Battle Cat vintage creature review

[Spacedust]

The last couple of review threads (Man-At-Arms and Beast Man) have been quite quiet. Maybe it's because of the .org servers being down. Anyway, carry on regardless...

This week is a first, in that it's not a figure, but rather a creature. He-Man's faithful fighting tiger, it is, of course, BATTLE CAT.

Battle Cat was present ever since the very beginning of the MOTU franchise, making his first appearance in the second of the original four mini-comics, "The King of Castle Grayskull".
Originally, very early one, Battle Cats were conceived as generic steeds (still not sure if you can use "steeds" for tigers; oh well) for all of the MOTU warriors, but very soon, it was adapted that there was just one Battle Cat, belonging solely to He-Man.
In this pre-Prince Adam version, Battle Cat was a wild tiger that would come to He-Man's aid when needed.

As is often mentioned on the forum, the mold of the actual tiger part of Battle Cat wasn't new, being recycled from Mattel's earlier Tarzan toy-line. And, of course, the same mold would be reused for Skeletor's equivalent steed, Panthor.

The Battle Cat that I had when I was a kid was French (we very occasionally got French-produced here in the U.K.); the armor was much darker, a deep maroon instead of the usual bold red, and the stripes were a darker orange and in a slightly different arrangement.

I used to love sitting He-Man on the saddle, and seating Teela on the back, as was shown in a number of earlier MOTU images (one U.K. Activity Book that I was particularly fond of had such an image on the cover).

Battle Cat had a mask / helmet, although I sometimes thought that he looked better without this on.

Battle Cat was a regular in the Filmation cartoon series, although he didn't always appear quite as often later on. And with the Prince Adam alter-ego, Battle Cat also had his own alter-ego, the cowardly Cringer. It was easy to get a Cringer toy, by simply removing Battle Cat's armor (even though it still had the ferocious face); It's maybe surprising that Mattel didn't milk the idea by releasing a separate Cringer toy.

Battle Cat had his own origin story, in the second season episode "Battlecat" (spelling, without the space, is correct). Although I loved the first half of this story, in that we got to see younger versions of Adam, Cringer and Teela, I was very disappointed with the story that lead to Cringer's first transformation into Battle Cat, feeling that it lacked any real feel of danger, and most importantly, that it didn't involve Skeletor. Besides, I always liked to think that Cringer was Battle Cat ever since Adam had first become He-Man. But that's for a future vintage episode review thread

There was no Battle Cat in the 1987 movie; in a time before affordable CGI, it would have just been too expensive. One can only wonder how he would have been adapted for the big screen, or - considering how few original character appeared - if he would have appeared even if it had been affordable.

The 200x revamp... I wasn't over taken on it. The thing I most instantly liked was the terrible armor. It was horrible and clunky, and the giant guns on either side just didn't work at all. The helmet was scaled back; I can't decide if I like this better or not.
In the Mike Young Productions cartoon, they scaled the armor back slightly (though I still wasn't over keen on it), but in the new cartoon, I hated that Battle Cat now looked like a giant saber-tooth; and at times almost looked like a bear!
I bought a Samurai Armor Battle Cat, which was a bit better than the original revamp, as I liked the armor and colours better. Later I picked up a standard style Battle Cat for completists sake, but I have to say, after the 200x Sorceress, I think I would name Battle Cat as one of the weakest updates of the revamped line.

But anyway, in terms of the vintage toy... Battle Cat is a staple of the whole MOTU world. It's basic, but it serves its purpose. I'll give it a fair 8 out of 10.

There are my words on Battle Cat.
I'd really like to hear your thoughts, comments, criticisms, memories, and anything else Battle Cat-related. And whether you post your thoughts or not, don't forget to rate the vintage toy in the poll!

[tariamani]

No articulation, no action feature...and one of the greatest MOTU icons of all time! I love it! 'Mask goes on, mask goes off' - kept me happy for hours, that did. Battle Cat is also the only classic MOTU sculpt which is superior to the 4H modern designs and will always be one of my absolute favourite He-Characters.

[Spacedust]

I know. It's so simple - and yet it's so great.

The Four Horsemen could have improved and done so much with this basic concept, but it's one of the few that they blew.

[Dave-Man]

I gave it a 6 because it was a great toy, and I loved it, but it didn't really *do* anything.

[panthorscub]

I gave it an 8. It was kind of a plane jane toy, but it still was great. He-Man never fell off and it served its purpose, but I would have liked it better if the legs had moved. But all He-Man creatures had stationary legs, so griping doesn't change it.

[DestrongerLupus]

I am SOOOOO torn over Battle Cat.

I LOVE the classic armor, I LOVE the Filmation Character!

I can't look at Classic BC though, and not see him for the recycled 70's what-is-this-articulation-you-speak-of afterthought-accessory toy that he is.

I HATE the 200X armor, I HATE the MYP portrayal of the character.

But, if you strip the guns off, 200X toy BC isn't that bad, he fits in with the 200X cast (I've found that BC and Panthor are about the only vintage creatures/vehicles that don't look right with the 200X line), he's got some nice sculpting. I don't love the action feature, or his wierd claws, but he's the BC I have on display. It's REALLY the helmet that kills it for me, I've bee meaning to do a classic-style helmet for 200X BC, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. That might make all the difference.

I guess I'll give the old cat a 6.
D/L

[Bowhead Whale]

But I still prefer Panthor!

[Arkan]

9/10. Battle Cat is so simple but still so great at the same time. I like very much his concept, desing, colours, saddle even his name; Battle Cat very warrior like and savage at the sme time. In my imagination que roared like thunder. As some others said I like Battle Cat without mask. That was a strong point of Panthor, bare faced.
In my personal collection He Man is standing right besides Battle Cat, not riding him because I think that the saddle is a bit wide and if the figure remains riding for a while the leg rubbers weaken. Anybody experienced this?
Back on topic. In the cartoon series I like it very much when Battle Cat had important roles.
As I said at the beggining 9/10.

[Bowhead Whale]

My personnal Stinkor rode Panthor for years... is this why his leg rubbers became so weak!?

[Dedd Vinyl]

Gotta say I love the new cats, I think their action feature is great, and I think thier ferocity is definitely in place. The armor for Battle Cat, yeah, doesn't work for me either. Too much - should have went with "less is more" on the weaponry for the cats. BUt the originals did have something to them, albeit not a lot.I go 5.5 classic, 8.5 2002.

[Louis649]

I gave it a 8 because it don't have any kind of articulation and the mask don't have open eye sockets like in the cartoon and minicomics. Nonetheless the Battle Cat creature toy is one of the best toys of the old toyline because is one that looks much alike his cartoon and mimicomic/comic self.

[Creasy Bear]

Gotta love Battle Cat! Simple non-articulated...sure, but he's just such an integral part of the line, you can't help but love him. As a kid I was really blown away by how cool and ferocious he appeared on the box art. I couldn't wait to free him from his cardboard and cellophane prison. When I think of how much I enjoyed MOTU as a kid, Battle Cat was such a huge part of that. He was one of the first He-Man toys I had, in fact. Great memories! 8 out of 10 for me.

[Dr Bo]

I gave it a 8 because it don't have any kind of articulation and the mask don't have open eye sockets like in the cartoon and minicomics. Nonetheless the Battle Cat creature toy is one of the best toys of the old toyline because is one that looks much alike his cartoon and mimicomic/comic self.

Keep in mind the toy arrived first, before the cartoon or mini-comics!

I also always appreciated Battle Cat. Heck with the articulation, it never bothered me, the guy stand perfectly and was undestructible. On my collecting venture I stumpled accross a bunch of Battle Cat, yet never saw one broken!

And besides, a freaking GREEN cat with ORANGE stripe with a big saddle and a fearsome looking mask that look directly taken from a Frazetta painting. In all, it give you a freaking barbarian in fur undie riding a freaking masked tiger!

I think, along with He-Man, Battle Cat is definitely one of the best action figure of the 1980's and as iconic as Johnny West Marx doll for the 1960's and Pulsar guys for the 1970's.

[blackiecats]

I'm afraid I think Battlecat and Panthor are the worst pieces from the classic MOTU toyline, so I only gave him 3 points (mainly because he looked like he did on the cartoon series, which is always a plus for me!)

However with no moving legs, head or tail I think this toy could have been an whole lot better.

[braxsis364]

I think I lost my battle cat somewhere, in my childhood. dont remember playing with him that much. never got ahold of another one, for some reason. untill recently, but ill give him a 8 simply because hes an inportant part of the collection.

[He-Fan]

Chris here...

I love my classic Battle Cat, and remember being so thrilled when I got him on holiday in Devon in 1989! I had hours of fun playing with him, and really felt as though the partnership was complete when my Flying Fists He-Man (the only He-Man figure I had as a kid) had a steed to transport him from point A to point B!

My negative of the Battle Cat toy is (as others have rightly pointed out) the lack of articulation - he was almost a "model" rather than a toy! For that reason I gave him a 6 out of 10.

On the subject of the new Battle Cat toy - I absolutely love both him and the new Panthor in terms of playability and design, and being a self-confessed "big kid" I love the firing guns at the side! However, the one gripe I have is how easily the armour on his paws comes off - I've actually had to keep the stringy packaging that held my Battle Cat's feet down in his box to tie his foot armour to his feet! However, I have to give Mattel a lot of credit for actually making the 200X Battle Cat (and Panthor) more interesting than the original.

The Battle Cat that I had when I was a kid was French (we very occasionally got French-produced here in the U.K.); the armor was much darker, a deep maroon instead of the usual bold red, and the stripes were a darker orange and in a slightly different arrangement.

Could I ask whether you'd be able to post a comparison pic? I'd love to see a comparison between the armour colour in particular - based on the colour you describe it sounds as though my Battle Cat might be a French produced one!

Take care...

[davidlogan]

TEN! Bc rules! He's perfect even though he can't move. Armor coming off was a very nice touch. Can't get much better MOTU wise than the first Battle Cat.

[Evil_Horde]

10 absolutely!! One of my favourite AF, superbe with He-man in saddle!

[PaoloKr]

Simply.
10!!!!

[DynastyMasters]

Is Battle Cat without his armor ever called Cringer anywhere in the original MOTU toyline? Does it say Cringer anywhere on the boxes it came in? Do the instruction manuals on how to put on his armor say Cringer anywhere? Was there even any instruction manuals that came with the Battle Cat toy? I know that Cringer and Battle Cat were both in the mini-comics.

[baronterror]

i ranked it 4. It's probably lower technically. The importance of him ranks him even that high, but as a kid, it having no articulation, and how much I hated the look of the helmet (which I'm over now) I actually hated him. Never really played with him either.

Decided that he's at least worse than half the toys, (and like I said, moreso really) so he got less than half points out of 10.

[Lich Leech]

10. I'm not sure why he works so well, but he does. Zero moving parts. Strange green/yellow/red color scheme. But He-Man looks 100 times cooler astride Battle Cat