Review of Battle Cat Action Figure

Masters of the Universe Classics

Mattel

Date Published: 2010-03-01

Written By: Michael Crawford Overall Average Rating: 4 out of 4 Please share with your friends!



Introduction

I asked Roget (he's a personal friend) to give me a synonym for 'fiasco'. He responded immediately - MattyCollector's February 16th sale. Matty and their e-commerce provider, Digital River, has had their problems with getting the process right in the past, but the February order was a total disaster, with more confusion, more problems and certainly more frustration than before.



It's too bad too, since they had not one but two exceptional Masters of the Universe Classics figures available - Battle Cat (reviewed tonight), and Trap Jaw (coming up next).



Battle Cat cost $30, if you were lucky enough to fight your way through the mess and get one into the cart.



Battle Cat is He-man's ride, the heroic version of Prince Adam's pet Cringer. He's the first, but not the last, of larger scale figures in the series. Packaging - ***1/2

The graphics and artwork is the same as the single figure packages, just a bit more box-like due to the shape of Battle Cat. It looks as good as ever.



It isn't particularly collector friendly, although if you were really, really determined you could get him out and back in again.

Sculpting - ****

While this tiger is based on a cartoon, he's far more realistic and deadly appearing than the usual animated kitty. The detail work in the fur and hair is excellent, and the snarling expression works great with the lower jaw in any position. The cat is nicely scaled to work with the rest of the series, and He-man will sit on his back in the saddle just about perfectly. The saddle has been designed to work with the slightly funky hips and legs that He-man sports. The armor is removable, and will be covered in detail in the accessories section, but it's worth nothing that the sculpting is sharp and clean, giving it a solid, metallic appearance. The cat can stand great with the included articulation, and there's no need for a stand or any sort of support. The sculpt works great with the underlying articulation, designed to look great and function just as well. Paint - ****

Mattel hasn't had too many issues with the paint work on recent releases in the MOTUC series, and this one continues that trend. The stripes look terrific, and the eyes and teeth are quite clean. They've also used a light wash of darker paint on the body to bring out the fur highlights, and it works extremely well. The most subtle work is on the armor, and the small details there are just about perfect. Color me impressed! Articulation - ***1/2

I was surprised how well articulated the big puddy tat is - he can even sit on his tail better than the regular figures in the series! The jaw is jointed to allow the mouth to be posed open or closed, and the neck has two joints - one below the jaw line, and one at the torso. This allows the head to move up and down, and also gives him a little side to side movement. A little more would have been nice, but it's a minor quibble. The torso has a mid-body joint, and all four hips have what appears to be traditional ball joints. The design of the body restricts the outward movement, but you can still get a ton of poses out of the legs thanks to the post/disc ankles on all four legs, the post/disc joints on the 'elbow' of the front legs, and the two pin joints on the back legs. He can take standing, running and walking poses with little trouble. The joint has a more traditional ball joint too, giving you one more option when creating the perfect stance. The joints are tight enough to hold He-man on his back without nary a wilt. Accessories - ***1/2

I'm counting the two pieces of armor as his accessories, since both are easily removable. The mask fits tightly to his face, but pops off easily enough. It doesn't get in the way of the articulated jaw, but I am a little confused as to how he would see through it...now I'm just being picky. The body armor has a strap across the belly that holds it in place. Pop out the peg on the left (his left) side, and the armor comes right off. The peg is pretty sturdy, but I wouldn't pop it on and off too many times. Besides, it's armored up that he looks the best anyway. Fun Factor - ****

This is a great toy - one of the best in the series, where every release has been a great toy. If you were wondering if this line is actually an improvement on the old Masters of the Universe series, wonder no more.

Value - **

If you're happy with the $20 price point on the regular figures, then the extra ten spot is probably no biggie. I'm still not sure the price point on the series is appropriate, but I'll deal with it.

Things to Watch Out For -

Not a thing! Overall - ****

The addition of Battle Cat is a terrific inclusion to the line, and there's no way I'll be displaying He-Man without him. The combo look deadly together, and all who stand against them will be crushed under Battle Cat's paws! Or he'll at least eat their face. If you're not a fan of this line, you probably aren't going to see the appeal of this over sized kitty cat. But if you're a MOTUC collector, you're going to be thrilled him. It's just too bad that so many people had so many problems trying to order this guy, and that many more have been put off of the line by the continued issues with Digital River. Score Recap (out of ****):

Packaging - ***1/2

Sculpting - ****

Paint - ****

Articulation - ***1/2

Accessories - ***1/2

Fun Factor - ****

Value - **

Overall - **** Where to Buy

This was available at Matty Collector last month, but your best bet now is to watch ebay for a deal. Hopefully we'll see Matty release this bad boy again. UPDATE: Sure enough, Matty has announced they'll be re-releasing both Battle Cat AND Trap Jaw. You'll have to wait awhile, but if you can hold out, you may get another chance to own these guys at retail prices. Related Links -

I've covered a fair number of the series: - last was Adora. - I really liked Scareglow, although he's not exactly what you'd call a key character. - Adora isn't the first girl in the series - Teela has that honor. - before that there was Webstor, one of my favorite, and Tri-klops, another one of my favs. - prior to that was Man-at-arms, Hordak, Zodac, Faker, Mer-man and Stratos, starting out with He-man, Skeletor and Beastman together in one review. You should also hit the Search Reviews page, in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published. Discussion:

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This product was purchased for the review by the reviewer. Photos and text by Michael Crawford.