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Cy Girl Aurora

Cy Girls have been one of the best sixth scale female lines ever produced, and they continue the tradition with two new releases - Aurora (reviewed tonight) and Destiny.

Aurora is a space chick, but not just any space chick.  She has a great retro look and feel, sexy but tough, all woman but don't even think about messing with her.  The style and design show real creativity on the part of bbi, and bode well for the continuation of the series.

I've reviewed a few of the past figures as well - Blaze, Nikki, A.J., and  Shadow.  Aurora retails for around $30, and I have a couple great suggestions on where to find her at the end of the review.




Packaging - ***
bbi is cheating here a bit - both figures use the same box.  That's a bit of a rip, but you get some decent graphics and the look is consistent with the rest of the line.

It's not collector friendly.  You'll have to tear up the fifth panel to get to the weapons, although the rest of the figure is completely collector friendly.  I have no idea why bbi does it this way.

Sculpting - ***
The Cy Girl sculpts are all fairly generic, but the quality is good.  They aren't simply Barbie heads, nor are they over done with sharp features or angles.  They are all attractive women, without being too much like a doll.

That being said, the sculpt on Aurora is not one of my favorites.  It's a little softer than even the usual, and the look of the eyes and nose are starting to slip, ever so slightly, into Barbie territory.  I'd hate to see that happen.

The hair on these figures is rooted, and always works well.  Aurora has a very short hair cut, consistent with the outfit she has to wear.  It looks good and won't get in the way.

Paint - ***1/2
The paint ops on the face are slightly weak, with more of a zombie appearance to the eyes.  It's not quite as good of a job as some of their past face work, but it'll do.

The big attraction on the paint ops involves the suit and accessories.  While there aren't a lot of colors, the application is extremely clean and flawless.

Articulation - ***1/2
The Cy Girl body is not the most articulated sixth scale body out there, and it's not even the most articulated sixth scale female body, but it's my favorite.  The joints are all very tight, and the figure can hold just about any pose.

She has a jointed neck, ball jointed shoulders, elbows, wrists, ball jointed hips, waist, knees and ankles.  She lacks the double jointed elbows and knees, and some of the extra cut joints that many other figures have, including the regular bbi figures.  But she's not lacking in posability. I think it's the well done design and tight joints that really help.

Accessories - ***1/2
There's a little re-use here, which isn't too uncommon with the Cy Girl figures.  Aurora has the same Maggy Hammer that Nikki (and several others) have had, but it's a terrific gun.  The cylinder flips out, and the scope is removable.  The small rectangles (which presumably carry ammo) are also removable but be careful because they are easy to lose.

The Maggy fits in the same well designed holster as in the past.  It fits her hip perfectly, and the belts have excellent buckles.  The new weapon is a 'ray gun', styled after the old 60's sci-fi shows.  It fits in her hand extremely well, and the new holster fits her other hip perfectly as well.

To round out the accessories she has three additional sets of hands, the standard Cy Girl base, and an ID card.  I've never been huge on extra hands, but these all have unique sculpts and snap in and out of the arms extremely well.

Outfit - ****
Sure, the accessories are nice, but the outfit will make your jaw drop!  The white and silver pleather outfit is snug at every curve, and the extra pieces - the backpack, front control panel, and helmet attachment - all fit so well I was amazed.  It's pretty rare that I pop on the outfit extras like this and the fit perfectly right out of the box.  I didn't have to adjust a single buckle!

You'll have to pop her head off to fit the helmet attachment down on her shoulders, but once you do it fits great.  The silver straps buckle in front, and the silver backpack, with air hose, is a separate piece if you decide to go without.

The helmet is the key to the complete look though.  Coming right out of a 1960's B-movie, the egg shaped clear top with funky attachments on the side makes a great figure outstanding.

Now, I know that some might see something else when they look at the helmet, but you really do need to stop thinking that way.  I'm sure that even unconsciously there was no attempt to make this appear as anything other than a simple space helmet.  Really.

Value - ***1/2
You can find these for $30 and less, which as an excellent value for such a well executed figure.  Don't pass this one up!

Overall - ***1/2
Oooo - this was so close to a four star figure.  If I were giving points for originality and design only, it would have smoked most of the competition.  I love the Robbie the Robot look of the helmet, and overall its a must have for the female figure collector.  This is by far my favorite Cy Girl so far.

Where to Buy - 
I haven't seen any local retailers with these, but there are good options on-line:

- Big Bad Toy Store has Aurora (and Destiny) in stock for $30 plus only $5 shipping.  BBTS is well known for their excellent customer service.

- Entertainment Earth has her for $30 as well, but shipping will cost you a little more.


Figure from the collection of Michael Crawford.

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