Queen Marlena
Heroic Queen of Eternia!
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Cartoon Collection Basic Figure
Item No.: Asst. HYD16 No. JKC45
Manufacturer: Mattel
Includes: Space helmet, "Courtship" mini-comic
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $19.99
Availability: January 2026
Other: Gunpowder, gelatine, dynamite with a laser beam
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I was super excited to hear we were getting He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Cartoon Collection Queen Marlena. We got a Captain Glenn figure a long time ago which had parts to turn into Queen Marlena, which this one nods to - poorly. That one had a green space suit that could turn into a fairly decent retro space suit. This one has a royal gown with a removable skirt and a helmet. It's not fooling anybody, but maybe someday Mattel might fashion a Rainbow Warrior space suit retool. Or I can hope, I don't know how the franchise is going to do in light of the movie this year.
This figure delivers what an adult wanting a collector figure needs - she stands, and has a nice sculpt. She can't sit and she has no cool accessories to bludgeon anybody with.
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Made with a lot of new parts, Marlena impresses. Her plastic wig is removable and can be swapped with her helmet, plus her face paint is spot-on. Mattel did a great job here, molding much of the toy in color with very few painted parts. Her face, belt, and collar have paint - and that's pretty much it. The El Segundo toy people seem very intent on finding ways to keep labor costs down in an era of ever-increasing prices. She's not as big or impressive as a similar Hasbro collector product, but there's a bigger bang for the buck here. She's $20, and about 1 1/2-inches taller than Hasbro's equivalent at the same price. Or if you're comparing 6-inch figures, a 1/2-inch shorter and $8 cheaper.
The wig easily slides off, but getting the helmet on just right is tricky. It won't go down completely, and you're going to have to work at it to get her face to look decent through the visor. The helmet is jointed at the visor, and is arguably a pretty exciting artifact. It's not like Marlena was known for swinging a sword around, as cool as that might be on a figure. I suppose you can also swipe someone else's gear, but there aren't a ton of extra accessories with a lot of these toys.
As a stand-alone figure - emphasis on "stand" - she's great. Mattel has made no rumblings about an Eternos Palace playset or throne room, so most fans will never have reason to seat her somewhere. The legs do have joints, but the big green dress will prevent such an action from taking place.
This figure is the only Marlena we've had in the Origins era. Mattel surely could do other ones, like a toy-style, a 200X-style, or maybe even something for the new movie. I'd probably thrown down the cash for a seated version if (and only if) a palace playset got made. I don't assume this will happen, so I'll just keep this Marlena around on a shelf with the other figures. She's great, but she does make a case for including variant legs for certain poses - like we saw with the Mattel Zuul and Hasbro 2009 Slave Leia figures. If you can find this one, I'd say get her. It took over 40 years to get one at this size, and for all I know it'll take another 40 to try again.
--Adam Pawlus
Additional Images

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