“Creatures of the sea, hear Mermista’s plea. Search the shallows. Probe the deep, find the answer that I seek. “ -Mermista. POP Episode: “Wild Child”
I’m going all-in on MOTU this week as we try to catch up on my Classics reviews. I’ve been struggling to keep up and gosh darn if a new one doesn’t show up every month! I’m still on December and May’s figure is set to arrive any day now so it’s time to get a move on. Today, I’m going to take a quick look at the last figure from 2014, Mermista!
I should start out Mermista’s review by reiterating that I’m sometimes a bad fan. My biggest two wants when POP Classics kicked off within MOTUC were Frosta & Mermista. And… I’m not terribly fond of Frosta. It is just me and lofty expectations? Are these figures just not as cool as other POP ladies? Some of my favorite POP figures are ones that I didn’t really care much about before they got here. I know that Posnanski’s +/- system must be somewhat in play, but I also know that Frosta had actual problems. Does Mermista? I’ll walk through my nitpicks and see how she comes out on the other side.
In terms of sculpt, Mermista got all the new parts she needed. The boots and gauntlets are reuses, but the new head, new skirt, and new body are all nice, accurate pieces. The hair is sitting too high on my Mermista, but I do like the overall piece. It flows well and frames the face sculpt. The new torso is also sculpted for accuracy but I think this is where some of my dislike creeps in. It’s one piece, dress & torso. Now, on other figures, the two-piece solution has been used to save costs, but it had a nice unintended effect of providing the final figure layers. It looks sharp.
Mermista didn’t get that. On her, the dress looks painted on because… it is; the necklace too. This was surely cheaper for Mattel in the long run, but I think it really robs the figure of a finished look. And Mermista comes out looking cheaper than some of the other POP figures as a result. I’m not one to knock a toy for looking like a toy, but it is in this case, I find it detracts from the figure. I would’ve liked to see Mattel stick with the same approach they’ve done for nearly all the other female figures rather than switching up on this one. The one-piece torso also exaggerates how much bigger the skirt piece is – and yes, I’m still calling it a skirt. The ladies never getting their proper leotards will always be one of the chump things in the line. Continue to Page 2…
Good review. I don’t think I ever paid that much attention to how her torso was crafted but seeing it now it definitely was a bizarre option. I do still like her quite a bit, though. I put her in eighth place last year on my top ten MOTUC releases of 2014. I gotta love the conch shell horn but a spear or trident would have been amazing.
Put Gwildor’s head on her legs… Instant Nightmare fuel!
Pretty much spot on with everything in your review, I have to agree that my biggest problem is she can’t sit properly with the tail also it might have been nice to have the option of posing her on her belly with her torso propped up and her tail in the air. Oh well maybe next time.
you mean like that pose from The Little Mermaid where the wave crashes behind Ariel?
yeah that sort of thing
DR dropped my sub on me last December, for no apparent reason. As such, I’ve been left wondering if I should try and pick up the figs I missed out on. Am looking at it as a blessing in disguise now. Just not as excited by these releases. Plus, I’ve been better able to build up a sweet new XC bike…
“I’m happiest when Mattel can plop an offensive weapon in the mix for the ladies”
wait, what?
totally misread that the first time. LOL
Too bad she’s too big for them to “lend” that tail to a potential DC Little Mermaid. #longestlongshotever.
Lemmy – did you change your card or address? they dropped me for trying to update my card. It should NOT take multiple calls to “correct” this!
Nope. Didn’t change anything. All info was current and up to date. After all the complaints about DR, this was only my second issue in five or so years.
Yup, great review, as ever, and I pretty much agree with everything in it.
Aw crap, it finally happened, I’m gonna have to buy a motu figure because they went ahead and made my only weakness – mermaids xD
How could they not make her tail hinge backwards at the hips? How could they make a mermaid figure ant not let us put her in the classic mermaid pose, belly down on a giant rock, arcing backwards as we sail by staring in lust and disbelief as our ship crashes into a jagged reef? lol