There was a vote at SDCC 2012 as to which version would appear in the Masters Classics line. The winner - which was no surprise really - was for the Filmation one, hence the big red dragon that appeared on my doorstep the other week.
Granny is big. REALLY big. If he stood up then he'd be enormousness however he doesn't do this very well due to his spindly legs and is designed to remain in a sitting pose. It's a shame his tail isn't slightly longer as this would have enabled it to act as a third 'leg', balance him, and thus enable standing.
Despite his size, Granny retains almost all of the articulation seen on the smaller MOTUC figures. The only thing missing that I would have liked is some way to raise his arms outwards at the shoulders. It may seem pointless him having jointed legs considering he can only sit, but as someone who's had fun making Granny sit in various places, the joints have come in handy. Want to sit him on the edge of a shelf with his legs dangling off the edge? No problem. Sitting holding a TV remote? Sure thing. In the classic comic-book pose? Oh yes.
The paintjob is mostly red with darker shading and lighter areas on his chest, under his arms, legs and wings. His yellow eyes shine out brightly and he has a metallic purple helmet with 'bone' horns. He really does look great.
There have been a number of Granny's that have broken, either straight out of the factory or as people have tried to put them together (he comes unassembled). I didn't have any problems, although since I had to wait forever for mine to arrive I'd learnt to be careful when I plugged him together. I do have loose limbs of the left side of him. This I put down to the shape of the plug & socket. To ensure people don't mix up the left and right limbs, the right has square connectors whereas the left has hexagonal ones. It seems that the hexagonal connectors leave the joints loose - in fact the arm is so loose it easily pops out of the socket. It's not too big of a deal since it goes back in easily enough and it holds its pose, but it is annoying to have this kind of defect when you've paid so much for something.
...at least I thought he was ok. Since writing the first draft of this review, the 'loose' left arm has now become a 'broken' left arm. One of the tabs which hold the arms in the socket has now snapped which is...well, considering the price it's damn annoying. It is fixable, however. The arm sits in a socket in the body and it's the socket that rotates not the plug on the arm. Therefore the arm plug can be easily glued into the socket without (too much) fear of the joint becoming glued too.
The major downside to Granny is the price, which is considerable. The cost plus shipping from Mattycollector.com wasn't too huge, however the customs charge was LOTS. The VAT wasn't too bad, however the £13 'handling fee' added on by Parcel Force was ridiculous. What's more annoying is that PF decided to charge some people £8 in handling charges and others £13. There's no logic behind this.
Initially the huge expense of Granny turned me against him. He just didn't seem worth what I'd forked out for him. After a couple of days, however, my opinion changed. I've had so much fun posing him that I now consider him worth every single penny.
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