{"id":12552,"date":"2011-05-09T10:12:44","date_gmt":"2011-05-09T15:12:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=12552"},"modified":"2011-07-21T13:01:22","modified_gmt":"2011-07-21T18:01:22","slug":"motuclassics-com-vault-review-panthor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=12552","title":{"rendered":"MOTUClassics.Com
Vault Review: Panthor"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a> Well, I hope everyone enjoyed Thor week. We had a lot of fun running down the Thor related Marvel Universe figures, but now it\u2019s time to get back to toy business. So to ease us back into our normal routine I thought I\u2019d start off the week with one last, very unofficial, Thor review: MOTU Classics PanTHOR! <\/p>\n

Panthor was probably one of my favorite MOTU figures as a kid. He was this dark purple cat with glowing green eyes and real fur. What wasn\u2019t to love? Plus, he didn\u2019t need a saddle or helmet. Sure he served Skeletor, but he certainly wasn\u2019t going to be anyone\u2019s ride. Panthor\u2019s way too cool and badass for that. Basically he\u2019s the Samuel L. Jackson of the giant Eternian cats.<\/p>\n

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Now that Panthor\u2019s been updated for the MOTU Classics line he\u2019s been given a bio to explain his origin. Interestingly, Keldor saved cub Panthor similar to how Adam had saved Cringer as a cub. (Remember kids, if you\u2019re ever on Eternia, the first thing you need to do is rescue a baby cat. He will be your loyal companion forever.) I don\u2019t mind the similarities so much, but that makes Panthor about twenty years older than Cringer. No wonder he\u2019s always laying around and getting annoyed when people disturb him. Plus, he doesn\u2019t even have magical powers. I guess that explains why he and Battle Cat never got into more fights on the original show. <\/p>\n

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Like the original Battle Cat\/Panthor, these new Classics versions are basically the same figure. That\u2019s just something you get used to as a MOTU fan. And I don\u2019t really mind it that much in this case because, realistically, giant cats are mostly similar in real life. Also, I always saw the reuse of vehicles and weapons as a form of proliferation and deterrence on Eternia. The good guys get a falcon, so the bad guys get a purple falcon and a mechanical horse. Then the good guys add a mechanical horse to their arsenal along with a guy with a big fist. The villain\u2019s response: a guy with a giant karate chopping hand. Before you know it both sides are being carried to the battlefield in a giant reanimated dinosaur skeleton.<\/p>\n

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The one new piece that was added to the Panthor body is his upper head. Where Battle Cat has a rounder head with much more scruffy cheek fur, Panthor\u2019s head is narrower and his cheek fur goes back more like it\u2019s been combed. Also, Panthor\u2019s ears are turned back, making them appear like horns or the top of an owl\u2019s head. (If you own a cat then you\u2019ve definitely seen this annoyed look before.) Meanwhile, Battle Cat is seriously pissed with his ears laying flat back on his head. I\u2019m really happy with the work the Horsemen put into this new head and its similarity to the original paintings.<\/p>\n

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Panthor\u2019s paint is pretty simple. The entire body is molded in that deep purple color. Interestingly, the combination of the hard plastic and dark colors gives his fur a sheen that isn\u2019t as visible on Battle Cat. There are also these much darker, almost black, washes that highlight the textures in his muscle and longer fur nicely. For some reason the paint used on Panthor\u2019s teeth is much thicker than that used on Battle Cat. This gives them much less definition. Also, they\u2019re tinted a slight purple. I\u2019m not sure if that was done on purpose or not, but it makes them look odd in my opinion. I do like that Panthor\u2019s claws are a shiny brown and that they gave him black pads on the bottoms of his feet. Continue to Page Enchantress…<\/a><\/p>\n

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My biggest problem with Panthor\u2019s paint job was his eyes. Most of the Panthors we got here at IAT had eyes that looked slightly off to the side. I\u2019m not really sure why painting them straight was an issue, but apparently it was because I\u2019ve seen a few others online like that also. Something else I was a bit disappointed in was that his eyes were done in yellow instead of the creepy glowing green of the original figure. I know this is just a personal preference, but it\u2019s something I loved as a kid and would have liked to have seen done with this figure.<\/p>\n

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Something else I\u2019d like to address is Panthor\u2019s lack of flock. I realize that this is the way the Horsemen prefer the figure to be, and that a lot of you out there agree. I\u2019m cool with that. But I\u2019d like to see Toy Guru re-release Panthor again next year, this time flocked but not as a subscription figure. This way the fans that prefer a fuzzy version (with green eyes!) can get the figure they want, and the other fans aren\u2019t forced to buy one. This will also be the third time that Mattel can put this cat body to use, so the main cost issue would only be the flocking. It\u2019s a win win situation for everyone.<\/p>\n

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Panthor\u2019s articulation is the exact same as Battle Cat\u2019s. When Battle Cat first came out I was super happy with him. I thought he was awesome and everything a cat figure should be. It\u2019s been a few months now and I\u2019ve now added Panthor, so the honeymoon is over. I still love both cats, but there are a couple things I wish they would fix articulation wise. <\/p>\n

My biggest complaint is that the ball joints for his head and torso don\u2019t really allow for ball joint-like movement. Neither Panthor nor Battle Cat can look up or to the sides, and the only reason they can look down is because of the hinged neck joint. This really takes away from the expressiveness of the figures. Cats are flexible and they\u2019re always circling things or looking to their sides. Poor Panthor and Battle Cat can only attack what\u2019s directly in front of them. What\u2019s really sad is that this wouldn\u2019t even require a new joint, just better implementation of the current joints.<\/p>\n

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Panthor comes with two accessories: a saddle and a helmet. Like the original figure, the saddle is just a repaint of Battle Cat\u2019s. But even though they could have stopped there, the Horsemen took the opportunity to give him an all-new helmet to even out any fight he may have with Battle Cat. The coloring on both pieces is great. I really love the dark metallic greens that actually make these look armored. Originally I didn\u2019t know how I felt about the new helmet, but the more I played around with it the more I really like it. It really looks like it could have been part of the original design. Plus it\u2019s got that ram motif going on, so it matches Skeletor nicely. (I wonder if Evil-Lyn stole it from her father also?)<\/p>\n

All around Panthor is a pretty great figure, even with the few flaws. His new head is a great representation of the old painting, plus it gives him an entirely different look than Battle Cat. I\u2019m really glad we got this version, but now I\u2019m definitely ready for his green eyed flocked form. Only then can he truly take his place as the Sam Jackson of my MOTU shelf.<\/p>\n

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

Well, I hope everyone enjoyed Thor week. We had a lot of fun running down the Thor related Marvel Universe figures, but now it\u2019s time to get back to toy business. So to ease us back into our normal routine I thought I\u2019d start off the week with one last, very unofficial, Thor review: MOTU […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12554,"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":[78,20,16,2558,478,118],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.itsalltrue.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/pantTN.jpg?fit=50%2C50&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pObc6-3gs","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12404,"url":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=12404","url_meta":{"origin":12552,"position":0},"title":"A Funny Thing Happened when Sy-Klone Arrived…","date":"April 22, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Sy-Klone & Panthor arrived at the ItsAllTrue's \"central offices\" late yesterday evening. The figures came packaged in two boxes: a giant one for our Panthor order and a less giant one for our Sy-Klones. Once I had everything opened up, I was suprised to find that not all the Sy-Klone\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "MOTUClassics"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10647,"url":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=10647","url_meta":{"origin":12552,"position":1},"title":"Site Update: DCUC Wave 17, Panthor, & King Hssss","date":"December 23, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Mattel is at it again with Facebook updates! Giving us our first look at packaged shots of Panthor & King Hssss as well as our first glimpse of DC Universe Classics Wave 17 featuring the *yawn* Blackest Night Lantern deputies and a collect & connect of the modern version of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DCClassics.Com"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15931,"url":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=15931","url_meta":{"origin":12552,"position":2},"title":"MOTUClassics.Com: Swift Wind Review","date":"December 19, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "MOTUClassics"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28048,"url":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=28048","url_meta":{"origin":12552,"position":3},"title":"MOTU Goes “Adorable” with Baby Skeletor Doll","date":"May 28, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "MOTUClassics"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4478,"url":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=4478","url_meta":{"origin":12552,"position":4},"title":"Ask Matty – March 15th Edition","date":"March 15, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Ask MattyMarch 15th, 2010 1. Vault asks: In the first year of DCUC, I was excited about the healthy mix of characters from different decades. I was especially happy to see the 90s represented well. But in 2009, I don't think a single figure was made that could call that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ask Matty"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4599,"url":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=4599","url_meta":{"origin":12552,"position":5},"title":"Most Requested Figures: Panthor (Head Sculpt Poll)","date":"March 26, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "Matty on Facebook"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12552"}],"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\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12552"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12552\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13586,"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12552\/revisions\/13586"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}