{"id":30843,"date":"2015-03-10T23:48:51","date_gmt":"2015-03-11T04:48:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=30843"},"modified":"2015-03-10T23:56:10","modified_gmt":"2015-03-11T04:56:10","slug":"motuclassics-com-arrow-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=30843","title":{"rendered":"MOTUClassics.Com
Arrow Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a> I am always hopeful that a toy line can get to everyone that anybody wants. It pretty much never happens, of course… of course. When it comes to MOTUC, I\u2019ve also been vigilant that the line be as inclusive as possible. Get the NA guys & gals in. Give MO2K some due. Toss in a new character or two. It\u2019s all good.<\/p>\n

As a subscriber, MOTU also made sure that it was finally time for me to put my money where my mouth is. It\u2019s one thing to say a line should be inclusive, it\u2019s another to have to buy everything to help ensure that it is. I’ve kept up (almost).<\/p>\n

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There have been challenges. It took me awhile to warm up to Laser Lot. I\u2019m still not that in love with the Griffin \u2013 I think he\u2019s the one MOTUC item so far that never made it to the display here. Well, that\u2019s not true \u2013 since I still haven\u2019t had the spare cash to get the Battle Ram yet. The biggest challenge, though, came last October. Arrow. Bow\u2019s steed in She-Ra: Princess of Power. I know he\u2019s on folk\u2019s wishlists. I know that he\u2019s kind of a big deal in POP circles. But I just wasn’t excited about his reveal, wasn’t looking forward to him, and really haven\u2019t been concerned about opening him among the months-old pile of backed up MOTUC reviews. Still, I’m gonna do these guys in order. Arrow’s review brings me one step closer to Snake Armor He-Man!<\/p>\n

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Honestly though, I don\u2019t think my general “Blah” over him is the toy\u2019s fault. One reason is just due to space. I don\u2019t have nearly as much room for these beasts anymore, but that\u2019s a straw man argument because I know I’d make room for Stridor & Nightstalker. Another is his color \u2013 the MOTU guys have got to be accurate, sometimes at the cost of being cooler. The POP stuff though, strangely, goes for cartoon accuracy over toy accuracy. In Arrow\u2019s case, if he were vintage toy-based, he\u2019d be blue. I\u2019m pretty sure that I\u2019d like a blue horse quite a bit. That\u2019s unique. But I also thought Swift Wind should be white \u2013 pink is cool, but his white form is iconic. Is the same true for Arrow? Isn’t this the better known look?<\/p>\n

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The third thing is that I think I get caught up in what Arrow represents. There are eight horses in the vintage POP line. And a sea horse. Everybody seems to have a ride. I’ll just say it – I, personally, don\u2019t want all that. I want the folks that want it to have their shot, I do, but staring down the barrel of a stable-full of horse toys is daunting. They could have their own mini-sub. Truthfully, though, that\u2019s probably not going to happen, I just don\u2019t see all those repaints in our future. Even if the 4H would try & make them cool (they don\u2019t quite do that for Arrow, we\u2019ll get to that), even though a 4H Battle Swan would probably be something I\u2019m into, I think Arrow might be the capstone on the POP horses. Even if he\u2019s not, I still can\u2019t lump that on the old boy\u2019s back. He\u2019s just one horse toy.<\/p>\n

So, when opening him, I decided I needed to try and look at him objectively. As a not-the-horse-I-want, not-blue, not-part-of-a-larger-bunch-of-stuff-I-don\u2019t-want thing, but as just this month\u2019s figure. And in that regard, he\u2019s really okay. Continue to Page 2…<\/a><\/p>\n

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His sculpt? Well, he\u2019s a horse, so… He\u2019s mostly a repaint of Swiftwind with a few new bits \u2013 a new head & neck, a new bridle & reins, and new saddle with stirrups. Hope I got all that right, I don\u2019t know anything about horse equipment (& I plan to keep it that way). And it\u2019s all done really well, very style guide accurate with some added texturing here and there.<\/p>\n

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But there\u2019s nothing really killer. In that, Arrow suffers as some of the POP girls have suffered. For example, where are the magical quivers mentioned in the bio? He\u2019s technically great, but I think there\u2019s nothing here to make him pop. My favorite bit on the sculpt, I kid you not, is the buckle on the saddle. The clasp is neat – the interior of the buckle is the post and the “metal frame” is the catch on the other site. It’s a great engineering bit that adds a layer of realism (see, I can get giddy over silly things). <\/p>\n

While he\u2019s not blue, Arrow does includes the wings from the toy version, albeit painted in a way to match the cartoon color scheme. These are cool if you want them (& have the room for them). It does make him look rather resplendent. Here\u2019s the catch though, these wings, and the Swiftwind reuse, causes Arrow to have these two giant sockets over his shoulders. The solution to displaying him without the wings, and to get that seemingly crucial cartoon accurate look, is these extra plugs.<\/p>\n

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And these plugs are my least favorite thing about Arrow. They\u2019re just there. They kinda faux-connect to the saddle. There’s little studs that make it look like they’re extensions of the saddle, but they don’t line up right. It kinda just looks like Bow just glued or pinned these extra patches on to Arrow for fun. I just don\u2019t see any design genius here, like that buckle!, and it\u2019s disappointing. Weapons storage? Sculpted quivers? Anything that shows some TLC here would’ve been great, but it\u2019s just not here.<\/p>\n

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Overall, Arrow is a fine addition to the collection. For the most part, I\u2019ve pushed my lack of enthusiasm for Arrow out of my head \u2013 he\u2019s a good for a horse figure, the cartoon visuals are good, and the horse buck is well-articulated (edit: check out Swiftwind\u2019s review<\/a> for the breakdown, I kinda skipped it). So I\u2019ve come to terms. I like the shock of orange hair! He still doesn\u2019t wow me though. I want him to scream \u201cown me\u201d like so much of the rest of the line does. He\u2019s just more or less rank & file, run of the mill, and that\u2019s harder to accept on the higher priced items. Even though it\u2019s from Mattel, MOTUC is a 4H line and I\u2019m happiest when the pieces have a more obvious 4H influence. Heck, if it was 4H-Unleashed? I\u2019d probably be down for eight horses, the sea horse, and that swan. Just sayin\u2019.<\/p>\n

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Recent MOTU Classics Reviews:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

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

<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":30845,"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":[1026,10],"tags":[407,20,16,2558,2592,586,469],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.itsalltrue.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/arrow00.jpg?fit=480%2C195","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pObc6-81t","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":22037,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=22037","url_meta":{"origin":30843,"position":0},"title":"November Review Index Update & Top Reviews for November","date":"December 1, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"We were closer to our ideal number of monthly reviews last month, but variety wasn't really on the menu. The push for Castle Grayskull (including a MOTU Theme Week) meant half of all the reviews featured MOTU Classics. It should come as no surprise that they dominated the list! First\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26482,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=26482","url_meta":{"origin":30843,"position":1},"title":"Mattycollector’s MOTU Classics State of the Union","date":"December 22, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "MOTUClassics"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3241,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=3241","url_meta":{"origin":30843,"position":2},"title":"MOTU SDCC Figure to debut at Gallery 1988 (Update: Or Not)","date":"January 5, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Update: Matty has let us know via Facebook that the mystery SDCC figure will not be debuting tonight as originally planned: No no NO!! We just got the word that we CANNOT reveal our SDCC exclusive tonight. We\u2019ll still have an awesome display with every figure in the line through\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Matty on Facebook"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19971,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=19971","url_meta":{"origin":30843,"position":3},"title":"Truetorial: Who would Pre-Order the End of the Line?","date":"July 31, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"As I\u2019ve said, I hate the post-SDCC subscription period. It\u2019s a study in frustration. First comes the uncertainty of if we\u2019ll even hit the minimum. Then we transition into anger & fighting, bargaining & bullying, and depression. Strangely, some folks want pre-orders, so that we can party like this all\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Truetorial"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16031,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=16031","url_meta":{"origin":30843,"position":4},"title":"MOTU Classics.Com: DC vs MOTU Zodac Review","date":"December 28, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"This summer was a challenging time for me as a MOTUC collector. The loss of our subscription sent me back to the Monthly Matty Madhouse. The con exclusive Faker had me (successfully) watching TRU.com like a hawk, but another TRU 2pk, Zodac vs Green Lantern, slipped through my fingers... until\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "MOTUClassics"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32712,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=32712","url_meta":{"origin":30843,"position":5},"title":"DCClassics.com Review Multiverse Superman DKR 30th Anniversary","date":"March 28, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "DCClassics.Com"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.itsalltrue.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/superheader.jpg?fit=320%2C240&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30843"}],"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=30843"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30843\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30849,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30843\/revisions\/30849"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/30845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}