I really liked the 2012 original, and I can also say that the original is better. But OriginsDemo-Man is pretty good, it's just a different animal - the Mattel Creations figure is more in scale with the original toy line, and is painted closer to a classic figure. The Classics Demo-Man [FOTD #370] looks like they applied a painting to a figure, with spooky greens and loads of sculpted weathering. This one feels like it had a shorter development time, while Classics seemed to take advantage of its format a bit more. The clamshell shirt, the multi-colored shoulder armor, and just so much more paint, it was a truly deluxe figure at a price that, in hindsight, was pretty excellent. This new version, 13 years later, costs about the same - but you get less figure. It's shorter.
I think Mattel understood the assignment and got it right, making the most out of reused parts while sharing a few new ones. There are a few spots that look a little rough, though, but I still think it was a worthwhile purchase.
The lack of green demon paint fades is obvious to anybody who compares the two, but as his own man this is a good figure. Cast in green, the claws are unpainted, but you get the silver bracelets, a painted beard, black (instead of red) eyes, slightly less gnarled teeth, less weathered (but still painted) horns, and a tiara. He's less ghoulish and horrific, but most 1980s toys were. I kind of wish they kept the 1980s aesthetics flowing, because the clamshell shirt doesn't really fit with the retro vibe - a cloth tunic might work better. It looks excellent but restricts "retro play" movement only slightly.
While I assume all of these guys are sculpted digitally, this one seems a little too digital. The silver armor seems to have residual 3D printing steps on it, and the texture on the tunic is a little too perfect and consistent. This might just be the kind of complaint someone with too many toys has, and for all I know modern toy buyers will look at it and not understand the complaint. Most of it looks fantastic, but those two bits struck me as odd - everything else more or less fit. The head is slightly different, but it's obvious what they were going for and the changes in colors still work. The un-booted legs look fine, although there does seem to be a slight change in color. You may not notice, but it stood out when I was taking pictures. I hope the color variation doesn't increase with age.
Much like the original figure, he has two alternate heads - but this time, they're old molds. Skeletor's mini-comic head is a redeco from the previous Keldor/Kronis exclusive set at Target, and the skull head is a reuse of the Skeleton Warrior head in bone color. Both look great. Skeletor was previously released with details that looked printed-on, so this is a new paint mask and looks different - and I would say it looks better. The bone deco for the Skeleton Warrior looks so good, I hope they consider making an entire figure in non-glow bone deco later. They easily swap out with the Demo-Man head, and are probably going to be great for a custom project for somebody somewhere.
Your other accessories are also reuses. I got this sword mold with Fang-or, and the mace has been in several releases like Moss Man and the Skeleton Warriors set. He can easily hold them all, and they are similar to weapons that came with the Matty Collector Demo-Man previously.
The included "Soul Keeper" mini-comic is pretty good, telling the story of how Hordak made Skeletor while also telling of how He-Man knocked the demon out of Skeletor's head. It's a lot of story in a few pages.
This in't a figure that's so good that it will make you replace your original Demo-Man, but if you're looking to downsize? It's fine. He gets the job done, and he looks appropriately creepy. He's also sold out so you might not see it for $20 again, but if you do? I'd say it's worth the asking price. Keep an eye on Mattel's various company stores (open to the public) if you're in the area, as sometimes these guys show up later in scratched-and-dented boxes for fair prices.
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