I have a lot of Masters of the Universe Classics toys. I'd say too many - when the rumor came up that the line was ending, I thought "Yeah, it's probably about time. Inspired by the original Double Trouble, 2014's Double Mischief has been hanging out in my photo room for nearly two years. I didn't even open the brown box - so many figures come out every month that even in a slow month, sometimes I can't bring myself to open another one. This is to say nothing of her qualities or lack thereof, it's just that any figure line can get to a point where innovation is predictable and everybody is chasing the next buzz of something great. I have no memories of the original doll, so I looked her up - and she's a pretty good update.
The original Double Double Trouble had a rooted ponytail, which this one eschews in favor of a jointed plastic hair mane. The little green bud on top of her helmet serves as a knob to reveal a different face. I've seen this mechanism man-e-times in the past, to varying degrees of success. Usually it's good, the problem is trying to make the faces inside stand out and appear distinct while also doing the impossible: smooshing in the helmet. The chin area in particular looks a little strange, but it does have some dimension and does fit in the helmet. The evil head has a cunning smirk and giant Muppety eyebrows that let you know she's either smelled what Hordak has dealt, or needs to reconsider drawing them on in the dark.
The cape is a little silly, but true to the original. She really does have a high collar with metallic gold lining. She really does have a translucent green cape. The details actually match the original toy quite nicely, although the colors seem a bit muted by comparison. This could be the photography, I don't know and I'm not going to buy the original one. Her boots, her vambraces, even her belt recall the original figure nicely. The unique silver pattern is striking, as is her weird belt decor. I guess it must have been some forward-thinking 1980s thing.
While the original toy had a comb, it's sort of an unnecessary gimmick with plastic hair. Instead, a crossbow was included which can rotate its front piece to be either a Horde weapon or something that would be at home in Nerf Rebelle these days with its nice green coloring and lack of a demon's head. It's smaller than most of the other crossbows, which is great - a smaller weapon is in line with the Great Rebellion figures, and the Horde-y head is in line with that faction. It's a great compromise and it's fitting for the line.
Trading on old intellectual property has been a pretty steady thing in the toy and collectible world since pretty much always. Batman is always making a comeback. G.I. Joe got reinvented. Star Wars has had ebbs and flows. She-Ra's revival was tied to He-Man, and seeing some of these characters remade as new toys - specifically action figures - is really kind of cool. I have no doubt dolls would have been preferred, but I also assume the game was to get action figure people - of which there are more - to buy them to subsidize their production. I can't assume a ton of people wanted this particular figure, but it exists, and you can buy one for a fair price if you want. It's really something of a small miracle if you're a toy fan, although I'm not one of the faithful who was waiting for this to happen. I'm not saying you should run out and buy her, unless you want all the She-Ra stuff. In which case she's pretty nifty, go run out and buy her.
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