Review of Catra - Masters of the Universe Classics action figure

Introduction

Women and cats go together like peanut butter and jelly. Men like dogs - women like cats. This is a traditional stereotype that's seen its way into cartoons, movies and comic books for years. Catwoman? Obviously a chick. Black Cat? Yep. Cleopatra? Always dug cats. And what is a witches favorite familiar? Of course, it's a cat.

It's no real surprise then that there would be an evil babe in the Masters of the Universe world who was into the felines as well. They've never been particularly creative when coming up with names in the MOTU realm either, and Catra seems pretty appropriate.

She was the May release from Matty Collector, and was the usual $20. She sold out quickly of course, but you can pick her up at a couple sponsors listed at the end of the review.

Packaging - ***1/2
Nothing particularly new here, but that sort of consistency makes the MOCers happy. There's a couple annoying rubber bands, but no twisties. They've also included the Evil Horde logo on the front in case you didn't know which team she was playing for.

Sculpting - ***1/2
Catra is pretty in a harsh, sharply defined sort of way. She has that Amazonian jawline, and the very long flowing black hair to go with it. The hair isn't quite as finely detailed as some of the female figures in the MOTUC series, but it still hangs beautifully, and gets in the way of the neck articulation far less than I expected.

The body is the same as always, with a new sculpted costume and cloak. The neck piece is separate from the cape itself, which also helps with posing. Both are removable if you pop the head off.

Since the base body is pretty much the same, she fits in nicely scale-wise with the rest of the series. Remember, these are a 7" scale. She stands well on her own, and her sculpted gripping right hand works great with the accessories. The gesturing left hand is perfect for lots of different poses as well.

Paint - ***
There's a few more issues with the paint this time around than we've seen on Mattel's best work. It's not as bad as some of their mass market stuff, but it's not as good as we've seen with earlier figures in this line.

The eyes are a bit wonky, but it's nothing super obvious. They just aren't quite perfectly aligned, but it's not bad enough to be a lazy eye situation.

The lips are off a bit as well, giving her whole face a smushed look. It's hard for the beauty of the sculpt to come through when the paint work isn't perfect.

The costume looks good, but there's not a ton of detail. My favorite aspect is the high gloss paint on the gauntlets and boots, but this paint may have taken longer to dry, because it seems to have made the ankle and wrists joints a bit sticky.

Articulation - ***
Again, since this is the same basic base body, the articulation is similar to previous MOTUC ladies.

There's the ball jointed neck, shoulders and hips, with pin elbows, ankles and knees, as well as cut wrists, cut biceps, and a cut joint at the top of the boots.

The joints are a tad looser than I've seen before, especially in the knees, but the hips work much better than I expected. The skirt doesn't restrict them, and there's not much restriction from the hair and cape on the neck, either.

Both wrists were stuck though, and the pins are VERY soft. Take your time freeing them up, and consider some hot water/cold water, to loosen them before you over turn them.

Unlike some of the earlier females, she doesn't have much of a rocker ankle joint, but it's a minor quibble.

Accessories - ***
She doesn't have an extra portrait, which is what tends to snag that extra half star from me in this category.

She does have a sword and shield though, both adorned with cool cat faces and jewels. The sculpts are terrific, although the paints are a bit basic.

She also has a funky whip (not a cat of nine tails though - har, har) that has a comb as part of the handle. Yea, this chick isn't obsessed with her looks.

She also comes with a head band style tiara, as well as her magical cat mask. Both of these pop on her face, and stay tightly in place. The cat mask looks fantastic, even though the silver paint is a little gloppy. The red 'crown' looks good, but I couldn't quite get it to fit perfectly straight no matter how much futzing I did.

Fun Factor - ****
These are Masters of the Universe Classics - that practically spells fun. While female action figures might be considered a girl's toy traditionally, the original creators of She-ra realized pretty early on that figures based on the property were just as popular with boys as with girls.

Value - **1/2
Surprisingly enough, the $20 price tag is getting more acceptable for me - largely because mass market figures like DC Universe Classics are getting closer and closer to this price right at the local Toys R Us.

Things to Watch Out For -
The wrists were stuck on mine, and had I not been very careful, I could easily have ripped the soft plastic pegs. I think the glossy paint on the gauntlets (and boots) are what's sticking up the joints.

Overall - ***
The more I played around with Catra, the more I liked the figure. Had this figure not had some minor paint issues, she would have pulled another half star in my overall.

The articulation was a bit wonky at first as well, but with a little work I was able to get some good poses, and she was able to maintain them.

She makes a terrific addition to the female cadre of Masters of the Universe Classic characters, and I think this babe could hold her own against her rival, She-Ra. Just don't tell He-man I said that.

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***1/2
Sculpting - ***1/2
Paint - ***
Articulation - ***
Accessories - ***
Fun Factor - ****
Value - **1/2
Overall - ***

Where to Buy 
Originally, she was available on Matty Collector. Now your options are a little more limited:

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
I've reviewing quite a few of the MOTUC figures:

- last up was Sy-Klone, who sadly, wasn't one of my favorites.

- just prior to that I looked at Panthor, the big kitty.

- King Hssss was last month's release.

- prior was Vikor, and before that the very yellow Buzz Off.

- Grizzlor was November's release.

- the previous month was the swapped shoulders Roboto.

- Gygor makes other big monkeys look silly.

- another character with animal instincts is Chief Carnivus.

- just before that was Whiplash.

- Orko was the SDCC exclusive this year.

- just before the Con, Matty sold out of Count Marzo.

You should also hit the Search Reviews page for a ton before that and in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.

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