It came from the Toy Chest: Seriously guy, he's straight... Matty told me so

Bow has arrived! Finally! I did mention him in a rant earlier...

but I should get on with the review.

For a twist I'm going to post a transcript from Bow's Bio:

Bow™ Bio

Real Name: Kyle Reccula™

After wandering through Despondos™ for several centuries and unable to return to Eternia®, Hordak® and his ageless army eventually claimed Etheria as a new throne world, deposing the local monarchs and ruling the people through fear. A nobleman in Queen Angella’s court, Kyle was one of many brave warriors who took up arms against the Horde invaders and joined the Great Rebellion. Nicknamed “Bow™” due to his natural ability as an archer, each of his arrows possesses different powers and he has a magical heart that beats frantically when She-Ra™ is in danger. Bow™ is secretly in love with Princess Adora, unaware that she and She-Ra™ are one and the same!

I copied it straight from Mattycollector.com hence the bunch of Trademark info across it.

That's not what I'm going to rant about. My rant is about two things:

-Hordak stealing the spotlight.

-The whole emphasis on Bow's "straightness"

One Little Sentence changed the whole Bio for a lot of people. The Very First Sentence became the WHOLE Focus of Bow's bio.

Why?

Simple! The sentence has a huge reveal about the story. The first sentence that specifically talks about Bow, makes him unimportant. He's just one of many who joined the Rebellion. He's not even a Key Member to the Rebellion. (Bow is like the Etherian Teela, yet his own bio treats him like a Lt. Spector in the grand scheme of things.)

There are a couple of phrases that seem added by Mattel (some that stem from the times Bow was a "barbarian" mini-Ken)to make sure people understand that Bow is straight without a shadow of a doubt. This is the very first time they go so out of their way to explain a character's sexuality.

Apparently this piece of fan art has rubbed Mattel the wrong way.

His Bio can be summarized as this:

Hordak can live for a long time. He came and took over Etheria!

Bow is unimportant and he's not gay... Really, he's not! STOP SAYING HE'S GAY DAMMIT!!

Matty is as subtle as Hideo Kojima's anti-nuke Messages in Metal Gear games.

Now that I've got that out of my chest, let's start the Review!

1=crap and 5= awesome!

Articulation:

He's got the standard Articulation of a Normal MOTUC, but the only difference is that he's got wrist swivels for "archery positions". Yes, he can put his hands on a limp-wrist position... (I can already hear the jokes from PoP haters and Mattel's loose joints regarding Bow.) No, the wrist Articulation does not allow him to be in a true archery position. My Bow has a slightly loose right wrist.

4.5

Paint and sculpt:

Sculpt, as always, is superb. There's a couple of new parts (that will see reuse sometime... *wink wink*) Only one glaring flaw on the sculpt: The rope on the quiver. It does not work properly at all. Either it chokes Bow or unbalances the armor. Paint on the other hand is a mess.The white paint on his chest armor is sloppy on mine, the rope that holds bow's Quiver had some paint chipped off inside the box.

3.0

Accessories:

Bow has a Bow with tiny loops so I can give it some rope! Yay! Toy safety bypasses! An arrow that's too short for his bow, an alternate head Inspired by the Styleguide, a heart emblem for his armor.

4.0

Overall: 3.83. Had the paintjob been better, or I hadn't needed to use the hair dryer to fix an issue with his left arm; he would've done better. The hands are Abnormally soft...

I honestly don't care if Bow is straight, gay, into animals or whatever. I just don't want Bow's sexuality hammered down my face every time he shows up!

I am glad that PoP and MotU CAN BE together in the same scale and style! Aside from a few issues on MY figure, Bow is a great toy! The whole is he gay or is he straight stems off the mixed signals that Mattel sends with the PoP toys. Trying to make Bow be less ("barbarian" mini-Ken) and more badass, heroic archer while keeping the whole "Heart beats for She-Ra" or "Special friend who helps She-Ra" is like trying to go in two opposite directions at the same time.