Hela is pure Kirby goodness, and she was a fantastic choice to be included in the 2015 SDCC exclusive Book of Vishanti set. Jack Kirby had a thing for Norse myths, god love him, and he created Hela in an effort to expand on his ever-growing Asguard corner of the burgeoning Marvel Universe.
According to myth, Hela was the ruler of Hel, the underworld where dead souls were collected, so she more or less watches over the Norse version of the Christian Hell, which would make her a formidable opponent for Thor indeed. Hela was an excellent choice for this exclusive set because, like fellow SDCC alum Satana, there is virtually zero chance of her ever being released at retail, and just look at her — she is one gorgeous figure. So while SDCC exclusives are often challenging to get, I’m thankful that this avenue does exist and that Hasbro has been using it for interesting characters like Hela who are not “retail friendly.”
So is Hela worth the trouble it takes to land an SDCC exclusive set? Let’s take a look!
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Now, I must confess — I didn’t buy the full set myself. I stalked listings for just Hela on eBay, hoping to score one with a price that fell within my comfort zone, and when I finally found one (at 2 am on a Friday night, no less), I pounced. And I am very glad I did.
Her design harkens back to the elaborate costumes Jack Kirby designed for his characters, and Hela would be right at home in Asguard or hanging out with Darkseid in Apokolips. Her headdress is elaborate and stunning, and I am truly impressed Hasbro was able to pull it off. Her body is cast in a opalescent dark, forest green with a much brighter green that brings out all the Kirby-esque stylings. The paint on my figure is clean and sharp, thankfully, and she almost looks as though her detailing should glow in the dark. It doesn’t (I checked), but it still looks fantastic.
Her headdress is my favorite aspect of the figure, and I give Hasbro a lot of credit for pulling it off as well as they did. The “antlers,” for lack of a better word, come unattached in the package, but they plug in easily into the back of her head. The fit is snug, and the effect is undeniably “Hela.”
The body she’s built on is the larger female body we’ve seen a few times at retail so far, and it works very well here. Hela has always been among the larger females to me, so for her to be able to look figures like Valkyrie in the eye feels right.
One aspect that sparked some concern right off the bat is her cape — it’s a soft-goods cape that’s attached to a plastic harness that plugs into her back and hangs over her neck. There isn’t much to the cape in terms of detail, so it kinda just looks like a lifeless piece of fabric hanging there. Normally I’m okay with soft goods, but I really wonder if a sculpted cape wouldn’t have been a better option here. I mean, since the harness is plastic anyway, it may have flowed better. But since the rest of the figure is so visually striking, the cape is an easy feature to ignore, so I guess that makes it something of a non-issue.
Hela’s only accessory is a day-glow green sword that I guess looks cool enough, but it lacks whatever “authenticity” other Marvel Legends weapons come packing. I’m not familiar with the sword, so maybe it’s some kind of energy-based blade? That’s what I’m going with because I don’t know how else to make sense of a day-glow green sword.
As far as articulation goes, if you have Thundra, Valkyrie, or the red She-Hulk, you basically know what to expect. Ball head; hinge-and-socket shoulders, elbows, and wrists; bicep and thigh cuts; double knees; rocker ankles; and what feel like 45-degree hips, which are kind of a pain to work with. Everything else has a nice, full range of motion, but I’m just not a fan of how the hips on this body function. Thankfully Hela won’t be doing many high kicks, so I can probably just ignore that aspect as she just looks intimidating and lords over my collection from a shelf up on high.
Hela scales nicely with other Marvel Legends female characters, and looks cool and imposing next to human-sized characters like Captain Marvel. She’s a good fit for the giant Thor figures Hasbro has been pumping out too. Pictured below is the most recent Thor from Marvel Select (which is roughly the same size as Hasbro’s recent Thor figures), and he succeeds in making Hela look almost dainty and feminine. 
Now, since Hela was part of an SDCC exclusive box set, the only way to get her is by buying one on eBay or by stalking the Hasbro site in hopes that the site gets relisted. Original “retail” price of the set was $105, but, again, she can be had as a single on eBay if you prefer. A decent price for just Hela would be in the $30-$40 range, but that may increase as availability dwindles. I think she’s worth paying a premium for, and I’m glad I made the effort to score one at a price I felt comfortable with. Hopefully you have the same good fortune.
