By
Phantom Troublemaker
Mattel
has been making some interesting character decisions with their
Multiverse line lately. A mix of modern comic book looks and TV and
movie characters has revitalized the style once called DC Universe
Classics and made something old seem new again.
I’ll
tell you this – if that Wonder Woman wave had offered a slightly
different character selection I’d probably have an Ares on my shelf
right now. If Mattel had replaced Menalippe with Antiope and shown us
that a second wave would include Dr. Poison, General Ludendorff,
Charlie, Sameer, and Chief I might have found them irresistible.
Despite the fact that I’m determined to not buy movie figures from
Mattel.
They
aren’t great with likenesses.
I’m
much more interested in the comic book characters, this King shark
wave in particular. I already reviewed the Jim
Gordon Batman
and was pretty happy with that one. It was inevitable that I would
pick up this Batgirl; despite the fact that I already own DC
Collectibles’ fancy Icons version.
I’m a huge fan of Barbara Gordon and this costume in particular. I
don’t mind buying two of the same look if they’re different and
good enough. In an odd way I found the Icons version lacking
(possibly the fact that I don’t collect the Icons line, which
leaves her alone and odd on the shelf), so I was hopeful that this
one from Mattel would give me whatever it is I wanted. I waited for
the price to be right on Amazon and Bought It Now.
FIRST
GLANCE
I
immediately filed this figure under “better than average for
Mattel”. Right off the bat (pun intended) there appear to be more
paint decos and they look pretty darn good. The figure’s profile is
also nice. Add in two accessories(!) and that huge King Shark arm and
I’m feeling pretty good about this one.
It’s
important to note that I am rating this Batgirl as to how good it is
within the design and style of what Mattel does. I’m not holding it
to the standards of DC Collectibles or Mezco. When I review things,
the idea is, “How successful is this for what it is?”, not “Is
this the best toy available of this character/thing?”
PACKAGING
The
now-standard DC Multiverse box looks nice. Apparently window boxes
are the new norm for 6”(ish) action figure lines, and I’m okay
with that because they look good. I do wonder about cost
effectiveness, but in a post from long ago our pal Toy Guru assured
us that ultimately the packaging didn’t have anything to do with
the amount of money that went into the toys. I’m not sure I buy
that, but he said it, so I can sleep at night.
I
still dislike the fact that everything has twenty different languages
all over it now. No matter how fancy the aesthetics are, toy
packaging just looks junky and cluttered because of this.
The
back features a list of the figures in the wave – something of a
novelty now – and a nice picture of the assembled King Shark
figure. It was a smart move to make that the centerpiece of the
cardback because it truly is an impressive figure.
LOOKS
Obviously
this figure isn’t based specifically on the art of the phenomenal
Babs Tarr, but it does look slightly cartoonier than the Icons
version, which is fine because it’s going on the DCUC shelf. The
figure is small, as it should be, and features quite a bit of unique
tooling.
The boots, skirt, torso pieces, gloves, and obviously head
and cape aren’t going to be much use to Mattel on other figures.
They’re pretty specific to this Batgirl. Maybe
those gloves could be used elsewhere. Whatever the case, I’m
impressed.
The
head looks wonderful. I know that this Batgirl is most often drawn
with her hair over her shoulder, but I’m not sold on the idea that
the figure should be sculpted this way. It doesn’t look totally
right and it messes with posing. But in this case it’s okay and as
long as you don’t get too close (like the above picture) it looks
good. The shape is nice and the color, while not as red as I’d
like, is as red as toys tend to get.
The
cowl has a great shape and is defined quite nicely against the face.
The face is one of the best Mattel has produced in this style. The
paint on the eyebrows, eyes, and mouth is applied as precisely as
Mattel has ever done, but the sculpt on the mouth is what sends this
one over the top. The figure has this smirk that is so
Burnside Barbara. It’s one of the most subtle and great things I’ve
seen from this line. That’s not to say that Mattel hasn’t managed
specific facial expressions before, but this one stands out.
I
have to admit that some of the upper body joints on this figure are a
bit ugly. The shoulders, biceps, and abdominal joint mess up the
profile. That being said, the detail of the torso is nice. It has the
seams and zipper of a jacket and the Bat symbol is sculpted rather
than just painted on. The yellow is bright and not splotchy at all. I
like the fact that the closure was left unpainted since the zipper
bifurcates the symbol. I’m also impressed that the zipper pulls on
the pockets and closure are painted silver. Those little details add
a lot to the appearance of quality.
In
the pictures the piece that represents the bottom of the jacket
doesn’t appear to match the color of the rest of the suit, but in
person it looks fine. The sculpt is noticeably softer, though. The
utility belt portion has plenty of sculpted detail and hangs at the
right angle. The paint is a bit sloppy in places, but it’s so minor
as to not be noticeable “on the shelf”.
The
cape is sculpted the same as most of Mattel’s Batman capes – with
the scalloped ends – but shorter. It looks good and has sculpted
and painted buttons at the shoulders. The black and yellow are bold
and nicely separated.
Batgirl’s
upper arms are generic and may well be used for other figures, but
the forearms do have a bit of sculpting to suggest a jacket. The
gloves have the folded down wrists and look like they’re supposed
to. The yellow unpainted plastic looks a bit cheap, but I think
that’s more because that’s just how yellow plastic looks. If
there was a wash it would have stood out from the rest of the figure.
The
boots have a nice, detailed sculpt. The laces and soles are painted
black, which looks great. There’s a tiny bit of slop around the
boot tops and the laces, but no big deal. There are black stripes
painted down the side of either leg that I, for some reason, chose
not to take direct pictures of. The applications are clean and
straight.
ACCESSORIES
Batgirl
comes with a Batarang, a cell phone, and King Shark’s arm.
The
cell phone is unpainted, but has enough sculpted detail to look like
a cell phone and not a silver brick. The most surprising feature is
that it fits securely into the figure’s hands.
Batgirl’s
Batarang (Batgirlarang?) looks like a big, golden cookie. It’s too
thick by far and has no sculpted or painted detail, but it does, at
least, fit securely into the figure’s hands.
I
realize that expecting accessories to interact well with the figure
is a pretty low standard, but it’s one that Mattel has failed to
meet in the past. Heck, just having
accessories is a huge perk.
The
King Shark arm is huge, which makes me excited for the rest of the
figure.
Unfortunately, four of the six figures in this wave hold no
interest for me, so I’m going to have to keep an eye out and hope
they get the Captain Boomerang treatment (the Multiverse Suicide
Squad Boomerang figure is currently $3.88
on Amazon).
I can already tell you that Hawkman and Joker are going to get down
to at least ten. Just give it time.
FUN
Batgirl
has the standard DCUC articulation.
The
head swivels and has a bit of range in other directions – more than
her dad has.
The
arms are mostly basic with 90 degree pivots, but there are swivels at
the biceps and
the elbows. I’d almost prefer it if they’d left the biceps
swivels out because they are ugly.
You’d
think the bottom of the jacket would restrict the hips a bit, but
they move nicely. Even the low-hanging pouch doesn’t prove to be
much of a hindrance.
This
isn’t by any means the most usefully articulated figure ever, but
for a mass market retail release it can pose as much as I want it to.
If you need double jointed joints, you’re going to have to pony up
for the DC Collectibles version. For less than a third the price,
this one does just fine.
With
a satisfying amount of joints and a couple of accessories to play
with, this figure does a fine job of being fun.
OVERALL
I
never would have imagined I’d be saying this, but I find myself
more satisfied with this Batgirl than with the Icons version. It’s
not a better figure by any means, but in the context of what it is
within the line it’s a part of, it’s very good. If you like this
Batgirl, I recommend it.
4
out of 5
Buy
one now from Amazon and help Needless Things pay the bills!:
If
you enjoy Batman, toys, or Needless Things you might
enjoy SupportPhantom.com.
Huge thanks to our excellent Patrons Zack, Gary, Lucas, and Beau!
No comments:
Post a Comment