Super7 Star Trek: The Next Generation Armus Super7, 2021
Day #2,642: September 28, 2023
Armus Prank call Armus?
Star Trek: The Next Generation ReAction Figure
Item No.: No. 81540 Manufacturer:Super7 Includes:n/s Action Feature:n/a Retail:$17.99 Availability: 2021? Other: At last, the toner man is here
Generally speaking, the reason to buy a ReAction Figure - or indeed, any retro action figure - is because you like the license. Armus from Star Trek: The Next Generation is one of very few figures I would say is more interesting for its own sake, in part because the on-screen character wasn't exactly loads of fun. It's a toy you're probably going to be happy to have just to play around with it a bit, even if it doesn't do much.
If someone tapped me on the shoulder and said "hey there's a cool goop monster figure from 40 years ago" I'd probably say "you know, I should probably buy that." As of my writing this, there's no ReAction Tasha Yar and you'd probably want to display this Armus with your old Galoob figures, if you have any. The figure is shiny, and is most likely painted to give it a glistening texture. There's not a lot of other painted detail here, as he's sculpted like a giant man-shaped pile of ooze with a turning head, jointed leg, and two swivel arms. While he seemed to be blackest black on the show, the figure itself is a dark gray.
While he doesn't have a lot of humanoid landmarks, the drips around the end of the arms look a little bit like hands and there are goopy strands on the head that line up with where, maybe, an eye could have been. Other than the leg joint there aren't a lot of landmarks to indicate "front" versus "back," and given that these figures tend to skew toward Kenner aesthetics I'm surprised they didn't give him a split leg like The Emperor or Anakin Skywalker. Since he has no hands, he has no accessories. He does, however, have foot pegs for display stands. You won't need them, because the figure's wide base means he's never going to fall over. You can bend him over completely and he'll still remain standing - that's stability!
Thanks to that wide base, Armus is unlikely to fit in many - or really, any - of your 3 3/4-inch scale vehicles in the driver's seat. For that reason I would say they could have completely left out the jointed leg, because it's not going to serve much of a purpose beyond ticking a box and saying "we didn't totally cheap out," but given the foil-embossed cardback and lack of accessories demanded by the character, sometimes cheaping out is acceptable. The figure has everything he needs, and sometimes less is more.
If Super7 is allowed to make this figure without the license, I bet they could sell tons of repaints in glow, clear blue "water," rainbow, or other colors. It's just such a great design that it seems almost a shame that it's a Star Trek figure. I could totally see them selling this with a matching "playset" base so he can ooze in and out of the ground, too, but the appeal of that would be somewhat limited.
If your toy box already has an X-Ray Man or a Dracula or a Darth Vader or even a Dr. Zaius, it seems reasonable to add an Armus. I also wish kids had a figure like this 30 years ago - as a monster for your other toys to fight, this is something I assume could have been a great birthday present for a generation. G.I. Joe could fight him. So could Stormtroopers or Ewoks, or even Batman as a surrogate Clayface. You could even see Armus trying to scare Shaggy and Scooby away from some money in a haunted swamp. It's such a dumb Star Trek alien, but a surprisingly flexible toy concept. As such, if you have a retro-style toy collection or real old toys, go get yourself an Armus. You've bought dumber things, and this is the kind of action figure that may actually inspire the imagination. If you ever see this one on sale, buy yourself one and maybe grab an extra for a friend who missed it. And Super7, if you're reading, please kindly consider releasing it in variant colors. If it worked for the Mummy it'll work for Armus.
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