SDCC Exclusive She-Ra Review: Figure Stands Alone At The Top
By Brian Thomer
Mattel released an exclusive She-Ra action figure for this year’s SDCC and is now offering it to fans everywhere.
The He-Man and the Masters of the Universe She-Ra action figure was designed by Garrett Sander, the creator of Monster High, and was initially only available during the 2016 Comic-Con International: San Diego. Mattel has put the remaining stock up for sale on their collectibles website Matty Collector.
She-Ra Staggers over Traditional Action Figures
This high-end adult collectible She-Ra action figure is eleven inches in height, towering over the traditional six inch or smaller scale for action figures. It is nearly on par with the 12-inch scale for dolls, such as Barbie.
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The figure’s height, however, is just the beginning of She-Ra’s edge. Her rooted hair is also a step up from regular action figures. Additionally, this exclusive version features twenty four points of articulation. This is about standard for most collectible action figures. It features joints at the neck, chest, hips, ankles, shoulders and double joints at the knees and elbows.
This figure also features an additional point of articulation at the balls of her feet. This gives the collectible an advantage over both action figures and dolls. She-Ra can raise her heels in order to fit into either pair of heeled boots or stand flat footed when barefoot. Usually, the feet on 12-inch dolls are stuck raised, so if the shoes are removed, the figure can not stand on its own. The jointed feet, coupled with the jointed ankles, is an apt way around this issue.
Even at this size, all of the joints are tight and smooth. For some smaller figures, the joints can be too tight and difficult to get them started without fear of breaking them. This is not the case here, which is likely an advantage of the figure’s increased scale. The joints are all large enough to create the perfect balance.
She-Ra Holds the Power
In addition to the above features, this She-Ra comes with a number of accessories, including three sets of interchangeable hands. The pairs are closed fists, opened hands and a gripped pair for holding other accessories. The grips are well-molded and securely hold the Princess of Power’s weapons.
Those weapons include two versions of the Sword of Protection, one gold and one silver. The gold sword fits more securely than the silver one, due to the grips on the handle. There is little danger of the silver sword falling out of She-Ra’s hand, but it can shift around in the grip.
Finally, there is a silver shield to accompany the silver sword. It is well designed to fit very firmly in the figure’s gripped hand. A quick tip would be to attach the loose hand to the handle of the shield first, before snapping the removable hand into the wrist socket.
A She-Ra for All Occasions
The Most Powerful Woman in the Universe also comes with three cloth costumes. There are two different looks for She-Ra and one for Princess Adora. Adora features her classic red and white outfit, including a black belt, red boots and red gauntlets. There is even a slot on the back of Adora’s outfit to sheath her sword.
The Princess of Power designs share a single pair of gold boots, but otherwise are completely separate fashions. Each has its own dress, cape and interchangeable pair of gauntlets. The classic look also includes a gold belt and tiara. A mask comes with the other outfit that can be worn either up or down, apparently. Both fit surprisingly well to She-Ra’s head. On a lot of dolls, headpieces are difficult to keep affixed to the head, but these pieces are large enough to include suitable grips to secure them.
The dresses themselves come on and off easily enough and fit relatively firmly on the figure. Perhaps too firmly in the case of the Adora outfit. A pair of white leggings would have served that design well. the figure’s long, slender and incredibly toned body will not be winning any positive body image awards, either.
The lone exception to the easy removal is the cape to the classic She-Ra outfit. The loop is too tight to pull over the figure’s head, so one has to pop off the head to remove the cape. Thankfully, the head is easily re-attached. Testing out that scenario the first time was a bit nerve-racking, though.
Figure Has the Full Package
Mattel has demonstrated with all of their 2016 SDCC exclusives an amazing effort to provide quality packaging for these collectibles. Making the items ideal for display in or out of the package. She-Ra is no different with a gorgeous outer package, featuring a variety of She-Ra’s friends and foes.
The inner box has a magnetic seal to help keep the figure and accessories safely inside. Within it is a cardboard recreation of the Castle of Grayskull. Each of the castle’s towers is hollow, allowing one to store the extra accessories out of view. The Princess of Power herself can be displayed in the center.
This inner box also features a pocket for the included 12-page mini-comic: “The Story of She-Ra!” Anyone unfamiliar with the origins of one of the greatest heroes of the ’80s can find it right here. Just like the original Masters of the Universe figures and their featured mini-comics (recently collected by Dark Horse Comics, by the way).
Don’t Throw Away the Stand!
The figure stands well enough on its own, although some configurations will obviously throw the figure off-balance. Therefore, Mattel wisely included a stand with a post upon which the Most Powerful Woman in the Universe can be attached for maximum posability when displaying the figure.
That said, the stand and post are affixed behind the cut out of the Castle of Grayskull and, therefore, can be easily overlooked and thrown away with the packaging! Had this reviewer not read over the figure’s features on the company’s website, the items would have gone completely unnoticed and potentially trashed by accident.
She-Ra Stands Alone at the Top
While this is the ultimate of all She-Ra action figures, it does leave one wanting for more. Will Mattel ever release more figures at this scale? Imagine how much of a beast of a figure Hordak would be at this scale. Or how big Adora’s steed Swift Wind would be. Or the claws and tail on Scorpia. One thing that would have put this already impressive figure over the top would have been if it came with a small (possibly flocked) Kowl figure. This would have helped cure She-Ra’s loneliness at the top of the action figure mountain. Hopefully, Mattel has plans to revisit the scale in the future.
To get your 2016 Comic-Con International: San Diego He-Man and the Masters of the Universe She-Ra highly detailed action figure, head on over to Matty Collector. Supplies are limited, so act before it is too late.