It
will be Christmas in just a few days, so I wanted to be sure this
post had some Holiday spirit! And what’s more appropriate for the
holidays than Ivy?
Wait
– crap. Holly is the Christmas plant. Or poinsettias. Ivy has
nothing
to do with Christmas.
Oh,
well. Let’s move on.
Not
that I don’t buy in; I do. But I just don’t examine her plant
power too closely.
That
being said, Ivy’s character
is one of my favorites. Over the years she has been portrayed as a
protector of Mother Earth, a genocidal maniac, and everything in
between. While her base motivation is always preserving the
environment, her actions and the extremes she is willing to go to
have varied according to what the given narrative called for. In a
way she’s as malleable as the Joker, but with the believable and
somewhat sympathetic motivations of Mr. Freeze.\
Batman:
The Animated Series
and The
New Batman Adventures
presented an Ivy that was a little less genocidal. Over time she even
softened up into more of an anti-hero role (leading to her
relationship with Harley Quinn in modern comics). Ivy always had good
stories, though. She was one of the characters that you could enjoy
without reservation.
Her
look changed significantly from one show to the other. I have a
slight preference for this, her New
Adventures
design. But I like the original enough that I’ll buy that figure,
too whenever they release her. Like Captain Kirk, though, I just like
a green skinned girl.
FIRST
GLANCE
Ivy’s
red hair is a great contrast to the rest of her. The proportions are
spot-on, as they have been with all of the figures in this line. This
is another striking figure.
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
hate that my flash has washed out the lighter colors on Ivy, because
you’re missing out on her irises. The facial sculpt is excellent
and definitely has the slightly disdainful look with which she
regards all non-plant life, but her eyes really sell it. Her hair is
a separately sculpted piece that is very simple but that captures
this version’s more complex style. It’s a little wilder and
bigger than Animated
Series
Ivy’s.
Her
body has the signature Bruce Timm pinup shape. The big difference
between this line and other toy lines is that Ivy’s costume would
have been painted on in other lines. Here the bodysuit is sculpted
and it makes all the difference.
Ivy’s
gloves are also sculpted, although I can’t imagine any toy line
just painting these on. These are taller and simpler than Animated
Series
Ivy’s and I prefer them. Her hands are once again very recognizably
Bruce Timm-style.
Ivy’s
boots have points at the top that give them a ton of character and
make them more than just little booties. Most of the figures in the
line have severely pointed toes, but they look particularly good
here. A lot of Ivy’s costume has sharp angles and points, so it
works.
The
coloring is very simple. The flat greens match across Ivy’s
bodysuit, gloves, and boots, as well as her makeup. Her pale green
skin looks consistent across the figure and that red hair is bright
and strong – a great focal point on a strong figure.
ACCESSORIES
Poison
Ivy comes with a stand, two flasks, a bottle, and four extra hands.
The
stand is the same three part apparatus that has come with the other
figures in the line. At first I liked it (except for the base being
white), but now that I have a bunch of these figures (and a
Batmobile),
I’m starting to think these take up too much space. Fortunately I
only have one figure so far that can’t stand up without one of
these (I can’t remember who it is at the moment), so getting rid of
them on the shelf shouldn’t be much of a problem.
I
love these chemistry containers. They look fantastic and so do the
liquids in them. The smaller ones are flasks. I tried to look up the
name of the larger one, because I feel certain it has a fancier
designation than “bottle”, but I couldn’t find anything quickly
and it just isn’t worth hours of intensive research to attach a
name to a tertiary action figure accessory.
The
hands are all great. Unlike the Mattel line, we don’t have to worry
about whether or not it’s appropriate for Ivy to have fists. Here
she has hands for holding, punching, and just standing around. They
switch out just fine. The pegs are super tiny, but everything that
came out after that first wave has been sturdy. I’d still be
careful, though.
FUN
I
don’t like the hip joints on these figures. Let’s move on.
DC
Collectibles has hit the formula for this line. The joints are about
as useful as they can be without detracting from the aesthetics of
the figures. You can achieve a huge variety of dynamic poses as long
as you don’t need them to squat or hold a small item with both
hands.
The
accessories of this line are a major selling point for me. Every once
in a blue moon Mattel would include what felt like the minimum
appropriate number of accessories with a figure (Bronze
Tiger,
for example). DCC includes at least that with each figure. It might
have been nice to get some kind of plant with Ivy, but I’m halfway
expecting the Animated
Series
figure to be a box set with a giant, man-eating Venus flytrap.
These
are all fun figures that give you plenty to do once you open them.
OVERALL
Poison
Ivy is the best figure possible within the design parameters of this
line (stupid ugly hips). I can’t think of a way this figure could
have been better aside from some plant accessories.
5
out of 5
If
you want to you can help out Needless Things by buying Ivy from
Amazon!:
Awesome review. If I get some Christmas gift cards from Amazon I imagine I'll probably pick up Ivy, Harley, and maybe Scarecrow to catch up on this line.
ReplyDeleteI've got a lot of catching up to do myself. I'm almost up to ten I haven't reviewed yet.
DeleteHow do you get Ivy to hold the smalleright chemistry flasks? I can't do it!
ReplyDeleteI just stuck 'em in her hands. No issues.
Delete