Oct 28 2016

Cover Girls of the DC Universe: Catwoman (Ver. 2) by DC Collectibles

I’ve been running up to Halloween with some looks at horror figures, but with today being DC Friday, the best I could do was a certain black (suited) cat lady. Also appropriate because yesterday was Black Cat Day. Yeah, I’m going with that…

On the last DC Friday, I took a look at Diamond Select’s Catwoman statue from their DC Animated Series and today I’m going to keep the Selena love going with a look at her second statue from the Cover Girls of the DC Universe. Catwoman was my first foray into this line since it re-launched and with a dozen or so of these statues on my shelf, I’ve now come full circle.

As always, the statue comes in a fully enclosed box with pictures of the piece on the front and side panels. You get an adorable cat head logo on the top and the back panel teases two of the statues that I’ve already looked at: Bleez and Black Canary. Catwoman is packed snugly between two styrofoam bricks and wrapped in plastic. The only assembly required is inserting the metal pegs on her feet into the base.

This new version of Catwoman features a pretty conventional pose for this line. She’s standing with her weight on her left foot and her right leg slightly bent and her heel off the base. She toss her left hip to the side ever so slightly and has her whip seductively coiled around her shoulders and is holding it from each end. It’s not the most original composition out there, but I still like it. It suits the character and it conforms more closely with the direction this line has taken since the release of the original Catwoman statue.

The costume is a very simple black body suit. Apart from some seams on the legs and some more running up the front and back, the only real detail to be found is in the rumples and wrinkles. It’s enough to make the suit look realistic without interrupting the beautiful contours of her body. She also has the ring zipper pull in the middle of her chest so… um… Batman can have easy access? Traditionally, I remember this pull usually being silver, but here it looks more gold. The boots each have three sets of belts securing them and her gauntlets flare out to points as they approach her elbows.

The paint finish on the body suit, gloves, and boots is all done in a satin finish black, which is a pretty stark contrast to the ultra high glossy suit that the first version of Cover Girls Catwoman wore. I kind of dig this change, since there are so many different interpretations of her costume in the comics. Sometimes it looks like a rubber suit, sometimes it looks like cloth. In terms of painted details to the costume, this is probably the simplest deco since Platinum came out and she was literally all one color. I’m not really complaining, the paint on the costume looks great, in fact, it’s practically flawless, but there just isn’t a whole lot of variety to it. Ironically, she tends to be a magnet for cat hair, as you can probably see a stray white kitty hair or two in the pictures.

As great as everything is from the neck down, the portrait is easily my favorite thing about this figure. The tight hood is beautifully executed with the sculpted goggles down over her eyes. The lenses are tinted yellow, very clear, and offer a great view of her perfectly painted eyes, which glance off to her left. She has a slight, mischievous smile and the paint on her lips is just about flawless. In fact, the only complaint I have over the paint on this piece are a few tiny spots on her skin. There’s a little area of bleed on the left edge of the unzipped portion of her suit where it meets her chest. There’s also what looks like a tiny air pocket in the paint in her cleavage. I wasn’t looking, I swear… I just sort of noticed it! Both issues would be so minor they wouldn’t be worth mentioning if they weren’t in such a prominent area. I think they’re mostly annoying because the rest of the paintwork on this piece is just so good.

Last time we saw Cover Girls Catwoman she was on a rather elaborate diorama style base. Here she’s been made to conform to the classic oval style base the line has been using for a while now. It’s painted silver around the edges, with a black cat icon at the cardinal points, and black on the surface. The limitation is hand numbered on the bottom. Mine is #1,918 of 5,200.

So, now that I’ve got two Selenas on my Cover Girls shelf, which one do I like better? Well, from a technical standpoint, I think this new one is more polished. The paint on the costume is flawless, the portrait is pretty, and she’s about as solid a statue as they come in this price range. The original has much more dynamic composition, a lot more personality, and the glossy paint on the suit really catches the eye. On the other hand, the paint on the earlier piece isn’t quite as sharp, the skin tone is rather flat, and the portrait isn’t quite as good. It’s still a solid piece, but I think I’ll be pulling her as well as the first versions of Harley and Poison Ivy to make up their own little display vignette on another shelf and that’ll make room for some more of the oval-based Cover Girls. They just feel more like a unified line.

Originally, I wasn’t going to double dip on Catwoman, at least not until I got caught up on the other characters I needed in this line. As it so happens, someone was offering her for a price I couldn’t refuse and I just had to do it. These ladies retail for $99, and while I think that’s most often a fair price for what you’re getting, the truth is most e-tailers seem to knock twenty to thirty percent off the price to be competitive. I was able to pick up Selina for $63 shipped and I’ve certainly got no regrets at adopting this kitty cat.

Oct 7 2016

Cover Girls of the DC Universe: Bleez by DC Collectibles

A few weeks ago, I remember lamenting the fact that Cover Girls was already awarding second versions of statues to A-listers like Wonder Woman and Catwoman when there were still so many lesser known characters that hadn’t been done at all. Well, behold the counter-argument: Red Lantern Bleez! With a tragic history and muddled allegiances, I best came to know Bleez in the pages of New Guardians. She’s a delightfully odd choice for a slot in the Cover Girls line, and you know what’s even odder? She’s quite possibly the best statue this line has produced.

This box is huge! It dwarfs even the largest Cover Girls box I have in my storage. Aside from that, there isn’t a whole lot else to say about it. It’s fully enclosed and houses a brick of styrofoam that protects the statue inside. The only assembly required is to peg the figure into the base, and this was a little trickier than usual. It was a tight fit and single metal peg did not want to go all the way in. Eventually, I settled for getting it most of the way in. For all I know, that’s as far as it’s meant to go and at least the statue feels perfectly stable.

All set up, Bleez is an impressive sight to behold. While she’s still scaled with the other Cover Girls releases, her elevated pose clocks her in at almost 11 1/2-inches as opposed to the 9 to 10-inch average of the rest of the line. She floats above a sea of flames with one knee drawn up in front of the other and the grizzly vestiges of her once magnificent wings fanned out behind her. She dons her own seductive take on the Red Lantern uniform with long black leggings connected to her one-piece with sculpted straps. The paint on this piece is stunning, both in quality and application. The matte black is coupled with a sumptuous metallic crimson on her gloves, breast cross-straps, and pointed shoulders and it contrasts nicely with the soft blue of her skin. The Red Lantern Corps emblem is sculpted into the center of her chest and flawlessly painted. There’s some great muscle definition sculpted into her abs and, well let’s just say that the rest of the tight costume leaves little to the imagination, despite covering most of her up pretty well.

The skeletal wings are a huge draw for this piece. While the bulk of the statue is the typical cold cast porcelain we’ve seen in this line, the wings feel like resin. Obviously this was a good choice. I don’t know if it’s even possible to produce something like these bones in porcelain, but this way they’re far less likely to snap and help to alleviate some weight from the back. What’s here feels fairly sturdy and the coloring is just perfect.

I particularly like how they sculpted the seams in the backs of her boots and leggings and… nah, just kidding. This is really just a gratuitous butt shot.

And then you have the magnificent portrait. Bleez offers a broad smile and flashes her yellow eyes, with her face partially framed by the crimson high collar of her costume. The hood and mask are beautifully sculpted and feature some very sharp paint lines. She also has a pair of bat wings on her head that would make Capcom’s Morrigan and Lilith jealous. Did I mention the paint? Well, let’s bring it up again because it is absolutely superb and definitely some of the best I’ve seen in this line to date.

The base features the same standard oval style that we’ve been seeing for a while now, but it’s cast in a beautiful translucent red plastic with the flames licking up around her feet. The metal post is just barely visible from the back of the statue if you get in close, so the levitating effect is pretty cool. You still get the limitation hand numbered on the bottom of the base. Mine is 1,413 of 5,200.

This iteration of the Cover Girls line has been solid, and I really enjoy collecting it, but few of these ladies have really blown me away like this one has. Everything about this statue shines, from the sculpt, to the paint, to those amazing wings. I was grinning ear to ear from the moment I took her out of the package and set her up. With over a dozen of these ladies on my shelves, this is without a doubt one of the best. The only shame here is that some collectors may pass up this lovely piece because the character is undervalued or perhaps just not well known. And if that’s the case, I’d say Green Lantern: New Guardians is worth a read.

Sep 23 2016

Cover Girls of the DC Universe: Black Canary by DC Collectibles

It’s DC Friday again and I’m giving the action figures a rest this week to check out another statue. I’ve actually got a few DC statues waiting on deck for the spotlight, but since I’m getting a little backlogged on the lovely Cover Girls of the DC Universe, let’s go with Black Canary, a relatively recent release from that line!

There isn’t much to say about the packaging that I haven’t said a dozen times over. The goods come in a fully enclosed box with some shots of the statue and adverts for Catwoman v2 and Power Girl on the back. Inside, the statue is sandwiched between two styrofoam bricks and the only assembly required is to peg the feet into the base. If this is your first time checking out one of these statues with me, they’re cold cast porcelain and generally about 9 to 10-inches tall, depending on the pose.

And in this case, Dinah is standing tall and proud, right leg slightly bent, left hand resting on hip, and with a shattered megaphone in the other. She’s totally mugging for the camera, and those are the poses that I tend to enjoy most in this line.

Her costume is definitely New 52 inspired, but I don’t recognize the exact appearance. It has some similarities to her Birds of Prey costume, but this one is sleeveless. My guess is that this is from her solo book, which I never got around to reading. I’ll be honest, it’s not my favorite look for the character. I’m happy to defend a lot of the New 52 costume designs when I think it’s warranted. In this case, I dig the costume, but it just doesn’t scream Black Canary to me. See what I did there? Her one-piece features some nice sculpted wrinkles, textures, and stitching. All the decorative accents in the boots are also part of the sculpt and the same is true for her gloves.

The stockings are actually string fishnets, which is the first real time I’ve seen mixed media on these statues, unless you count Catwoman v1’s whip. This could have been a risky move, considering the mixed results we’ve seen with stockings in DC action figures, but I’m happy to say they look fantastic here. The seams are fairly well concealed down the inner legs and the stockings convincingly disappear into the boots and one-piece.

The portrait here is solid. She’s pretty, but I don’t know that I would recognize her from just a head shot. The hair sculpt is a little chunky, but that’s often an issue with these porcelain statues. I’m not a big fan of how the hair seems to levitate a bit above the shoulders, but again, I’ll blame the media. I definitely like the muscle definition in her biceps. The skin tones are also pretty good, but my statue has a rather annoying light scratch across her left shoulder.

Which is a good segue into the paint. I’ve been overall very pleased with the paint quality in this line, and I now own about a dozen of them. Paint can so often make or break a statue, and that’s especially the case when you’re looking at pieces in the lower-middle price range like these Cover Girls. Unfortunately, Black Canary’s paint isn’t up to par with the rest of my DC ladies. The quality of the paint itself is fine. I like the metallic sheen to the blue and it looks great when contrasted with the bright yellow. The problem here is in the care of application. There’s no single glaring paint defect that made me think I could do better if I exchanged it for another, but the lines could and should have been a lot cleaner and there are just too many gloppy brush marks for my liking. Maybe it’s a case of the yellow paint being more susceptible to problems against the blue. This is a piece that looks fine when viewed casually on the shelf, but begins to break down a bit when you get in really close.

And that brings me to the megaphone. I’ve actually waffled back and forth on my feelings about it. On the one hand, it’s a visual and somewhat humorous, way to reference her canary cry and the way it’s blown out looks cool enough. On the other hand, it’s a little obvious and perhaps an unnecessary prop. I mean, I’m laying down eighty to a hundred bucks for a statue of Black Canary. It’s safe to say that I’m aware of her signature power without needing a visual aide. It kind of feels like the type of gimmick from the Bombshells statue line. In the end, I guess I’m OK with it.

The base is the same type of oval platform that this line has been using since it changed over from the diorama style bases. Dinah’s has a little canary emblem at the cardinal points. The yellow surface paint is clean and even, but my statue had some scuff marks on the black paint along the edges. They all rubbed out very easily with a damp Q-tip, but it begs the question, who’s checking these before they get boxed.

As always, the bottom of the base is hand numbered with the limitation. Mine is 2798 of 5200.

These gals tend to retail at about $99, but can usually be had for less soon after they hit the shelves. Canary set me back about $70 shipped. If this was your first time with me looking at a Cover Girls statue, you shouldn’t take this one as par for the course. As I said earlier, all of my Cover Girls are great looking ladies for the money. Even Black Canary here isn’t terrible. There are some strange choices here, but in the end she looks great on the shelf next to Katana and Poison Ivy. Truth be told, I’ve seen similar paint issues on far more expensive statues, particularly in the waning days of Bowen Designs. That doesn’t mean, however, it should be acceptable. The paint quality is so important on pieces like these and the standards really need to be high. My hope is that this is only a hiccup in quality and not a trend. We’ll find out in a couple of weeks when I swing back to this line to check out one of the Cover Girls’ oddest character choices yet, Red Lantern Bleeze!

Aug 26 2016

Cover Girls of the DC Universe: Vixen by DC Collectibles

As many of you know by now, Cover Girls is a line that I love to collect, but it often has to take a backseat to other priorities. It’s a gamble, because sometimes they get discounted and other times they sell quickly and skyrocket in price. Getting backlogged on this line can be a scary prospect. Most recently, I was torn between picking up Vixen or the second version of Catwoman next, but then I figured I already have the first Catwoman release, so why not expand the family? And besides, Vixen is awesome.

It’s been a few months since I last visited with this line. The boxes haven’t changed. They’re simple, and collector friendly, and they show a number of shots of the collectible inside. The back of the box has images for Starfire and a new version of Harley Quinn. Vixen has been getting a little love in the DCTV media lately, with both animated and live action appearances. And seeing as how DC Collectibles is already producing second versions of some of the A-Listers in this line, it’s nice to see that they aren’t completely ignoring some of the B-Listers. No offense, Mari. Anyway, getting Vixen set up is easy, you just peg her into the base and she’s good to go, so let’s do that and check her out!

Grrr, baby… Grrrrr! If you’re a newcomer to this line, these ladies tend to be approximately 9 to 10″ in scale. Vixen stands with legs apart and her arms held out, as if she’s ready to pounce right off her base. The Cover Girls line has offered a reasonable compromise between action and museum style composition, and I think Vixen is another good example of that. In this case, what we get really captures the character nicely. This is just such a simple and elegant pose.

Vixen sports her rather simple body suit with sculpted cut-outs to resemble animal stripes, and long sleek gloves. You also get some sculpted seams, boot lines, and whatever that strategically placed silver fixture is right above her you-know-where. The paint on the costume is almost entirely… ochre? Is that what you’d call that? Yeah, let’s go with ochre… with a hint of metallic sheen to it. There’s also a low plunging neckline for those of you who like a little sumthin-sumthin with your lady statues.

The portrait here is among my favorites that this line has done in its current series. Mari’s got a beautiful face with a stern expression that shows she means business. The skin tone is warm and soft and the paint lines around her tribal necklace are pretty nice and sharp. In fact, all the paint on her facial features are equally sharp and precise. I especially like her yellow eyes and the sheen on her lipstick. There’s a little spray around her hairline, but I’m thinking that is intentional. Speaking of the hair, it’s sculpted beautifullly, and I dig the way it trails down around her high collar and over her right shoulder.

This line continues to use simple and standardized oval bases, in this case personalized with an animal head cut out at the cardinal points. It features a silver top and stripe and the edges are painted to match her costume. The limitation is hand numbered on the bottom of the base. Mine is 874 of 5,200.

As beautiful a piece as this is, I’m guessing that Vixen isn’t selling all that well, because she’s available everywhere and at pretty deep discounts. That’s a shame for two reasons. One, at this price point, you’re getting a stunning statue of a great character. Two, a lot of people complain that these lines stick to the safe A-listers, which brings me back to my earlier point. Doing lesser known characters is a gamble for these companies and if it doesn’t pay off, they won’t keep doing it. And honestly, Vixen isn’t exactly obscure. It’s something to keep in mind when we’re seeing the second versions of Catwoman, Harley Quinn, and Wonder Woman, and still haven’t seen a Zatanna, Jessica Cruz, Fire, Ice, Stargirl, Star Sapphire… I could go on and on…

Jun 24 2016

Cover Girls of the DC Universe: Katana by DC Collectibles

It’s Friday! Let’s check out some DC Comics stuff! This week I’m staying on with the Cover Girls statues line and opening up one of the more recent releases, Katana! She’s a cool character, who I believe is going to be getting a lot more merch in the days ahead, so long as the Suicide Squad movie performs well. This version is from the recently defunct New 52 continuity, which is appropriate, as that was where she got her first solo book. I also rather enjoyed her time in Birds of Prey.

There’s not much new to say about the box. With nearly a dozen of these statues on my shelf, I’ve showcased the packaging quite a bit and not much has changed. Katana comes in an enclosed red and white box with various shots of the statue and some teasers of what’s coming up or also available on the back panel. The statue is wrapped in plastic and encased between two pieces of styrofoam. The only assembly required is to peg Katana’s feet into the base and they fit in quite easily.

The Cover Girls line has been a hearty mix of museum-style poses along with some hints of action and on that scale of things Katana comes close to going for all out action. She stands with feet apart and her sword, Soultaker, drawn up to her shoulder and ready to strike. And yet, it still passes for something like a staged shot and I don’t think it goes too far off point. She still looks perfectly at home when displayed with her fellow Cover Girls. Besides, this is a pose that really conveys so much of Katana’s character, and so in terms of composition, I’d say she’s damn near perfect.

The costume features her New 52 armored body suit that looks great without the need for a whole lot of sculpted detail and does it’s best to show off her lovely curves. You do get panel lines running throughout and a cool and consistent metallic charcoal paint that meshes beautifully with the rich matte crimson on her lower leg armor and the quilted sleeve on her right arm. The body suit also features some exposed ribbed black areas in the joints and down the spine, presumably to give her more flexibility. Her scabbard hangs off her back and you also get some sculpted pouches on the small of her back. While the paint scheme and overall sculpt are fairly simple here, everything looks exceptionally clean and this is arguable the best paint I’ve seen in the line to date.

All that praise applies to the head sculpt as well. The beautifully sculpted portrait is two-tone with the lower face painted in matte gray, just a tad slighter than the suit, and the top half in white with the Rising Sun on her forehead. Her blue eyes are sharp and straight and her short hair ruffles ever so slightly in an imagined breeze. I love how her expression offers just a hint of joyful anticipation at the fight that’s about to come.

Katana’s sword looks good, although the sculpt for the hilt is a little on the soft side. Hey, I’m really looking for things to complain about and that’s the best that I can come up with. The blade is straight and while I’m going to be sure and be careful with it, it doesn’t feel overly fragile.

The base consists of the now standard oval with a charcoal and crimson deco to match Katana’s costume. The emblem on the sides consists of a simple red disc suggestive of the Rising Sun. The limitation is hand numbered on the bottom of the base, with mine being 561 of 5,200 statues produced. I think this may be the lowest number Cover Girl I own.

Katana is a wonderful addition to my Cover Girls shelf and definitely a triumph for this line. What’s even better is at the time I publish this Feature, she’s readily available at a few online retailers at close to half the original MSRP. I picked up mine for $55, and damn was that a steal! Considering that DCC has already started doing second versions of some of the gals in this line (Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, Wonder Woman) it’s nice to see that they’re also hitting on some of the less high-profile characters like Katana here. She’s a great release for the line and a worthy pick up for folks who just love the character.

Jun 17 2016

Cover Girls of the DC Universe: Poison Ivy (Ver. 1) by DC Collectibles

I’m switching it back to the statue scene this week on DC Friday and heading all the way back to the beginning of the second series of the Cover Girls line. I wasn’t all that smitten with this first version of Poison Ivy, especially when compared with what came later, but it’s one of the few early releases that I didn’t have, it’s become a bit pricey on the secondary market, and I was made an offer on this one I couldn’t refuse. Does Ivy manage to win me over? Let’s find out!

The packaging hasn’t changed much since the line was rebooted. You get the same fully enclosed box. It’s mostly white and it has some shots of the statue. Inside, the statue comes wrapped in plastic and between two styrofoam bricks. There’s no assembly required and there’s no statement of limitation on this one. It wasn’t until later releases that DCC began limiting the runs to 5,200 and hand numbering them.

And this is indeed the New 52 version of Ivy and it’s a design that I never really understood or much cared for. Just what’s up with the black leotard? To me it doesn’t fit with the whole plant motif. And the leaves and vines on top of it? Are they sewn in? Does she grow them around it after she puts on the leotard? It’s just a weird design. With that having been said, I’m OK with the pose here. It’s designed to show off the curves of her body and with both arms over her head, she holds a single rose bud in her left hand.

The costume design here is relatively simple, as it’s just a lot of matte black. There isn’t a lot of muscle definition showing through, but the shapes and curves are certainly pleasing. But with all that simple space, I would have hoped the sculptor would have paid more attention to the clusters of leaves. In some areas, they’re well defined, but in others they just look like mush. On the plus side, the green paint is applied well and there’s hardly any slop to speak of.

And that brings us to the portrait and this is the part of the statue that could have probably won me over, but it just doesn’t. Again, part of this has to do with my lack of enthusiasm for this version of the character. The black and green eyes are a little too demonic for me, and the black patterns on the face are as weird a choice as the black leotard. There’s something a little too sinister about this portrait. I know, she’s a villain, but here she looks like some kind of Deadite. The expression looks a little too forced as well. Again, the paint here is pretty solid, though, so my issues here are more from the design than the technical merits of the piece.

Easily my favorite thing about this statue is the base. Currently the Cover Girls line utilizes uniform oval bases, but early on in the reboot, the statues featured personalized environment style bases and DCC did some pretty cool things with them, as showcased here. I really dig the way the vines sprout up from the ground and weave their way around her body. It’s a really cool effect for a statue in this price range and I think they pulled it off wonderfully. As for the base itself, it showcases some of the best sculpting and paint on the entire statue. It feels like there was a lot of love put into this aspect of the statue and it makes me wonder if the line would have been better off sticking with these environmental bases.

Admittedly, I’m not the target audience for this piece, as I’ve admitted to not being a big fan of this look for Ivy, so the fact that this statue leaves me a little cold, should be taken with a grain of salt. There’s nothing inherently wrong with it. The paint is sharp and clean on the figure and fairly exceptional on the base. The sculpting is solid work, although the leaves on the costume could have used better definition. I don’t dislike it, but I don’t love it either. And none of that is surprising, considering my rather odd motivations for buying it. I mainly wanted it to complete my trio of Batman femme fatales from the early days of the reboot, and at $65, she was an extremely good deal for a Cover Girls statue that has been out of circulation for a while.

Mar 25 2016

Cover Girls of the DC Universe: Batgirl by DC Collectibles

It’s DC Friday again, and for the past few weeks I’ve been working my way through some DC Statues: Bishoujos, Femme Fatales, and yes, some Cover Girls too! I’m still way behind on the DC Cover Girls line, something that is concerning me because there’s quite a few I’d like to pick up before they hit the secondary market and the prices start to escalate. Today, let’s check out Barbara Gordon in her New 52 look, before she got the Babs Tarr makeover and moved to Burnside.

As always, the statue comes in a fully enclosed box with photos of the piece all around. Inside, the collectible is nestled inside a brick of styrofoam. The only assembly required is pegging the feet into the base and the pegs fit very easy. Oddly, some of the statues in this line come attached to the base and others peg in, so I always have to be careful to support the base when I’m picking them up. Porcelain statues seldom survive drops, so better safe than sorry! At about 9-inches tall, Ms. Gordon scales perfectly with her fellow Cover Girls and continues to skew this line in favor of Bat-flavored characters.

And damn what a beauty she is! Batgirl’s (former) New 52 costume is a favorite of mine because it doesn’t stray too far from the traditional. Fans old and new should be able to get behind this design. Of course, it is New 52, so you do get the sculpted panel lines in the body suit that suggests it’s more armor than mere latex. I like the ribbing inside the thighs, under the arms, and in all the places where a lot of flexing would take place. The yellowish-gold boots and gauntlets have scalloped edges and match the belt, bat symbol, and the interior lining of the cape. All of the yellow has a slight hint of glossy sheen to it, which contrasts nicely with the more matte finish of the black suit. The paint on this piece is very clean, but I’ve come to expect that. Truth be told, even with eight of these ladies on my shelf, I haven’t had any notable paint issues with this line, so when I say the paint is especially good on Batgirl, it’s intended as high praise.

Batgirl stands with feet apart and her right arm drawn up and ready to fling a batarang at an unseen adversary. There’s some lovely subtle bits about her pose, like the way she’s arching her back and twisting in the middle. This is a piece that shows off the art of the female body in all its splendor. As often the case with this line, the composition here is a nice blending of action and a bit of museum-style mugging for the beholder. The invisible wind that bellows out her cape and tosses her hair adds a little more kineticism to the piece. It’s a statue that has a couple of “sweet spots” depending on how you want to position it on the shelf. If I had to come up with something critical to say, I’m not particularly fond of how slender the middle of the cape looks from behind, but when it comes to complaints, that’s really reaching.

The portrait is absolutely fantastic and certainly a high point for this series. The emerald colored eyes are beautiful as is the subtle pink used for her lips. The nose is softly defined and the edges of the mask are clean. Even going back to the 70’s, one of the most fetching things about Batgirl for me has always been the way her red hair spills out from behind her cowl and this statue conveys that quite well.

Batgirl features the now standard oval base. In this case, the coloring doesn’t actually match anything on Ms. Gordon’s costume, instead it’s a bright purple. While unusual for the line, I do dig the color as it calls back to the days when the lovely Yvonne Craig wore donned a different Batgirl suit. As with the Batwoman statue, you get bat emblems on the front, back, and sides. The limitation here is, as usual, 5200 with the individual number of the piece written on the bottom of the base.

Batgirl is another great addition to my Cover Girls shelf, and she displays beautifully with Huntress and Batwoman. I’ve yet to be disappointed with the quality and composition of this line. The 9-inch scale is perfect for a statue collector tight on space and while the MSRP’s on these are usually right at the $100 mark, they can often be had for twenty or so dollars less, which makes them a great value for the money. Now, I just have to pick up Mera, Vixen, Wonder Woman v2, Catwoman v2, Katana, Starfire, Black Canary, and Bleez before Power Girl and Raven are released and I’ll be all current! Yeeeesh!

Mar 11 2016

Cover Girls of the DC Universe: Batwoman by DC Collectibles

While, it may seem like I don’t get back to it too often, I’ve been wholly impressed with DCC’s current run of Cover Girls statues. I surprised even myself when I realized that I only picked up and featured two of these lovely ladies in all of 2015. Needless to say I’ve got catching up to do, so let’s start by checking out Batwoman!

If you’ve seen one of DCC’s Cover Girls statue box you’ve seen them all. The art and size may change to suit the contents, but you’re still getting a fully enclosed box with a brick of styrofoam inside it. There’s a colored swipe down the front to match the character and some nice shots of the statue on the front and side panels. Everything is collector friendly and the only assembly required is pegging the statue into the base. I can’t say as I’m a huge Batwoman fan. I’ve barely read anything that she appears in. But I fell in love with Kotobukiya’s Bishoujo version of the character and the same happened here as well.

The composition of the pose here is pretty conservative. Batwoman stands with her feet apart, her grapple gun held in her right hand and across her chest and her left arm off to the side. I love the way the cape adds some energy to the pose in the way it flips up in the back and partially wraps around her right leg in the front. Overall, this is a nice mix of museum style with a hint of action and it certainly suits the character perfectly. Every facet of the costume is part of the sculpt, from the bat symbol on her chest and the panel lines on her boots right down to the subtle wrinkles and the definition of her underlying ab muscles. Her relatively straight posture puts the statue at just over 9 1/2-inches tall and right in scale with her fellow Cover Girls.

The coloring on this piece is positively striking. The black body suit features a hint of sheen and the crimson boots, gloves, belt, bat symbol and lining in the cape has a slight metallic finish to make it pop. The paint on this series has been overall serviceable, at least as far as the pieces in my collection are concerned, but Batwoman here stands out as very nearly perfect. I can’t find a single flub or stray brush stroke. The paint is simply immaculate.

The portrait features her half-mask with pupil-less eyes. The hair flows a little wild, probably caught by the same invisible wind that blows her cape. I particularly enjoy the way part of the hair falls in front of her mask’s left ear. The angular nature of the mask’s brow and nose contrasts nicely with her soft jaw line and perfectly painted lips.

While the early releases in this line offered more individual and environmental bases, DCC has since standardized them to simple ovals with a tasteful character symbol on the sides and a color that matches the character, in this case black and crimson. The bottom is slightly raised on four felt pads and the limitation is numbered on the bottom of the base.

Batwoman is another fantastic addition to my DC Cover Girls shelf. It says a lot about a statue when I can fall in love with it even without having a deep bond with the character. That was the case with Kotobukiya’s Bishoujo Batwoman and that’s the case again here. I’ll concede, if I had to choose between the two, I’d give the nod to Koto’s, but I’m not sure that’s a fair comparison. They’re very different styles, and Koto’s is PCV whereas the Cover Girls are cold cast porcelain. Thankfully, I don’t have to choose.

Jul 6 2015

Cover Girls of the DC Universe: Huntress by DC Collectibles

It’s been a little while since I last revisited DC’s Cover Girls , but don’t think that I’ve lost interest. This continues to be a line that I keep on the back burner, but it continues to keep my interest with each new one I grab. I’m quite a few releases behind and I’m glad to see that DCC is being so prolific with these ladies. Today, it’s Helena Bertinelli’s turn as we take a look at The Huntress…

I don’t have a lot to say about the box that hasn’t been said already. It’s typical fare for this line and not terribly exciting. It’s an enclosed box that keeps the statue safe between two slabs of styrofoam and there are some pictures of the statue to give you a good idea what you’re getting. The best thing I can say about it is that it’s entirely collector friendly. There’s no assembly required here, as Huntress comes already attached to her stand and ready for display.

I was real iffy on this piece when I first saw the pictures. I absolutely love the character and tend to buy whatever Huntress merch comes my way, but I wasn’t sold on the composition. She’s got a ramrod straight pose going on while taking aim with her crossbow. The Huntress is a fantastically agile and acrobatic young woman and I didn’t feel that this statue really conveyed the sense of energy and action that I associate with her. Then I stepped back a little and considered the overall theme of this line, which is going for something more akin to museum poses mixed with a little personality and I started to warm up to it a bit.

One thing I can’t deny is that this piece accentuates her beautiful curves. With her legs together and her back slightly arched, Helena cuts a lovely figure and the skin tight suit doesn’t leave much to the imagination. And that’s saying something when y ou consider that this is Huntress’ least revealing outfit in recent memory and that she’s literally clothed from head to toe.

The costume is mostly black with the white cross on her torso and white striping down the sides of her legs. You get purple paint on the boots, kneepads, belt, holsters, gauntlets, and shoulder pads. The cape billows out around her and is painted purple on the back and black on the inside with some white trim.There’s something about a black and purple deco that I really dig a lot. Overall, the paint for the costume is pretty good. The lines on the white striping could be a little more crisp in some areas, but nothing too bad.

Huntress dons her trademark crossbow in her right hand with her left hand drawn up to her neck. Again, it’s not a bad pose, just a lot more reserved then what I’m used to seeing with this character.

The portrait is excellent. Her sculpted hair blows off to the sides and strands pass in front of the ears on her mask. Her mask itself looks great and her face is very pretty. While the lines on the uniform may not be quite as crisp as they could have been, the paint on the face is absolutely gorgeous.

When this line rebooted a couple of years ago, DCC was going with individualized scenic bases, but since then they’ve standardized them into simple ovals and I kind of like it. In this case, Huntress’ base is painted black and purple to match the rest of the statue and has a small dagger emblem etched into it. The bottom of the statue features the statue’s number and the limitation of 5200 pieces.

Huntress is the seventh Cover Girls statue in my collection and I’m continuing to enjoy this line quite a bit. While these pieces retail at around $100, I tend to wait until they hit the $70-80 mark before biting and in that case patience usually prevails. I nabbed Huntress here for just a little under $70 and even though I was unconvinced about her pose, she won me over when I got her in hand.

Feb 20 2015

Cover Girls of the DC Universe: Poison Ivy by DC Collectibles

A lot of this week’s Features have involved me revisiting with lines that I’ve been away from for a while, so I might as well keep that theme going with a new Cover Girls statue by DCC. Supergirl was the last time I looked at this line and that was way back in August of last year and I’m only now starting to get caught up. I figured Poison Ivy was the best place to start since I was totally blown away by the photos I’ve seen and have been looking forward to opening up this beauty for a long time. It’s worth noting that this is the second version of Poison Ivy since the reboot of the Cover Girls line. I didn’t care at all for the first one so I was mighty glad to see them take a second crack at her because the result is absolutey exquisite.

I’ve gone on record as being totally unimpressed by the package design DC Collectibles has adopted for this line. It’s mostly white and kind of bland, but it does at least offer you a good photo of the statue and a little blurb about the character on the back. Based soley on the aesthetics, I wouldn’t bother holding on to these boxes at all. However, the box is collector friendly and when combined with the brick of styrofoam inside, it’s a good thing to have if you ever need to store or transport the piece and so I do hang on to these. When you get Ivy out of the styrofoam the only assembly required is attaching the statue to the base via the metal pegs that come out of the bottoms of her feet. It was a little daunting as the holes were just a little too far apart and I had to pull her legs out a bit to get her in. Once the pegs went in, however, all was good and she stands perfectly on the base.

All set up, this statue is drop dead gorgeous. Ivy is caught in a sexy stride with a single rose held seductively in her left hand, at her side, and her right hand pinching at the top of her leafy one-piece. She’s got a pair of thigh high boots and long gloves, both topped with foliage trim. The costume design is pretty simple, but the attention to detail in the leaves is well done and the two shades of green combined with the wonderful skin tone all make for a striking piece. Yum! I certainly dig this look a lot more than the black and green outfit she donned early on in Birds of Prey.

Of course, what’s really striking is the portrait. I’m totally in love with the face sculpt here. It’s so soft and beautiful and perfectly painted that I think it totally transcends what we’ve been seeing in this line so far. Her eyes are perfectly straight and the paint work on her green eye-liner and parted lips is exceptional. Ivy’s breathtaking face is framed by her lush red hair, which is peppered with leaves and cascades down her back. It’s all simply stunning.

And it would be impossible to discuss this statue without talking boobs. Of course, all of the Cover Girls statues are sexualized to some degree, so boobs are certainly not new to this line. But, holy hell check these babies out! For once, I’m actually not trying to be an adolescent about the topic because quite frankly Ivy’s pair of lovelies are an amazing piece of work and they deserve better. Not only are they beautifully sculpted, but the coloring of the skin tone compliments them so well. I get the feeling that these were a labor of love and that the sculptor, Jack Mathews, had a good time doing it.

It’s hard to top Ivy’s chest, so let’s just wrap it up with a quick look at her base. After releasing just a few statues in this line, DCC began making the bases more or less uniform and so we get simple ovoid platform, which is personalized with a green paint job and a leaf etched into the side. The limitation information is on the bottom and the base rests on four tiny felt pads. I mention the pads because one of them fell off my Supergirl statue shortly after featuring it here and I hope that’s not going to be the case here.

Ivy has an MSRP of about a hundred bucks, but I was easily able to find her for $75, which certainly isn’t unreasonable. Sure, it’s no secret that this current Cover Girls line is considered to have lost some of the luster from the original Adam Hughes run of statues. There’s certainly some basis for that argument. I don’t think the statues have been as good, but I don’t think they’re bad either. I now have five of these ladies on my shelf and I’ve been satisfied with each and every one of them. Now, with that having been said, I think Ivy here is the first to come close to reclaiming the magic of the line’s former incarnation. In fact, I’ll go so far as to say I like this one better than the original Cover Girls release of the character. I don’t know if this is an instance of DCC upping their game or just the stars aligning to produce an exceptionally nice looking piece, but she’s definitely going to be taking a front row spot on my Cover Girls shelf.

FigureFan Zero

Action Figure Reviews, Toys & Collectibles…

Tag Archives: cover girls of the dc universe

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Cover Girls of the DC Universe: Poison Ivy (Ver. 1) by DC Collectibles

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Cover Girls of the DC Universe: Batwoman by DC Collectibles

Cover Girls of the DC Universe: Huntress by DC Collectibles

Cover Girls of the DC Universe: Poison Ivy by DC Collectibles

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