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Masters of the Universe
Battle Cat and Panthor

By Douglass Kern, Contributing Editor

Battle Cat

Battle Cat is He-Man's trusty mount. Since a simple horse would not do for the strongest man in the universe, a fierce feline is only fitting. Battle Cat is a green tiger-like animal, with orange stripes, and giant saber teeth. He wears bronzed riding armor, as well as a helmet and guards for his two front paws.

Without the armor, Battle Cat does look fierce. He has giant claws on each of his four paws, and in some areas, his body has fur patterns embedded in the plastic. His tail is molded in a semi-curled position. Battle Cat doesn't have much possibility here, but his legs can be moved with no problems.

The armor easily attaches to Battle Cat, and there is hole under him to lock it fully in place. The armor is molded in a really nice bronze colored plastic, and includes tons of detailing including spikes jutting out, side shields, and panel lines.

One feature about this armor is a gray lever located near the front area where He-Man sits. If you press this lever down while the armor is attached, it activates a claw-swiping gimmick. In addition, this lever will open Battle Cat's mounth, giving the impression the feline is roaring.

On each of the sides of Battle Cat are two missile launchers. These are positioned to not get in the way when He-Man is riding the toy and also to look like they are providing balance. Each missile is molded in bright orange plastic, and has molding detail to make it look like the barrel of a cannon when loaded in the launcher.

Not everything about the armor is perfect though. On the Battle Cat I own, the paw guards have a tendency to fall off a lot. There is nothing to really keep them on well except for two pegs on each foot, and these don't provide a secure hold at all.

The main function of this toy is to be He-Man's mount, and in this, it performs wonderfully. So far I have paired both normal He-Man and Jungle Attack He-Man with Battle Cat; both sit on him fine with no problems at all. Thanks to the wide clearance of the missle cannons, both He-Man toys can also ride the cat with all weapons drawn.

Despite the armor guard problems, Battle Cat is a nice toy, and I feel He-Man is incomplete without him.

Panthor

Like He-Man, Skeletor has his own cat mount, the fierce Panthor. In the original "Masters of the Universe" line, Panthor was just a reuse of the Battle Cat mold, covered in purple felt but with less armor. The new Panthor toy takes a similar approach but adds some improvements.

Panthor uses the same main body as Battle Cat, with notable differences. His claws are entirely different, molded to look razors then any natural claw. Panthor also has a new head, smaller-looking but meaner-looking than Battle Cat's head. Like the old toy, Panthor is also flocked with purple felt. This looks really nice, though there is a downside. Since the felt covers the toy, all the mold detail is hidden. Also, Panthor shares the same slashing gimmick found in Battle Cat.

Panthor has his own set of riding armor, though it is not as elaborate as Battle Cat's. It consists of just a saddle and the attached weapons. However, this does work in the toy's favor, since it can show off the flocking. The saddle itself is entirely different than Battle Cat's, as it features two different sets of missile launchers to start. In a very nice touch, the saddle is molded to match Skeletor's armor, bone decorations and all.

Panthor has two types of launchers. One, off to the right side of the front of the saddle, is a normal missile canon. The cannon shoots a standard long missile. This cannon has some nice molding, and looks like a harpoon.

The other launcher is really interesting. It is located on the front center area of the saddle, right ahead of where the rider sits. The projectile looks like it is an arc of many missiles, but it is fully molded into one piece. The entire set up looks very impressive when loaded.

What about Skeletor? Well, like Battle Cat and He-Man, Panthor can easily hold Skeletor. I could find no problems with the bad guy riding his feline steed.

So, is Panthor worth it? Well, I think so. However, I also understand that some people may not want to buy two cat mounts. If you have to choose which one to get, I suggest Panthor. Of the two, he is my favorite, not only because of the felt, but also the two different missile launchers.

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