So thankfully, this figure got an all new chest. We lost the ab crunch, but the front plate opens up and the buzz saw can nestle inside. It doesn’t burst out, but hey it’s less dangerous this way. So why on earth would anyone think that getting this hollow chest is a bad thing? Well, some folks are crazy and want the last of action features to be consistent. We don’t worry about them. The other reason? The totally not fair and should have nothing to do with BS Hordak reason?
Because MOTU Classics Rio Blast sucks. For my money, he’s the biggest disappointment in the entire line. That’s including a sure-to-break Goddess figure, horrendously ugly Point Dread Teela, reversed arms whoever, etc. Rio Blast is the worst. And you could maybe deal with it because the line wasn’t going to get any newly tooled cavity chests… yeah.
It’s not this figure’s fault, but it’s like a certain song your ex absolutely loved. The song isn’t any different than it was before after the break-up, but you can’t see it the same way. Hordak is fine, but Rio Blast just kinda makes you not like him.
Hordak includes the Hordak Crossbow in white and that aforementioned lethal dumbbell. The crossbow is doomed for the extras bin with the other white crossbow, but hey – that buzz saw stores neatly in the chest, so that’s probably where it will reside.
Overall, this figure isn’t anything terrible. He’s just got a lot of little things he doesn’t do well. He’s not quite vintage accurate to the original BS Hordak and his deco isn’t really different enough from the regular Hordak to be notable. He’s got the chest cavity, but no way to launch the little buzz saw. We applaud the folks at Mattel giving him a new chest – it’s fantastic, but it just serves as a reminder that they utterly, completely botched Rio Blast. It’s hard to let that go and enjoy this guy.
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Problem is that we got 4 freaking Hordak Variants in addition to Vanilla Hordak. They could have totally combined Filmation AND BS into one figure and make something a bit more worthwhile.
One Forearm swap (and slight repaint) with Miller Bats and now BS looks less BS and more BA…
There’s another thing about this Hordak that some may consider a positive. If I were collecting Teh Lein BUT I’M NOT (ha! 10 point Skeletor reference!) this would be my ‘default’ Hordak. Why? Because it looks like (from Noisy’s photos) the hollow chest corrects the ‘chestplate flex pose’ problem, where you can’t have your figure doing anything but “MY GUNS, THEY ARE TOO POWERFUL CHECK THEM OUT BRUTHER!!” poses.
Hey, with the New Regime in power, maybe they can be lobbied for a Rio Blast 2.0, now with hollow chest?
A new Rio Blast would be great.
Agreed!
Well I thought owned this one as a kid but found out was wrong. I don’t get the appeal but as not having a hordak would go for it. Alas I have slacked from the line a bit. Have some to get on 2nd market.
BS Hordak design wise good and the feature (less) just does look like “Look at me I gotta thing” kinda deal. The Filmation idea I think woulda looked much better. Oh well, still a good review and again great pics.
I spent many, many hours of my childhood gleefully blasting other toys with the buzzsaw launcher. This was my favourite version of Hordak, probably still is. O’ course, that’s dependent on his buzzsaw actually being able to launch, but I still have warm memories of the fun I had with the vintage figure. HE SHOT TWIN BUZZSAWS OUT OF HIS GUTS, fer cryin’ out loud!
There is no way that is not cool. };D
Not gonna lie: I love this one. Not “like,” but LOVE. As much as I enjoyed the first MOTUC Hordak as a composite of vintage and 200X goodness, I just felt let down by him. He had wobbly ankles (BS Hordak’s are nice ‘n’ tight), and the 1-2 punch of bulky chest armor and the longer loincloth made his forearms and dainty gloved mitts look even more ridiculously undersized. While the arms and hands on BS Hordak are the same, they look better proportioned thanks to the slimmer torso and, erm, less ‘saggy’ crotch. Combined with the brighter deco, he comes off looking a bit more rejuvenated than his first MOTUC entry. And even if he isn’t a perfect update of the vintage BS figure, he’s an awfully nice modern counterpart to the *original* vintage Hordak. I’m not usually a fan of slavish updates in MOTUC, but Original Hordak was one of my first and favourite vintage toys, and one I’ve still held on to after all these years. If only for nostalgia and personal bias, MOTUC BS Hordak has turned into one of my favourite figures in 2015.
Nice positive spin on this. And I completely agree. You may have just convinced me to open my BS Hordak if only for just this reason.
Great review, pics, and comics, as is the norm.
Anyone else have problem with his chest door? Mine just did NOT want to open. I’d tug at it, and it would warp under the stresses of trying to pop it open. IN the end, I filed down the latch on the top of door, and that made things a lot easier and less nerve-racking.
ha. “BS Hordak” being aptly named.
…reminds me again why I don’t use my middle name/initial.