The Masterverse hits continue as today I'm checking out Faker and, wow, let me tell you, this is probably the best Faker figure released to date. The New Eternia figures have released new versions of the MOTU cast inspired by concept designs, packaging art, and other related pieces of MOTU media and Faker is largely inspired by the magenta armor wearing Faker on the vintage cross sell art (that's the image of the figures available on the back of the package that says "Collect them all!"). We've seen a magenta wearing Faker a few times previously but this figure is just superb. Seriously, there are so many things Matte did right with this guy and I'm anxious to show them off. Let's take a look at this evil, robotic He-Man imposter after the break...
The Facts:
Height: 7 3/8ths inches
Articulation: Swivel/hinge ankles, boot swivels, double hinged knees, thigh swivels, balljointed hips, swivel waist, balljointed mid-torso, swivel/hinge shoulders, bicep swivels, double hinged elbows, swivel/hinge wrists, and a barbell jointed head.
Accessories: 4 interchangeable hands, sword, chest armor, and axe.
Non-Scalper Price: $22-$23 dollars
The Positives:
* While he does use the basic He-Man body, yeah, Faker just looks oh so cool with that mottled blue skin (it's not just one solid color) and that very eye-catching magenta version of Skeletor's harness. There are even some additional paint applications on the bone design on the harness and a metallic dry brushing effect on Faker's wrist guards and his belt. The colors just all go together well, making Faker a really impressive looking figure with a wonderfully unusual color scheme.
* The portrait is awesome, too. This doesn't just look like a repainted He-Man headsculpt; it looks odder and crueler. There's a bit of a scowl and the all white eyes are just creepy.
* One of the best details is the robotic control panel hidden underneath Faker's armor. On the vintage toy this was a sticker while most recent versions have used a tampographic stamp. Guess what? This one is fully sculpted and each little button and control piece is painted. Wow! That's amazing! This is seriously cool and helps to make this the greatest Faker figure ever.
* Here's a shot of Faker's back to show off the bolts and artificial looking musculature on his shoulders and arms and the connection ports on his back. This guy is far more than just a repaint with magenta armor!
* Both Faker's trunks and his boots have a nice mixture of purple and black, really adding to the complexity of the figure. Mattel really put a lot of detail into this figure and even something as basic as the reused boot mold looks fantastic here.
* Faker has the same articulation as most other Masterverse figures, so nothing really new here. It feels very modern with double jointed knees and elbows and most everything has a good range of motion to it. There are quite a few new pieces here (pretty much the entire top half of the figure) but everything meshes nicely.
* Faker has some swappable hands for mixing things up a evil right hand fist, a pair of dastardly gripping hands, and a left hand of doom for slapping the tar out of the Heroic Warriors.
* Faker's orange axe has seen better days. It looks similar to He-Man's classic axe at a glance but there is a lot of scuffing here where the orange paint is rubbing off, showing the steel beneath. There's also a part where a large part of the blade covering has been chipped away, showing the raw blade underneath. It's a really interesting accessory Faker and he looks awesome holding it.
* Rather than an orange replica of He-Man's Power Sword, Faker comes with a slimmer sword that kind of resembles the shape of the Filmation Power Sword, but it's more... metal. Like, it looks as if it's been built mechanically with various panels and rivets and such. Is this perhaps inspired by the concept of the 200x techno Power Sword? I love it, especially the cool magenta color. The vintage Prince Adam included a magenta Power Sword, so I wonder if there is supposed to be some sort of weird connection?
* There's a loop on the back of Faker's armor so his sword can fit inside.
This New Eternia version of Faker rocks. In my opinion, this is the greatest Faker figure ever made. If you really want an orange harness, take the orange harness from the MOTU Revelation figure and slap it on here. Personally, I'm loving the magenta. There's just so much cool stuff here: Interesting weapons, a great color scheme, a fantastic headsculpt, and that sculpted and painted robotic chest panel is amazing. I'm glad to have seen at SDCC that this line still has a lot of life in it and I'm anxious for whatever Mattel has to offer. I've got some more Masterverse reviews coming soon, so stay tuned! Faker is an Epic figure and well worth hunting down but he has many worthwhile companions that are out now or coming soon, too.
What characters do you most want to see New Eternia takes on? I want to see a New Eternia Teela, Moss Man, and Rio Blast!
For all of my Faker reviews check out
The Royal Junkyard!
For more Masterverse reviews check out the following:
That axe does look sticky, like it's covered in honey, or (even more disgusting) earwax.. So weird ! Honestly, he's one of my most anticipated figures in that specific Masterverse wave, I find him wonderfully creepy. He will normally hit amazon.fr on the 20th of August (a couple days too late for my birthday..), and I just cannot wait ! Thus far, all the figures in this wave look like they will be distributed in France. Ram Man, Buzz Off and Clawful are already available from amazon.fr (although Clawful is super expensive, for whatever reason..), and Faker, Mer-man and Grizzlor will arrive later in August. Whiplash is the weird one out, as I saw him in the Paris shop where I bought Origins Snake Face, but it seems like he won't make it to amazon.fr..
ReplyDeleteHopefully Whiplash make his way to you!
DeleteThat sculpted control panel is incredible too.. In Mattel's pics it looked like it was painted/printed, or maybe a sticker. I never could have guessed this was actually sculpted. Man, that's just amazing !
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's an amazing detail. The sculpted panel just looks so good and is just very impressively painted.
Delete