Masters of the Universe Classics Feature

Double Mischief is the first figure of the new Princess of Power Club Etheria Subscription and a figure I’ve been looking forward to, and somewhat dreading, for a while now. Some sort of copyright issue requires her to be named “Double Mischief” on the packaging rather than her original more catchy name of “Double Trouble,” but I’ll be referring to this figure as her vintage name for the rest of this closer look at Double Trouble!

Double Mischief™ Bio
Real Name: Rebekkah Kettle
Heroic cousin of Glimmer™, Rebekkah is a princess from the Eternian Kingdom of GreenGlade. After her home was overrun by the Horde invaders, she joined the Great Rebellion, using her forte for disguise to become a double agent in the armies of Hordak®. She is very dexterous and can squeeze herself into almost impossibly tiny spaces and climb the sheerest walls to carry out her missions. She is not much of a fighter, but her agility makes her a good dodger. No disguise is beyond her powers. She can look like an aged King one moment or a Horde Villainess the next. She can also change her voice to suit her disguise as well, often talking herself out of the tightest situations! Double Mischief™ fools her enemies as a spy for She-Ra®!

Rebekkah Kettle is a stand out in funny “real” names for these bios. Kettle sounds like a fat guy’s last name to me for some reason.

I’m going to assume they meant Etherian Kingdom in the bio, so it’s nice to hear of another Kingdom on Etheria.

I don’t recall ever reading about that one before, but I like the simple fantasy-literature sound of it.

Between that name and her mostly green outfit, I’m imagining something like Arboria from Flash Gordon. In a way I like that they specify that she does work for She-Ra, but in another I kind of like the ambiguity of the simple title Glamorous Double Agent.

Accessories

Double Trouble comes with a crossbow. I am completely on board with giving all the Horde ladies their own crossbow.

This crossbow has a spinning head that can show a smooth green ‘good’ side or a Horde symbol “evil” side. I think it’s a fun extension of the original head change gimmick.

The plastic is a little soft on this weapon, but it holds shape pretty well. I would have liked to have seen double swords that attach into a double bladed staff that I saw in some cool fan art a while back, but I can’t reasonably expect to see that. Maybe Evil Mike will help me out with a Shapeways version…

Sculpt

Oh boy… I really don’t want to type all this up, but there is something way off about Double Trouble’s face and neck. Everything else is really nice, the new boots and bodice have some interesting sculpting detail and the cape, helmet and massive pony tail look good. Where it falls apart is the face and neck. The neck “choker” is extremely thick, so thick as to look more like a neck brace than jewelry.

The face has been flattened, I assume in order to allow for the face switching action feature, but the effect is a little off-putting and a little too two-dimensional. There is extra plastic underneath the jawline that gives here a double-chin look that is not flattering.

I don’t understand how the vintage figure accomplished a more rounded and not squished face, but this one could not.

The prototype had the face protruding out of the helmet a bit and a more natural necklace. I wish they had just eschewed the turning-drum feature and had regular swappable faces on a regular MOTUC neck peg.

Articulation

Standard MOTUC articulation with the usual ab-crunch and boot-cut omission. The ankles are the really nice rocker ankles like Teela’s, so that’s nice.

Paint

Paint is decent and like the translucent cape and dry brushing on the ponytail. I think the paint came out a little too severe on the eyebrows.

I saw Jon at Preternia.com painted the “double chin” black on his Double Trouble and I liked the look, so I decided to do the same. I think it helps the figure quite a bit, but there is still something off.

Overall

Double Trouble is a character I knew very little about going into this line. I never saw the toy until checking out websites years later as an adult, and she wasn’t on the She-Ra show.

That said, I really liked the design. The bold green color scheme and the slightly martial look of her helmet appealed to me.

I had also recently seen some artwork by fan artist Niki that showed her wielding two swords that combine into a double-bladed staff, and that captured my imagination and made me look forward to this figure.

The prototype looked nice, but the production figure suffered somewhat, and we’ve seen the flaws I mentioned above from very early on.

This figure is really one of the few missteps in the line for me. Painting the neck does help a bit, but it’s still a little odd. It’s so strange that the vintage figure accomplished the look and still retained the action feature better.