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!

G.I.Joe Classified - SNAKE-EYES!

G.I.Joe Classified Series #197 - Dawn Moreno (Snake-Eyes III) - Hasbro 2026

In 2016, IDW Comics introduced a new Cobra recruit named Dawn Moreno in the pages of G.I.Joe: A Real American Hero. Dawn caught the attention of all the baddies and was eventually mentored by Cobra Commander, Baroness, and Storm Shadow. But when she goes in for Dr. Mindbender's brainwashing program (to fully indoctrinate her), she is accidentally given Snake-Eye's memories. Already a skilled fighter, she now has all the basic skills and knowledge of an Arashikage ninja. She continued training with Storm Shadow (and his mother!) but the good memories of Snake-Eyes were too potent and she eventually joins the Joes. (This costume for a full year - in issue #244). I regularly noticed this new Snake-Eyes gracing the covers of numerous comics over the years (I just counted 18!) and her design always caught my eye. But I admit it was actually this figure that made me truly become obsessed with the character. Her masked head is perfection. Let's check out Dawn below!

Super7 Reaction+ O-Ring - LADY JAYE!

G.I.Joe RAH ReAction+ O-Ring Wave 9 - Lady Jaye (Covert Ops) - Super7 2026

Lady Jaye has always seemed like one of the simpler characters to be made into a cartoon-accurate toy. She has a classic 2-tone green military uniform, a short haircut, and her signature weapon is a classic (looking) javelin. But her first figure inexplicably had a hat, a single-color bright green uniform, and they turned her simple javelin into some sort of gun. It was still a great toy and probably the best of the vintage female figures, but you never realize how off it was until you see this new Super7 ReAction+ version. Before this, the closest thing to a vintage-style cartoon-accurate Lady Jaye was her 5th version from 2006, but that was in the era where all the figures had disproportionately small heads. This new figure is perfection. It makes me excited to see their take on an update Scarlett - who suffered the most from the limitations of the 80's toy design. If this Lady Jaye and the previous Jinx are any indication, she will be great. Let's check out this classic Lady Jaye below!

Bluey - YOUNG CHILLI (as SHE-RA?)!

Bluey - Single-Pack Action Figures - Young Chilli with Sword - Moose Toys 2026

Bluey is an extremely popular Australian children's show that ran from 2018 through 2023. It's technically only on hiatus while a movie is in production and will likely return with more full seasons. I've watched quite a few episodes while babysitting and it is a fantastic show. If you ever had a great teacher in your life who could explain heavy concepts to young children without being patronizing or annoying - this show gives that same vibe. It's charming and comforting. I think that kids will learn a lot by watching it, and adults will learn new communication skills from the delivery presented in the show. I'm a fan. There is a Season 3 episode called Fairytale where the sisters Bluey and Bingo are being told a story by their father Bandit about when he met their mother Chilli. The setting of that story is a 1980's Halloween and and 8-year-old Chilli (dressed in a She-Ra homage costume) runs up to a young starstruck bandit to return his hat. It was a great flashback. And now it's a great toy! Let's check out Chilli below!

Masters of the Universe - KITTRINA!

Masters of the Universe - Collectible Figures #56 - Kittrina - Altaya 2024

This time last year I posted the first review from my Altaya figurine collection. That was Dree-Elle, which I was excited to open because I had just gotten my Mondo Dree-Elle in the mail. That fateful day opened the floodgates and I knew I would have to finally open and photograph all 20 of the MOTU figurines I had purchased (of 77 total). The lone straggler of all those post was Kittrina, the fan-favorite single-episode character from The Cat and The Spider (1984) where she grappled with Teela and flirted with Battle Cat - all while sharing screentime with Webstor, who was introduced in the same episode. Despite her C-list status and minimal screentime, she is very much a fan-requested character. The funny thing is that both figures of her so far (the 2020 Super7 figure and this 2024 Altaya figurine) are pretty odd and lackluster. The main reason I delayed this post is because she is my least favorite of all my Altaya purchases. I'm probably too critical though. Let's check out the long overdue Kittrina post below!

New Teen Titans - STARFIRE!

DC Direct Action Figures - The New Teen Titans - Starfire - DC Direct 2000

Every time I get an old DC Direct figure into my photo tent I am blown away by the sculpt and attention to detail. I was very excitedly buying lots of toys back then. I loved all the Silver Age and Legion of Super-Heroes figures in particular. But in general, I was really taking this early-aughts toy renaissance for granted. I should have been buying ever single toy put out there. I think Starfire is a tricky character to get right. Especially when trying to replicate the early-80s George Pérez design. Honestly I've only seen it done right twice in toy form: the 2018 Funko mini figure, and this DC Direct figure from 2000. I desperately tried to find who sculpted this, but the information seems lost to time. My best guess is Tim Bruckner. But it could easily be Sam Greenwell as well. Both were very active with DC Direct at the time, but the sculptor names being featured on the packaging was inconsistent in those early years. Whoever the artist is knocked it out of the park though. Let's check out Starfire below!

DC Universe Classics - STARFIRE!

DC Universe Classics - Starfire & Adam Strange (Mattycollector Exc) - Mattel 2009

This figure stirs up a lot of old feelings for me. I remember the campaign for the first DC Universe Classics in the Mattycollector Exclusives program. The pictures online (and maybe in ToyFare?) looked great. But the reality of the figures were very different when they arrived. I felt a little ripped off. When the final product had such drastic differences from the preorder prototype images, the whole subscription process seemed unreliable and scammy. All these years later, I can appreciate her for what she is; scrawny limbs, limp hair, and anatomically bizarre cleavage and all. (Seriously though, she has more modest costume options that should have been used if they had to use this cloth-sculpted torso). In photos it doesn't look that bad, but in person there are a lot of sculptural details that just look off. The perfection of the Four Horsemen prototype compared to the sloppy Mattel tooling felt insulting to collectors who purchased these on good faith. 27 years later and I'm almost over it. Let's check out Starfire below!

The New Teen Titans - STARFIRE!

Legion of Collectors - The New Teen Titans 3.75" Figures - Starfire - Funko 2018

The new Entertainment Earth DC Super Powers line from McFarlane Toys has me very excited. The main retail waves of these figures were pretty cool, but they were a total boys club (aside from 4 repaints of a Wonder Woman mold). But since the EE-exclusive waves were announced, we've already seen pre-orders for Supergirl, Power Girl, Starfire, and Raven. Anticipation for the latter two has put me on a bit of a Teen Titans kick. I've recently been photographing a lot of older figures that I never got around to posting about prior, and I'm really obsessed with the classic look of the characters. The 2018 Legion of Collectors Teen Titans subscription box from Funko contained 2 of 4 potential 3.75" classic Perez-era Titans figures. These are in the same style as the Batman '66 figures (Batgirl and Catwoman) from the year prior. For years these fetched about fifty bucks each on eBay, but now they can be found for less than retail. It's just a shame they didn't make the other characters. Let's check out Starfire below!