Purrrplor

Pspspspspsps! Called away from his home in the shadowed forest city of Veytheera by Gorgo Aetherblade, the evil warrior Purrrplor is as renowned for his stealth as he is for his swordsmanship. Growing up in a city so shaded by trees that his life has been spent in darkness, Purrrplor is well suited to scouting missions that require quiet and cunning. He played a key role in the Siege at Bjorngar, but after tasting defeat at the hands of Attlus' armies, Purrrplor finds himself battling the harsh terrain of the Wasteland, searching for refuge. Interesting: this figure's packaging identifies him as part of the Legion of Arethyr, but there's no mention of it at all in his bio. In fact, the whole "quiet and cunning" descriptor goes against what we know of the Legion: "When given the choice between reason and blunt force, reason never wins out." That doesn't sound like they're the sneaky sneaky types, does it? This review is being posted on a Monday, rather than the Saturday most of the Mythic Legions have gotten, so you may already be able to guess that Purrrplor is one of the Masters of the Universe homage figures, the Panthor to Cowarros' Battle Cat - same cat head and everything. It's not like the Four Horsemen were going to sculpt a new head with an evil snarl or anything. His body is a rich, beautiful purple, as it should be. Other than that brief period where Panthor was going to be black, purple has always been his color. His armor is done in a lovely metallic blue, the same as Panthor's saddle, but the bronze accents seem to come specifically from the guns the Mo2K version had; they're not vintage and they're not Classics. They do work nicely, though, so kudos to whoever designed those paint masters back in 2002. They really picked a winner. Purrrplor gets the same "big" neck that Cowarros had, and it has the same problem now it did then: the cat head was designed to sit on a normal neck, not this enhanced version, so it ends up looking too low if you push it all the way onto the balljoint. You could forgo the extra neck piece, but then you won't get any fur or inhuman anatomy, and that's half the fun! That said, the neck works better for Purrrplor than Cowarros because of the armor chosen for the figure. The only armor pieces shared between the two catboys are the feet - Purps wears mostly the "jagged" armor pieces, because he's a bad guy, and the jagged pauldrons are so big and spiky that they actually keep the neck from overpowering the head. You'd think they would make the head look even smaller and more out of place, but somehow it works. Mythic Legions have modular construction, which means reused bodyparts and standard articulation: a balljointed head, swivel/hinge shoulders and elbows, swivel forearms, swivel/hinge wrists, balljointed waist, swivel/hinge hips, swivel thighs, swivel/hinge knees, and swivel/hinge/swivel ankles. Oh, and a balljoint for the tail. This figure comes with a small slip of paper warning us that the joints can be stiff, so maybe warm them up before use. That's new! Uh, the note is new, not the stiffness; we're quite used to that by now. Beyond the neck bulkifier, the tail, and the "football pad" pauldrons, the accessories include the usual weapon strap to go over the chest, a big buster sword, a truly fearsome bone-handled knife, and the elven shield. The weapons are bronze, continuing that theme, but there's no day-glo yellow to really complete things. Thankfully. There's an alternate orc head, the same purple as the body, but why? Who wanted that? Who would ever want that? Who is spending money on a bipdeal Panthor so that they can have not Panthor? Whose financial decisions are that poor, and how do we get them to give their money to us, instead? Purrrplor may not be as immediately recognizable as Cowarros, but that doesn't mean he's not a good toy. His colors are perfect, and the choice of pieces to construct him work really well. What's next for Mythic Legions? Stridor? Zoar? Keep 'em coming, Horsemen! -- 02/03/20

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