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By Douglass Kern, Contributing Editor
Man-at-Arms is one of He-Man's allies in his fight against Skeletor. He is a grizzled battle veteran in the show, and his figure shows this. He looks old, slightly worn but tough. His face even has "crow's feet" wrinkles molded in it. It also sports a bushy mustache, a first for the Man-at-arms figure. The original toy did not have this detail, but when Filmation made the original show, they gave Man-at-Arms a mustache. It is an interesting detail, and fans who were annoyed by the discrepancy should be made happy by this small addition on the new figure.
Man-at-Arms is covered with two types of armor from head to toe. He has green under-armor, molded to look like it is made of form fitting, flexible plates. He also has bulky, outer armor, not on his entire body; rather, it covers just his left lower leg, left shoulder and chest. A nice bonus, an added breathing tube apparatus is attached to the front of the orange breastplate. The breastplate is also removable, which allows the hidden molding detail under to be seen. Lastly, he also sports a blue helmet.
The molded detail on this figure is very nice. The full armor looks like it was hand crafted by Man-at-Arms himself. Little rivets, screws and dents are all fully visible. Even the abdominal plating beneath the breastplate shares this theme by looking flexible, yet protective. There even seems to be fur padding molded in some areas so as to make the armor a little more comfortable for Man-at-Arms to wear. These details really helps to make the armor look like he regularly uses it.
Man-at-Arms comes with a rubber mace, which carries over the design theme from his armor. The mace is just as worn as the armor, and with all the dings and cracks on it, it appears to have clubbed numerous enemies.
Man-at-Arms' main gimmick is an arm motion. Press the button on his back, and he brings his right arm down in a clubbing motion, just perfect for smashing the skulls of his opponent.
That's not his only gimmick; his other gimmick is located in his second accessory, a missile launcher that slides on to his left arm. The lower part of this weapon has a fully working launcher. The entire weapon looks like it could do some major damage in a fight. When not in use, the launcher easily attaches to the back of Man-at-Arm's breastplate
Man-at-Arms has a movable neck, shoulder, wrists, legs and waist. He is a really wonderful figure, despite looking slightly dull in the package. Man-at-Arms is a worthy addition to anyone's collection, even if you don't collect "Masters of the Universe" figures.
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