Stats
Company: Mattel
Size: roughly 7.5"
Price: $20 at MattyCollector.com
Packaging: Carded
Looks: 5/5
This Mer-Man is one of the coolest-looking figures in the MOTUC line. The sculpt is fantastic. He comes with two heads, one designed after the classic figure and the other stylized after the illustrations on the back of the vintage cards, both of which capture the different looks perfectly. The body is the same as the Skeletor body, excepting the loin cloth, the hands, and the Mer-Gills around the neck; the latter two add some much-needed variety to the sculpt to differentiate the figure from Skeletor. The Mer-Gills look a little weird without the chest plate so I assume the figure is designed not to be nude.
Like the other MOTUC figures, the paint apps are fantastic. The head paint apps are sharp, with impressive precision in the teeth in particular. Spray apps on the body add volume and color variation to the figure. And a paint wash on the chest plate gives it some nice weathering. Speaking of the chest plate, it has a cool holster on the back for his sword.
Articulation: 4/5
Mer-Man has articulation similar to other MOTUC figures: swivel neck, ball shoulders, swivel biceps, hinge elbows, swivel wrists, hinge chest, swivel waist, ball hips, swivel thighs, hinge knees, swivel shins and hinge ankles. The main difference between this figure and other MOTUC figures is that the neck, while structured as a ball-in-socket joint, effectively moves as a swivel joint because of the Mer-Gills. Also, the chest plate's shoulder guards restrict arm movement a bit. But there's nothing too egregious here.
Accessories: 5/5
Mer-Man comes with a nifty staff, a classic G1 sword, and an extra head designed like the Mer-Man depicted on the vintage cardback. The "cardback" head is the coolest MOTUC accessory to date because you can drastically change the appearance of the figure. It's like having two figures for the price of one! The other accessories are cool, too... although for some reason, they skimped on the paint wash weathering on the sword. Still, I don't have any significant complaints.
Value: 3/5
It's still difficult to justify spending $20 on these MOTUC figures. Mer-Man is top-notch in terms of quality, with solid plastic and precise paint apps, and he comes with some great accessories, too. But even though this is a high-end collectible, $20 is a bit much. I'd be much happier at the $15 price point.
Coolness: 5/5
Of course Mer-Man would score high in this category. Although the 2002 Mer-Man was cool, I always felt that its design was too dramatic a shift away from the classic figure's design. This time, the Four Horsemen gave the fans the choice whether to display Mer-Man with the classic figure head or the classic cardback head. Finally, I can get a cool, updated version of the figure from my childhood!
Overall: 5/5
This is yet another fantastic showing for The Four Horsemen and Mattel. It's so awesome to get a figure that I loved so much as a kid redesigned into something new, yet familiar, utilizing current technology to update the figure with an incredible sculpt and wonderful paint apps. Okay, now that Mer-Man is out of the way, when can we expect Stinkor?
The Green Team!
Related Reviews:
MOTUC He-Man and Beastman
MOTUC Skeletor
MOTUC Faker
5 out of 5 - Simply incredible!
4 out of 5 - Pretty awesome!
3 out of 5 - Cool enough, I suppose.
2 out of 5 - Not quite good enough.
1 out of 5 - Pretty horrific!
0 out of 5 - No redeeming quality at all.
9 comments:
Wow I was legitimately grossed out by the baggy gills. I'd say it's a fair trade for lack of head articulation. I love your "tribute to green characters" group photo. I went back to your older figure reviews to see if this was a regular thing (matching the color scheme in the group photo). I've got a cool Willam Defoe "Platoon" figure that would have looked great with that shot!
My Mer-Man still hasn't arrived, but I'm hoping he'll show up tomorrow since I have the day off from work.
And I agree with Jason; the green toys shot looks great!
I really like your side-by-side with the vintage figures. Please continue!
Mer-Man was my favorite MOTU figure back in the day and as luck would have it, my dad got this idea that IT (not Skeletor, Snake Face, or Hordak) was too scary for me, so he threw the figure in the trash. When he found that doing that was not enough because I would rescue them when he wasn't looking, he started breaking them into bits. Of all the figures he did this to, most of them being TMNT or Rambo, this one pained me the most. Anyway, enough about all of that. This revamped version looks excellent! I'm not a big fan of the look of that second head, but it's a cool touch and it's neat that they give you the option. The classic Mer-Man looks puny next to this one!
I know I'm really late to the party (at the time of the original release I was not buying any MOTUC due to cost, but have now caved) but I just got my Mer-man along with Optikk, and he is awesome.
I absolutely love the green that they have used, and his colors are really what made me fall in love with the figure from my childhood. It seems on the rerelease they did not skimp on any paint. His body has a great wash to it, along with his armor, trident, and sword. I'm really excited because I just got the Aquaman/Black Manta two pack from Walmart a few weeks ago, and now have a new enemy for Aquaman to fight.
I am having a really hard time deciding which head to use for Mer-man. I really like both of them, and it is a struggle between what looks more aquatic, and what holds nostalgic memories. So, who are we going to get first: Stinkor or Mekaneck?
Stinkor was always one of my favorites because of the paint job, but Mekanek does have the incredible silver boots going for him.
Stinkor would be awesome! Since he would be just a repaint of this figure, he would be a good "companion" to the monthly figure. Maybe he could come with a spare head sculpted in the same style as the 200X Staction Figure. Also, Mattel has shown that they're willing to stink-up a figure since Moss Man had his trademark smell, so hopefully Stinkor will have his noxious odor, too.
Mekaneck is one of my most hated figures of all time, so I can't say I'd be all that thrilled if he was given the MOTUC treatment. :P
Yeah, I've always thought that Mekaneck is to MOTU what Cyclops is to X-men, mostly boring. I really did like the silver boots when I was a kid though. But since Stinkor is going to have his armor you know we can't have one without the other.
Mekaneck seemed to be made of a stiffer plastic than the other MOTU figs of the day. I used to switch everyone's arms around, and I tried this with Meka, but his shoulder socket busted off of his body.... So a number of years afterwords when I found him again, I simply took him outside, and shot him to pieces with my BB gun. :D From time to time when it rains, Mekaneck pieces still wash up out of the sand.
I know people hated him, but I have a feeling that if he were made, he would sell out sooo fast. There is just something so corny and repulsive about him, that he is bound to be a seller. :)
:D A fitting end for Mekaneck!
I agree that he would probably be a quick seller. He's one of the more distinctive MOTU figures and I'm sure most collectors would want one in their collections. Maybe I would get one, too... just to shoot him to pieces with a BB gun. Hey, it sounds like fun. ;)
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