Cordelia

Just to make things clear right up front: this review has nothing to do with King Lear. Cordelia - she is the popular girl prototype that exudes vanity, sarcasm and style. She was born to be popular - it's not only her right, but her responsibility - but she finds herself inexplicably drawn into the Slayer's circle of "loser" friends where she occasionally lends a hand to fight evil. Is it Cordelia's fault that she's popular? Just because she's tall, rich, and vaguely athletic? Of course, she's also a turbo-bitch, but isn't it possible she's just misunderstood? No, I guess not. Cordelia is part of Series 3 of the Buffy line, which really should have been called "Series 2½." Not counting variants, there are only two figures - Cordy and Xander - and both come with the same type of ornate graveyard bases as the Series 2 Scoobies. Cordelia's pose makes her look surprised or scared, ready to go into fight-or-flight mode, which makes sense given that she faces demons and monsters without any special powers. She's wearing a lavender minidress that is, of course, sculpted with all the appropriate curves and wrinkles and a pair of wedge sandals. She stands about 6" tall and has 16 points of articulation, and comes with a handbag, cell phone, and two thin stakes. The purse actually has a real metal chain, for what that's worth. There was a variant Cordelia as well, just as you might expect: the things have been plentiful since Series 1, and they show no signs of stopping any time soon. Cordy's variant featured her Sunnydale High cheerleader uniform - yellow sweater and burgundy skirt - with the same base and articulation, but a new head sculpt that had her hair tied back into a ponytail. She came with two stakes, one pom-pom, and a giant S.H. megaphone. Personally, I find the facial sculpt on Cheerleader Cordelia looks a bit better than the regular version. However, the right wrist and her ponytail both broke on mine (yes, even after spending some serious freezer time), so I had to superglue her back together. This isn't a common thing for MAC (not like the McJoints we've all come to know and loathe), so I don't think the problems with my Cordelia are in any way emblematic; it's just kind of annoying. No matter which Cordy you choose, you'll get a fine representation of Sunnydale High School's resident self-centered queen B (and I think you can guess what that "b" stands for). -- 09/15/02