{"id":7876,"date":"2010-07-21T00:58:36","date_gmt":"2010-07-21T05:58:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=7876"},"modified":"2010-07-21T05:04:12","modified_gmt":"2010-07-21T10:04:12","slug":"motuclassics-com-count-marzo-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=7876","title":{"rendered":"MOTUClassics.Com:
Count Marzo Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a> Two years ago, King Grayskull kicked off MOTU Classics with a bang. Since then, the “200x influence” has been relegated to quarterly figures, extra heads, & bonus accessories. That finally changed with this month’s figure. Count Marzo’s so badass, he was almost “too 200x” for Mattel. <\/P><\/p>\n

Unlike the upcoming Chief Carnivus, Marzo is based on a character in the original series. In that version, he is a human sorcerer with a bit of a Shakespearean. Mattel didn’t produce a figure of that Marzo in the 80s and, as such, he is off limits to them for the Classics line. This figure is based on his appearances in the MYP cartoon where he was a powerful sorcerer that threatened Eternia across a couple generations. Based on his bio and his cartoon appearances, he first threatened Eternia during the reign of King Miro (He-Man’s grandfather) and it took the combined might of Randor & Keldor to stop him and imprison him in the form of an old man. Whenever Miro gets his amulet back, he’s returned to full strength and again becomes a threat. One of the little things I really enjoy about Marzo is that he’s not part of a faction. He’s not a member of Skeletor’s gang, he’s not a Snakeman, or allied with the Horde. He’s his own man and that’s nice in a universe where everybody seems to need a union membership.<\/p>\n

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Count Marzo pretty closely follows the new head, new armor, new weapons paradigm, but his unique look has been captured regardless. For new pieces, he has a new loincloth, new armor\/cape combo, a new hand, and his head sculpt. According to Toy Guru, Marzo’s head sculpt was almost too hot for Mattel and it took the sanctity of the schedule (Mattel didn’t want to mess it up and miss a month of revenue) to get him out to the fans. I’m guessing that’s mainly due to the ‘windswept hair’ which seems to be a major ‘hyper-anime’ detail as far things go. The windswept hair doesn’t really make or break the figure, but I do think it looks better flaring out a bit than it would look if it was limp and straight down.<\/p>\n

The expression is the best part of the figure. A good angry head sculpt can be interpreted for a variety of emotions, from “Who farted?” to “I’m going to kill four generations of your family.” That’s what we have here. It’s evident Marzo is in the mood to hurt somebody and I like it.<\/p>\n

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The loincloth and armor seem extraordinarily faithful to Marzo’s 200x design and that’s much appreciated. The large ribbed straps over the shoulders (and the cape that runs under them on their way to the clasps) look great. The loincloth looks great on Marzo, but it also looks like a piece that some customizers are going to have fun with. It’s pieces like this that make me wish Mattel would invest in some new characters. I see a lot of potential here. I have a second Marzo and I kinda want to keep it for custom purposes even though I’m not the best customizer. Finally, the cape has some sculpted lines at the hem to help frame Marzo’s cape decorations. This is a figure that looks sharp from the back as well as the front.<\/p>\n

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The figure also features a new sculpted left hand to hold his trademark amulet. The hand and amulet fit together perfectly, but the hand does seem a little overly detailed for the line. I don’t mind the sculpted look of the hand, but I do wish it wasn’t a one-trick hand. The jewel has a snug little home on the back of the loincloth, but the hand looks odd without it. This is another opportunity where the line would be better if it had swappable hands. <\/p>\n

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The amulet itself is molded in clear red and has silver painted edges. The backside has an open area in the form of a diamond so that light can shine through and illuminate the amulet. This is a great piece and it had to be included with the figure, but I’m prone to nitpick when it comes to accessories. In the cartoon, Marzo would also wear the amulet around his neck and I wish there was a way to do that here. I understand that a soft plastic necklace would look stupid sticking up from the amulet when it’s in his hand, but I would’ve been up for two amulets at the $20 price point, wouldn’t you? Continue to Sword, Paint, Articulation, & Summation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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This sword is instantly one of my favorites in the entire line. I love the hilt and the extra burrs on the tip in particular. Whichever Horsemen did this piece, my hat is off to you. It looks great in the red\/gray scheme, but this is a weapon worthy of a few more decos in future weapon paks. The sword also has a sheath on the side of the armor which lets the sword in that iconic side position. That’s how unaffiliated Marzo is, he doesn’t even wear his gear on his back!<\/p>\n

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Articulation is standard for the line. The hair and armor combine to block the neck articulation a bit, but it still has decent range. On my Marzo, the ankles are super weak – both are floppy – so I’m going to have to tighten those up or he’ll be taking a daily dive off the shelf. Until then, his cape is pulling double duty to keep him standing up.<\/p>\n

I’ve been keeping an eye on other reviews because I feel like the paint has been sloppier with the last few releases, but I’m not sure if it’s widespread. I get to open a batch of these figures each month for all various IAT staff and the last couple months I haven’t found a “good” one that stood out. We had extra black in the beard, missing paint on the beard, sloppy lines on the armor, a big black mark on the belt buckle, messed up eyebrows, etc. As you can see below, I opted for the sloppy armor Marzo. <\/P><\/p>\n

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The black paint doesn’t cover the recessed area while bleeding over it in other areas and the ribbed shoulder armor isn’t fully painted on the front or back. I always hate being nitpicky with the paint on these figures, but at $20 a pop I want to not have to “choose” the least flawed among a half dozen figs. I want to just grab a white mailer out of the box and get a good figure inside. I buy two figures a month to be safe and I have to decide if I want to do that again with the all-in 2011 sub. The prospect of only getting one figure is daunting based on the last few releases.<\/p>\n

Another paint issue of note is that the right hand seems to be made of an extraordinarily tough plastic. Usually there is some give on the hands so that the accessories can be added\/removed easily, but I have a heck of a time getting the sword in his hand and I’m starting to lose the silver paint on the sword because of it.<\/p>\n

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Overall, Marzo is still a great figure. I love the extra sculpted details on the new pieces and the choice of reused pieces. I would’ve liked matching bracelets over the He-Man left forearm, but I digress. There are things that I do bother me like the loose ankles and the sloppy paint, but those are possibly specific to my single Marzo and only mar my happiness with this one piece. I love the face sculpt and the dynamic poses the new hand provides. I have to admit that I wasn’t the biggest fan of this character in 200x, but I love the figure. He looks right at home in the Classics line. There is one thing though… I’ve got Marzo and I’ve got Keldor… I’m going to need a Captain Randor! And King Miro wouldn’t hurt either…<\/p>\n

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For more MOTU reviews, check out our MOTU Classics Collector’s Guide<\/a>.<\/h4>\n<\/p>\n

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

Two years ago, King Grayskull kicked off MOTU Classics with a bang. Since then, the “200x influence” has been relegated to quarterly figures, extra heads, & bonus accessories. That’s finally changed with this month’s figure. Count Marzo’s so badass, he was almost “too 200x” for Mattel. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":7878,"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":[300],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.itsalltrue.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/marTN.jpg?fit=50%2C50","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pObc6-232","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1703,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=1703","url_meta":{"origin":7876,"position":0},"title":"Matty on Facebook: Return of the King!","date":"September 21, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Today on Facebook, Mattel posted images of the December Masters of the Universe figure, King Randor! Putting aside the humorous Burger King jokes, I am stoked about this figure. I never had it as a kid and though I love the stactions, they crossed the line into statue a lot\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Matty on Facebook"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2278,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=2278","url_meta":{"origin":7876,"position":1},"title":"MOTUClassics.Com: Zodak Review","date":"October 27, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"I like new stories coming out of old ideas. When creators take an old continuity or a basic concept and find ways to reinterpret it, I'm usually first in line to see the result. When the announcement about a new Masters of the Universe cartoon came along eight years ago,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "MOTUClassics"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3076,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=3076","url_meta":{"origin":7876,"position":2},"title":"MOTUClassics.Com: King Randor Review","date":"December 24, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"While it's been a frenzy-filled ride of frustration and fun in 2009 for MOTU Collectors, the Classics line has to be the best thing that's happened to He-Man fans since well, ever. MOTU Classics toys have been some of the most fun to review and play with this year. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "MOTUClassics"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11998,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=11998","url_meta":{"origin":7876,"position":3},"title":"Vault Review: MOTU Classics Shadow Beast","date":"March 11, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"We\u2019re a little behind with our reviews, so I\u2019m giving Noisy a hand with the last MOTUC figure from February. In the MOTUC Canon, we learn that Count Marzo created the Shadow Beasts as his own personal army the first time he tried to capture the throne. But he was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "MOTUClassics"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8661,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=8661","url_meta":{"origin":7876,"position":4},"title":"Truetorial: Mattel’s Meddling Middle Management","date":"August 19, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"You may have heard over the weekend that the 200x Whiplash head caused a bit of commotion in the Mattel offices and the 200x heads can no longer be included in the line. By itself, this might not be big news, but I think it's part of a larger issue.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "MOTUClassics"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6725,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=6725","url_meta":{"origin":7876,"position":5},"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":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7876"}],"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=7876"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7876\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7918,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7876\/revisions\/7918"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}