Last year, IAT held it’s 2010 Most Requested figure contest. Last year’s winner was none other than “Blonde Bikini” Teela. Released under the less hilarious, but more appropriate Battleground Teela moniker, she’s quickly moved from our wish lists to our shelves as June’s Quarterly MOTU figure.
As we explained in our “Blonde Bikini” Teela Most Requested entry, DC Comics published a Masters of the Universe comic in the early 80s, before the cartoon. It establishes a lot of plot elements that will later become canon, but there were some designs that stayed unique to the comic series. One of them was Teela wearing a decidedly more “He-Man” inspired outfit. Fans latched onto the idea of getting this version of Teela fairly quickly and Mattel followed suit releasing it in the third full-year of the line.
Since Bikini Teela was essentially a comic-inspired version, the first logical place to put her on your shelves might be with other comic-inspired figures from the MOTU 2pks available at TRU.
While the folks at Mattel stayed faithful to her look, they decided to come up with a new back story for the character though. In her bio, this figure represents Teela as she’s seen later in the mythos, possibly even during the time that She-Ra has followed Hordak back to Eternia & Clamp Champ has taken over for Duncan as Man-At-Arms.
When Mattel released Vikor, Toy Guru said that management had dictated he be a new character. And though they didn’t do the same for Teela, preferring her to be a variation on the original, many collectors, including Toy Guru, seem to be finding a new spot for her on the shelf, possibly with Vikor.
Teela is the first quarterly variant that is truly on par with the regular figures. Since they’re now included in the subscription – which guarantees a higher number of sales – the quarterly figures don’t have to be as cheaply done as previous offerings (Zodak, Battle Armors, etc). Teela does reuse a couple of her original parts – below the knees and the arms. But everything else is new.
While I miss the artculation, I do love the sculpt. It looks like Teela walked off the DC Comics page. There are a few extra details to the figure, courtesy of the reused arms, but they blend in perfectly. I’m fairly certain she’s one of the better sculpted figures we’ve gotten all year and the line isn’t exactly lacking in the sculpting department.
Her head sculpt is interesting because it looks like it could be Teela, but it also doesn’t have to be. Looking at the drawn-in cheeks, I think the Four Horsemen successfully captured an older look for Teela, but the sculpt also seems generic enough that she won’t look like an out-of-place Teela on another shelf. I’m curious as to what the Four Horsemen might have had in mind when they were working on the sculpt.
Since BG Teela’s head features a molded skin tone to regualr Teela’s painted version, a simple head swap will never quite work for the original head, but the blonde head looks great on the classic Teela body. Continue to Articulation, Paint, & Accessories
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?