Go Big Or Go Home: MOTU Giant Sized Zodac

Year two of Mattel’s Masters of the Universe Giants kicks off with our favorite Cosmic Enforcer, Zodac.

Me and Masters of the Universe, we go way back.  I’m not as die-hard about the property as my fellow Korner writer Junior, but I’ve been down with Eternia for a long, long time.  And one of the things that first drew me into this world as a little kid was Zodac.  Why?  I don’t know… maybe it was his sci-fi look, replacing a ray gun and space helmet in lieu of the more familiar barbarian trappings of his fellow Heroic Warriors.  Or maybe it was because of just how weird this guy was, with his super hairy chest and clawed fingers and toes, and those weird flesh colored fins on his forearms.  Or maybe it was because I was, like, 5 so I just really liked his colors or shapes.

The point is, for better or worse, I kind of owe my love of MOTU to Zodac more than any of the other, more prominent heroes and villains of Eternia, so needless to say I was pretty stoked when Mattel kindly hooked me up with the new Giant Sized version of this guy at Toy Fair.

I had only been passively following the Giants line, which launched in 2014 with the release of He-Man, Skeletor, Beast Man, and Stratos.  These figures were Mattel’s answer to the work being done with the mega-scale Star Wars figures from Gentle Giant, and follow that same design concept– take an approximation of the original, vintage toy, and blow it up to an all new, much bigger scale.  Why?  I’ve never really known the answer to that, but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t appealing to hold a simple blister card almost two feet tall, holding a figure that easily weighs over a pound.

Silliness of the jumbo concept aside, I do really dig this Zodac figure.  The sculpt does a great job of replicating the Cosmic Warrior’s vintage look, from the iconic helmet to his robotic harness and furry underpants.  The signature disproportionate body type– a staple of the classic MOTU series– is well represented here, as the top-heavy, barrel chested Zodac strikes that bent-knee pose recognizable to anyone who grew up in the early 80s.

Zodac features the same articulation as the vintage figures, a swivel neck, swivel shoulders and articulated hips.  I actually like what Mattel did with the hip joints here.  The legs are still held in place by a thick elastic band, like the original construction, but to offer more stability and security, the legs can also “lock” in place, via a series of small pegs on the inside of the lower torso.  It’s a smart way to spare strain on the elastics, and to keep the figure stable when using his action feature– a spring loaded power punch, just like the old school version.

I don’t think I’ll ever be sold on the jumbo aesthetic entirely, but I think if Zodac is any indication, Mattel is doing a good job with the format for this toy line.  We should be seeing more Giant MOTU figures released throughout the year in 2015– Man-At-Arms is next on deck, and the back of the card art suggests we will see the original “8-back” cast in this new scale when it’s all said and done, meaning Mer-Man and Teela would be joining the collection in the back half of the year.

Time will tell how deep this line will go on, but for now, Zodac will be for sale later today as part of Matty Collector’s March lineup.  Click Here to order yours starting at 10am Pacific Time.