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Masters of the Universe Clasics Rewind- Battleground Teela
In June of 2011, Mattycollector and the Four Horsement delievered the next quarterly bonus figure for the Masters of the Universe line: Battleground Teela. Supposedly this sculpt/version of Teela, dubbed “Bikini Blonde Teela” was fan demanded and that may be the case. It just turned out, for me, to be one of my least like figures in the line.
Source: PlanetEternia.de
The bio on the back of the card sparked some heated debate. This was one of the bios where some said they were done reading them or following them. The reason? It’s the tale of the death of the Sorceress and how her cloned daughter, Teela, took over.
I’ve said it before that I do really like the bios for most of the figures and this bio does work well in the grand scheme of the MOTU story. I think maybe the main issue was a) the death of the character and b) this look of Teela’s was actually based on an early mini-comic early in the line but now the look, according to the bio, came later in the MOTU saga. Then again, who’s to say what the correct cannon is for MOTU – we had these bios, the mini-comics, the comic strips, different cartoons, and more.
Like I said, the figure is based off an early appearances by Teela in the mini comics that came with the vintage figures. The Red Beast Man Power-Con exclusive was also based on an early appearance/drawing of that character.
The figure came on the regular female buck at the time and featured a new top and head sculpt. While there is nothing wrong with the head sculpt or the figure itself (mine is still very sturdy with no issues with the articulation or joints), I just find the figure to be boring.
The one thing that I never noticed, and it’s probably because I really didn’t care for the figure, was how off the eyes were on mine. As you can see from the shot below, it’s kinda bad. And we thought the quality control was bad only with the last year of the line, huh?
The figure comes with two accessories: a sword and a blaster. Both fit in her hands well and provide many different posing options.
Fan demanded or not, if I wasn’t a completest or someone that bought into the subscription model for MOTUC, I would have no need or desire for this figure. I’ve never had an inkling to pose her with other figures or really do anything with her beside a static pose and putting her on the shelf to be reminded this was a quarterly “bonus.”
I know this feature isn’t the same length as the others but I honestly just don’t have much more to say about her and I wasn’t into taking more pictures than I did. Other figures I’ve taken a look at in this MOTUC Rewind series I’m doing gave me a new found love or appreciation for some figures that I didn’t have at the time of purchase. This time it didn’t change my views on this particular figure.
She may make a terrible Teela, but she makes a great Tyris Flare from the Golden Axe comic! http://stc.wikia.com/wiki/Tyris-Flare
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Nice reference. I was also thinking about someone using her to create a Valeria custom from Conan the Barbarian.
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She isn’t based on the mini-comics. She is based on the old 80’s DC comics- the full fledged comics. Oddly, you can use this Teela’s head on the original Classics body to indeed create a mini-comic look.
I like her to a degree. I just never liked the fact that Matty tried so hard to present her as the Teela to get if you had missed out on the previous one.
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Thanks! I knew she was in Early Comics but I just generalized. I swear she had blonde hair in one of the mini-ones packed in. I’ll have to look in my mini-comic collection. Thanks for the feedback!
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She does indeed have blonde flowing hair in a few of the mini comics. That’s why when you take the BG Teela head and put it on the original Classics body you can recreate that look. However, the barbarian bikini look that BG Teela sports is directly out of the DC Comics.
Like I said, I do like her to some degree. I love the Classics line when it delivers more types of display options. For example, after 2017’s Powercon we can have DC Comics Teela and Adam displayed together. That’s kind of neat, imo. I also love when they give us parts to mix and match our own idea figures. The BG Teela Head on the Classics body or how you can have a 200X Man-At-Arms by combining parts from the three MAR figures that have been released.
Now if only Tug O’War would be released so we could make a John Blackstar.
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I was never a fan of the Blackstar cartoon or toys but I can see a lot of Filmation/MOTU fans wanting to see him back in some capacity.
I also agree about all the excellent mix and match options, too. What a cool line to be able to do stuff with.
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This figure always felt “Scott demanded” more than “fan demanded” to me.
I wonder if the new heads with the Ultimate Teela will make BG Teela any more interesting. I never picked this up because I thought it was among the worst head sculpts for females in the line (until CG Evil-Lyn at least).
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I remember there be supposed demand for this variant. It seemed to always show up and I wouldn’t have ever thought about it until I kept seeing people or forums pushing for it. Perhaps Scott really wanted it to. I dunno.
I’m excited to see what people will do with their Ultimates and how people will combine new and old together.
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