Barbara
Gordon as Batgirl is one of my favorite comic book characters.
Admittedly, the fact that she’s a redhead is a good start, but I
always liked the idea that she was inspired by both her father and by
Batman to fight crime.
She
was also central to one of my favorite episodes of the series –
“Over the Edge”. In it, Commissioner Gordon discovers that his
daughter is Batgirl as she lays dying in his arms. It’s absolutely
brutal and leads to an episode that explores the influence that
Batman has over not just people, but Gotham City, as well as his
responsibility to those he works with.
I
assume at some point we’ll also get a version from The
Animated Series,
but I’m honestly not sure which I prefer. This design has the same
color scheme as my Batgirl tattoo, but I do like the grey and blue
color scheme of the older one:
And
if you look, you’ll see that the differences are more than a simple
repaint will account for, so it might be a while before we see this
one. For Now I’m just happy that I’ve got a DCAU Batgirl to put
on the shelf.
FIRST
GLANCE
She’s
so tiny! I love how much attention DC Collectibles is giving to scale
in this line. Yes, it’s a bit odd that her head is roughly four
times the size of Batman’s, but for whatever reason it works.
In
addition to the figure’s diminutive size, I was also struck by the
figure’s proportions. DCC has made an art of capturing exactly the
right aesthetics on these figures regardless of how much they might
seem to defy physics.
PACKAGING
These
come in just about the simplest blister card you could ask for and I
love it. The character specific information is all on the plastic
blister because the backing cards are all the same.
It’s
classy packaging, but it’s as simple as can be – much like the
style of the cartoon these figures are adapted from.
Most
importantly, DCC provides credits.
LOOKS
I
was struck by the detail on Batgirl’s face. The sculpt is spot-on,
but it’s the precision of the paint apps that is blowing me away.
This line has been nailing
it with
paint, and Batgirl in particular is stunning. The fine detail of her
irises and the highlight on her bottom lip is so impressive. And the
rest of the figure is excellent as well, as yellow and black are not
the easiest colors to work with together on toys.
Both
the Bat Symbol and Babs’ utility belt are sculpted – both clear
signs of this being a higher-end line. The paint apps are thick and
precise. There’s no blotching and also no sign of the black
underneath the yellow paint.
The
cape is perfect. It’s made of rubber and the yellow and blue are
perfect – at no point is either bleeding too far into the other. It
isn’t glued to the neck, so it can be moved around on the figure.
The
scalloping on Batgirl’s gloves looks great. Each point is
well-defined and has a thickness to it. The hands are delicate but
sturdy. I’m very impressed with the latest batch of female hands,
which I’ll get into more with Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn. And also
Tim Drake’s tiny little hands.
Barbara’s
boots have the signature points on the front on top of swivel joints.
They look exactly right, and yet have good enough construction and
surface area on the feet ot support the figure.
ACCESSORIES
Batgirl
comes with eight extra hands, a Batarang, a two-piece grapnel gun,
and a stand.
The
stand is the same style as the rest of the series and I still wish it
was black with blue or yellow or red graphics. The white is almost
certainly going to yellow over time. I think this was a bad call. But
the stand is great, functionally.
The
hands are all excellent sculpts. They switch out easily and stay put.
One of them is, however, the biggest flaw in this series to date:
That
grapnel should obviously be black. This is such an amateur mistake
that I’m kind of shocked. The other issues this series has had have
all been quality in production. This one is just straight-up a
missing paint app. Granted, it’s as likely a factory error as the
others, but it’s a lot more apparent.
The
Batarang and grapnel gun are much sturdier than they look, which is
good given their size. The sculpts are great and the flat black
plastic looks good. No need for paint here.
FUN
I
mentioned above the proportions of these figures. You might think
that because of tiny legs and feet they are essentially useless
without their stands. This is not the case. So far I have had no
problems getting the figures to hold many poses unassisted and
Batgirl is no exception. Despite her top-heavy design, she can stand
normally and even in various action poses. It’s very impressive.
I
do wish they could have handled her hair differently. Because of the
sculpt her head is essentially in a fixed position and it would be
nice to be able to move it. I have a Japanese Batgirl figure that
actually has a hinge on the top of the hair where it meets the cowl
and it works nicely. I’m not sure such a thing could be made to
work with the aesthetics of this figure, but maybe a plug-in piece
that was sculpted differently could have? I think of what a great job
Mattel has done with some of the ladies of the Masters of the
Universe Classics line and I think there might have been an
alternative with this figure.
Still,
this is a fun figure with plenty of articulation and lots of
accessories to mess with. I don’t expect this level of play from
what is essentially a line aimed at collectors. Aside from the price
and fragility of some of the figures, kids could easily enjoy these.
OVERALL
The
only true flaw is the uncolored grapnel in the alternate hand.
Otherwise this is an excellent action figure and a must-have for any
Batgirl fan. The head’s lack of posability is a slight letdown, but
I understand. This is one of my favorite figures from this line so
far.
4
out of 5
If
you want to try your luck, go to Amazon and buy a Batgirl so you can
help out Needless Things!:
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