Feb 1, 2011

It came from the Toychest: Eternian Palace Guards

This ICFTTC is very special since it's full of generic guys...
The Eternian Palace Guards. You know, the guys that Teela and Man-at-Arms boss around. The guys that are armored like MAA...
They've been around since Filmation and NOW we get the first OFFICIAL Palace Guard toys...
Since these guys are mostly a bunch of No-Names, I'll get on with the review part. As always 1 = crap and 5 = awesome!

Articulation: Well It's the Standard MOTUC Articulation. No changes here. 4.0
Paint and Sculpt: Sculpt these guys are the basic body with Keldor feet and Triklops Arms. The details are on the armor and heads. The left side of the armor is a straight reuse from MAA's. The right armor is Identical to the left side, but mirrored. The only issue is that none of the armor pieces seem to fit that guards well. (the pieces dance around the limbs.) As you can see the Torso armor matches Battle Armor He-Man's in execution. Hard plastic with swappable chest pieces. No; the Battle Armor He-Man plates do not fit on these guys. I tried. Swapping the armor plates scares the crap out of me and I don't think I'll ever do it with them. Now the paint department on the other hand is a bit sloppy. (paint rub from the shields strikes the guards' hands.) One of my guards has a sloppily painted armor. 4.5
Accessories: Here you get a lot of stuff. Two Halberds, two shields, the extra two chest plates (4 in total: Eagle for the Lt. and 3 different plates for the Private... with different degrees of Battle Damage like BA He-Man.) Two shields, two faceguards (helps differentiate the guards a bit and reduce the Clone army effect) and 4 heads: White Male... (More on him later.) Black male, Qadian (The cat head) and a Reptile head. Weird enough there are no guns in this pack...
4.5
Overall Score: 4.33
Here the paint slop on the guard hands was the principal detractor of points. The other detractor is the fact that the armor slides off the guards way too easily even when strapped sown "correctly."

BONUS!! Strip one guard out of his entire armor (except TORSO Armor) and put it on MAA (After removing MAA's arm and leg Armor) and you get the closest thing to a Filmation Man-At-Arms... For some reason Mattel did not make the Guards and MAA in the same shade of Orange...

Well since these guys are No-Names I had to make up some biographies for them...
Here they are:
The unmasked black guy: "Buster"
Real name: Tectum F'Delis
The F'delis brothers grew up in the countryside near Eternos. Their only family was their uncle, a veteran of The Great Unrest; who told them stories every night about the bravery of King Randor and the heroic warriors that drove the Evil Forces out of Eternia. When the boys became of age they traveled to Eternos in order to join the Royal Guard. In the Academy Tectum proved himself to be a powerful warrior whose reckless Nature often leaves him open for attack. His prowess with short range weapons, especially the offensive use of shields makes Tectum the perfect warrior to bust through enemy lines. He proudly serves under Lt. Spector's command.

The Masked Black Guy: "Chessman"
Real Name: Mucro F'Delis
The F'delis brothers grew up in the countryside near Eternos. Their only family was their uncle, a veteran of The Great Unrest; who told them stories every night about the bravery of King Randor and the heroic warriors that drove the Evil Forces out of Eternia. When the boys became of age they traveled to Eternos in order to join the Royal Guard. In the Academy, Mucro's levelheadedness and extreme cautiousness allows him to be a great tactician. His love for Chess is almost as great as his sense of duty. Lt. Spector Values Chessman's strategic prowess with his life.

The unmasked White guy: "Old-Man"
Real Name: L. Eery-Mere
Lucius Eery-Mere is the former drill instructor of the Royal Guard. A veteran of the Marzo uprisings and former candidate to the Title of Man-At-Arms; Lucius has seen and lived through Hell. Only those who pass on through his training become actual Palace guards. The arrival of the Snakemen and the Horde in Eternia made the Old-Man yearn for Battle once more. Lt. Spector values the advice from the Old-Man.

The Masked White Guy: Lt. Spector
Real Name: John Spector
John Spector does not look like a Soldier. In fact you'd think he'd be better off working as a toymaker. His small squad reports directly to Man-At-Arms and Teela regarding Missions that are not suited for the Heroic Warriors. His charisma helps rally the troops when the Heroic Warriors are not around thanks to his oratory skills.
He is considered the "Official Un-official" liaison between the troops and Man-at-Arms.

(John Spector is pretty much Scott Neitlich... as in the MOTU Brand Manager... Speaking of which here's a song that the good old Lt. Loves to sing to the troops!)



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