Teela is probably the greatest female character in the original He-Man and the Masters of the Universe series. The Sorceress and Evil-Lyn were awesome, but at the same time they were pretty archetypal witch/mage types. Teela, on the other hand, was the daughter of King Randor's weaponer, Man-at-Arms, and Captain of the Royal Guard. Most of the time she was tasked with protecting the seemingly aloof Prince Adam - much to the amusement of the viewing audience. The first Teela figure in the MOTUC line was amazing. Her only issues are that she looks pretty modern in comparison to more recent figures that favorite the simplified Filmation style. She's also very expensive to acquire on the secondary market. So this Teela 2.0 figure was a much-demanded figure that had everyone's hopes high. Then the production figures were shown with a misshapen face and the disappointed grumbles could be heard across the blogosphere. I can be pretty handy with minor touch-ups to figures so I was excited to try my hand at fixing this figure. I'm super happy with the results. Pics and details at the bottom. Let's check out Teela 2.0!
This Teela figure came with an absolutely gigantic playset including the Point Dread set piece and the Talon Fighter vehicle. The box was embarrassingly large to have delivered to my office. The mailroom guy brought it on a dolly and was not too happy about it.
I'm going to start off with the worst look. Teela's main head looks horribly deformed. After much analyzing (and photoshopping) I determined that her head isn't actually squished, slumped, or any other tragic mold-disaster. Rather, her chin is just cut off too short. I'll prove this to you below (hopefully). In the meantime, enjoy these tragic turnarounds.
Her waist seam is pretty sloppy, too. Her upper torso's rubbery covering doesn't allow for a smooth transition between upper and lower pieces.
Teela's second head is much better. However, clear plastic visors tend to make facial features enlarge in comical ways. It was a nice attempt, but it looks goofy. Note that the helmet is very similar in design to that of her adoptive father, Duncan. I wish hers had the orange deco so they would actually match.
Luckily the visor is easily removable. There are two tabs that fit into hairline slots at her temples. I think this visor-less look is the nicest way to display her if you don't want to attempt a customization.
Teela comes with a very classic looking Sword and Shield.
Okay. Customization time. Like I said, I photoshopped a million different ways to fix her and I came to conclusion that the only issue was that her chin was cut short. I was afraid her head would be disproportionaly large if I added a chin and elongated her face, but I think her hair makes her head look bigger in general, but it actually looks right with her body.
I used a dremel to sand down a bit of her chin and provide a nice bonding surface. Then I used Apoxie-Sculpt ( a two-part epoxy putty that kneads together and air-dries into a hard plastic-like finish). These photos are before any additional sanding or painting. To get it smooth I will wet my fingertip and keep smoothing it as it dries.
And here are my final painted pics. I used a blend of two craft paints (Apple Barrel and Folk brands) as well as a light coat of Satin varnish. I will probably work on this again because I'm a perfectionist and I did it pretty quick.
From the Right side her cheek paint is sloppy... I will be fixing that.
Time for some Group and Comparison Pics!
Here is the Helmeted/Visorless display with the Original MOTUC Teela.
And here with my customized (re-chinned) Filmation head.
Cheers!
Hey - I really liked your review and the images show that the original was / is so much more superior - hard to believe that so many years later this is what we got. And I liked your custom - I think it needs a bit more work too (maybe, strangely larger lips) but it's still pretty amazing :)
ReplyDeleteIt looks so much better, post-customising. Good job mate!
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