Oh, so this is where the Jason Momoa design came from!
Half-human and half-Atlantean, the mutant Namor always fights on behalf of the Kingdom of Atlantis.
Hasbro, a multi-billion-dollar company that's too cheap to pay a copywriter: "Namor mutant Atlantis blah blah blah." Us, embarrassing them by being better: "Protecting Atlantis from the sorcerer Suma-Ket and his army of the undead, Namor is mortally wounded. Neptune appears and gives Namor the armor of his ancestor Kalen, the last to defeat Suma-Ket, which will help Namor heal his wound and give him the strength to save his people." Do your job, Hasbro. You're charging enough extra for these toys that you can pay humans to actually work on them.
The '90s Namor book was where Jae Lee first came to prominence,
in case you're wondering why this toy looks the way it does. I've never warmed to his art, so this was a low-priority figure. An '80s rockstar perm, sideburns leading into a dirtbag mustache, some stubble on his chin... and blank white eyes, because '90s Jae Lee rarely drew pupils on anyone unless it was an extreme close-up. If you like the art, this figure duplicates it as well as it could.
Namor only wore this costume for like three issues - he was back in his plain green trunks when the story arc was over. And more than that, this particular look only appeared a single time: see, armor isn't very effective when it isn't covering anything, so this technically
had a shirt breastplate to go with the greaves and vambraces - the fact this figure has a bare chest is a mistake, but likely one made to keep him looking as "Namor-y" as possible. The only instance in which he wore this suit topless was on the holo-foil cover of #37. A book I was gullible enough to buy when I was younger. Never let yourself think that I am unfailingly cool. His armor pieces are new molds, slipped onto the body beneath. They're super spiky, because THE '90S!!!!!!!!, which just screams that they're all going to get warped into incorrect shapes if you ever have to put him away for storage.
The joints give away that this is an older mold. These days, Hasbro loves its "pinless" joints, but the elbows and knees here still
have the visible pins in their hinges. Add to that the fact that his green trunks have the scaly pattern fully sculpted (instead of just trying to do it with paint), and suddenly the secret becomes clear: surprising perhaps no one except for me personally, this is the Black Panther 1 Namor with some new paint apps and a few new pieces! In addition to the "holding" hands and flat swimming hands, this release also gets a pair of fists, which none of the Namors have had before. Stylistically, his belt should sit below the waist joint, but the toy looks better with it above.
This figure comes with the same spear accessory as the previous Namor, which is fitting: he used Neptune's Trident to fight against Suma-Ket, because its symbolic power of the Atlanteans' belief in Neptune was the perfect thing to stave off Suma-Ket's worship of the Old Ones (you know, Cthulhu, Shuma Gorath, all those). It works just as well here as it did six years ago.
You could concievably put together the Void Build-A-Figure without Namor, but you'd have to be okay with it not having any arms.
Like I said before, I've never appreciated Jae Lee's art, and Namor wasn't even in this costume for six months, so this figure absolutely did not appeal. It's not that the toy is bad, it's just not for me. If you like what you see, then hey, good on ya, enjoy him! I only got this when I didn't have to pay full price, and only to get the BAF parts.
-- 10/07/24
What hero had the worst 1990s costume makeover? Tell us on our message board, the Loafing Lounge.
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