This review was originally published on January 31st, 2013.
I was really surprised when Mattel announced Netossa would be getting the first figure slot of 2013. It’s not because she doesn’t deserve it (because she totally does). I just expected to see some of the more central POP characters first. But one of my favorite things about this line is the love shown to the third, fourth, and even more obscure tiers.
I’ve been slowly making my way through both the original He-Man and She-Ra Filmation series. Even though I hadn’t made it to Netossa’s episodes yet, I decided to skip ahead so I could get more familiar with the character. I was happy to discover that her character is pretty damned cool.
One of the more interesting aspects to her character is that she is surrounded my teammates who have special abilities or magical powers, yet Netossa’s weapons are her wits and skill. Like a female Batman she’s honed her mastery of nets into an effective yet non-lethal weapon. We see her skill in her first appearance (When Whispering Woods Last Bloomed) when she captures a Horde Trooper by flicking a full sized net through the bars of her prison door’s window. Definitely a Batman move. It’s just really unfortunate that she didn’t show up more often in the show.
Like I said earlier, I love seeing lesser known characters that show up in this line. I have no expectations going in. This way I get to learn about the character while experiencing the toy for the first time. I really think the Four Horsemen did an excellent job with her sculpt. She has the expected MOTU female buck body, but it’s been decked out with an all new top, skirt, bracers and boot tops. Looking at pictures of the old figure and Filmation design, they seem to all be pretty accurate too. Also, the fanned feather design accents could easily be repurposed for Peekablue.
With as nice as her new clothes are, it’s the fantastic head sculpt that really sells this figure to me. Netossa easily jumps to the top of my list as one of the prettiest girl sculpt to come out of this line. The two fins are attached to the side of her head, so you get to keep that interesting look even with her cape off. Her hair sculpt also has a great flow to it even though it’s not blowing in the breeze like some of the other POP girls.
Netossa has a great paint job, and is a perfect example of why we need to keep those extra paint apps. Even though her outfit reuses a lot of the same colors, there are plenty of metallic highlights on the feather-like accents that really save the figure from being kind of bland. The dry brushing on her hair turned out really well, giving it a nice bit of depth.
There has been a bit of talk about the dark spot on the back of her cape. Personally, I don’t really care it’s there. The one on mine isn’t very dark, and her hair covers most of it anyway. The only thing that does bother me is that they paid for this particular paint app, and it doesn’t really accomplish anything to improve the figure. So it was kind of a waste of money. Continue to page 2…
While I do like some POP figures, I find this one of the most boring releases in a long time. Boring Star Sisters last January, now this. Mixed in with crazy new shipping, this one would be a pass if I wasn’t locked into a sub so I can get the other amazing figures that are announced for this year (and that does include Octavia).
She’s not flashy, but I wouldn’t call her boring. That’s mostly just personal taste though.
I like the look of her a lot, even though I was never familiar with her character in any form. I think her face sculpt is the best out of all the PoP females so far. I’m still a bit annoyed at Frosta’s face, it looks so off to me. Her color scheme is also very pleasant.
I’m using this as my placebo now that I had to go cold turkey on MOTUC due to the insane price hike. Being an international fan is suffering…
Good review and nice pics.
Thanks Sandman!
Definitely agree that she’s the prettiest POP figure.
Hopefully you’ll be able to pick some up a bit cheaper on the secondary market.
You can tell Etheria is a beautiful planet b/c every female figure FH designed in Classics from P.O.P. is beautiful. Now even though Netossa was only showed in only 1 P.O.P. cartoon I’m glad she’s finally in Classics. An excellent design on her & review & pics. Bow is so lucky to be a good guy lol!!
Bow is a pimp! Why hang around the muscle fest of Eternia when you can be with the ladies on Etheria. B)
i don’t know, given his status as she-ra’s “special friend” i suspect he prefers the sausage fest on eternia to the fish fest on etheria…
Happy for fans of hers, but these releases make me wish the 4H took more creative liberties to fit these figures into MotU a little better.
The head sculpt is terrific, but overall these characters feel like Rainbow Brite in Conan the Barbarian.
They definitely have a different feel, but I don’t mind that because they come from a different world. The NA figures are kind of the same way. Flipshot, Optik, and Slush Head don’t really look like they fit in on Etheria or Eternia.
Netossa…huh, that’s an odd (yet somehow current sounding)….name…
Net. Tosser. ah.
She’d better not lose that cape, then. 🙂
She’s pretty skilled. I bet she could use any large piece of fabric as a makeshift net. Hordak better watch his drapes! 😀
great job!
The spot on her cape is a paint ap? I thought it was the rubber degrading…paint is MUCH better ha ha
Thanks, Doc!
Yeah, it’s definitely a paint app. You can scratch it off with your fingernail.
I noticed one thing that was over looked and many others have mentioned. The ties on the cape when openning so you don’t damage it. If was mentioned I musta missed it cause did read this on the fly while out at the grocery. Had to do.quick readings. I plan to find this lass down the road since having alot of fun having the Marvel.Legends deadpool.mingle with the MOTUCs. Well the Great Rebellion anyway, Netossa would be a fun addition to the playtime.
Great pics and love the last two. Oh, and Bow’s too.
Hmmm, I don’t even remember there being ties on her cape. Oi, shows how awesome my memory is. 😛
Thanks for mentioning it though, J! People should definitely be careful when taking her out. The cape is pretty rubbery and it probably wouldn’t take much to tear.
Love this figure! Best female face sculpt of a POP character so far
Like Frosta, I wish her hair was lighter.
all those lucky girls are going to enjoy sexy Bow!
I thought she was a strange choice for first slot. Wouldn’t you want to start the year off with a big name? Also a reminder that we do not have Glimmer or Queen Angella.
Great review, excellent pics, and hilarious comics. As ever.
Looking forward to this lady arriving in the mail. Knowing my luck, another two weeks, at least.
Would also like to see Glimmer and Queen Angella eventually, but I’d prefer to get Scorpia first!
I’m still waiting for my Netossa (as an international customer).
I think Netossa looks great, but I would have made a few changes like replacing all the “pale blue” paint with silver paint (to reflect the original toy and to heighten the gladiatrix-like aspects of the character), attaching the “fins” to the collar of the cape instead of the sides of her head (which wouldn’t have impacted the articulation since the long hair prevents much movement anyway) and I would have included a repainted BP She-Ra sword and/or repainted Green Goddess spear.
I also find it odd that the “breast-plate” wasn’t sculpted separately so that they could re-use the bodice for other POP characters, but I guess it will help to make Peekablue a bit more unique if she has her own bodice (similar to the Filmation design as opposed to the toy design).
She really is a gorgeous figure.
I didn’t get her for a variety of reasons, but love the pic on top of p2 and the pimp!Bow shot!
I am surprised no one thought she could have been Etheria’s answer to Storm, being a, um, woman of color with unusually colored hair.
I also thought the net weapon was kinda useless, until Agent 86 mentioned her being a “gladiatrix”, which does make more sense. Of course, now I want to see her with a trident, too. :/
I agree that this is a damm fine figure, but really would it have broken the budget to include a decent sized piece of fabric netting with some sort of hand hold on it.
Got mine this morning. Slightly annoyed that she doesn’t have the boot-cut articulation. Would making a separate boot-top be so much more expensive than making a whole new lower leg like this?
One Glorious Day (in caps because it is some mythical event in the unspecific future, like The End of Days or Vegans Will Stop Being Smug Holier-Than-Thou Jerkbags Month) I will have to get off my backside and start soft-goods-ing my MOTUC figures.
She has the thigh swivel though! Maybe we just can’t have both.
Why not, though? We had ’em for Teela, Evil-Lyn, Adora, She-Ra, Catra, Queen Marlena, and ToD Sorceress.
Seriously, what is the cost difference in making an all-new lower leg piece like they did, and making just a new boot-top that would plug into the existing female calf and foot parts? Surely it would cost more to make the bigger part? If someone could only explain the logic of it to me (wow, I sound silly to myself using that phrase in a MattyCollector context), I might let up.
I don’t like being baffled, especially when articulation suffers as a side-effect.
That was more of a joke on my part than a serious consideration (humour doesn’t translate in HTML well, particularly when it wasn’t that funny to begin with!).
Though there are additional machining and assembly costs involved with a two-piece lower leg compared to a one-piece, it’s not a tough joint to do (compared to like a hip or ankle or something with lots of fiddly parts)… whatever Mattel’s motivation, it wasn’t a great decision.
Speaking of ankles, i really, really _hate_ the internal rocker. Compare Netossa’s veeery slight almost imperceptible range of motion to the ability to bend Teela’s foot almost 90 degrees to her leg. Still, at least we still have something (sorry DC collectors).