Cordelia

Cordelia Chase is the central axis around which Buffy (the show) rotates. Sarah Michelle Gellar originally tried out for the part, while Charisma Carpenter tried out for Buffy. Bianca Lawson was actually cast as Cordelia, but had to bow out due to contractual obligations with another (long gone) show; she later came back as Kendra the Vampire Slayer. All that's very fitting for a girl who thinks the world revolves around her. After her family suffers a major financial setback, Cordelia Chase is forced to give up her college-bound plans and pursue her Hollywood dreams. Ever self-centered, confident, and sarcastic, she runs into bad luck and then runs into Angel while in Los Angeles and immediately talks him into hiring her as his girl-Friday and fellow crime-fighter at Angel Investigations. Later she acquires the "gift" of painful visions, and becomes a vital partner in Angel's quest to "help the helpless." Out of all the characters on Buffy, Cordelia has grown the most. Originally intended to be a short-lived character, she was popular enough to warrant a recurring role (which seems to be a real theme with Mutant Enemy). A real turbo-bitch when she was introduced in the first episode, she slowly turned into a likeable character. When Angel graduated to his own series, Cordelia went in his wake and was given even more room to grow. The Moore Action Collectibles logo on Cordy's package tells us a few things before we even open the figure: the sculpt will be top-notch, the accessories will be appropriate and detailed, and there will most likely be an ornate base. Ripping open the plastic, one is not let down. For this review, we'll start with the base and work our way up. All three figures in the inaugural Angel line have sidewalk bases. In keeping with Cordelia's thespian yearnings, she's standing on the Walk of Fame - a bronze and marble star is embedded in the pavement between her feet. There are carved-in cracks in the cement, and two pegs that fit into the figure's feet to help keep her standing. Ever the fashionplate, Cordy is wearing high-heeled boots, black flairs, and a deep burgundy tank. The wrinkles on the clothes are all true-to-life, gathering and bunching in the right places. Captured in a confident and alluring pose, Cordelia carries on the fine MAC tradition of sexy females. Her face looks somewhat like Charisma (yes, her parents really named her that, after a brand of perfume), but more like Minnie Driver. Maybe it's the way her curly hair spills over her shoulder. Her accessories include an axe, shoulder bag, a thick stake, and a personal massager flashlight. There are two variants of Cordelia (or perhaps one and a half, depending on how you look at it). First was "Slave Cordelia," brought from the episode "Over the Rainbow," when Cordy was trapped on the alien world of Pylea. Her outfit is painted blue to simulate the denim outfit she was wearing at the time, over which she has real tattered cloth rags. There's a shock collar around her neck, and she comes with a shovel and a bucket. The figure's face is the same, but has the shorter, highlighted hair she sported at the end of Season 2. This figure was available through ToyFare magazine and the Suncoast family of stores. The second variant has the same short hair, but is dressed in black pants and a metallic red top. She comes with the same accessories as the original Cordelia, comes in a white window box (rather than a blister card) and was available at the summer 2002 comic conventions. This "summer con exclusive" thing is becoming big business, huh? Just a few years ago, there were one or two exclusive toys, total - these days, you can see as many as half a dozen! Standing just over 6" tall, Cordelia has 15 points of articulation, a display base, and two half-melons in her back pockets. Or was that just the sculpt? -- 09/16/02

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