Teased for years, Oo-Larr's origins date back to the very first mini-comics where he was one of the many designs for what wound up becoming the He-Man we know and love - Prince Adam wasn't always part of the backstory, originally it was some guy from the jungle. This is the guy from the jungle, as it says on the box for this subscriber-only "Jungle He-Man." Since we had one figure that was basically Conan, it makes sense that a not-Tarzan would fit into the line with a figure featuring a decent mix of new parts and is, for all intents and purposes, a must-have character. The bonus accessory is a head designed to look like the original He-Man action figure which more or less succeeds, but it does draw forth the question as to the intent of the existing figure. This shaggier, toothier, wrinklier, and I daresay older looking hero will give you a reason to reach back on to your displays and swap out the head, or you could just give it to Oo-Larr if you really prefer. But it is, easily, going to be the go-to reason to snag this figure down the road. Of course, Oo-Larr is pretty good too.
...and his axe got packed with Huntara, but we'll look at that later. I've got deadlines and these showed up late.
Like most of this line, the buck is basically the same thing you've seen before with even less in the way of accessories - there's no chest armor or anything. What you do get is an alternate power sword, a really swell spear, a comic book, and the aforementioned alternate head. The comic story is something of a gag - I'm fairly sure it is meant as a gag, as the story cues up the whole Skeleteen vs. Dare (He-Ro Son of He-Man) thing with a whole new cast of good and bad guys, an evil She-Ra, and a goofy aside at the end from "the author." It's also supposedly part one of three, but the reality is probably closer to being something of a Bob Newheart finale.
Oo-Larr is neat. Probably not essential as he really isn't a key part of He-Man's story, but it's a damn fine figure. The spear has exquisite sculpting and painting to kill for, with a sword that's quite excellent. The fuzzy loincloth is indeed a fuzzy loincloth, and I believe this is the first human figure with bare feet in the. This is notable, as is the fact that he's got pretty chunky (and therefore strange) ankles. They're really no thicker than that of a normal figure, but it's hard to not notice it.
He has big eyebrows, long hair, and no bracelets of any kind. It's basically as close as you can get to a bare human MOTUC buck, which would probably make it a valuable target for customizers had it not been a subscriber exclusive. (It's expensive now.) You basically know what to expect from the figure, and it looks as good as it should. Short of making a new buck, there's not much you can do to improve it. It also highlights some of the shortcomings in super-articulated action figures, notably that clothing and armor do a bang-up job of obfuscating things like pins in the joints. It's still a decent looking figure, but from behind it looks like a human-shaped formation of parts. (As such, do not look at the picture below.) Oo-Larr has no problems holding his sword or spear, or anything else, because he uses the same hands that you're used to seeing since 2008.
It's really amazing how much the alternate He-Man head doesn't look like the original, and by that I mean it makes you wonder why the heck you held the old one in such high esteem for so long. The new one is marvelous - one giant tooth, big bushy eyebrows, and sharp cheekbones as well as a different haircut. It's great. Once you put them side-by-side, it's just astonishing how different they are and I was surprised how much I like the new one. The color match is very close, but it feels like it might be a hair on the small side. It still works.
As all-in bonuses go, this is a fun one. I don't know where I'll put it, though. You get a figure that appeals to long-term fans that have everything and neat accessories. And a comic book. And a new head for another figure. You really can't go wrong here, unless you have to shell out the big bucks for it. I can appreciate Mattel's selection of some really amazing figures as subscriber exclusives to reel in more fans, but at the same time I exist mostly to advocate the reduction of the "collectible" part of figures just to sell as many of the goofy things as possible to as many people as possible. eBay doesn't need more money... but if you want this figure, odds are that's the road you're going to travel now.
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