MOTU Classics Griffin Video Review by Pixel Dan

[Pixel Dan]

Alright, let's take a look at the Griffin!



Any questions, just ask! Enjoy!

[Replikor]

WOW!!! That Beast figure looks OUTSTANDING!!! Thanks for the VERY good shots of the Griffin's beautiful sculpt an paint deco on the figure!

I am seriously thinking about ordering [alot] more of these to army build some and hang them "in flight" from my ceiling with Beastman riding the front Griffin!

[Skeletortilla]

It is truly a fantastic figure!

Dan, did yours have a bit of a side-to-side bobblehead going on? Both of mine are like that. Otherwise they're perfect.

[TITAN]

Thanks for the review Dan! You just made me go ahead and order Griffin from Matty just now! You convinced me! He looks GREAT!!
I really can't wait to get him! Beast-Man will be getting his early Christmas present soon!

[Dragonblaster]

Great review, Dan, although I'm sure you wanted to say:
"...as originally the wings were going to be all grey".

[snakeeyes0217]

Thanks, Dan. He's no Battle Ram but after seeing him close-up in your review, I think I'm going to like him more than I thought.

[Megalodon]

Awesome Beast!!! There is only ONE small thing I would change give him Bird Feet on the front as well...(Just like the toon)

[Darkkosis]

I didn't have the chance to open up the Griffin nor SMAA yet (Except for the mini-comic), so thanks a lot for the nice reviews Dan.
Now, I'm very looking forward to them after finishing my double shift tomorrow. (Yes, I also work on weekends, and it sucks. )

[Red Warrior]

I laughed during the shot showing Battlecat's helmet displayed in the "wrong" position, and then I laughed even harder when the shot immediately switched to a closeup of the helmet, but this time in the "right" position. That was pretty smooth, Dan.

By the way, great review as always.

[Dragonblaster]

Awesome Beast!!! There is only ONE small thing I would change give him Bird Feet on the front as well...(Just like the toon)

He didn't have bird feet on the front:

[Prahvus]

Dan... You forgot to show the articulation of the left wing of your Griffin which, incidentally, is the wing that kept falling off on Toyguru's video... Are the wings tight and secure ?

Thanks for your awesome video. It's nice to have a GOOD quality footage, with a DETAILED review !

[Rodster6]

All I get is a macdonalds advert playing on a loop which has ensured I never go to one of there junk food outlets again.

[Orko's Magic Hat]

Great review Dan, hopefully I'll get mine sometime in the next few weeks.

[Eterniandreams]

The Griffin is AWESOME

[Megalodon]

He didn't have bird feet on the front:

Front & Back Feet don't match

[13977]

Great review Dan. I'm really looking forward to this guy. I'm so glad the changes the wing colour as the original grey/white colour looked terrible and would have ruined the whole figure for me, I'm still can't think why on Earth they originally did the wings in that colour

[ADPriceless]

Griffin looks amazing - can't wait for my sub to turn up in the UK. Great review Dan

[Nephilim]

Great review Dan. I love your videos!!!

The Griffin looks AWESOME. I can't wait for mine to arrive. I wasn't that fussed about this toy to begin with, but now having watched this I'm really excited. This is the closest I've been tempted to starting a secondary loose collection. Beast Man looks great on top of him too.

[Wulff]

Still bugs me that the wings are not properly sculpted (Swift Wind was the same) but oh well.

[Grayskull's Heir]

This video as well as the SMAA video make me really wonder how MAttel's budgeting works. Seeing how amazingly detailed these figures and the paint jobs are, I still don't understand why they had to cut those little metallic blue details on Stinkor's weapons and the grey highlights on Horde Prime. I just don't understand how such a little bit of metallic blue and grey paint is supposed to kake such a huge cost difference

[Pixel Dan]

I laughed during the shot showing Battlecat's helmet displayed in the "wrong" position, and then I laughed even harder when the shot immediately switched to a closeup of the helmet, but this time in the "right" position. That was pretty smooth, Dan.

By the way, great review as always.

That was for Eamon. Wanted to see if it would be noticed. I guess it was!

- - - Updated - - -

Dan... You forgot to show the articulation of the left wing of your Griffin which, incidentally, is the wing that kept falling off on Toyguru's video... Are the wings tight and secure ?

Thanks for your awesome video. It's nice to have a GOOD quality footage, with a DETAILED review !

Sorry! I did say I don't have any problems with the wings popping out, though. And so far, that still holds true. One of the wings on my Swift Wind pops off very easily. Griffin's are both holding very tightly thus far.

Thanks!!

- - - Updated - - -

All I get is a macdonalds advert playing on a loop which has ensured I never go to one of there junk food outlets again.

Ah man, sorry dude! Must be something goofy with the Blip player. Maybe try the YouTube version?

[Wulff]

This video as well as the SMAA video make me really wonder how MAttel's budgeting works. Seeing how amazingly detailed these figures and the paint jobs are, I still don't understand why they had to cut those little metallic blue details on Stinkor's weapons and the grey highlights on Horde Prime. I just don't understand how such a little bit of metallic blue and grey paint is supposed to kake such a huge cost difference

It's not just the paint, it's the labour. Also the quality of the labour, which for MOTUC, is relatively high for toy production.

[Pixel Dan]

It's not just the paint, it's the labour. Also the quality of the labour, which for MOTUC, is relatively high for toy production.

Yeah, but I understand his point. Where is the line drawn on paint apps? Stinkor was a pretty big reuse of parts accept for the heads and weapons. Why did his paint costs get cut? Seeing Snake MAA and Griffin loaded with all of these extra little paint apps that really make the figures stand out just really makes you wonder why Stinkor and Horde Prime had to suffer.

[TUC138]

Yeah, but I understand his point. Where is the line drawn on paint apps? Stinkor was a pretty big reuse of parts accept for the heads and weapons. Why did his paint costs get cut? Seeing Snake MAA and Griffin loaded with all of these extra little paint apps that really make the figures stand out just really makes you wonder why Stinkor and Horde Prime had to suffer.

Maybe they are "Rushed" ?

Who knows ? The productions for HP & Stinkor could have begun AFTER SMAA & Griffin production run (I think that’s the "real" case). Mattel would have "hurried" them since they are scheduled before SMAA/Griffin release & thus had no time for extra paint deco !

As for “cost cutting” measure statement ? Well, It could be one of those “Lame Excuse” for hiding things out !!


BTW Dan, Your review did made me a fan of Griffin !

[Dynamo of Eternia]

Cool review! I just opened up my sub orders last night, including the Griffin. He is rather awesome! While this beast, in and of itself, wasn't a "must have" in terms of how important the character is to MOTU overall, the end result is surprisingly awesome.



I have an interesting idea that would be cool if a clever customizer were so inclined to try it... using the origin of He-Man in the MYP cartoon as basis, it seems that he got to "choose" his companion (remember him initially pointing the sword at Orko, then going over to Cringer), and presumably the same choice would have extended to She-Ra had she been put in the MYP mix. It would be interesting to sort of make a "what if" version of Battle Cat if it had been She-Ra that chose Cringer (or if She-Ra were to temporarily utilize Cringer/Battle Cat as her companion and transform him with her sword). If a customizer could get the pieces apart and reattached correctly, they would just need to remove the section from the Griffin buck that the wings plug into, and put that on Battle Cat in place of that equivalent section of his buck, and repaint it, of course (probably best to repaint before attaching it). Then Swift Wind's wings could be plugged into Battle Cat, and She-Ra could ride him.

Of course Battle Cat's saddle might get in the way of the wing holes, so it would either require modifying his saddle to accommodate them, or repainting the Griffin Saddle to match Battle Cat's mask. I would be intersted in seeing the end result.

I have no desire to actually try this since it would at minimum require me to purchase an extra Griffin to take apart (I do have an extra Battle Cat that I could sacrifice if need be), and possibly an extra Swift Wind if I want to leave the wings on my existing one. Plus I don't have much confidence in my ability to disassemble the beast figures and not completely screw them up.

Front & Back Feet don't match

They didn't match in the cartoon, either. Look at the pic that Dragonblaster posted. While the front feet are in the cartoon bigger than the feet that we have and the toy (opening up a reasonable point of arguement that perhaps new feet should have been sculpted for the front), in the cartoon the front feet are clearly different than the bird-like feet in the back.