Rant Review: Masters of the Universe Origins Eternian Goddess figure

One of my earliest memories is looking at the very first MOTU minicomic, He-Man and the Power Sword, in the car on our way home from TG&Y, or possibly Howard's. (I'm not 100% sure which it was, as we frequented both stores in my youngest days.) I had just gotten the last figure the store had, He-Man himself, from the new MOTU line. As I looked at the art in the included storybook, I fixated on this image.

The green woman in the snake armor seemed infinitely cool and mysterious to me, and I wondered when there would be a toy of her. As it turned out, I only had to wait a few decades, as the Classics line delivered one in its first full year, though that figure was sadly compromised by production issues. And now, more than a decade after that, we have one in the style of the vintage toys in the Origins line! Now renamed the Eternian Goddess, she serves as the sole heroic character in wave six. Is she good enough to hold the line on her own, or is this figure saddled with its own equivalent of ECS*? Read on...

It's been awhile since I gushed about the packaging art for this line, as its consistent awesomeness can just be assumed at this point, but this figure features such excellent cardback art that it stands out even in this line! Axel Gimenez has channeled his inner Alcala, delivering a piece of art homaging the climactic scene from He-Man and the Power Sword! Check it out:

The figure's sculpt, unsurprisingly, is 100% reuse from Teela. I would have liked to see a new head here, as the original plan for the Goddess/Sorceress back in the day called for that, but Mattel's gonna Mattel, so what can you do? For those of us who haven't been lucky enough to snag a Teela from the newer production run, there is a vital difference: This figure has the new female knees! These knees look so much better, and correct THE major flaw that female figures in this line suffered from. We have presumably seen the last of the original knees, and that is a very good thing! I'm also glad that the figure is not molded in translucent plastic, as the Classics figure was. While the translucent look was cool, it didn't really make any sense, and I'm glad they went with a simple light green skin tone instead.

The paint apps in this wave seem to be much sloppier overall than previous waves, and that's no different here, unfortunately. There's a general slop and overspray in numerous areas of the figure, with the "belt" and furry parts of the boots as the worst offenders. The fur suffers from overspray, lack of full coverage, and such a thin coat of paint that the underlying red bleeds through in multiple areas. The face is very neat, at least, though that hardly makes up for the relative horror show the rest of the paint apps are. 

The Goddess has the line's standard articulation, with swivel & hinge shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees, and ankles, swivels at the waist and calves, and a ball-jointed head. As ever, this is a very good articulation model that is lots of fun to play around with, and the parts pop apart at the usual spots for easy swapping, though I recommend heating the elbows, hips, knees, and ankles before popping them apart. My figure's right arm refuses to stay in its socket, and tends to fall out whenever you touch it, look at it, breathe near it, or think about it too hard. There's nothing visibly different about it, so I'm not sure what the problem is. The Goddess shares the same trio of accessories that we've seen with Teela, and they all function the same. The shield still has a tendency to fall out of the figure's hands, and the addition of a clip for the forearm would have been most welcome. It would have been nice to get the spear so we could give it to Teela in exchange for her snake staff, but again, Mattel doesn't tend to give us something new if they can avoid it. 

Despite being a 100% recolor of a previously released figure, the Goddess has been a highly anticipated figure for many collectors, myself included. There are a couple of alterations I'd have liked to see, but the figure does work as a simple recolor, and I'm glad to have her in the collection. And hey, no ECS*, so that's always a plus! Unfortunately, the paint apps are among the worst I've seen in the entire line, and on a figure that was so cheap for Mattel to produce, seeing them cut corners so obviously really rankles. Whenever costs are cut on action figures, the quality and quantity of paint apps are the first thing to suffer, and we're really seeing that in action here. I can fix these issues, but the fact is, I shouldn't have to. I still recommend picking up this figure, but just be aware that you'll likely have to either live with sloppy paint apps, or take the time to correct them. Once again, Mattel's cheapness has marred a figure I otherwise really like, and that's becoming a very disturbing trend with this line. That's all for today, but head back over next week for more! Until then, stay safe out there, and happy hunting!

*Exploding Crotch Syndrome, of course!