Back to Eternia we go and we find ourselves in the deepest, darkest corners of the Dark Hemisphere to bring you a First Look at the brand new Shadow Beast, hitting Matty Collect on his new date in February. Rarely have Eternian Zoologists captured photographic evidence of this legendary beast, and never in such bright lighting. Our photographers have ventured into danger to bring you concrete evidence that the Shadow Beast is lurking, waiting for the command of Beast Man to attack the Palace Eternos, under the cover of darkness.
Originally slated to be released in January, the slip of the Palace Guards started a chain reaction and this beastie will now go on sale along with Bow just in time for Valentine’s Day. I have been pretty jazzed about this figure since he debuted as Shadow Beasts have been personal favorites of mine since the Filmation days. I always put them under the tutelage of Beastman, and the MYP cartoon reaffirmed their place. I still consider to be caged dogs for Beastman, but their bio is very interesting and I kind of like how they are unnatural entities created by Count Marzo.
For the most part, this figure makes great use of the Gygor body, in fact, I think it works even better for the Shadow Beast. The coloration has a lot to do with it as the beasts are obviously not the garish lemon-lime color but the build just great for them too, for me anyway. I especially like the hand and feet sculpts, they are very detailed as well as functional – the SB can easily hold his club as well as any Master he fancies to crush.
Then there is the head sculpt. I know. I mentioned the studio that produced MY He-Man cartoon back in the 1980s, and currently, Mattel does not have the license to produce figures from that show (hopefully that will change sooner than later). However, without being completely overt about it, this is the Shadow Beast I have always wanted and the horn and facial fur in the sculpt are what really make it. In fact, this is my favorite large-scale beast in the MOTUC line since Battle Cat almost a year ago.
He also comes with his very scary and very heavy club. the detail in both paint and sculpt is top notch on this baby and the little “nails” used to hold in the spikes are even painted a copper color to contrast with the steel blue spikes. I think it is a great accessory, but I am not sure if my Shadow Beasts need a club; I think they can pretty much rip apart any Eternian Guard they lay their mitts on.
Yah, I am going to need a couple more of these guys as I see them as traveling in packs of three. I think my alpha beast will carry the club and the other two will simply follow. I HOPE I can get about 5 of the guards pack in January, then hopefully two more of these in February. Then Panthor is in March. Whew. My wallet is ready for a mutiny but I love it. I really think that 2011 is going to be a crazy year for MOTUC and the Shadow Beasts help to lead the charge.
*Thanks to Mattel’s resident Beast Master, Toy Guru, for sending this denizen along, we really appreciate it. Stay tuned for more, the greasted hero the world has ever seen is up next.
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