{"id":16601,"date":"2012-02-02T10:01:40","date_gmt":"2012-02-02T16:01:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=16601"},"modified":"2012-08-18T03:05:25","modified_gmt":"2012-08-18T08:05:25","slug":"motu-classics-com-demo-man-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=16601","title":{"rendered":"MOTU Classics.Com:
Demo-Man Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>I know I\u2019ve gotten behind on more than a few reviews lately, but this one isn\u2019t my fault! In fact, the turnaround time between when Mattycollector finally got him to my house and this review is actually pretty decent! Yes, Demo-Man was delayed, but he\u2019s here now and it\u2019s all good. <\/p>\n

Demo-Man is an interesting guy. Originally, he was merely just one of a handful of unused concept drawings. An early mockup that Skeletor, Beast Man, and (I\u2019m told) Megator would all draw inspiration from. The sketch made its travels around the internet while a copy sat around at Mattel collecting dust. When the folks at Mattel were planning 2011, the concept figures were given the green-light with the plan being to make them unique characters. <\/p>\n

That last part is a decision I\u2019m 100% behind. I\u2019m with the crowd that desperately wants Ram Man sooner than later (and Mattel needs to face facts and get him done, I assure them we\u2019ll all instantly switch over to bitching and whining about another character within five seconds of the Ram Man announcement), but I really want \u201cnew\u201d in my MOTU. Vikor & Demo-Man are good for the line overall. <\/p>\n

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Sadly, we haven\u2019t learned too much about Demo-Man. The decision was made early on by the powers that be to tie him more to Skeletor than Beast Man and we\u2019re left with not knowing much more about him other than his affiliation with Skeletor, that whatever wounded leftover bit of Demo-Man was around was merged with Keldor after the acid attack. Like most fans, I assume that Vikor & Demo-Man make a pair, but other than statements made by Toy Guru, Demo-Man isn\u2019t really linked to Vikor in the bio either. <\/p>\n

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The good thing is that, despite being a relatively blank slate, Demo-Man is a cool figure. The Four Horsemen sculpted him pretty faithfully to that original sketch and Mattel didn\u2019t shy away from using new tooling to get him right including the head, forearms, bracers, hands, calves, and feet. Toss in the softer plastic two-piece tunic and two pieces of armor and you end up with a pretty unique looking figure (and that\u2019s without mentioning the colors). <\/p>\n

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I really enjoyed the sculpt work on all the new pieces. The head is fantastic and delightfully creepy though the sculpt is trying hard to shine through some of the paint work. I particularly love the slightly oversized look to the hands and feet and, along with having room to hunch him over inside the tunic, the bigger appendages help give him off-putting look. While I\u2019m on the subject of off-putting and the tunic, I can\u2019t help but notice that the loincloth here is a wee bit on the tiny side. I get that a guy like Demo-Man might not care about his junk hanging out, but I think true evil knows the value of genital coverage. <\/p>\n

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On top of the basic figure and tunic, Demo got some extra sculpted bits of armor for his shoulders and right elbow. The figure gets a ton more detail here, including an extra tuft of fur sticking up. I like the tuft, but Demo-Man isn\u2019t really a fuzzy guy (that part went to Beast Man), so it just kinda indicates that this guy has mad back hair. The other details, the dents, dings, and brandishing all look great though, so I’ll forgive that weird green bit. <\/p>\n

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While we\u2019re talking about this guys’ look, I think I need to stop and take a moment to say he\u2019s green. I know \u2013 you can see the pics, but even they may not make you understand. He\u2019s Green<\/em>. I know I\u2019ve heard some folks take issue with the level of greenness, but not me. The look was achieved by molding the figure in a bright highlighter greenish yellow and then adding a darker, but still bright green overcoat. The effect is really nice and helps the figure to be one of the sharpest in the line (and most noticeable on the shelf). <\/p>\n

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Not all was well with the paint department though, there\u2019s a lot of little paint areas throughout Demo-Man and that meant the opportunity for slop. I got a lot of close up shots in this review and you can see the various places where the paint missed, but the thing is the pictures are a lot bigger than the figure. On the figure itself, the only thing I wasn\u2019t terribly happy with were the teeth and the attempts to imply shadowing on the face through yet a darker shade of green paint. I don\u2019t mind the deeper paint in the furled brow so much, but what\u2019s up with the line down his nose? I\u2019m not always down for modifying my figs, but I\u2019m sorely tempted to razor that particular bit of paint off and see if it improves the look of the figure. Continue to Page 2<\/a><\/p>\n

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Just a quick note on the ever-boring articulation category. Demo-Man is a buck figure, so you know the drill. The only things of note here are that the head has some really nice range, particularly in the tilt category which I always enjoy. Two points of articulation are also missing from this figure as the new full shin\/calve piece means no boot swivel, which I don’t enjoy. On the bright side, I didn’t have a single stuck or loose joint. <\/p>\n

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While I really enjoyed Demo-Man’s figure, his accessories are the icing on the cake. Depending on how you look at it, Demo-Man either came with two accessories and two heads or three accessories and one head. <\/p>\n

I really enjoyed the mace in particular. It’s got a nice sculpt, particularly the scratched and dented business end, and I’m glad it was made with a harder plastic. The crook in the length of rope is believable – though it only makes physical sense in a couple poses. Demo-Man holds onto it tightly in those gigantic mitts of his. The scimitar is a similarly well-sculpted weapon. It’s got plenty of battle damage along the blade and a great dinosaur head on the hilt that evokes all manner of questions which will never be answered… <\/p>\n

The best thing I can say about the weapons is that I can’t pick one. I don’t really want Demo-Man shelving around with his hands all loaded up, but I just can’t narrow down which piece I prefer to be his primary weapon. <\/p>\n

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In the original concept drawing, Mark Taylor tossed a skull & helmet in the background. I have to laugh, wondering about how much thought he put into that little skull. Was it there purposefully? Was it just something to break up the ground? Did he ever, even just once, think that would end up being an accessory for the character he was drawing? Granted, it did take 30 years, but it’s been realized. It’s another nice accessory with quality sculpting and mostly good paint (the silver overfloweth a bit). If you were so inclined, the little half-head does include the standard head cavity, so you can place it on any figure, though it will look a bit odd as the skull is missing its lower half. I much prefer it as a prop\/accessory and I wish there was a better way to hold onto it. <\/p>\n

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Lastly, Demo-Man included a nice little year-end bonus in the form of an extra Skeletor head based on the art of MOTU mini-comic artist Alfredo Alcala! My go-to Skeletor head is still the one from the TRU 2pk, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love this one. I went down into the cellar and freed my original Skeletor and popped the Alcala head on for permanent display. It’s that cool. The lack of symmetry, the complete wreck in the dental department, this is one appropriately creepy head and I love it. <\/p>\n

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A year ago I was extolling the virtues of Vikor and I find myself doing the same thing a year later with Demo-Man. There were some duds this year (and, no Icarius wasn’t one of them people, c’mon!), but had Demo-Man come out when Mattel intended, he and Vikor would have made fine bookends for 2011. The figures are free of vintage-homage limitations and the detailed sculptwork makes them two of my favorites for 2011 by a large margin. The sculpt, the colors, and the accessories are great – if he were painted a tad less sloppy, he’d be a five-star figure hands down. That just makes the wait for more of these concept characters all the more difficult though. Can Mattel get through 2012 without doing Red Beast? And we have to get to that Horde Mummy sooner or later, right? And, yes, we still need Ram Man too, I haven’t forgotten… <\/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":"

I know I\u2019ve gotten behind on more than a few reviews lately, but this one isn\u2019t my fault! In fact, the turnaround time between when Mattycollector finally got him to my house and this review is actually pretty decent! Yes, Demo-Man was delayed, but he\u2019s here now and it\u2019s all good.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"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":[826,53,1364,20,16,2558,118],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pObc6-4jL","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":15651,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=15651","url_meta":{"origin":16601,"position":0},"title":"Ask Matty December 1st Edition","date":"December 1, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Ask Matty - December 1st Edition DCClassics.Com Asks: We're ecstatic about Starman's alternate noggin', but now we have to ask what about Jay Garrick... y'know, ol Flash 1? Will his value be kicked up a notch like Thom Kallor with old and young heads? Although Jay Garrick will not include\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ask Matty"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":429,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=429","url_meta":{"origin":16601,"position":1},"title":"ItsAllTrueReview: MOTU Classics Skeletor","date":"July 22, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "MOTUClassics"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25516,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=25516","url_meta":{"origin":16601,"position":2},"title":"Comikazi Armchair Coverage & MOTU Classics Reveals","date":"November 4, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "Event Coverage"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23814,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=23814","url_meta":{"origin":16601,"position":3},"title":"MOTU Filmation Sub Starts! Icer’s Bio & In Package Shots","date":"June 28, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "MOTUClassics"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21534,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=21534","url_meta":{"origin":16601,"position":4},"title":"MOTU Classics.Com Power-Con Keldor Sword Exclusive Review","date":"October 17, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"This is going to be a quick review today. I usually aim for about a thousand words per review, but all I\u2019m covering is a teeny, tiny sword. I don't remember if I posted about it at the time, but shortly before Power-Con Mattel announced they\u2019d give away an accessory\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "MOTUClassics"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12147,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=12147","url_meta":{"origin":16601,"position":5},"title":"MOTUClassics.Com Battle Armor Skeletor Review","date":"March 31, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I love my MOTU Classics Battle Armor Skeletor, but he's a bit difficult to review. For one, I've already reviewed most of this figure at least three times already. He does include some swanky new armor and a fan-demanded axe, but can I really prattle on about that for a\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\/16601"}],"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=16601"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16601\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20363,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16601\/revisions\/20363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}