Last month, I sat out the release of Moss Man, mainly because I had obligations that were going to keep me from being at my computer at 12pm. I probably could have gotten out of it, but the truth was I wasn’t all that keen on Moss Man. Nothing against him, but he’s the first release in the MOTU Classics line that I didn’t see as a “must have” purchase. This month, on the other hand, Matty brought out their big guns with the First Lady of Snake Mountain herself, Evil Lyn. There was no stopping me from being at the computer this time. Obviously, Evil Lyn was a popular release, and she seems to have sold out in under ten minutes. Not a record, mind you, but still pretty damn quick to those of us subscription-less collectors trying to nab her. So far, my luck has held out on every release date, and I was able to score her along with a few other goodies.
The packaging on these figures has not changed, and that’s a good thing because its still awesome. The green rock-motif on the card and the classic Masters logo makes me want to pop in a Filmation DVD and remember the simpler times. The package shows off the figure nicely, along with her falcon Skreetch. The back of the card features a bio as well as teases you with photos of a bunch of figures that you can no longer get outside of Ebay. Lord knows I’m not a mint on card collector, but if ever there was a line that tempted me to it, its this one. The presentation on these figures is just fantastic.
Naturally, Evil Lyn is a repaint of Teela from the neck down, but amazingly, she just doesn’t seem like one. I don’t know if its the dramatic color change, the yellow skin, or the wonderful head sculpt, but Evil Lyn really feels like her own figure and not a quickie repaint cash grab. Everything that was white and gold on Teela’s outfit is blue and darker blue on Evil Lyn. I was admittedly worried about Matty’s choice to go with the vintage-style yellow skin on this figure, but I have to say it turned out looking great. Its very faithful to the original figure and it serves to set her apart from Teela all the more. Overall, the other paint apps on the figure are a bit mixed. The paint apps on Evil Lyn’s face, notably the eyes, lipstick and green mascara are practically perfect, and its cool that she even has little black paint apps on her fingernails, but there’s some notable slop on her chest armor. Its not terrible, but the paint on my Teela is so immaculate, its hard not to notice even minor flubs here.
The head sculpt is spot on. She’s the perfect blend of beauty and wickedness and I love the exotic quality to her eyes that makes her look not quite human. Her simple skull cap with crest is right in line with her vintage counterpart. There’s a little disparity between the skin tone in her face and the rest of her body, but apart from that I wouldn’t change a thing. Funny, it wasn’t until getting this figure that I realized we have no idea what Evil Lyn’s hair looks like… or even if she has any!
Evil Lyn comes with a nice inventory of accessories, although not quite as much as her counterpart, Teela. She has a little hooked dagger with a nicely sculpted skull pommel and a wickedly jagged back edge. She has a blue orb wand that can convert to a full staff by swapping out the shaft. She also comes with her bird buddy, Skreetch. Granted, Skreetch is just a repaint of Teela’s Zoar, but its still an awesome sculpt, complete with hinged wings and feet that can grip Evil Lyn’s arm. Skreetch also comes with his own perch, which Zoar was sadly missing, as well as removable birdy battle armor. No doubt about it, with Evil Lyn you get a good amount of stuff for your money.
The articulation here is the same as on Teela, which means its close to the standards set by the male figures in the line, but not quite the same. Her head is ball jointed. Her arms have ball joints in the shoulders, hinged elbows and swivel cuts in the biceps and wrists. Her legs have universal movement in the hips, hinged ankles and knees and swivel cuts at her boots. She also has the extra joint in her feet that allow you to set her at a wide stance, while keeping both her feet flat on the ground. What she’s missing is a swivel cut in the waist. Still, she’s got a great degree of poseability. No complaints here.
Naturally, I’ve been waiting to get my hands on an Evil Lyn figure ever since I first started collecting this line and my cadre of evil-doers from Snake Mountain no longer feels like it has a huge vacant hole. (well, except for Mer Man, but thanks to a pending re-release, he will soon be mine!) I still give Teela the nod as the better figure, mainly because the paint apps on her outfit are just so striking and expertly applied, but then Evil Lyn makes up with that in spades because, well, she’s the bad girl and we all know bad girls are more fun.
FigureFan Zero 