He-Man and the Masters of the Universe - TEELA!

MOTU Origins - Cartoon Collection (200x Wave 4) - Teela - Mattel 2026

I'm admittedly not the biggest fan of the character designs from the 200x Mike Young Productions He-Man and the Masters of the Universe cartoon. With Teela in particular, the impossibly-long gravity-defying ponytail seemed extremely silly. And her blue shoulderpads were an odd departure from her typically-simple color palette. That said, I really appreciate when an action figure is a good representation of an animated design. And this Cartoon Collection Teela is a great example of that. There have been a few Teela figures from this show in the past, but they didn't look anything like the source material. But this one looks really good and actually makes me like the 200x animated design a little more. I even splurged on the Mondo preorder after I felt my judgement waning. I'm now surprising myself by looking forward to the Sorceress figure coming in Wave 6 (and I always felt like her redesign was the most tragic). Here's to changing opinions! Let's check out Teela below!

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe - EVIL-LYN!

MOTU Origins - Cartoon Collection - Evil-Lyn (200x Version) - Mattel 2025

I remember when the Mike Young Productions He-Man and the Masters of the Universe animated series started in 2002. At the time, I had no television stations and relied on DVDs and VHS for my entertainment. I think I was able to get a few episodes pirated through Limewire or WinMX, but I honestly wasn't super impressed (and I still have never watched the whole series). I had first learned about it because I had some coworkers who were coming back from their lunch break with action figures from the show. I was super curious. My true adoration came later that year when Image Comics started publishing a comic based on the animated designs. I distinctly remember seeing a splash page of Evil-Lyn and being captivated. I loved the "bony" details added to her costume. She seemed more sinister and imposing. And of the three main females of the series: Teela, Sorceress, and Evil-Lyn, hers is the only redesign I liked. It's great to get another version of her in plastic. Let's check out Evil-Lyn below!

Masters of the Universe Classics - VEENA!

MOTUC Club Eternia - Queen Grayskull - Mattycollector Exclusive - Mattel 2015

He-Man's 2002 reboot was definitely not my favorite iteration of the Masters of the Universe property.  I tried to get into it, but it just never took root.  One of the biggest disappointments for me was the redesign of my favorite character, the Sorceress.  Instead of the original orange and blue feathered falcon garb, she now wore a gold and teal Egyptian-themed outfit that I always felt looked out of place (I thought it was very Stargate-ish to have a Egyptian-like culture on another planet). Years later I learned that the "Ra" in She-Ra was actually in reference to the Egyptian God of the Sun, but that didn't make me like the 2002 Sorceress any better. This figure is of Veena - or Queen Grayskull - who is a Preternian predecessor of the modern Sorceress.  She helped create the Power Swords and guarded Castle Grayskull after King Grayskull's death.  Her design is a nice median between the classic Sorceress and her 2002 redesign.  It's not overtly Egyptian, but definitely holds to the 2002 style.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles VIRAL!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fast Forward - Viral - Playmates 2006

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have gone through many transformations over the years.  Then the animated series that aired from 2003-2007 really complicated things by having multiple sub-series' within the main title.  The 2006 season of this show was titled Fast-Forward and featured the Turtles in the year 2105.  The thing I liked most about this story arc was the interesting villains that were introduced.  The standout for me was Viral, a living computer virus and totally wicked nemesis to the Turtles.  She often took the form of different techno-organic beasts (giant insects, water serpents, etc) but they always looked like her.. ie reddish orange alien-like forms with a single blue eye.  Viral was so powerful in this future NYC because of the incorporation of virtual reality environments into everyday life.  The setting is also interested because the human population is also now intermingled with many different anthropomorphic species, so the turtles don't need to hide or don disguises.  Cool :) Let's check her out!