Masters of the Universe Classics Feature – Scorpia

Scorpia is the May 2014 Club Eternia subscription figure and one of a handful of prominent Filmation She-Ra characters, like Shadow Weaver and Madame Razz, that never had an official action figure until now.  For a long while, Mattel did not have the rights to make Filmation-only characters like Scorpia in the MOTUC line, and the combination of those two factors made her a constant fixture on top ten fan-demanded lists across the Internet.  So let’s take a closer look at Scorpia!

Scorpia™ Bio
Real Name: Lynda D’Ream

After watching Hordak® ruthlessly take over the Kingdom of Brightmoon, Scorpia™ chose to surrender her Crimson Waste fiefdom to the new conqueror, hoping it was better to keep Hordak® as an ally than an enemy. She is a member of the Scorpioni, a race of female dominant warriors with claw like hands and stinging armored tails. While a cunning warrior, she is inept in magic, always preferring hand-to-claw combat with her foes. Occasionally she uses a powerful tank called the Crawler which blasts sleep rays and sting lasers. When Hordak® abandoned Etheria for a planet with greater natural magic, Scorpia™ stayed behind to rule her desert kingdom, and hoping one day all of Etheria itself!

Wow, I normally don’t care one way or the other about the “real” names, but this one is a doozy.  It sounds very much like a hippy from earth rather than a scorpion woman from Etheria. I’m going to make my peace with it as a tribute to Linda Gary, the actress who voiced Scorpia in the cartoon.

I like that they mention she had her own little piece of Etheria prior to the Horde arrival since that matches up with her Scorpion Hill home base as shown in the Filmation episode “The anxious Apprentice.”  She had her own throne room and a troll-like servant in that episode.

It’s interesting to think of the conflicts, allies, and enemies that existed on Etheria before the Horde and what adventures might happen after the Horde is routed and removed from the planet.

Accessories

Scorpia comes with a scorpion-themed Horde crossbow.  It’s a nice design, but the plastic is pretty flexible and it doesn’t hold its shape well.  Instead of the standard handle, there is a clip that attaches securely to Scorpia’s wrist.

I’m not sure why this was done as Scorpia’s claws can hold weapons, but I would guess that the softness of the plastic on both the claw and weapon would have caused the crossbow to sag or fall out of her grip.  She can hold the crossbow in her grip as well, but it stretches out the claw grip.

She is a little light on accessories, and I always like melee weapons with my MOTUC, so I would have loved to see a scorpion-themed knife or pair of short swords.

Sculpt

The sculpt is fantastic.  Scorpia looks as though she has stepped right out of the cartoon; however, there is enough chitonous detail on the scorpion parts to make her fit in with the more detailed MOTUC style.

It’s a tough balance to hit and they hit the mark perfectly here.  One slight quibble I have is that you can see the leg pegs under her skirt when Scorpia is viewed from behind.  I would have liked the skirt lengthened slightly or had them use hips like Frosta’s that extended up higher on the leg.  The skirt here should actually be sculpted to look more like a leotard, but for this costume design it works fine.

I’ve never understood the issue with the female leotard sculpt; they can make a pants-like crotch piece for the male characters like Bow or Extendar, so why can’t it be done for the women?  It’s baffling, but fortunately it does not mar this figure for me at all.

Articulation

Scorpia has the standard MOTUC articulation with the usual omission of the ab crunch on female figures.  She has one additional POA in that her tail swivels.

I do wish they had added a ball joint at the base of her tail so that the scorpion tail could pivot up and make an overhead strike.

Paint

Paint is great on Scorpia, with a few different red tones to break up the large amount of red in her design. She has excellent eye paint that gives her an appropriately angry expression.

Overall

Scorpia is one of my favorite character designs in PoP and out of all the female characters in that show, she is the one that feels closest to the aesthetic in the original Masters of the Universe line.  For a few years now, I’ve imagined how a MOTUC Scorpia would look, and the 4H met my expectations perfectly.

I love the Horde monster-women and finally getting Scorpia makes my Horde feel complete… well… I wouldn’t say no to Vultak, Loni, Colonol Blast, Admiral Scurvey, and False Face.  The only issue I have is that the tail doesn’t pose as a weapon in attack mode very well, though it looks great for standing around poses.

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