And so, the neverending Sisyphian march of He-Man continues. This month, Collector's Choice presents Vultak, a character from the Princess of Power cartoon, and another member of the Evil Horde! And who is he, you ask? Well, let's take a look at his bio!
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He didn't come with a bio. Uh, er... um... he appeared once or twice in the cartoon, managed Hordak's zoo, could turn into a vampire shadow-monster, and was really cowardly. I think he ended up stuck in a pie for some reason.
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And that's the screenshot this entire figure is based on. See, in-game, they're just low-resolution blue sprits. But this? Man, that's inspiration.
PACKAGING: ****
Packaging. Packaging never changes.
SCULPT: ****
Like all figures in this line, Vultak is made up of new and reused pieces. Although the new parts are few and far between, they are used well, with the end result being that he seems to be a new character, not just a rehash.
It's the small details that work, such as the expression on Vultak's face or the texturing on his feet. This figure's sculpt shows a ton of care for such a z-list character, and that really helps the figure quite a lot.
PAINT: ***
For the most part, Vultak's got a precise, cartoon-accurate paint job that utilizes purple to great effect. HOWEVER... did you look at his eyes? My Vultak isn't the only one with uneven pupils - this has been a Mattel issue for a couple of years now, and someone with peepers as big as Vultak's only means that it won't go unnoticed. Poor guy! Asie from the derp eyes, though, his paint is pretty good.
ARTICULATION: ***
For the most part, Vultak has typical MOTUC articulation. He does, however, have two interesting points, though - his wings and his ankles.
Vultak's ankles are the new uber-hinge design, albeit one that has unergone some reviion in only a few figures already. As a result his feet are more flexible than ever before, but the articulation is also really visible. It's up to you whether look trumps utility, but his ankles also seemed rather loose on mine. Judge for yourself.
Vultak's wings ae like a pared-down version of Angella's - functional, but actually rather thin when stretched out. It can be hard to find a sweet spot for a pose, but they do their job.
ACCESSORIES: ***
Vultak has two accessories to his name - three if you count the armor, but that's sort of part of his body. Firstly, he's got his Horde crossbow, which in his case looks like an elegant set of wings. It's not explicitly vulture-based, which actually means it can conceivably belogn to any of the winged characters in this line.
As the zookeeper, Vultak has a special leash he uses for kidnapping innocents! This thing fits around small companion critters such as Kowl, but really has trouble with most necks - you often can't reattach a figure's head if the collar is on. And, of course, it is stiff plastic, frozen in an awkward pose. Still, it's not a terrible gesture!
As far as the chest armor goes, when you take it off it looks like Vultak is wearing a corset. Ha, ha!
VALUE: **1/2
The price has thankfully been reduced, but these figures still cost a lot.
THINGS TO WATCH OUT FOR:
Loose ankles and derp eyes pretty much cover it.
WHERE TO BUY:
Like all MOTU figures, go troll the secondary market.
OVERALL: ***
Fun thing: Vultak was actually delayed by about a month or so due to logistics issues. The figure arrived, and late is better than never, but it's another one of those issues that we get from Mattel at times.
That said, the figure isn't perfect. He isn't terrible, but the eye paint and loose ankles are all-too-typical for this line, and feel worse when on such a little-known character/ Vulta has to try extra-hard to sell himself to the audience, but does he?
Although the character is obscure, this is a pretty good figure, fitting into the MOTUC Horde despite having so, so many friends. And that's he thing with this line - at well over a hundred figures, shelf space is truly important. Does Vultak deserve a spot in your display? Decide for yourself!
