ORKO

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE CLASSICS (MATTEL)

Fun FiQ Fact #0016:  Orko’s original name was “Gorpo,” but having a “G” on the front of his robe would have made it difficult for Filmation’s animators to easily flip his animation cels from shot to shot, so his name was changed.

I was very hot and cold with Masters of the Universe Classics.  I definitely fell into some of its hype (it was hard not to at the time, especially given how into DC Universe Classics I was), but it was also not a line that was particularly easy to get into without paying an arm and a leg.  Even within my usual rule of only certain characters it was tricky, just based on the weird ways things wound up released.  I did wind up getting *most* of the figures I really wanted, though, which included the goofy comic relief sidekick, Orko!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Orko was the 2010 San Diego Comic Con exclusive for the Masters of the Universe Classics line.  There were two versions: an attendee version, and an online version.  The one here is the online version, which was the more standardized of the two, as the attendee version had a heat-activated invisibility feature.  The figure stands just shy of 3 inches tall and he has 13 points of articulation.  This figure was a big deal at the time for being the first Orko properly scaled to the line he accompanied; the vintage figure was much too large, and the 200x was still a touch out of scale.  Also, while his articulation wasn’t top-notch or anything, he’s surprisingly mobile for an Orko, and even at this point, he’s only rivaled by the Origins figure.  This one got an all-new sculpt (a rarity for the line), which is clearly modeled on his Filmation incarnation.  It’s clean and well-rendered, and very certainly looks the part.  His color work was a mix of paint and molded.  The colors are a good match for his usual look, but the paint is notably a little on the sloppier side, especially when it comes to his ears.  Orko was packed with his staff and book, as well as the flight stand used by Triclops’ seers, allowing him to float.  Well, more fly; it’s honestly a little too tall, given Orko tended to float closer to the ground.  Still, as the one bit of re-use, it’s alright.  Orko also included one more, rather substantial accessory: a full Prince Adam figure.  Yep, despite being a full-scale Classics figure, Adam is treated as an accessory in every way, not getting proper billing on the package (though there’s a bubble that denotes his inclusion off to the side of Orko’s name), and even packaged laying down below the cardstock name tag for Orko.  If you don’t know he’s there, it’s possible to miss him.  Why exactly Mattel opted to do him this way is anyone’s guess, but they did some odd stuff at the time, so I’m not gonna try and delve into that myself.  Adam was built on the standard barbarian body (with the matching wrist bracers), so he stands about 7 inches tall and has 23 points of articulation.  He got a new head (with a real Mona Lisa smile situation going on for the expression), as well as a new vest piece.  He also got accessories of his own, in the form of both molds for the power sword (full and split) in the proper magenta color, and an alternate head borrowed from the standard He-Man.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I didn’t much care for Orko being an exclusive, and I didn’t have any luck getting him from Matty Collector directly either.  What *did* happen, however, is that I somehow managed to find a sealed one on eBay for a surprisingly low price.  I really only bought it for Orko, and him I do genuinely love.  Since I’m a 200x fan at heart, a classic Adam is something I could take or leave.  And, in fact, I took him and I left him…which is to say, I sold him when he was going for a rather insane aftermarket price, completely offsetting what I put into the set, because why not.  I got the pictures, though, so think of his presence in the review as being like that one last movie an actor filmed before they died, I guess.  Or maybe something less morbid?  I don’t know, do what makes you happiest.  I certainly did, which is why I just have the Orko and not the Prince Adam.