Well, in case you haven’t noticed, it’s the 30th Anniversary of Princess of Power this year; while She-Ra & her friends hit the airwaves in September of 1985, the toys debuted a year earlier in 1984. Now, I’m admittedly not as into POP as I am MOTU, but I love the shared universe and welcome the POP figures in Classics. And I figured we should celebrate, so I turned a few things pink, and then another, and another, and well, it’ll be a visual regular readers won’t soon forget!
I’ve got three POP reviews lined up this week (and hopefully we get to all three, my wife will be 38 weeks along on Wednesday! Time to freak out!). Looking at the three ladies, I thought I’d kick off with Madame Razz since she’s the most visually interesting of the three figures.
It’d be easy to just write Madame Razz off as the Orko of POP. There are a lot of similarities: the color scheme, the mixed-up magic, the comic relief. Heck, she’s one of “just three people” that knows Adora’s secret. And just saying that one is a Trollan and the other is a Twigget doesn’t mean a whole lot to the casual fan.
The two developed to be more different over the course of their shows and now Mattel’s MOTUC bios add layers to Razz to exemplify her importance the same as they did for Orko. That struck me particularly, Razz is the “Witch of the Whispering Woods” the safe haven for the Great Rebellion. She may not have been ready to go toe-to-toe with Shadow Weaver should the need arise, but I like appreciating the comic relief characters as more than just the comic relief.
Razz is a 100% tool for the line. There had been some talk that she could’ve been given a makeover to use existing parts, but Mattel thankfully ignored it. That would’ve been a terrible idea. There aren’t many non super-model She-Ra characters and I’d hate to lose one to such a dumb reason as mold re-use. No, Mattel and the 4H went the full mile and gave Madame Razz her due.
The new sculpt looks great. I think the only nitpick I have is the cape – it looks fine flared out like is, but I think I’d like it a little narrower, closer to the shoulders. But that’s it. The head sculpt looks sharp and the body is fantastic in its frumpy glory! Some details like the patches and stitching were lifted from the show while a little extra details like wrinkles and seams have been added to make the figure one step up from the simple Filmation design. She looks fantastic; like she cast a spell (Razzle Dazzle!) and popped right out of the show. Continue to Page 2…
Noisy has the hots for Razz.
Good review (as always). I really didn’t expect to like the figure as much as I do.
Oh, and a cool idea to feature the past POP reviews on the frontpage, too.
Thanks! I thought it’d be nice for anyone that missed them. Adora’s review has been on fire and it’s the oldest.
Digging mine alot. Already had too much fun with her. One great review and fun pics.
Looks to be a fun update as have ventured into the Pink aisle alot lately. Blame those MyWorld sets.
Jakks did a great job with those sets! And a little pink never hurt anyone, right?
Great review and pics, as always. So glad they got around to making this set before the line ended.
I got two Club Etheria subs (for toy-accurate repaints and soft goods conversions, natch), and my second Razz had a fused right elbow which began to tear when I tried to bend it. I’ve heard of similar problems with her knees and shoulders.
As for the “flower” on her hat: I always thought it was a pinwheel.
It works like a pinwheel! Except on the toy…
Thankfully know issues on my Razz’s joints.
Wow…get caught up all at once much?
We go all out for birthdays!
I was a little disappointed with Madame’s loose ankles and flared cape, but then I got Rio Blast, and he really “managed expectations” for me in a big, big way…
The ankles still big me because they’re a functional problem, but Rio is a great point. He got emergency surgery here at IAT.
True that the ankles affect functionality, but I can figure out a way to prop her up (some clear rubber bands wrapped around and around the inner ankle peg seems to be keeping her upright as of today). Rio is just…a mess. Overall. You have to tell the rest of us what you did to improve him.
Um… didn’t She-Ra and friends make their debut in 1985?
Great review, as always.
The show debuted in 85, the toy line started in 1984. I edited the intro to make it clearer. 🙂
Thanks for catching that!
I think Razz’s biggest fault was the lack of a grippy hand. That being said, I managed to fit Razz holding/supporting Broom on a 1.0 flight stand and she’s held onto Broom for over a month without slipping or letting go. I would’ve loved for the flower on the hat to be spinnable, but probably would’ve cost too much to tool. Overall I was very pleased with Razz despite her shortcomings. She’s easily been the best of the etheria sub so far. Double-chin & Entrapta have both left me disappointed.
that last pic on p1. I just don’t have the words.
I am so beyond happy to finally get Razz – the last remaining character in my personal top 5 filmation want list. And she came out so brilliantly!
The ankles on mine are reasonably tight, but her teeny-tiny feet still, um, ‘pose’ something of a challenge…
I was amused to discover Razz has a traditionally male-sized neck peg, which produced hours of hilarity (I’m not the only person that pulls the heads off their MOTUCs minutes after opening, right…?). Still not sure what was creepier, Razz with the helmetless IG Skeletor head, or Skelly with Razz’s.
Finally a Madame Razz figure after all these years. She’s PERFECT. Amazing design work & I can’t forget about BROOM!