Long waits for pre-orders can be a bit of a bummer as a collector, but they do have advantages. For one, you are guaranteed your stuff and you don’t have to fight scalpers and fellow collectors for that sweet plastic. Also, sometimes you forget you even ordered the darn things, so it can almost be like Christmas when they finally arrive. Well this week I had a Conan Ultimates Christmas courtesy of Super7, so let’s take a look at Pit Fighter Conan!
The packaging is very nice. The figures comes in one of those brown mailer boxes just like back in the MOTUC days. Ahh, MOTUC. I do miss that line sometimes. The mailer does a good job protecting the other box and while it goes straight to the recycling bin here, I do love the look of the black ink Conan symbol against the brown cardboard. The actual box has a sleeve over it that has a bit of a texture to it that makes the whole thing feel a bit like a leather bound tome.
Conan comes with good amount of stuff including an alternate portrait, a couple of swords, two bladed gauntlets, and two fist blades.
The bladed gauntlets have ton of beautiful detail with rivets and divots and all sorts of battle damage sculpted and highlighted with a ton of dark wash. Conan holds the things by a peg inserted on the inside and the sculpted straps don’t actually close. I think he uses this weapon when wearing a different outfit in the film, but it has been a while since I’ve seen the movie and I appreciate the extra weaponry options. The gauntlets do fight a bit against the sculpted, spiked wrist guards on the figure, but I was able to find a position I like.
The swords are also beautifully detailed and that detail is brought out well with a dark wash. They are two crucial swords to Conan’s tale, so while I don’t associate them with this particular look, they are really cool to have. I think the swords might be a little large for a realistic take on Conan, but I feel like the exaggerated proportions fit the larger than life style of the MOTUC figures. The wash works well with the gray plastic to give a metallic feel, though I have a couple spots on my Atlantean sword that is missing the wash and looks a little weird.
The fist blades are probably my favorite accessory of the bunch and have some sharp sculpting and I think the wash combines well with that metallic plastic to give the impression of real metal. They also just look wicked as hell.
The heads are a little tough to pop and swap, so I ended up heating them up just to be sure I didn’t break the neck peg. At first, I wasn’t a fan of this Conan portrait. I can definitely see Arnold in there and the screaming portrait does remind me of some of the funnier facial contortions he can go into during a fight scene, but it seemed a little soft from the online photos I saw. Part of that is that the glossiness of the plastic can hide some of the detail, but I also think this is not meant to be a completely realistic portrait. It’s slightly heightened and simplified to fit with MOTUC style and works for me on that level.
Sculpting is good with nice detail in the furry shirt, boots, and gauntlets. Of all the humans in the world, Arnold as Conan probably most fits the classic MOTUC base body best and this costume is one of the most MOTU-ish in the film so it feels especially appropriate.
Articulation is about what you expect from a MOTUC or Ultimates figure except he’s missing the boot swivel you usually see. The fur shirt overlay is fairly thick and renders the ab crunch useless and the fur diaper gets in the way of forward hip movement, so he’s a bit of a stiff poser.
Paint is good. After a lot recent Hasbro purchases with plain plastic weapons, I find that I’m really appreciating the washes on these weapons. It adds so much realism and brings out all that sculpted detail beautifully. The eyes on this figure threw me a little because they are somewhat simple and I have become so used to face printing lately, but what they did fits the MOTUC/Ultimates aesthetic.
Overall, I have my nitpicks about some of the more dated and hindered articulation, but this is a gorgeous figure in the MOTUC style and playing with him definitely got me humming that awesome Basil Poledouris Conan The Barbarian score, so I’m calling this a win.
