DSC_4621
I was one of those unusual 80's kids. Most of my peers loved (and still do) every property from that era, whereas my love was generally singular - Transformers. So it goes without saying that Heman and the whole MOTU world wasn't really my thing, but I did have working knowledge of the property through reading and of course, the obsession of friends.
I think right around the time COVID hit the fan, Mattel released a line of vintage styled figures for sale at retail, which in Canada meant Walmart. Without too many gory details, COVID plus poor distribution meant hunting these in person was next to impossible.
It was only in March 2021 that I actually saw actual figures on store pegs, with one lonely She-Ra in the mix, which makes me think she might be the shortpacked figure in this wave.
I don't think I've ever had this much trouble finding a toy with an MSRP of $14.99 CAD.
As mentioned above, these figures are vintage styled, as opposed to being straight up reissues of the 80s toys. Or, in the case of She-Ra here, she's pretty much a newly designed figure, though she does retain the accessories she had as well as the addition of a fabric outfit.
The original items, however, looked much, much nicer, especially since they had chrome as opposed to chromed stickers. I'm also thinking they probably fit on the figure a bit more snug too.
So the contents of the package are the figure, her Power Sword, her shield, and a comic that is so bare bones that it doesn't even have any actual words in it.
The actual toy itself actually isn't half bad for the asking price., and that seems to be the overall vibe from the line on the whole. Detailing is about what I'd expect, as my expectations were tempered from my childhood. You get the major details on the outfit. Body definition isn't bad either, and is shared amongst the other ladies in the line (Teela and Evil-Lyn). The head itself is functional. It's not the doll face of the original toy, but it's a passable attempt at the original 80's Filmation look.
Articulation wise, you get ankles that can rotate and pivot, though nothing that is meant to display the legs splayed. You also get single jointed knees, ball jointed hips, waist, standard shoulders, single jointed elbows with forearm pivot, rotating and pivoting wrists, and a ball jointed head.
Given the price point, the number of joints isn't a letdown at all. I just wish the range of motion was greater, as opposed to generally being capped at 90 degrees. Furthermore, as you can imagine the sculpted hair gets in the way of head movement, though fortunately the plastic is soft enough you can just move it out of the way.
Paint and build quality wise, honestly, I'm pretty happy with. There's no subtlety to the paint work or anything, but the paint apps are smooth and consistent. Decal work is acceptable, and the figure itself doesn't really cause me to have any concerns about it falling apart due to rough handling.
Overall, I'm satisfied with this figure. It doesn't blow my mind, nor was it ever meant toy - it's just a solid, average figure, and there's nothing wrong with that. There is, however, something wrong when companies like Funko make these horrible figures with no articulation that have an MSRP of double these.
Now if I could only find the other ladies...
DSC_4621
I was one of those unusual 80's kids. Most of my peers loved (and still do) every property from that era, whereas my love was generally singular - Transformers. So it goes without saying that Heman and the whole MOTU world wasn't really my thing, but I did have working knowledge of the property through reading and of course, the obsession of friends.
I think right around the time COVID hit the fan, Mattel released a line of vintage styled figures for sale at retail, which in Canada meant Walmart. Without too many gory details, COVID plus poor distribution meant hunting these in person was next to impossible.
It was only in March 2021 that I actually saw actual figures on store pegs, with one lonely She-Ra in the mix, which makes me think she might be the shortpacked figure in this wave.
I don't think I've ever had this much trouble finding a toy with an MSRP of $14.99 CAD.
As mentioned above, these figures are vintage styled, as opposed to being straight up reissues of the 80s toys. Or, in the case of She-Ra here, she's pretty much a newly designed figure, though she does retain the accessories she had as well as the addition of a fabric outfit.
The original items, however, looked much, much nicer, especially since they had chrome as opposed to chromed stickers. I'm also thinking they probably fit on the figure a bit more snug too.
So the contents of the package are the figure, her Power Sword, her shield, and a comic that is so bare bones that it doesn't even have any actual words in it.
The actual toy itself actually isn't half bad for the asking price., and that seems to be the overall vibe from the line on the whole. Detailing is about what I'd expect, as my expectations were tempered from my childhood. You get the major details on the outfit. Body definition isn't bad either, and is shared amongst the other ladies in the line (Teela and Evil-Lyn). The head itself is functional. It's not the doll face of the original toy, but it's a passable attempt at the original 80's Filmation look.
Articulation wise, you get ankles that can rotate and pivot, though nothing that is meant to display the legs splayed. You also get single jointed knees, ball jointed hips, waist, standard shoulders, single jointed elbows with forearm pivot, rotating and pivoting wrists, and a ball jointed head.
Given the price point, the number of joints isn't a letdown at all. I just wish the range of motion was greater, as opposed to generally being capped at 90 degrees. Furthermore, as you can imagine the sculpted hair gets in the way of head movement, though fortunately the plastic is soft enough you can just move it out of the way.
Paint and build quality wise, honestly, I'm pretty happy with. There's no subtlety to the paint work or anything, but the paint apps are smooth and consistent. Decal work is acceptable, and the figure itself doesn't really cause me to have any concerns about it falling apart due to rough handling.
Overall, I'm satisfied with this figure. It doesn't blow my mind, nor was it ever meant toy - it's just a solid, average figure, and there's nothing wrong with that. There is, however, something wrong when companies like Funko make these horrible figures with no articulation that have an MSRP of double these.
Now if I could only find the other ladies...