Computer issues delayed my Battle Ground Teela pics, but click through if you haven’t already had your fill of this month’s MOTUC quarterly ‘bonus’ figure.
Bio
Battleground Teela – Heroic Heir to The Sorceress
Real Name: Teela
After being wounded by King Hssss’ venom, the Sorceress of Grayskull knew her time was short. She quickly arranged a mission with Teela to the Elder’s training citadel in the Polar Ice Cap. Here, the Sorceress revealed Teela’s true heritage, that she was secretly her magically cloned daughter and destined to become the next guardian of the Castle Grayskull and its secrets! Although in a state of disbelief, Teela knew in her heart that her mother spoke the truth, and trained with the Sorceress until the venom overtook her. Returning to Grayskull as the new guardian, Teela uses her new magic to protect the Power of Grayskull and guard the safety of all Eternians.
Whooo this one is a doozy and pretty upsetting to a lot of fans. I can’t say I was too bothered by this bio. I suppose it’s because I had assumed that the sorceress would die and Teela would take her place at some point in the story. I think the only issue I have is that the bio doesn’t really relate to Teela’s look in this costume, but that’s a minor gripe. I really don’t need an in story explanation as to why her hair is blond or costume is different, though I have read some cool ones from fans. I could see people ignoring this bio completely and using this figure as a companion for Vikor (they look fantastic together), but I really love the old DC miniseries. It was beautifully illustrated by George Tuska, so I have a lot of love for this look actually being Teela.
Accessories
Teela comes with a couple really nice weapons (a sword and blaster) that match up perfectly to the ones she wields in the original DC comics He-Man miniseries. The plastic on both of these items are nice and sturdy. The blaster itself is a beautifully detailed piece of work with some great retro sci-fi design that feels like it belongs to the original line. I love it and would welcome some additional colored variants in a weapons pack.
Sculpt
Teela features mostly new parts with some re-use on the calves and arms and I think the face from the original Teela figure. The new nude torso is appropriately curvy and not too thin like most female action figure sculpts you see. When I first saw the pics of the prototype and early samples it felt to me like the bra cups were a little bit too large and too far away from what was in the comic, but in person they look a lot better to me.
Articulation
Teela has the usual MOTUC articulation with a couple of subtractions. She has no ab crunch and the swivel joint from the hip has been removed. I was used to the MOTUC females not having an ab crunch, but the removal of the thigh swivel seemed to be a big mistake to me.
Fortunately, the change was not quite as dire as I had assumed it to be. She still was able to get into all the poses I wanted while shooting the pics fairly well. There was a slight awkwardness to the positioning of her thighs here and there that a swivel would have corrected, but it’s not as bad as I had anticipated. I think the amazing ankle joints (seriously, these Teela based figures have my favorite ankle joint design of any super articulated action figure around) help out finding solid footing.
I have to say, though, I don’t really see the benefit of this new design. I had originally thought this move was for the aesthetics of the thigh because the higher cut furry shorts would show the ugly leg joint articulation. Comparing this Teela to the original, the ‘skirt’ piece seems similarly high cut, so I’m not sure why they made the change.
Speaking of the furry shorts, they are cast in a stiffer plastic than would be ideal. It hinders movement a bit. It’s not the worst offender, but it could have been better.
The hair is also rock solid plastic and hinders the neck articulation a little bit.
Paint
The paint is pretty standard for MOTUC figures. I really like the metallic bronze and gold of her gauntlets and belt. The face is a little bit shiny, though in normal light at my house I don’t find it objectionable as I do in some pictures.
Overall
I was hotly anticipating this figure when it was announced, but my fever was reduced a bit by the news of the articulation change. I’m glad to say that change was not as devastating to my enjoyment of this figure as I thought it would be and I’m more than happy adding her to the shelf!
Turnarounds
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