I
have talked a
lot of
smack about Mattel in my time. But as a customer that has spent an
awful lot of money on their products over the years I feel that it is
my right. At the same time, I have given them credit when credit was
due. Those times have been less frequent, for sure, but occasionally
they do get it right.
Side
Note: As an example of my cutbacks, just this morning I passed up the
new Star Wars Black Ahsoka Tano. The figure looks incredible and I’m
a big fan of Ahsoka for having the best story arc of any Star Wars
character, ever. And it might have even been marked down to fifteen
bucks. But I just don’t need
it. So I left it there.
That
brings me to today’s subject – the Amazon Exclusive Harley Quinn.
I
saw the whole first wave of DC Multiverse Suicide Squad figures
several weeks ago and was not impressed. Deadshot looked okay, the
Jokers were so-so, and the Harleys were just ugly. This is my opinion
and others may or may not agree, but the way Mattel did the shorts
killed the Harley figures for me. I also wasn’t too impressed with
the character selection. Multiple variants of the same character
rather than just releasing the Squad. More of Mattel’s bullshit and
more manipulative sales tactics that I wasn’t going to play along
with, even if the figures had looked great.
Then
this figure popped up on Amazon and looked pretty good. And was a
costume variation that it didn’t seem like anyone else was going to
produce. One of the reasons I like modern Harley so much is that she
works with so many different looks. I have a small but growing shelf
of different Harley Quinn figures and this one is notably different.
So I presorted it, knowing full well that it could end up looking
terrible in person.
Did
I make the right call?
FIRST
GLANCE
One
thing that I have traditionally been able to say about Mattel’s
action figures is that they tend to look better in hand than they do
prior to release in online pictures. That’s the case here. Harley
is loaded with small sculpted details and has some nice paint going
on. This wasn’t a figure that I had to open to decide whether or
not I liked it. I could tell it was solid in the box.
PACKAGING
Speaking
of the box, this is the new DC Multiverse box. I talked about it in
my review of the Dawn
of Justice Wonder Woman
that I got all excited about and bought.
I’m
a little surprised Toys R Us and Walmart are carrying figures with
“Suicide” printed on them in any way. Then again, I’m still
shocked that the movie made it out with the name intact. I wrote
sometime last year that I’d bet money it would end up being
retitled Task
Force X
or something. I’m glad nobody took me up on that.
LOOKS
This
isn’t really a knock on Mattel because they make mass market retail
figures and quality expectations for that range have plummeted
over the last ten years, but the best you can expect from their
likenesses is being able to tell who the character is. All of the
Multiverse figures that I have seen that are based on actors look
awful. Obviously the masked figures work better, but exposed faces
are bad news for Mattel.
In
this case, the figure benefits from having very specific features
like pale skin, bright makeup, colored hair, and facial tattoos. The
sculpt is fine, but all of the extra elements give the head enough
kick to be a good movie Harley.
The
hair is different from the standard release in that it’s sculpted
down rather than in ponytails. It looks very good. There’s a ton of
sculpted detail and it hangs nicely. There isn’t that weird empty
space between the hair and shoulders that makes hanging hair look so
odd on some action figures. The paint apps are excellent. The makeup,
eyes, and teeth are all vibrant and in the correct spots. The facial
tattoos are a light, slightly faded color so that they do resemble
tattoos rather than Sharpie scribbles. A lot of tattooed action
figures screw this up.
Her
expression is more “vacuous amusement” than “manic
mischievousness”, but that’s picking nits. Like I said – this
is a mass market figure. If you need an expressive plastic face,
there are tons of far better (and more expensive) Harleys on the way.
I’ll be reviewing several of them here.
The
dress looks great. The top is the sculpted torso and the bottom is a
soft plastic skirt, but both the textures and colors match nicely.
Toy manufacturers don’t always get this right, so good job there.
There are a couple of sculpted necklaces that look great, as well.
I’m glad they’re part of the torso rather than separate pieces.
The tattoo under the dress strap looks even better than the ones on
the face. Harley’s legs are shaped well, but sadly lack the tattoos
that she had in the movie. For me this is a major oversight, but
others might not care. And at least she has some
tattoos.
The
gold of the dress and jewelry is nice. It’s quite metallic and
consistent across all of the parts. The sculpted chains on the back
of the dress look very good and have excellently applied paint. I
love the watches that Harley is wearing as armbands. It’s straight
out of the movie, but it’s nice that Mattel didn’t miss that
detail. It could have just been a golden clump.
Harley
has tons of jewelry on her hands – lots of rings and chains. They
look good and the paint is solid. I wish she had painted nails,
though.
You
guys know I’m a sucker for some good action figure footwear, and
Harley has a lot going on here. Mattel has executed some truly
noteworthy feet, not just for the level of sculpted detail, but for
the fact that the figure can stand up with no problems in some wacky
high-heeled shoes. Other toy companies could learn a lesson here,
especially Hasbro. Yeah – there’s a noticeable ankle joint, but
the feet look so good and work so well that it doesn’t matter.
These might be some of the most impressive action figure feet I’ve
ever seen.
ACCESSORIES
Harley
comes with Killer Croc’s hands, which seems pretty darn morbid
until you realize that they’re part of a Killer Croc
build-a-figure. They look fine, but are irrelevant to Harley. And to
me since I won’t be buying any more of these.
As
far as interactive parts, there’s not really anything that this
version of Harley should have come with, so I’m okay with the lack
of meaningful accessories.
FUN
Harley
has the standard DCUC articulation. Her head has a bit more range
than you might expect, but is limited by the hair.
The
skirt doesn’t limit leg movement as much as you’d think, either.
It’s a very soft plastic and moves fairly well. It’s not like
she’s going to be doing squats or anything, but it’s a fair range
given the limitations of the look’s design.
This
is mostly a Harley for standing around. Not much fun to be had, but
what it lacks in action it makes up for in looks.
OVERALL
I’m
happier with this purchase than I thought I would be. Mattel did a
very good job executing a very specific look from the movie. This
isn’t; an essential figure, but if you’re a fan of Harley or of
Margot Robbie this is a solid pickup. Recommended. I’d say it would
even get a perfect score if it had the leg tattoos. Remember – I’m
scoring stuff for what it is within the limitations of its style, not
against other figures like, say, the forthcoming One:12 Collective
Harley. For twenty bucks, this is worth it.
4
out of 5
If
you want one, buy from Amazon and help Needless Things pay the
bills!:
Nice review! My review of this figure will be up sometime in the next couple of weeks as I just finished taking pictures of her. This is definitely a unique look as far as Harley Quinn figures go and it really makes for some nice variation on the shelf. Most of my Batman figures are arranged on shelves by characters, thus I have an entire shelf of Joker, and entire shelf of Jason Todd, and entire shelf of Catwoman, etc. Gold dressed Harley really stands out from the standard mix of red, black, and blue for sure.
ReplyDeleteAlso, now when I look at your title I keep thinking of Stranger Things. It's the font, too. Of course, I'm assuming you were already paying homage to Needful Things, so everything seems to be running full circle!
I just saw the Mafex Joker from the same scene as this Harley, so now I'm wondering if they might do her, as well (probably). If you check out the Needless Things FB page, you'll see that I had the same reaction to Stranger Things. And yeah - it's a total Needful Things reference.
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