Toy Review – Masters of the Universe Classics Frosta By Mattel

I’m not necessarily a fan of She-Ra and never have been. Right or wrong, it comes down to the fact that it’s girl stuff. Yes, it all fits right into the Masters of the Universe mythos and you could even argue that there is barely a noticeable difference between the He-Man and She-Ra cartoons. I don’t dislike that side of the Universe, I’m simply not inclined towards it.

That being said I am not at all opposed to these characters showing up in the Masters of the Universe Classics line. There are some truly great designs that make for awesome toys. If the Four Horsemen can nail them, they are solid additions to the MOTUC shelf. Both She-Ras are cool and Catra is one of my favorite female figures. Okay – wait – we haven’t gotten a whole lot of Princess of Power figures, have we?

She-Ra

Bubble Power She-Ra

Catra

Bow

Adora

Swift Wind

Tallstar

Starla

Jewelstar

Shadow Weaver

I’m not including the male Horde members because they were part of the boys’ toy line.

That’s not actually a very impressive representation. Three figures of essentially the same character, a dude that could well fit in with the regular MOTUC line, and a three pack of little-known throwaway characters. If I were a POP fan I’d be pissed.

There was a time when I had quite a few debates with DCW Hooligan Little Pond over the execution of these POP figures, but she must have just gotten disgusted with the whole thing because I haven’t heard from her here in a while now. I still think extra heads with rooted hair would have been an excellent thing, but of course Matty is always moaning about how little money they have. Uh huh.

Okay, so onto Frosta. There are three categories of Princess of Power characters – ones I actively want, ones I’m okay with, and ones I do not want. Frosta is one I was okay with. Just because I’m thinking about it, here’s my list:

Actively Want

Octavia

Glimmer

Castaspella

Mermista

Queen Angella

Entrapta

Scorpia

Okay With

Sea Hawk

Double Trouble

Do Not Want

Arrow (sorry – I don’t want to pay Beast prices for a horse)

Flutterina

Peekablue

Perfuma

Spinnerella

Sweet Bee

I didn’t include Kowl or Loo-Kee because I feel like they should be accessories, but I wouldn’t mind seeing them. And the forthcoming Netossa is firmly on my Do Not Want list, but too bad.

Anyway, I’m cool with Frosta (HA!). She has a solid design and isn’t too goofy for me.

First Glance: Lots of new parts here. Her cape and hair do not appear to be translucent as they were (and still are) on the Matty product page. Still, she looks pretty good. Is it me or is that a villain face, though? Or maybe another type of face…

Articulation:

Head – ball joint

Shoulders – ball joint

Biceps – swivel

Elbows –pivot

Wrists – swivel

Waist – swivel

Hips – ball joint

Thighs – swivel

Knees – pivot

Ankles – rocker joint

In keeping with the recent MOTUC releases, Frosta’s ankle rockers are barely noticeable as such.

All of her articulation works quite well as far as the range of motion and ability to hold a pose. I was once again impressed by the movement of the shoulders on the female MOTUC buck. There are many lines where you wouldn’t be able to achieve a pose such as this:

So good job on that one, Horsemen.

Sculpt: Her thighs are so massively ugly I was shocked. Matty used the newer female articulation on her. Unfortunately, her skirt is cut in such a way that it is clearly visible. I don’t understand this at all. The skirt is limiting the movement in that area anyway, so why not just use the Battlefield Teela legs? And not only is there an ugly discontinuity in the shape of her thighs, they used white plastic for the joint so it sticks out even worse.

Frosta has a new head, new thighs, and a new (chest).

As with all of the female MOTUC figures, Frosta’s hair looks great. It has the same fullness and appearance of motion that the rest do, but without looking too active. Like, it’s not all swept off to one side or anything. I feel like the Four Horsemen are really taking the look of your collection together on a shelf into account when they design these figures. No sculpt or detail contradicts any other figure enough to cause a problem. For instance – there isn’t one guy with a cape blowing off to the left and then a girl with her hair blowing to the right. I like the detailing of her little bangs, as well. Her face looks mean. I feel like this is an angry face better suited for a villain. As a matter of fact, I was in the same boat with Frosta as I was with Cy-Chop – due to their looks and my unfamiliarity with the characters I was confused about their alignments. I was on the verge of putting this chick up on eBay because I disliked her face so much.

Then Mrs. Troublemaker pointed out that it might just be the first example of action figure Duck Face.

She thought the face was fine (if a bit Ducky), so I’m keeping her (Frosta, not Mrs. Troublemaker – wait… both. I meant both).

The torso sports a great new mold that is distinctive and has a nice amount of detail. The Horsemen have worked the frosty theme into this figure very well.

Same goes for the new thighs. The tops of the boots look good and have a very nice, distinct separation from the thighs.

Apparently Frosta’s forearms are reversed like Stinkor’s were. While I do agree that it is completely unacceptable that this sort of thing just keeps happening, I can’t tell. Not really. They look fine to me. Matty is putting together some sort of apology in the form of a gift. I have to wonder how they can justify not doing the same thing for Stinkor.

All of the joints – except for those hideous thighs - are worked into the figure very well and don’t disrupt the aesthetics.

Coloring: The color scheme is fantastic. It’s obvious – blue, light blue, white – but it looks very good and the paint apps are applied well.

The hair isn’t as translucent as the product picture, but it does look cool. It’s just see-through enough to look neat in the light. Her Duck Face is painted well, but I feel like she should have had blue lips. Maybe a dark blue. Actually, white eyeliner would have been cool as well. I think there’s a lot more they could have done with the face to make Frosta look cool and not giving her Duck Face was just the first step.

I’m okay with the white being a bit grey. I’ve been collecting toys basically since I was a kid and do you know how many white action figures I own? Well, me neither, but they’re mostly yellow, which is nasty. I’d much rather have a light grey figure that was supposed to be white than a yellow figure that was supposed to be white.

The details and accents are all tight and well done. I particularly like the detailing on the… I guess I’m going to have to call it a bustier. I mean, that’s what it is. But whatever – it looks good. I think Frosta is one of the most successful figures as far as the Horsemen portraying a consistent theme.

Flair: The cape is not translucent at all (it is in the production photo), which is a massive disappointment because translucence is second only to glow-in-the-dark on my list of Awesome Action Figure Gimmicks. I do love the shape of the cape. It looks like a Bat-Family cape, but also evokes a frosty theme. The little clasp at the neck is nicely done as well.

The new skirt piece looks really good. I love the design and the cut and it is another one of those things that makes Frosta so distinctive. Thanks to the shortness and positioning of the cut it doesn’t interfere with articulation as much as it could have, but it also reveals those ugly thighs. The skirt isn’t the problem, though – the thigh joints are. It was just a bad decision.

Accessories: Frosta comes with a really awesome staff and a really awesome shield. Why am I so excited to be getting two good accessories? Has Matty abused us that much this past year?

The shield is neat and I don’t think I knew we were getting it. It is not pictured on the product page. Obviously I love the fact that it’s translucent, but the design is actually quite nice too. I'm surprised it works as well for Frosta as it did for She-Ra with only a color change. It fits perfectly onto the figure’s forearm and just generally looks cool.

The staff is rad. The top portion that looks like it spins does. Not smoothly, but it does move. I was hoping one flick of the finger would set it going but you kind of have to keep flicking it. The sculpt is nice, with the vanes resembling ice and the little studded business in the middle. I think I’m a little disappointed that the actual staff portion doesn’t have more detail, but overall this is still a nice piece.

Packaging: It’s the regular MOTUC blister card. Still neat and still effective. Here’s his bio:

I find the name Mackenzie to be very odd for Etheria. I also don’t feel like that’s the face of somebody who is “sweet, kind, and loyal to her allies”. At best it’s the face of someone who is “fourteen and posing for a Facebook profile picture”.

Value: $28.70 (including shipping). Frosta is middle-of-the-road for the line. Not many of the MOTUC are worth that price, but some come close. Frosta is acceptable, but not great.

Overall: This is another figure that pisses me off for coming so close to being great and just blowing it. The face is a design choice. I may not agree with it, but I can’t call it a problem. But those thighs are just awful. If you are looking down on Frosta from above, she looks great just standing on the shelf, but once you get up close the figure is disappointing. Throw in the forearms and there are too many problems. Yeah – the forearms don’t bother me, but they’re still errors. Worse, they’re errors that have happened before.

3 out of 5

I’m sure you can snag the Ice Empress of Etheria on BBTS or eBay. It’s not like they’ll ever make a better one, so if you’re a Frosta fan go ahead and buy.

-Phantom