Written by Adam McCombs
Name: Panthor
Faction: Evil Warriors
Approximate US release date: September 2, 1983
Today we’re taking a look at Skeletor’s savage cat, Panthor. At first glance you could dismiss him as a cheap Battle Cat repaint without the helmet. When I first saw him as a kid, it was immediately apparent that that’s what he was. Battle Cat’s pose and saddle are instantly recognizable, making reuse of his sculpt more obvious than other parts (say, for instance, the standard male chest).
I think if Mattel had left him as a straight-up repaint, we as kids might have felt a bit cheated. Wisely they opted to produce Panthor with some short flocking, giving him a realistic furry texture and making us feel better about spending our allowances on him. Instead of just a an inferior copy of Battle Cat, Panthor became a deluxe toy with realistic fur. What kid could resist that?
Apparently, earlier in Panthor’s development, he was slated to reuse the Battle Cat helmet as well, and was black with purple armor:
In retrospect it was wiser (not just cheaper) to omit the helmet, which is probably Battle Cat’s most distinctive feature. Panthor’s final color scheme was chosen by Mattel designer Martin Arriola.
On the shelves, there were a few options in 1983 if you wanted to pick up a Panthor. All of them featured some pretty epic artwork by William Garland:
Garland did box arts for Mattel after Rudy Obrero but before (and concurrent with) William George. The style is very much along the lines of Rudy Obrero’s (that is to say, moody and Frazetta-like). That’s probably why I like it so much.
Mattel also offered a Skeletor/Panthor gift set, again illustrated by William Garland, this time with a battle scene featuring Skeletor/Panthor vs. He-Man, Man-At-Arms vs. Beast Man, and Castle Grayskull standing in the background:
The pose you see for Beast Man and Man-At-Arms comes straight out of the 1981 Licensing Kit. Thanks to Jukka for pointing that out to me!
There was a third way to get your hands on Panthor, in the form of the Battle For Eternia giftset (again illustrated by William Garland). Apparently this was produced in low quantities, as buying the boxed version in 2015 will require taking out a second mortgage:
This set featured Skeletor, Panthor and Man-E-Faces, and might be my favorite of the Panthor box arts. It’s something about how Man-E-Faces is portrayed and the craters and moons in the background, I think. There were two versions released: one with the standard Skeletor, and another with Battle Armor Skeletor, released in 1984.
A fourth way to get your hands on the purple panther was to buy the Battle Armor Skeletor and Panthor gift set, featuring artwork by William George:
A year after Panthor’s release, Mattel was apparently considering releasing a deluxe version of Panthor, with articulation and some sort of pouncing action feature. This July 13, 1984 illustration by Ed Watts demonstrates the concept. This version of Panthor was, unfortunately, never released in the vintage line, although the 200x version wasn’t far off from this idea.
In the finalized Filmation version of Panthor, he looks very much like the vintage figure (with green eyes), except for the fact that they’ve cut back on the extra fur around his face, giving him an appearance more like a real panther (ignoring the fact that he’s oversized, purple, and domesticated enough to wear a saddle).
In The Sunbird Legacy, published by Golden Books, some humanoid panther men appear. From their coloration they seem to be inspired by Panthor:
Panthor makes several appearances in the UK Comics series. In issue 34, Beast Man uses his control over animals to make Panthor fall asleep. Later, he’s sent on a mission from Skeletor to try to control Battle Cat.
Panthor appears in some fantastic poster images by Esteban Maroto:
Panthor also makes appearances in the German Ehapa Verlag series:
Panthor was one of the first in a series of evil opposites in the Masters of the Universe toyline. Battle Cat had his opposite in Panthor, He-Man had his opposite in Faker, Zoar had his opposite in Screeech, and Stridor had his opposite in Night Stalker. It was a fun and creative way to refresh existing molds. The goal was undoubtedly to maximize profits, but in the end it’s amazing what can be accomplished with a simple change of colors.
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Great look back at all the 80’s artwork, brings back sweet memories 🙂
Thanks Cody!
Great job with this post. Love reminiscing about Panthor’s box art.
Thanks very much, Dan!
The various writers never really tapped into Panthor as much as I wanted them to (and never mind Screeech*).
If Battle Cat was Cringer, who was Panthor in his free time?
If Cringer could speak, why couldn’t Panthor?
Anyway, those were the issues I had with his treatment back in the day.
I liked his figure a lot, although my rug lint got all over it, and I somehow lost his saddle, so he pretty much looked like my grandmother’s puma statue.
*Best treatment was when I read Evil Lynn was Screeech as The Sorceresses was Zoar.
Right, the lack of symmetry was a bit weird. As you point out, even Screech got a little bit of development as the alter ego of Evil Lyn in the Sunbird Legacy and in one of the audio stories. Panthor was treated like an ordinary steed.
Yeah, I kinda wish that Panthor was shown to be intelligent like Battle Cat. The Classics one of course has a newly crafted helmet with giant horns, but sadly lacks the flocking.
Panthor was definitely under-utilized. I like the Classics Panthor, but it would have been nice to get a flocked version as well
Poor Panthor: he had to compete without any kind of help against an enhanced tiger on magical steroids. However I like that Panthor is simply a beast and does not talk (as I like that in the first mini-comics Battle Cat is the same); I think that they made Battle Cat into a talking tiger mainly because in the cartoon He-Man needed someone to speak with to explain the situations for the little viewers. Skeletor had his henchmen to speak with, so Panthor ended up as a simple animal.
Another thing I like is that even a villain like Skeletor is able to have a soft spot for his “little pet” 😀 😀
I always like the softness of Panthor!
Personally I believe vintage panthor will always be a fan and collectors favourite, one of mine definitely. Not Just for the fact that it sparks up nostalgic vibes, but because panthor is shrouded in mystery. The fact that panthor never spoke just adds to that and gives a real raw animalistic “I’m the ALPHA vibe around here” which ideally makes kids, fans, adults and collectors alike just want panthor that much more. Not to mention the fact that panthor looks awesome when displayed, especially with a battle armour skeletor straddling him wielding his half of the power sword and screaming at his goons to attack. ( anyway that’s just my opinion, y’all have a great day and keep collecting ).