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Shandris Feathermoon, Night Elf Archer (WarCraft)
by Toycom

Shandris Feathermoon begs the obvious question:
Would the Lord of the Rings movies have been better attended had they featured
scantily clad female elf archers? The answer: Probably not but it couldn’t have
hurt. Regardless of this,
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WarCraft lovers get another great collectible (and
an action figure to boot).
Shandris stands roughly 6 ½” tall and is a strong representation of the female
archers from WarCraft III. The sculpt is very good, with lots of detail on the
armor, bow, and leather (right down to the stitching). Complimenting this is a
sterling paint job. Toycom has snagged the organic mixes of
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brown,
green and… well, purple. The green leaf hair highlights show some attention to
detail, as does the armor flourishes. There’s no doubting that Shandris looks
good, but does she have the moves to match? You betcha.
Toycom hasn’t skimped on the articulation, something that might have been
acceptable given her spindly nature and the small surface area of her feet.
Altogether, Shandris has 14 points of articulation, including ball-jointed
ankles. In concert with hinged knees and seamed hips this allows for many cool
poses. However, putting that articulation to use makes her tippy. A simple
stabilizing disk would have helped a lot – along with a peg hole in either foot.
To facilitate the “about to shoot” pose, her left arm has a double-hinged elbow
and ball-jointed shoulders. The only limited articulation point is her neck due
to her hair. Lots of display ideas can be played out, especially with other
WarCraft figures.
Of course, as great as Shandris is in the realm of display, she falls short in
the playability department.
One need only look at Shandris’s ears and eyebrows to realize the danger. Both
are long, thin and rubbery making them susceptible to tearing under semi-rough
play. The same can be said of he leather loin cloth/dress. The joints most
likely to break are the ankles. Ball-jointed ankles are great for poseability
but it’s not so good for play.
Don’t think for a second you can use the bow and arrow. The arrow has no way to
shoot from the bow. Heck, even for display there’s no way to keep the arrow in
place. These factors add up to one thing: you’ll lose the arrow if you aren’t
paying attention. The quiver can also be lost because the strap can be easily
pop out. The bow snaps apart (so it can be installed in her right hand) so you
have to be leery of losing it as well.
If you’re a WarCraft fan or a female action figure aficionado I heartily
recommend Shandris on the assumption you won’t actually play with her. There was
room for improvement, but that doesn’t make it any less of a collector’s item.
- Omni
(August 10, 2003) |