Stratos has a technically amazing sculpt with a sole weakness of a less than beautiful design. Before you storm my house with pitchforks, this is an amazing throwback to the original Stratos figure's design, but that doesn't make it inherently attractive. So if you want that loving feeling that you had as a child, Stratos will do it for you. Otherwise, you'll wonder what they were smoking when they crafted the look of this character, particularly the feathers and goggles. Stratos has perfect proportions, even arms that are the proper length, with bulky though not monstrous muscle groups and body shapes. He shares a lots of the same molds as the previously released Beast Man, which isn't a bad thing because the furry arms, legs, and torso are superbly detailed with locks of hair in really appealing patterns. His hands are in open positions with appropriate wrinkles and fingernails. The "costume" details are equally sharp, such as the intricately carved feathers, stylized jetpack, and furry loincloth. As mentioned in other reviews you might have read, Stratos' feathers are mistakenly placed behind his arms instead of in front, which almost makes more sense to me, but it's not how they were intended to be. It takes a quick fix, I just wanted to present Stratos as he came to me, which is to say slightly wrong. His harness is removable with tightly fitting clasps in the rear which should allow you to remove and replace the harness regularly without any wear. The final piece in this weird looking puzzle is his face, and it's all kinds of strange too. He has a pseudo human and ape face, completed by a flying helmet and goggles. The features are well done and add a smidgen of personality to bring out some character in his expression. I would have liked to see a clearer definition between his "beard" and face, but I think the overlapping paint may just highlight an otherwise tiny problem. Stratos is definitely a unique looking character that's really well done in every technical aspect; if only he weren't so ugly!

Sculpt Score: 9 / 10

 Stratos' colors are almost exclusively based on the color of his plastics, but Mattel did a nice job of adding some flourish through washes and brushing techniques. The main gray color that Stratos is composed of is darker than I imagined it would be, and I'm glad it is. It's a deep shade that edges towards black but is light enough to allow the dark wash to bring out a lot of the fur details. He has a great textured look because of all these elements pulled together, and despite being 90% one color, there is still some visual diversity. The red and blue of his costume are both very vibrant but still dry colors. They stand out without looking plastic-like or toyish, again aided by a nice brush effects, especially on his feathers, where the individual grooves are brought to the surface. There aren't a lot of places that require tight applications, but on both his belt and wristlets, the darker red application is a little sloppy. It's a great idea to add a rustic effect to the metal pieces; it's just poorly executed, particularly around the circles on his belt, which don't end up looking like any shape at all, just blobs. There are some very subtle blue variations on his harness, including the oval at his abs and the feathers at the shoulders. They are a slightly lighter blue, and though it's hardly noticeable, I'm glad they were willing to make the effort. Stratos' face has decidedly clean applications around the eyes and the blue trimming his goggles. The gray of his beard comes up a bit too far, and there is a dab of red sticking out on his cheek too. This head is actually molded in blue plastic, then evidently painted completely in red, followed by the individual color applications, so they just missed a spot where the red is sticking through. Stratos' paint is really quite good, although there are high expectations with figures in this price range and he doesn't quite match up.    

Paint Score: 8 / 10

 It seems like this figure has escaped some of the loose articulation problems that plagued some of my previous toys in the line. Each of his many joints is relatively tight, but still smooth to move, and that's the perfect combination. Stratos does have enough articulation. It's not as much as a lot of figures, but the Four Horsemen generally strive to offer as much articulation as possible without sacrificing the quality of the sculpt, and that's precisely what they've done here too. He has hinges at the knees, elbows, abs, and ankles; swivels at the wrist, hip, waist, and biceps; ball style at the hips, neck, and shoulders. That's a pretty diverse model and you'll be able to pose him in some dynamic ways. Don't expect to conduct an intricate stop-motion dance scene, but he can definitely come to life on your shelf with a little work. The articulation looks great with the sculpt, the only naturally ugly joints hidden behind his loin cloth. There is only one joint limited in its range of motion, and that is the ab hinge which gets hooked up on his harness. Actually, it seems that the joint is just gummed up, feeling as if glue is sitting inside, whether the harness is on or not. Hopefully this isn't a consistent problem across a lot of figures, but even without the functionality of this joint, he can move quite a bit.  

Articulation Score: 8 / 10

 

 The amount of fun you're going to have with Stratos is dependent on one thing: were you a fan of the original Masters of the Universe line? If you can honestly answer yes to that question then the nostalgia factor present with this guy will make him your favorite toy of the month, until the next release. If you weren't a fan of the original (like me), then you'll recognize him as a technically strong figure, but one that just doesn't ring true with you. Stratos' design isn't very compelling and even though he is well articulated, he just isn't the type of toy you play with. There are no accessories like with past MotUC releases and none of the character elements lead you to believe he is going to be relevant in a battle. There are no action features and the cardback is good, although not great. It features a short biography and pictures of other characters, but Mattel goes light on the pack-ins, offering nothing extra to up the fun. One extremely harrowing element is clicking the button to pay for this figure. Spending that much money on one average sized toy with no accessories is a heartstopper, and it's especially frustrating when you finally get your figure and he has been assembled incorrectly.  

Fun Score: 6 / 10

 Stratos cost me over $28 when you count shipping costs, which are a necessary evil to get him since he's only available online. That's around twice as much as a lot of figures which have a similar scale and quality. Yes, twice as much. This is undoubtedly a well made action figure with a high attention to detail, a classic feel, sturdy construction, and well packaged, but he's about $15 too expensive. Even worse than previous figures in the line, Stratos doesn't include a weapon of any kind, lowering the perception of value a bit. There's a lot of sculpt reuse and it isn't an exceedingly intricate design, so I think chopping the price down would be a reasonable step. It certainly doesn't help when you pay nearly $30 for a toy, and upon receiving it, it's not even put together right. Everything is done well aside from the quality control issue but the measure of value is totally dependent on price, and Stratos' is too high. 

Value Score: 4 / 10 

Summary

 9 - Some great details in both costume and body, face sculpt is crisp, great proportions, design is questionable attractive. 

 8 - Colors are vibrant and complement one another, some great wash and brush effects, messy applications in some spots.

 8 - A good, though not extraordinary set of articulation, everything is tight but still smooth, ab hinge is gummy feeling, looks great with sculpt. 

 6 - Design isn't too eye-catching, articulation allows for some good play or display options, frustrating mis-assembly, price is a pain to handle, no accessories or action features, nostalgia may be strong. 

 4 - Well constructed figure, high production values, no pack-ins or accessories, packaging is just standard, there is a quality control issue, price is totally excessive. 

Overall Score: 70 / 100 - This is a Good Toy

Stratos is a really well done figure that's severely hindered by a limited fun factor and absurdly poor value. 

P.S. This could be the figure I'm giving away this month, just leave a comment for a chance to win (if it's the one).

-The Articulated One