Masters of the Universe Classics Feature

One of my favorite aspects of the Masters of the Universe Classics line is the inclusion of prominent Filmation and Mini-Comics characters who never had toys before now, so I was very much looking forward to August’s Club Etheria figure, Madame Razz. Razz was the most prominent Princess of Power character yet to see release, and I had some doubts we’d ever see a figure of this weird old gal in MOTUC until she was finally announced earlier this year. Let’s take a closer look at Madame Razz!

Madam Razz™ Bio
Real Name: Regina Razz
Madame Razz is a Twigget witch who lives with her people in the Whispering Woods on Etheria. After the Battle of Brightmoon, she welcomed the surviving royal family and their supporters into the shelter of her magical forest. Helping to form the Great Rebellion, Madame Razz and her servant Broom went on to become core members of the Rebellion’s leadership, especially because she is only one of three on Etheria that knows Adora is actually She-Ra, Princess of Power. Often accused of being absentminded, Razz has a tendency to mispronounce her spells, sometimes leading to comical results. Despite some flaws in her magic wielding abilities, Madame Razz is a kind soul who only wants to see Etheria free from the Horde’s evil tyranny.

I think the big headline of this bio is that Razz is a Twigget. I can’t say that I ever really thought about it, but it makes perfect sense since she shares many physical characteristics with the other onscreen Twigget characters, Sprag, Sprittina, and Sprocket, and is from the Whispering Woods.

The idea of a witch living deep in the woods and becoming part of that woods hits the right fantasy fiction notes for me and makes Razz seem a bit more cool in my eyes.

Accessories

Madame Razz comes with the best accessory: her pal and mode of travel — Broom. Broom is a great little sculpt that perfectly captures the cartoony style of the Filmation design with a bit of additional wood-grain detail.

He is cast is a solid plastic and has swivel hinges at the arms so Razz can hold him when she flies, and so he can also have limited gestural posing. I don’t know if it’s intentional, but the broom bristles are curved in such a way so as you can lock Razz’s feet in there so she and Broom stay together better.

I usually want more articulation, but I think they strike a good balance of solidity and poseability for this character. His thin little limbs couldn’t really support much more articulation.The one thing I would have liked to see added was a flight stand for Razz and Broom. I accomplished the flight poses here with fishing line, but I haven’t really found a stand that works for the two in flight.

Broom, I don't have time for your foolishness! — Broom, I don’t have time for your foolishness!

Sculpt

The sculpt for Razz is pretty fantastic and captures the Filmation style perfectly. There is a little bit more detail than you would see on the show (button and seam details and clothing wrinkles), but it’s (appropriately) simplified.

Her hands are sculpted in a slightly open gesture that works nicely for spells or gesticulating, but the left doesn’t quite grasp the handles on Broom as tightly as I would have liked.

Articulation

Razz has:

Ball and socket neck
Swivel waist and wrists
Swivel/Hinge shoulder, hips, elbows, knees, and ankles

She is pretty poseable and is only hindered by her shirt tails which block the hip movement a bit and are not that soft. The ankles are a little odd as they seem to float away from the rest of the leg a bit at the peg.

It’s not the smooth transition we usually see from calf to ankle in MOTUC and is a little loose. Surprisingly with her top-heavy design and fairly loose ankles, I have not had many issues with her toppling over.

Maybe it’s the low center of gravity.

Paint

Razz has a fairly standard paint job, with no shading or drybrushing except for a bit of white drybrushing on the hair. Apparently the boots are supposed to go up to the knees, but Mattel skipped that paint hit.

It’s an odd miss, but not figure-ruining. I think I might go in and paint them myself at some point.

Overall

Razz is not traditionally what most people think of as “action figure material,” especially in a line like Masters of the Universe Classics that relies so heavily on part reuse and tough-guy archetypes. You just don’t see a lot of old lady action figures, so it’s a little weird, but I’m of the opinion that if the character exists in the universe, I want a figure of it.

I had fervently hoped that one day we would see a Granny Goodness figure in the DC Universe Classics line, but, alas, that was never meant to be.

Somehow getting this figure takes the sting off of that loss a little bit. Razz is clearly an important part of the Princess of Power Universe and I think the figure has done the character justice.