MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE CLASSICS - Lizard Man Review !!!

I finally got a Masters of the Universe Classics subscription . Previously I would just purchase my Classics figures in person or from online sites such as Ebay and online action figure stores . Lizard Man is a character that I have wanted as a toy since he was introduced . Way back in the 1980s Filmation toon . He appeared in the episodes subtitled " She-Demon of Phantos" and " Song of Celice ". You can watch the episodes Lizard Man appeared in on Youtube . Here is a link to "She-Demon of Phantos" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsYiRW_NOzk . At the time of this writing the "Song of Celice" is divided into two parts on Youtube, however you can still view the episode by typing in the name of the title in Youtube's search engine .  Lizard Man is also another character that was created by the Filmation cartoon company and not by anyone at Mattel . I wanted him as a kid, but to have him as an adult is nice . A very long wait for Lizard Man however the wait is worth it .

I love the brown mailing boxes these MOTUC figures come in . They are hard cardboard that are sturdy and convenient for storage of small items . As for Lizard man's bio, two tidbits of information from it that I find notable are his friends giving him the nickname "Lizzie" and him facing discrimination because of his genetic connection with the Snake Men . As for being called Lizzie, I'm going to call him that for the remainder of this review instead of Lizard Man , less words to write by calling him Lizzie . Now on to the action figure itself .

He may not be a realistic looking figure because of his cartoonish nature and appearance , however I think he is a cool looking figure, as he is very colorful with a bright vivid blue and green color scheme . Perfect execution by the Four Horsemen, making Lizzie look as if he jumped out of the cartoon into plastic form . But as always with the Horsemen they almost always add their own little details to the cartoon figures that were not present in the toon . If you pay close attention to the comparison pic comparing the toon to the toy , you'll notice that the toy has just a little bit more muscle definition . Also notice that his neck collar has no stitches in the toon but does as a toy . The Horsemen also gave him buttons for his belt which he did not have in the toon . Plus the toy's neck have lines not present in the toon . So even though Lizzie is basically drawn in the toon , the Horsemen did their best to add a little realism with their own details , to a figure that got his public debut as a cartoon character . Other than that , everything else is down pat to the character, even the facial expression. Great job Horsemen !!!
                     My only gripe about Lizzie is that I among maybe some
other collectors feel that he is too tall . If you notice that in the cartoon he is obviously a lot shorter than everyone else. Just look at him standing next to Man-At-Arms and Teela in a still pic I snapped a picture of from the toon .

As you can see he barely comes above both of their shoulders . I feel like the toy should have been the same height . However this flaw can be fixed by bending his knees , since Lizzie's knees seem to be bent a little in the toon anyway. And I have proof that the height problem can be fixed by comparing Lizzie to a Thunder Punch He-Man figure in the pics below .

As you can see with knees straight Lizzie is about the same height as He-Man , but when you bend his knees the top of Lizzie's head comes up to He-Man's shoulders . So if you want him to be the same height as he is in the toon , you'll have to display Lizzie with his knees bent .
As for Lizzie's tail , before getting the figure I thought it was going to be similar to Whip-Lash , however that is not the case . Lizzie's tail has no articulation , plus it is not the same mold as Whip-Lash as the comparison pic below will show .

A good thing about Lizzie's tail is that it does indeed help him stand properly for balance. Now on to Lizzie's accessories, with neither one actually belonging to the character .

Lizzie is one of several MOTUC figures that comes with accessories that do not belong to him . The sword belongs to Skeletor which he has held in some episodes of the Filmation toon . The jewel piece is the Diamond Ray of Disappearance from the Filmation pilot episode with the same name .  A unique feature this piece has is that it glows in the dark . Plus it is specially made to fit into the open right fist of any MOTUC figure . I tried taking pictures of the Diamond Ray in darkness with no success . It is very difficult to get a nice picture of an item so small in the dark . If you want to see pics of the Diamond ray glowing in darkness, you can check out the Fwoosh's review of this figure at www.thefwoosh.com or Pixel Dan's review of the figure on Youtube . I love both accessories by the way I think they are cool . ( NOTE ) On the back of the packing their is a little note at the top right hand corner about making the glow feature work . I'll repeat what it says just in case if you can not see the writing from the pic . It says the following - Glow-in-the-dark feature will last longer if you do not expose this product to intense heat or direct sunlight for prolonged periods of time . Place the gem box approximately 5 feet ( 152 cm ) away from a light source for 30 seconds . Placing the gem box closer will not intensify the "glow-in-the-dark"feature .
                           Now back to the issue with Lizzie's height . Below are comparison pics
displaying him with his knees straight and bent .

Look at how much of a difference bending the knees can make . Almost a full inch difference . With knees fully bent he is right at five inches tall compared to being six inches standing straight . One last noticeable feature about Lizard Man are his hands. They are webbed just like a real lizard's hands are. With a filmy looking translucent plastic between the fingers. A very cool look in my opinion .

                                                 FINAL   THOUGHTS
( 1 ) ARTICULATION - Lizzie has basically the same articulation as any MOTUC figure with the exception of ab crunch . He has no ab crunch .

( 2 ) STANDING  ABILITY - Stands perfectly due to the fact the tail solidifies the balance even more .

( 3 ) WHAT  I  LIKE  BEST  ABOUT  THIS  FIGURE ? - The accessories he comes with, the bright vivid colors of the figure and the translucent film between his fingers. Not to mention the positive sense of closure of finally having an action figure of a character that I have been wanting since being a kid in the 1980s.

( 4 ) WHAT  I  LIKE  LEAST  ABOUT  THIS  FIGURE ? - Too tall for Lizard Man however like already mentioned this problem can be fixed by bending his knees .

( 5 ) WHAT  COULD  HAVE  BEEN  DONE  TO  IMPROVE  THE  FIGURE ? The cloak could have been removable , give him the ab crunch , and make the tail articulate . However I am cool with my Lizard Man figure and is not bothered by the lack of these features .

( 6 ) GRADING  SCALE  - With the FIGURE ONLY - I give it a 9.5 on a scale from one to ten . The minuses are for the missing features I discussed in Final Thoughts # 5 . Even though I am not bothered by the lack of these features, implementing them onto the figure would have made it better in my opinion . As for the FIGURE combined with the ACCESSORIES , a PERFECT 10 !!!

( 7 ) FINAL  ANALYSIS - It feels great to finally have a figure in my collection that I have waited a long time for . Not only do we get to add a figure to our MOTUC collection that many of us have wanted since childhood , but also get a chance to add some more Filmation artifacts to the collection as well .