So there has been quite a little bit of new product announced for Masters of the Universe this week. Not up to speed? You can check out some of the news here and here. However, Mattel is still the property owner and primary producer when it comes to all things MOTU, and you better believe that they will have a lot on display at Comic Con next week. They have just released a new entrant into one of their current lines in the form of the MOTU Giants MAN-AT-ARMS. Large-scale figures seem to be all the rage these days, and we are racing towards completing the illustrious “8-Back” characters. Now, at a full six figures in, I sure hope we get there.
Like I said, big figures have been a point of collector interest ever since Gentle Giant started producing the vintage Star Wars collection in this format. Since then, Jakks Pacific has really run with the concept, and smaller companies like NECA are in the game as well, so it seemed only logical that Mattel announced this new concept (for them) last year and quickly gave us He-Man, Skeletor, Stratos, and Beastman, all in their up-scaled vintage form. There has been a bit of time off since the last release, but Man-at-Arms is here as last, but as of now, Mattel has not announced any future figures. That might be because SDCC is right around the corner and they want to save their announcements until then, but no one in the buying public really knows how well these are selling. I expected them to be brisk, but all of the previous figures are still available at Matty Collector, so who knows?
Overall, I like them even though they are not perfect updates to the original. MOTU is my main thing, and while Classics is still the tip of the top, it is cool to get Masters characters in other executions. Honestly speaking, MOTU was my absolute favorite line as a kid, and I still have many of the vintage figures, so seeing them reoccur in this form invokes a different kind of nostalgia from the Classics figures. Like I said, Mattel has gotten most of the vintage details down on these guys, but a few things have strayed just a bit, and He-Man proved to be less successful in translation than Skeletor, Beastman, and Stratos. Overall, I find Duncan here to be about ¾ of the way between He-Man and the rest. He is more accurately depicted than the former, but his design isn’t as fun as say, Beastman’s, at this scale.
That’s not to say that he is any less accurately depicted than those guys. In fact, with the change in the feet of Stratos and Beastman, this figure is probably more accurate to the source material. In fact, I think Duncan and Zodac are the most successful in terms of exacting details. All of the armor and weaponry is faithfully rendered here, and let’s face it, the mace and asymmetrical outfit are Man-at-Arms’ most distinct features. Duncan has always had some of the very best armor in the MOTU-verse and it works at this scale as well, and all of the techno-bits and tubes have been preserved. The base body is, of course, the same as He-Man’s, and the cast military green color looks nice at this scale.
Now, I think the head sculpt is also a great scale-up job, and, for the most part, it is accurate. The helmet is cool and retains that nice light blue color that sets it off from the rest of the color palette. It is pretty cool that Duncan’s design and color scheme have gone on to influence the entire Eternian army, but the old master of weapons still wears it best. It’s funny, as a kid, I would have NEVER noticed that Duncan’s hair comes down out of the bottom of the helmet, but at this scale, it is easy to see. It is still painted blue, just like the original, and while it would have been VERY jarring to see it painted brown, I can’t help but wonder what it would look like.
Man-at-Arms’ mustache-less face keeps almost all of the features of the original, but it is here where two TINY details gives the figure a different look from the vintage. The facial structure is still the same and we get the pronounced jaw and high cheek bones coupled with the very serious look, but the eyes throw it off just a bit. The shape is good and brows are in place, but the black dots are much larger in relative comparison to the ’80s figure. I know, I know, that is very minor, but it is noticeable just enough to catch the eye. It doesn’t look bad at all, but if you are feeling something is different about this figure (aside from the scale, of course), that is probably what it is.
Oh, I did want to note that, for the first time, a card back in this line actually represents the original 8-back, so even though some of the characters are not represented in their original paintings, it is cool to see the band back together again.
Hey, I am really glad that Man-at-Arms has joined the Giants collection as he is definitely deserving. We are ¾ of the way through the 8-Back, so even though it might be a challenge, I want to see it done. ESPECIALLY Mer-Man. He is my all-time favorite MOTU character and so much of him is already done at this point, it would be a shame to miss out on him; he would look ever-so-cool at this scale. Teela might be a bigger challenge since she would have to be 100 percent unique in terms of tooling and parts, but it’s frikkin’ Teela — she deserves it. All of the Giants are still available at Matty Collector, so if you are behind in picking them up, head on over and get caught up.
*Thanks to the Giants at Mattel for sending MAA along for this feature, we appreciate it!
