I
was surprised when DC Collectibles offered this two-pack and two more
like it – Batman with Bane and Penguin with Mr. Hammer’s brother,
Sickle.
Each
set consists of one new figure and a slight repaint of an old figure.
It was a pretty smart way to get three oversized figures and three
sold out but popular figures on the market. I’ll talk about the
other two sets in the coming days; today I’m going to take a look
at the first one that came in at the ol’ local comic book shop.
This
first set is notable for me because I never bought this version of
Harley. I wasn’t crazy about the design before I played the game,
so I didn’t order it when it was offered through Previews. By the
time I decided I wanted one they were long gone. So this set was the
best deal of the three for me because I didn’t have either of the
figures.
First
Glance:
Both figures fit perfectly with the established Arkham style. Full of
detail and hyper-realistic form with muted coloring. Next to Harley
Mr. Hammer looks huge, but he’s hardly the biggest figure from the
line – a fact that delights me to no end.
Articulation:
Both figures are articulated with the usual aesthetics this line puts
forth – a smart combination of form and functionality.
Mr.
Hammer
Head
– ball joint
Shoulder
– ball joint
Bicep
- swivel
Elbow
–pivot
Wrist
– swivel
Waist
- swivel
Hips
– ball joint
Knees
– swivel/pivot
Calves
– swivel
Mr.
Hammer’s head has a decent range of motion in every direction. He
can’t look up and down as much as I’d like, but he does alright.
All
of the arm joints work quite well together. You can achieve most
poses you might want to for a huge guy with a big ol’ hammer. More
importantly, the joints are tight enough to support poses even with
the weight of said hammer.
The
legs do as much as you need from a guy this size that basically just
needs to be able to walk around and whack things. However, when I
tried to use the swivel on his right foot the whole damn thing ripped
right off:
The
feet are made of a soft plastic – one of my pet peeves – and
apparently there was some paint freezing up the joint. I had to use
an X-Acto knife to cut out the twisted up portion before I could glue
the foot back on.
Overall,
though, Mr. Hammer is well articulated. None of the joints are ugly
or mar his profile and they all function quite well. Except for the
one that’s Super Glued.
Harley
Quinn
Head
– ball joint
Shoulders
– ball joint
Biceps
– swivel
Wrists
– swivel
Hips
– swivel
Knees
– pivot
Boot
Tops - swivel
Harley’s
head might as well be on a swivel.
Her
arms feel delicate, but they move well and have a good range of
motion. I’d like it if her elbows bent more.
Harley’s
legs have a decent range as well, but ankle joints would have made a
big difference.
Harley
has plenty of joints, but still isn’t quite the Harley Quinn figure
I want out of this line. We’ve gotten super articulated versions of
Nightwing and Batman; I’m hoping a Harley will happen at some
point.
As
things stand, all of the joints on my figure work well and are tight.
It has no problem holding poses.
Sculpt:
Sculpt-wise this is the exact same Harley Quinn that was in the first
wave of Arkham
City
action figures.
The
form and clothing all looks exactly like the character in the game,
but this figure has a seriously disturbing case of deadface. I would
have preferred a smile or even a crazy Harley laugh, especially given
that this is the second go-round for this particular figure. Heck, a
sneer would have been good. But the face does look great. The
proportions work – the game designers really captured Bruce Timm’s
design in a realistic way, right down to using her ponytails to mimic
the harlequin hat. The hair is done well, with just the right amount
of sculpted detail and a few bits hanging in her face.
The
detail on Harley’s clothing and accessories is outstanding. All of
the seams and trim are sculpted detail. The joints are all worked
into the design, so interruption of the profile is minimal. The
studded accessories all have a sort of matched scale and look like
they belong together – collar, wristbands, corset straps, belt.
Even the boning in the corset is sculpted indention and has a depth.
Each layer of clothing is distinct.
Mr.
Hammer is an all-new sculpt.
The
head is pretty silly until you get up close and realize just how
gnarly the face under that wig and nose is. He’s got mashed lips
with crooked teeth just visible behind them. There’s thick stubble
under the greasepaint and wrinkles around the beady, little eyes. The
hair is a separately sculpted piece and looks intentionally
artificial. The round clown nose is also separate (though both are
permanently attached).
Hammer
has a massive, thickly muscled physique and a shneck that would make
Batista jealous. The wrappings on his hand and feet look great. I
hate it when things like this are just painted on. He’s wearing an
Arkham jumpsuit rolled down to his waist and I appreciate how easy it
is to tell that. The bottoms of the legs are torn off, giving them a
clown-like appearance. His feet crack me up. Whoever sculpted the
bare-footed figures in this line definitely has some kind of foot
fetish because the toes and shape of the feet are just ridiculously
distinctive. Every single one of them has that gap between the big
toe and the next one.
The
scar from Mr. Hammer’s brotherectomy is grotesque:
I’m
very impressed with the level of detail on this thing and the way
that it runs down the body. It isn’t just a straight line, it’s a
nasty, crooked gash that hasn’t healed right. I suppose we should
be thankful it isn’t all infected or something.
Compared
to other figures in the series Mr. Hammer doesn’t sport a ton of
detail. This is kind of crazy because he does have so much detail.
The wrappings, the texture of the pants, the musculature – it’s
all outstanding.
Coloring:
Mr. Hammer’s flesh parts are molded out of a plastic that looks
very much like human skin. I’m not sure how the effect is achieved,
and the painted washes certainly help, but it looks amazing. His
tattoos are just a bit too dark for my taste, but they do look great.
The details are excellently done, especially considering all of the
contours they had to be applied to. Then there's the Joker face that appears to be spray-painted on:
His
head looks great. The clown hair has a wash to bring out the
textures. The makeup on his face is sort of smeary and gross. He
looks very much like something out of A
Cotton Candy Autopsy,
as a matter of fact. Which I just found out is being made into a
movie by the guy that did The
Place Beyond the Pines,
which means there’s a better than good chance Mike Patton will do
the score, which is wild because he’s the reason I even know what A
Cotton Candy Autopsy
is. Though he’s probably the one that told the Pines
guy about it.
Oh,
uh… yeah. So Hammer’s clothes look great and all the colors are
applied well. The grit and dirt on them is pretty gross and
represents the look of the game well.
Harley
has a somewhat basic color scheme, but the figure designers have done
an outstanding job of representing every little difference possible.
Harley’s
tattoos – a noticeable element of this version of the character –
look amazing. They are crisp and distinctive and their placement is
perfect.
There
are a few problems with the paint on Harley’s head and hair.
Nothing terrible, but some splotches that DCC is usually good about
avoiding. Her scrunchies bleed into her hair a bit, the hair around
her face has some white going into it, and the coloring in her left
ponytail is more orange than red. I know that’s not so much an
error as just how it is, but I’d like a deeper red.
The
rest of the figure is almost perfect. The greys, reds, and blacks are
different glosses depending on what kind of trim or fabric they are
and I’m always a sucker for different paint glosses. All of the
detailing on the various studs, hoops, and straps is accurate and
applied well. I didn’t even notice the only real error until I was
going back over the pictures I took:
That
grey shouldn’t be going so far up. It should stop before that
sculpted ridge.
Flair:
Harley’s belt looks excellent and I love that DCC used an actual
metal chain for it. The sculpt is great. All of the studs are uniform
and the way the belt goes through the buckle is great. The paint job
is good. There are a couple of little sloppy spots, but nothing you
notice when the figure is just on the shelf. I love the way the chain
is affixed to specific parts of the belt rather than just stuck on.
This is a great looking little bit of plastic.
Accessories:
This set includes Mr. Hammer’s big-ass hammer. It’s huge and
looks great. You have to open his hand up a little bit to fit it in
there – which made me very nervous – but it works. The thing is
heavy and menacing.
Packaging:
Just a window box. I do like the uniformity of the DCC window boxes,
though.
They are all designed to look like the stupid new DC logo,
with the logo itself peeling down to reveal whatever the product or
franchise is.
Value:
Each of these three sets is the amazing low price of $29.99, which is
ridiculously good for two great figures, one of which is oversized.
GREAT value.
Overall:
I wish Harley’s face was a little more interesting, but the only
major flaw of the set was Mr. Hammer’s foot tearing off. Most of
the little paint errors are no big deal – barely even noticeable
without close inspection. This is a great set that will compel you to
buy more of this series.
4
out of 5
Check
with your local comic shop first. If you can’t find this pair there
you can hit up Entertainment Earth, BigBad, or probably even Amazon.
-Phantom
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ReplyDeleteHow big are the figures? are they 7" ?
ReplyDeleteThey're the 7" scale. As far as I know DCC has not released different sizes of these characters.
Delete