Seeing as I just got Hordak, it would be remiss not to get his daughter. So this is for young me- who was too afraid to ask for the original She-Ra toy, because he knew it would never get past mum and dad. Well forget them because when you grow up you can buy whatever toys you want. Vintage style Filmation Hordak was a bit of a mixed bag for me. A great idea that didn't quite live up to expectations. Will the leader of the great rebellion be an improvement?
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| "I am She-Ra, the most awkward standing woman in the universe!" |
The whole concept of this vintage Filmation line is to remake the original Masters of the Universe (MOTU) toys but with a design closer to how they appear in the original Filmation cartoon show. Which means this She-Ra is all plastic. No rooted, nylon hair, no fabric outfit, no sparkly cape. That alone made this figure quite striking when taking it out of the box, yet feels strangely familiar. At first, I was a little taken a back by the headsculpt- the whole thing is sculpted plastic, so the headdress and hair is all part of the head and absolutely looks the part. The hair comes down past the waist, with flowing curls at the end, and is (apart from one overdone spot) is painted in a more natural, sandy blonde as opposed to the platinum blonde you see in modern media. Same goes for the headdress. Forget loosing the gold mask of old, this is part of the headsculpt and flairs out around the face to excellent effect- it actually looks like it's resting on her head and has some nice sculpted detail along the headband with a little red , painted, jewel. The paint job is a reassuring improvement over the paint on Hordak's face. Which is (as well as the rest of the gold accents) is done in well applied shiny gold that looks nearly identical to the gold on the "classics" She-Ra figure with no overspill. The face sculpt was a little off-putting at first. It doesn't much resemble the 80s supermodel angles and purple eyeshadow of the cartoon She-Ra. In fact, she hardly looks like an adult woman. That's not to say it's a bad face sculpt- it's well done (albeit slightly vacant), and the paint apps are spot on, but it doesn't really look like She-ra does in the cartoon. Then I did a little google search and made the connection.
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| Miley Cyrus announced for live action She-Ra movie |
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| "Take two bottles inot the shower? I just wash and Bow" |
It's the old Teela figure cosplaying as She-Ra. Ok, I can completely imagine Mattel doing a Teela redeco as She-Ra. But, in my opinion, and anyone who owned a vintage Teela will empathise, Super 7 picked a bad figure to base it on. It looks good enough (for the most part) but through a combination of the original design flaws and a new one, the figure suffers from a design and a piratical point. The right arm is fine enough, the wrist armour has nice detail on it and the paint is clean, but this is a retooled Teela hand- which was originally a closed fist with a hole through it to hold her snake staff. For She-Ra, a gap has been worked into the fist, leaving it with the stubbiest of thumbs, that barely holds the sword in place. The sword will slip into it, but any external force (I'll get to that later) and it immediately falls out. Now the left arm is just like Teela's and I'm still wondering why Super 7 didn't try to replace it with an arm that didn't look so weird? It rests right up against her body, with a hand that looks more like a seal's flipper than a human extremity, curled over like she's trying to bowl over arm. What purpose does it serve?
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| Or it's a "waiting for my nails to dry" position? |
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| Or for stroking Battle Cat? |
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| "Sorry, Ram Man, you need to be, at least, this tall to go on the snake mountain ride" |
The frustrations don't end there. The legs are in a sort of action stance, like a ninja turtles figure,. Add to that her tiny feet on the, admittedly excellent looking, gold boots (which have more detail on them than the classic figure)) just trying to set her to stand becomes a task in anger management. My only advice is learn to accept the constant adjustments, or save yourself the bother and buy one of those kaiser doll stands that clip around the waist or wait for Retro Toy Review to restock his custom MOTU stands. But when she does (eventually) stand, she really looks the part. Granted the face isn't bang on the Filmation design, but the outfit sure is. The cape is nothing special, just a cheap feeling fabric, but certainly looks right at home on a 80s action figure. The outfit is excellent. Comapre it with the classics She-Ra (from the two-pack with Supergirl) and the white of the minidress is solid and bright with excellent gold detail throughout. Although I think the necklace on mine hasn't been painted
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| Size and standing comparison with classics She-Ra |
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| No wonder she stands weird, she's wearing two odd boots |
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| "You're not my real dad!" |
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| I mean, He-Man has a thumb. So why not his sister? |
Articulation isn't great, to be honest- even by vintage MOTU standards. The head turns slightly due to the long, sculpted hair restricting movement. So Hordak's forces are best off attacking from the side. The right arm can fully rotate at the shoulder, if you move the head to the right so the hair gives enough clearance. The left arm can almost rotate clockwise a touch past the head, but no further than that due to the hair blocking any movement beyond the head, and no more than pointing straight down because it gets caught against the plastic skirt. The waist has the trademark MOTU power punch action- and then some. I complained Hordak's power punch was weak, but not with She-Ra. This figure will knock down any five to six inch figure you put in front of her. But therein lies the problem. Remember that right hand that just about holds the sword? Well guess what happens when it's holding that sword and you pull the torso all the way back and release? Yup, she flings it like an Olympic discus thrower. The hip joints are the same ball and pivot joint Super 7 have implemented instead of the old rubber piece, which is a bit too loose for my liking. The right leg doesn't really stay where you put it, which just exacerbates the standing problems. Seriously, buy one of them stands.
For accessories you get a choice of two swords of protection- the cartoon design, in flat gray with a painted jewel, and there's a sword without the jewel. Almost like a spare sword of power or if you wanted She-Ra's sword to match He-Man's I guess? But the real highlight, especially for any long term MOTU collector, is that the swords are made of a rigid plastic. No more will you have to deftly soften the plastic, with a hairdryer, to bend the sword back straight. Fair play to Super 7 for doing this, this is exactly the kind of thing I want to see more of in this line. Also included is the shield, or sword-to-shield if you'd prefer. The sculpt is sharp (literally) and molded in a neutral gray and the center jewel painted in sky blue, reflecting the muted colour scheme of the Filmation cartoon, and simply clips onto either arm- preferably around the wrist- but it clips on and off easier on the left hand. Every She-Ra toy 've seen has the toy style shield, so it's nice to finally see the cartoon design and, like the swords, it looks really good. And it serves a second purpose obscuring the flipper-hand. My only issue is the wrist peg looks like the part that connects to the shield should revolve, but it doesn't. Which is a let down because if you want a pose with She-Ra turning her sword into a shield (a regular occurrence in the cartoon) but it' points lengthways along the arm, if you pose the arm up it looks like She-Ra is holding her shield sideways. And you get the packed in collector's card, with an excellent representation of the intro to the She-Ra cartoon with the reverse showing the design change from toy to animation model, and probably would make a cool autograph item for conventions.
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| Size comparison with Super 7 Hordak and vintage Mantenna |
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| "Just five stepdad lifts every morning and you'll see real results in two weeks!" |
Like the Hordak figure, She-Ra has good and bad things going for it- which is pretty much how I feel about the current trend of modern retro toys. On one hand, the figure looks right at home among your vintage MOTU figures, the paint job is excellent, and the accessories are spot on. In the looks department (except the left arm and both hands), this figure is a winner. But just getting this figure to stand is a exercise in irritation, constantly trying to get the legs in a simple standing position really sucks the enjoyment out of trying to pose her for even the most basic of photographs,. I can imagine women in their late 30s seeing this and thinking "Oh, I used to have a She-Ra" and being left confused why she can't stand it on its own like her old doll could.. But if you're into the line, and you can find her for a decent price, and you've pre-bought a figure stand, and you've always wanted a She-Ra to stand alongside He-Man and not look our of place with Teela and Evil Lyn then go for it. But Super 7 will have to up their game, especially on female characters, on this line.
Company: Super 7
Price: £19.99
Bought from: Kapow Toys
Age: 14+
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