I’m late, I’m late, I’m LATE! My most sincere apologies for being a little behind with this First Look. I know a few subscribers actually have their December figures in hand already, but I wanted to make every effort to get this article posted prior to the start of the sale. Unless Father Time has lied to me, that means I have less than two hours to make it happen. Thus, this going to be short and sweet, especially in the words department, but there will still be lots and lots of pictures to peruse. The most annoying pest of the Evil Horde finishes up the December MOTUC crew and Mosquitor will be forever on your shelf, buzzing and blood-sucking for all time.
Like I said, this going to be short. Mosquitor kind of holds a dubious distinction in my own mind as being my least favorite of all the Horde figures when I was kid. The Horde was the only vintage faction in which I owned every character, and, for some reason, Mosquitor just did not do all that much for me. Sure, the “blood sucking” feature was cool, but I have such a soft spot for the five original Horde members that she just could not compete with them, and Dragstor offered hours and hours of amusement with this ripcord and action feature that kind of put this insectoid at a disadvantage. Plus, as a character, Mosquitor never really had any back story or characterization since she never appeared in any media, so when I was making up cool stuff for the Horde that needed some imagination, Dragstor got all of the cool pieces.
I do know, however, that Mosquitor does have her share of fans out there, so I would certainly not want to sell her short, and as far as I am concerned, it is always great to get another female character in this line. She — wait, what? Yes, I know I keep calling Mosquitor a she. Mosquitor is obviously based off a MOSQUITO, right? Right. We all know that only FEMALE mosquitoes do the blood-sucking, right? Males enjoy nectar and the like, so that would not be very threatening for a Horde Member, right? So there is no real question that Mosquitor joins Catra and Shadow Weaver as one of the First Ladies of the Evil Horde, right? We good? Yeah? I will admit, Mosquitor is certainly buff, but I think that is great that MOTU can offer that kind of appearance and characterization for a female, diversity is very important. We didn’t just murder your childhood, did we? Good!
It’s good that we did not because, as a figure, Moquitor is actually pretty strong. While, for me personally, she kind of gets lost in the fray of Granamyr and Procrustus, but for a vintage figure that had a ton of new tooling, the Classics rendition is pretty spot-on faithful. There is certainly nothing wrong with this figure that I can tell, all of the new pieces are there and they are assembled just fine, but I guess I just prefer a giant rock god in terms cool characters. I do like that she has the vintage boots and feet, and there is some good use of the King Hssss shoulders (I thought they would go new here) so, all in all, she is a good Classics update.
Personally, I think that the head sculpt is the most important aspect to just about any action figure, and, as usual, the Four Horsemen nailed it and the look retains that strange kind of organic, kind of mechanical feel to it. That combination has become so synonymous with what the Horde is, so I am glad it has been escalated in this figure. So, since the head sculpt is strong, I am sure most of the conversation about the figure will fall to the chest harness as that is where the vintage “action feature” is recreated and the newly-added insect legs are attached.
Since an (admittedly) cool action feature like dripping blood in the chest cavity would have stymied articulation in the figure, I don’t think it came as a surprise that feature would be dropped in Classics in lieu of a visual “recreation.” There was a lot of speculation about that prior to the figure’s full reveal at SDCC, but it looks like the most simple solution won out, and I think it is rather effective. The blood chamber wall is cast in a translucent red plastic so it looks like Mosquitor just finished gorging on her latest victim. The effect makes it look “full” so there is no dripping effect to this figure which some might be disappointed in. Personally, I think it looks really and though there are certainly no bells and whistles to it, it is convincing.
The chest harness also includes those little insect legs that we have seen added to Buzz-Off and Webstor. I will be the first to admit that I was not hot on them being on those two figures and personally, I think they are even less effective here. Yes, they add more visual contrast to the figure, but since Mosquitor is so unique to begin with, I am not sure those embellishments do too much for the effect. I will personally be keeping them folded down and out of sight so I am glad the posing option is at least there. I think it could have been really cool to have gotten a pair of the Buzz-Off wings instead, cast in a nice translucent red plastic. Personally, I think that would have added a more interesting look, but that is just Monday morning quarterbacking on my part. Who knows, maybe we could see them in a weapons pak, but I have been saying that a lot lately. I do want to note that some of the newer pieces, like the shorts, forearms and hands are certainly made of a softer plastic than some of the more recent figures. They don’t feel particularly “rubbery” on this sample, but I have a small amount of concern for the elbow and wrist joints, get them moving with care, especially at first.
The Horde continues to expand and multiply on your shelf, and Mosquitor is a vintage stalwart that will help bolster the ranks and close out the 30th anniversary in style. With Octavia coming in the next few months, the Empire is threatening to take over in terms of strength in numbers, but I hope that Mantenna is getting close too. For a vintage update, you are going to get everything you remember about Mosquitor with all of the modern updates and embellishments. She can stalk the Rebellion and feast on Etherian peasants alike, but it is a good thing that Ibentmyman-thing made a custom flyswatter attachment for my Trap Jaw figure — she won’t be stalking Snake Mountain. Enjoy her and I hope you wont be able to shake the image of Mosquitor being revealed as a female! 😉 And I hope my poor pal Pixel Dan’s head didn’t explode.
*Thanks to Toy Guru and his Horde of MOTU minions for making this First Look possible. Even though 2012 is about to wrap, we have new years goodies still coming, so stay tuned!
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