here too.
Paint
The paint is nice here with a shiny gold on the chest and metallic highlights on the gray, black, and green parts of the outfit. I think a black wash would be nice on some of the recessed details, though that doesn’t really fit the established paint style of the line, so I didn’t really expect to see it.
Articulation
Articulation is standard and works well. The chest armor is thick and glued in place, so it does hinder ab crunch movement somewhat. The ankles are also really stiff and don’t move too much.
Overall
Blast Attak is one of those subscription-tester figures for me. I have no nostalgia, so I’m evaluating him on a pure cool-figure basis.
The sculpt definitely passes the cool-figure test for me with the gore and techno details, and the overall profile of the figure has a nice chunky robot vibe.
The main discussion about this figure online seems to center on his missing blast-apart feature. I never really expected him to come apart, nor do I find the vintage figure’s pop-apart feature as a convincing “blast attack,” so I’m not missing that feature.
I suppose they could have at least had the arms separate like Trap Jaw’s arms or make the waist pop off like King Hiss without compromising the sculpt, but, honestly, I’m pretty good with him as is.
Previous Features
- Hover Bots
- Angella
- Huntara
- Oo-Larr
- Snake Armor He-Man and Battle Armor King Hiss
- Ninjor
- Lizard Man
- Rio Blast
- Entrapta
- Madam Razz
- Flutterina
- Intergalactic Skeletor
- Double Mischief
- Dekker
- Glimmer
- Extendar
- Battle Lion
- Scorpia
- Loo-Kee and Kowl
- Goat Man
- Blade
- Evil Mike’s Shapeways
- Modulok
- Gorpo
- Dark Soldiers
- Strongarm
- Two Bad
- Plundor
- Articulated Draego-Man head sculpt
- General Sunder
- Hover Disc
- Battlelord
- Teckno Jackal
- Conan
- Horde Troopers
- Geldor
- Nepthu
- Mantenna
- Lord Dactus
- Karatti
- He-Mike Skeleton Warriors
- Duskfang Conversion Kit
- Castaspella
- Batros
- Sky High and Jet Sled
- Shokoti
- Fighting Foe Men
- Icer
- Octavia
- Snake Face
- King He-Man
- Fang Man
- Ram Man
- Jitsu
- Netossa
- Granamyr
- Eternos Palace Randor
- Snake Men Two Pack
- Sir Laser-Lot
- Vykron
- Snake Man-At-Arms
- Stinkor
- Spector
- Draego-Man
- Thunder Punch He-Man
- Kobra Khan
- Fisto
- Fearless Photog
- Demo-Man
- Battleground Evil-Lyn
- Star Sisters
- Class of 2011
- Class of 2009
- Icarius
- Hurricane Hordak
- Man-E-Faces
- Megator
- Queen Marlena
- Clawful
- The Faceless One
- Battleground Teela
- Catra
- Panthor
- Battle Armor Skeletor
- King Hssss
- Bow
- Palace Guards
- Vikor
- Class of 2010
- Buzz-Off
- Grizzlor
- Roboto
- Chief Carnivus
- Whiplash
- Count Marzo
- She-Ra
- Keldor
- Optikk
- Evil-Lynn
- Moss-Man
- Faker
- Stratos
