Greetings I come from the future to bring you a preview of the first figure in the 2015 Masters of the Universe Classics Club Eternia subscription, LIZARD MAN!
Well MOTU fans, as we head into 2015, we begin the wrap-up of the Classics line as we know it, and as promised, the year will bring us the balance of all of the MOTU and PoP characters from the vintage line. So, it is funny that we begin the year with a character that did not have a vintage figure and instead finds his origins in the classic Filmation He-Man cartoon. Personally, I have no problem with that as getting more Filmation characters in the line is a high priority for me in the coming years, and Lizard Man is one of the most appropriate choices from that corner to get a figure in the Classics line.
It’s true, now that we have been getting Filmation figures of the likes of Shadow Weaver, Fang Man and Sea Hawk, Lizard Man is arguably the heaviest hitter left on the list. Personally, I am thrilled to get him as he is the only Filmation-originating character that I consider to be a member of the Heroic Warriors faction. I consider that to be high esteem as it is the premier group for good on all of Eternia. Plus, Lizard Man was one of those few original characters that actually had multiple appearances on the show so, right away, that puts him ahead of many of the rest.
Now, this figure arrived on the austere day of Festivus and I am heading out of town today to celebrate the holidays with my family, but I wanted to get this up for everyone ASAP. So, because of the holiday rush, I am going to cover the main points of this figure and let the pictures do most of the talking. Now, I will be watching the comments section at the bottom of this page, so if you have any particular questions, please post and I will try to answer in a timely fashion.
So, first and foremost, the Four Horsemen, as usual, nailed the likeness on this guy. Lizard Man is very distinctive in appearance and he has a lot of new parts that help do his more slender frame justice. There is some reuse here, mostly from Modulok but all of the shared parts appropriate. It is a little shocking at first to have a figure that strays so far from the basic build of the Classics line, but it is really great to have a frame that is appropriate for Lizard Man. It makes me think of the possibilities for future use. The one thing that I am going to pick at though, is that this figure is TALL at full height and Lizard Man has always been portrayed as much shorter than the other Heroic Warriors. It doesn’t bother me too much, but I will be displaying him in a more crouching position to bring his verticality down a bit, but he looks better in that pose anyway. How much this plays to your aesthetic demands will vary, but the crouch is a good option to bring him to a more appropriate height.
The head sculpt is fantastic and captures Lizzy’s look in fine form. Something that speaks to that strength is that the likes is strong from all angles. From the side or straight on, the 4H really nailed it. Lizard Man’s jerkin is very unique and despite some past speculation, it is not an overly, it is all part of the sculpted torso. Now, that really limits the reuse possibilities for most of the figure, but it is always interesting to see where parts end up on figures down the road. The other part that is just great are Lizzy’s hands, I LOVE them. They are long and slender and appropriately webbed. The best part though is that Brandon from design had them cast in clear plastic, so the painted hand is opaque, but the webbed portions are nice and translucent. That is REALLY cool and I like seeing design start on the right foot in a new year.
Lizard Man also has an impressive tail, the likes of which we have not seen yet in the line. It is long and helps support him, especially in more action-oriented poses. Now, it is a separate piece from the bottom of the jerkin, but it is glued in and does not articulate or turn. I kind of wish it did, to be honest, but there are not a whole lot of options for the tail in other positions, so it is probably a wash. I will say, I will eat my hat if this tail is not reused when we get Saurod later in the year.
For the most part, Lizard Man’s articulation is good and it well engineered. All of his joints are nice and tight and you get a good range of movement in most places. The exception to this is in the ankles and that follows a precedent set with Tung Lashor back in November. The forward/backward movement is pretty limited and that is no rocker to the ankle at all. This leads to some poses that will feel less natural and that is kind of a shame since Lizard Man is an agile character that can crawl and climb. I hope design uses this a takeaway for future figures and gives us better movement in the ankles. Lizzy is also missing the ab crunch point, so that will limit some things, too, but we have known that point would be missing for a while now.
Finally, Lizard Man comes with two accessories, but neither are really meant for him and are more intended for Skeletor. The first is my favorite: the Diamond Ray of Disappearance and if you will remember this artifact was used by old Bone Brain in the the very first episode of the Masters show. I really love getting these Filmation pieces and this is big one, so I am glad it was included. The diamond itself glows in the dark, so that is nice touch and there are indentions in the bottom of the box so Skeletor can hold it properly.
The second accessory is Skeletor’s Filmation sword, so that coupled with the axe that came with Plundor completes the most famous pieces of his show arsenal. So, it is cool to get this sword and it is sculpted just perfectly, but I was really surprised with how long the blade is, it dwarfs just about any other sword in the line. The downside is that it does not have any paint applications so it is all a flat grey color. We have seen this before as a cost-cutting measure, but this will be a hot discussion item to be sure.
Whew! We are running down the home stretch now and 2015 will complete the vintage line and give us a 2016 that will be a bit unknown. There have been a lot changes over the years (Toy Guru recently departed), but Lizard Man is a great figure overall so he continues a positive tradition. Aside from the ankles and lack of paint on the sword, I think this is a very strong start to the year and I say bring us more and more from Filmation — there are a lot of really great characters to mine!
Remember, if you have anything specific, please ask below!
*Thanks for reading and thanks to the crew at Mattel for getting Lizard Man to us for a Holiday surprise, we really appreciate it!
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