I'm a little late to the game on these and am regretting it - I just got my Seventh KingdomShield of Draumm, for $20 because Toymania.com announced they had some in the store still and after the Ravens on Kickstarter, I wanted something now. Even though this figure is nearly 5 years old and shockingly predates Masters of the Universe Classics, it's better. It's way, way better and I'm mad at myself for not having bought this years ago, and for having missed all the elephants apparently.
Clocking in at just under 9-inches high, this figure is more or less scaled to the Horsemen's typical 6-inch lines like DC Universe Classics and whatnot. In terms of actual size, he's on par with Gygor and the Shadow Beast from Masters of the Universe Classics, but blows away all of them in terms of articulation and deco. It's staggering to me that, in 2008, this was $20 and so were Beast Man and He-Man. He has about 19 points of articulation, and only comes up short because of restrictions because of his outfit - the waist armor prevents too much hip movement, but he has bend-and-swivel wrists (which most figures don't) as well as a storage rack for his accessories on his back. The figure doesn't have double-knees or double-elbows like some of the later Four Horsemen Fantastic Exclusive lines, but if you look at this guy as being a sibling to MOTUC you'll see that they managed to work in a lot more painted and sculpted detail on a figure's body that was originally intended to be an elephant.
The only place where the articulation didn't do what I wanted was the head - he can't look down, and his mouth is always open. It's not a big deal, but if you want him to stomp a guy it's not like he's ever going to see them. I had no problems getting him to hold his weapons, which were the antithesis of "rubbery." I'm more worried that they'll snap or stab a dude, they're quite pointy and feel a lot harsher than other similar weapons from other action figure lines. In this respect, I'd almost rather they went with the materials Mattel uses with their weapons just because of breakage potential. I'll probably ultimately display the hippo with a spare He-Man spear just to avoid any tears if it falls off of a shelf some day.
In terms of deco, it's pretty much perfect - the palms of the hands are a different color than the back, there are painted hooves, the inside of the mouth is glossy and "wet." The sculpted chains on the armor will delight you as much as the individually-painted rivets, which is a feature we've seen on many of the lines Mattel worked on with the Four Horsemen over the years. The golden armor looks nice and metallic, as do his various bits of armor on his person. It's really pretty much perfect.
The backpack for weapons storage is acceptable, but it doesn't really hug the accessories all that well. I would suggest not using it.
This is a spectacular figure and if you can get it for a fair price - I would say under $40 or so - it's a bargain. I saw one on eBay sell for $100, which seems high despite being limited to 400 pieces - not because it isn't "worth it," but because the potential audience for this figure is probably not very large. There aren't many people willing to pay premium pricing for a premium figure, as evidenced by the fact I bought it in 2013 and it came out in 2008. The Horsemen also made other figures based on a Minotaur body, a fantasy Queen character, a quasi-Egyptian man, and next up we'll have a selection of figures based on the bird body of the Ravens. A fairly well-endowed woman figure from Gothitropolis was also shown at various events, but no known plans exist for her release yet.
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