We are now well into the sixth full year of the Masters of the Universe Classics line, and after all of this time, I am still getting some of my very favorite characters. Sure, guys like Mer-Man, Spikor, Frosta, and Whiplash have been in the can for a long time, but having recently gotten a Ninjor figure, and with Saurod still on the way, the hits just keep on coming. Another one of my long-time favorite figures is also coming soon, in July, actually, and my top five vintage Princess of Power characters list is almost fully realized. Yep, Peekablue joins the likes of Frosta, Mermista, and Catra, with only a Perfuma remaining to bring me all of my favorite Etherian ladies. So, needless to say, I have been waiting for this release for a very long time.
I have noted it before, but it bears repeating, the Princess of Power characters, and most notably the Rebels, got off to an awfully slow start in the Classics line. Their release pattern was pretty sparse up until last year when the Club Etheria mini-sub supplemented the normal subscription and filled in a lot of gaps in the female contingency. However, looking at my Rebel shelf now, I have to stand back and take stock of how impressive it is at this point, and we are in the final stretch of completing the vintage cast. We have picked up some never-had-a-figure-before characters like Seahawk, Madame Razz, and Huntara along the way as well, so the Whispering Woods is filling out in appropriate fashion.
Peekablue is latest edition and she comes pretty hot on the heels of Angella. I have always considered her to be much like Mermista in that, even if you do not particularly care for the Princess of Power corner of MOTU, she has an appeal beyond there that is more universal. She is pretty high concept with her peacock motif and clairvoyant powers, so while I have never considered her much of a melee fighter, she does have the potential to be one of the most power characters in the MOTU world. Plus, that aforementioned peacock design is just so cool, it is impossible to miss her presence on the shelf. So, now that she is finally here, I can tell you that, while she is not perfect, she is most certainly a standout.
Now, I am not going to get all technical with Peekablue here like I did with Mosquitor. Technically, only female mosquitoes suck blood, so that Hordesman has been running a scam on us all these years and is actually a HordesWOMAN. The same kind of goes for Peekablue too — technically her vibrant and colorful feathers are attributed to males (you know, peacocks, and not peahens), so that could open all kinds of new characterization for Peekablue. Then again, that technicality is really forced, and let’s face it, Peeks would not look nearly as cool with dull brown feathers. Not at all actually, so it is good that she was designed as is because I have to say, this figure really helps pull the entire PoP display together.
Penelope here (that is the “real” name she is given in her bio, if you are into that kind of thing), was first debuted at Toy Fair back in February. She was an instant topic of conversation both for what is good about the figure and also for what people perceived as “areas of improvement.” Personally, I think there is a lot more good going on here than otherwise, but I do see a couple of places where some addition paint detail could have gone a long way in improving the overall look of the figure. I mean, I get it, those massive feathers could not have come cheap and it is easy to get lost in them, but Peekablue doesn’t have some of the smaller detailing in her costume that many of her Rebel friends have been getting recently.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t blame that on the fact that the Four Horsemen decided to go with the overall Filmation look, that is my preference for this figure and all of the vintage POP girls. Plus, that is what we have been getting the entire time, but I also really love the added bits of vintage toy detailing that has been peppered into the designs. Peekablue gets a lot of the Filmation look down, but toy details are bit sparse this time around. That is mostly due to a lack of a diverse color palette on her costume. Sure, it might be ridiculous to say that since she has big colorful feathers coming out of her back, but there is a LOT of blue in the costume that is not broken up by some of the vintage colors, like red and green. There are highlights around the details and gauntlets, but those are just a shade of blue that is barely lighter than the bulk of the costume, so it gets a bit monochromatic. It does not look bad at all, but if you look at the vintage figure, there are definitely some color cues that could have been utilized to really make the costume, ahem, POP.
Peekablue also has a nice head/hair sculpt and I think that it matches her look from the cartoon/style guide rather perfectly. The cheek bones and eye shape are dead-on and the latter is really important since Peekablue is a seer. It does, however, leave the figure looking a bit “in the moment,” so she has a bit of a blank, yet concerned look about her. I think the way the eyes are painted in production contributes the most to this, so she seriously concerned about something. I don’t know, maybe she is seeing some wicked plans being made by Hordak and Shadow Weaver, or maybe she is accidentally catching Octavia stepping out of the shower, but to quote Winston Zeddemore, Peekablue has seen “sh*t that will turn you white!” I think she looks fine, but your mileage may vary on that, especially if you expecting her to have the typical Classics female face. Like I said, though, the likeness is really faithful.
Her hair looks great and seeing how my three year old daughter’s favorite color is green, she is really glad that Peekablue is now a part of the collection. Again, as far as shape and sculpt go, her hair perfectly matches the source material and let me tell you it is GREEN. I mean, is it blazing bright neon green. For the base plastic color, I think that is fine, but the hair REALLY needs a darker wash or some low lights applied to bring it down a touch. I know that Princess of Power is fantasy and relies on a diverse and bright color palette, but this hair is much bolder than anything we have seen before. Again, I get that the feather were really expensive and a little paint application will be easy enough for most people, so I am excited to see what people will do with her hair once she start shipping.
Now, let’s talk about the major focus of this figure: the peacock feathers. Holy moly, these things are impressive and really take the entire concept of the character and push it to another level. I remember seeing these at Toy Fair in person a few months ago, and my first thought was that they were really, REALLY big, but have a ton of cool detailing. Well, in this final production form, they are still really big and have a ton of cool detailing, but where I originally felt that the feathers were too big, I think they are sized just about right now. They have an impressive spread to be sure, and Peekablue will be forced to stand at the back of the Rebel display so she won’t hide everyone else, but man, they do look really cool.
Each feather is individually sculpted, and until I actually had the figure in-hand, I had no idea that was the case. That is pretty impressive in and of itself, and the amount of detail applied in the each of the individual feathers is really cool. There is no line or texture left untouched and while each of the fronds contributes to the over cohesive look, each has a bit of its own personality. They are not at all symmetrical, but that helps with making them feel more organic, and that is a departure from any other incarnation of Peekablue that has come before. I have always thought of her as having “peacock-like” feathers, not actual feathers themselves, but this interpretation has won me over. All of the “eyes” are painted nicely and the shimmering gloss that has been lightly applied to the feathers really makes for a nice effect. So these look almost real, yet completely fantastic at all at the same time. I REALLY like the colors used for the eyes and I wish more of it was used on the actual costume.
Now, the engineering on these babies is pretty complicated for this line as well. The feathers are put together in a bit of a “rig” that is detachable from the figure. There is a plug attached to the feathers that matches to a pretty giant hole in the middle of Peekablue’s back. There is a bit of metal at the end so I wonder if there is a magnet within her back that helps keep it in place. Personally, I think that the feathers are set a bit high on the back, and instead of being in the middle of the back, it would work better lower in the small of the back. Now, that could be a limitation due to the different parts that make up the rest of the figure, but if these were set down about a quarter of an inch lower, I think it would be perfect.
A neat part about the feather rig is that it can be inserted with the feathers “up” as we typically know them to be, but they can also be turned down so that the feather act more like a train. I am thinking this how she would keep them when she is not tapping into her powers. The feathers also fold up and the two on each side fold in between the static three set in the middle. I do want to mention that the feather rig is pretty heavy, so while Peekablue can balance pretty well in a static pose, getting some convincing action poses out her with toppling over might be a challenge.
Finally, Peeks comes with two additional accessories: her standard-issue POP shield in blue and yellow, and an all-new “fighting” fan. You know this shield, as it has been released many time before, but this is the first time the gem color has been so radically different from the shield color. Personally, I kind of dig the look of the bright yellow against the blue, but I know there was a contingency calling for the gem to be changed to a blue color that more closely matches the shield. The fan is a cool concept since her feather fold together like a fan, but I am not sure it is required for me. I mean, it is nice for a time when she might get caught against the wall with some Horde Troopers, but as I said, Peekablue has never been a melee fighter to me. Again, maybe a bit of color other than the vermillion would bring out more in this accessory. Still, I am not going to complain about new accessories being added in the line, I will take any and all of them.
I have been waiting a very long time to have Peekablue join my Classics collection and now that she is here, I am very pleased overall. Like I said, aside from some additional colors on the costume, and the eye paint being a little tighter, I think she is an impressive figure that will have an overall appeal to many collectors. The feathers are feat in themselves and she carries a major presence on the shelf. I have her set up behind and slightly above the rest of the Rebels, and her shape does a great job in tying everything together. Now, while I still want me some Twiggets and General Sunder and a few others, as far as the vintage POP figures go, we are a Perfuma away from having all of the unique characters. I have a suspicion that she will be one of the final figures of 2015, so we still have some months to wait, but after all of this time, the Etherian Rebels are shaping up to be a very impressive part of the Classics collection! Peekablue ships in July to Club Eternia subscribers and should have day-of-sale stock available for purchase well.
Oh, and if you want to see a more “live” demonstration of the feathers, check out our quick video:
*Thanks for checking this out and thanks again to the Matty Team at Mattel for sending along Peekablue – we are almost there now! See you next time.
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