At Toy Fair 2015, Mattel announced that the Masters of the Universe MOTU Giants line would be continuing in the new year. Keeping up with the “8-Back” theme, Zodac and Man-at-Arms are next up in the line with the mysterious Cosmic Enforcer leading the way in March.
I realize there has been an appropriate amount of hullaballoo being bandied about for your 200X Classics subscriptions, Point Dreads, and Filmation Teelas, but the biggest news (in terms of size) is that Mattel is standing behind the Giants line, so my hope for the original eight characters in this format remains alive. The first four figures in the line (He-Man, Skeletor, Beastman, and Stratos) shipped in consecutive months at the end of last year, but it looks like the release pattern is changing in 2015 and, from what I can gather, we are moving to a quarterly slate. Zodac was announced for this month and Man-at-Arms will be coming this summer, and I think this is a smarter schedule for this line. For one, it would give us a full year of figures with an announcement of two more at Comic Con, and given the more expensive $75.00 price tag, it allows collectors some breathing room between figures.
So, while I was expecting to see Man-at-Arms at Toy Fair if they were going to continue the Giants line, if not for the little tease Toy Guru gave us a couple of months ago, I would have been a bit surprised by the inclusion of Zodac. Not that I don’t think he should be in this line (he totally should), but perceived popularity (and my own personal bias) seems more in line to dictate that Mer-Man would be the next figure up, but I will continue to wait on that one. In the meantime, Zodac is the 5th entry to the line and I actually find him to be one of the most faithful recreations yet.
Ah, Zodac – the most mysterious of the original “8-Back” figures and the oft-times difficult to place amongst the rest of the mythos. Sure, MOTU Classics continuity has attempted to give him a story and make the Cosmic Enforcers into a Green Lantern-esque organization, but I almost like to leave him as he was, even before appearing briefly in the Filmation cartoon. Sure, there is a lot to like about his updated mythos and it has expanded his role and given us the chance to have both him and Zodak (that’s with a “K”) in the same universe, but there is just something simple and appealing about the guy that started off as the “EVIL Cosmic Enforcer,” even though that characterization changed quickly in the line. Yep, he was the fourth bad guy to balance out He-Man, Man-at-Arms, Teela, and Stratos when this line was just beginning. So, while meeting people whose favorite MOTU character is Zodac is rare, he is as tenured as anyone in the history.
Like I said, I think this figure is one of the best offerings the Giants line has had to date, and it actually goes back to his strange construction from the vintage line. As you can see, Zodac is essentially a combination of parts from a couple of different base bodies. See, Skeletor and Mer-Man were essentially the same, as were Beast Man and Stratos and He-Man and Man-at-Arms (Teela was, of course wholly unique at the time). Zodac though, he takes the classic furry shorts along with Skeletor’s arms and legs and Beast Man’s chest – that makes him a hodgepodge and thus, a build that remained unique through the entirety of the vintage line. If you think about it, that is pretty crazy given so many bases were shared, but the Zodac “formula” is only his. There are no MOTU figures like Zodac, only Zodac.
Of course, this Giants figure follows the same build pattern (only bigger) and that give the figure a chance to take advantage of some of the better parts in the line. The hairy chest is solid in terms of recreation and I find the Skeletor arms and legs to be the best of appendage bunch, too. So really, if the head and chest armor were handled well, the figure would be all set and fortunately, I think they were. Zodac’s mysterious Cosmic Enforcer helmet is pretty unmistakable, and it looks good at this scale. It still does not offer any insight as to what he might look like underneath there (it is not removable or anything), but all of the details were recreated well. His vest good too and it is a kick to see those little bullets (for his blaster) blown up here. The reddish-orange color used for the chest armor and helmet are definitely closer to the vintage shade than the Classics coloration as you can hopefully see.
Finally, Zodac comes packaged in the same oversized blister as his predecessors, but the art work on the back is slightly different. Admittedly, I have not even opened my Skeletor and He-Man yet, but I remember Toy Guru mentioning that all of the vintage watercolors could not be found to feature on the card back, but it looks like Mattel has gone in and recreated some of them. Guys like Mer-Man and Man-at-Arms are original, but unless I am mistaken, I believe the He-Man art is all-new. Just something I noticed.
If you are into the Giants line, Zodac will make a worthy addition to your collection. While there is no subscription offered for this year, we know that Man-at-Arms is (at least) coming in the summer, so I REALLY hope that they will be able to get around to Mer-Man as well. Teela might be more a challenge due to her unique parts, but getting the entire “8-Back” at this scale would be a trip for sure. Zodac goes on-sale March 16th at Matty Collector.
*Thanks for reading and thanks to Mattel for sending this sample along for review.
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