By
Dave
I decided over a year ago that I wanted to review a bunch
of different versions of Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn from Suicide Squad. I love the character design, which lends itself to
plenty of variations between manufacturers. And there were plenty of
manufacturers – Mattel, Medicom,
Bandai,
Funko, Hot
Toys, and possibly more that I’m not thinking of.
I passed on Mattel’s DC Multiverse releases because I thought they looked terrible. Funko produced a line of 3.75” Suicide Squad figures, but the version of Harley that I’ve been reviewing was an exclusive. If I see one cheap someday I might grab it. Until then, this should be the last entry in my Harley experiment.
While the Hot Toys version is beyond a shadow of a doubt
the nicest one, it was super expensive and in the end isn’t a great action figure. As of now Bandai’s SH
Figuarts version is my favorite. Medicom’s is still very nice, but my personal
preference is for Bandai’s.
At least, as of now it is. Let’s take a look and see if
the current king of action figures – as far as the Phantom Zone is concerned –
can win the day with their version of Harley!
THE
PACKAGE
Mezco has – wisely – streamlined their packaging.
While I loved the original box design for the One:12 line
and consider it the best toy packaging I have ever seen, I have to admit that
it was needlessly extravagant and that I’d rather see that cost put towards the
toys.
What we have now is still very good packaging. Each figure is in a window box protected by a
slipcover with graphics on the exterior. Harley has a really cool red
background with skulls, “HAHAHAHA”s, and her signature diamond pattern. The “Suicide
Squad” movie logo floats over all of that.
The back of the slipcover features the standard shots of
the figure and accessories.
The interior trays are easily removable and stacked for
practical storage and display.
THE
TOY
The One:12 head sculpt doesn’t blow my mind like the Hot
Toys version or even the Figuarts Harley, but it still looks pretty darn good. There
are three heads included, but I’ll
get to the others in a bit. For now, the default head is the one I’m looking
at.
To me the likeness is a bit harsher than Robbie’s face. It’s
still her, for sure, and if I’d never seen a better likeness I wouldn’t think anything
of it. The paint is incredible; probably the best yet on a One:12 figure just because
there’s so much of it here. The hair sculpt is excellent for the scale and the ponytails
swivel freely, with a bit of range in other directions. The platinum blonde
base color looks great and I think Mezco did a very good job with blending the
red and blue in. This Harley’s bangs are soft plastic, so they don’t get in the
way and you don’t have to worry about breaking them off.
The flesh tone of the figure is well done – it’s the
right kind of pale but doesn’t look like plastic. The makeup is placed well and
is exactly the right level of opacity. It doesn’t have that painted-on look.
The same goes for Harley’s various tattoos, though some are slightly misplaced
to allow for articulation. It’s more common these days, but I’m still impressed
when things like eyes and lipstick get higher levels of gloss than other paint
apps. It adds so much dimension to a figure.
It’s worth noting that this is the first female One:12
figure to have been released. I can’t comment on how much Mezco will reuse this
particular buck, but it doesn’t represent Margot Robbie’s physique as
distinctly as most of the other releases do. The hips are a bit narrow and the
legs are a bit long. It’s not bad by any means and really doesn’t bother me at
all, but again – I’ve reviewed several Harleys now and am somewhat conditioned
to notice these things. I’d bet that Mezco wants to get some use out of what
they probably see as a generic female buck and that Wonder Woman could very
well use this same body even though Margot Robbie and Gal Gadot are built very differently (and are different
heights – Robbie is 5’6”, Gadot is 5’10”).
Putting aside how well the body actually represents
Robbie, it is a great design. It’s very human – no wildly oversized breasts or
strangely proportioned limbs. And the articulation is mostly masked very well
within the profile or under clothing.
One of the trademarks of the One:12 line is the excellent
use of soft goods. This figure is no different, which is a huge accomplishment
give the style and layers involved. It’s one thing to make a great bodysuit for
a twelfth scale action figure. It’s quite another to create fishnets and a
believable t-shirt like this. Not to mention the very specifically shaped
shorts.
Each of the items does a great job of representing the
full size costume. Harley’s shirt is a material light enough to look right at
this scale. It has been dyed amazingly well, though what is black stitching on
the real thing is ink here. The overall effect is still great and if you have
the proper “in the One:12 style” mindset it helps.
Harley’s shorts are the right kind of sparkly, stretchy
material. I had assumed they’d be attached to the fishnets in the same way that
the male heroes’ trunks are attached to their suits, but instead the fishnets are
two separate pieces that are wrapped around each leg. This helps immensely with
the posability and also prevents any kind of saggy crotch situation. The only
thing I don’t like is that each leg has a thick, unsightly seam running down
the back. It’s not great and I think Mezco could have/should have found a
better way.
The figure has multiple accessories (the wearable kind,
not the weapon kind) – a choker, four bracelets, and a belt. Each has a
tremendous amount of paint and detail and fits the figure perfectly. Unlike the
Hot toys figure, the bracelets on this one are sturdy and have a bit of play to
move around. Obviously still be careful, but the plastic isn’t brittle and won’t
just snap easily.
The shoes on the One:12 figure are second only to the Hot
Toys version. The sculpt is incredibly detailed and the paint represents the
real-life versions well. Even the small red stripes under the larger black ones
are here.
Shockingly, this figure has no problems standing up on
the ridiculous stiletto heels. As a matter of fact, all of these Suicide Squad
Harleys have been remarkable in that their impractical footwear hasn’t hindered
their ability to stand or general posability.
THE
ACCESSORIES
Harley comes with a stand, a Mylar storage bag, two alternate
heads, a shoulder harness, a bat, a pistol, a jacket, and three alternate
hands.
The shoulder rig is sift-ish plastic and surprised me
with how well it fit. Just based on the material and the shape I thought it was
going to be a little big and sit weird, but it’s perfect.
The pistol has a sharp, detailed sculpt and tons of
painted detail. It fits snugly into the holster and into the appropriate hand.
Harley’s various hands are all well done. The glossy
painted nails are a nice touch and the sculpt on the gloved hand is tremendous.
They’re a bit of a pain to swap out, but the parts are all sturdy and they stay
put.
After seeing Hot Toys’ incredible jacket, there’s no way
anything else will compare. This one is great and I’m very impressed with it on
its own merits. It’s a smaller scale and Mezco simply couldn’t have had as many
options for materials and construction. The printing looks great and every bit
of detail that can be here at twelfth scale is. Most importantly, as good as it
looks, it fits the figure perfectly and hangs right. It doesn’t have the odd
bulk that so many twelfth scale soft goods items do. This is doubly impressive
given the number of pieces and amount of stitching involved.
Mezco did an amazing job on Harley’s bat. The sculpt is
great – it only had to look like a bat. But the deco is remarkable. They’ve
managed to recreate all of the writing on the bat – it’s not just a pile of
scribbles.
Harley can hold the bat in several different ways thanks
to a good grip match and the superior articulation of the figure.
Side Note: I just made up “Grip Match” to
describe how a figure’s hands interact with an accessory. Look for me to
completely forget about this newly coined phrase in future toy reviews.
The figure comes with two additional heads. One has an
open mouth and the other is blowing a bubble.
The open mouth portrait looks good, but I feel like the
expression doesn’t quite work. The mouth looks great, but Harley’s eyes don’t quite
match whatever emotion we’re supposed to be seeing here. It’s like they slapped
an open mouth on a neutral face. It’s not bad, but this is another case where I’ve
seen better in other figures so it stands out.
The bubble gum head is by far my favorite for this
Harley. The likeness seems to be the best and this is the best version of this
look out of any of the figures. The only other one to include the bubble
blowing look was Medicom’s and the bubble is a separate piece – I’ve already
lost one of them. I prefer this permanently attached bubble. In pictures the seam
around the equator is a little unsightly, but in person you barely even notice
it.
The heads swap out easily and stay securely attached.
The stand is the same that comes with all One:12 figures.
It has a large, round base with the option of a foot peg or an armature. It’s
great.
THE
VERDICT
I know I nitpicked a few things, but this is an excellent
Harley Quinn action figure. Mezco has once again delivered a top notch product
that I am thrilled to own.
I have to say – when I consider the quality and wealth of
options, this is probably the best of the Suicide Squad Harleys. I wish the
likeness was a little more spot-on, but when you’re looking at pure execution
and bang for your buck, this is the figure that delivers the most.
Buy one from Amazon and help out Needless Things!:
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