Time to wrap up this little unofficial MOTUC Week with a look at the last 2013 figure, Strong-Or. (I think that catches us up to Glimmer? Not counting Stackable Stands, the Great Unrest Weapons Pak, and Castle Grayskull Man, gee – I really need to get him done). Strong-Or came out in December, the last figure for Club Filmation – though he came out alongside Filmation villain Plundor, the last figure for 2013 Club Eternia, so the line on that is kinda blurry. It seems like you could’ve switched them around and no one would be the wiser.
When Classics was in full swing, I pushed for Strong Arm (poor guy can’t even get his own name) to be included. We all know the loud calls to finish off the vintage toy have to be appeased roster (OH MY GOD! RIGHT NAOW! WASTE OF A SLOT!). But years from now I’m telling you, Classics will be remembered for who it did well and who ended up being made exclusively to that line. In the long run, Classics identity is going to be more defined by folks like Strong Arm and Plundor than Beast Man & Stratos, who will surely get made again in some form, down the road, some day.
Meanwhile, this could be our only Strong Arm, or Strong-Or figure… ever. He’s kinda obscure, appearing in only one episode, She-Demon of something or another, as one of Skeletor’s henchmen. I’m not sure why he never cropped up again (we could maybe blame his being not-symmetrical, that’s not animation-friendly, but neither was Fisto) or why Mattel would’ve passed on giving him a figure back in the day (it was an early episode, maybe too early?), but either way he was quickly left by the wayside, turning into one of those characters that inspires far more fan art or custom figures (in vintage, MO2K, & Classics styles) than you would’ve ever dreamed after watching the episode.
This lack of back story led to something particularly awesome: his bio. There are still issues, like why a cybernetic genius is working in a mine, but take a gander:
Originally a worker in the photanium mines of Phantos, Dalmus lost his right arm and parts of his face when a mechanical press folder malfunctioned. Desiring to become a super strong menace, the master metal-worker stole large amounts of photanium, the strongest metal in the universe, from the mines and created a new face and telescoping arm. After Strong-Or’s thievery was discovered, Queen Elmora banished him from her kingdom. Years later, he returned with Skeletor to invade the photanium mines, but when He-Man freed Queen Elmora from Skeletor’s influence, Strong-Or was forced out of Phantos once again. Strong-Or has a powerful punch that extends great distances and is nearly as strong as He-Man.
I don’t normally comment on the bios, but after posting Standor’s I just felt like it again. And Dalmus Fu, aside, it’s pretty good. Having him made out of photanium, the focus of the episode, and giving him a grudge against Elmora actually fleshes out an old episode. Impressive. I wish the figure could keep up.
That’s harsh I guess. There is actually a ton I like about the figure! This is probably another case of the “Plus-Minus System” with my expectations being high on a figure that came out just fine. He’s actually got a ton a lot of new pieces – the upper boots are new even though I swear they’re not. The loincloth is new (and look how it curves around, hugging that inner-hip joint – UNPOSSIBLE!). The new armor looks great. And the arms? The arms are fantastic!
It’s good the arms are solid to because they’re kinda this guy’s thing. They look sharp. The detail on the arms is great and the telescoping “action feature” works by popping the arm off at the elbow and attaching a longer arm. That’s wonderful too. It even gets Strong Arm an extra articulation point – while everything is else is the normal complement, this elbow is a ball joint now and that really helps open up the poses for the big arms.
The only knock I even have here is that the pegs for this feature are unique instead of, y’know taking the opportunity to go all Modulok, or work with Roboto/Two-Bad, or my old lament of not thinking ahead on Fisto & Jitsu. The lack of a cohesive plug/port system across these figures is truly uninspired and poor engineering, but I digress because I do like the arms.
If you read my reviews often, you know it’s the rivets and seams that are winning me over. I love little details. The great detailing on the boots, the loincloth, on the armor, they all look fantastic and do a great job from bringing a simple Filmation look into 3D, but… Continue to Page 2…
Bad Noisy! Bad!
Man you had me rolling on your second page pics lol!
LOL Thanks, Templar!
He does kinda pop, color-wise, but that paint slop and asymmetrical-ness* kinda ruin it for me. (Spawn’s design drives me insane.) Maybe if that bright yellow glove had a blue cuff and silver hand? something to match the rest of the color scheme.
Also I can’t help but hear that “Strong Arm” name and remember firstborn’s Gung-Ho was re-christened that. yeah, like looking like a Village People reject was helping the shirtless guy in a teal vest/cap combo. LOL
that last shot tho? LMAO!!
*(auto-corrected spelling on this word and it still has a redline! wtf?)
“Asymmetry,” dude.
Dear Strong Arm,
How do you type with a giant metal boxing glove on your hand?
Crapfully yours,
Blot
Excellent photos as always Noisy! I may not be able to collect this line anymore (being an international non-subber) but looking at the figures is fun.
The reason Strong Arm only popped up once seems to be that he was a prototype version of Fisto OR Jitsu (or both). There’s some production notes about him having a “spring-loaded” arm action, which seems to indicate the note came from Mattel and that he was included in the hopes it would promote his toy early.
The same thing happened with Fang Man. Fang Man was a prototype version of Kobra Khan, clearly revealed by his production note of “able to spray a sleeping mist from his mouth”.
Again, great review.
Great review and pics, excellent comics! Laughed out loud on several, especially the last one!
Love this figure. If only they’d vac-metalled his photanium bits. Drag about the slop on yours, mate. I don’t think anyone’s Strongarm’s head-spikes were painted very well.
Dude looks like a bruiser alright. I was gonna ask why he didn’t get a figure if he made the cartoon back in the day but Sandman just answered my question and then some. Thanks, man!
The head sculpt is really weak though, and the paint blotches pictured here give me further pause to sub up again. You’d think QC would be a lesser deal by now but no such luck.
QC has been pretty shocking of late. I got a Batros with a knee hanging off its hinge (just a case of heating up the leg and pushing the pin all the way through, but I shouldn’t have had to), a Spirit of Hordak with two right shins, a Horde Prime with a nearly featureless face, the paint was so thick and sloppy. If you’re capable of a bit of scraping, repainting, and heating-and-popping, it’s easily fixable, but it’s a needless annoyance, nonetheless.
Having said that, little short of the Apocalypse will prevent me from subbing until the line dies.
I don’t think that’s a Jumpsuit… Them Catra pics made me spill my latte.
You said roboto/two-bad…..I think you mean roboto/trapjaw
Phenomenal pics on this one. well done!
I did not sub to Club Filmation (although I would have liked to) but I decided I wanted to have Strong-Or.
Most filmation designs just look really uninspired to me. Like what a five year old would concoct after playing with his MOTU figures.
Lay ze man would likely say the same thing… I’m of two minds on the topic. Is it hard to conceive how you grow up fang man and an adult collectible worth buying? Yes, but strong arm? He’s a whole other matter. A few sharp lines and additional details like rivets on the face mask, and he would absolutely look badassed. And there is an element of notoriety to the filmation designs that is hard to come by in any market, so in that sense, even if we’ve grown up and moved on, they are successful in that a glance is enough to identify the design, the design house, and the era. That’s brand success right there.
So I would, but so would anyone when they consider what Filmation was up against in terms of turnaround time and budget.
It’s not like they themselves even preferred those designs, they just had no choice. (Of course, there is this early Filmation footage from a commercial that’s been floating around that’s more mini-comic/toy accurate that looks awesome!)
But that said, yes, Strong Arm was definitely a contender for “bad ass figure” in my mind’s eye and I can’t begin to say how disappointing the final figure looks.
Maybe if we’d been able to see a 200x take on him, the purists could’ve softened a bit on their cheap cel animation-accuracy hardline once they saw the potential for awesomeness that exists here.
This is the one I’ve waited for since he showed in that one episode and this has been my dragon I’ve chased all my life. Only compliant is the neck was too short. But, I bought two and the one I opened I popped the head off and just let it rest posed on the peg and he’s perfect.
Long Live STRONG ARM!!!!!