As last week was drifting into the weekend, we got a few news tidbits from Mattel. First was the update to tomorrow’s Mad Monday sale that we reported on previously and then came our first look at the biographies for the two MOTU Classics figures shipping in September: Leech & Hurricane Hordak.
Leech is the September Club Eternia Figure…
Leech – Evil Master of Power Suction, Real Name: K’ull’leusshhhh
A Slebetor Slug-man from deep in the Lake of Gnarl, Leech was called form the depths by a magic spell of Hordak to bolster his forces against King Grayskull and the Snake Men during the Great Wars. Mindwiped by Hordak’s lead witch, Leech became a loyal member of his Horde Army, using his magically enhanced energy-draining powers to suck enemies of their strength. He later played a key role in the Horde’s fight against the Great Rebellion after Hordak claimed Etheria as a new homeworld during their banishment in Despondos. When called upon in battle, Leech sucks the power from his enemies.
And Hurricane Hordak is the third 2011 A-list variant also shipping in September:
Hurricane Hordak – Ruthless Leader with Wicked Whirling Weapons, Real Name: Hec-Tor Kur
After being released from exile in Despondos by Evil-lyn, Hordak returned to Eternia with his ageless army to once again claim its hidden magical properties for his own. Finding his former pupil Skeletor on the throne following the apparent “death” of King Randor, Hordak upgraded his armor with a Hurricane Blaster which he used to challenge the Lord of Destruction and drive the Snake Men back into hibernation. After ripping through the walls of Snake Mountain, Hurricane Hordak casts off his battle shield and advances on Skeletor whirling his thunderball mace.
First off, it’s nice to get another round of bios where nothing is particularly objectionable. Vault would like me to mention that he finds Hordak brainwashing his henchmen rather lame. I do agree. More than a handful of the bios do reuse/recycle plot elements from other bios. Adam & Keldor coming across their cats in essentially the exact same way springs to mind. Also, it seems odd that Skeletor had so little trouble recruiting his minions while Hordak has now brainwashed two of three that we’ve learned about so far. It kinda throws a wrench into how badass Hordak is – where are his true believers?
On Hordak’s bio, I appreciate that the picture used for the cardback is actually him breaking into Snake Mountain. That’s funny. When Mattel released the images, they also announced that Hordak’s attachments are interchangeable with Roboto’s & Trap Jaw’s – I’m pretty excited about that, even if it’s probably a might silly. Mattel also mentioned that Hordak’s bio might raise more questions than it answered, but it doesn’t really elicit any that I can think of. It does sound as if Keldor ascended to the throne of Eternia instead of conquering it, but I don’t know if that’s intended or not. I guess we’ll see, as the answers to questions raised by the Hordak bio will be “coming soon”.
These bios have been added to our Sortable/Searchable Bio Page at MOTUClassics.Com. That page features an organized table of all the MOTU Classics bios with a nifty search feature. For example, if you type in “Zalesia”, the page will show you just the bios that mention the fabled city specifically. Go try it out!
I like the look of Leech. I’m happy that he comes with a fair amount of new tooling. The crossbow and net look cool as well. The face makes me laugh. For a second I thought his title was Evil Master of Power Seduction.
Hurricane Hordak looks okay. I’m disappointed that they used chrome instead of gold paint. I guess the new arm gets use a step closer to possibly getting filmation Horak.
Well call me Deb’bbeee D’ow’ww’wwn’er . . .
Not too impressed by ANY of the above. :/
I’m really feeling both bios where they both have some very important key hints & pointers in them. 1st with Hordak making a better armor & hurricane blaster to finally take out the Snake Men & reclaiming his Eternia back from Skeletor. That would have been 1 battle I would love to have seen. Bad part about it is how it mention the death of King Randor, so sad! 2nd in Leech’s bio it mentions that a Evil Horde witch has him under a spell-are they finally mentioning the 1 & only Shadow Weaver? These bios arte always Amazing!
Leech an Eternian native? Surprising to me. From the same Region where Vikor used to ride herd over The Fighting Foe Men? Interesting. I find myself wondering just how much he was altered (besides his mind) at the hands of that Horde Witch? I am envisioning a story similar to Odiphus/Stinkor, but that may just be me.
P.S.: Did Hordak get his “Hurricane Blaster” from the same place that Sy-Klone got his?
The high point of Leech’s bio is the witch made out of lead…
The high point of Leech’s toy is Leech… (I expect him to be lighter than BGTeela)
HurriHordak’s high points in everything: Weapons compatible with Trap Jaw, capeless hood thingie, “Filmation” arm cannon
I HATE VAC METAL!!
Not too terribly fond of Leech’s bio, and I was hoping for a more Filmation-looking head on him, but I’m still eagerly looking forward to these two. I’m also hoping that the carded Leech’s armband and shoulder pad have merely slipped, as opposed to being left off altogether for cost or “logistical” reasons.
However, I for one am thrilled to see more vac-metal in the line. But then, I’m easily distracted by bright, shiny objects. Mayhap for a He-Ro reissue, we’ll get him as he was meant to be? And I’m also hoping the trend will continue for Thunder Punch He-Man, Flying Fists He-Man, Terror Claws Skeletor, Jitsu, and all the other characters that had such treatment in the original line.
Heh, heh, heh. Shiny.