Package Description
No one ever said it was easy being a Summers. Rachel was born into a world on the brink of destruction, orphaned as an infant, and raised in a prison camp for people like herself. Despite it all, she spent a lifetime developing her psychic powers in secret, becoming so adept she was able to project her consciousness, and that of others, through time. Unable to use her powers to save her own world, she became determined to use them to the benefit of others. She has traveled from one end of time to the other, met death and dissolution along the way, and returned always fighting for freedom.
Appearance
Rachel is based on the art of Chris Bachalo. Except for the face, I’d say the transition was done very well in proportions and size. My personal preference is for women to be drawn with a little more muscle, but Rachel is very close to the art. Her arms and legs still look a little cylindrical, but the shape of the limbs has improved since the days of ML Elektra. What really impressed me was the sculpting of the collar bones. Looking at figures like the new Invisible Woman, Hasbro could have skimped out of those details, so it was a nice surprise to see a more effort going into the figure. This is true of the abdomen as well, another area female figures often aren’t sculpted well.
I’m not a big fan of the facial expression, but otherwise I’m happy with the head sculpt and paint application. Her jaw is very pointed, which is how she was drawn, but it still looks a little odd to me. It’s her lips that I’m disappointed in though, because the figure could show a lot more personality than the bland expression they gave her.
The only paint problems I really see on the figure are on the skirt, where some of the lines are blurred. Otherwise, she looks like a very clean cut figure where the plastic look isn’t dominating the overall appearance. I do have a gripe with the hands; they don’t look very much like gloves. The hands are hidden by the flames though, so it’s not a big deal. I was very happy with the visibility of the joints on her skin except for the knees, which look outright hideous when bent. Overall, Rachel is a very nice looking figure, particularly on the scale of ML females.
Articulation
Rachel has ball jointed knees, ankles, elbows, and torso. For some reason she has pin jointed wrists good only for rotation. I have gotten little to no movement out of the ab joint except for rotation, so it’s possible I’m wrong about what it was meant to do. The knees and elbows only bend about 90 degrees, and the head can look up virtually none. As would be expected, the skirt limits movement of the legs, even as short as it is. Overall, Rachel has a lot of failings in this category even for a Hasbro figure. The range of motion could have been a lot better.
Poseability
Rachel does stick out a little from Toybiz figures, but not as much I was expecting because of the more natural skin tones compared to earlier HML skin tones. She should do reasonably well on display in an established or new collection. The articulation is the big limiting factor here. In particular, the small feet and ball jointed ankles cause balance issues. The facial expression also limits the poses I’m willing to display her in, because she just doesn’t look like she’s in a fighting mood. The included flames look good and are of a good design. I’ve only had problems with the one for her right hand falling off sometimes. She can pull off a good number of poses because of the quality of the sculpt, but the limiting factors are still there. Overall, I’m happy with what she can do, but there may be some fans who expected a little bit more out of their Marvel Girl.
Final Judgment: 7
I think this figure works well despite its limitations, which is the sign of a good figure. I still feel there could have been some improvements made, and I personally would have liked to have seen the face done in a different style. But every time I find a good pose for the figure I like it a little more. I’ve got the feeling that even though I’m not a fan of the character or the particular style, the figure pleases a lot of people. So I’m going to give Rachel a “7”, because it’s a solid sculpt and a good improvement for female figures.
SCALE
10. My favorite possession.
9. My favorite action figure.
8. One of my favorite action figures.
7. An exceptional action figure.
6. A good, but not exceptional action figure.
5. An adequate action figure.
4. Not worth the money I spent.
3. I'll give it to somebody's kid.
2. I'll give it to somebody's dog.
1. It's going to lose a fight with my car.
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