Though he’s better than Tytus in the articulation department, he’s still limited in ways I don’t like on a $30 toy. He has some great range of motion on his neck’s ball-joint, but with two drawbacks – his head pops off fairly easily and there’s a giant gap on the back of his head (though it is covered by the helmet). For the rest of the figure, it’s very similar to the aforementioned Grodd – great arms, bad legs. His arms feature ball shoulders, bicep swivels, hinge elbows, and wrist swivels. His legs are done with v-crotch hips and ball ankles. While the arms have a lot of life to them, the figure is basically a trunk down the middle. Much like Tytus, he’ll mostly just be standing there. It’s a shame too because, he’d look great leaning forward on his knuckles in a classic ape pose. Like I said, he’s better than Tytus, but he’s no Battle Cat.
The swivel wrists, which are normal for the line, seem out of place considering the ball ankles. I wish the wrists would’ve been ball joints to help fully flesh out the arms. Just looking at, I thought the wrists were ball-joints like the ankles, but alas. Had they switched wrist and ankle articulation, it wouldn’t have taken anything away from the legs and only added to the arms.
Paint is the one area that left me a little cold. The other Gygor we ordered had some really bad cavities in the form of little, perfect black circles on his upper teeth and you may have noticed in my pics the occasional splotches of green paint where they don’t belong on his face, head, and torso. There was a bigger splotch of green on his lower right abdomen, but I foolishly started removing it before I thought to take pictures. I’ll have to remember, pictures first, fixing second, the next time this happens.
Gygor includes six removable pieces of armor (and yes the shin guards do come off, I just didn’t want to hassle with it). All the pieces are made of a pliable plastic and are faithful recreations of his vintage armor updated to “Classic detail”. I really like the sharp angular points to his armor. It gives him a harsh/forged look that sells him as a villain to me. His harness/cape combo is molded red and painted black – with some nice paint choices – a high gloss for the metal belt and a flat black for the leather straps. I like his helmet, but like Battle Cat, I don’t want to hide the amazing 4H sculpt, so he hasn’t worn it much so far.
Other than his armor, Gygor includes his classic axe, again updated for inclusion in the line. It’s good-sized – basically the height of a standard figure – and it looks like it could do some serious damage to his opponents. It’s a cool accessory, and while I’d hate to rob him of it, it just so happens to fit perfectly into Tytus’ hands too.
Overall, I’m really happy with this purchase. I admit I was wavering a bit beforehand because I’m not into monkeys and I’m a bit burnt out on anthropomorphic characters, but Gygor didn’t disappoint. His height increases the variety on the MOTU shelf and his bright colors make him an instant standout. I’m not sure if he’s a villain or a hero yet. I’m inclined to leave him a villain and use him as a Wun-Dar foe. I know the bio says he fought Oo-Larr, but I imagine most of you might play him as the hero we long though he was anyway. That’s the fun of MOTU. We’ve got a giant lemon-lime gorilla now and we can throw him in anywhere we want.
For more MOTU reviews, check out our MOTU Classics Collector’s Guide.
Another great review and your captions are killer, as always. I, too, am slightly disappointed at the limited articulation. While, yeah, there’s more than Tytus (comparitively), that’s not difficult to do. Still, he does look awesome and I have already made a spot for him on my shelf, in my “Great Unrest” section alongside Count Marzo, Keldor and Kronis. I need Oo-Lar, Captain Randor and King Miro now!
Thanks! He looks fantastic, if he could lean forward on his knuckles, I’d be completely happy with him!
I’m kinda excited for Oo-Lar, but they need to do something really cool with him to make him worthwhile.
I have a feeling Oo-Lar will be a nice mixture of Jungle Attack He-Man and the He-Man first seen in the original mini-comics. That would be pretty cool with me!
Etern-net. I think I woke my kids up I was laughing so hard. Great pics all around.
I wish Gygor were better. They really knocked Battle Cat out of the park and have yet to follow up on that success thoroughly. We know Panthor will rock, but I wonder what will happen with Swift Wind next year.
I was thinking the same about “Eter-net”! lol
Man… but I kinda wish Swift Wind was Pink…
I won’t lie, I was rather proud of etern-net. LOL
I don’t really have a dog in the Swift Wind race. They should do both.
I don’t know if they could have done anything besides the v-crotch hips. I think Gygor was well worth the $30.
The v-crotch is the likeliest solution and I’m not sure what could have been instead that would maintain the aesthetic, I just wish there was a little more to the legs.
I can always tell when you really like a figure because the number of captioned photos explodes. 😀
I’ve been told that before. 🙂
i’d have loved a waist swivel… and really, did he have to be this soft? he’s soft, his torso is squeezable like a ketchup bottle, the arms feel soft, his head comes off easily… i don’t know, the overall quality feels kind of cheap to me… despite the fact that he looks good.
i don’t know about you guys, but i had to rubber band my axe into his hand too, he could barely hold it upright, and god forbid you PLAY with it and strike another fig, it came right out of his mitt… and after carnivus’ laize faire grip, that’s 2 motucs in a row that can’t properly hold their weapons… kind of small complaints, but totally valid at this price point.
The softness of the figure is to reduce costs of shipping and plastic use.
As for the figures not holding the weapons… whoa… what?!?!? Mine were holding their weapons fine. You should contact them about it though
Yeah, no looseness on his axe.
A waist swivel could have been good, easily hidden by the belt line.
And I didn’t squeeze his tummy until you suggested it. Kinda odd.
again, the issue isn’t actually holding the axe, but like for example, in having him fight king hulk that first night, every time you collide the axe and the sword, even if VERY little pressure is applied, he drops the axe, or his bicep spings… hulk’s arm and his grip on his weapon are perfectly solid. KH is a 15 dollar fig, gygor is a 30 dollar fig. playing w/ those two figs, it became enormously apparent how far motuc has to go to be “worth” it’s price tag. this crap about “but we made less” only holds so much water, since that means they spent less to make the item. (think of it this way, ever made dinner for you and a your significant other? a nice dinner costs you maybe, 40 bucks? now, make thanksgiving for the in-laws and cousins… it’ll set you back three times the work time and easily over 100 bucks.)
but back to the original point, if i was just displaying him, like on my night stand next to my bed when i sleep (don’t judge me) he holds the axe just fine for those purposes. it’s only when you use him as intended that he has issues.
Pretty much feel the same way about this guy. He’s cool, I’m just not overly impressed.
This thing of “it’s a new sculpt” argument by the 4H/Mattel when it clearly isn’t is really getting boring. Derivitive sculpt maybe. But, like Tytus, they added some new details, some armor, new accessories, and then digi-scanned-printed/pantographed/hydrospanned (whatever) to make him larger. But GyGor is based on Gorilla Grodd’s sculpt undeniably. I guess all custom figures peoples make are brand new scupts then too.
Top notch review per usual Noisy!
Thanks, TG.
The longer he stands on my desk, I get more impressed. Then I try to pose him a bit and it fades a little. LOL
I got better monkey toy than Gygor wat you got.I have…..King Kong the 8th wonder of the world made by Playmates.
You’re joking, right? I saw the prototypes in the office… they were, for some reason, given to me… I thought they were garbage so I round filed them. Now they’re in some dump…
I’ll have to look up a Playmates King Kong. Never really paid attention.
I did have the McFarlane Kong but sold it sometime back. That was a good monkey figure.
Gygor is AWESOME!
Great review. My Gygor has been going helmetless too. Great sculpt.
I love that head sculpt and it looks even better uncovered.
I was overall happy with the figure. I almost didn’t get it, not because I wasn’t interested in it, it was because I was frustrated with the White Screen of Fail. My patience just about had it and I gave up on it. After calming down, I finally got through and ordered it. Do I think it was the best figure out of the MOTUC line that month? No. Carnivus took that title. Gygor was an “ok” choice but only because I wanted a balance against Tytus, at the moment. I forget Tytus’s rival, but I think that’s who I’d want soon… and would have preferred him over Gygor as he’s still a little too short against Tytus. One thing I’ve learned is that the Bad Guy should be bigger than the good so as to have the good have a feeling of accomplishment when defeating the bad. You don’t get that with this line. You get the “Oh, that Skeletor… naughty boy” scenario… But then again… Mattel’s marketing wouldn’t know that cos they aren’t actually in the entertainment industry.
The WSOD was awful, I anxiously await my all-in sub kicking in (though the Palace Guards will now be a 2011 b ane).
Megator didn’t make the cut for 2011. Shadow Beast, Swift Wind, and Panthor will be the three beasts next year. I imagine he’ll have to be in 2011 though – hopefully with a new buck.
Noisy, thank you for continuing to rep the 7th Kingdom HARD.
I agree completely about the permanently expressive head. I don’t have mine yet, and I will admit that the head sculpt was still enough to sell me on it, but I do think a moving lower jaw would have been better. If it required the Horsemen to move to more of a baboon or mandrill head to accommodate it, I’d have been good with that too.
As it is now, I’ll be stuck imagining my Gygor communicating in nothing but lumberjack-like yelling and starting every sentence with “HEY!!!”
I still have ideological problems with the cape though. “Aww, look at the monkey with the cape, isn’t he ADORABLE?!?!”
Maybe he’s doing the Tarzan yell. Irony rules my MOTU Universe! 😛
lol like that infamous Tarzan toy?
I’m not the biggest animal toy lover, but the 7K/FanEx stuff are still undeniably awesome toys.
It looks great open, it just could use more for $30. He’s yelling all the time. I wanted to add captions to everything… LOL
i keep imagining using the oozaru breath weapon… that helps.
At first I wasn’t sold on this figure but once I received him yesterday “WOW”! Man he’s husky & heavy. I really dig the design the FH did on him. I’m glad I purchased 2 of him last week on Matty. 2 thumbs up on him!!! Oh love new review by the way–Tytus finally has a battle weapon…..
Thanks! I’m kinda jealous – I’d be happy to customize a second Gygor into a good gorilla counterpart.
The last comic is hilarious
Thanks!
Hi! I’m a long time reader, first-time poster, and MOTU collector since 1982.
I love the site as a whole and the reviews in particular. They’re excellent and carry all the right information. The pictures are crisp and detailed, the comparison shots are great, and the comics are invariably funny.
Just one thing, though: Gygor’s not a monkey. He’s an ape. And for those of you saying “So what? What’s the difference?” Barring mutations or birth defects, monkeys have tails, apes don’t. (I’m a biologist. These things are important.)
Looking forward to your next review with great anticipation. Keep up the sterling work!
Eter-net? You’re so witty!
“Sil came home after work today and saw Gygor sitting in his package (hey, I was busy today) and was surprised by his size.”
True story! 🙂
I am disappointed by his in ability to stand gorilla-style. That’s my major peeve about the figure, otherwise (and yes, cavities included) I think he’s a good buy.
ROFL, that thing is so funny. I have to share that.