Most people probably already own these toys, and if you don't, well, they've all sold out now. But I'm going to give them a once-over anyway. Since my subs combined, all these figures arrived at once to me so I'm lumping everything into one review.
Arrow
First up is Bow's horsey. A big surprise, this one, when it was announced. I doubt anyone was expecting it to be one of the 'essentials' that finish off the Masters Classics line. Like all the Princess of Power characters, there was a big difference between the original toy version and that seen in the cartoon. The Classics version, like most of the Classics toys, goes for the 'toon look and is thus not blue, but does come with wings if you so desire.
A word of warning, however. The plug holes for the wings are covered and getting those covers out is a right pain in the bottom. In fact I haven't been able to accomplish this task which means no winged horsey pictures for you!
Then we come to the stirrups. What were Mattel thinking? Sure, stirrups are a good idea, but there's no way Bow can get his feet anywhere near them.
But otherwise, Arrow is a nice, though far from essential, addition to the line.
Tung Lashor
The penultimate snakeman! I loved TL as a kid, so I'm glad the MOTUC figure (almost) meets my extremely high expectations. Gone is the retractable tongue, instead replaced is alternate heads. While based on the 80s toy version of the character, the tongue 'spikes' of the 200x version have been added which I'm not that keen on.
The other thing I'm not keep on is that he doesn't seem quite wide enough. I'm not talking super bulky, like the 200x version, but the vintage toy was a lot wider in girth. This one is a bit too lanky for my liking.
Sweet Bee
Like a lot of the POP ladies, I don't have much connection with this character. It looks fine, though could have done with some added detail. Um, onto the next figure!
New Adventures She-Ra
It's nice to finally get She-Ra into New Adventures. Hell, it's nice to get any NA stuff, such is the dislike from the vast majority of people of this era of He-Man. She looks great standing next to NA He-Man.
Gwildor
At one end of the Mattel 'classicizer' stands someone like Sweet Bee with virtually no detailing whatsoever. At the other stands Gwildor who has layer upon layer of the stuff. The figure looks like it's stepped out of the movie screen and bares an uncanny (though as far as I'm aware, definitely o allowed) likeness of the actor. The original toy was a bit rubbish. The movie character wasn't amazing. This toy will finally make you love him.
As accessories we get two versions of the cosmic key. The smaller one makes sense. What doesn't is the inclusion of the giant one. Why, Mattel, why?!
Sadly a bucket of ribs was not included with the toy and we have to make do with (a very nice) custom one from ebay.
Spinerella
Spinerella cost an extra $5 to cover the amount of paint on her dress. This makes it extra annoying that the paint is a bit on the sloppy side. The hair is a mess too, with the 'extra' bit of additional hair (to make the figure more vintage toy-like) not fitting properly. I've seen custom versions with all the plastic ribbons replaced with cloth ones and this improves the figure no end. I really wish Mattel would have used much thinner plastic for these parts, especially on the arms.
Mermista
The best part of this figure is the shinny scaly tail. It looks fantastic. Due to obvious standing-up problems, Mermista comes with a little stand which...well, it's not great and some careful adjustment is necessary to stop her toppling over.
Some may remember that the vintage Mermista's fabric tail could be removed to reveal legs underneath. Instead of that gimmick we get interchangable legs, which, in all honesty, look terrible. Best stick with the tail and condemn the legs to the MOTUC bits box.
Light Hope
In the cartoon, Light Hope was just a bunch of sparkly lights. Despite this, there have been a number of people who wanted to see LH somehow represented in the line. And pretty impressive looking he is too! Taking cues from the old Crystal Castle playset in his crown and staff, LH is cast in pink transparent plastic. Unusually for POP figures, he has a significant amount of detailing.
Eldor
Only ever seen as a prototype in the 80s, He-Ro's friend makes it into classics. With the white beard and brown hood, Eldor comes across a bit Obi Wan-like. His removable hood is very cleverly sculpted and looks good both on and off. His book accessory actually opens (well, sort of splits in too) but it's disappointing that it's blank inside.
And that brings us to the end of the 2014 figures from MOTU. There's only one year remaining in the line before 'all' the vintage characters are completed and we all wonder what Mattel have up their sleeves for 2016.
Until next time...
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