Review of Mumm-Ra - Thundercats Mega-Sized action figure

Introduction

The original Thundercats, like He-man, is a show I never cared for back in the day. Oddly enough, there is something about the character designs that I really like, so when I came across a new Thundercats Mumm-Ra on the shelf at Toys R Us, I couldn't pass him up.

I also suspect that he'll get lost in the shuffle with the current crop of big films hitting. Let's face it, most people are focused on Dark Knight Rises, Avengers, and Amazing Spider-Man figures right now, and not really looking for other lines.

This guy is big - he's MEGA SIZED! I'm not sure if we'll see other characters make it to market in this scale, since it will depend heavily on how well this one sells. Hopefully we'll get some further news in a few weeks at San Diego Comic-Con, since without a Lion-O he's kind of lost.

NOTE: Turns out there is a Lion-O, and he came out last summer! Damn, not sure how I missed him, but now I'll have to hunt him up.

As I said, I picked him up at Toys R Us for $30, although you may find him at other retailers as well. I don't believe he's an exclusive, but TRU has backed this line (and Mezco) generally better than other retailers, making the odds of finding him there a bit better.

Packaging - ***
It's a big box, but not as big as it might have been. Mumm-ra has his legs cut off just below the knees, with his feet packed separately, allowing the box to be a few inches shorter,  You can't see it from the outside though, making him appear a bit less 'mega' than he actually is.

I was also hoping that the box would be 'collector friendly', allowing you to remove the figure and put it back without damage. Sadly, that's not the case. It's not the half dozen twisties, they're no real problem. But the white bands are taped to the backer, and it's tough to remove them without any tears. The bigger issue is that the cape, splayed out behind him on the bubble, is actually tacked in place with a few threads. You'll have to cut those to remove it.

Sculpting - ***1/2
This is a 'mega scaled' figure, which means he stands 14 inches tall, not counting his snakes. It's kind of a weird height - bigger than sixth scale, but not quite quarter. I suppose that if the classic Lion-O is about 12", then this guy would be about right. I included a shot of this figure with a true quarter scale roto cast figure - Abe Sapien - along with a 12" MOTUC figure and a 12" Trooper for comparison.

This is a classic version of Mumm-Ra, and I think they did a much better job with this look than on the smaller 6" version. The aggressive stance matches the aggressive expression, giving the overall look a bit more cohesion.

The detail work of the sculpt is solid as well, especially in the clawed hands and snarling face. He doesn't have any accessories to hold, so they went with very dynamic poses for the hands, and they look great.

While there isn't much leg articulation, he does stand great on his own in his basic stance.

Paint - ***1/2
The paint quality is quite good, although at this scale things can get a bit easier. There's a flip side to that as well - at this scale, any errors are far more obvious.

The cut lines and color separation is pretty good, with very little bleed or slop. The eyes look clean, and the chest symbol is sharp and neat. The white on the teeth is a tad gloppy, and there's a stray mark here and there, but overall the work is well above average.

Articulation - **1/2
This is a rotocast figure - mostly hollow, making it light weight and cheaper to manufacture. That can also mean limited articulation, although Mezco has usually done a great job with adding joints to rotocast figures.

Here the big winner is the neck joint. Lots of tilt and turn action, allowing you to give him plenty of nasty personality.

The only articulation in the legs are the two cut joints where you pop the lower pieces on, just above the calf armor. There's no hip, knee or ankle articulation, so the stance you see is the stance you get.

There is a cut waist, but mine was a bit tough to turn. There's cut wrists as well, and ball jointed shoulders to round things out.

Accessories - Bupkis
Sadly, he comes with nothing extra. There are a couple pieces that I'm counting as Outfit however, which I'll talk about in the next section.

Outfit - ***1/2
It's unusual for a figure like this to have an 'outfit', but there were a enough pieces that I thought it was worth calling out.

Rather than call the cape an accessory, I'm adding it in here. There are three holes in the material so that it can attach to a peg at the back of his neck and at both wrist cuffs. It's fraying a bit already, but the material is high quality and the fit is quite good.

There are also three white strips of cloth that can be wrapped around his arms, waist and torso in any way you'd like. These are also fraying - no hems of course - but they look terrific on him.

Finally, it's worth noting that both the back of his helm and the flowing colored ribbons are cloth. These look terrific, and it's a much better choice than plastic in this scale.

Fun Factor - ***1/2
While he's not the most articulated, and he could use a weapon or two, he's still a great toy. He can stand up to some serious banging around with little problem, but he is hindered by the lack of a similarly scaled opponent right now. Now to buy one of those Lion-O's!

Value - **1/2
At $30 he's not cheap, but considering the $15 - %20 many much smaller figures are costing, he came in at about my expected price.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not a thing.

Overall - ***1/2
This is one of those cases where I wasn't that impressed when I saw the figure in the box on the shelf. But once I had him home and posed, I was much, much happier. Great sculpting and paint, and a quality cape that works well go a long way to making this a solid figure.

Now I really, really wish I had picked up not only a classic Lion-O in this scale, but had the chance to buy a MOTUC He-man and Skeletor too!

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

Where to Buy 
I don't know if this guy is available elsewhere, but I found him at the local Toys R Us.

Related Links -
Other Thundercats reviews include the 6" Classic Lion-O, the smaller classic Mumm-ra, as well as the large 8" classic Lion-0, modern 6" Lion-O, and modern 6" Tygra.

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

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