I tested some alternative bodies in my stash for my Mattel She Ra head. I’m using the head for Julian, my steampunk inventor. Julian has a slender, frail, delicately built body with little muscle mass, especially in her lower body. As I put her head on various bodies, I was looking for, in order of importance, a) proportionality, b) articulation, c) nearness to Julian’s physical build, and d) color match. Results below.

 

 

Reviewing the bodies from left to right, we first have 1) Takara/BBI Cy Girl. Crappy proportions [too large overall, neck too short, shoulders too wide], very good articulation, bad match for Julian’s build, passable color match.

2) Dragon Svetlana. Crappy proportions [too large overall, neck too short, shoulders too wide], very good articulation, bad match for Julian’s build, passable color match.

3) Obitsu Slender Male. Passable proportions [neck okay, shoulders too wide], excellent articulation, passable match for Julian’s build, crappy color match.

4) Mattel articulated Barbie. Passable proportions [neck okay, shoulders too wide], crappy articulation, good color match.

5) Spin Master Liv. Proportions slightly better than passable [neck only slightly too short, shoulders too wide], middling articulation, middling color match.

In conclusion, you can see that the She-Ra head is very small, even smaller than a standard female action figure’s! The head’s small size and deep neck socket make it hard to swap onto other bodies while keeping proportionality.

But I am not deterred! I am a body modder extraordinaire, ready to attack pretty much anything with my Dremel, Xactos, hand saw, and glue gun. As I look at my options, I think that a hybrid of a Liv and an Obitsu body would be best for Julian. I’d use the Liv as a base and add Obitsu arms for the double-ganged elbows. I’d modify the Liv by narrowing the shoulders, shortening the legs and adding thigh swivels, swapping out hands and feet for more realistically sized ones. I might also lengthen the neck slightly and add a torso joint under the bust for slouchability.