MOTUClassics.Com
Castaspella Review

NoisyDvL5

This review was originally published on September 1st, 2013.
I know Vault’s been handling the MOTU Classics review of late. That’s mostly because we’ve hit a point where the characters appeal to him a bit more than me (except Clamp Champ, I was just too busy for him). And truth be told, Vault would be doing Castaspella too, if not for the fact that his broke. The left arm clean snapped off. Oops.

I thought about having him review it, but you know how one or two bad QC stories can quickly become an epidemic, so we thought it best to only mention it instead of beating it death with multiple pics. I assume Vault just got a bad egg (& DR is slowly getting him a replacement) and we’ll be taking a look at my Castaspella for this review.

Castaspella, as her name implies, is the primary mage for The Great Rebellion in the Princess of Power cartoon. She only appears in… maybe a dozen episodes out of the whole series I believe, but she ends up pretty well fleshed out as a character despite the limited appearances and has ended up as one of the more popular members of the supporting cast. In addition to being a powerful mage, she rules her own kingdom and has a long backstory with Shadow Weaver, the primary evil mage for the old cartoon.

Now, I haven’t reviewed a lot of the POP girls because I haven’t really liked a lot of them. I absolutely think they should be included. The vintage line, like most vintage lines, was pretty much a sausagefest. The Classics line is doing far better with the POP-injection. I just wish some of the figures had been better. It’s mostly just my experience with the POP figures, I suppose. Some of it has been QC (my She-Ra’s head never stays on) and other times it’s wonky design. I’m still not a fan of Frosta’s head sculpt & clear blue hair or Netossa’s unwieldy cape. In that regard, Castaspella has been a breath of fresh air.

Simply put, she’s awesome. The overall sculpt is typical of the line. The basic 2.0 female buck is still running strong and the newly sculpted bits for Casta are all on par with it. The dress pieces are sharp and the new gauntlets and boots get the details down just right. On top of all that rests one of the better head sculpts this year. It is obviously a Four Horsemen head sculpt, but it looks unique enough to give Casta her own identity. The giant ponytail is similarly well done – and even better, doesn’t block the neck articulation much at all.

Speaking of the articulation, Casta is pretty well done with only one minor complaint. The 2.0 buck fixed most of the early issues with the figure. The ball-jointed neck has good range, as do the ball-joints on the shoulders & hips. There are swivels at the biceps, wrists, waist, and thighs and hinges at the eblows, knees, and ankles. Rocker ankles top of the leg articulation, but one thing is missing: a swivel at the boot cut. This particular area isn’t a dealbreaker and most of the POP figures (with the unique boots) have lost it as well, but I still miss it. It does limit the range of the leg somewhat, but I also miss it for the custom options. Swapping the boots between some of the figures took a little effort, but it helped make the figures a little more fun to mix & match.

Paintwork was one area where Casta wasn’t quite as spot-on as I wanted. While most of the figure is molded the appropriate colors there are a few mismatched areas like the painted faced to the body and then some slop on the torso. This piece is molded in orange for the collar and then painted. It’s the yellow “lightning” bolts that are the source of most of the slop. It’s a tough paint op and it shows on the final results. Continue to Page 2…

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26 thoughts on “MOTUClassics.Com
Castaspella Review”

  1. I kept thinking she reminded me of Electra Woman but it seems to be more of Legion’s Ayla Ranzz (aka Lightning Lass aka Spark aka Light Lass).
    http://witneyman.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/electra-woman-and-dyna-girl.jpg
    vs
    http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/scale_medium/2/29837/2398182-lightninglass_shrinkingviolet_retroboot.jpg
    http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m7dyjvMJRy1qcwxm5o1_500.png
    EW’s hair on Ayla maybe?

    She does look cool and I’m going to have to track her down, later.

  2. I don’t know if it’s just the pictures, but the color of the face looks way off. Like, it was the first thing I noticed about the figure. It looks like she’s gotten seasick in an old cartoon and her face is turning yellow.

      1. Thanks, Hyena! In person, it’s just barely off, but the paint just soaked up the light particularly different this go-round. I was able to counter it in some pics, but I didn’t want to get to photoshoppy and have the pics look like it.

  4. Wow! I never would have thought to use her head to make a 200X Teela. Good call on that. ALMOST makes me want to pick her up.

  5. Heard people talk about that idea with her noggin and seeing it makes me wish I got into these sooner. Might’ve gotten Teela already.

    Great review and great pics. I hope to find her in 13 days. Yeah counting down to that event we have here.

    That arm deal is spooky but it can happen. Its different but my Lead’s leg popped out in a fall and Atom Smasher’s arm pops out with easy effort. Luckily easy pop back in but, this doesn’t sound the same.

    1. I hope you score well at your toy show!

      I haven’t seen Vault’s Casta up-close, but it sounds as if the shoulder peg is broken off in the bicep.

      1. Finally, I have her in hand… She’s a lot prettier in person! I have to say she is the best female of 2013!! (Mattel, please don’t screw up Glimmer!)

  8. I saw Vault’s sitting there broken on the table and though, “What a shame… She’s the best girl I’ve seen in the MOTU line yet.” She looks like a superhero. 🙂

  9. I too have been mostly unimpressed with the females, but Castaspella and Shokoti both are great additions. I’m really hoping Angela is on the way soon. Mermista is cool, but I’d rather have a winged-woman first.

  10. Simply a stunning figure. I love her. And mine rolls with the disc attached, despite my preference for cartoon looks. It just looks too cool not to.

  11. see, i told you guys she’d make a great headswap for millenial teela… and indeed she does.

    question… you mentioned she’s on the 2.0 buck, but she retained the upper thigh swivel? am i reading that right? cuz that’s awesome, we finally have the best of both worlds!

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