It's easy to forget that Masters of the Universe was king in 1982, so a movie with live actors seemed like a good idea. Trends end, and it was on its last legs by the time the movie introduced us to new guys like Blade. After reading a fascinating oral history surrounding the movie, I finally felt compelled to open this figure because I had no real reason to crack him open. It's no critique on the figure - it's good - or the character - I don't really have an opinion. It was interesting to see the director's perspective of his wanting to do the characters that made sense on his budget, and that the other guys were still out there... just not in the movie story. I might've been warmer to the movie when I was a kid had that been used in the marketing, but really, no sane person would do that. Good or bad, to me, he wasn't in the cartoons.
The standard buck is back with some nice enhancements, particular on the boots and vambraces. The chain mail body outfit is really nice - the chains are painted silver, but are molded in black plastic to give them some decent depth. There's a silver face on the armor, plus his head gear looks a lot like the movie - heck, the scar is much more exaggerated on the toy. Like Jitsu, it's a nice figure where you can see a lot of the work going in to all the blades on his shoulders, his "ears," and the two giant swords which slide in slots on his belt. Clearly, this is a man who likes his blades. And, for some reason, a whip. It doesn't quite fit in with the naming convention, but whatever, it looks cool and fits in his hand with a bit of a fight. It even has a thumb guard! The swords are a tight fit in his hands, but they fit in his belt loops like a glove. Mattel and the Four Horsemen put a lot of effort in making this one look great, and for reasons I may never fully appreciate.
Standing tall and proud, the figure's not-entirely-inhuman face doesn't match with his bulked-out body and armor. It looks like a person wearing a MOTUC suit, complete with chin spikes and ear swords. It's almost better than most 1980s figures - certainly an improvement over the original Blade - in that it takes the thematic concepts introduced by the name and extends them to their logical conclusion. Which is to say, swords everywhere.
This is a nifty mishmash of realistic movie costuming, translating the painfully restrictive garment into a toy with the kind of detail work above and beyond what we're used to - little arrows on his wrists and a subtle scowl just make this a great translation of something I don't particularly feel I needed to own. Viva subscription services. He's cheap now, which is probably a sign that I'm in the majority. This is in no way a bad action figure - he's sturdy. His joints are tight. The sculpting is dang near perfect. It's just Blade.
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