Overall, the Filmation Sub seems to have been quite positively received by collectors. That is until we got to Nepthu. At that point it was like Matty personally took a dump in every subscriber’s breakfast cereal. Everybody poured on the hate and I didn’t get it, because the figure looked plenty cool to me. I thought an Egyptian themed wizard would look great on my shelf of Eternian weirdos and thus he was yet another figure in this sub that I was excited to see land on my doorstep.

There’s the packaging and I have very little new to say about it. It’s as awesome as ever. There’s no sticker or anything to distinguish this as part of the Filmation Sub, so if you’re a MOC collector, it’ll fit right in with the rest of your packages. The insert in the bubble dubs Nepthu as the “Wicked Sun Sorcerer” although in the cartoon he’s referred to as a wizard. Please submit your dissertations outlining the differences between sorcerers and wizards. The winner will receive a genuine Tribble action figure made out of FigureFeline’s shedded cat hair. *Void where prohibited. Offer not valid on Earth.  If you flip the package over you can see that the cruel bastards at Matty put Ram Man as one of the other figures you can collect, knowing full well that if you don’t have him in your collection already, buying him second hand will be like getting financially raped.

Ok, so up until this point I’ve had at least a vague recollection of all the Filmation Sub characters. Batros, Shokoti, Icer… I may not have remembered much about their episodes, but I did remember the characters. I can’t say that about Nepthu. Maybe that’s why I don’t have the same knee-jerk dislike for the figure as many have Masters fans have been spewing all over the forums where I lurk. A little research told me that he appeared in a little 25 minute ditty of animated torture called “Temple of the Sun” to which I am about to subject myself. I’m off to Hulu, be back in about a half an hour. In the meantime, here’s a look at the figure…

Ok, so the gist of it is that a shaggy, starving and dehydrated homeless guy crawls through the desert looking for the titular “Temple of the Sun.” He finds it, rummages through a bunch of relics and discovers his prize… a magical scarab that can grant him wishes. Instead of asking for a sandwich and a cold Fresca, he asks to be strong and that turns him into the mighty Nepthu, a young, chiseled asshole who wants to rule the Universe. Cut back to The Palace where we get a nice ass shot of Teela doing gymnastics while Duncan and Prince Adam watch. Even Cringer looked like he wanted to have a piece of that. It must be awkward for Adam and Cringer to be checking out Teela’s fine hinder while her adopted father is right next to them, but who knows? Maybe he’s sneaking a peek too. It’s not like he’s her real father. Aaaaaanyway, back in the desert, Nepthu shoots down the Sorceress and He-Man responds to save her. One of my favorite parts is when a giant Scorpion the size of a Winnebago attacks and Duncan says, “Watch out for the tail, it’s poisonous!” WTF, Duncan? Look at the size of that thing. If it stabs you with that tail, you’re going to f’cking die, poison or no. Ok, I’ve gone on about the episode long enough. The character’s backstory has been established. Let’s look at the figure.

Nepthu is an extremely simple figure, but that’s not meant as a slight on him at all. The Egyptian theme is very well executed. The buck is sculpted in regular flesh tone and he has a simple Egyptian skirt and sash-like belt. His boots, bracers, and bicep straps are blue and he has a matching blue collar. Like I said, there’s nothing at all flashy or elaborate about this guy, but that’s what makes him so cool to me. In a world like Eternia, populated by freaks, this guy looks positively normal. Plus, the coloring on this figure is quite nice.

I will concede that the portrait is where fans are correct in claiming that Matty dropped the ball here. In the episode, Nepthu is an evil bastard and he looked the part. Here, Nepthu looks like a nice guy. He’s the kind of guy who you’d happily ask to help you move a sofa or possibly lend you a few dollars for a Starbucks when you come up short. If you saw this figure without reading the bio or having seen the episode, i can guarantee you would assume he was some dude that helped He-Man fight evil. He has a kind and noble face that in no way fits the character from the cartoon. That doesn’t bother me so much, because I don’t give two shits about the character. I just like the idea of having someone from The Sands of Time on my MOTUC shelf. As far as I’m concerned, he can fight alongside He-Man with his Scarab of Justice. Why not, eh?

Articulation? I’m not going to do articulation. I’ve already run rather long and my rock glass of Jameson has run dry. Most of it was sucked down while having to watch the episode. Suffice it to say Nepthu sports the same articulation as the thirty or so other MOTUC figures I’ve featured here on FFZ in the past. If only there was an Index of Reviews on FFZ where you could look up some of those past MOTUC reviews and bone up on the line’s articulation. That’s called a shameless plug.

Nepthu comes with two accessories. First you get the scarab-ankh thingie that started the whole mess. It’s a cool piece and Nepthu’s left hand is sculpted so he can wield it like he did in the cartoon. It’s similar to the way The Faceless One had a hand tailored to hold his Ram Stone. He also comes with a crystal Zoar, because he turned The Sorceress into crystal when she tried to escape. The Zoar is a little disappointing, because I expected it to be a clear version of the articulated Zoar figure that we got a while back. Instead, it’s just a static piece of plastic. It still looks cool, but without a perch, there’s not a lot you can do with it except lay it on the floor and caution the other figures to try to step around it.

So, part of me understands why this figure was ill-received by fans of the show. Another part of me says, “Screw you, he’s an awesome figure!” Thus far, the Filmation Sub has done me no wrong. I’ve loved every figure in it, and I’m hoping that we’re going to get another Filmation Sub next year. When you wade through all the politics and bullshit of Matty and Digital River, the truth is that everytime I get a new MOTUC figure, I’m reminded of why I still love this line so much. Even as someone who is only marginally involved in the fiction, I’m thrilled to keep growing my collection, and I haven’t even started gushing about my Horde Troopers and Mantenna… stay tuned!