Feb 23, 2009

TDJ017 - Faker figure (MOTU)

I'm a sucker for blue. I want to see it, wear it, eat it and poop it. If you ask my sisters, they'll tell you that my first word wasn't "Mom", "Dad" or "American Medical Association". It was "Blue". So it should be no surprise that when it comes to characters that either have blue skin, or wear a bunch of blue in their costume/uniform/outfit, I'm sort of drawn to them.

And unfortunately, I'm also a sucker for repaints. You put out a figure in yellow, I want to buy the repaint of the same thing in red. It's a fact. It's also an amazing way to get rid of all that bothersome money that other people seem to just have stacking up around them in the form of houses and things of that nature. Of course having said that I have such a soft spot for blue skinned/clothed characters I can only think of one other at the moment other than Faker, and that would be You Go-Girl. They would be a terrible match.


MOC Faker figure from the NYCC.

So when I found out that Mattel would be releasing Faker as their premier figure at this years New York Comic Con, I was very excited. When I found out that I would not be attending this year's New York Comic Con, I was very excited to break something. (I decided later to break into something instead, but that's a different story...) I put it out there though, that I wanted the figure and if anyone going could snag one for me, I'd give that person United States currency equal to the value of the figure at it's current going rate from the original vendor. Luckily during the weekend of the show, I got a text from Tim saying that he was able to pick one up for me (which was my best bet for getting one since he and his brother, Steve are both HUGE Masters of the Universe fans and therefore he'd undoubtedly be at the Matty Collector booth at some point during the weekend). Even luckier than that, Tim was nice enough to give me the figure as a gift when he returned, I guess sort of a "thank you" for not breaking into his place while he was gone.

The only figure out of the new MOTU classics line that I've picked up so far was the King Greyskull figure from the San Diego Comic Con last year. But I was very pleased with it and from what I've seen of the other figures, this is a very impressive line of figures they're doing now. The packaging on Faker was probably closer to what the regular release figures come in, large blister on a card with images of the other figures in the line on the back. And nowhere on the packaging does it mention NYCC as this was only available there first, they plan on having it for sale on the site in early spring.

If you're not familiar with Faker from the Masters of the Universe mythos, it's pretty much this; Prince Adam (He-Man [sorry for the spoiler]) apparently asked two girls to the Eternian Ball, this being the 80's and all... But he really didn't think that Teela was ever going to accept since she's a bit out of his league and was probably going to be attending the gala with Mechaneck. So he asked Sweet Bee cause she's so obviously obsessed with him, he knew she'd accept. THEN, like right after he asked her, he leaves to go to his locker before gym class and is intercepted by Teela (who had just seen Mechaneck with Catra holding hands in the quad) who then tells Prince Adam (He-Man [sorry for the repeat-spoiler]) that she now accepts his invitaiton to the Eternian Ball and that he can pick her up in his Wind-Raider around 8.

What was Adam to do?! Prince Adam made Faker in his parent's basement that night in order to help out with the delicate situation. A little glue here, a dab of wig there, and voila! Instant stunt-double! So at the dance Prince Adam went with Teela and Faker went to Sweet Bee's house and killed her.

But there was one obvious flaw. Prince Adam had made Faker with a soul and after having beat Sweet Bee to death with her own wings, he became sad and that saddness filled him up so much that his skin begun to turn blue, reflecting this poor robot's inner most emotions. It also turned his hair and accessories orange to contrast for good measure.

Then He-Man (Prince Adam [sorry for the reverse-spoiler]) had to defend the rest of the Eterinans from this emotional wreck before he started writing poems about the girl/insect that he had brutally murdered.

So you can see why Faker became an instant fan favorite and why no one will ever go to dances with Adam. There's actually a few back stories to how Faker came about, the most famous would be from the single episode of the cartoon that he appeared in (unnamed and flesh colored) from the original MOTU show called "The Shaping Staff". He was a jerk though, and lured the Sorceress out of Grayskull so she could then be taken over by Skeletor and his evil pals. He ended up in that giant chasm that surrounds Grayskull though, so he got what was coming.

Oh yeah, the figure... The figure is awesome. He's another one like that Leonardo figure that it was really hard to put him down after taking pictures. The attention to detail is obvious from the purple boots to the blackwashed hair. A huge and wonderful improvement on the classic figure. Where the original figures had six points of articulation (neck, arms, legs and waist) this guy has more than twice that many.


Poor Skeletor, he's completely color-blind.

The computer/robot workings that are featured under his armor is painted on whereas the vintage figure and the figure from the 2002 line both had stickers. He also comes with a sword and a half-sword that connects with the half that comes with the new He-Man figure.


New Faker with the ToyFare exclusive Faker that I got from Josh for $20. Shhh! don't tell him...

Blue blue blue blue blue blue blue. This figure is blue. My other favorite color is orange. His hair and stuff is orange. I really like this figure.

Find He-man... er, Faker for sale here and here.
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Liz: I don't really see what Sam finds so appealing about this reissue. I took a few pictures of my own just for reference:



I mean, yeah, he's blue, but it's pretty splotchy in parts. He looks less like "he got sad cause he killed Sweet Bee, so he turned blue" as Sam said... and more like some moron that painted his face, put on his girlfriend's wig and spray painted a child's Skeletor costume orange. He also appears to come with a red plastic cup accessory, which seems unnecessary and leads one to believe that Faker is a big partier.

Mattel has also taken liberties with the character's background. According to the back of the packaging, Faker is lactose intolerant. Though it appears to be completely psychological, due to the fact his mother breastfed him until he was twelve. He also likes karaoke bars, drawing ugly people and spontaneously pooping.

I'm afraid I'm going to have to rate this Faker 1/5, because I feel like if I invited this Faker to a party, he would drink all my beer and puke in my bushes.

That's what she said.

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Plastic/Material – 5/5
Poseability – 4/5
Packaging – 4/5
Design – 5/5
Playability – 5/5
Price (value) – 5/5
Overall – 4/5
















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