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!
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Originally Posted by Louis649
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. 
