Friday, June 17, 2022

Action Figure Review: Horde Trooper from Masters of the Universe Origins by Matte

 

   Last year Mattel released a Crimson Horde Trooper and a Shadow Horde Trooper in the PowerCon exclusive The Evil Horde set but we've had to wait until just the last few months to get a standard Horde Trooper. The Horde Troopers were featured in most episodes of Filmation's She-Ra: Princess of Power and they're definitely the premiere army builder in Masters of the Universe. I don't have my vintage childhood Horde Trooper anymore (I probably sold him off when I was younger to buy Star Wars: POTF2 stuff) so this guy is a nice consolation prize to get me by until I eventually pick up a vintage Horde Trooper. Of course, I'll be glad to have all of the Horde Troopers I can get. Let's take a look at another figure from MOTU Origins series 8 after the break...





The Facts:

Height: 6 inches
 
Articulation: Swivel/hinge ankles, boot swivels, swivel/hinge knees, balljointed hips, waist swivel, hinged chest panels, swivel/hinge shoulders, swivel/hinge elbows, swivel/hinge wrists, and a balljointed head.

Accessories: Staff and minicomic.

Non-Scalper Price: $18-$19 dollars 







Comparison:


* The standard Horde Trooper is in the middle while the Crimson Horde Trooper is on the left and the Shadow Horde Trooper is on the right. What's the difference? Just the paint. Well, and also the lack of a bow. The standard Horde Trooper doesn't have a crossbow while the two variants have one. 






The Positives:



* Rather than making him just gray, like the vintage toy, Mattel went with more of a metallic look, making this guy look like he's actually wearing metal armor. It's a cool look and different than what I expected. The sculpt is good with decent paint applications to break up all of that silver and black. He's a big, bulky guy and seems rather menacing. 











* The dome on the Horde Trooper's head looks good and the yellow paint on the visor is fairly clean, impressive considering it's outlined in black. The head has a great range of motion, too, so you can get more movement out of it than you might expect. 


* The Horde Trooper base body is a sculpt unique to the Horde Troopers so there really aren't any shortcuts taken that I noticed. Even the back of the figure looks pretty solid and resembles the vintage figure well. There's more detail here than on your average MOTU Origins figure for sure.


*  The Horde Trooper retains the vintage action feature: Push the center of the Horde Logos and the armor splits apart to reveal the trooper's robotic inner workings. There's no spring or anything; It's a simple friction based feature but it works well and it's pretty fun to mess around with. I really wasn't expecting these guys to have the action feature and was surprised that the ones released last year did. I really expected that this guy would be a deluxe figure. 


* The MOTU Origins figures are built like the vintage toys but with modern articulation. While their bulky frames make the articulation a bit clumsy, they do feel like an evolution of the vintage line. Imagine what you would get if you mixed a vintage figure with a MOTUC figure. They're quite fun to play with.

* They're also modular and can be easily separated to make your own lazy boy customs. The Horde trooper isn't as modular as some other figures, but he still has some removable parts. 


* The standard Horde Trooper doesn't come with a crossbow but he does have his techno staff. The bottom of the staff is very technical with Horde approved, mass produced and precise details reminiscent of the Fright Zone from Filmation while the headpiece of the staff looks like a animal of some kind. Kind of like the Horde bat logo or something. 



*  I'm never going to turn down a minicomic and I love that Mattel brought them back for Origins. This one looks cool as it introduces Sun-Man into Masters of the Universe but what the heck is going on with Clawful on the cover? He looks like a bird or something! There's just way too much going on in this issue for 6 pages, as well. Anti-Eternia He-Man shows up to beat down Skeletor and Clawful and then Sun-Man shows up to defeat him. There are Horde Troopers randomly running around, too, and He-Man and Sun-Man never even exchange dialogue. Sun-Man deserves better!
The Negatives:


* I mentioned earlier that I do like the design choice to make the Horde Trooper more silver and less flat gray here. Unfortunately, the plastic has a weird, swirly look to it that kind of kills the effect. It's not as bad as some types of plastic like this I've seen but it's still a bit odd.
   The Horde Trooper is a really neat figure and definitely one of the most exciting releases in Origins yet. I imagine that plenty of collectors of just the vintage MOTU line might be willing to scoop up these guys to pad out their Horde army, especially considering how expensive the vintage figure is now. A great sculpt, a functional action feature, and the usual solid articulation from this line makes the Horde Trooper a fantastic addition. He's a Great and a 1/2 figure and definitely a stand out in the line. He's not as excellent as Clawful from this series, but he's still quite good. I'd love to see some other repaints released down the line as MOTU definitely has a lack of army builders.




 If you're looking for Horde Troopers I've checked out the various Horde Trooper heads packaged with General Sundar and the MOTUC Horde Troopers as well as the Slime Green Horde Trooper from M.U.S.C.L.E ., the POP! Horde Trooper #87, and the MOTU Origins Crimson Horde Trooper and Shadow Horde Trooper from "The Evil Horde" set.


For more MOTU Origins reviews check out the following:






2 comments:

  1. These guys look so cool. An army of them would look outstanding.

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    Replies
    1. I hope Mattel takes advantage of some collectors wanting to army build these. So far I have one each of the standard, Crimson, and Shadow Horde Troopers but I'd be down for some more colors.

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