Hey, remember Glimmer? Now we've got her mom! Angella pretty much existed so that the kids watching She-Ra had a parental authority figure to look up to, and so that Mattel would manufacture an angel-themed doll alongside the mermaid, bee-girl, peacock-woman, and whatever "bubble power" was supposed to be. This isn't going to be an enthusiastic review - nothing wrong with the character, but the figure... well... yeah.
Angella had a vintage toy which did not resemble her appearance on the cartoon at all. Mattel referenced it by giving Angella a halo, but otherwise has done a pretty straight-up Filmation design. Remember how Angella and Glimmer seemed to be the same age? It's no different here! Maybe Etherians have a thing for Botox.
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QUEEN ANGELLA: ANGELIC WINGED GUIDE
REAL NAME: ANGELLA THE THIRD, QUEEN REGENT OF BRIGHT MOON
Angella was the regent queen of one of Etheria's largest kingdoms. After Hordak invaded her planet, Bright Moon was overthrown and Angela and all her subjects were declared slaves of the Horde Empire. Believing in her heart that all people have the right to be free, Angella was the first monarch to openly fight back against the oppression of the Horde. Forming the Great Rebellion with other key leaders, she brought her people to the safety of the Whispering Woods, just outside of Hordak’s evil influence. There they regrouped an formed an attack squad to wage war and once again free Etheria and all of it’s people. After Hordak abandoned Etheria, Angella stayed behind to help rebuild her kingdom and the beauty of the planet. Beautiful and helpful, Angella is lovely and very intuitive- she can sense when danger is near an has the ability to fly like an angel.
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Well, that lines up pretty well with the cartoon, if nothing else. Angella's special ability is that she's royalty, and can fly. Since She-Ra and Glimmer are the basic leader/authority figures in the cartoon, Angella was pretty much just there to be a parental character who seemed to be the same age as anybody else, and was clearly a different species from her daughter.
PACKAGING: ****
Since it's the same as always, here it is in terrible lighting!
SCULPT: ***
Angella does not reuse too many parts from other figures, partly because of her wings. That said, I'm pretty sure her wings originally came with Hawkgirl from one of the DC lines. Reasonably certain. Mostly positive. Probably.
Angella is pretty show-accurate in costume and appearance, which does fly in the face of her vintage toy, but that's fine. She does manage to look sort-of matronly, though she really does appear to be the same age as her daughter, Glimmer. She's also shorter, so we can assume that Glimmer went through a growth spurt. Mattel also tried to give her a leotard instead of a skirt or loincloth, which looks somewhat diaper-ish. Maybe it's good, maybe it's bad, your mileage may vary.
PAINT: **
Unfortunately, I lucked out. Most Angellas seem to have a gigantic paint problem, but I got one of the good ones. I say "unfortuntely," because just looking at the pictures in this review won't prepare most buyers. Something went horribly wrong with her eyes, and it sees that about half of the production Angellas have uneven eyes - as in, facing different directions, resembling Derpy Hooves (and there's your MLP reference. Enjoy, Bronies), or even having her eyes painted on her cheeks. It's not small, either. Apparently this is a huge issue.
Other than the massive flaw, her paint is cartoon-accurate and fairly clean. It's kind of odd how her outfit does manage to look like an '80s mom, somehow. Maybe it's all that pink.
ARTICULATION: ***1/2
Angella has a ball-jointed head, ball-and-socket shoulders and hips, hinged elbows, knees, and ankles, and swivel biceps, wrists, thighs, and waist, a swivel on the halo's post, and two sets of hinges for the wings, at the base and mid-pinion.
Most of Angela's articulation is fine, though she is just a little restrictd around the waist/loincloth/leotard. Her wings are more than satisfactory, though, with a siple two joints each - hinge and swivel - that manages to give them an excellent range of motion. The wings do make the figure.
ACCESSORIES: **1/2
Angella's wings are her main focal point, and I swear I've seen them before on Hawkgirl. They really do hold a great range of poses well, ust be aware that their hinge joints look very obvious, as if she is wearing a wing backpack.
Since she is an angel, Angella has a halo... sort of. It's a pink signpost that you fasten to her back, which makes it look like she is creatively trying to hide a lollipop. The halo honestly feels a little cheap and incoplete like this.
Angella also comes with a teeny-tiny sword, just big enough for stabbing but not big enough to go toe-to-toe with anyone else in Eternia or Etheria. Maybe that's why she gets kidnapped so often.
I know that the wings filled up her accessory budget even though they are part of her sculpt, but Angella really feels like she's missing something. Even one of those generic She-Ra shields would have helped!
VALUE: **
Nearly $40 is too much for a figure with bad quality control.
THINGS TO WATCH OUT FOR:
Unfortunately, this is mail-order, but if you have the chance to compare, check out her eyes and make sure she's all right.
WHERE TO BUY:
Angella spent a little while on Matty, but you'll have to go online to find her. Major stores like Big Bad Toy Store are your best bet.
OVERALL: **1/2
Angella is cartoon-accurate, has great articulation, is highly-demanded, and about half of the figures have goofily screwed-up paint. Her wings look like a backpack, the halo is hilarious, and her sword is tiny. They gave her a leotard instead of a skirt, but it's really too little, too late.
