WWE Elite 81 Bianca Belair figure review

Bianca Belair is right up there with Sasha Banks and Bayley as one of my favorite stars to watch on the WWE’s roster. She’s got that It Factor that can’t be taught and it seems inevitable she’ll be a Wrestlemania headliner for years to come.

I broke my no more poorly articulated Mattel WWE women figure stance for Bianca. Let’s see if The EST will make me go back and add a few more of her rivals to my collection.

Packaging: There’s not a big change from the previous Elite packaging with the only difference being a certified authentic sticker and the True FX now adds Life-Like Details on that tab.

Color wise, it’s mostly white and red as opposed to red and black with white accents. Bianca’s portrait is on the front as well as the right side.

Her bio is OK, but I guess there’s only so much to write about her career at this point.

Likeness:  Bow down to maybe the best female likeness we’ve seen from Mattel yet. This likeness is flawless with an exact expression that’s very common for Bianca.

Using the same parts as other figures means Bianca’s ripped abs and developed arms aren’t as prominent. I wish Mattel would develop a larger parts library for the female figures. Not everyone is the same body type as the Bellas.

Now let’s talk about the execution of Bianca’s infamous braid. Mattel figured out a way to make it work and have it long enough that she can hold it. A few years back this would have just been a dangling piece that had no flexibility and stayed stiff with no movement. Mattel took the time to get this right and deserves a lot of credit.

Scale:  Bianca is 5’7” making her about average with most of the WWE women’s roster besides the 5’10” Charlotte Flair. She should stand much taller than the 5’1” Io Shirai. Her figure is about the same height as the 5’5″ Sasha Banks, who also has more developed thighs than Bianca, which should be reversed.

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Paint:  This is expert level quality work from Mattel. Bianca has a ton of different outfits — some of which are a lot easier than what Mattel chose for this figure.

This is essentially Bianca’s Barbie-influenced outfit with a silhouette of her skipping to the ring holding her braid. Just for added difficulty there are some random lipstick patterns as well.

Mattel added transparent applications on here with the main image peering through the largest lipstick pattern. And there are some gold dots as well for accents. Her arm bands also have the silver streak running through them and Mattel didn’t skimp on the detailing in her hair braid.

I shouldn’t have to at this point, but Mattel got Bianca’s skin tone down properly as well and the application of the brighter pink lipstick and even getting her ends laying down flat around her hairline is impressive work.

Articulation:  Mattel’s female WWE figures have been insufficient in the articulation category for far too long.

It was hard to pull off any of the signature moves for the top level talent that had a more evolved move set than Kelly Kelly, Stephanie McMahon or The Bella Twins.

Mattel decided to make some overdue fixes in the Ultimate Edition line. I didn’t want to wait years for a UE Bianca figure and thought I’d give the Elite another try since double-jointed knees were added now along with a better rocker torso.

This does help to pull off more of her moves although I will happily add the UE version when Mattel gets around to it.

Bianca Belair has:

• neck
• bicep
• ball-jointed shoulders
• elbows
• wrists
• wrist hinge
• torso
• waist
• hips
• thighs
• knees (double-jointed)
• ankles

The double jointed knees do add a lot to her poseability and made me eager for an updated Sasha Banks since the Elite 83 one still uses the old articulation model.

Accessories:  Bianca Belair has one of the more complete sets of accessories from a figure Mattel has provided in a long time for a non-Ultimate Edition figure.

She’s got her matching (cloth!) jacket and the detail is just as impressive as it is on the figure’s paintjob. This is the level of quality Mattel can achieve so it’s frustrating when some figures get treated with less attention. In some cases it’s for characters that might only get one Elite figure.

Bianca has two pairs of swappable hands — one is a set of fists and the other is wide open hands that are much better sculpted than the old school slap hands.

Finally, she has her blinged-out sunglasses. Given the size, I’m not upset Mattel wasn’t able to get the semi-transparent nature of her shades.

Worth it?  I grabbed Bianca for $20. She’s a figure if I paid more I would feel like the value warranted it even if that’s not the norm for most Elites.

Rating: 9.8 out of 10

Enhanced articulation, a tremendous likeness and all of the essential accessories? More of this please, Mattel. Despite the needed larger frame this figure is very well done and one of my favorite female figures from Mattel’s Elite line yet.

Where to get it?  I got Bianca from Amazon. She’s also available at retail with some sporadic appearances at Target and Walmart.