Review of Evil-Lyn action figure
Masters of the Universe Classics

Introduction

Last year, Mattel and the Four Horsemen brought us Teela in the Masters of the Universe Classics series, and collectors were pleased. They've followed her up with her evil counterpart, Evil-Lyn. Lyn is the right hand witch of Skeletor, using magic for evil purposes. But you know, when you name your daughter 'evil-lyn', you're just asking for trouble.

Like the old school action figure, this Lyn is a rehash of the Teela figure. The body is identical, but she has a new head sculpt, new accessories, and a different paint scheme.

Lyn was the April Matty Collector figure, selling for the usual twenty bucks plus shipping. She sold out in under 10 minutes once again, prompting collectors to curse Mattel on every forum.

Odds are pretty good they'll end up re-issuing her, since that seems to be their policy at this point, but if you can't wait, there's always her personal auction site - evil-bay.

Packaging - ***1/2
It's the usual, which will make regular MOC collectors of the series happy. MOC folks tend to like the packaging to remain consistent.

It's fine by me as well, since it looks great. I end up tearing the figures out and tossing the package, but I still appreciate the attractiveness and retro style.

Sculpting - ****
Since Teela picked up a full four stars and Evil-Lyn is 90% Teela, you'd expect a pretty similar score in this category. It's just the new head sculpt that could have gone south...and there's no bird migration here.

Lyn is another babe, yet she has a bad dude's attitude. It's all in the eyebrows don't you know - remember when Elaine drew black eyebrows on Jerry's uncle, and the doctor felt he had a bad attitude? Yea, it's those downward pointing arched eyebrows that give her the evil edge.

The small details, like the skull on her helmet or the fur on her costume, are clean and sharply defined, particularly for this scale. Like Teela, she's just about the same height as He-man, with a more feminine physique of course.

She stands great on her own, as you'd expect, and her hands are sculpted to work extremely well with the weapons.

Paint - ***
Like her cousin, her paint job isn't quite up to  the level of quality you'd expect. The blue on her costume is fairly sloppy, and some of the silver details are also lacking.

Fortunately the work on the face is great, with some nice green eye shadow, sharp eyebrows, and clean lips. In some photos, the yellow of her torso and the yellow of her arms and head might look slightly different, but this is not noticeable in person.

A big positive here is the translucent blue ball on the top of her magic staff. They could have simply painted it blue, but going this route instead gives her a bit more pizazz.

Articulation - ***1/2
She has identical articulation to Teela, from her ball jointed neck to her rocker feet. All the joints work cleanly, and the pegs are sturdy and strong. There's no loose joints, and she's able to take very natural poses.

Speaking of the rocker feet, I had to use a little force to break them free, but nothing that was dangerous.

The ball jointed head allows for some very good tilt poses, even with the helmet and high collar. You can add a little personality and attitude to just about any pose.

Accessories - ***1/2
Once again, we get some nice new additions that are very character specific.

There's a deadly looking ceremonial knife, and she can hold it in either hand.

There's also her magic staff, with the aforementioned crystal ball. There is a short and long shaft for this overall staff, and they pop apart right below the multiple blue rings. This switch works pretty easily.

In the re-use department, she has the same bird we've seen multiple times now. However, to distinguish this fowl from Teela's, there's an attachment that fits on the birds back and head, as well as a large perch. The wings are articulated, and the feet fit tightly on the top bar of the perch.

Fun Factor - ****
I love this line - these are some great toys first, collectibles second. They are certainly sturdy enough to stand up to play, and are really the best quality action figures that Mattel is currently producing. Too bad most kids will never know they even exist.

Value - **
Teela did better here, but that's due to the extra head. You can never go wrong with two heads.

It doesn't help that she's mostly re-use, although her staff, knife, head, bird attachment and bird stand are all new.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not a thing!

Overall - ***1/2
I remain a huge fan of this series, even though Mattel seems determined to make that such a painful love affair. I obtained my Evil-Lyn because I have a subscription, and had I not had said sub, I would have missed out. By the time I completed my online order (for the MM Bats, MOTUC weapons pack, and 12" Venkman), the Teela's were already sold out.

I'm betting they re-release her though, hopefully before the year is out. With a couple cool SDCC exclusives and a number of solid releases in the coming months, this line looks like it will be high in running for best in 2010.

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***1/2
Sculpting - ****
Paint - ***
Articulation - ***1/2
Accessories - ***1/2
Fun Factor - ****
Value - **
Overall - ***1/2

Where to Buy 
Obviously, Matty Collector was the place to get this babe, but now it's really ebay you'll need to visit.

Related Links -
I've covered quite a few of the figures in this series, including Moss Man last month.

- before that was on the MOTUC Display stands,

- just before that I covered Battle Cat and Trap Jaw, and prior to that was Adora.

- I really liked Scare glow, although he's not exactly what you'd call a key character.

- Adora isn't the first girl in the series - Teela has that honor.

- before that there was Webstor, one of my favorite, and Tri-klops, another one of my favs.

- prior to that was Man-at-arms, Hordak, Zodac, Faker, Mer-man and Stratos, starting out with He-man, Skeletor and Beastman together in one review.

You should also hit the Search Reviews page, in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.

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