This review was originally published on January 22nd, 2010.
Club Eternia has begun. If you’re one of the folks that were aware the subscription was available last July and were crazy enough to agree to buy nine unknown figures – the last of which you wouldn’t even see for sixteen months – then you had a good time last Friday. If you weren’t, well I hope you were fast.
Adora was the first figure in the 2010 Club Eternia subscription and for subscribers things seemed to go relatively easy. She was shipped that day, before the weekend, and has been showing up across the country all this week. For the rest of the Adora-seekers, the figure went live at noon on the fifteenth and lasted until approximately noon-twenty-seven. Yep, twenty-seven minutes. Did Mattel set a number not much higher than the subscription for 2010? Did Mattel go light on Adora to reduce risk? Or is your friend secretly a MOTU fan, part of a large silent majority of POP-lovers that just won’t admit it for fear of rejection. Any could be true, but we’ll have to wait and see how Trap Jaw goes to know more. For now, we have Adora in-hand and up for review.
Adora was built using the standard female buck and that gives her an instant weakness, she’s a bobblehead. Her long blonde locks keep the head more stable than the Goddess, but it’s still annoying. More annoying is Mattel’s inability to fix this simple issue when other companies can offer female figures with interchangeable heads and good neck articulation. Despite that, the sculpt itself is excellent. Adora has a new head, and features all-new arms and boots. The new pieces will be great for the line – they’re plain for the most part and can be reused easily. The head sculpt does a great job of capturing the Filmation look and makes me really want to see the 4H take on the Sorceress.
Like Teela, a soft plastic tunic finishes off the figure and hides her unsightly leg articulation. It doesn’t block the hips or waist articulation much at all, an improvement over Teela and the Goddess. The skirt/diaper issue doesn’t exist when you have the figure in hand. I’m willing to bet that many fans didn’t realize it was a skirt and that the entire issue was overblown. The back of her tunic features a slot that snugly holds the power sword.
Articulation is the line standard except for the missing ab crunch and slightly restricted waist and hip joints. The neck is loose, but she can look side-to-side and down with her hair holding the head in place in some poses. The joints are tight and she can hold most any pose if balanced. Continue to Page 2…
I really like her. She is much nicer in hand than any of the photos I’ve seen. I know two other people are going to be super happy when they get theres.
She really is, no doubt about it.
That last picture is your best one yet!
Thank you! I always feel bad for He-Man.
I love that last funny! Best one yet!
Great review. That harness looks like it belongs on her. That’s strange.
It’s the one from the Goddess, so it’s unstretched! That and I found a good angle where it lined up. It’s still a bit big for her.
She looks great! Glad to see the final product come out so well after those horrid productin pictures.
Me too! She turned out great. Had she been painted better, she’d’ve been perfect.
My Adora had a lot of unpainted/blotchy areas too. 🙁
For me, it’s mainly the right foot and the hands. I wonder how much of her is molded white…
I don’t collect MOTU but I almost bought her cause she’s a hottie. I think it’s the expression.
They did a great job on the face! I wish we’d gotten the purple eyeshadow, but it still looks good.
Both my Adora’s came perfectly (wait… that sounded wrong..) anyway, they seemed perfect and, to tell you the truth, she was the reason I subscribed this year. Probably the reason I started collecting this line. Awesome fig! I hope they continue with more POP’s cos I want a GLIMMER! Oh yeah!
😀
Hopefully, they’ll do a better mix in 2011 and get some more POP/NA figures into the line. A few of those evil masters and snakemen are going to have to wait.
she looks excellent… but it seems someone w/ a busted goddess has now busted the matty chick-neck… it’s time to fire up the IAT engine and get that neck FIXED!!
We’re looking into it!
Adora looks great, maybe the thing with her sword is that the want to use the same for She-Ra but make different, so Adora’s will be plain, and She-Ra colored and metallic. The same thing might happen with Adam, same sword plain colors. It’s just a theory anyway.
A friend of mine was supposed to get me mine and he forgot to set the alarm. There will be punishment for this, oh yes, there will be punishment…
That would be cool! I want Adam to have his magenta sword, but I wouldn’t be against a dull gray one for folks that aren’t fans of his classic gear.
Sorry to hear about your Adora!
I was tempted to pick up one of these when I first saw the prototype pic.
The change made in the final piece was a disheartening dealbreaker. The quality in face sculpt dropped from fashion plate to collection plate.
The final result was much closer to the proto than that awful production sample, but you’re right it still could be better.
I skipped on her, 2010 is the year of budget cuts and since I bought 2 BA He-Mans (one is for my cousin’s b-day next month), Adora got cut. I’m not to bummed, though. She looks sweet and I love the design, but I’d rather have She-Ra on the shelf. I know my wife will dig her, too. Next month (if I’m able to sign in because I happen to be moving that day) I’ll prob skip on Battle Cat and opt for Trap Jaw & poss Man-at-Arms. Really painful as all the reviews are making him out to be the best thing since cubed Cantaloupe!
Also, the last pic knocked it out of the park! Fantastic job, ND!
Thanks!
She-Ra should be cool. I hope we get to see her next month.
I’m hoping to get Adam soon and a Marlena eventually. It will be nice to finally have all four members of the royal family!
All those previews for Battle Cat! I know. It feels like only Poe and I missed out! They’re really pushing that one…
“…we’ll have to wait and see how Trap Jaw goes to know more.”
I wouldn’t count on Trap Jaw (or even Moss Man) to tell that tale, considering how many are likely to be buying two to display both heads… I honestly think they believe that most collectors got the subscription and they don’t need a large day-and-date-order supply, but there were plenty of people who didn’t want to sign-up for a bunch of unannounced figures and more (like me) who got into the line after the sign-up had ended. I missed out, too, because I thought I’d wait until the traffic had died down and logged in at 12:30 Eastern… Luckily I got a good deal on her and He-Ro from the same seller and should have them both next week. This year I get two subscriptions!
Glad you were able to get her!
You’re right about the upcoming ones being thrown off by the heads. I think Mattel might know that they should have more day of, but the reissues allow for them to be conservative – fans will still buy the ones they missed later.
I’m part of a group that order multiple subs this year and it’s great! I pay less than $3 shipping per figure and I have an extra that I can keep or sell to someone that missed out.
Ok…so lookin at the sword that came with Adora and reading your review on the missing metallic paint got me to thinkin, they left it off because it would have rubbed off each time you put it in the holster on her back. Thats my theory.
LOL
I suppose that’s possible, but my He-Man holster is about the same and hasn’t had a problem yet.