TOY REVIEW ARCHIVE    LIVING WITH LATE FEES    FEATURES    LINKS    BIO    MISSION    EMAIL    MAIN PAGE >


SDCC Exclusive She-Ra

 

Coheteboy is back tonight with a guest review of the very exclusive, but very cool Mattel Masters of the Universe She-Ra!  You could pick her up at the SDCC (and again at Wizard World Chicago in a couple weeks), or you could enter our big giveaway for the change to buy her at cost!  It's all yours, CB!

Last year the San Diego Comic-Con created a ruckus with the release of Mattel's Keldor figure. They returned this year and gave us something that didn't seem possible with the unfortunate sales of the Masters of the Universe line at retail. But it happened, and the "Most Powerful Woman in the Universe" has again returned to the hands of... boy collectors? I don't believe it. But I somehow must. If you were to tell me fifteen years ago that I would be playing with a She-Ra doll in the year 2004, I would have scoffed and called you a wiener head. But here I am buying one, playing with it, taking pictures of it, and yes... even combing her hair. 

Perhaps it had something to do with ditching the name "Princess of Power". I think boys tend to stay away from toys that have "Princess" in the title without the name "Leia" attached.







Mattel actually had two exclusive figures to purchase at the booth this year. Wait, make that FOUR if you count the variants of the Batman figure offered (Regular, Maskless, Maskless w/ battle damage). At least this time, you were able to purchase both the Batman AND She-Ra if you had the winning raffle ticket. 

Packaging - ***1/2
Each She-Ra figure is packaged in a nice window box clearly showing all its contents. Outside of this standard "exclusive" packaging is another shipper box with artwork on the front and back, clearly showing that it's a "She-Ra" figure. While it's not as interesting to look at as last year's Keldor packaging, it still does the trick and it's a nice way to keep the toy protected. 

Sculpting - ***1/2
This She-Ra is basically a retooled version of She-Ra with a new head and outfit. It looks fantastic but I'm not a fan of the awkward stance. If you can get your figure to stand alright, then you've got it made, because this is one fine looking figure. The costume is pretty much entirely new, with longer skirt (sorry, guys), and different details throughout. The head sculpt is also probably the best female sculpt in the Masters of the Universe line. I always felt that Evil-Lyn and Teela were both too chiseled looking, but She-Ra is just right. 

And of course, that is rooted hair, not sculpted.

Paint - ***1/2
This is your standard run-of-the-mill Masters of the Universe paint applications. Everything on my figure looks pretty good and clean so no complaints here. Oh, and I know some of you are wondering, there's no commando action. 

Articulation - ***
Imagine that you cloned your Teela figure and called it She-Ra. That's basically what you get here as far as articulation goes. She-Ra has neck, ball jointed shoulders, wrist, and leg articulation. She also has waist articulation but we'll talk about that below. So basically, nothing really stand-out in this area, but who's counting anyway? It's She-Ra!

Accessories - ***
Not quite as great as the offering that came with Keldor, but there still are a decent amount of accessories here. She-Ra comes with a unique sword and shield and... a big red comb! That's right. Now us guys can comb She-Ra's hair like the girls did back in the 80s. Also, if She-Ras head-piece is removable, I haven't tried. Also noteworthy is that She-Ra has a nice cape that is not removable and covered with sparklies.

Action Feature - **
Just like the Teela figure, if you pull back She-Ra's arm, she swings forward. And of course because of the action feature, the articulation in the waist is limited, which of course has a big part in having a low score. 

Value - **1/2
With standard MOTU figures costing $7.99 at its hey-day, paying $20 doesn't feel too great. But of course we all know that Masters of the Universe exclusives demand a hefty cent eventually, so it's not that bad of an investment. 

Overall - ***
I have to say, I didn't think I was going to like the She-Ra figure all that much but this is one stand-out toy. The sculpt is great and it really fits in well with the rest of the line. Ok ok, seriously, this figure is hot, and you're not a real man unless you can comb She-Ra's hair like the rest of us. 

Where to Buy -
San Diego Comic-Con had it for $20. If you weren't able to score it there, then EBAY would be the best bet, but expect to pay around $30-40.  You can also enter the contest here at MROTW to win a chance to buy She-Ra for the $20 she cost at the con!

KEEP SCROLLING DOWN FOR LOTS MORE PHOTOS!



Figure from the collection of Coheteboy.

This page copyright 2003, Michael Crawford. All rights reserved. Hosted by 1 Hour Hosting.com