It’s been another one of those weeks where work is cutting into my ME time. And what happens when I try to be a good host and come here to generate some content? I find that WordPress snatched away my precious Classic Editor and is forcing me to work with this new horseshit. Well, we’ll see how it goes. I’m an old man with more alcohol in me than patience, but let me try to dig deep and make this happen and visit with the Masters Origins line. So far I’ve been reviewing the Origins figures in pairs, but I really don’t have anyone to pair She-Ra up with, since Hordak isn’t out yet, so let’s give her the spotlight today all by her lonesome. She’s the goddamn Princess of Power and I guess she deserves as much.

I have to say that getting these Origins figures unlocked from the confines of Walmart’s tyrannical exclusivity deal has worked wonders for me being able to find them. Pre-ordering the figures from actual collector-orientated retailers means that they actually get fulfilled. And even if they didn’t, my local Target has had the most recent wave coming in and blowing out on a regular basis. Anywho… She-Ra comes on the standard Origins card with a Princess of Power sticker on the bubble. The back has some character artwork at the top as well as a look at the other figures in the assortment and a few of this figure’s features.

Out of the package, She-Ra is looking damn fine. I’ll confess now that I have no first-hand experience with the vintage She-Ra figures, and the only Princess of Power figures I own until now has been the Masters Classics line, and a few of Super7’s ReAction figures. So, I was pretty excited to get her in hand and see what she was all about. And while She-Ra does share some parts from the first two Origins ladies, Teela and Evil-Lyn, she also introduces plenty of new sculpting. Indeed, the only recycling that I can see here consists of the forearms with bracers and the upper legs.

Her one-piece has a floral pattern on the front with a blue gem in the middle, along with a lick of golden sculpted feathers pointing toward her right shoulder. The lower legs feature new boots, which are sculpted and colored to match the arm bracers quite well. She also has a plastic belt piece with a glittery hologram-like foil sticker on it. And yes we actually get some soft goods with this figure in the form of a silver mesh skirt and a red cape with silver mesh shoulders fringe. The addition of fabric to this figure is a wonderful touch and it makes her stand out as something special. I wonder if they will be adding softgoods to the other Etherian ladies.

The portrait is a little more doll-like to me than Teela’s, but it’s not bad. Her long yellow sculpted hair is executed well, and it doesn’t hamper her neck articulation nearly as bad as I assumed it would. She-Ra’s tiara is colored to match her belt, bracers, and boots, and has more of those sparkly stickers on them. The tiara clips onto the head and can be removed if you wish. It can also be turned around into an eye-mask sort of thing. This gimmick was seen in the Classics line and I presume it’s carried over from the vintage figures. I appreciate the effort, but I’m not a fan of how it looks at all. The back of the package suggests it’s part of her Adora disguise. Personally, I hope we get an actual Origins Adora figure released.

She-Ra comes with three accessories: Her power sword, her shield, and her hairbrush. At least she should come with three accessories. I swear mine was missing the brush. Sure, it’s possible that it fell onto the floor and got confiscated by one of the cats, but I didn’t see it when I opened the baggie of accessories and I haven’t seen it since. The power sword is cast in the yellow-gold plastic to match her outfit and includes a blue stone in the center. It’s a lot smaller than He-Man’s Power Sword, but it scales well with her and she can hold it in either hand.

The shield is based off of the vintage design, and it’s colored to match the sword, complete with blue stone in the middle. There are some nice Art Deco style dsigns sculpted into it. The back has a handle grip that allows her to hold it pretty well, but I think I would have preferred a clip. Like Teela’s shield, this one is pretty small.

I’ll confess, I wasn’t expecting anyone from Etheria to turn up in Origins this quickly, but that doesn’t mean She-Ra isn’t a welcome surprise. I realize that the vintage She-Ra figures were as more fashion dolls as they were action figures, so it’s interesting to see what Mattel has done with them to bring them in line with each of these series. As I mentioned earlier, the addition of some fabric costuming feels like it honors the fashion aspects of the vintage line while the sculpting and articulation makes her look right at home with her fellow Origins figures. Even if you’re all about Team Eternia and aren’t keen on embracing the Etherian off-shoot characters, I’d still recommend giving this figure a try.