I
used to have the biggest
crush on Markie Post. I first remember her taking over as the female
co-star on The
Fall Guy
(why the heck isn’t The
Fall Guy
on Netflix or Amazon?), but where she really stole my heart was as
innocent and gorgeous public defender Christine Sullivan on NBC’s
Night
Court.
Harry
Anderson was great and all, but I really think I was watching that
show for Markie.
There are probably pictures that would better illustrate my point, but there are no better pictures of Markie Post. |
I
bring this up because the first thing I thought when I saw Angella
here was that she looks like Markie Post. I suppose an argument could
be made that she also sort of looks like Katee Sackhoff. I mean, this
is an action figure that isn’t actually based off of anybody.
It’s open to a certain level of interpretation.
I
also bring all of that up because I just don’t have too much to say
about Angella. You guys should all know by now that I’m not much of
a Princess of Power guy. I appreciate some of the characters, but
it’s just not in my wheelhouse. Cool-looking action figures are,
however, and Angella definitely fits that description. I wasn’t
necessarily enthused about her at first, but once I saw her in
person I was glad to have her.
FIRST
GLANCE
Those
wings look so much better on Angella than they do on Hawkgirl. The
size is more appropriate and they look fantastic white rather than
grey. As for the figure, she compliments Glimmer nicely and has a
very regal aspect that even Randor and Marlena don’t quite match.
PACKAGING
Wouldn’t
it be funny if Mattel for some crazy reason decided to redesign the
packaging for this line? Like, next month? I try not to be too
trollish or to embrace any degree of schadenfreude, but I have to
admit that it would amuse me to see the reactions from the
mint-on-card collectors.
Sorry
– I’m just having a shitty weekend. I wouldn’t actually want
that to happen. Much.
Angella’s
bio is pretty solid and lacks any confusing sequences of events. This
months’ mistake is that they wrote “Eternia” instead of
“Etheria” at one point. And the copy editor should have just
rewritten the entire last sentence.
LOOKS
This
figure represents Angella as she appeared in the Princess
of Power
cartoon rather than the action figure. Like most of these toys there
are significant differences between the two. I prefer the toy design,
but it was the right call to make this Filmation Angella. The line
is, overall, more Filmation-centric than anything else (though we’ve
obviously had plenty of variety) and if you’re only going to get
one shot at a character this is the way to do it.
The
face sculpt is excellent. Angella looks
like a queen. She has a serene expression that also denotes control
and power. I feel like a crazy person describing the mental
attributes of a piece of plastic, but that’s just how good the 4
Horsemen are. I would have preferred the longer hair of the toy, but
this style keeps the sculpt from interfering with the wings and
lends to that Markie Post likeness.
The
high collar and shoulder pads help, too. SUPER 80s. It’s so subtle
that it’s actually difficult to make out in person, but that part,
the bracers, and the boots have metallic pink trim painted on them. I
think they should have made the shade darker or lighter so that it
would stand out more.
This
figure – and several other MOTUC females – would look so
much better
if the waist joint were lower and the belt portion of the crotch
piece extended up over the lower torso so that that unsightly waist
joint was concealed. It just breaks a lot of these figures in two.
The crotch piece looks slightly less diaper-like than others and has
a smaller gap underneath. It seems to be molded a bit better.
The
boots are a nice 80s rock star/cowboy kind of thing. I like the
ridged design at the top. It makes them distinctive amongst the other
POP figures.
The
wings look great from the front and fugly from the back, but I don’t
know that there was a better way. Not while keeping them as poseable
as they are. And that’s important. To me, anyway. The sculpt is
fantastic, but I already knew that because I have Mattel’s Hawkman
and Hawkgirl. I very much prefer the coloring on these. The white
with blue highlights looks wonderful and really brings the sculpted
detail out in way that the grey of the DCUC figures did not. Also,
these look way more angelic.
The
ugly parts are the big ol’ hinge in the middle of the figure’s
back and the visible joints at the tops of the wings. I’m sure
these things could have been engineered to be more aesthetically
pleasing, but not on the budget the figures that have used them have
available. And I’d much rather have these jointed wings than some
static, non-poseable ones that were just stuck to the figure’s
back.
ACCESSORIES
Angella
comes with a sword and a halo thing.
I
believe this is a new sword, but I’m not going to go digging
through my box of spare parts to find out. I just don’t care that
much. But the crosspiece is quite distinctive and I don’t think
I’ve seen it before. This looks good and has some paint on it, but
unfortunately also bears the unsightly stamp of the biggest weapons
manufacturer on Etheria (and Eternia) – “CHINA”.
The
halo thing plugs into the top of the big hinge on the figure’s back
and sits behind Angella’s head. I don’t know how I feel about it.
It looks very much like an accessory for an 80s action figure for
girls, but one that hasn’t been updated at all. Some paint or a
more delicate sculpt would have been nice. As is it looks kind of
junky. I don’t think I’ll be displaying it. It would also be nice
if it angled forward a bit so that it appeared to be over her head
and not just behind it.
FUN
This
is a fun figure. As with all MOTUC figures, it has plenty of useful
articulation. It’s missing the calf joints that many have, but if
I’m making cuts those are the first to go. The wings add a ton of
play value, as they’re jointed in three places and open up all
kinds of new posing possibilities. Discounting those joints they look
great just about any way you pose them. I typically hang winged
figures from the ceiling, but I really like Angella looking like
she’s just touched down and is ready to whoop some ass.
She
isn’t exactly loaded with accessories, but those wings do have to
count for something. The sword is good and fits in either hand. The
halo thing may not be very attractive, but it does add an element of
playability and I’ll give Matty all the credit in the world for
making it sturdy and removable. We could’ve been stuck with it or
it could have been stupid fragile.
OVERALL
I
like this figure way more than I expected to, which is always a nice
surprise (and one that Matty delivers on a regular basis, which is
part of why I’m still collecting this line). Initially I was pretty
sure Angella would be going up on eBay, as she didn’t seem all that
exciting and certainly isn’t a crucial character, but once I saw
her in person that changed.
I’m
not going to say everyone should run right out and buy Angella, but
if you’re on the fence make yourself an opportunity to look at one
in person. I really dig her.
4
out of 5
If
you’re bold enough to take my word for it and don’t mind spending
what is probably too much money for one of these, you can get Angella
here and help out Needless Things!:
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