{"id":11356,"date":"2011-01-25T00:33:21","date_gmt":"2011-01-25T06:33:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=11356"},"modified":"2011-01-25T01:26:11","modified_gmt":"2011-01-25T07:26:11","slug":"motuclassics-com-vikor-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=11356","title":{"rendered":"MOTUClassics.Com:
Vikor Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a> I want new characters in MOTU Classics. I want Stinkor, Frosta, & Flipshot too – but I really want to see MOTU Classics expand by adding a few \u201cnew\u201d guys in the mix (Horde Mummy, please). Mattel comes closest to fulfilling that desire with the January Club Eternia figure: Vikor – He-Man of the North!<\/strong> <\/p>\n

Okay, technically, Mo-Larr is also an all-new character in the MOTU mythos, but let’s not go there, okay? Anyway, Vikor’s origin comes from the earliest days of Masters of the Universe – back when it was tentatively called “The Fighting Foe Men”. There were some drawings that accompanied that original pitch including one of a “prototype” for what would later be He-Man. That He-Man featured many familiar themes – the overall barbarian look, the sword\/ax\/shield weapon trio, etc., but it also featured longer hair, broken shackles, and a classic Viking helmet. Sound familiar? <\/p>\n

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Recently, Toy Guru let MOTUC collectors know that word had come down from Mattel’s upper management that they wanted \u201cVikor\u201d to be a separate marketable part of the MOTU franchise instead of being a “prototype” He-Man similar to the (usually) awesome McQuarrie Star Wars figures. You usually find me criticizing Mattel’s upper management, but not on this. Vikor is ten times cooler being Vikor and having his own back story (which now includes those Fighting Foe Men as his adversaries) then he would have been as \u201cprototype\u201d He-Man.<\/p>\n

He’s now the He-Man of the North, a warrior that was the first guardian of the Power Sword after King Grayskull died. That makes him the fourth He-Man in the line so far (and arguably one of the cooler ones).<\/p>\n

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Vikor has quite a few new pieces despite his simple appearance. There’s the obvious new ones like the head, right bicep, forearms, cape, loincloth, and boots, but there’s another new one that is a little more innocuous and possibly a bad sign for the future of our Vikors. He has a new back – the sculpt is the same, but Vikor doesn’t have the flash lines on his mid-back and it also features a deeper well for the neck peg to move around in. Normally, that’d be a good thing, but this new design also features a new neck peg. And it’s a neck peg we’ve seen before. Instead of the tried and true barbell that’s been on most (if not all) the male figures so far, Vikor features a peg similar to that of the MOTU Classics ladies.<\/p>\n

I should stress that my Vikor is fine. There’s no bobblehead action and he has pretty decent neck range despite the longer hair. But this neck peg features a thinner plastic hoop that goes around a horizontal peg in the chest. That seems to me like it\u2019s a weaker neck joint over the long run with the underside of that thin hoop having to absorb all the stress of removing the head. Luckily, there’s no need to swap Vikor’s head in and out with another, so this joint hopefully won\u2019t see too much stress. But I’ve campaigned to get the “hoop” neck peg off the female figures, so I definitely don’t want to see it on the men.<\/p>\n

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Anyway, with that unhappiness out of the way, I love Vikor. The new sculpts on the arms and loincloth have great detail and are true to the original concept drawing. The metal chains are also a nice touch.<\/p>\n

Vikor also has a terrific head sculpt. His expression is probably considered neutral, but I love it. He sort of stares at you. See, he knows he can kick your ass and his calm determined face is there to let you know that you pose no threat to him. I kinda wish He-Man had ended up with a similar expression, but I’ll happily take it here with Vikor. The helmet is similarly fantastic right down to the battle damage it’s covered in. I wish it were removable or that his helmeted hair was swappable with a regular hair piece, but MOTU Classics isn’t that kind<\/em> of collector’s line.<\/p>\n

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The only piece of Vikor that I didn’t really like is the cape. The sculpt is fine, though it looks like it has been sculpted for Vikor’s right arm to be rearing back. And I do like the necklace\/clasp (another thing I wish was a separate piece), but the overall piece is a harder material than it probably should be. I feel like it takes more form the figure than it adds, so I’ve discarded it for the display (and since I’m not too sure of that hoop neck configuration, I’m probably not going to be popping the head to put it back on anytime soon).<\/p>\n

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Finally, Vikor features some new calf pieces that not only hide the ankle peg, but also appear to be a stab at correcting the loose ankle syndrome that affects so many of the MOTU figures.<\/p>\n

And it does. The joints are a little tight, but I’m not complaining. Vikor stays in the poses I want him to and, even though I don’t mind visible articulation, the boots do look extra with the peg hole covered. Continue to Page 2…<\/a><\/p>\n

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The paintwork on Vikor is superb. Last month, I had to give Mattel a QC spotlight because Buzz-Off<\/a> was rather sloppy, so I’m happy to see Vikor be painted so well. The face looks great and the details on just about everything \u2013 from the tips of the horns to the clasps on the shackles \u2013 is painted particularly well. <\/p>\n

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I’ve already talked a bit about articulation here and there. The neck range is decent for a figure with clunky hair thanks to the longer cavity on the top of the neck. The new ankles work great and they’re nice and (extra) tight. All the other joints are there and work great. Vikor feels like a figure they put some extra work into to kick off the new year and it really shows in the paint and the articulation. If that hoop peg wasn\u2019t in the neck, he\u2019d get four stars from me on the articulation.<\/p>\n

Vikor included three accessories: a sword, axe, and shield. The axe is my favorite; it’s on model to the artwork and includes grips near both the top and bottom of the axe. The paint work is similarly great with a nice silver finish and a little bit of rust (stained blood?) detail where the axe blades meet the handle. <\/p>\n

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The sword is similarly a nice piece. The hilt is similar to the axe which makes them look particularly nice when the sword is sheathed in the loop on the back of the loincloth while Vikor holds the axe. Vikor was sold to as a master of the battleaxe in addition to being a great warrior and having both these weapons really seals the deal. I wouldn’t mess with him if I was in the Valley of Gnarl.<\/p>\n

The shield is probably my favorite of three accessories. The original art and the 4H sculpt both featured a mean looking protrusion that had to be toned down for safety concerns, but the shield is still great. All the weapons feature a ton of detail and, honestly, they put the He-Man gear somewhat to shame. He-Man’s weapons, beholden to the original toys, look like toy accessories. Vikor looks like he has miniature weapons. <\/p>\n

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Overall, Vikor kicked off 2011 with a bang. I’m a little concerned with the hoop peg in the neck over the long term, but that doesn’t interfere with my appreciation for this figure. He’s just too well done. <\/p>\n

The sculpt is spot-on and the paint applied over that is fantastic. The articulation is tight and overall improved with the new ankles. And Vikor, even though he’s been placed deep in MOTU’s past, represents the future of the line to me. Expansion with \u201cnew\u201d characters.<\/p>\n

I look forward to MOTU growing beyond articulated, sometimes modernized versions of the vintage figures. I want Demo Man, the Horde Mummy, etc. And if they’re going to be as good as Vikor? That’s a win for all the collectors of this line.<\/p>\n

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For more MOTU reviews, check out our
MOTU Classics Collector’s Guide<\/a>.<\/h2>\n

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

I want new characters in MOTU Classics. I want Stinkor, Frosta, & Flipshot too – but I really want to see MOTU Classics expand with a few new guys in the mix too (Horde Mummy, please). Mattel comes closest to fulfilling that desire with the January Club Eternia figure: Vikor – He-Man of the North! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":11358,"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":[20,16,2558,791],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.itsalltrue.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/vkTN.jpg?fit=50%2C50&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pObc6-2Xa","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10215,"url":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=10215","url_meta":{"origin":11356,"position":0},"title":"MOTU Update: Vikor’s Early, Bow’s Late, and a new Bio Page","date":"November 18, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"There's some scheduling changes afoot in MOTUland. Vikor's running ahead, Bow's running late, and a change has been made! To soothe us over in these troubled times, we've been given Vikor's bio and the MOTUClassics.Com Bio section has been given a major upgrade. It's ten tons cooler than before... First\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "MOTUClassics"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13037,"url":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=13037","url_meta":{"origin":11356,"position":1},"title":"MOTUClassics.Com Review: Battleground Teela","date":"June 24, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Last year, IAT held it's 2010 Most Requested figure contest. Last year's winner was none other than \"Blonde Bikini\" Teela. Released under the less hilarious, but more appropriate Battleground Teela moniker, she's quickly moved from our wish lists to our shelves as June's Quarterly MOTU figure. 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Yes, Demo-Man was delayed, but he\u2019s here now and it\u2019s all\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "MOTUClassics"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":785,"url":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=785","url_meta":{"origin":11356,"position":4},"title":"Checklists for DC, MOTU, and Ghostbusters Classics!","date":"August 3, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"This is sort of a grand opening for ItsAllTrue.Net. When we conceived what this site would be, one of the things we wanted were checklists\/resources for some of the lines we were collecting. Truthfully, we just really like making lists and this way we get to share them. Right out\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DCClassics.Com"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31061,"url":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=31061","url_meta":{"origin":11356,"position":5},"title":"Mattel Announces MOTU Classics & Ghostbusters SDCC Exclusives","date":"May 7, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "Ghostbusters"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11356"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11356"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11356\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11429,"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11356\/revisions\/11429"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}