I’ve never picked up any of DC Direct’s offering before, mainly because from the reviews and images i’ve seen, their sculpts, paint apps and overall quality seem to be all across the board. And so, finding this complete set of four Wonder Woman figures on clearance allowed me to take my first stab at DC’s select line of collectibles. I really had no idea what to expect, so I was particularly excited, and a little apprehensive, to get these gals. The figures are based on Wonder Woman v3 where Diana Prince retires and hands her golden lasso over to her sister Donna Troy, but later gets back into the game when her sister is captured by the evil Circe. This one-hit wave of figures includes Diana Prince as Wonder Woman as well as an Agent for Metahuman Affairs, along with Donna Troy as Wonder Woman and Circe. We’ll start out looking at the two Diana Prince figures and pick up on the other two next time.
I won’t dwell a lot on the package, particularly since I don’t have any in-package shots. The figures come in standard cardbacks with large bubbles that display the figures nicely. There’s a little customization on each card, as the figure’s name is in the upper right hand corner along with some great comic art. The back of the cards are the same for all four, showing all four figures in the series and featuring a little blurb about each one. If you are a carded collector, you could do worse. They’re nothing special, but they are attractive.
While I’ve seen some questionable paintwork and sculpts on DC Direct’s figures, that’s certainly not the case here. Nope, these ladies represent some exceptional work. Wonder Woman looks outstanding in her traditional outfit of red and white boots, blue and white starred undies and red and gold , along with her gold bracers and tiara. It’s a wonderful representation of the iconic costume. The colors used for her outfit are really rich and vibrant and her skin tones (and there’s a lot of it to be seen) are clean and even. I particularly like the fact that high gloss was used for the red in her boots, while matte was used for her top. And there isn’t an ounce of slop to be seen on this figure.
The head sculpt is fantastic, featuring a beautiful face and razor sharp paint apps to her eyes and lips. Her black hair is molded so that it flows around her shoulders, blowing just a bit out at the back and with a nice curl looped right in front of her right shoulder. Her hands are sculpted so that one can hold her golden lasso, while the other is just partially open.
Unfortunately, DC Direct isn’t known for their super articulation and that’s reflected in Wonder Woman. With a total of 11 points of articulation, what she has sounds great on paper but in practice doesn’t offer a heck of a lot of posing options. Her neck is jointed, but because of her sculpted hair, you won’t get much movement out of it. She has ball jointed shoulders, but they don’t offer much lateral movement. She has hinged elbows and knees, swivel cuts in her wrists and her legs move up and down at the pelvis. The problem is that she is a bit preposed at her hips, which interferes with the usefulness of her leg articulation. But, I suppose what dampens the articulation the most is the lack of swivel cuts in her biceps and thighs and hinged ankles. Combine that kind of articulation with this great looking figure and DC would have had a grand slam.
Wonder Woman comes with two accessories: Her golden lasso and a stand. The lasso is gilded cord, which was a nice surprise, as I was expecting just a molded coiled plastic lasso instead. The round stand is really big and features “Wonder Woman” printed on it and a single peg for the figure’s right foot.
Agent Diana Troy’s sculpt and paint are every bit as good as her Wonder Woman incarnation, although not as flashy. This is because her outfit is basically just a skin tight silver and blue cat suit. The silver is metalic and somewhat metallic, while the powder blue parts are matte. Its a striking outfit, just not as dynamic as Wonder Woman’s traditional garb, but then again what is? It’s just tough to compete with blue and white starred undies. The outfit does have some detailing, like the seams, as well as a shoulder harness and a utility belt cast in soft plastic that is partially attached and partially hangs loose on her left hip.
Diana’s head sculpt is quite attractive, but a lot more conservative than her Wonder Woman persona. Her hair is pulled back into a tight bun and she’s wearing a pair of tinted glasses that are permanently attached, but still nicely molded as a separate piece. Its hard to make out the details on her eyes behind the lenses, but the paint apps on her lips are very well done, as is the silver on her earrings.
Agent Troy’s articulation is identical to Wonder Woman’s although she’s a bit less preposed and not seductively tossing her hip quite so much. I think this makes this figure’s articulation slightly more useful, but the missing swivel cuts that I mentioned before are still conspicuously absent. This figure’s shorter hair does allow for unsrestricted neck movement and you can still get some good running and action poses, though, especially with the pegged stand to assist.
Agent Troy’s accessories include two power rods and a stand, which is identical to Wonder Woman’s. The rods aren’t terribly exciting as accessories go, but they are appropriate. Unfortunately, she can only hold them in one hand, as her other hand is sculpted into a permanent fist.
As already mentioned, I got these figures as part of the entire wave assortment and paid about $11.50 a figure if you include shipping. It would have been nice if they were more in scale with the DC Universe Classics, as I have yet to track down a DCUC Wonder Woman, but they are two separate and distinct lines. If I doted too much on the articulation, its because everything else about these figures is just so damn fantastic, I wanted them to be perfect and just a few tweaks could have gotten them there. Still, you just don’t often come across sculpts and paint this excellent on figures at this price range and if you are even remotely into Wonder Woman or DC, or just want a couple of sexy ladies to stand amongst your collection, I can’t recommend these two enough. Next time… Donna Troy and Circe.
FigureFan Zero 