http://nerditis.com/...verse-classics/
Why was there no review on Wednesday? Because I pulled mostly 14-hour workdays this week. But I'm back in the toy realm, and... WHAAAA? It looks like Scott Neitlich, the "Toyguru" and brand manager of Masters of the Universe Classics... has resigned! So what does this mean for MOTUC? Supposedly, next year will happen just as it was going to, but who knows beyond that. We'll have to wait and see.
Anyway, Eldor is October's figure, and he has quite a history! The original was an unproduced figure for the Preternia/He-Ro line, with a few prototypes stll floating around. He was essentially an Obi-Wan-Gandalf-Merlin type, with his very own book of (lenticular) spells! Since we received He-Ro much earlier in this line, it was only a matter of time until Eldor made his appearance here.
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ELDOR: HEROIC GUARDIAN OF THE BOOK OF LIVING SPELLS
REAL NAME: R'TENDRIL THE WISE
The great sage and wizard of Preternia, Eldor arrived at a burning crater and discovered a Cosmic Warrior suffering from a strange techno virus with no memory of where he came from. Healing him in a mystic pool, Eldor inadvertantly and unknowingly passed the warrior's techno infection to the entire magical planet. In gratitude for savint his life, the Warrior agreed to become Eldor's student and help free Eternia from the Snake Men. Until his memory was restored, Eldor dubbed him "Gray" in honor of Eternia's brave king, and taught his apprentice to use a magic staff and the Book of Living Spells to defeat evil. Later Eldor used the secrets of Transformation to cast the Three Towers into Sub-Turnia, awaiting a time of great Kings; when the past and future would need to intertwine! Eldor uses his magic as a member of King Grayskull's Masters of the Universe!
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His name is Tendril? Odd. And I see that it's Eldor's fault that Eternia is full of random schizo tech, too. Poor guy.
After the last few disappointing MOTUC months, I have been looking forward to Eldor with a little bit of trepidation. How will he turn out? Will he have weird armor issues? Features that don't work? Well, let's find out!
PACKAGING: ****
I've talked about this packaging a lot, but the nice thing about Eldor's is that he is posed holding his book, which actually looks kind of cool!
SCULPT: ****
Ah, Eldor. After months of space mutants and cyborgs and cowboys, we finally have a character who returns to MOTU's classic sword-and-sorcery roots! And Eldor is about as far from Rio Blast as you can get. He is absolutely, positively, purely a classic wizard. His armor is a little wide for his torso, but in this case it works, as Eldor wears a baggy tunic, not a for-fitting bodysuit. His tunic and hood actually look like cloth, too, and have a nice aount of detail especially for this line. Of course, he's got a hugely muscled torso underneath the shirt, but some old guys are buff, you know?
Underneath the (removable) hood, Eldor wears a skull cap really reminiscent of Merlin from Excalibur, so much so that it cannot be a coincidence. He's also got a lot more facial detail than most MOTUC figures, mostly because of his wrinkles and beard. The end result is that, buff torso aside, Eldor really is a classic generic wizard toy.
PAINT: ***1/2
Eldor wears a lot of brown. His clothing is matte, his skull cap is glossy metallic, and his various little tools and implements are painted. He's fairly solid overall, though I ahve to admit that his spellbook seems like it received the most attention out of everything.
Eldor does have one off paint flaw, though - the paint on his lips is uneven, producing a very strange "ape" mouth effect. Just a little more white paint here or there would have fixed the issue, but alas... it's almost worth repainting.
ARTICULATION: ***1/2
Eldor has typical MOTUC articulation – ball-and-socket shoulders and hips, ball-jointed head, swivel biceps, waist, wrists, and shins, hinged elbows, knees, and hinged ankles. He is a little hampered by his outfit and has difficulty holding his book well, but otherwise is quite sufficient. Besides, he's an old guy. What did you expect?
ACCESSORIES:****
Eldor comes with two accessories. Thankfully, both are really, really unique and awesome. His most prominent one is the Book of Living Spells. Rather than simply sculpting a closed or open book, Mattel chose to make it fully hinged, and thanks to its design you can open it much like a real book, and even pose it in varying states of unevenness! The detailing is great both inside and out, including the bookmark, but the pages are blank.
Of course, some enterprising collectors have begun filling it with their own designs, which was probably the idea in the first place. Others are disappointed at the lack of holograms, and I personally would have liked to see a rune or something, but the book is actually a really good prop regardless.
Next up is Eldor's staff, which is actually the Spirit of the Ancients staff from a Filmation episode. So Eldor was the Ancient in question, then? It looks great and Gandalfy. Very, very Gandalfy. The staff is made of a slightly stiffer plastic than most weapons, and it does have the danger of bending or stressing when you put it in his tight grip, so be careful. It is realistically knobbly and wooden, and topped with a translucent gem.
VALUE: **1/2
Let's just say that I hate MOTUC pricing and leave it at that.
THINGS TO WATCH OUT FOR:
I would be careful not to break the clasp on Eldor's book. Also, since his staff is rather stiff, don't bend or break it while forcing it into his hands.
WHERE TO BUY:
As with all other MOTU figures, you pretty much have to hunt Eldor down on the secondary market.
OVERALL: ****
I had high hopes for Eldor, but he turned out better than I had expected! This figure is leaps and bounds above the last several months' offerings, which is a really good thing!
In fact, Eldor works as a generic fantasy figure. It's a good thing that I picked up one of those M:TG toys recently, as he seems to fit in beter with them than with his own kind. But regardless of how you use him, Eldor is certainly one of the best MOTUC figures of the year.
