#17: Octopunch (1989)

Octopunch always unnerved me. Even when I bought the figure in 1990, he still unnerved me slightly. I blame Andrew Wildman for this. See, the toy always showed Octopunch's pretender shell's face pretty clearly, but Wildman used to draw his diver's helmet with a darkened glass front, with only a glimpse of sharp teeth giving any hint of the terrifying visage behind.

Octopunch might have scared me slightly, but even I knew how cool he was. Forget Bludgeon, it was Octopunch I liked best, and in 1990 I saved up my paper round money and bought him from Fenwick's of York. Can't for the life of me remember for how much, but I do remember that it was a Saturday, and I do remember that the godawful George and Mildred movie from the 70's was on ITV when I got back.

As he was cool in the comics, his Tech Spec bio was awesome as well, this was no ordinary Decepticon, this guy was a hunter of the deep, specialised to take on submarines and ships, and WHALES, damnit. He had tentacles, was some sort of mutant/hybrid sea creature, and his inner robot transformed into an armoured crab. Suffice to say, I really liked this guy.

They toy was, as all the second round of Pretenders were, a vast improvement on the first. There were more paint applications, more detail, and more personality all round. Sadly, the articulation was the same, and many didn't like the fact that they were scaled down. Personally, I thought this was better, as it meant a cheaper pricepoint, but there you go.

It's a shame that Bludgeon took (and still takes) centre stage where these Pretenders are concerned. Octopunch deserves more of the spotlight in my opinion. It's nice that his Shattered Glass version has been getting some face time, though. More face time for OG Octopunch might mean a lot of traumatised people, after all. Damn Andrew Wildman, and his scary drawings of teeth.