You could say Tri-Klops is the first hassle-free MOTU figure since He-Man and Beast Man. He didn’t sell out in a matter of minutes. He didn’t invoke the red screen of doom. He doesn’t have soaring secondary market prices. He was up, he sold, and he lasted for a few days. Spiffy, huh? We’re not sure what the production level on Tri-Klops was, but we know it was the highest yet. I’m interested to see what next month, Webstor, and the subscription kicking off brings.
I wasn’t a big Tri-Klops fan as a kid. It’s not his fault. I had a partial spot for the good guys, and only cared for two or three of the evil Masters. I don’t remember for sure, but I don’t think I even had him. In 200x, I gained a new appreciation for the character. I loved him as a Man-At-Arms equivalent. I loved the Doomseekers too. But, now we’ve come full-circle and are heading back to a more 80s Tri-Klops in Classics. But can my fondness for the 200x Tri-Klops help me to appreciate the updated version of the classic character?
Tri-Klops, as he was in the old line, is constructed around the He-Man body. He gets a new left forearm so that his wrist armor matches on both sides. After that, Tri-Klops’ uniqueness is wrapped up in the noggin that gives him his name. Not surprisingly, it’s my favorite part of the new sculpt. He sports a chiseled jaw, nose, mouth. I’m not going to remove his visor, but it sits far enough from his eyes that you can see the amazing detail on his cybernetic eye sockets. If you’d like to see them up-close, check out ActionFigurePics.com’s review.
His other new piece, the visor, isn’t an exact update of the original. I’m a little sad to see the cybernetic parts go, but I’m glad the Four Horsemen chose to give the visor a more detailed look than the ring that encircled the vintage Tri-Klops’ head. It’s not overkill, they just give each eye a little more life with rudimentary lids and a brow. It makes the whole figure that much more expressive and it’s appreciated. I might have liked to see some light-piping on this head, but it’s okay that it’s not there. The visor turns freely for the most part, but you do need to keep a finger on his chin to keep his head from going with it.
His other new pieces, the armor and sword are mostly straight updates. The sword is a near replica of the classic. I love the paint on the sword, the green of the blade matches up well with the hilt, but like the other swords in the line, sports that metallic finish. It photographed great and I’m looking forward to seeing it in purple later on. The sword fits Tri-Klops’ hands perfectly.
The armor is classic-inspired, but, like the visor, has some new details to keep up it from being bland. The braided edges look sharp and the rivets are a nice touch. On the back, Tri-Klops has three throwing daggers sculpted on. I kinda wish they were removable, but they are awfully small.
Then there is the Doomseeker. I loved the Doomseekers in 200x and I’m glad to see it here. Plus, the Four Horsemen have used their amazing skills to wow me once again. They took the modern Doomseeker and seemingly reverse-engineered it to the Filmation look. I don’t know how they do that. They’re inhuman sometimes. I think I could convince a casual fan that this Doomseeker was in the original canon and that the more technical, silver one was simply an updated version of this one. It looks that classic.
My stand came a little twisted, I don’t think that’s by design. I’ve looked at other reviews and it appears it should be like Slimer’s where the stand goes up straight. I thought it could have been done on purpose, because as you can see in the image below, the subtle twist actually looks great. If it is a mistake, I feel I got lucky.
Paint is a mixed bag on this figure. Tri-Klops’ head and the Doomseeker are painted well, even if the skintone of the face doesn’t match the body. I don’t notice it as much in person, but in my photos the chest loses some of it’s color and really makes them mismatch. The metallic green paint, used sparingly on the knives and rivets is spot-on. But then, there’s the orange areas. The darker orange paint was applied hastily in most areas. It’s not the end of the world, but I want my $20 Adult Figures to be done better.
Overall, Tri-Klops is a good figure. He is a near straight He-Man repaint, but I can’t fault him for that. Mattel is using the same blueprints for the figures that they did twenty-five years ago and it’s still working. I like his colors and his overall look even if I’d prefer a little more 200x influence for this particular character. The Doomseeker is keeping me happy though. Like the other evil Masters, I’m finding a new appreciation for them as an adult. And I’m loving their colors as a group. I don’t know how I missed that twenty-five years ago.
For more MOTU reviews, check out our MOTU Classics Collector’s Guide.
i told you naysayers tryke rocked!!! and remember, this dude, in his mini comic, punked beastman like it wasn’t no thang, one elbow KO’ed ram man, and had he-man on the ropes… this dude was triple tough. and he’s weilding the eternian long sword… and you know how teela loves a lunthy sword weilder. 😉
this is why children’s parents email you……..
LOL. Do we need a “dayraven’s views do not necessarily reflect…” ?
Keep the hate mail comin’ folks.
Booster Klops???
BWA-HAHA.
Billy West should be the voice for the Doomseeker (if it has one).
I was thinking “too obscure” on that one. LOL.
This figure is still 90% He-Man. I know they won’t alter the price on an individual basis, it doesn’t make sense.
But his lack of tooling cost could surely have been put to use to get us something beside that ridiculous ring. A couple extra accessories wouldn’t hurt anything.
New Arm, New Head, New Head Gear, New Harness, New Sword, New Doom Seeker, New Doom Seeker stand, New Ring.
That’s more new parts than some other figures and tooling the Doom Seeker is not cheep (I’m pretty sure that needed a three part mold instead of a 2 part) Still no a $20.00 figure but not as far off as some want to believe.
Alright. Let’s be technical – he’s only 75% He-Man.
I don’t care that he has a new head, new armor, and first accessory because Mattel planned to make 7500 figures while reusing 75% of the parts and giving him new accoutrements to make him “unique”.
That was fine. But now that we’re approaching triple the original planned runs, the $20 “cover our costs with a nice profit” no longer applies. They’re made a ton more money off Tri-Klops than they did from Beast Man and we have a kiddie ring to show for it.
I don’t expect the prices to get lowered, but I expect more bang for my buck.
Tri-Klops has the fixed arm and the Doomseeker – good. Next up is Webstor, who has nothing beyond the “new head, new armor, new weapon”. After him, figures are starting to get two accessories, so that’s well and good, but for $20, we need to get more figures like Man-At-Arms and Trapjaw and less like Webstor and Zodac to even things out.
just saying that the “he’s only 75% percent he-man” line is funny from someone who use the name hank henshaw who is basically just 75% superman
Despite my awareness of the double connotation, Hank Henshaw is my name.
But, if we want to discuss how all four Cyborg Superman figures are similarly overpriced, we certainly can. Keep in mind, though, that even Mattel’s chincy DCSH version only reuses about half of Superman’s parts, not 3/4ths.
congrats on an awesome name.
It’s not that awesome, but what are you going to do.
wow, and I thought you were just a cyborg superman fan.
Sometimes, I like to pretend that I’m unaware of the Cyborg Superman just to throw people off.
Luckily, I didn’t marry a Terri.
HA!
I was underwhelmed by this figure.
I do agree that the Doomseeker is cool though. It does look like it’s always been around.
The sword does look pretty cool, but Fisto should have his own sword too, not just a purple Tri-Klops sword – nostalgia only goes so far.
I don’t like big swords. I think they’ve become an imported cliche, but I guess it will depend on the style of the figure somewhat.
My stand was upright in the package. I think yours warped.
I’m thinking so too.
Tryke is really cool! I so can’t wait till mine arrive!
Tri-Klops is awesome!! And I don’t care if the ring is kiddie or not, I wore it most of yesterday!
Great review as always!
I still don’t mind that I didn’t pick this one up. I’m just biding my time until Teela.
Tri-Klops is awesome. I’m glad he’s finally out! Now, bring on Trap Jaw!
Tri-Klops is great. Can’t believe some of the lukewarm response to him!
His face is a different color from his body… But, otherwise, he’s cool.
That ring is spiffy. It opens too, right?
LOL @ Billy West Doomseeker.
It does open, yes. Has the classics logo on the inside too.