World of Warcraft Figures

Four years ago, my husband surprised me with a subscription to World of Warcraft (Wrath of the Lich King). He'd been playing, and thought it would be something we could do together. Hello, my name is Wendy, and I'm an altoholic. I've played every class, every race, worked at all the different professions. My first toon is a Night Elf druid (Alliance). She was the first I raised to level 80. I made a friend in a bar (fine, it's an inn) in-game, and he invited me to play on his main server and join his guild on the Horde side. Because I enjoyed the class, I started another druid (Tauren), but I played her a little differently, feral instead of balance. I got her to 85 (after the Cataclysm expansion) before returning to level my first girl to 85. Blizzard Entertainment certainly has.

Like any blockbuster franchise, there's been plenty of licensed products, from t-shirts to collectible card games to action figures. My husband's class of choice is mage. On his desk in his office stands Tamuura, Draenei mage; she's gorgeous. Made by DC Unlimited (Series 3, released in 2008), she's more sculpture than action figure, which would be my complaint of all the DCU figures I've seen. They're amazing to look at, the detail is incredible, but the points of articulation and poseability of those figures suffers. However, when you consider the cost of their mini statues, an action figure with very little action is a much less expensive option ($20-ish) than the PVC statues that are basically unarticulated action figures for $70+.

Anyway. I found what appears to be a comprehensive list of all the WoW action figures on wowwiki. Unsurprisingly, there aren't many girls in that roster. And one of the most important figures in the lore, Jaina Proudmoore, has no figure of her own. Not sure who's in charge of what gets made as a figure and what doesn't, but that's just dumb.

I picked up Shandris Feathermoon on ebay, made by ToyCom in 2003. I'm happy with her over all, but there's some sculptural issues that I don't care for, like the very limited (nearly nonexistent) head mobility. She's doesn't have the same level of detail as the DCU figures would have a few years later, and honestly isn't as attractive as Tamuura. (Here's a detailed review of Shandris, complete with an unboxed photo; I agree with pretty much all he has to say.)

While it might be awesome to have the entire collection of figures (55 figs to date), I have nowhere to put them, unless we build an addition onto the house. (Which would be cool... impractical, expensive and unnecessary, but cool.) I can appreciate this guy's collection of the first 6 series from DCU (and the cases he's got it in), but it's just not an option for me. I'll concentrate on the ladies. They are:

• Shandris Feathermoon, Night Elf archer (ToyCom, series 1)
• Valeera Sanguinar, Blood Elf rogue (DCU, series 1, 2007)
• Sister Benedron, Human priest (DCU, series 3, 2008)
• Tamuura, Draenei mage (DCU, series 3, 2008)
• Amberlash, succubus demon (DCU, series 4, 2009)
• Lady Vashj, Naga sea witch - Deluxe figure ((DCU, series 4, 2009)
• Alathena Moonbreeze, Night Elf hunter (DCU, series 5, 2009)
• Sylvanas Windrunner, Forsaken queen (DCU, series 6, 2010)
• Garona Halforcen, Orc rogue (DCU, series 7, 2011)
• Confessor Dhalia, Forsaken priestess (DCU, series 8, 2011)

My issues with the series in general: light on the females (not surprising, really) in general and key females in particular; the series are rather weighted toward a few races, notably Human, Night Elf, Orc and Forsaken. There are currently 12 playable races in the game, and those 4 races I just mentioned make up 29 of the 55 (arguably 57; there's a 2-pack of Murlocs, and a Gnome comes packed with a Kobold, not counting pets/minions) figures. Of the 26 remaining, 8 are not playable races* (there's a Pandaren that will be a playable race, but not til the expansion is released). In short, the other 8 races get shortchanged, big time.

My dream wishlist for WoW female figures includes:

• Lady Jaina Proudmoore (Human)
• Aegwynn (Human)
• Queen Moira Thaurissan (Dark Iron Dwarf)
• Stormcaller Myrla (Dwarf)
  
• Queen Azshara (Naga)
• Margatha Grimtotem (Tauren)
• Aviana (Demi-God)
• Therazane (Earth Elemental)
• Greatmother Geyah (Mag'har Orc)
• Aggra (Mag'har Orc)
• Gwen Armstead (Worgen)
• Myzrael (Titan)
• Eonar (Titan)
• Vile Priestess Hexx (Troll)
• Shoni the Shilent (Gnome)
• Lilian Voss (Forsaken)
• Mylune (Dryad)
• Thisalee Crow (N'Elf)
• Lady Liadrin (B'Elf)
• Sirana Iceshriek (Harpy)
• Ishanah (Draenei)
• Boss Mida (Goblin)
• Queen Angerboda (Vyrkul)
• The Bone Witch (Vyrkul)
• Annhylde the Caller (Val'kyr)
• Ysera (Green dragon)
• Alexstraza (Red dragon)
• Sindragosa (Blue dragon, in her undead dragon form)
• Tyrygosa (Blue dragon)
• Chromie (Gnome - though actually a Bronze dragon)
• Onyxia (Black dragon)
• Subjugator Yalqiz (Shivarra - demon)

I could probably come up with more, but the game really is quite male-dominated, and notable females are scarce. And even if DCU or some other manufacturer made all those figs (let's call them $20 each for easy math), that list is $600! /faint