As with the New Eternia Moss Man figure, it’s going to take me a long time to get to doing a full review of this new version of Stratos from the Masterverse Vintage Collection sub-line.
So another first impressions article seems in order. Is this figure worth it if you’ve got the excellent New Eternia version of Stratos?
Hairy!
There’s an unintentional theme developing here! The New Eternia Moss Man figure re-used a number of parts from the early over sized version of Beast Man. This version of Stratos also re-uses a lot of Beast Man parts, this time from the more recent “Lords of Power” New Eternia Beast Man!
This isn’t a huge surprise as the original 1980s vintage version of Stratos also re-used Beast Man’s body. This means Stratos inherits the very hairy torso and limbs and it even seems some extra hairy details have been added to the lower legs:
Stratos’ shins have extra moulded details giving the impression that here at least, he is even hairier than Beast Man. However, Stratos’ feet are almost completely without details. This must be a nod to the original 1980s figure which also had weird feet like this (as did the original Beast Man come to think of it). These do look strange on such a detailed figure.
The sock feet are back!
Stratos vs. Stratos
The older New Eternia Stratos figure is a fantastic version of the character. Apart from some neat accessories, it didn’t depart too far from the classic look. Now this Vintage Collection Stratos is another great version, but lacks those accessories:
Once all of the accessories are removed it’s easier to see the differences in the torsos between the two figures:
The torso mould that’s borrowed over from the “Lords of Power” Beast Man certainly bulks out the Vintage Collection Stratos. It’s broader and stands a little taller than the New Eternia version and that isn’t exactly a small figure either.
The lack of accessories is disappointing. However it does come with an extra pair of wings and a harness with jet pack. These are identical except for their colours being reversed. Where the pre-fitted wings are red, the extra pair are blue and vice versa for the harness and jet pack.
Identical accessories but with different colours? This might seem a bit daft at first. However this is a call back to the original 1980s Stratos figure which depending on where it was produced, came with some colour variations such as these. The blue winged variant being rarer than the more common red.
This is a lovely nod back to that. However, it would have been great if this Stratos also came with a staff or something. It comes with a pair of gripping hands after all!
Blue Beard?
One other detail I ought to mention. This comes out more in the photos than in hand, but this new version of Stratos definitely seems to have blue highlights in its beard. If this is the case, this is another nod back to a very rare vintage variant, the blue beard Stratos!
Worth It?
The older Stratos and this version are very close to each other, perhaps this is the closest to a previous Masterverse figure the new-ish Vintage Collection has got so far.
It is a great figure and it seems to me it also has a more premium paint application over the New Eternia version. There’s a dark grey wash over the body, that really brings out the details for example.
But I can’t get away from how close it is to the New Eternia version and that one had better accessories to boot.
At the end of the day, this might come down to whether you already have the older New Eternia version. If you do, you could safely skip this newer Stratos. However, that New Eternia version has become a bit rare and commands quite a steep price on the secondary market.
So if you missed out, this is a perfect opportunity to get a great Stratos figure without making your bank account cry.
A Couple of Side Notes
I didn’t want to include these in the main “First Impressions” section above as these will vary figure to figure. However I want to note that judging by photos online there seems to be a wide variation in how the darker grey wash is applied to this Stratos’ body. Some like mine, are more subtle and work well. Others are much darker as though the paint wash was splurged on a bit too thickly.
The second point to note is that my figure has a slightly cranky left leg. The hip juts out a bit from the furry trunks and while it doesn’t affect the articulation in any way, does look a bit odd. Lower down this leg, the ankle joint is very loose. Fortunately this only seems to affect the sideways rocker motion. I think if the forwards and backwards motion was affected, I’d have a hard time standing the figure.
Neither are deal breakers for me, but worth mentioning and hopefully won’t affect every figure.
