Whoa, whoa, whoa – slow down, wait a minute, just a second! Unless I am mistaken, didn’t we JUST bring you a First Look at Frosta a little more than a month ago? I mean, she was the first addition to the ranks of the Great Rebellion in the better part of a year. But who is this now? Are we really ready for a preview of the enigmatic Netossa after such a short break in between Rebels? You bet we are! Look, I love just about every piece of MOTU history and the Rebellion is one of my most favorite factions. Fortunately, I have been pretty satisfied with most of the members as they have been added to Classics, but the wait in between figures has been almost unbearable. Eight months here, almost a year there, the time adds up and filling out that Etherian group has been slow going so far. I have to say, the time span between Frosta and Netossa is much more in line with what I would consider to be appropriate spacing, so good on the “roadmap” for that, let’s just see that it continues. Netossa is kicking off 2013 as the January monthly figure and she will be sure to, ahem, capture your imagination.
One of the things that keeps Classics fresh for me is the fact that it is very elusive when people try to nail down their prognostications for what will be coming next. Hints and clues abound like in any line, but if you were putting together your list of predictions for who might be the member of the Rebellion to come after Frosta, I am betting Netossa did not get may guesses. That is not saying that she is not a completely worthy and cool character, just that since she was a late addition to the vintage PoP line, she has never really been considered a core Rebel. But here we are and she now has a figure and really, if you only account for what is there, she really turned out as a very aesthetically pleasing figure. I hate to even “go there” with things that are NOT there with a figure, but I have to reflect on my experience of seeing her at SDCC 2012 for the first time.
Netossa, Netossa, you divide me in my thoughts about you. What you ARE is fantastic and you might be the best looking Rebel figure yet, but I cannot help but think about what you are NOT, too. I will not harp on this for too long. This is, of course, a preview of what we are getting, but maybe just long enough to help rally the support to help get some of those missing elements out to us in due time. As Matty has been pretty good about that, I think it is worth a few sentences to say that Netossa is a good figure that is only one or two accessories away from being pretty amazing. I am sure you know what I am getting at by now, and it is that I just cannot shake that initial reaction at Comic Con upon seeing her that I thought she looked great, but was not quite complete. I hate to think that a figure that is so close to being outstanding would not get that extra push to get it there. So simply put, Mattel, please:
GIVE US NETOSSA’S HEADDRESS AND BLUE VERSION OF THE BUBBLE POWER SHE-RA SWORD! PLEASE!
I do not specifically request things often, and I am loth to use a vehicle like a figure preview to request something, but the Rebellion fans really want these items and the figure needs them. If we can see them come to light, Netossa will be really fantastic. I see many a Weapons Pak selling just because of those two items. Please make them and then as Fry (Futurama fame) would say, “Shut up and take my money!”
Okay, I am done, and I do apologize for the plea, but when I say that Netossa is a great figure that could be one of the best females in the line, I mean that. As you can hopefully see by now, she is a very striking figure. After some very mixed reactions to Frosta (my favorite Rebel), I think that, the missing mask and sword notwithstanding, most fans will find Netossa to be a very satisfactory figure. I realize that she does not hold quite the same “awe” factor as, say, Ram Man, but she is a very strong addition to the Rebellion ranks. Like all of the figures from this go-around that I have had time to examine, she does not have any construction or engineering issues that I can tell. She has solid joints and none of the plastic is too rubbery or too rigid in inopportune places, and it appears that none of the colors that should be cast in the base plastic color have been painted.
For the most part, her design is taken more from her (rather brief) FilMation appearance. She still has some of the costume embellishments from the original toy (our Peekablue figure is now pretty much ready to go), but, as noted rather loudly above, she does not, alas, include her mask/headdress. I think that the consensus is in from most fans wanting the basic design of the FilMation/Style Guide with little toy details here and there, so I like that the little curls and circles and “shells” make her a bit more visually interesting. She does retain more of the cartoon color palette, though, and what was silver on the vintage doll is now light blue.
One thing that the FilMation design and animation groups were good at was designing female faces with strong, but pretty, features. Netossa takes advantage of this and has been given one of the best likenesses to that source material of any of the figures released so far. Her features have character, but are somewhat softened so that she remains feminine. The best part is that all of the paint on her face is done well, and I think that is important because if anything can kill a great sculpt in an instant, it is sloppy paint. She also retains the two “head fin” things that could look a little strange without the headdress, but since they are done well (and without any sacrifice to articulation) they give her an interesting look.
All figures have “areas of concern” when they are first debuted, and I know that many fans were worried about two things in particular with this figure: the final coloration of the white paint swaths and the material in which her “net” cape would be constructed. For the white, the closest comparison I can draw in MOTUC is the base color of Swiftwind. It is not as bright as Bubble Power She-Ra, but nowhere near Frost territory. In fact, the base color might be bright white, but I *think* there is a subtle metallic overspray on top of it to give it a bit of pearl essence, which looks quite nice.
For the cape, this will probably be the main topic of conversation amongst fans, and I can see the light blue boarder paint being a bit hit and miss in terms of having clean lines. Furthermore, this sample is not perfect as there is some peel around the right shoulder on the back. Also, I and I am not sure why, but there is a dark spray right in the middle of the back of the cape. I don’t know what the motivation for this is, but it is there. It is rather curious, in my opinion, but when she is wearing the cape, her hair covers up most of it. As for the construction of the “net” cape, I can confirm that it is indeed made out of the same rubber material as Leech’s net as many fans suspected. However, it is most definitely thicker and feels a lot more durable this time around. I am bit hesitant to mess with my Leech net very much, but you can tell this cape is stronger just by touching it, the netting is thicker and it has a certain amount of weight to it. That is good because we were told that ‘Tossa here came in light in the accessory department due to the high cost of the cape. To be fair, I can see how this would be an expensive item. So, because of that, the only other accessory included with the figure (Matty is counting the net cape as an accessory) is a repaint of the original She-Ra shield in Netossa-appropriate colors. I suppose I will make Netossa the lead on the defensive front of the Rebellion, both of her accessories seem to imply that.
Netossa does, of course, come with her very own new Classics bio and real name. This one is curious, though, since it doesn’t tell much, if anything, about Netossa (aside from her real name) and focuses more on her “power” than anything. That is fine, I kind of make my own story from all different canons and my own imagination, but I really wish it would have mentioned Spinnerella in the story. As far as I am concerned, Netossa and her lady love are THE power couple in the Rebellion (Sea Hawk and Adora dance around the relationship subject a bit too much) and I think it is a big part of both of their characterizations. I do not need everyone to be in some type of a relationship in the MOTU-verse, but I it is some backstory that can be given to two characters that do not have a ton of characterization between them. Hopefully when we get Spinnerella (who is 100% required, especially now) her story will have something about the two of them in it.
More, Rebellion, please! After a split-decision on Frosta, I think that Netossa will bring a lot of people back to the strong female figure side. I know that the ardent supporters of the Great Rebellion are demanding more core characters (and, of course, GENERAL SUNDER) but I think we might see a Glimmer or Castaspella next. In the meantime, Netossa adds diversity in a lot of different ways to your display and the Rebellion continues to grow. I just know we will get that headdress and sword in the nearish future to make her complete. This “captivating beauty” goes on sale on January 15th.
*Thanks for reading and thanks to Toy Guru and the Time Agents for sending along this figure from the future. Don’t worry, we will be heading back in time to the nearer future as we finally get back to our December coverage!
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