Yesterday I made the long trek to my “neighborhood” comic shop. It’s about a forty-five minute drive, so I usually make an afternoon out of it by taking a few years off my life and getting a burger and sack of fries at Five Guys before heading into the “shop-o-nerd-bliss” to see what kind of trouble I could get into. Besides picking up a Deadpool hardcover and the third TPB of Brubaker’s Winter Soldier, I also came home with this little honey. I don’t collect Diamond’s Femme Fatales line, but poor Lexi has been languishing there for a long while and discounted deeply enough that I was persuaded to put her on my shelf.

The package is what I’ve come to expect from PVC statues. It’s nothing special, just a window box that shows you the goods. There’s a photo of the statue on the back along with a blurb about Lexi and what inspired her creation. It’s also pretty badly shelf-worn, which is probably why they were clearancing her out. Inside the statue is cradled between two clear plastic trays. There’s no tape or anything, so she’s easy to get out and the package is totally collector friendly. Out of the package, Lexi stands about nine inches tall, putting her roughly in scale with a lot of other PVC statues on the market. She was designed by Art Asylum and sculpted by Sam Greenwell,

Straightaway, I really like the styling on this piece. As much as it’s advertised as steampunk, the sculpt reminds me a lot of a retro 40’s or 50’s style. I think I’m getting most of that from the portrait and the fact that Lexi is slightly chunkier than a lot of the anorexic female statues we see. I don’t know if it’s intentional, but that’s what I come away with. She’s also pretty conservatively dressed compared to a lot of the half-naked chick statues on the market (and on my shelf). If you’ve seen any of DC Collectibles new Bombshells of the DC Universe, it gives me that same kind of vibe. The pose is excellent. Lexi is standing with one leg back and one hip thrown seductively to the side. She’s holding up a weapon in her right hand, which is cocked at the elbow and she has a smaller gun concealed behind her back. She’s looking off to the side with a sly expression and smiling knowingly.

The outfit is cool and looks like something you might see on a cosplayer at a convention, and we’ll come back to the cosplay concept in a tick. She’s got high-heeled boots, thigh-high stockings, a skirt and corset, and a leather half jacket. Of course, she’s also wearing goggles up on the top of her head, because you can’t be steampunk without goggles! The detail in the outfit is quite good, although the skirt is a tad thick. The texturing and paintwork both add a nice level of credibility to the sculpt. Indeed, the paintwork on my piece is just about flawless, right down to all the tiny little silver buttons and the laces on her boots. I really dig the base, which is comprised of three giant, weathered looking gears.

The weapons are cool, so long as you can get past the fact that her primary sidearm looks uncannily similar to a repainted nerf gun. Seriously, it’s the N-Strike Maverick! I like the design, but it seems like they could have come up with something more original. On the other hand, it brings us back to the whole cosplay vibe, which I think gives this piece a lot of unique charm. I do find the lack of a holster rather conspicuous. Where you going to put that thing when you’re trying to eat a hot dog at the concessions stand, hon?

In the end, I’m glad I took Lexi home with me, but it has to be considered that at $25 she was pretty far from the original retail, which I understand was closer to forty bucks. I’m not saying that she isn’t worth that from a quality standpoint. She’s certainly an exceptionally nice looking statue and doesn’t have a lot to apologize for. I keep coming back to the 40’s vibe this piece throws off and I find myself liking it even more. On the other hand, I don’t think I would have paid out that much for a non-licensed statue. I will say that now that I have some experience with this line, I am tempted to hunt down the Dawn or Darkchylde statues.