The original Leech toy from the 80s was never my favourite, but I always liked it. It might have been the enormous size, or the dark green color in combination with the red Horde symbol, and the orange rings around what must be the leeches wrists.
Mattel gave Leech a unique body, like Two-Bad, Extendar, Grizzlor, Mantenna and some others. The huge round feet make a stable stand, though my Leech had always a bit wobbly legs. The photo is taken under uv light, and the worn off area in his inner legs fluorescent pretty strong for some reason. His arms are strong, but his muscles not as defined as the more human figures, they kind of remind me of Bud Spencer. His hands are real working suction cups! In the 80s She-Ra: Princess of Power series Leech would use these hands to drain energy from enemies by holding their head between the hands. On the original box, Leech holds Man-at-Arm up, using his mouth, not his hands. It says ‘Leech sucks the power from his enemies ‘. Because neither the hands, nor the mouth of the toy were made to hold another figure, it never really worked for me that he sucks energy. The mouth was a more sophisticated suction cup. It was flat, painted teeth on it, with a soft seal, the lips around it. A button on the back allowed us to pump a vacuum, when you pressed Leech against a flat surface. That worked well on glass, you could hang the heavy green horde member for some seconds. The hands wouldn’t hold him.
For the longest time I thought the flat mouth of the toy would be a compromise for the production. In fact the toy looks more like a leech than the more reptile-like cartoon version. Too bad I haven’t had a close-up of a real leech in the 80s! Making a leech one of the bulkiest members of the universe, with strong arms and legs, that’s what I love MOTU for!
It is the only green horde member, but he’s in good, green company. Mossman, Whiplash, Merman, Triclops, Man-at-Arms, Kobra Khan, and King Hiss are all very green.
Quality wise Leech is a great toy without flaws. The rubber is very durable, and the color rock solid. There’s a tiny bit of black mold on his hands, that’s it.
