Along with Strobo, Standor was a source of confusion when I first saw it - I missed the Mattypalooza panel so I wasn't sure who this New Gods-esque quasi-Kirby blue guy was at first, so I reached out and asked someone in the know and was told that rather than a Hot Wheels car or a redeco of another product, this figure was made as part of Mattel's partnership with Stan Lee's Comickaze Expo. Which answered my question - it was Stan Lee, which wasn't obvious at first glance. If you take off his removable helmet or glasses, though, it's probably the best Stan Lee sculpt I've ever seen. The quality of the figure is middling, but the high novelty value makes it easy to appreciate as something of a good gag figure. It's the kind of figure you wouldn't miss skipping, but if you get it in your hands you'll probably find it quite charming.
At 7-inches tall, Standor is the odd figure I didn't realize I wanted - I was hesitant to place the order on Matty Collector but my almost-complete collection of Masters of the Universe Classics (no Goddess, no red Hordak, missing a few variants) felt that it would be missing something if I didn't have Stan Lee in it. Which is odd - Stan Lee was one of the great faces of Marvel Comics, but has become something of an omnipresent fixture in popular culture since stepping down from Marvel giving us a near-endless array of sometimes distracting cameos in movies and executive producing a bunch of things that, so far, haven't gone anywhere. (And he had that awesome appearance in Mallrats which, supposedly, almost was John Waters portraying Stan Lee.) The important thing though is that he's getting paid, because as a creative force in a company worth billions of dollars it's a safe bet that his and his colleagues' work was rarely appropriately compensated over the years. Stan Lee's cultural impact has spawned numerous collectibles making the comic writer and editor a god-like force in the industry, which is why he's the alter ego of Spider-Man in a Marvel Legends figure, a Pop! Vinyl figure, and countless other figural collectibles.
The figure was cheaper and if you look at it, it has less going on than the average Matty action figure. The armor is unpainted, a transparent glittery grey plastic that looks appropriate for some sort of cosmic being. The gloves and boots are closer to black, but still pretty neat. The body is largely just blue with no real flourishes, and the character's teeth are unpainted. His hair is slicked back adn grey, with a face that - once the armor is removed - is unquestionably Stan Lee.
With no weapons, the budget for accessories helped the helmet, armor, and glasses turn out well. The old man glasses pop off easily, and you can slide off the helmet. His armor is oddly better than most figures', it fits over his neck and shoulders lacking the rubbery straps or tabs that are a pain in the neck to remove or replace should you ever remove it.
This kind of tuckerism toy is nothing new, but it can be difficult to tell how to deal with it. For every Tunnel Rat (Larry Hama) or Lt. Spector (Scott Neitlich/ToyGuru), you've also got a Jorg Sacul (George Lucas) that doesn't quite fit in a diorama or on a shelf. Standor won't fit on my Horde shelf, my Etheria shelf, my Evil Warriors shelf, or in Castle Grayskull. As of when I write this I'm curious to see if he'll become some sort of desk fixture, or of like Mo-Larr he'll just be one of those things I don't really talk about much later. The deco is limited and well-placed, but it isn't going to amaze anyone. But amuse? Yes.
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