MOTUC Director's Commentary #19: Adora. Princess, Sister, Role Model

[He-Dad]

In quite a few PoP stories, Adora is She-Ra without her mask. When she wears it, she's She-Ra. This is in about 1/2 of the PoP mini-comics and a few different story books. It's a very nice nod to the vintage toy (which could be displayed like that) and THIS specifically is what most people wanted:

http://www.he-man.org/assets/images/.../whatshera.jpg

http://gi85.photobucket.com/groups/k...Q/P1010115.jpg

I SO wish we got that She-Ra! I actually bought an "Adora wig" so I can re-create what AlessandraF did there. SO beautiful!

Thanks for the clarification. I wasn't aware of that and she does look amazing. Makes a little more sense to me now.

[Barezz]

It's great when she shows up like that around Hordak but he can't figure out that She-Ra is Adora

I know her hair is longer!!!

[Telkan2]

Gah please no on ball joints! I recently found Hope Summers from the Marvel Legends line at target. She looked GREAT from the head down to her legs, but the ball joints they used for her hips/legs looks TERIBBLE. Now granted that maybe the 4 Horsemen could do a better job. I just couldn't believe how bad Hope looked. of course marvel legends has always struggled with female figures.

Agreed, I do not want ball joints a'la the Marvel Legends line to ever even be considered for a 4H work of art--it would simply ruin it!

[oulala]

Agreed, I do not want ball joints a'la the Marvel Legends line to ever even be considered for a 4H work of art--it would simply ruin it!

I'm all in favor of ball joints. There are good and bad ball joints. I don't see why a shoulder ball joint is in any way more acceptable than a hip joint. It's all the same to me! As for Marvel Legends, they've been using that same tired buck for years. There has been beautiful Marvel Legend females with ball jointed hips. (Psylocke, Storm, Extreme X-men Rogue)

A lot of it comes down to personal taste, but to me the best female buck that's available right now is Bandai's Myth Cloth female buck:
It's an anime character so the proportions are different and more stylised, and sure, you can see the joints -but so can you on any MOTUC figure - but there's something really curvacious and feminine about that body.
In comparision, the MOTUC female look a little thick and not very feminine. Again, this is totally subjective but I thought I'd post that pic!

EDIT: Also adding the Xtreme X-men Rogue pic. It's definitely one of the BEST female sculpts ever for me. And she's super poseable - You can open and close her hands - without looking Frankenstein-ish like the ML Elektra.

10156793a3.jpg

xm3_rogue8.jpg

[He-Dad]

It's great when she shows up like that around Hordak but he can't figure out that She-Ra is Adora

I know her hair is longer!!!

That's why the horde always loses...no attention to detail. Then again you would think the rebels would catch on too!

[Barezz]

That's a fair point Oulala, there are good ball joints and bad. That pic you posted is not bad and X-treme Rogue looks pretty nice.

[DisneyBoy]

What's hard to believe for me is that 30 years later, a 'Collector' figure is less poseable than its vintage counter part.

EXACTLY. Yes, yes, yes. This is so my biggest beef with Mattel's bizarre decisions, and the excuses they offer up afterwards.

"So we put a hole in She-Ra's head - why should it be a big deal?"

"We've consistently released She-Ra figures - look...there's four or five!"

"Even though we own these characters and obviously made a design choice different from what was in the show, we're going to claim not to be able to see that there's a difference!"


Oh Mattel. Sometimes, you're like the little kid who broke the lamp playing baseball but just won't admit it.

[scott metzger]

Please. I don't buy that for a second. They didn't think of it. "Brand equity"? Come on, you are selling these figures to die hard collectors, I think we all know who "the Great Rebellion" is. If the figures were being sold at retail there might be a grain of truth to this, but since they aren't, this is yet another Toyguru wash.

Also saying POP fans have "extremely narrow vision" for counting only Great Rebellion figures as POP is rude, abrasive, and dismissive. It also sidesteps responsibility. Had you simply went with "Great Rebellion" stickers instead of "POP" from the outset, then none of this would be an issue. When people ask for more POP now, they are really asking for more Great Rebellion, not more Horde members. You know that, we know that, and Mattel knows that. No need to treat your customer base like blinkered idiots for using your own confused terminology. This is not "respectfully disagreeing", it is berating and belittling.

"Great Rebellion" was never a title of anything in the classic lines or cartoons, anymore than "Space Mutants." It was a tag within the series, but never anything that had it's own logo anywhere. Mattel would have been making it up, just as they did with the mutants. Now, I'll agree we are seeing a bit of TG's patented snarkiness creeping in here again, but the logic stated is sound marketing. I don't care who you are selling to, branding is important (because people outside those buying right now see these figures all over the web), and without access to the likely more familiar "She-Ra" title from the cartoon used so much for licensing back in the day, the "POP" logo was the next most logical choice.

Me, I prefer them using the classic logos whenever possible; I'd much rather have a "He-Man" NA logo than the newly created mutants or galactic heroes tags.

[Tzadkiel]

There's only one great Rebellion, and it's in a galaxy far far away.

[chudman1000]

There's only one great Rebellion, and it's in a galaxy far far away.

Yes.... specifically on the distant planet of Etheria!

[hadley]

Did the original release of She-ra not come with the second head? I only got the "essentials" version a couple months ago and she came with a perfect spare head with no hole for that ridiculous mask.

[EtherianChronicles]

"Great Rebellion" was never a title of anything in the classic lines or cartoons, anymore than "Space Mutants." It was a tag within the series, but never anything that had it's own logo anywhere. Mattel would have been making it up, just as they did with the mutants. Now, I'll agree we are seeing a bit of TG's patented snarkiness creeping in here again, but the logic stated is sound marketing. I don't care who you are selling to, branding is important (because people outside those buying right now see these figures all over the web), and without access to the likely more familiar "She-Ra" title from the cartoon used so much for licensing back in the day, the "POP" logo was the next most logical choice.

Me, I prefer them using the classic logos whenever possible; I'd much rather have a "He-Man" NA logo than the newly created mutants or galactic heroes tags.

I don't think most people care - they have just adopted the Great Rebellion terminology because of Scott's word games so we could not be misinterpreted when we complained about the severe lack of Great Rebellion characters (what most people are referring to when they talk about PoP).

That said, I do give some validity to the term, as it is in the opening credits of each and every episode of the show. But I couldn't care less if they put a sticker on saying, "Superhot Female Girl Band of Bunnies" - as long as the dang figures get made.

[scott metzger]

But I couldn't care less if they put a sticker on saying, "Superhot Female Girl Band of Bunnies" - as long as the dang figures get made.

I'm with you on that!

[Old Bolty-Neck]

I hope to get back on track and keep these blogs going on a semi weekly basis

...
...Was wondering if I've been looking in the wrong place for Scott's blogs?
I mean it has been 6 months since this thread. Have there been any more?

[Uki]

Yeah, we are WAAAY overdo!