Nov 23, 2015

Why do I prefer 200X over Vintage designs?

In some Cases I do Enjoy the Filmation Designs... Especially
when they have enough details to fit in with MOTUC.
It's No secret that MOST OF THE TIME I prefer 200X Designs over vintage. Throughout various rants and It Came From the Toy Chest, the 200X Influences have crept over the figures. Whether it's me getting certain 200X Accessories (usually from Shapeways), or me butchering (I cannot truly call myself a customizer) figures into more 200X looking Versions (via repaints, Mattel condoned kitbashes, or "illegal" part swapping)

The question is WHY?
Now before anyone jumps the gun and says: "You didn't grow up with the vintage line and that's why you prefer those ugly 200X designs" excuse, shut the hell up!
I grew up with the Orginal toys. SOME of Waves 1 and 2 eluded me, due to my youth, but I kinda got into the game around the time between Waves 3 and 4 of MOTU all the way to parts of wave 6... Never got to see a Toy Randor until I was well into TMNT and MOTU was being replaced by He-Man (in space!) The Filmation Cartoon was watched religiously while it aired on Syndication (Latin American Dub FTW!) He-Man was a cherished part of my Childhood until it vanished. The 1990s were a dark age for my MOTU fan self... The Turtles were left behind as I graduated to Marvel and DC Comics... Leaning more towards Marvel, because most of the DC Characters didn't resonate as well as Marvel's with my young self.

So, late 2001 or early 2002, I went to Gamestop and  Something Caught My Eye... Grand Theft Auto III! So, I bought the game and next to the Register: Battle Sound He-Man and Skeletor and 200X Battle Cat. The new more Mature designs by the 4Horsemen brought me back fully. This was around the time the Commemorative line was ending.

I went back into the MOTU fold and got the available characters... The Articulation was poor in the Marvel Legends era of Super articulation... More Articulation than McFarlane, but not enough. The sculpts were wonderful to look at... Well Whatever Mattel did not ruin with action features.
Size difference among the characters was a welcome difference. Adam was not He-Man wearing more clothing and Beast Man was Larger than Stratos. That helped make each character feel unique.

The Reasoning behind the choices made by the Horsemen seems sound. Armored Plating on Man-at-Arms' body made more sense than guy wearing green Spandex... Beastman being Beastly! Whiplash looking more Lizard Man/Monster thing than a Half Lizard Man/Half Bee Man abomination.
In a way, the Horsmen gave them XTREEEM! Makeovers that ACTUALLY WORKED! or at least clicked with me...

While the designs may seem to some as departure, One can appreciate the respect towards the Original designs on the 4Horsemen redos.
MerMan is based on some Vintage Art and got some extra Unique parts to make him more uh, MerMan... Beastman is close to the Original design, but in a more Ape-like body and added Armor (Legs)
He-Man has the Traditional look, but with a more realistic looking Harness, a Pouch to pull out the Grappling hook (that in Filmation he pulled out of inside his loincloth.) and so forth.
Then while taking some Costume design courses in college, the 200X Designs made even MORE Sense. It almost seems as if the Horsemen were pitching Potential Movie Redesigns to Mattel and ended up making toys out of them.
Looking at both Whiplash versions next to each other... Yes, that is Ceratus repurposed into 200X Whiplash... It's not 100% accurate, but it's good enough for me. As I was saying. Some people prefer the Vintage One because of reasons. (I may take a guess and say that Nostalgia played a huge factor.) While I respect the Vintage Whiplash for what he was... The 80s toy (with a tasty tail... I was a biter...) I prefer the 200X one because he looks more Reptilian and less than Abe Vigoda (he's still alive?) cosplaying as a Bee/Lizard Nosferatu.

Seeing the "200X Embargo" being lifted in Classics has brought me some joy that was kinda lost when collecting this line recently.

So, basically, the Horsemen being able to bring forth the UNIQUENESS of Each Character who used to share a buttload of parts in the 80s made me appreciate each character a bit better than when they were kitbashes of other characters. This explains why I often find myself trying to De-Vintagize the heck out of each figure. (I had to Revintagize my Original Whiplash to make Vigodor) In any case I now have THE WHIPLASH I'VE ALWAYS WANTED IN MOTUC... and a new Caligar ally for Ceratus.


2 comments:

  1. it looks very cool. I must build one. How about the head?

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    1. The figure is literally a slightly repainted Ceratus with the horns cut off partially and sanded edges. The head is the extra head that came with Whiplash. Since MOTUC Whiplash is a bit hard to find, I'd suggest a third-party cast of said head.

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