Stridor vintage creature/vehicle review thread

[Spacedust]

Another quiet thread last week with Jitsu, but the threads seem to be slow burners, with people adding to them sometimes quite later on, so I'll stick with them for a bit.

This week, it's time to take another look at a creature / vehicle; The armored war horse, STRIDOR.

Stridor was released as part of the third wave, and was available both sold alone, and packaged with Fisto. The Fisto figure and Stridor both had silver detailing, and their colours went well together.

The toy was a static figure, and was molded mid-step on his front leg. I would have loved to have had one that was battery powered and actually walked.

As with Battle Cat and Panthor, evil counterpart Night Stalker used exactly the same mold, minus the helmet.

Stridor was seen in the Filmation cartoon series in two versions. There were robotic horses seen in several first season episodes, and on one occasion one was refered to as "Stridor" (based on prototype maybe?). Then, introduced in the popular second season episode "Origin of the Sorceress", a Stridor that resembled the toy version was introduced.

Beyond the toy (and Fisto / Jitsu introductory mini-comic "The Clash of Arms") and odd Filmation appearance, Stridor didn't feature all that heavily in MOTU lore. Which is a shame, because every good side needs trusty steeds. (By the way, am I the only one who thought that Teela deserved her own horse, as depicted in some media (UK Ladybird books for example))?

None of my circle of MOTU friends had a Stridor toy, so I never had much hands on experience with him. It wasn't until I started re-collecting 'seriously' that I finally got to play (ahem) with one.

Stridor is quite common on the second hand market, although you might have to search around (or make multiple into one) to get a complete one, as the helmet, left and right front blasters and / or tail have often gone walkies.

There was no Stridor in the 200x revamp or cartoon series. Which is a shame, as I would have loved to have seen an updated version, one that actually walked (like 200x Dragon Walker maybe).

All-in-all regarding the vintage toy, it looked good, although a bit clunky. I'll give it a fair 7 out of 10.

So there's my own Stridor review. Now I'd like to hear your own thoughts, comments, memories, criticisms... anything Strdor-related.
And as always, don't forget to rate the toy in the poll!

[TriKlops1971]

I had Stridor back in the day, and I thought the robotic horse made a good companion for Fisto. In "Origin of the Sorceress", MAA stated that he created Stridor as "the perfect companion" for He-Man. Either MAA forgot about Battle Cat or he built Stridor to stop Cringer's whining. It was a good episode, but I thought that one comment was odd. It would have been better if, in a different episode, MAA (at king Randor's request) had decided to reward Fisto and Mekeneck's faithful service to the crown by presenting Fisto with Stridor and Mekaneck with a Road Ripper. Although He-Man is, of course, the greatest hero in the land, he isn't the only one worthy of recognition.

As for Stridor himself (itself?), I gave him a 10. The figure was well constructed and very nicely accomodates most action figures from the MOTU line.

[JonnyTyler]

I never had a Stridor as a kid. I did however, have a Night Stalker. And I loved that thing so much. Aside from Battle Cat, Night Stalker was my favorite vehicle. Afew years after I got my Night Stalker, My mom took me to a used toy store close to where we lived, that had so many great used He Man toys(most of my later collection as a kid came from this store, cause they were used, they were cheaper, and Mom would let me get 2 or 3 at a time.... I love my Mama.), anyway, on that perticular day, They had a Stridor mask and tail combo in a little ziplock bag for like a quarter. So I snatched that right up, and ever since, my Night Stalker became Stridor on the occasion, Depending on which side I was favoring at that play time... which side would get thier war horse. But even still, he did wind up as Stridor a little more than Night Stalker... as odd as that might be. But that, to me, was the beauty of certain MOTU toys, they could be interchangable. Therefor, I never had Stridor, but I had his key pieces, that I could interchange on my Night Stalker and, Wah-Lah!! Stridor!!! And for that reason, he has always always my favorite non Battle Cat ride.

[Dr Bo]

As for Stridor himself (itself?), I gave him a 10. The figure was well constructed and very nicely accomodates most action figures from the MOTU line.

I also found it made a nice addition to the line. Liked how it merged a very classic vehicule (a warhorse) with something futuristic (a robot), such concept make MOTU stand out IMO. Rammy had to go on foot, but the canopy part of Stridor was pretty cool to sit MOTU warrior in. They looked well protected and armed with the big bulky legs and canons surrounding them.
As a kid I always liked to idea of a big warhorse in the MOTU universe, and the robotic aspect gave stridor a statuesque look which reminded of the Trojan Horse myth somehow. Always found MOTU rooted much in mythological lore (strongman of legend, undead warlock, warrior godess and all) with a fabled steed is much in line.

[sathomaso]

I think MATTEL screwed up on Stridor (as well as NightStalker).
Personally i think the design is pretty decent, but it's lacking mobility.... that even ****ed me off when I was a kid, that these damn horses looked cool but weren't able to articulate at all..........................

So on this list it receives 6 points only.
Night Stalker (or "Knight Mare" how it would have been originally named) will get 7 points from me because the color scheme is better.

[Bowhead Whale]

I think MATTEL screwed up on Stridor (as well as NightStalker).
Personally i think the design is pretty decent, but it's lacking mobility.... that even ****ed me off when I was a kid, that these damn horses looked cool but weren't able to articulate at all..........................

So on this list it receives 6 points only.
Night Stalker (or "Knight Mare" how it would have been originally named) will get 7 points from me because the color scheme is better.

I agree on both points. I gave a 7 to Stridor because, as cool as he looked, I always thought it would have been better if the legs were articulated; unlike Battle Cat, articulations would not have attacked the look of the toy, in the contrary.

Also, he lost one point on the coloring. I think the silver color should have been stretched to the sides, instead of just the "behind". It wood have been more "metallic" appeared than it actually is. With all that brown, Stridor looks like he had been made of wood! With more silver, he would have been even better.

[Orko's Magic Hat]

Never had Stridor, but I did like the idea of a mechanical horse, again as mentioned before, the lack of articulation slightly ruined the figure. But it's still a cool looking toy, and only can Fisto ride Stridor.

Figure rating ~ 7/10

[Evil_Horde]

I love Fisto Unless this horse that I never really liked Voted 7

[PaoloKr]

Stridor wasn't so cool.
7 but just for sentimental reasons.