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Review of Optikk action figure
Masters of the Universe Classics

Mattel
Date Published:
Written By:
Overall Average Rating: 3.5 out of 4

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MOTUC Optikk action figure by Mattel

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Introduction

If you were born with nothing but a giant eyeball for a head, your life choice options would be severely limited. Supermodel? Unlikely. Senator? Maybe. Space Mutant Spy? Definitely.

Optikk was faced with this very issue. He was the May subscription figure for Masters of the Universe Classics, which went on sale last Monday, the 17th. Subscription owners got a extra benefit, as these shipped on the 14th for many of us.

Optikk chose not only to be an evil Space Mutant Spy, but to do his spying for Skeletor.  I heard it was because he had a better optical plan than He-man.

He cost the usual $20, but sold out quickly - big surprise there. I was surprised that he wasn't the first to sell out, but was beaten by his over sized cousin, Tytus. Next month at Matty Collector we'll be getting She-Ra, who's sure to sell out quick as well, so expect another frustrating 15th. In fact, with She-ra, Keldor, the Faker re-release, a DCUC wave 5 boxed set, a DCUC wave 13 boxed set, the 6" Venkman, AND the JLU Lobo all going up for sale on June 15th, the experience should prove very interesting for customers. And when I say 'interesting', I mean sort of like having your spleen removed with a dull, rusty nail with no anesthesia while watching reruns of Kate Goselin on Dancing with the Stars. Only less fun.

MOTUC Optikk action figure by Mattel

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Packaging - ***1/2
Same great stuff as before, although once again his cool eyeball/head is blocked a bit by the large MOTUC logo at the top.

For Optikk's benefit, we get a large "Space Mutants" sticker on the front of the bubble, complete with cool looking tentacles and done up in a 50's style sci-fi font.

For the fans, there's a character bio on the back, which you may or may not like, depending on how hard core you are. As a non-fan of the old show, the actual content is fairly irrelevant to me, but it's always nice to get this kind of personalization on the packaging.

MOTUC Optikk action figure by Mattel

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Sculpting - ***1/2
The cycloptic Optikk has more newly sculpted pieces than most of the MOTUC figures, and considering the high price point it's something I'm very glad to see.

He also has not one but two of the funky eyeballs that pass for his noggin. As some sort of mutant cyborg, I suppose his brain could be elsewhere, allowing this huge single eye to see all - but without any three dimensional depth. As a real robot design, it's not the best thought out plan, but as a kid's toy it looks pretty damn cool.

The armored body has a ton of detail, much, much more than most of the figures in this line. There's not just rivets to add texture, but wires, pipes and other general gizmos on the outer shell.

The hands are sculpted to work with the blaster, but unfortunately he can't hold it well in both arms. This is a bit of a limitation of the articulation, or at least in how the articulation works with the sculpt.

He stands about 7" tall, just about the exact same height as He-Man himself.

I really do wish that the eyeball had a bit more texture of some sort. I'm not looking for anything extreme or overly realistic - this is a robotic eye after all - but the very plain white rubber doesn't mesh wall with the much more complex body.

However, the only reason I dropped a half star on this score is because both heads exhibit the small round mold marks that are so common with rubber balls. The white color does nothing to hide them, and they are quite obvious on the back of the eyeball head.

MOTUC Optikk action figure by Mattel

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Paint - ***1/2
Wow, there's a lot of gold here. Actually, it's more like copper. And there's a lot of it.

Even so, I think there's enough small detail on the silver rivets and various colored wires and pipes that it's not a problem.

My only real issue is with the eye itself, and it's the same problem I mentioned in the sculpting section. The sclera, or white of the eye, is simply too plain. It's one big hunk of white plastic, and it needs some detail in either the sculpt or paint to really make him pop.

On the plus side, I love the cat-like coloring in the pupil, and the clear plastic they've used over it is very consistent and clean.

MOTUC Optikk action figure by Mattel

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Articulation - ***1/2
While Optikk is a bit more restricted articulation-wise than his predecessors, it's not nearly as bad as I'd feared.

I assumed that the neck would be pretty much reduced to a simple cut joint, even with the ball joint down in there. The high neck of the robotic plating makes it look like the eyeball head isn't going to be able to do too much, but I was wrong. There's still quite a bit of tilt action available, especially if you don't shove the eye all the way down on the joint.

The shoulders, hips, elbows, wrists, waist, knees, hips, ankles...these are all done in the same way as the rest of the series, and have a decent range of movement. The ab-crunch is the only real casualty of the armor design.

Also as you'd expect, all the joints are extremely sturdy and solid, and could hold up to plenty of sandbox play. Oddly, at least to me, the Matty site says this figure can only be purchased by those 18 and up - I guess it's just us old kids that get the really cool toys.

MOTUC Optikk action figure by Mattel

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Accessories - ***1/2
Optikk comes with several solid accessories, each of which adds something slightly different to his look.

The most obvious is his extra 'head'. There's a second large eyeball, identical to the first except in color. One's green, while the other is supposedly brown, although it looks a bit more on the orange side to me. Who knew he wore a designer contact lens?

The heads swap easily, and I love that they gave us the two versions, but as I mentioned in the previous sections the white sclera is a bit too plain.

He also comes with a 'photon neutralizer'. I have no idea what it does, but I'm betting you don't want it pointing your way when he pulls the trigger. It has a terrific retro-style Buck Rogers sort of early sci-fi design, complete with some nice detail paint ops.

A nifty eyeball-like shield completes his arsenal. This can snap on his forearm easily, and stays in place quite well. While the design and paint aren't quite as cool as the blaster, the silver and red color are a nice complement to the oh so much copper of the armored body.

MOTUC Optikk action figure by Mattel

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Fun Factor - ****
Two eyeballs? A cool blaster rifle and shield? And a well articulated, funky looking space monster? If I were 9 years old, I'd be in action figure heaven.

These are best for kids who are already familiar with the MOTU world through the efforts of their parents (most likely dad), or for kids who have a natural bent towards sci-fi/robot-like creatures.

Value - **1/2
While the two eyeballs might not have the most detailed sculpt, it's still two heads, and we know that's always better than one. Even my grampa told me that.

He also has a couple unique accessories, and a lot of new sculpting, making this a much better deal than usual, even at $20.

Things to Watch Out For -
Nada, zippo, nothing.

MOTUC Optikk action figure by Mattel

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Overall - ***1/2
Optikk was one of those figures not really on my radar as being a standout, but now that I have him in hand I have to say...bring on the space mutants! This guy is great, and would fit in with other sci-fi lines as well (or better!) than he does with the MOTUC series.

I'm particularly pleased to see the cool extra accessories and new sculpting, and if we can convince them to give us two heads whenever appropriate (and even if it's not), I'm all for it.

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***1/2
Sculpting - ***1/2
Paint - ***1/2
Articulation - ***1/2
Accessories - ***1/2
Fun Factor - ****
Value - **1/2
Overall - ***1/2

Where to Buy 
Matty Collector earlier this week was the place to be. Now it's ebay, unfortunately. But don't miss out next month when She-Ra and Keldor go on sale!

Related Links -
Other MOTUC goodies include - 

- seems like it was just yesterday that I covered Evil-Lyn.

- prior to that it was Moss Man last month.

- check out the cool MOTUC Display stands.

- just before that I covered Battle Cat and Trap Jaw, and prior to that was Adora.

- I really liked Scare glow, although he's not exactly what you'd call a key character.

- Adora isn't the first girl in the series - Teela has that honor.

- before that there was Webstor, one of my favorite, and Tri-klops, another one of my favs.

- prior to that was Man-at-armsHordak, ZodacFaker, Mer-man and Stratos, starting out with He-man, Skeletor and Beastman together in one review.

You should also hit the Search Reviews page, in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.

Discussion:
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MOTUC Optikk action figure by Mattel

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This product was purchased for the review by the reviewer. Photos and text by Michael Crawford.

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