“Most Powerful Woman in the Universe!
When Adora raises the Sword of Protection above her head and cries “For the Honour of Grayskull,” she transforms into She-Ra, Princess of Power and leader of Etheria’s Great Rebellion!” – Box art bio
Finally, She-Ra!
It really is about time I took a look at the characters from Etheria in the Masterverse line.
Mattel added the Princess of Power sub-line back in 2022 and since then has released a number of key characters from the planet Etheria. Unfortunately, with the last figure being released back at the start of 2024, it looks like this sub-line has been quietly cancelled (or maybe replaced by the new New Etheria sub-line?).
Nevertheless, some great figures were released under the “Princess of Power” title and the first one I got was appropriately enough, She-Ra herself.
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Boxart
Mattel gave this She-Ra figure the deluxe treatment and it certainly has the box to go with that title! This is bigger than the boxes the Deluxe Beast Man and Skelegod figures came in. However, the figure itself and the accessories look a bit spread out. Did the box need to be this big?
Well, one big plus is that the large box means there’s more room for the fantastic art:
That is a gorgeous piece. The winged horse by the way is Swift Wind who appeared in both the vintage toy line and in the Filmation cartoon. Although Spirit has finally recently made an appearance in the Origins line, there’s been no sign of any similar figure in the Masterverse line alas.
The art from the side of the box is also great, with She-Ra in a classic “sword aloft” pose.
Figure Overview
She-Ra is the first female Masterverse character I bought. It’s interesting comparing it to the male figures and although I’ve only got a couple of critiques overall, this does bring me straight to my first one: She-Ra is too short!
Isn’t she? Shouldn’t the Princess of Power be at least the same height as He-Man? Side by side with her brother, she does seem rather slight. (As usual, my go to He-Man figure is New Eternia Viking He-Man.)
To be fair, this figure does stand at about 17.7cm which is bang on the 7inch scale of the Masterverse line. However when most of the male figures stand taller than that, the Princess of Power herself seems a little small!
I realise this is because this figure is using the same overall build as the other female Masterverse figures, but I do think She-Ra should be a bit taller at least.
Interestingly, the later New Etheria She-Ra figure is a lot taller.
(Eventually I’ll get around to reviewing the newer She-Ra figure!)
Articulation
Although I felt this figure should have been taller, it does carry over all of the articulation from the male figures. There are some caveats though:
Top Half:
- In theory, the head/neck is on a ball joint as usual and should allow a full range of movement. However, She-Ra’s long hair is made from a solid plastic and restricts the movement available. Looking up is pretty much out of the question but She-Ra can look over her shoulder, just about.
- The shoulder joints are good and allow you to rotate the arms all the way around and swing them out. The alternative set of shoulder armour is very lightweight, and doesn’t hinder the movement at all.
- The bicep joints or cuts allow you to rotate both arms in and out.
- Double joints at the elbows as with the male figures. The slimmer arms do seem to make the joints appear uglier.
- Wrist joints. These are same as the male characters allowing you to rotate the hands as well as swivel them in and out. The peg is very small so care is needed when swapping the hands out for the alternatives provided.
- Mid-torso joint just underneath the bust. It seems to work the same as usual, allowing you to bend the figure forwards and backwards as well side to side. Moving the joint about does break the design on the front of the dress though.
Bottom half:
- The standard waist joint is also brought over from the male figures. At first I thought this was missing but it is present and correct, just under the skirt. Quite a clever way of going about it.
- Hip joints, allowing for forwards and backwards motions for the legs as well as out to the side. The short skirt is very flexible so the legs are not hindered in any way.
- Mid-thigh cuts allowing you to rotate the legs all the way around. Both of these joints have small gaps here which is unfortunate.
- Double joints at the knees and these are really tight!
- Boot cuts on both legs.
- And finally the ankle joints. A bit tight but nothing like the knee joints.
Yes I’ve got some niggles, but overall the articulation is very good indeed.
Double or Single Joints?
Some of the joints do look a tad ugly on this figure. The double joints in the arms in particular don’t look particularly great. I am being a back seat toy designer here, but is it something to do with the arms being so much slimmer than the male figures’?
It’s interesting to note that on later figures, the double joints in the arms were replaced with single joints. I wonder if I’m not the only one that found them ugly?
Design/Paint Application
This She-Ra figure is clearly heavily based on the look from the Filmation cartoon. However, there are a number of design differences that make this figure unique. The alternative head and armour in particular, really give this She-Ra figure a bit of a new look.
It has to be said, if you were looking for a completely Filmation cartoon accurate She-Ra, this figure might disappoint you a little. The New Eternia ethos of giving character designs a bit of a change over has been carried over. However, the default look is pretty close with some really nice details on the dress, bracers and boots:
On the figure itself, the paint application isn’t as elaborate as on later Masterverse figures but it is nice and bright and clean.
Accessories
As a deluxe figure, this version of She-Ra has quite a few accessories:
Two Heads!
That’s right, this version of She-Ra comes with two heads. One has a much more Filmation style to it and paired with the shorter cape, gives you a fairly cartoon accurate figure. Although, as noted already, Filmation purists will probably find plenty to quibble over!
The alternative head is a bit of departure with She-Ra wearing a mask that seems inspired by the legendary Valkyries. The idea of the mask does go back to the original vintage figure however. With that figure, a tiara could be flipped around to be used as a mask.
I’m going to stick my neck out and say I prefer this masked head. Something about it along with the solid white eyes makes She-Ra look quite formidable.
The hair is pretty much the same on both heads and as mentioned above, is a pretty solid plastic. It does have a wash over it so it’s not simply a flat yellow blonde.
Head Swapping with Care!
While I’m talking about the heads I’ve got to mention a word of warning. Probably due to the female figures being much slimmer than the male figures, the head/neck joint is very thin. It really feels like the neck could snap when swapping the heads. Nobody wants that!
Clearly, swapping heads is intended otherwise why would an alternative head be included? However do take care when doing so.
Armour and Capes
Out of the box, She-Ra is wearing the shorter cape familiar from the Filmation cartoon. This attaches around the figure’s neck using a rather chunky gold coloured hoop. Not super flattering but after looking at some stills from the vintage cartoon, I guess this is supposed to be the gold choker that She-Ra wears there.
The cape itself is a much lighter material than the heavy felt cape that the Skelegod figure had. It’s a nice bright red and works really well.
Calling the alternative outfit armour might be overdoing it, but it does include some lightweight gold coloured armour that fits over the neck and sits on the figure’s shoulders.
The design has a heart shaped opening which is reminiscent of Bow’s armour from the Filmation cartoon. The attached cape is made of the same material as the default one but is much longer, going almost all the way down to the feet.
The Filmation look is good, but again I’m really liking the alternative outfit.
Sword and Shield
He-Man has a Sword of Power, so She-Ra has a Sword of Protection. It’s quite a nice cartoon style design although it has come out of the box a little warped!
The sword has a central, translucent blue gem. Looking more closely at it, it seems the sword as a whole is made in that translucent blue plastic and then painted silver – except for that gem. Quite a clever way of doing it and looks great.
The shield is made in a similar way including another translucent blue gem in the middle. In fact, if held up to the light the blue shows through the silver paint in a really rather nice effect. The Sword has the same effect, but being bigger it’s easier to see with the shield.
(And yes, in the cartoon the Sword transforms into the shield. She-Ra technically shouldn’t be holding them both at the same time! But they both look so good I’m ignoring that.)
Last but not Least – Hands
A deluxe figure isn’t a deluxe figure without a choice of hands! Here we get:
- A pair of gripping hands.
- A more open hand for the left arm. This makes fitting the shield easier but you can use a gripping hand with a bit of finagling.
- A punching fist for the right arm.
Nothing too exciting in the hands department maybe, but enough to allow for a range of posing options.
Final Thoughts
As the figure was released back in 2022, it’s a useful example of the overall build for the female figures released earlier in the line. I do feel this makes She-Ra a bit short, although the build would be absolutely fine for other characters like Evil-Lyn for example.
There’s also the matter of the ugly joints. The thigh cuts will vary figure to figure so I was simply a bit unlucky perhaps. To be honest, they’re mostly covered up by the skirt anyway. The double elbow joints though are another matter. It is nice to have the extra articulation they provide but I’m a little on the fence about how they look.
The head/neck joint seems too delicate for regular head swapping too. A bit of care though seems to do the trick.
Concentrating on the design, I do think this is a great version of She-Ra. The accessories allow you to mix up the look quite a bit, which is fantastic. I’m a big fan of the mask and longer cape myself.
Would I recommend this version of She-Ra to Filmation fans? Probably not, particularly as there’s a Cartoon Collection Origins figure that gets much closer to the vintage cartoon design.
Apart from that and a few reservations about the build of the figure, this is another awesome figure from the Masterverse line.
Where to Buy
Although this figure isn’t super rare, it was released a few years ago now. So it does seem to be out of stock at the smaller independent online retailers in the UK. Your best bet might be to search eBay or perhaps pop along to your nearest bricks and mortar geeky shop if you’re lucky enough to live near one.
