At this very moment, Masters of the Universe Classics is in crisis! The subscription did not reach its goal during the designated period, and so it is getting a last-ditch attempt to succeed this weekend! Go and subscribe if you want more toys!
Flutterina was not one of my top figure choices in the line. It's just me, don't worry. My mental picture was going to be of something really fluffy - fluffier than Glimmer, even. I was sure that there was no way I could talk seriously about this figure without transplanting my mind somewhere else. And then it turned out that she looks pretty awesome.
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FLUTTERINA: BEAUTIFUL "FLYING" LOOKOUT
REAL NAME: ABBY DE'NOTE
After the Horde invaded her home planet and overthrew most of the local monarchs, Flutterina was driven underground and joined with the Great Rebellion. As a member of the Butterfly Council, she was magically gifted with fairy wings giving her the ability to fly unnoticed around most foes. This skill makes her an ideal spy and reconnaissance officer. After the Horde located a Laser Gate back to Eternia, she agreed to follow along with She-Ra and several other warriors in pursuit. Flutterina eventually fell in love with Randor's new Man-At-Arms and opted to stay with him on Eternia after the Second Ultimate Battleground. Flutterina uses her powers of flight to chase off those who make mischief for her friends!
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Wow, Monarch butterfly puns, romance, and... Hey, wait a second. Why is "Flying" in quotation marks? Does she... not fly? Just run around waving her arms and going "I'm flying! Brrrrm! Brrrrm! Brrrrm!" while her friends humor her? Eh, whatever. She gets to mack on Clamp Champ, and I really don't want to know what kinds of stuff those two are into. But ANYWAY! The month of August has two polar opposites - Cyborg Skeletor and Flutterina. If I had the Etheria subscription, there would even be Madame Razz for some extra cartoonishness! The contrast is really something else. But now let's look at the figure!
PACKAGING: ****
Flutterina's packaging is EXACTLY THE SAME AS EVERYTHING ELSE IN THIS LINE.
SCULPT: ****
Probably because She-Ra characters are kind of a risk, the Horsemen have gone above and beyond in how they sculpted this lady! Her head sculpt is the first noticeable thing. Flutterina's long hair is split into three to accomodate her wings, though it looks fine in any pose. She has really pronounced cheekbones, just like every woman in this series - Filmation really, really had a thing for that physical feature. The Horsemen took that template and made her unique enough to stand out... though I adit, every time I look at her face I think of that weird witch-woman from Conan the Barbarian who seduced Conan and then turned into a werewolf.
Flutterina's outfit is a skirt - not a leotard, not a triangular loincloth, but an actual honest-to-goodness skirt. Nobody is complaining, yay! It's got some great details that are surprisingly reminiscent of Wonder Woman, and I fully expect to see the appropriate repaints in the future.
Flutterina's wings are of course her most prominent feature, and they are somewhat plain.So plain, in fact, that they don't look like a part of her! This was done in homage to the vintage figure design, but they just seem off - too thick, too soft, and with zero texture. The rest of her looks pretty spiffy, and thus those wings are out of place.
PAINT: ****
Flutterina is a little more tanned than most figures. So no, Mattel did not pair up black withblack at random (that would have been Entrapta), but her maybe-Indian maybe-half black maybe-something else look adds a little variety to the line. She also has a color scheme that I would have ever believed could work - orange and purple? With pink and gold? Surprisingly, it's quite effective on her. Flutterina's face is really precise, and she has some cool little details elsewhere - her pink .nails, for example.
Flutterina's wings are... well, look at them. They have bright, solid colors without much detail, and they almost look like foam rubber costume pieces. I know that they match the original toy, but they look oddly cheap. If you want her to resemble her cartoon self, you can reverse them so they only show pink.
ARTICULATION: ***1/2
Flutterina has a ball-jointed head, ball-and-socket wings, shoulders, and hips, hinged elbows, knees, and rocker ankles, and swivel biceps, wrists, thighs, and waist. Overall, her articulation is pretty standard for a MOTUC female, and her skirt does not restrict her legs much. Her head does not appear to be removable, although mine could just be stuck on tighter.
Her wings are pretty good, and surprisingly expressive based on the tiniest change. They are of course reovable (which is good, her head barely moves with them on), and with a little bit of work you can swap in other character wings... or tentacles, or whatnot. The pegs will likely be different sizes, but it is totally possible to turn Flutterina into a mini-Octavia.
ACCESSORIES: ****
Flutterina comes with a pair of accessories, and it's really surprising how a few small items can perfectly compliment a character! Take her sword, for example - its a pretty basic stabby weapon... except that the hilt is pink, and it matches her nails! That's Flutterina right there - girly and cute, but she'll shank you.
Next up is Flutterina's shield. It's small, not more than a buckler, and kind of thick, but it has a really cool sun emblem on it, complete with a gem! Sure, it's "girly," but it really is a cool accessory. If anything, it looks like the kind of shield you would find in The Legend of Zelda. Its small size just means that Flutterina has that much more faith in her own swordsmanship skills.
The greatest thing about the shield is that you can stow her sword in it! It's a really tight fit, and if you're careful you will scrape the paint, but it looks extremely good regardless. She actually can pull a convincing sword draw pose if you work at it hard enough.
VALUE: **
I really dislike MOTUC pricing, if only because of the shipping costs. When it's a two-figure month, they do average out to less than $37 each because of combined shipping, but it still hurts.
THINGS TO WATCH OUT FOR:
If you want to remove Flutterina's head, be careful not to break her neck joint. Also, be careful not to scrape the paint off her sword when you stow it in her shield.
WHERE TO BUY:
As of this writing, she is still on Mattycollector! So why not buy a subscription while you're there?
OVERALL: ***
Well, color me surprised. Flutterina, while girly, is awesome! Her wings look oddly like foam rubber, but other than that she is one of the best-sculpted feales in the line. That face is just outstanding, and I like how somebody can have so much pink and still look tough - wasn't that Lauren Faust's philosophy of cartooning? That girls can have role models who are capable heroes without sacrificing their girliness? Well, that's Flutterina right there!
I totally did not intend for this pose to turn out that way...
