If you follow my Twitter feed then you may have seen that I was puttering about in one of my toy closets last Monday on a mission of discovery and organization. I also set out to photograph a bunch of boxed stuff that was sitting around forever, and finally open it all so I can make room for more boxed stuff that will sit around forever. One of those things I finally opened was the MOTUC Star Sister 3-pack. This thing has been hanging around for over a year, so let’s go ahead and check these gals out.
The Sisters come in this trapezoidal box with the familiar green stone Greyskull deco. It shows the figures off quite well through a huge window and I particularly like the illustrated backdrop with the alien sky and moon and the way the bird is flying overhead. The presentation in this line has always been great, but there’s something about this set that steps it up a notch. Now is as good a time as any to point out that when this set was first revealed a lot of Masters fans lost their shit to the point where the Sisters have become notoriously maligned. I don’t remember what all the hubbub was about, because I wasn’t a subscriber back then, but maybe it was because they weren’t happy about these gals being a $60 mandatory purchase. I guess I can see their point.
On the back you get the usual bio blurb only in this case it’s just one bio for all three characters. I didn’t know anything about these gals, but their backstory is kind of interesting. I did subject myself to viewing an episode of the Filmation cartoon that they appeared in, “Bow’s Magical Gift,” but in the interest of getting through all three figures in one shot, I’m not going to share my suffering. As for the figures on the back of the box… I’m only missing Leech. Not bad. Leech is pricey so unless Matty reissues him, which seems unlikely at this point, I’m going to be shit out of luck. Anywho, let’s get started with the figures and we’ll just go from left to right based on how they are packaged.
First off we have Jewelstar, who sports some pretty cool looking crystal armor and a crystal headdress. I really dig the coloring on this figure. The body is cast in a shimmery pink with translucent pink plastic used for the crystal parts. The short cape also has a great iridescent sheen to it. Other than the cape and the crystal parts, there’s not much else to be said about her outfit. The only detail worth mentioning is the star on her chest. She definitely suffers from the whole “granny panty” look, but I think it sort of works well with the spartan nature of her design. I also like the angular design of her chest.
The head sculpt is decent enough with sharp paint on the eyes and lips. I like her narrow pointy nose as it sets her apart from the general “sameness” that I see in a lot of the female PoP figure’s portraits. The translucent crystal headpiece looks great. Jewelstar is my least favorite figure in this set, but I don’t dislike her. She’s alright.
Second is Starla and her pet Glorybird. Starla is the leader of this trio and easily my favorite figure of the pack. Maybe it’s because her outfit reminds me of ketchup and mustard and she looks like she could be the mascot for an Etherian McDonald’s franchise. Seriously, though, the coloring on this figure is really nice and there’s a good deal of detail to the costume. Nothing about her screams gimmick, which is kind of refreshing in the world of Etheria where most characters are one-trick ponies and base their whole identity around some stupid gimmick.
The head sculpt is nice, even if the eye and lip paint make her look a tad whoreish. Sorry, Starla, I calls it like I sees it. Her hair and star tiara look good, but her neck joint is really loose giving her something of a bobble head feel. It’s ironic since she’s one of the few PoP figures where the sculpted hair doesn’t totally muck up the neck articulation.
Glorybird is at heart the same bird we’ve seen quite a few times now, and I’m kind of burned out on this one. He (or she?) is cast in a shimmery pink plastic and the wings on mine are really warped. The big change on this version of the bird is the neck piece with a huge mohawk that makes Glorybird look like some kind of 80’s punk rock fan. If Jem from Jem and the Holograms were to be reincarnated as a bird, this is what she would look like. The perch appears to be a new sculpt, which I was downright surprised to see, otherwise, I don’t have a lot of love for this accessory.
And that brings us to Tallstar who can “stretch to unbelievable heights,” a magnificent feat that in reality seems more like a slightly amusing party trick. It’s achieved by adding small extra segments to her legs, arms, and neck. The result is…
…well, less than spectacular. Now, don’t get me wrong I really dig this figure with the extra pieces. It makes her look a little alien and distinctive. It doesn’t, however, adequately simulate the “Mr. Fantastic” style stretching she was capable of in the Filmation cartoon. That having been said, Tallstar is still a close second behind Starla as my favorite in this box. Her outfit is simple, but colorful.
I also really dig the portrait. I may have a previously unknown fetish for chicks with hot-pink hair. Yes, chicks, just not birds. The sculpt is really good, particularly the way it blows off to the side. The face is more in keeping with what I’m used to seeing from the PoP portraits and the paint is nice and clean.
The articulation on Starla and Jewelstar is identical. The arms have rotating hinges in the shoulders, hinges in the elbows, and swivels in the wrists. The legs are ball jointed at the hips and hinged at the knees and ankles. They can swivel at the waist and have ball joints in the neck. I really miss having at least one swivel in the legs. Tallstar adds some articulation because of her extension pieces. They basically add two swivels to each bicep, two swivels below the knees, and an extra two swivels in the neck. Unfortunately some of these pieces don’t connect very securely. It’s pretty common for me to pull her arm out when posing her.
For accessories, each one of the Sisters comes with her own Star Staff. Yeah, they’re all the same sculpt, but each one is cast in a different shade of shimmery clear plastic. Jewelstar’s is purple, Tallstar’s is orange, and Starla’s is yellow. Apart from the cop-out of reusing the same mold three times in one set, I think they look pretty good and definitely suit the figures. Put all three together with staffs in hand and I think they make for a colorful bunch of ladies. Can this really be the most maligned release in the Masters Classics collection? Does anyone even remember The Mighty Spector? Hell, any one of these ladies is better than Double-Mischief.
Nope, frankly, I don’t get all the hatred for this set. Granted, I wasn’t compelled to buy it with a subscription and pay $60 plus some ridiculously made up shipping charge from Matty. Nah, I actually got mine off of Amazon last year for about $30. At ten dollars a piece, I’ll buy MOTUC figures all day long, even mediocre ones. Each one of these ladies has her own charms and while I was in no rush to open them now that I have I find them to be worthy additions to my Princess of Power shelf. In fact, Glorybird is the only piece in this set that I don’t really care for. He’s easily my least favorite release of this damn bird sculpt, and he will likely be doomed to eternity at the bottom of the dreaded Tote of Forgotten Accessories where he can make friends with Tri-Klops’ Doom Seeker and Glow Ring. The rest of these gals can party with the gals of The Great Rebellion anytime.
FigureFan Zero 