{"id":11428,"date":"2011-01-31T02:49:29","date_gmt":"2011-01-31T08:49:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=11428"},"modified":"2011-02-01T22:12:11","modified_gmt":"2011-02-02T04:12:11","slug":"motuclassics-com-eternian-palace-guards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=11428","title":{"rendered":"MOTUClassics.Com:
Eternian Palace Guards Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a> Armybuilders are a funny thing. We’re so willing to buy multiples of nameless guys despite wanting only one of our favorite characters. And it certainly baffles toy companies, doesn’t it? Mattel recently took a chance on armybuilding with their Eternian Palace Guards 2pk. Of course, I just had to buy two. <\/p>\n

I’m all for army builders, so I was happy to hear that Mattel was going to start incorporating them into the MOTU line (even though space on my toy shelf is at a premium), but what really sold me on this set was the ability to differentiate the figures with four heads and four chest plates to split between the two figures. MOTU Classics has already incorporated swappable heads an removable armor across the board and the idea for interchangeable armor plates is borrowed from the Battle Armor figures, but getting all of this in one two-pack made for an impressive set.<\/p>\n

But before you think I’m lavishing too much praise on the set, it’s more for the planning than it is the execution. In a couple instances, I found myself wishing things were done a little differently or that Mattel had been willing to take things a step further.<\/p>\n

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In each pack, there are two normal\/human heads (one modeled after Toy Guru), a snakeman head, and a Qadian (cat) head.<\/p>\n

The Toy Guru, or Lt. Spector, head features some nice sculpt work from the Four Horsemen – it looks so much like TG that I wish I had a pair of glasses to give him! The other \u201chuman\u201d head features a black character (some speculate a young Clamp Champ) and is probably my favorite of the four. I don’t know what it is, but the simple face sculpt has a very MOTU feel and he’s the most likely to snag the lieutenant armor in my display.<\/p>\n

The snakeman head is well done, if a little odd. As snakeman doesn’t necessarily belong in the royal guard, but I’m going to accept him into my ranks on good faith (thought it could be said it’s a “snakemanified” version of Man-At-Arms). The snakeman does look a little sad and you’ll see that he ends up getting picked on a bit in the photos. Finally, there’s the Qadian head. I like it well enough, but I’m going to use that one to segue into talking more about how I wanted this set to have some more customization opportunites built-in.<\/p>\n

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On the left in the photo below, you have a quick custom by Vault, simply achieved by heating up and switching the hands and feet from a Chief Carnivus figure. I understand the needs of having an army be uniform in appearance, but I’d love to see MOTU Classics build on their swappable heads and try out a few more swappable pieces like feet, boots, hands, etc. Clearly, Vault’s already swapping the compatible parts, but it requires a bit more work at the moment. Being able to more easily \u201cbuild\u201d some new characters, like my Caligar Guard on the right will only help MOTU continue to be the little line that can. While I really enjoy this set, I hope that the future armybuilding two-packs will feature even more built-in customizable pieces.<\/p>\n

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The other main interchangeable feature is the 4 chest plates: an eagle\/lieutenant armor, lined armor, and then lined armor that\u2019s been damaged with one hit and two hits – a call back to Battle Armor He-Man. I love that they were included, but I wish the set included one more undamaged chest plate. Ideally, I’d like to have my four figures be one lieutenant and three guys with unblemished armor, but that’s not possible. I love that we can armybuild, but if we don’t want to use the battle damaged plates, then half our squad will always be lieutenants. <\/p>\n

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The base figure itself is entirely reused \u2013 a standard buck with Tri-Klops forearms and Keldor boots, but it serves the figure just fine. A side note here is that the figures were displayed at SDCC with the fur\/leather He-Man boots (like MAA) and the armor over those while the packaging featured just the unarmored Keldor boots. The final figure ended up with the Keldor boots and<\/em> the leg armor. This is cool, but it\u2019s somewhat of an odd fit with the left leg armor always riding up a bit over the bulk of the boot.<\/p>\n

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Other than the aforementioned heads, the new sculpts are really all about the gear. Man-At-Arm\u2019s leg and arm armor is reused while new mirrored armor completes the look on the right side. It mostly works, but there are some minor issues in addition to the odd fit on the legs. The bulk of the arm armor and the bulk of the chest armor leave all the guards with their arms sticking out more than I\u2019d like (\u201cwhich way to the gym?\u201d) and the forearm piece tends to want to slide off and\/or interfere with the accessories. Finally, and this is a minor nitpick to be sure, but the latches on the new armor are in different places from the MAA pieces. It just looks odd. I know that was a bunch of “quick hit” criticism, but I do like the armor, I just wish it had been a little differently. Continue to Page 2…<\/a><\/p>\n

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The chest armor and the inserts are nicely done. Like the other pieces of armor, they look great, but have some functional issues. The aforementioned bulk is one, but mainly it\u2019s that the material used feels delicate. Like Battle Armor He-Man, the clips feel weak and I don\u2019t really want to reach in there all that often and swap the plates because of it. I haven’t had any breaks, but it does feel like I need to handle it with care. This concern is somewhat validated by the white stress lines that are already<\/em> on the backpack clips just from carefully storing the accessories on their backs one time. <\/p>\n

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The paintwork was decent across the set. Toy Guru did end up with the “looking up” syndrome that’s been affecting DC figures of late, but it’s not as pronounced here. The other heads all had great apps.<\/p>\n

The bodies feature minimal paint apps so there’s not much room for error (the belts were the only area where there was any slop worth mentioning). The metallic highlights on the armor are crisp throughout and really sell the sculpt. One area where I did have an issue with the paint was the accessories. <\/p>\n

The two shields are easily my least favorite accessories in the set. They\u2019re spot-on models for the Stinkor\/Weapons Rack shields of yesteryear, but 1) they don\u2019t really fit on the figures well because of the armor and 2) they\u2019re molded blue and painted silver. This looks<\/em> great, but all of the right forearm pieces have some silver paint that has rubbed off from the shield.<\/p>\n

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In addition the the heads, chest plates and shields, each set includes 2 halberds, a mace, an axe, and 2 mouth guards. The pile of gear on my desk from just two sets was rather ridiculous! The halberds are my weapon of choice – you simply can’t block a door unless you’ve got two guys with halberds manning the entrance, but I appreciate the other accessories too. The mace replaces the underwhelming silver Moss Man mace from the first weapon pack, and the axe is a redeco of the one that came with Buzz-Off. We’ll be seeing all these accessories again here in April’s Weapons Rack, though some may (thankfully) be in different decos. The other accessory, the mouth guard, is also a welcome addition for two big reasons.<\/p>\n

First, the face guard captures the classic look of the Palace Guards when you snap it into the helmet. It’s cool to have it for just that reason, but it also means that you’re not limited by having a half dozen Toy Guru guards. Simply cover up their faces with the \u201cfull\u201d helmet and you can let your palace army get rather ridiculous in numbers without looking ridiculous (though it’d be nice to have extra undamaged chest plates for all those guys, wouldn’t it?)<\/p>\n

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Overall, this set is pretty well done for Mattel’s first stab at a MOTU armybuilding set. The extra heads easily got me to pick up two sets and the customizable armor is a nice touch*. The four head sculpts are terrific and the figures overall are spot-on for palace guards. They look great surrounding Randor & Adam, being led into battle by Duncan, or just standing in front of a door with their halberds crossed. I hope that Mattel builds on what they’ve started and this year’s upcoming 2pk, whatever it is, will give us the chance to create even more unique characters. I’ve already agreed to buy two of ’em via my sub, but I’d happily pick up some extra sets if the swappable parts will stretch the roster beyond four figures.<\/p>\n

* – I’d like Mattel to toss one more unblemished armor into a future weapons pack which would solve the issue of having an extra lieutenant or damaged armor, but is anyone here up for them tossing in a set of the right arm and leg armor in for Man-At-Arms? He looks odd leading his men into battle with only half as much gear on.<\/em><\/p>\n

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For more MOTU reviews, check out our
MOTU Classics Collector’s Guide<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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<\/center><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Armybuilders are a funny thing. We’re so willing to buy multiples of nameless guys despite wanting only one of our favorite characters. And it certainly baffles toy companies, doesn’t it? Mattel recently took a chance on armybuilding with their Eternian Palace Guards 2pk. Of course, I just had to buy two. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":11431,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[7,34,10],"tags":[876,877,20,2558],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.itsalltrue.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/speTN.jpg?fit=50%2C50","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pObc6-2Yk","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9544,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=9544","url_meta":{"origin":11428,"position":0},"title":"Mattel reveals Buzz-Off’s Bio + Notes on Upcoming Figures","date":"September 27, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"At SDCC, Mattel revealed all the MOTU Classics bios through November, so we haven't had many updates coming through Facebook lately. But, time marches on and Mattel had a few updates for us over the weekend - Buzz-Off's bio and an updates on Grizzlor, the Palace Guards, and Battle Armor\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Matty on Facebook"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6725,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=6725","url_meta":{"origin":11428,"position":1},"title":"8 Things… Mattel should do for MOTU Classics","date":"June 25, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Every month Mattel unleashes another MOTU Classics figure and every month it sells out within minutes. Collectors seems to love this line. It\u2019s hard not to - classically styled versions of the inhabitants of Eternia rendered by the Four Horsemen. These figures are the perfect mix of nostalgia and modern\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8 Things..."","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":404,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=404","url_meta":{"origin":11428,"position":2},"title":"MOTUClassics.Com: Man-At-Arms Review","date":"July 22, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "MOTUClassics"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19069,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=19069","url_meta":{"origin":11428,"position":3},"title":"First Look at Spikor& Sir Laser-Lot in Package","date":"June 12, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Mattel revealed two more MOTU Classics Bios yesterday with packaging reveals for July\u2019s Spikor and August\u2019s Sir Laser-Lot. Spikor gave Mattel an interesting opportunity to provide back story to a relatively clean-slate vintage character, but it was Sir Laser-Lot\u2019s bio that snagged the fan\u2019s attention. Spikor is currently scheduled for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "MOTUClassics"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22159,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=22159","url_meta":{"origin":11428,"position":4},"title":"Vault Review: MOTU Classics Eternos Palace King Randor","date":"December 18, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"We\u2019re trying to wrap up our November Matty reviews before the end of the year.\u00a0 Today I\u2019m going to take a look at a figure I really didn\u2019t think we'd get, but I\u2019m glad he did: Eternos Palace King Randor.\u00a0 He\u2019s a figure that may just replace the original Classics\u2019\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "MOTUClassics"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.itsalltrue.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/fran7.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":21848,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=21848","url_meta":{"origin":11428,"position":5},"title":"MOTUClassics.Com: CastleGrayskull Weapons Rack Review","date":"November 12, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"As some of you may have heard, Castle Grayskull Week went a little askew after I found myself in the middle of a five-car pile-up on Wednesday. I\u2019m doing just fine, but the site kinda trailed off last week. My bad. So Grayskull Week gets one more day and it\u2019s\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "MOTUClassics"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11428"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11428"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11428\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11464,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11428\/revisions\/11464"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}