Whew, okay, so while we were down to the wire to bring you the previews of Buzz Saw Hordak and the Heads of Eternia Pack, we are caught up for the month of August, and we can roll right into the future. So what does our future hold? Would you be frightened if I told you it was populated by giant albino ape-like creatures with claws that would make Freddy Kruger blush? How about if it was a more savage take on the Bumble from the classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer special? Well, get ready because it is BOTH! Yep, King Chooblah, better known as the Kulatak Elder, is up as the September figure for the Club 200X subscription, and he is a BEAST. So if you had designs on making fun of the name “Chooblah,” you should probably reconsider.
We have been moving full-steam ahead with the Club 200X, and three figures in, we have gotten a giant stone Golem, an evil plant man, and now kind (but dangerous) abominable snowman, so if that not variety, I don’t know what is. Plus, we still have a lizard dude, bird queen lady, and purple goat demon-man coming before the end of the year, so even halfway through, we have just gotten started. That wild diversity is one of the greatest points about the Masters of the Universe property, and even now, so many years into the Classics line, we can support an add-on subscription of this ragtag bunch with nary a whisper of He-Man or Skeletor. By now, our collections are getting insane, and that variety makes it all the better.
While I was definitely looking forward to Callix, Ceratus, and Veena in this subscription, King Chooblah here is really the surprise winner for me because somehow, some way, the Four Horsemen have taken a very not Classics-compatible form and have retained all of its uniqueness by building it on a Classics base and doing some slight adjustments to make it match the aesthetic pretty well. Now, I do have to say that, by and large, the 200X figures in this line have had the least amount of adjustment to their looks (at least what needed to be brought with new parts), so I feel there have been varying degrees of success with their overall translation. So while I think Dekker and Carnivus are adapted well, Count Marzo still sticks out like a sore thumb to me. I think King Chooblah here falls somewhere in between those two extremes in that, while he could have been “Classicized” a bit more, he still fits in really well with the rest of the collection.
Known only as the Kulatak Elder until this Classics canon rolled around, Chooblah is the leader of a massive clan of snow yeti-types who live in the northernmost stretches of Etenia and have a mine of precious metals. Of course, you would know that Skeletor wants to get his mitts on it, so the primary feature episode for the Kutalaks revolves around Stratos dealing with Trap Jaw and that drama. Eventually, Chooblah becomes a member of King Randor’s Royal Council, and it seems as though there is a theme running in this line to try to finish off the main members. You won’t get any objections from me on that.
There is a lot going on with this figure from a construction standpoint, and I think Chooblah represents the pinnacle of mixing existing parts with new to get something special. See, for the most part, he is actually built on the Beast Man frame. No, really, he is! His chest, shoulders, biceps, thighs, and shins are all carryovers from figures we have seen multiple times in this line. The Horsemen just did a brilliant job of incorporating them into a figure that has some rather distinct new additions.
While his head and fur collar add a lot bulk to the figure, the collar is simply a massive overlay that can be slipped right off, and the head is, well, just a new head sculpt. It is very nice and highly detailed so it captures the calm, yet dangerous essence of the character well. The head is in two pieces, the main cranium section and the “beard” that is made of a softer plastic. This works great for posing options, but it does leave a bit of a seam across the jaw line that is exacerbated by these large pictures. At actual size, though, it is hardly noticeable.
Now, the big additions to this figure are his MASSIVE forearms and “hind” legs. I say “hind legs” because they are configured more like a quadruped, which is a cool detail because I can see that the Kulataks have evolved and are just starting to walk on two legs. This is a portion that I thought would be eliminated for sure due to the parts and engineering needs, but, as is the case with Lord Dactys, the Horsemen simply made his knees bend to accommodate the lower portion, and the traditional ankle section is now higher up. So, not only does this make him very source-accurate, it also adds a lot of height as well as shape diversity. Now, I know what you were thinking because I thought the same thing — there is no way he is going to balance well or stand on his own without a lot careful posing, right? Nope, he stands perfectly fine and has great balance, so color me well impressed and a little surprised.
As for the arms . . . the arms are pretty cool, and, at the same time, kind of ridiculous. I don’t mean ridiculous as a completely negative connotation, it’s just that they are really, really massive. I know, I know, they are certainly source-accurate, but in a line where proportions are often blown, well, out of proportion, these arms are insane. They are about 1.5 times as long as the standard MOTUC forearm and are at least twice the diameter. I mean, no one, not even He-Man would want to get into an arm wrestling contest with this guy, and Popeye has been completely emasculated. Now, even though the arm are big, the engineering in the elbows is great, so the joints are tight enough for him to hold his poses. Chooblah also has giant paws with built-in wrist articulation. He is able to hold his staff (the only accessory) well, and you do get a bit of back-and-forth movement thanks to the wrist joint, but not a ton.
Overall, I think Chooblah makes for a great addition to the Club 200X and the MOTUC line in general. I realize he is not the most well-known character out there, but that is where we are in this line, and he makes for another important addition to Randor’s council. Ceratus, the lord of the Caligars follows along in October, so that will be another leader to help strengthen your Eternian alliances. I am willing to be a lot of people are going to be into this figure, so if you are not a Club 200X member, but sure to be at Matty Collector on September 15 to pick up your copy.
*Thanks to Mattel for sending along this figure for preview and thanks for reading!
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