Somewhere in the Mattel offices last fall, the folks in charge looked at their 2010 Club Eternia Subscription numbers and were impressed. So much so, that according to Mattel (via ActionFigurePics.Com), they decided that a “small amount” over the subscription would be sufficient for ‘day of’ sales. To put that in Britney Spears terms, “oops”. Fans were already aware of the limited production amount available on Feb 16th thanks to Adora, but that’s not to say that we were prepared.
Even with a handful of website glitches, the “small amount” of Trap Jaw blew out in 19 minutes with the full run of Battle Cat selling out minutes later. That left many fans without Battle Cat and many non-subscribers without anything. What did they miss? Sadly, they missed one of the most well-done members of Skeletor’s crew yet.
Trap Jaw his two origins. There’s how we came to be and then there’s his fictional history. Both are interesting.
If you’ve ever heard of Big Jim, then you probably know that it bestowed many ‘gifts’ on He-Man. Battle Cat, Zoar, and the planned-but-shelved Gygor were all normally-decoed animals in the Big Jim line. But there are other inspriations too. Man-E-Faces, Jitsu, Fisto, Skeletor, and, yes, Trap Jaw all have some elements that were first found in the Big Jim line. In Trap Jaw’s case, that figure was called Iron Jaw. He not only had a bear trap for a bottom jaw, but he also sported a cybernetic right arm. You can read more about Iron Jaw (& the other inspirations) here.
The character’s back story was added to in the early 2000s. It’s relevant here because Mattel chose to include an extra head and arm so that fans could turn back the clock and have a Kronis figure. Kronis was one of Keldor’s lieutenants during the Great Unrest that would later turn on Skeletor. Skeletor dealt with his betrayal by ripping off some pieces and leaving him for dead. Tri-Klops swooped in* and after “elective” surgery, refashioned Kronis into the “Evil & Armed for Combat” Trap Jaw.
* – What is up with all the sadistic surgery in the MOTUverse? Are Man-At-Arms, Tri-Klops, and Hordak all having a contest to see which rube they can turn in the sorriest cyborg on Eternia? Anybody waiting to see what poor palace guard got turned into Stridor?
Trap Jaw is our first look at a lot of new pieces that we’ll be seeing later. Both the legs and the arms are all-new and we’ve already seen them reused on Optikk, but we’ll see some of these parts again later on at least Man-E-Faces and Roboto. Trap Jaw also sports a new belt and shoulder brackets. We should note that, to be correct, Kronis should be wearing both brackets and the belt, but to help create a little more difference on our shelves, he’ll be going without those three pieces.*
* – I would like to leave the little left arm bracket on Kronis, but then I feel he would need a little one on his right arm too. I just don’t like the giant bracket on his right arm if he doesn’t have his mechanical arm. It’s correct to the handful of Kronis appearances, so that’s good. But Kronis shouldn’t look like he’s going to end up being Trap Jaw. That’s just silly.
Trap Jaw sports two heads and both are sculpted excellently. The helmet and jaw seem a little more 200x than classic to me and I think it’s better for it. The face though is more like the original then the zombified version found in 200x. One extra surprise on this head seemed to shock some fans. When you open his articulated jaw, he’s still got his tongue and some exposed flesh. I think this is a great addition to the figure, but not everyone agrees. I’ve heard of a couple people that got in there with some black or green paint and covered it up. That cracks me up. Continue to Page 2…
I really love the idea of a character being near-death, only to have them “rebuilt” and return as someone new (I lost count of how many times I rewatched Megatron become Galvatron in the animated Transformers movie), so Trap Jaw is an attractive figure, but I doubt I’ll ever decide to pick him up.
Is it ever explained why his face turned green? Looking at the figure as a whole the colors work together nicely, but when you focus on just his face it seems weird.
Regardless, it’s an awesome figure, but I know if I start down the MOTU path, it will be wrought with anger, sadness and leave me with very little money.
In the comic book origin, he receives a blast to the face from Skeletor’s Havoc Staff during his “disfiguring”.
Yeah, I know, I know . . .
That’s the problem with trying to tack-on origins for characters who were intended as toys, and little more.
It usually feels very retconny, and very shoehorned.
I like the *idea* of Kronis way more than I do the story they came up with.
Agreed. I really wish I had an extra little bracket for his right shoulder. I think that would look cool, but that giant bracket is just him “waiting” to be Trap Jaw.
My favorite idea for a character is when heroes and villains switch sides! We need some of that in MOTU!
And being a MOTU collector doesn’t have too much gnashing of teeth, but it does feel like it sometimes.
Trap-jaw looks bad-ass but not so much than Man-at-Arms =)
Man-At-Arms will always be one of the best characters from that entire mythos. He’s cooler than He-Man.
Yeah, I said it!
I really love trap jaw. I dig the chunk aface left under his metal jaw.
I do too. I can’t believe people would be so upset about it that they have to repaint it, but they admitted to it. LOL
Props for the Stridor shout-out! 😀
😀 I was going to add “…only to have Skeletor steal those plans and have Trap Jaw turn some poor slave into Nightstalker, thus creating natural enemies”
But I thought that would be overkill. 😀
It’s a TRAP JAW!
LOL. I debated that.
Great review! It read really well.
Thank you.
I tried to buy an extra Man-At-Arms in Feb and it cost me the extra TJ I was getting for Kronis, TJ cost me Battle Cat. If I’d listened to my inner voice and only bought Battle Cat, I’d probably have been happier with how that day turned out.
But I did got stands! And since those are apparently one-time gold, I guess I got the one right thing. Right.
That seems to have been the path for a lot of folks!
trap jaw rules… she won’t let me bring him in the car though.. too much bad car mojo from the trips we took w/ scare glow and skeletor in the car.
hard to believe the horsemen were trying to pack more into his box! i already feel like he was worth the 20 bucks, and the weapon’s pack is tempting, if only for the intended knife and blaster for keonis… but alas, i’m playing him as a muay thai style striker, so his armor is “splaned” and he don’t need no stinkin’ blaster!
LOL
i hate not being able to edit these comments… i always see a problem AFTER i’ve posted… “intended knife and blaster for KRONIS!”
Did you have any issues with the right leg? Everything from the thigh pad to the cut for the ankle joint sits a little bit higher than the left. This allows for extra movement, but is inconsistent. I also had an extremely lose right ankle joint. Anything similar with any you opened?
My Kronis sags a little more on his right. I had to keep correcting for it, but I forgot in that lineup picture.
Awesome review! I missed out on him last month, so naturally I can’t wait for the reissue! It can’t come soon enough! I was always a bigger fan of the evil masters and that hasn’t changed. Aside from the core three heroes (HM, MAA & T-la), I think Zodac is the only one I’m interested in. Oh, wait, Fisto! Definitely Fisto! The other heroes are pretty f’n lame, IMHO.
But I love the EVIL masters! Scareglow is probably my favorite, followed by Tri-klops! However, I think TJ will be up there, once I finally have him. And if I end up getting the 2pk Skeletor, he may replace the reissued one I received back in Jan. (I like the solid yellow face and blacked-out eyes.
P.S. I’m glad I was able to get the stands while the getting was good! Haven’t tried ’em out yet, though, thanks to the recent move.
Thanks!! I can’t wait to get a Fisto myself. My biggest wants though are Rio Blast and Snout Spout.
aren’t you forgetting EXTENDAR???
😀 Extendar is pretty high after that – maybe fifth, but nothing tops those two. Roboto would be third. Sy-Klone fourth.