If you’ve doubted that MOTU Classics was hot, if you’ve dismissed the clamor each month as hype, if you’ve wondered what the fuss is about when the figures roll in a week later, I give you Optikk. Optikk is from a corner of the MOTUverse that few fans care for, a character that even we at IAT had little more than a passing awareness of last year, and a guy that might have trouble getting some respect. Until now. Because in MOTU Classics, even a guy like Optikk blows out in fifteen minutes.
As I said above, I wasn’t familiar with Optikk until early this year. Optikk appeared only in The New Adventures of He-Man canon until his inclusion in MOTU Classics. In New Adventures, Optikk served as the pilot for Flogg’s Mutant Mothership. From the episodes I’ve seen, Optikk seems to rarely do much aside from piloting the ship. I guess he prefers to stay out of the major fighting. I would too if I had a giant eyeball for a noggin. It may as well be a bullseye. His new bio, which basically just borrowed from his original bio verbatim, doesn’t tell us much about the man behind the eye either. It just us gives a place of origin (the foggy polar region of Denebria) and lets us know that he’s a good spy because of his giant eye. Wait, is that a stereotype?
Optikk is an engineering marvel. I say this because he’s almost entirely made of Trap Jaw parts. His only unique pieces are the three pieces of armor on his torso and his noggin. Despite that heavy reuse*, this guy is a great update of the classic toy that didn’t use any of those parts. I don’t know about you, but I find that impressive, even for 4H work.
* – We’ll see his armored underwear again with Man-E-Faces & Roboto.
Some of the details on the arms and legs might not match exactly, but the gist is there. The armor is excellent and detailed appropriately – rivets, wires, piping, and best of all, a vestigial thumbwheel. The upper armor is separated into two pieces, a small belt-like piece that covers the ab-crunch and then the large piece that builds up around the neck and appears to cradle the eyeball. In reality, the eyeball is attached like any other head to the generic buck torso underneath. Yep, Optikk has nipples. Who knew?
The two included eyeballs are hit and miss. I love that the irises are separate and molded in translucent plastic. The only drawback to this approach is that the eyes have visible air bubbles in the plastic. Most of them are behind the painted red parts of the eye, but we at IAT did receive one with a giant bubble in the middle of the eye.
The rest of the eye is a smooth, unforgiving white. I like the smooth look, but I would’ve liked to see something else done here too. The white paint shows every flaw: dents, dings, extra paint layers, mold lines, etc. A little texture to help disguise those flaws might have been in order, but from a distance the eye does look smooth and “toyish” like it should.
Articulation is mostly what we’ve come to expect from MOTU Classics despite the bulky armor. The arms and legs work well (the arms are also removable a la Trap Jaw). The ab crunch is restricted a bit by the armor that hides it, but it still has some range left to it. Another nice surprise was that the eyeball is shallow enough to have some good range! He can look slightly up and slightly down. There’s not much side-to-side tilt, but you wouldn’t be able to notice if the head was tilted anyway. Continue to Page 2…
Love the pink eye picture. Funny stuff.
Thanks! I have to admit that I made those eyes a little more pink than Mattel did, but it was in the name of entertainment!
Fun review! I don’t totally get him taking the other character’s head though.
Honestly, I don’t get it either. 😉
I just couldn’t bring myself to buy Optikk. I think he jsut sticks out like a sore thumb.
In a line rife with Robots, Skunks, Elephants, and everything else you think a giant Eyeball Sticks out?
Coulda been worse, the NA folks could have created Nostros – Heroic Olfactory Warrior and we’d have a figure with a giant nose for head.
Great pics!
HEAD SWAP!!!!
First you take a MOTU Classics figure’s head and you put it on another MOTU Classics figure’s body. That’s how you do the Head Swap, MOTU Classics Head Swap!
Man, I’m gonna have that song stuck in my head all day.
That skit is so dumb. :p
He’s pretty decent for a figure I have no attachment to, but mine has ankles that are so loose he can barely stand properly.
I was worried about the ankles. I forgot to check in with the guys when they took theirs home and poll them on that particular point.
I liked the picture with the 3D glasses. This was great.
That was one of the few I planned ahead for. I almost couldn’t find them…
Hey Noisy, here’s the 4H comment on the shield you were searching for, reply to Toygiant’s post:
http://www.fantasticexclusive.com/fforum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3898&whichpage=3
D’oh!!!
Sorry, it’s actually the red text on WENDIGO’s post.
Thanks! It’s always so hard to find their stuff when it’s another person’s post. LOL Great job!
I like it – great review. Can’t wait for him to get here.
Thanks!
He looks like a lot of fun. I skipped on all Matty items this month. Optikk just wasn’t in the budget, although I thought he’d make a great display item. I’m really looking forward to seeing what they do with his mold.
Awesome comics, as usual!
I’m a subscriber, so they come whether I have the money or not. LOL
Tytus barely squeaked by this month… whew…
Glad you liked the comics!
I love seeing him chill out with the rest of the gang. Those almost qualify for political cartoons don’t they?
Fun review as usual!
LOL. He’s part of the team… like it or not. 😉
he looks great… just waiting on him to arrive…
Who knew you were a day away?
Mine got here today, but I couldn’t get to my apartment office before they closed. I know what I’m going to do first thing in the morning, though.
Get out of bed?
Oh, I get ya… 😉
Good stuff, noisy. I think the only problems I really had with him is the overbearing gold look and that he doesn’t quite hold his gun well. Otherwise very cool figure.
Yeah, I couldn’t decide where to put the gun, both hands have draw backs.
And he is almost “too” gold. In the cartoons I’ve watched so far, he’s got black armor, so I’m not even sure why the old toy was gold.
Wow, Noisy…
I really don’t go in for toy reviews much, but your reviews and pics really break the mold. Great stuff, Sir.
This is the first MOTUC fig. my kids have actually gone for! He’s definitely an army builder for us! And a great foil for Iron Man!
Thanks, SD!
Glad to hear your kids are on board for a MOTUC! I tell you what, if you’ve got a spare Man-At-Arms laying around – put the orange eye ball on him. I almost wish I kept my extra to have one like that all the time. LOL
I’d just want Optikk’s eye ball part as a gag at work. They’re a lot of idiots that traffic through my desk area and it would keep them away.
Come to think of it, maybe I should get a Moss Man (unflocked) since the scent would be so strong it would keep those morons at bay. It would also help on the train to keep idiots from sitting next to me.
Bring on Stinkor then! 🙂
LOL. I do wish you could turn his head with the vestigial thumbwheel. That’d be cool.
I think Stinkor will be the way to solve your problem! 😉
I didnt bought Optikk because I gonna buy Keldor next month yea he looks cooler than Optikk.But more and more I see Optikk I kinda want him to my Motuc collection but mayde later I gonna get him.
Optikk is by far my favourite MOTUC so far, he really really is very cool! Retro gun is cool, has a massive robot feel about him but kinda quirky and very sci-fi in a classic way.
Definitely looking forward to the rest of the space mutants!