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Toys of Steel Review - Mattel: "Man of Steel" Movie Masters Faora Action Figure

By Jasper Lloyd Tan

Who would have thought Faora would be the rarest figure for this entire line. I was thinking that the armored General Zod would be holding that title, but I was wrong. I've only seen Faora here in the Philippines once, and that one time I saw her, I immediately bought her. The "Man of Steel" Movie Masters are kind of pricey here at around $40 plus, but I believe she'll go higher than that on the secondary market. Anyway, on to the review...

Faora was played by German actress Antje Traue in the movie. She is General Zod's Sub-Commander and spent most of the time in the movie either following Zod's orders or beating the hell out of Superman. I personally think Faora stole the show from her co-stars as she might have been silent for most of the time, but her fighting skills were the best among them. Faora shone best during her fight scenes with Superman, displaying her mastery of the Martial Arts as she rescued General Zod from Superman's beating in their first encounter. Though I wanted to see more of her fighting Superman, she spends the remaining of her time assaulting the humans and personally dealt with Earth's would be saviors Lois Lane, Prof. Emil Hamilton, and Colonel Nathan Hardy. Towards the end of the movie, Faora, along with the other Kryptonian invaders, were lucky enough to have remained alive but trapped in the Phantom Zone after unsuccessfully foiling the attack of the aforementioned saviors. If this is any indication that she would be brought back in future sequels, I would certainly welcome that development as I believe Faora deserves another chance at beating Superman, all in the name of General Zod.

Faora's card back shows a different Zod than the Armored Zod's card back. Though both of them belonged to Wave 2 of this toy line, Faora's card back shows the Armored General Zod while the Armored General Zod's card back showed the armor less Zod. Maybe the Armored General Zod (or the armor less Zod) is a Zod variant in this wave. Superman again is still featured prominently in Faora's card back.

Faora like the other figures in this toy line also comes with a base stand that features her family crest. The material of the base stand is also similar with that of the others. It also shares the same black and gray colors with that of General Zod.

Don't get me wrong, Faora's an awesome action figure but I feel that her head is too big for her body. There are some photos that show a good proportion while there are others that makes her head look bigger. But whatever the case, Faora is still a great looking action figure. Again Mattel gives us intricate sculpt detailing for Faora's armor and the good thing about this is that she has better mobility compared to Zod and Jor-El. One explanation for this is that her armor is not as bulky as the others. The other reason for this is that she is given a new set of articulation. More on that soon...

I also like the dusty look of Faora's cape as Mattel went the extra mile to give us a very close rendition of the character in action figure form. The dusty look gives this figure an even more realistic look. Something that reminds us how Faora and Superman duke it out in the dusty streets of Smallville.

I've got to say, of all the females that appeared in "Man of Steel", Antje for me is the most gorgeous among them all. And this figure does her justice as it almost perfectly replicates Antje's look. There are just a few misses here that I can't quite point out, but the face for me is just perfect for a six inch action figure.

On the articulation department, this is what sets Faora apart from the other action figures in this toy line. Faora, from the upper body and lower body, shares the same articulation as the others (ball jointed neck, ball hinged shoulders, swivel biceps, wrists, waist, and thighs, pivot torso, hinged elbows and knees, double pivot hips and ankles), but what separates her from the others is her hip joints. Instead of the more traditional DCUC hips, here she is given the G.I. Joe like ball hip joints. This allows her to have better hip mobility, which can come very much in handy as she is an expert martial artist.

Another thing that bothers me with this Faora action figure is her height. When placed beside the other figures in this wave, she seems to be in good scale. But when placed beside other DCUC and DC Direct female figures, she ends up being short. In the photo above, I placed her beside a DC Direct Ursa. She looks shorter than she should be. Ursa by the way is an original creation of 1978 Superman the movie Director Richard Donner for his Superman movies. Faora was Donner's inspiration for his Ursa character, even writing her to inherit most of Faora's characteristics. Ursa's existence in the comic books was legitimized when Donner co-wrote a Superman story entitled "Last Son".

In closing, Faora is a great catch. I never had second thoughts getting her because I never had any Faora action figure before this (not like I did with Zod). It is also a great joy to me that she literally fell in my lap, and despite the price point that I got her at, I'm not regretting purchasing this action figure. I don't know what I would have done if I somehow let her pass by me and in the future come to realize that she would be the hardest to find in this toy line. I think here in the Philippines, only a few of us managed to acquire Faora. I heard in other countries like the U.S., Faora is rarely seen on the pegs. Her price point also shot up in the secondary market. Forcing collectors who are looking for her to but at the higher price. So if you manage to find her, do grab her and not let go. Now I better start looking for that Superman figure with the Kryptonian Key. He's getting harder to find too.