Kobra Khan has standard articulation for the line: ball-joints at the neck (with some good tilt), shoulders, and hips, swivels at the biceps, wrists, waist, thighs, and boots, single hinges at the elbows, knees, and ankles, rocker ankles, and the ab crunch. All the joints are nice and tight, though there is one spot on the figure that’s a little too tight, the elbows.
I’m not sure what’s going on with the elbows because these should be the standard biceps with Whiplash forearms and yet, there’s a conflict. The elbows will move the full range, but there’s a weird catch part of the way through. And I’m not the only one. Brilliant readers FakeEyes22 did some disassembly and posted the pics on his Twitter feed. If you look at his picture of the disassembled arm, you can see there’s an extra nub on the inside of the arm. FakeEyes trimmed his down, but I haven’t decided if I want to modify mine yet. I can get the full range, but it is annoying…
In addition to the extra head, Khan comes with two more accessories. His vintage pistol was a repackage of the one that came with Zodac, but Classics Khan finally has his own piece. It’s similar to the Zodac gun, but has its own flare. When I was a kid, I think I lost the gun almost right way – he sprayed water, what use is a gun when you can do that?? This action-featureless Khan needs all the help he can get though.
And he gets even more in the form of his MO2K pet lizard. It’s a cool sculpt with some personality despite its small size and is specifically made to fit on Khan’s shoulder. It’s got some grooves that fit over the left shoulder and it’ll stay up there through a “bump” test, but it’s not a tight enough fit to stay while you’re carrying him around. I like having him up there, but with the open mouth sculpt it looks like Khan is always trying to eat him. Oh, and I should note that I’m calling the little guy Pixel, as part of an in-joke made during the Toy Fair Walkthrough with Toy Guru. Mattycollector says the little guy’s named Fang now, so I assume Pixel met an unceremonious end…
Okay, so I tried to tone down my enthusiasm and run through this review by the numbers, but we’re at the end now so I can go back to using descriptive words like awesome and fantastic. Kahn is a figure with all the right new pieces, two heads, an updated and unique pistol, and an extra “new” accessory to round out his gear. All points in his favor. An articulated jaw or a closed mouth head might have been nice, but their absence doesn’t really detract from the figure for me. Similarly, I’d love to have gotten a “water” attachment to simulate the old action feature, but again it’s not a dealbreaker. Khan and Fisto are two back-to-back home runs for this line. I’m super happy that a childhood favorite came out so well and you can bet Kobra Khan has a well-earned front of shelf spot on my MOTU shelf.
And that brings us to the end of Kobra Khan’s review. I hope I didn’t misspell Khan too many times…
For more MOTU reviews, check out our
MOTU Classics Collector’s Guide.
Bonus Pic: The all important “back shot”…
Bonus Pic: A shout out to Vault…
Kamo Khan is my Battle Armor Faker!
And Scott, if you’re reading this, he needs to come with Buzz Off hands and weapons!
Kobra Khan is one of my favorite figures in the line too.
I love his colors, accessories, and his sculpt. Easily my favorite figure this year so far, and I loved Fisto and Shadow Weaver completely.
I bought a few of him actually. One for each head, and one for the computer desk.
I love both heads, but I think I prefer the hooded one slightly. It makes him look even more dangerous. It probably has something to do with cobras being ingrained in our minds as dangerous.
Anyway, good review as always.
Thanks!
I almost bought an extra because the Kobra aspect is more fitting on the flared head, but decided just to stick with one.
Kobra Khan is here and he is was well worth the wait. That’s three classic characters in a row! I do miss the old water spraying action feature so much that I’m thinking of getting a loose, vintage Khan to back this newest version up with some true old school firepower!
I know! I couldn’t believe the classic Khan wasn’t upstairs ready to go for he review. I loved his spraying feature.
Finally, a use for that awful Iron Man accessory! Also, I prefer the hooded look because it makes sense with his gaping jaw. If it had been a closed mouth, I would go with the non-hooded look. The hooded head also holds Fang in place without falling down when moving Khan around.
Yes! I was looking at the classic cardback art for Khan and that piece just popped into my head. I’m happy too, because I hate those as IM accessories. LOL
Thanks for the tip on Fang & the hooded head.
“I do kinda wish Mattel could do something about the teeth.”
They can. They just won’t.
Some of NECA’s toys that are sold at Toys R Us are sharp enough to kill…so I don’t buy Mattel’s BS.
NECA hasn’t been sued yet. Mattel, having been around for decades, has been sued lots. Once NECA gets sued, they’ll make nubby teeth, too.
Blame the lawyers.
LOL
Has anyone tried any of theose Lego fang pieces, trimmed them down and stuck ’em in someone’s mouth yet? I was thinking of doing that, but unless they put out a box set of nothing but varying sizes of nasty big pointy teeth, I won’t be able to afford to get enough sets to customise all my befanged characters. Just a thought.
Hit up bricklink.com. Surely you can find the fangs there (and it probably won’t be that far from you either).
Sweeeeeeeet. Ta!
They won’t because they want to reserve the option to release these at retail “during a movie year” and not have to make any adjustments to tooling or anything due to the wider safety concerns that would come into play.
Just one of the many reasons why Mattel will never ever be able to deliver a true “collector’s line”.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a really solid line for what it is, but this and other self-imposed limitations just get to me, because I can see how truly amazing the line COULD be.
Wouldn’t that just be a kicker? All these figures at retail for $5 cheaper? Or, maybe by the time hell freezes over (when a MOTU movie is released) retail figures will cost more than $22…
Yep. And the crazy/sad thing is some of these figures are just good enough to rebuy if the redeco is right, and Mattel knows it.
Yes, even at $22 retail + tax + gas money.
Each time you have to clear it through one level of the company, the teeth get that much duller. 😀
I really like your make-shift “water spray.” What did you use for that? It looks like something out of the 3 3/4″ MU figures or maybe the Iron Man figures
Not sure where the blue one comes from, but you can get a clearish blue version with the latest MU Iceman (although mine gets displayed with the Spider Friends Iceman).
Iceman did have a good one!
BP, this one came from the Bleeding Edge Armor Iron Man I believe though I think Hasbro labeled it Modular Armor. It’s the standard repulsor attachment, just in blue. Other IMs might have it too.
Great review 🙂
Thanks!
Next best thing to the Staction for sure!
He turned out great!
Close as we can get right now! 😉
I missed sale day and have been waiting for these to show up at BBTS. But man are they taking FOREVER.
They took forever to get here too. Hopefully BBTS will get theirs up soon.
If yours came this week then i may get him right after the charge for Stinkor (end of the month). I love this sub so much…….not.
It’s like they had all those consecutive months of good shipping and then the bill came due with all the schedule slips now…
Khan’s lovely. All the subtle ridges and textures to the sculpt make the figure look best while dynamically posed. His head makes me think of a muscle car’s hood.
I enjoyed the bit with Hiss! It conjured this imagery in my head that when Snake Men sneeze, Hiss’ disguise flies off, Khan’s hood flares open, Th General’s head shoots forward and Tung Lashor’s tongue whips out.
And now I can’t stop the thought of Snake Face + Big Mucus-y Sneeze from popping into my brain: all his hidden snake heads popping out, and evey single one of them spraying snot as well. Thank you for that.
LOL Those would be some messy pics…
That sucks about the wait on Khan. Once it actually shipped though it seems like it arrived a lot quicker than the last few figures have.
Khan definitely hit a nostalgic note that I haven’t heard for quite a while in this line. It’s not even because he was a favorite of mine, it was just that seeing him together with Skeletor’s other minions it really hit me.
I want a new MOTUC Skeletor with the Khan/Whiplash forearms and the Khan greaves. Throw the Acala head on that and you’ve got a stew!
That iron man accessory is brilliant! I’m going to have to track that down! =)
Khan is a solid figure but somehow I felt a little under whelmed with the face/head sculpt. I didn’t mind his open mouth, hissing sculpt; I think it was the eyes. It’s grown on me though. Overall I’m happy, he had a tough act to follow and there are a lot of huge contenders this year (Horde Prime and Spikor) but I think he could be one of the best figures of the year.
I’d be interested to at least see what Skeletor would look like now that all the pieces to make a proper version of him are out there. I’m sure some enterprising customizer will whip one out soon.
And thanks!
maybe Camo Kahn as a sub bonus?
I don’t know if he’d be the best subscription bonus, he’s awfully obscure. It could happen though.
He looks really good, but he’s missing the most critical part of the original toy for me. No, not the action feature – well, kind of.
I always loved toys that could be pulled apart for battle-damage as a kid, and while nearly every He-Man guy had arms that came off, Kobra Khan was the only one whose head not only pulled off, but had a sweet spinal column dangling down from the torn-off head when you did it!
I probably should have seen some kind of specialist.
Ah! Great call! You’re absolutely right, the ability to decapitate the old one was crucial… LOL
Snout Spout wins . . . Fatality! };D
Excellent review and fun pics, as per the norm! Eagerly looking forward to this guy arriving, especially since I only got my Sorceress / Fisto / Shadow Weaver crate a week ago.
If they actually produced a Camo Khan with golden pincers and made it part of the subscription, I’d happily put mine up for sale. There’s only so much weirdness I can take, and Camo Khan is a step too far for my liking. Vault can have first dibs.
Thanks!
And no love for Camo Khan, eh? I imagine you’re not alone… I won’t mind one, but it’s definitely a ‘Vault thing’ round these parts.
I’m in love with this figure!! Bought a marriage license and everything. Might even take his last name.
It’s been a while since nostalgia and well executed figure hit me this way. Khan’s in my top 5 even if he lacked the extra head and sidekick, especially now that the elbows are fixed.
What’s gotten me even MORE excited is your makeshift water spray!! I’m so thankful for your idea and I’ll be using it.
1) I was hoping for a water spray effect for Khan since day 1 of this line
2) When I’m messing around with my random energy effect pieces, I’ve always tried desperately to make that Iron Man “sonic wave” looking piece work since it looks cool, but the awkward clip placement makes it look awful even on the figures it’s intended for.
It’s double-effective!
And I’m glad you noticed the stupid amount of effort I put into demonstrating what’s going on with his elbows. That little tab even kept me from posing one of his arms completely straight. I’m glad to discover how easily the tabs can be cut without even the pain of removing the forearm. Since most of the figures seem to use that same bicep sculpt, I’d bet we see this pop up again, unless Whiplashes forearms are a rare case in that they are the only forearms that haven’t been altered to account for the change. Guess we’ll find out once TP He-Man and Spector arrive.
Thanks for doing the legwork on the elbow joints! I hope, but doubt, these bumps on Khan were a one-time thing. This seems like the DCUC tri-barbell thing all over again.
I wish that the folks in charge of the MOTU line thought about stuff like the water spray effect (though who knows, the 4H might have tons of effects pieces in their extra parts bin). Tri-Klops could’ve had optic blasts, Khan his water spray, magical energy, etc. Thunder Punch He-Man is definitely a step in the right direction.
No problem! I enjoy ripping apart the occasional toy and learning something.
Just by looking at various figures tonight(without ripping them apart) noticed that relatively recent figures, Leech, Demo-Man and Snout Spout have that little bump, but the difference is they’ve got newly sculpted forearms that allow clearance for it while Whiplash’s unaltered forearms have a slight conflict. Icarius doesn’t have the bump at all on his all new bicep pieces. Weird. I imagine the intent is to help the elbow lock into place so large accessories don’t weigh it down, but I don’t know how effective it is.
That tri-barbell thing is pure irritation(as well as the lost rocker ankles in DCUC) Khan does have the newer neck barbell that I first remember seeing in Vikor and most of the females lately, probably some of the guys as well. Instead of a barbell with a ball at each end, it now ends in a loop that wraps around a post inside. I think it allows a bit less motion on some figures, but not drastically. I figure that was done for durability, as I’ve pulled Scareglows head off so many times that eventually his neck seam split just enough that the entire barbell came out with the head. No big deal and I blame myself for loving the toy to death rather than Mattel QC.
And I’ve been crying for action feature “effects” for a long time now! This was a toy line based on action features, which many characters identities were based around entirely! Some figures had action features that can’t be represented with a visual change on the toy itself, since their feature was based on motion…or liquid. I was hoping for a Snout Spout blast and something similar to Red Tornado’s effect for Sy-Klone, but I’ve got this big bag of Marvel effects that don’t look so hot attached to a 4″ figure, so it’s about time to play. I’ve been messing around with Star Wars force lightning as well with some fun results.
Anyway, Khan is pretty darn great for a figure that took so long to get here that my excitement should have been diminished some.
I realize I’m likely the only one who thinks this, but I would really enjoy a ‘guest feature’ where you dissect and showcase all these features, the changes and what the resulting effect has been on the toys (MOTUC and DCUC).
I seem to recall Noisy did it with the neck barbell nonsense.
I still can’t figure out why they did that thing.
I didn’t get this guy, but the spelling caveat at the end had me wondering:
No Madeline Kahn jokes?
I am Disappoint.
1 of the best top 5 figures in the lineup. Love the Hooded head. Cool pics & funny pic of Khan eating Pixal!!! Bring on more Snake Men.
Love that pic of Khan blasting He-Man with water!
on the issue of painted toes, it always seemed to me like there was holes in the boots for thier claws to stick out for kicks and stuff.
Great review! My Khan finally arrived on Wed of this week…about damn time