I was a little disappointed by the articulation as some of the normal compliment was sacrificed to keep the sculpt sexy. The hinge in the torso has been dropped to give Teela nice abs while the thigh swivel is similarly missing.
I’ve always been a bit at odds with the MOTUC hips – it works great on figures where the loincloth can cover it up, but on other figures it doesn’t work as well. Teela features a skimpy loin cloth, so I’m gonna guess the thigh swivels were dropped to keep the legs from being unsightly. The rest of the articulation is present, while the head sculpt is partially blocked by the hair.
Teela is mostly molded in the appropriate colors so there wasn’t much room for paint slop. I still had a few slight problems with mine – namely the gold on the armbands and with random bits of brown paint here and there on Teela’s bare skin. Most of it scraped off easily enough, but slop is slop. One thing I didn’t like about the figure was the earrings. The front of the earrings didn’t end up with hardly any gold paint on mine and makes her look like she mutant ear lobes. I’m going to have to get out the brushes and fix that one…
I’m usually a fan of painted faces over molded ones, but Mattel does drive me nuts when they cast the head in whatever color they’re using for the weapons and then paints it. A dark spot on my Wun-Dar head is the black plastic showing through. So, I was happy to see Teela’s molded face. That said, it is a little glossy – so check out this painted BG Teela head from ace customizer Nate Baertsch. (You might know him as Baena.)
Teela also included two accessories inspired by her DC Comics appearance: a sword and a pistol. Both have been given a bit of a great update/makeover by the Four Horsemen. My Teela’s been holding both because I can’t choose which one I like better. I love the simple sculpt on the sword and appreciate that it can stow on the back of her armor (and that her hair is angled out of the way for it to boot).
But her pistol is pretty swanky too. She can hold it in either hand, but it designed for her right hand – there’s a little notch on the left of the gun for her thumb. It may seem silly, but I think the pistol is what really sells the figure for me. It’s what makes her MOTU-proper. I love MOTU for the mix of swords, sorcery, and tech (there’s a kitchen sink in the mythos somewhere). So, a sword-wielding barbarian girl is pretty cool, but add a laser gun to that? Hot.
Overall, it’s figures like this keep my interest in the line healthy. I’m anxious for classic figures, MO2K characters, etc., but I view Teela like I view Vikor – someone “new”. (Technically, neither of them are new though, I’m still waiting for an original MOTUC character – I think this incarnation of MOTU needs one hallmark character unique to it, but I digress.) Still, Teela does show that Mattel is willing to expand the line and that does keep me more excited than just getting updates of figures from my youth. I’m still waiting on that Horde Mummy…
What really helps is when the “new” figures like Vikor and Teela are kickass. Teela has a great sculpt with great accessories. I do lament the loss of the articulation, but I can at least see why they decisions were made, so I’m okay with it. But, and I think I said this with Vikor, there are figures that are okay and there are ones where I want to turn to Mattel and say, “more like this, please”. Teela is one of those figures.
Nice review. She’ll most likely end up as a companion for Vikor when she and the FO get here. Interesting that the pistol has a groove for her thumb for her right hand.
In terms of what accessories she should hold, I always pictured her as a dual-wielder. Skilled enough to shoot and slash at the same time.
Thanks. Vikor seems to be the logical place to put her. Dual-wielding is a good idea. I kinda wish she had a shield though too. I saw some pics at the Org that a repainted Sy-Klone shield woks well for her based on the comics. We might need to campaign for that in a weapons pack.
Thanks for the props guys! 🙂 She’s a fantastic figure.
Thanks for showing off the sculpt. I wish I could retain folks like you and Lay-Ze to professionally repaint all my figures. LOL
Ha! Thanks, but I can’t touch Nate’s paint-ups. 🙂
If Mattel knew what was good for ’em, they’d put him there in the factories, or at the very least have him supervise the samples that come back!
I love this figure….
It’s a really cool addition to the line.
We did it!!!
A big thank you to Dan Lynch and all the fans here who helped to make this great figure happen!
LOL! A huge thank you to you, you were the best and brightest of folks looking to get her made. Looking back at the review, I suppose I didn’t celebrate enough. 🙂
From the way fans on the boards were talking about her, you’d think they were 200X Snake Men heralding the return of King Hsss. I think they were trying to convince themselves her removable top WASN’T the main reason they were excited for her.
lol I was surprised to find that it wasn’t glued down. That said, at least they made it so you had to cut it off…
Who’s the brunette next to Catra in the big thought balloon? I don’t recognize her at all.
Nice review as always.
Adora, with photoshopped hair.
Yes, but not photoshopped! It’s the Shopkeeper’s head. 🙂
Thanks! See below on the brunette… (this review was too blonde already…)
i’m not convinced that the new hips sans thigh swivel was “necessary,” but on the whole, she’s nice. the baena repaint came out nicer on that sculpt than the default one, no real surprise there. but overall, me likeys.
I like this figure as new character, but not as Teela. I think I’m going to use mine with KG and He-Ro as Sharella, the human form of the Goddess.
I miss the thigh swivel on this figure too. It’s not a deal breaker, but my choice would have been for the thigh swivel.
Her blaster is pretty nice too. I actually gave mine to Catra.
Overall, she’s a welcome addition to the line in my opinion.
Ya know, it’s funny. The first time I heard of this character was the poll way back when, and the first thing I thought was “Hmmm, so she’s the ‘what if’ Teela, that is what if Teela had been given the Sword of Power and..” well, blah blah.
Given that clothing options seem so limited on Eternia, right? “OK, look, it’s either the unitard or the furry shorts, so PICK ONE”
The Eternians definitely seem to have found a look they like and stuck with it. For about 5000 years…
Fun review, as usual. Looking forward to getting this one soon, though it’s a shame about the articulation, as you say.
And now “polishing the halberd” takes on a whole new meaning.
Isn’t she the sexiest dame in Classics?