http://nerditis.com/...verse-classics/
Today, we get to look at one of the most-demanded He-Man figures ever! Scorpia was one of the bad guys in the She-Ra cartoon. Much like Shadow Weaver, she was a pretty prominent character who never got a vintage toy. Ever. There is a bootleg Scorpia custom figure floating round, but it is by no means official, and costs a mint. Scorpia appeared in most of the season 1 episodes, but she simply has never seen plastic before now. And you know what? This is a shame. The character looks awesome! In the show, Scorpia was one of Hordak's force commanders, had a rivalry with Catra, and had a really low IQ. You know, like all of Hordak's minions. Her voice was honestly really grating, but so was everybody else's in that show. The thing is, Scorpia looked cool, and we have wanted a toy for about thirty years now. Shadow Weaver got a Classics figure in 2012, but it was the Subscription Exclusive, and apparently was not very well-constructed. Scorpia, instead, is a regular release.
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SCORPIA: STINGING HORDE ENFORCER
REAL NAME: LYNDA D'REAM
After watching Hordak ruthlessly take over the Kingdom of Brightmoon, Scopria(sic).(sic) chose to surrender her Crimson Waste fiefdom to the new conqueror, hoping it was better to keep Hordak as an ally then(sic) an enemy. She is a member of the Scorpioni, a race of female dominant warrior with claw like(sic) hands and stinging armored tails. While a cunning warrior(sic), she is inept in magic, always preferring hand-to-claw combat with her foes. Occasionally she uses a powerful tank called the Crawler which blasts sleep rays and sting lasers. When Hordak abandoned Etheria for a planet with greater natural magic, Scorpia stayed behind to rule her desert kingdom, and hoping(sic) one day all of Etheria itself!
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1. "Scorpia";
2. Improperly-placed period after the first word in a sentence.;
3. "than";
4. "claw-like";
5. "Although she is a cunning warrior," or similar. "While a cunning warrior" lacks the proper identifier, even though it is followed immediately by "she." "While" is the inappropriate word here.;
6. The sentence changes tense, and the second clause is too much of a fragment.
Look, I know that I make some typos in these articles, but they are first drafts more often than not. The MOTUC bios should be a professionally-published product. Anyway, aside from that, the bio is pretty good - in the cartoon, Scorpia owned a massive palace with her very own throne room, and she did drive a sleep ray-firing tank. There are a couple of odd things, though - I assume that her name came from her voice actresss, Linda Gary, but it does sound a little odd. "Lynda D'ream" sounds like a different kind of actress, if you get my meaning. And there is the reference to her race being female-dominant. Really? Just because a woman is in charge means that it has to be misandrist? She couldn't fight her way to the top any other way? Eh, it's not intentional. But enough nitpicking the bio - how is the toy? Let's take a look!
PACKAGING: ***1/2
Scorpia comes in absolutely standard Masters of the Universe Classics packaging. It's just fine, although there have been reports of her positioning within the blister causing her to have a loose leg, or damaged tail. It also obscures part of her head, which is odd.
SCULPT: ****
Last year, MOTUC included a Filmation-based mini-subscription. This confuses the issue a little bit, because there are lots of figures made in Filmation style that were never part of the sub! Sure, Scorpia has appeared in some non-cartoon media, but Filmation is how we remember her, so Filmation is how this toy is designed. This is extremely evident on her face - note the high cheekbones and arched eyebrows. The old cartoon, despite being produced in the 1980s, was really a relic of the '70s and before in many ways, and you'll note that every single female had a very particular high-cheekbones pursed-lips look that cae straight out of that decade.
Het outfit is a short loincloth-esque skirt, a break from the leotard she wore in the show. Only this time, they gave her loincloth a slight curve and kept it narrow so the result looks far less awkward. To be honest, I think it's just fine, and the more we move away from spandex, the better. Her outfit is also integrated somewhat with her actual body - Scorpia has scorpion parts!
Aside from her claws, her tail connects to a long strip of scorpion carapace going up her back and curving around her shoulders. Those aren't padded pieces of clothing, they are actually parts of her body! This is a very odd thing about Scorpia. Her forearms look like gloves, and the shell along her back looks like part of her outfit. It probably doesn't help that her costume seems to be backless and connected to the shell, or actually threads underneath it (how?). It brings up questions about how much of her body is covered in arachnid armor plating - I'd make a comment about seeing Scorpia with her clothes off, but that would be taken the wrong way. I'm jut honestly curious if she has more than one vertical strip of a shell, or if it wraps around her torso a little bit, too. Her claws are kind of small - as they were in the cartoon - and not particularly sharp, though they look fine. Her tail is actually really flexible and rubbery, which helps keep it from seeming stiff or brittle.
Overall, even with her odd biology, I really have to say that this figure is fantastic. There are some disgruntled rumblings over her - of course! - but really not many. Scorpia looks fantastic, from her head to her tail.
PAINT: ****
Scorpia's paint isn't a terribly complex scheme, but it matches the cartoon. Her skin is kind of tan, her clothing is blac, and crimson, and her scorpion carapase is sort of a agenta. She's even got her green eyeshadow... and wow, lady. You've put clown stripes on your face. She makes it work, though. An odd little detail is that the armor plating on her shoulders does not match the carapace above her shoulder, when I am pretty sure it was supposed to do just that.
You know, that eyeshadow is hard to ignore. As outlandish as it seems, it does provide her with some nice green contrast, and goes well with her eyes - her eyes are a realistic green (almost olive), as opposed to the minty shade of her makeup. Her crossbow is painted bright glossy red with green eyes and black spikes, thus giving her a third shade of the same color - it does work for variety! Really, I have no issues with her paint job aside from the shoulder issue.
ARTICULATION: ***
Fierce! Work it, girl! Scorpia has a ball-jointed head, ball-and-socket shoulders, hips, and elbows, swivel wrists and waist, hinged knees and ankles, and a swivel at the base of her tail. Well, her tail actually swivels one segment down - not completely at the base. Considering that it's just one simple joint, it can be put in a surprising variety of poses, but it really is just that one swivel. For the most part, her tail might as well be immobile. Don't expect to bend her over enough to strike with it is what I'm saying.
As for the rest of her, Scorpia is MOTUC female-standard. Female figures have a little less movement range than their male counterparts, and her lack of things like a calf swivel (which could work well with her boots) does limit her posing options. She can't kneel realistically, for example. But aside from this and the issue with her tail, Scorpia is pretty well-articulated, and can certainly take most poses that you would want. I mean, come on - you can have her dance! Dance if you wanna! You can leave your friends behind! You just can't get her to stand in her usual hips-cocked position.
ACCESSORIES: ***1/2
Scorpia only comes with one accessory, but it's a great one! Most Horde members get specialized crossbows (not all. Modulok never had one), and Scorpia's no different. Hers looks like a stylized Scorpion (of course!), and has a special handle meant to clamp around her wrist - but she and other figures can also hold it the traditional way, if you so desire.
The crossbow is bright glossy red, different from her outfit or carapace. It looks quite nice, and I could see even swapping this one into Mantenna's hands. But with just the one item, she feels a little lacking. What else could Scorpia have had? Perhaps a Filmation item/artifact? Or maybe a pet scorpion? Her weapon is great, but she does feel a little light without anything else.
VALUE: **
It may say $27, but you'll be paying almost $40 for this figure. MOTUC pricing really bugs me.
THINGS TO WATCH OUT FOR:
Even though her tail is flexible rubber, I'd take care not to stretch or smash it too much. It might deform or tear.
WHERE TO BUY:
Mattel sold out of her in under a day, so you need to track down third parties. I suggest trying Big Bad Toy Store, as always.
OVERALL: ****
Scorpia was one of the most anticipated figures this year - and to be honest, in the history of the whole line, and there are so many ways in which she could have gone wrong. The only complaints about her are small nitpicks which are easily overshadowed by her good qualities. The figure looks great, plays well, and fills a massive hole in everyone's collections! Here's hoping that Mattel can keep up this level of quality for the rest of 2014!
