I am sure by now that I do not have to remind you that I am a bigtime Mega Man fan, and while fully articulated figures are definitely my preference, I have to say, a marriage of Mega Man and the M.U.S.C.L.E. format is pretty damned chocolate and peanut butter.
I buy just about anything Mega Man-related (so long as it is based off of the classic series), so I have some pretty weird collectibles on my shelf. Super7 is really cruising with their nostalgia niche lines and licensed properties, so being a child of the 1980s myself, I have benefitted from several of their recent releases. I generally never miss a chance at new Mega Man merchandise, and since I have had, and been happy with, the Masters of the Universe M.U.S.C.L.E. figures for a long time, these new MM releases seemed like a natural fit.
Overall, I have to say that this set is much more of a mixed bag for me, where the MOTU stuff was pretty much a straight win. The character selection and variety is good (damn, but I FIEND for Robot Masters), but the quality of the materials used is not as good as what I have seen before. Since these are mini figures with no articulation or paint, and a throwback sculpting style, I tend to be more lenient in my nitpicks with them, but when I compare the plastic to the MOTU stuff, it is just not as good.
This first wave is divided into four packs, and at a very reasonable 6 bucks a pack, you can put the entire wave together for a pretty reasonable price. The group is divided as follows:
- Mega Man
- Ice Man
- Sniper Joe
- Mega Man (shooting)
- Fire Man
- Met
- Wily
- Guts Man
- Cut Man
- Dr. Light
- Bomb Man
- Elec Man
I find this to be a good division amongst the sets, and it is pretty well representative of the very first Mega Man game in terms of character selection. Funny enough, Yellow Devil is listed on the card back, so it seems as though he was originally planned in lieu of the second Mega Man, so it is kind of disappointing that he did not see release. After that, I think Roll is really the only one missing from this assortment that I would call “essential,” so I personally would have subbed out the Met or Sniper Joe for her, but I am not at all disappointed in getting those two.
Super7 gets points from with this assortment on character selection alone, and taking care of a single game, before moving to the next, or diving in with a scattershot in terms of characters. To me, that establishes a satisfying collection if this is the only assortment we will ever see, but at the same time sets up MMII as the next release with all of the associated Robot Masters included. So it is good work on the part of Super7 for a well-planned set, it speaks to my need for Masters, and my OCD to get a whole game set.
As far as the figures themselves, while I appreciate the sculpting style as a good combination for the overall aesthetic of the M.U.S.C.L.E. line, as well as appropriate for Mega Man art one would have found in the 1980s, the final quality it just not great. There is nothing wrong with the sculpts, but when you compare the material used for these against the MOTU set, this fall pretty short. These feel a lot more “gummy” to me, and thus a bit soft, and I worry about their durability over time. Additionally, these figures have a real sheen to them, and it works against the details (and makes them a real pain in the ass to photograph). I am not sure why this choice was made, as it has never been a trait of M.U.S.C.L.E. figures, even within Super7’s stable, but I REALLY wish the shininess was more on-par with what has come before, because these really stand out, but not really in a good way. Bummer.
Overall, I would say these figures are pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty good, but not great. If I weren’t such a Mega Man mark, I would probably be more disappointed, but even though the sheen and overall feel of the materials turns me off, I will still gladly add these to my MM collection, and hope for more assortments. I want to see a continued variety of Mega Man product on the market, so this execution is actually a good fit for the property, I just with the final product was bit better. If you want to add these to your collection, you can still do so at the Super7 Store.