MOTUC Review - Moss Man

Here we go with another review. I almost feel like Homer Simpson when he became a food critic in the Simpson’s episode “Guess Who’s Coming to Criticize Dinner?” so I thought I would regale you with a quick quote from that very episode. It may not be a very funny quote but I always think about it when doing these reviews;

Marge: You know Homey, the "E" doesn't work on that typewriter.
Homer: We don't need no stinkin' "E".
Restaurant Review? ... No.
Eatery Evaluation? ... No.
Food Box: Go or No Go by Homer ... no ... Earl! ... no
... Bill Simpson.

And with that, we are away…

Moss Man

Heroic Spy and Master of Camouflage

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/j...C/P1010502.jpg

Background Information

Moss Man in MOTUC created a bit of controversy just before production started on the figure. It was revealed by Mattel that because of the standard MOTUC articulation, Moss Man would not be able to be flocked for fear that the flocking would rub off with use. This didn’t bode well with a lot of people who were more than upset because Moss Man had been revealed at SDCC (San Diego Comic Con) in 2009 with a fully flocked body.

Mattel, hearing the complaints, decided to give fans an option to vote on a flocked Moss Man (with limited articulation) or a non flocked Moss Man (with full articulation). This continued to anger fans who felt to get the flocked figure they wanted they would have to give up certain articulation of the figure.

Mattel, once again listening to the fans, took up the suggestion to have partial flocking, completely flocking the figure but leaving the articulation joints bare. The voting outcome was strongly in favour of this option and that was the figure Mattel was going to deliver. However, when Mattel finally revealed the partially flocked Moss Man it was discovered that the ears of the figure were also flocked making the figure look strange. This caused another fan outcry and Mattel managed to once again please its fan base by changing the ear flocking mid production run. Once again this caused an outbreak of negativity because that meant there would be a variant in the production run, one with flocked ears and one without flocked ears. Mattel decided it was just easier to list both versions on mattycollector and the fans could order which ever version they wanted. As usual with the MOTUC figures, both versions sold out in record time causing another fan backlash from those that missed out.

It just goes to show that even when you try and do the right thing it is still very hard to keep the fans happy. I am sure after all of this, Mattel wanted to tell the fans to go and get flocked.

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/j...C/P1010506.jpg

Character Information

Another somewhat fan maligned piece of information is located on the back of the packaging in the form of a bio. The bio includes character information that is supposedly a part of a grander story and it also includes the figures real name. In the case of Moss Man, his real name is the difficult to pronounce Kreann’ot N’Horosh.

It is revealed that Moss Man has become an urban legend over the centuries but he was in fact an Eternian nature god and fought side by side with King Grayskull, the ancestor of He-Man, against the armies of King Hsss’ Snake Men and Hordak’s Horde.

In certain media, Moss Man has been depicted as being a placid, peaceful character that has the strength and ability to be an overwhelming force if need be. It could be said that our closest cultural example to the Moss Man characteristics would be the Shaolin Monks. Both are peaceful and could kick ass if pushed to the limit.

Sculpt & Design

Considering the hoopla that surrounded the initial development of this figure, Moss Man turned out really well. The figure is flocked in a thick green material with unobtrusive reddish brown highlights which covers the majority of the figure with the exception of the elbow, shoulder, knee and ankle articulation joints. This is done so well that the bare joints do not draw attention to themselves. The bare joints of the figure are painted green with reddish brown highlights to blend in with the colours of the flocked material.



The body reuses the Beastman mold which is the exact same process that was used for the original vintage MOTU release and subsequent 200x release. The only difference for Moss Man, apart from the colours and flocking, is the use of the longer loincloth. This loincloth is supposedly only going to be used for the ancient Eternian characters who have so far been King Grayskull, Hordak and now Moss Man.

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/j...C/P1010503.jpg

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/j...1eb7c963_b.jpg

One last thing worth mentioning, the MOTUC Moss Man shares something else in common with the vintage MOTU version and that is they both smell. I haven’t smelt the vintage Moss man in over 20 years but I am quite sure it is not the same smell as the one given to the MOTUC Moss Man, which is a woody, pine smell. It is refreshing to think that if Mattel gave Moss Man a smell then they should be doing the same thing for Stinkor when he is ultimately released.

Accessories

Moss Man comes with a newly tooled harness which is a new accessory for Moss Man compared to any previous releases of Moss Man. The harness is actually designed and painted to look like vines and also has a pouch and a sheath with a removable knife.

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/j...6062010101.jpg

The original vintage Moss Man came with a club weapon and the MOTUC version is no different, except this time the club has been redesigned with a much more natural wood look.

The head that comes attached to the figure in the package follows the same principal as the vintage MOTU one which is simply a repaint/flock of the Beastman head. But luckily, Moss Man comes with an interchangeable second head which has a somber, peaceful expression and suits the character so much more. The second head is the one I choose to display Moss Man.

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/j...6062010108.jpg http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/j...62010098-1.jpg

Final Thought

Overall, this figure was a pleasant surprise for me. The design can be viewed as plain compared to some of the other more vibrant figures in the line but I think that works very well for this figure. The figure really suits the peaceful nature of the character and has become one of my favourites in the line.

I also have to give Mattel credit for doing something that very few companies do, they listened to the fans. They asked the fans what they wanted and came to an agreeable solution. Many other companies would not follow up on fan outcry, or change a production run of a figure, to suit fan approval. For that I think Mattel should be commended. They may make a lot of other mistakes but at least with this one they listened to fan input.

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/j...P1010550-1.jpg

Thanks again for reading. Comments and criticisms are welcomed

Nice work Raider - love that Simpsons' quote! :D

Moss Man is an amazing figure... I realise that it's essentially a "repaint", but the added bits make it so much more than that! It's more than 'new wings' on Starscream to make Dirge... they really made some effort to make this an awesome figure.

The harness, knife and club are so beautifully sculpted. And this is definitely one of the few MOTUC figs where I prefer the 200X head versus the "original". I do, however, love the fact they made his eyes look off to his left, just like the vintage figure. Nice touch! And the scent was very strong at first. I reckon it took a month for the pine scent in my toy room to die down. The flocking does suffer a bit from the articulation... it's not all over his body (which I honestly don't really care about - the original was the same), and it can fall off if you "play" with Mossy too much. Apart from that, he's great!

Great read as always. I don't have Moss Man either :(

Ah, I can only imagine the smell of pine and his shedding fur...

One can dream...

Moss Man is my favourite Classic so far. As some of you know...

http://img691.yfrog.com/img691/67/p4120324.jpg

My only issue is that it's impossible to get the shoulder pads from the Weapons Pak over the flocking so I can't create a furry green Beast Man. But that's more a problem with the Weapons Pak than Mossy.