Along with the new sculpt, these Troopers have a nice amount of paint work also. The gray armor has been airbrushed a shade darker in placed and denotes shadow or wear and tear. There are also silver and dark gray apps decorating various piping and sculpted details. All this stands out pretty well from the black areas underneath. And the bright objects like the visor, Horde symbol, and gold “belt buckle” really jump out.
The paint apps are also the only difference between the two figures. One comes factory fresh, while the other has three blaster burns on chest armor and head.
Normally the articulation section of a MOTU review is pretty boring. We all know how the figures move, so there isn’t usually much to say. Well, the Horde Trooper has one more impressive surprise with new bits of articulation. You’ve got the standard ball jointed head. His shoulders and hips are swivel hinges, but this time so are his elbows and knees. You also still have the swivel joints at his biceps, thighs, wrists, and waist. Then there are the hinges at this chest and ankles. These additional swivel/hinges on the elbows and knees don’t give him a ton more movement, but it definitely allows for more variety in gestures and stances.
The Troopers come with a nice assortment of accessories, which is especially great if you’re army building. First up is his vintage toy weapon, a long staff with a little dragon on the end. The staff is all red, but there’s a nice amount of sculpted techno detail along the whole thing.
Next up is the silver cattle prod-like sticks from the Filmation series. A much simpler sculpt than the vintage weapon, but it does have a couple of buttons sculpted on. This is actually the weapon I visualize when I think of the Horde Troops, so it’s my favorite of all the accessories.
The last two are entirely new pieces. First up is the Trooper crossbow. While I think the crossbows should be reserved for Horde Generals and Commanders, I think it’s an excellent touch and lets them blend in with the rest of the gang’s custom bows.
Lastly is the large shield in the shape of the Horde logo. I actually really love the look of this piece and it gives the Troopers a cool riot gear feel (which is what every police state needs). But I do have to point out that the form doesn’t necessarily fit with function. Number one rule when making a shield? Don’t put a large hole in the middle of it…
MOTU Classics is set to end this year incredibly strong. Figures like Dactys, Mantenna, and the Troopers have loads of new pieces and even new articulation. The only unfortunate part is how limited the figures are. Horde Troopers are meant to be loved in groups, and that’s a bit hard to do right now. So hopefully Mattel will rerelease in the future, but not just in the classic grey. There are the “Prototype” and Hydro Troopers from Filmation, and the white, black, and pink from the new He-Man mobile game. There are even characters like General Sunder and Colonel Blast who wear a majority of the armor. This is definitely a figure that has rerelease value, and I’m hoping it won’t be squandered.
-Vault
Great review and hilarious pics as always, Vault. These guys are bound to be hot sellers for the line since they already have an army builder coolness factor precedent which dates back to the vintage line. I can see Mattel releasing these guys again in the different ways you suggest before MOTUC closes up shop.
First。
Technically speaking, You’re Second…
Now unto the Troopers themselves. Riot shield with a small window for their weapons to fire Through the shield or something…
Also, NA’s Flogg was revealed to reuse the Trooper arms…
i have to say, while i like the troopers overall, i don’t know if i like the “improvements” in the articulation. the elbrows and kneebrows do very little for me, and the knees in particular give less flexion than the standard knee, while providing a fairly useless for adduction/abduction because of the limited rocker ankle. if they want the kneebrow to pay off, first, they have to design the cuff of the upper calf better to allow the hinge better range, than they need to study the infinitely superior ankles of figmas/revoltechs/hasbro marvel legends so that the ankle can support weight in an ab or ad-ducted pose.
i also think the ink blot “battle damaged” armor is a joke. my kids took one look at that and asked if that was done with marker and tried to rub them off w/ a licked thumb. that is not well executed oxidation from a laser blast.
that said, the base fig is nice, i like the variety of new pieces and look forward to seeing some of them used again. i also think the number of pack-ins is nearly heroic for this line… where was that kind of love for the snake men pack? i had initially lamented only being able to score one set of figs, but after owning them… one set will do me just fine. i like what i got, but i don’t love it enough to wish i’d gotten more.
I bet we see those torsos again with Dragstor!
Looking at that MAA head on the torso without the chest armor shows it wouldn’t work unless there was some kind of plug used in between the shoulders and the chest.
Had a lot of contempt for the battle damage. The point of army building is so you can form a pattern of troops. And before anyone says it can be removed with a little alcohol, I remind you that the helmet is painted, so it’s much, much harder to remove that blast without taking gray paint with it (and revealing the black plastic underneath). I’d rather they’d have spent the paint app on giving on trooper brown hands a la Filmation, along with a toon-accurate head.
Otherwise, good figures. I’m glad they came with the same weapons.
Great review, pics, and hilarious comics.
SO looking forward to these guys arriving. Also hoping they decide to do a re-release that allows everyone to get some more (or any, come to think of it).
The fight goes on!
Great review great pics. Yeah I was sold on these before they were made. Just missed out on DoS.
Hydro troops … YES
Excellent work done by the FH on upgrading these Horde Troopers. I’m glad I brought multiple packs of these guys.
huh. I guess my original comment didn’t post?
Another character these could be used for is “baby stealing Hordak”, which is a custom I believe Joe Amato recently tried to sell on ebay before someone reported him (again) because they have nothing better to do. He had it in the works for a while, so unless he got an advanced set, his armor sculpt was all original. plus, baby Adora was an original sculpt, too.
(of course, now I want to see someone do a “What If…Hordak stole Adam?” set and see how the MOTU line would have turned out?)
What have people been reporting Joe Amato for?
aah… the e-bay police. people who have no lives, slightly above a chatroom/forum troll. out there to right all of the wrongs and injustice in this world. not saying there aren’t some pretty shady folks out there trying to misrepresnent the items they are selling on eBay, but when you get into the nitty gritty of something like the definition of the word “mint” it’s kind of pathetic and generally a waste of time.
The battle damage annoyed the Hell out of me and I bought two sets to have two normal troopers. I wound up putting Mo-Lar’s head on one of the spare battle damaged ones and he makes a fantastic field commander. On a more sinister body his expression becomes downright sociopathic.