Hydron has a lot going for him. He has a lot of new tooling from head to flipper. Maybe a dozen new parts that, from a sculpting standpoint, all look sharp. But somewhere along the line he just became a little ball of frustrations for me. The bulky armor, which Mattel hilariously can’t “solve” (it’s simple, just call Terry Haguchi and he can show you how he kept the armor clasps on the back and not under the arm pits). The helmet is the other area for concern. It pushes his head down & forward when you put in on (the only way it really fits in there) and it connects to the hose right in front of his face. These two issues hilarious combine so that he’s pretty much always starting at the air hose obstructing his view. To round things out, the hose is rubbery and, as such, had to be molded with the other rubbery bits, meaning it’s painted yellow (and slowly turning green) Ugh.
Articulation is what we’ve come to expect, right down to the bubbly-pushed out forearms. Everything works pretty well – except the neck. I really wish some thought could’ve gone into the initial design here to allow him to look up more.
The paintwork on my Hydron was sharp in most places. The gloves and accents on his suit are great. The head is mostly good too, but his eyes are a little weird and the camera reveals that not all of the agreed upon paint lines are as a sharp as they look in person.
Hydron does have a removable helmet and hose/air tanks, but he essentially just has one accessory, the Triton Spear Gun. It’s essentially like a crossbow version of a trident. Very strange, but fun. It also has a spot on his belt loop, but it’s a pain to get on and off.
And I want that to be enough – I always find wondering what a figure should’ve come with, but didn’t, counter-productive. But I can’t help it here. I blame Flipshot and his awesome alternate head. Hydron could’ve used similar treatment, or at least make it so the little red breathing masks fits on the face and is datable to check out Hydron’s mug (similar to Stinkor). That would’ve been essential. Instead we got this bad looking seam on his face where the rebreather meets his cheek and no chance at all of Hydron being as cool as Flipshot.
Overall, Hydron is still a fun figure. Some of the flaws get a pass from me because he was so badly wanted. I’ve popped off his helmet and tucked the air hose down in his collar and I like that look. The bulky armor can be explained as a pressure suit. And I do so love the colors. I would still like it more if he could look up better and if he had a few more display options, but I’ll deal.
I do wish folks could find more to love about NA though. I understand why they might not be so inclined though, I’m still not reading a bunch of New 52 titles!
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Sweet review and pics, outstanding comics.
I like this figure much better than I thought I would, but he’s still not going to be in my Top 10, or even Top 20. The 4H have consistently done a good job on making these NA characters look loads better than the originals (bar the bulky underarm clasps).
Of all the eras, NA may be my least favourite (didn’t like the cartoon at all or the original figures much), but these new versions are pretty darn cool, and thanks to the buck system, they fit into MOTU much more smoothly.
Them fitting in much better is a huge boon. I still laugh when I think about the folks complaining about Bow getting the standard buck. He looks fantastic with the group!
Don’t recall anything on NA from youth but my folks kinda add to this as recall seeing the toys before and hearing, ” You have the originals Jay and look better than these” so went with that.
Though now I dig the classics redesigns. Owning NA He-man is proof of this and wanted a NA She-ra as well. Looking for the past releases now. Gotta start saving for this years toy show.(if have it)
Hydron I like, don’t own yet but will be looking for him. My only gripe is he needed a, not helmetless, non scuba geared up head. He-man got one, Flipshot/Icarius got one so, just feels wrong. Other than that looks to be a fun fig and hey a water hero to battle Merman in your own world where he is still alive.
I just ponder if a customizer will attempt a Wet Suit with him. (Seen crazier things on other sites)
Wet Suit or Deep Six? you are talking 6″ GI Joe custom, right? I can almost see a Deep Six from this guy. and yeah, seem cheap he didn’t get a second “unmasked” head, like his NA Brethren.
I think we’ll end up with a NA She-Ra fairly soon. Curious to see fan reaction to that…
He definitely is a fun figure! He just could be a little better.
Really enjoyed this review and the comics. I would have loved an appearance by Max Ray from Centurions as well. Power…ExTREME-Treme-treme….
Thanks! Sadly, no Centurions survived The Great Flood.
*sigh* If anyone could survive a flood, you’d think it would be Max Ray.
Unfortunately, The Great Flood was raw sewage and not water. My 9-year-old-self pretty much hit the reset button.
I liked mine better without the armor which gave him a wet suit look. I slung the yellow pack around one shoulder like a back pack. That improved the figure quite a bit for me, but your mileage may vary.
Can’t do it. Nipples. DC figures don’t have them when they should and MOTU figures have them when they shouldn’t. LOL
But it’s cold in space oceans . . . .
This is true.
I don’t care what anyone says. I love the figure, I love the armor, the way it fits, and I love that we can take him apart to fashion a makeshift version of the Scubattak accessory set. I’ve already tried it out on Skeletor and it works beautifully. Definitely plan on doing a permanent version with a boot swap if the line ends without this accessory set remake. Just need someone to cast Stinkor’s blue tanks in red, perhaps with a lengthier back peg, and I’m good.
And he’s definitely my favorite NA release thus far. His Centurions-ness is just too awesome to behold.
I like the figure itself, once I toss the helmet in the extras bin! I’ve liked all 5 NA figures so far.
Cool idea for the Scubattak set!
I feel the idea was there but the execution was lacking. On paper, he should be a cool figure but you’ve highlighted the problems with this guy. Plus the mismatched colors of the armor vs. body (I still can’t figure out if it was intentional or not). I don’t mind the lack of a device-free head but the accessory is a huge disappointment. What is it supposed to do again? He should have gotten that knife painted on his leg instead.
I don’t think it was intentional. In person the mismatch isn’t so bad, but the texture of the rubbery bits and the hard plastic just doesn’t quite gel. I kinda feel like the wetsuit underneath is one color and the armored up bits just aren’t.
I was going to make a “Scuba Steve” joke, but J.Lee got me distracted with a custom GI Joe base for Deep Six. and again, the lack of “unmasked”/clean head is a demerit. ah well.
is this NA sub-line of MOTUC dead? Isn’t there a NA Skeletor coming? shame the line would end without the Big Bad for the series.
NA’s not over – we’ve got Flogg, Skelly, & Mara for sure. And surely NA She-Ra at this point.
But Darius is out. Tuskador’s unlikely since he lost to Mara in the 57-person vote at NYCC. And there are still probably a good dozen toys left – too many to fit into the plan. I’m just doom & gloom after losing Tuskador. 😉
some time ago mattel asked customers, how armour should look like? should they be removable? most of people in comments said yes it should be removable. everyone says- hydron have bulky armour. conclusion: sculptors should know for themselves, which way is better. of course mattel says- you cant please everyone, but still you can (MUST!) do a good figure. i love hydron`s masked head, looks mysterious and dangerous. i wont buy him- bulky armour.
The problem the armor is running into is that sculptors and the engineer live on opposite coasts and seemingly have little communication, so we can’t just leave it to one to the other to know best unfortunately. The real shame is that costs associated with unique torsos that sets up this issue in the first place.
It’s a shame that NA is getting the shortest end of the stick. MOTUC made me interested in NA and missing out on a bunch of characters royally sucks!
I wish Mattel finds a way to give us a Hydron head WITHOUT the Breathing apparatus on his face… Even if he keeps the head piece of his wetsuit on. Right now Hydron looks like he’s making a lame DKR Bane impression.
Also, we totally need Sagitar.
I totally could have done a great Bane joke. Damn!
you confused me with that opening diatribe… you’re referring to design quality, like the character the toy is meant to represent, and how well the toy accomplishes that goal… when i refer to quality, it’s almost universally in reference to the durability and functionality of a toy. i know, some people use “QC” even when they don’t mean to, but that right there could have, perhaps, helped mitigate the marathon debate you’re referring to, using the correct terminology. so using your example, i don’t think the RDJ head fails in durability (i.e. quality) it fails in execution of likeness (according to you). and for the record, i have seen very few hot toys heads that hold up to a likeness inspection once you know the person being modeled and you look all the way around the toy. hot toys is, for me, VERY dependent on camera angle to create a profile, if you inspect the head in a more all-around way, like the eye rather than camera, their likenesses tend to fall apart. this one of the things i found most astounding about the NECA dutchi, the fact that the two models i laid eyes on held up VERY well to the all around inspection. the price tag on a hot toy is just beyond what i think people ought to consider paying for a toy, especially one with odd likeness issues and overall questionable quality (i.e. accessories break, costumes split, the figures aren’t durability… that’s not a QC error, as NONE of their products are real toys, they lack quality!)
on to hydron specific rant, the figure suffers from some of the same design concept issues that all the NA guys share… first, there’s “detail kibble” wherein actual design work gives way to various fabricated kibble that doesn’t serve much of a logical function because the real designers were off making movies when these toys got commissioned. there’s a lack of color concept in NA too, like they combined similar colors that are distinct in shade, not color… so where the filmation designs are bold combinations of contrasting colors, these are kind of homogenous (he-man does the best at avoiding this of the released NA figs) now, whether you prefer one or the other is a matter of taste, but one can’t argue that in a crowded shelf, NA guys tend to become white noise and don’t stand out at all. and there’s that weapon-thing… ugh. poorly designed, poorly executed too (unless i got the only one that has the consistency of warm hubba bubba) he’s got a battle chandelier for god’s sake, how is that cool?
on the one hand, like yourself noisy, i wish NA got a better shake in motuc… but then again, i kind of don’t. classics as a line has a few major faults, and none of those faults will fix NA or rehab its rep… what NA needs is an MYP style update. not an exact MYP style mind you, what i mean is, it needs a top-to-bottom redesign by people who love it as their primary motu reference point, people who will think through the designs and tell stories through those redesigns. THAT would put the fire in the NA community, and likely light a few of the rest of the fanbase too… and classics isn’t the line for any of that. the question is, where is the emiliano of NA? where are the horsemen of NA? THOSE guys are what it’s going to take to give you and i and the rest of the he-fans the NA figs we want so badly.
Skipping that first paragraph except to comment on my half dozen or so Hot Toys having fantastic likenesses; Nicholson Joker being the best. He’s uncanny. I do only have select few though as the bar for a $2-300 toy is pretty high and resulting well worth it.
As for Hydorn, I disagree on the colors. The NA figures are akin to the Filmation characters in that they gleefully bring some life to the shelves even if they’re more monochromatic than contrast. Once I tossed the helmet and tucked the hose down behind the front of the armor I liked him a lot more. His fork thing is a crummy piece to be sure though.
I would consider myself part of the silent minority of MOTU fans who actually like New Adventures. While my love will always be securely placed with FILMATION series, I think as a whole is a better series in terms of story and animation.
Much like Glimmer from earlier this year my thought is “FINALlY!” — It seems like we’ve been waiting forever to get our hands on this Hydron figure!
I don’t feel as though I am very greedy when it comes to accessories, but he absolutely needed a second head, which I think would have increased his fun factor and added a ton of value to the figure right there.