While I know all of the major players on Eternia, I am not overly versed in all of the ancillary characters, style guide references and mini-comic versions. I think this variation of Teela came from the mini-comics. The biography on the back of the package certainly doesn’t help to explain the Warrior Goddess’ change in attire and – more strangely – hair color. And this is the same Teela we are all familiar with.
I am never going to be displeased with an action figure of a hot chick in a fur bikini. Granted, I might have preferred Teela’s red hair, but whatever – this is a cool variant that looks great standing next to Vikor.
First Glance: I am a huge fan of this variation on Teela. It doesn’t matter where the look comes from because she looks like something out of Conan, and that is always going to be a win in my book. I don’t think I realized she came with a blaster, but I’m glad she did. It looks like she has new legs, which could be bad or good.
Man, how awesome would it be if Mattel could get the license to do Barbarella figures?
Sculpt: This face is the same as the original Teela, but with long hair. It looks good and is distinctive from the other females in the line. The hair looks great and I’m glad that it isn’t super-long. Actually, I might would have preferred it be a bit shorter because it interferes with the neck articulation as it is.
Most of this figure’s articulation is the same as the other MOTUC females, with ball-jointed shoulders and neck; swivel biceps (concealed just under the bracers), wrists, waist and calves (concealed at the boot tops) and pivoting knees and elbows with the standard rocker ankles. All of the joints on mine are solid, but the elbows feel a bit loose. I have a feeling they’re not going to stay posed forever.
Where this figure differs from other female Masters releases is the abdomen and the hips. Since this figure has a bare midriff, Mattel opted to forgo the pivot joint that most of the figures sport. I think this is great. While the joint can be worked into a ridiculously over-muscled male abdomen, it would be ugly in a female. And it really doesn’t do too much for the females that have it anyway, as theirs are restricted by the clothing they have.
The hips are another issue. Rather than the combination ball-joint/swivel that the other Masters feature, this Teela has a more basic ball-joint analog. It limits the posability somewhat, but the other hip joints would look ugly as heck sticking out of those fur panties. Mattel would have had to give the figure much larger trunks to hide the admittedly ugly joints the other females have and that just wouldn’t have looked as good. I definitely noticed the reduction in posability while I was taking the pictures for this one. I kept trying things that would have worked with other figures. All in all, though, I’d rather have a nicer looking figure than one that can do deeper squats.
Speaking of furry panties, Teela’s look good, as does her Battle Bra™. They fit very well and have none of the weird scaling issues that more diminutive clothing items on smaller figures sometimes have (giant clasps, parts that are too flimsy or too thick).
Design: Not much to say, here. There’s a lot of skin and it all looks… skin-like. Teela’s face has a minimal amount of “make-up”, and what is there looks natural and solid. The hair has some nice shading. The fur on the boots and panties looks good. So does the detailing on the metal parts. Honestly, this one would have been kind of hard to screw up.
Accessories: Battleground Teela comes with a sword and a laser pistol. Thankfully, the sword is made out of a firm plastic and isn’t misshapen or anything. It’s a cool design and goes along with the Conan-looking motif. The pistol obviously does not go along with said motif, but looks very cool. It almost looks like one of those WETA guns.
While there really wasn’t a need for Teela to include any more than this, I can’t help but feel that Mattel could have thrown a little something else in. Perhaps an alternate head with a horned helmet (like Vikor’s) or a cloak or shield or something. But still, what’s here is good and perfectly acceptable.
Packaging: The standard Masters of the Universe Classics packaging. It looks nice and makes the figures look even bigger than they are. You also get a bio on the back that is sort of a composite of each character’s history.
Overall: I am thrilled by this figure. I would love to have Viking-esque variants of everybody. I’m pretty sure Battleground Teela is the last truly Conan-looking one we’ll see, but I’m glad to have it.
4 out of 5
Shortly after this figure’s release Mattel stated that they wouldn’t be reissuing everybody any longer. It was only going to be A-list characters. That is a pretty vague definition, but I’m not sure I would expect to see Battleground Teela reissued anytime soon. If you like the look of her, I’d go get one form BigBadToyStore or maybe just wait and see if you can avoid shipping and pick one up at a local con. Where I hope to see at least one Battleground Teela costume. With red hair.
-Phantom
