Voltron Ultimates (Retroactively)
Item No.: No. TBD Manufacturer:Super7 Includes:Alternate hands, sword, shield Action Feature:n/a Retail:$34.99 Availability: July 2020 Other: Sadly sold out, but watch for more from Super7!
After some amazing products over 35ish years, Voltron is now a Masters of the Universe Classics-style figure from Super7. It already sold out. It's also what we got after what may have been a few definitive takes on the robot lion warrior from Toynami... and also BanDai, Mattel, Trendmasters, Panosh Place, and some others I am no doubt forgetting. It's neat - and part of Super7's first four non-barbarian "Ultimates"-style figures.
Mattel did a similar figure as a San Diego Comic-Con exclusive a few years ago, but this is a different take closer to the old cartoon. The colors are a little more muted, the figure almost completely painted, with a grey non-metallic or glow sword and swappable hands. Oh, and a preposterous amount of pointy bits. Very pointy bits. There's a reason it says "NOT A TOY" on the boxes.
It's a nice figure - it has that new toy smell from the paint but it goes away pretty quickly. I count about 25 meaningful points of articulation, which is pretty good for a big, blocky figure. The hands don't have jointed mouth fingers, but instead can be swapped out for alternate hand-heads. This is good, and bad - the "closed" hands are incredibly tight and you have to use some force to get the sword and shield in there - but the figure's never going to drop that sword. The shield must be held perpendicular to the forearm, or it will pop out of the hand over time. The hands are jointed at the wrist in two places - one peg for the forearm, and another joint to bend it just a tiny bit. It works pretty well, and the figure seems to be blocky and sturdy in the best ways. I don't think this guy is going to nosedive the rack... like some other marvelous legends on my toy shelves. This was meant to stay upright.
He has no foot pegs, and is more or less your standard issue "Matty"-style figure. It's chunky, it's heavy, and it feels you got something hefty for your money. I like the colors, which are vibrant with nicely-applied paint. All the lion heads have painted eyes and few other details, making it a lot like the animation model. But not exactly like it.
This is kind of a fascinating item as an American toy based on a Japanese cartoon which was based on a Japanese toy from around 1981 - I think, I could be wrong here. For the original pre-sale price of $35, it's quite the gem and a lot heftier than some of the other smaller collectible figures. Obviously nothing is as hefty as the metal ones, but that's not what this set out to be.
Since the pre-sales were all last year and the figure has long sold out, I wouldn't necessarily chase it down unless you're all-in on Super7, especially since the metallic repaint may still be available for order for less. They do some wonderful stuff and as of my writing this there's a ton of great things to look forward to this and next year. I hope we see some other monsters or robots to fight the defender of the universe, and if we don't he'll just hang out with my other sci-fi toys. It's cool, it shows what kind of work Super7 can do in this format, but if you need a Voltron in this size you will undoubtedly have additional choices in the future. They may not have screaming open lion face hands, though.
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