Tag Archives: dc animated series

Oct 21 2016

Femme Fatales “DC Animated Series:” Catwoman by Diamond Select

I started this week with a Marvel DST Statue, so let’s end it with a DC DST Statue. That seems only fair. Besides, the lovely Bruce Timm styled Catwoman has been sitting around waiting to be opened for over a month now. Diamond has been reworking this line into the DC Animated Gallery so that they can include some dudes, but Catwoman is still under the name Femme Fatales. Time to let this kitty out of the box!

ffcatw1

Speaking of the box, we’ve seen this packaging before. There are windows on three sides as well as the top panel to let a lot of light in and allow you to scrutinize the paint on your purchase before handing your money over to local comic shop guy. But not me. Oh no. My local comic shop ain’t so local. It’s over an hour away, so I have to roll the dice and hope the Amazon gods are smiling on the day their drone picks mine from the warehouse. There’s no assembly required here, so Selina comes out of the box all ready for action…

ffcatw2

ffcatw3

And looking every bit like she pounced right out of the cartoon! Catwoman is wearing her skin tight gray body suit that shows off all of her wonderful womanly curves. As this is an animated piece there’s not a whole lot going on in the way of sculpted detail, just a lot of smooth surfaces. But at the same time, everything about the costume is part of the sculpt, so you get clear definitions at the edges of the boots and gloves and the string of yellow disks that make up her belt. The whip that she clutches in her left hand is a strip of bendy plastic and you can position it so it lands on the base by her foot or dangling off the side.

ffcatw4

ffcatw5

ffcatw6

As a budget line, I’ve been taking the paint quality on these in stride. None of my pieces in this line have had outrageously bad paint (just that Marvel Gallery Lady Deadpool!), but some have been better than others. I’m overall pleased with what I got here, although these statues tend to suffer from rubbing and light scratching over the large smooth areas. That was most prevalent with the gray suit on my Batgirl and it’s still the case with this piece. Granted, the studio lights and scrutiny of the camera tend to make it look worse than it is when displayed under normal lights. It would be great if they could clean this up, but I’ve learned to live with it. Otherwise, the only paint issue I can see on mine is a bit of yellow slop from her belt on her left hip, and that’s a pretty small flub.

ffcatw9

The portrait matches the animated style pretty well. Again, she has sculpted lines around her hood and mask and between the mask and her skin. The paint lines between skin and mask could have been a little sharper, but I’m really picking nits here, especially on a piece in this price range. The red paint used for her lips, on the other hand, is nice and clean.

ffcatw11

ffcatw7

ffcatw8

DST really went all out on the base here. It’s a rather large slab of rooftop with stone texturing and some sculpted bricks. That seriously would have been plenty, but they opted to add an adorable little kitty cat emerging from a chimney with a sack of diamonds in his mouth. This extra bit really goes a long way to give this piece some wonderful personality and I’m glad they did it.

ffcatw10

ffcatw14

Once again, I find myself delighted to be collecting this line, especially since I’ve been resisting the urge to collect DST’s line of DC Animated figures. These statues give me some of that wonderful Bruce Timm style for my shelves, and between the low price point and frequency of releases, it’s something that I feel I can collect at my leisure and not worry about getting too far behind. These pieces continue to retail at about $45, but Amazon has been pretty competitive and pricing them between $30-$40, and that feels like a decent value to me.

Aug 19 2016

Justice League War (DC Animated Movie Series): Shazam by DC Collectibles

It’s DC Friday again, and I’m almost to the point where I’m caught up on opening my backlog of DC figures. It’s possible that I might start switching up Friday content a bit in the future, but I’m hoping it won’t come to that. I’ve got the rest of August and part of September covered, and by then, I’m hoping some new stuff will start rolling in. Today, I’m looking at my last figure from the Justice League War animated film, Shazam!

dcashaz1

Here’s the obligatory shot of the packaging, or at least the best one I could salvage after my cat hit the table while I was taking it and I didn’t realize the picture was wrecked before I tore open the package. Whoops! Again, it’s clean and simple, and it shows the figure off beautifully. There are some stills from the movie printed on the card behind the figure, and some shots of other figures in the series on the back of the card. It’s not at all collector friendly, so let’s rip this sucker open and see what we’ve got!

dcashaz2

Because of the animated style, this line focuses more on paint than individual sculpts. Indeed, Shazam here is a repaint of the Superman body, and that’s a good choice that works well. The costume is mostly deep red with gold paint for the boots, belt, wrist bracers, and some gold and yellow for his chest emblem. Overall the paint is neatly applied, although there are some areas, particularly around the cape’s trim, which could have been sharper.
The cape is the only newly sculpted piece for the costume. It’s fairly light and very pliable, but it still makes him a little back heavy. The hood is sculpted down, which is the way I prefer it. I have passed on at least a couple of Shazam figures because the cape was permanently up.

dcashaz3

The head sculpt is one of the better ones in this line. Yes, that’s a loaded compliment. Superman’s sculpt was a lumpy mess, Green Lantern’s was a painted nightmare, the rest have been OK. I think they did a pretty good job capturing the animated style in this portrait and the paint is fairly clean. There are, however, a couple of stray marks on his bottom lip that unfortunately look like cold sores. Hopefully them old wizards have a cure for herpes!

dcashaz4

dcashaz5

The articulation has been a standard in all the male bucks of this line. You get rotating hinges in the shoulders and elbows, swivels in the biceps and wrists, ball joints in the hips and neck, and hinges in the knees. There’s no articulation in the torso at all. These are not highly pose-able figures, but I’d still rank them as better than most of the releases from the dark days of DC Direct’s premier lines, where nothing but t-crotches and swivel cuts were the order of the day. Still, there’s only so much you can do with him, hence the limited number of shots I used for this Feature.

dcashaz6

dcashaz7

By now, you all know that this line has been hit and miss for me. Shazam was the last one I have to open, and seeing as he’s one of the better ones, so I’m happy to ending my look at this series on a positive note. If I ever stumble across The Flash at a decent price, I’d probably grab him to complete the Justice League War set, but otherwise it’s safe to say I’m finished with these. Even though I picked up all of these for ten bucks a pop, my hindsight is telling me I should have passed on them. At a time when I’m trying to tighten up my collecting habits, the amount I spent on these figures could have paid for a Cover Girls statue I needed, or even one of Mezco’s upcoming One:12 Collective releases.

 

Mar 18 2016

Femme Fatales “DC Animated Series:” Talia Al Ghul by Diamond Select

DST continues to work overtime churning out the statues from their new Femme Fatales and DC Animated Series partnership. I’ve been enjoying this line a lot, but I’ll confess it’s getting a bit exhausting to keep up with it since the line launched late last year. The modest little nook I set aside for the initial releases has now grown to a full shelf. Not only are they up to a half dozen regular releases, but there have already been a pair of Exclusives. The first was the 2015 SDCC Supergirl variant and now we have the first completely original Exclusive via e-tailer, Entertainment Earth… Talia Al Ghul!

fftalia1

fftalia2

The box features the lovely deco based off Batman: The Animated Series and with windows positioned front, top and both sides, you can really get a great look at the statue before even removing it from the box. The front window has an EE Exclusive sticker and the top flap is sealed with a strip of Exclusive foil tape denoting that this is #1369 of 2000. There is no statement of limitation on the statue itself. Looks like I’m going in through the bottom! Talia first appeared B:TAS in the S2 episode “Off Balance” and later in the S3, two-parter “The Demon’s Quest” and this statue is an amalgam of both appearances. These were solid episodes with the unexpected Helen Slater voicing Talia and the great David Warner (always a favorite of mine) voicing Ras. Ah, Ras. “Have sex with my daughter or I’ll kill you!” Those are the kinds of arch villains I want if I ever get to be a superhero.

fftalia3

fftalia4

fftalia5

fftalia6

Talia dons her “all business” black catsuit from “Off Balance” as opposed to her “all pleasure” temptress harem garb from “The Demon’s Quest.” While there was certainly something to be said for the later, I’m glad DST went with this look. Talia’s character started out strong only to get neutered somewhere between the two episodes and I think this version is a much better fit for the line. But, hey… if they want to do the other version somewhere down the road, I’d be on board. Since this is an animated style statue, the amount of sculpted detail is limited. I really like the way the edges of the gloves and boots are sculpted so as to look real and not only achieved with a shallow cut and paint lines. The portrait is well done, particularly the way her hair covers half of her face. The belt, holster, and thigh strap are all also part of the sculpt and look good. At about 9-inches tall, she scales perfectly with most of her fellow Femme Fatales.

fftalia7

fftalia8

fftalia9

fftalia12

With these simpler animated style statues, the paint is all the more important in order to carry the day and Talia here sports some of the best quality paint I’ve seen in this series so far. There is virtually no slop to speak of here and the gray and purple on her outfit are very clean. The paintwork on her face looks especially crisp, which is a nice change after having a little flub on the right eye of my Wonder Woman statue. If I had one complaint here it would be the paint on her pistol isn’t as sharp as it could be, but I can live with that.

fftalia10

Speaking of the pistol, it’s one of the two “accessories” that Talia is holding, the other being the Mask of Anubis. This is one of the points in which this statue straddles Talia’s first two appearances in the series, as the mask appeared in “The Demon’s Quest” and was worn as a disguise by her father.

fftalia11

The other nod to “The Demon’s Quest” is the base, which depicts Talia standing on rocky ground at the end of a Lazarus Pit. It’s a great choice for a base and it looks pretty good. The bubbles added to the life-restoring soup are a nice touch. This contextual liberty that draws aspects from both episodes doesn’t bother me at all, but it might irk some purists out there looking for a statue from a definitive episode.

fftalia13

fftalia14

Talia is another solid release in this line, and quite possibly one of my favorites so far. It’s great to be able to get all the animated styles of DC’s ladies together in one place and scale, especially for someone like me who hasn’t bought into DC Collectibles Animated figures… yet. Of course, the other big draw here is the price. With MSRP’s in the forty dollar range, these pieces really are some of the most affordable statues on the market and perfect for collectors who want to add some statues to their shelves, but not break the bank on higher end pieces. Talia is still available from EE at $45 plus shipping, but even as a limited store exclusive, this one can currently be had at a better deal elsewhere. I picked up mine from Amazon at $35 shipped, which is a solid deal for a regular edition, but even better for a limited piece like this one.

Mar 4 2016

Femme Fatales “DC Animated Series:” Wonder Woman by Diamond Select

It’s DC Friday again and today I’m dipping back into the “DC Animated Series” of Diamond’s Femme Fatales statues. While still a relatively new line, DST has been cranking these out like crazy and have recently even announced that they’ll be expanding it to include Marvel characters before the end of the year. Today’s release, Wonder Woman comes from Justice League Unlimited, the follow up series to what I still consider to be the best animated treatment of a comic property ever. Yeah, it really is that good.

femfatww11

The boxes for this series are simple and effective and hasn’t changed much since Femme Fatales started. The statue comes nestled between two plastic trays and can be viewed clearly through the windows on the front, side, and top panels. DST has been changing the deco up a little to match the animated series the subject is based on, and in this case you get the Justice League Unlimited logo on the front. The back panel features a shot of the statue and a blurb about the character. Everything is collector friendly and the statue comes assembled and ready for display.

femfatww1

Diamond went fairly conservative with the composition here. Wonder Woman stands with one leg up on a broken pillar with her golden lasso in one hand and the other hanging by her side. Diana’s Captain Morgan impersonation isn’t going to win any awards for originality, but I still like it a lot. It’s heroic and noble and totally suits what Wonder Woman is all about.

femfatww2

femfatww3

femfatww4

femfatww7

In keeping with the animated theme, the statue features minimal detail. With that having been said, just about every detail here is achieved with both sculpt and paint, right down to the stars and crest on her costume. The portrait is particularly well done, complete with her star earrings and her windblown hair.

femfatww5

femfatww6

I’ve been lucky so far with the paint quality in this series. It seems to be a little inconsistent, but so far I’ve had few major complaints. In the case of Wonder Woman here, however, I do have one. Her right eye isn’t filled out all the way to the bottom. It doesn’t look googly or anything, just unfinished. It’s not enough to ruin the piece for me, but it’s definitely noticeable, particularly when viewed up close. The rest of the statue’s paint is perfectly acceptable. The details on the costume remain inside the sculpted lines and while there are some visible brush strokes on the white trim of her boots, it’s not something that I’m going to get upset about.

femfatww8

The base is a solid effort. It looks like she’s standing amidst ruins in Themyscira. The paint and texturing on the piece of marble pillar looks especially good. The ground itself looks more like a melted brownie to me, but it’s not bad. Considering the bases we got with the two versions of Supergirl, I’d say this is still a step up.

femfatww9

femfatww10

femfatww12

Wonder Woman set me back $40, which is around the low end of retail for this series. However, they are notorious for dropping in price on the secondary market. Some of my earliest Femme Fatale statues were purchased at the $25 range. I’m not sure if that’ll hold true for the DC properties because quite frankly there should be a lot more demand for these than for the series’ earlier indie comic content like Darkchylde and Dawn, let alone their original creations. Apart from the flubbed eye, I’d say this is among the best releases in the series so far, but then I haven’t had many quibbles with any of them so far. I will note that the scale does feel way off, especially when displaying Wonder Woman beside either of the Supergirl variants, but that’s not something that bugs me too much. As for future releases… Harley Quinn is available right now (I’m still on the fence over picking up that one) and Catwoman should be dropping right around the time this Feature posts, so you can be sure I’ll be revisiting this line in the not too distant future.

Jan 15 2016

Femme Fatales “DC Animated Series:” Batgirl by Diamond Select

It’s DC Friday again, and today I’m jumping back into Diamond’s new line of statues based on the ladies of the DC Animated Universe. Since this off-shoot of DST’s Femme Fatales line debuted back in October, I’ve already picked up Poison Ivy and two versions of Supergirl and today it’s Batgirl’s turn.

femfbatg1

While it’s basically the same style of window box DST has been using since the line debuted, the DC Animated Statues are each getting their own deco to match the theme of their respective series. I like that they’re doing this because the regular Femme Fatales packaging wasn’t all that exciting or engaging. In this case the deco is themed for Batman: The Animated Series and so the box matches the one used for Poison Ivy quite nicely. Windows on the front, top, and side panels all allow for a pretty good look at the statue and everything is collector friendly, should you ever wish to box Batgirl back up for storage. The statue comes sandwiched between two clear plastic trays and there’s no assembly required. Let’s get her out and take a look…

femfbatg2

femfbatg3

femfbatg4

Sculpted from the Bruce Timm art style, this version of Batgirl features her traditional grey bodysuit with blue boots, gauntlets, cape and cowl along with her yellow belt and bat insignia. While I wouldn’t be opposed to double-dipping on her black and yellow costume, I’m glad DST went with this one. It’s just a bit more iconic to me. The costume doesn’t feature a lot of detail, that’s all part of the simple animated style, but the tight costume doesn’t leave much to the imagination when it comes to her bat curves. Her adorable little cape bellows out behind her and the head sculpt is certainly faithful to the art that inspired it. The cowl and mask is part of the sculpt and her hair spills out the back. And yes, she also has a nice little bum.

femfbatg6

femfbatg8

The pose here is a fun one. I’m torn on whether she’s about to break into a run, throw the batarang in her right hand, or if she’s just posing for the camera. Either way, it’s a nice mix of whimsy with a hint of action and it suits the character well.

femfbatg11

The singular thing about doing statues based on this simple animated style is the importance of a nice clean paint job. The paintwork on Batgirl is overall fairly solid, but there’s a few areas where I would have liked to see some improvement, most notably the outline around the bat symbol, where there are some uneven lines. Otherwise, there’s a few stray marks on the grey bodysuit, most notably an off-color spot just above her belt buckle and another on her butt. Yeah, I’ve seen worse paintwork on more expensive statues, but that doesn’t completely excuse it. I will also note that I think the hair could have used a more red in it. What we got is more of a straight chocolate brown.

femfbatg10

The base suggests Batgirl is standing on the roof of a Gotham City Police car with one foot up on the light bar. This is easily my favorite base in the line so far as it’s evocative of the simple art style and still communicates a bit of environmental context.

femfbatg9

femfbatg12

Three statues in and I’m still digging these DC animated ladies a lot. Yes, they’re budget statues and as such the more discerning statue collectors are likely to turn their noses up, but I think the scope of the line marries the simplistic Bruce Timm style perfectly. These aren’t going to replace Koto’s Bishoujos as my favorites any time soon, but then again these run between half to three-quarters of the price, so at $35, there’s some decent value here. Batgirl’s paint is the weakest of the three, but that could be just my specific statue and it’s still not terrible. My eye is often drawn to the spot on her tummy, but I may have some success smoothing that out. DST seems to be averaging about one release a month on these, with Harley hitting right about now and Catwoman and Hawkgirl both on deck to ship in the months ahead. There’s also an Exclusive Talia Al Ghul, which I’ve been trying to resist, but I’m thinking I may wind up getting.

Nov 13 2015

Femme Fatales “DC Animated Series:” Poison Ivy by Diamond Select

Diamond Select is not fooling around when it comes to the new DC Animated off-shoot of their Femme Fatales Statue line. Even after two versions (in two weeks) of the initial release, Supergirl, I’m back already to check out the next one. And they’ve got three more slated to hit in December alone. Well, that’s OK. I say “bring it on,” because I am digging the hell out of these ladies. Today’s animated hottie hails from Batman: The Animated Series and it is none other than Poison Ivy!

ffpi1

The box is the same configuration we saw with the Supergirl statues, just a new deco. You get a Femme Fatales logo in the upper right corner, the Batman: The Animated Series logo and the character’s name on the bottom. The box is black with windows all around to let in plenty of light. Ivy comes sandwiched between two clear plastic trays and everything is totally collector friendly. The statue comes already attached to the base, although there is a clear plastic rod included that pegs into the base and acts as a support for the vine. It seems totally unnecessary, but there is a little bit of give in the vine, so I opted to use it to prevent any future sagging. We don’t want Poison’s Ivy to sag, do we? I don’t think it detracts from the piece, but it is totally optional.

ffpi3

ffpi4

ffpi5

Out of the box, Ivy is drop dead gorgeous. I’ll say it again, this animated style suits the Femme Fatales line perfectly. Because of the style, there isn’t a whole lot of sculpted detail on the figure itself, instead she gets by mostly with smooth lines and very clean paint. And she certainly cuts quite a curvaceous figure in her two-tone green outfit. This is indeed a chick that makes me want to eat my veggies. Yum! The tops of her boots and gloves are sculpted, as are the jagged edges of her one-piece around her hips. The shades of green are just perfect and the paint lines are smooth and quite sharp.

ffpi13

ffpi11

The portrait here is also a real winner. Ivy is strikingly beautiful, and I have no problem saying that about a cartoon lady. She’s got perfect lips and a voluminous mane of red hair sculpted in the vintage style that is so distinctive to the Batman Animated Series. The paint on the eyes is neatly applied and I particularly like the sympathetic visage of her eyebrows as she stares longingly at her lovely plant companion. The expression really captures the character superbly.

ffpi6

ffpi7

ffpi8

Speaking of the vine, the snaking plant is rooted to the base and spirals around Ivy’s body to face her, where it is cradled lovingly in her left hand. It sports a red flowery head and two rows of sharp little teeth. It’s also got a friend that is seated down on the base showing it’s teeth, probably jealous that his chum is getting all the attention. The base here is a huge improvement over what we saw with Supergirl. It’s a simple brown brick floor with patches of green vegetation on each side.

ffpi14

ffpi15

I really liked both versions of the Supergirl statue, but I’m absolutely in love with Poison Ivy here. As with Supergirl, Poison Ivy set me back $39.99 at retail and I’m pretty content with that price. Yes, if I had waited, there’s a good chance I could have managed to get a deal, as DST’s Femme Fatale statues are notorious for dropping in price before they get scarce and start climbing again. With that having been said, I suspect these DC ladies will be more popular than this line’s regular offerings, so anything is possible. Regardless, I’m happy to support this line all the way so I’ve pre-ordered the whole shebang. Batgirl, Harley, and Wonder Woman are all currently due to ship in December. I’m not sure the order, but I’ll definitely be checking them out here as soon as they arrive.

Oct 30 2015

Femme Fatales “DC Animated Series:” Supergirl by Diamond Select

I’ve mostly been spending my DC Fridays looking at DC Collectibles’ figures, but anything DC is fair game and today I’m looking at the very first Bruce Timm inspired statue from Diamond’s Femme Fatales line. I’ve been a casual fan of the FF line for a little while now and I was thrilled when I heard that DST struck a deal to bring Animated versions of the DC ladies on board with the Timm art style. It seemed like a perfect match and they kicked it off with Supergirl. Rather good timing, too, as the Supergirl TV Series just premiered this week. It was my second time watching it and I enjoyed it quite a lot.

ffsupg1

ffsupg2

The statue comes in a window box, which has been standard for the line. You get additional windows on the sides and top to let in plenty of light and showcase the statue. The biggest departure here is found in the deco. Rather than using the same black box with red trim, they went for a bright yellow and orange which fits the comic book theme a lot better. The familiar Femme Fatales logo is still in the top right corner and the bottom features the logo for Superman: The Animated Series. The box is totally collector friendly and Supergirl comes fully assembled and ready for display.

ffsupg3

The first thing I noticed taking Supergirl out of the box is that she’s fairly larger and heftier than any of my previous Femme Fatales. She only slightly taller than my Anne Bonny statue and keep in mind that Kara is reclining a bit in mid flight and not standing straight. The scale change may annoy avid collectors of this line, but considering it’s a new sub-line and the animated style doesn’t really fit with previous releases, I’m perfectly fine with it so long as it remains uniform with all the upcoming DC ladies.

ffsupg4

ffsupg5

With size out of the way, I’ve got to say that I’m really impressed with the way this piece came out. The sculpt does a wonderful job capturing the animated look of the character and the proportions are great and the portrait is absolutely adorable. The pose has her hovering in mid flight, which would be absolutely perfect if it didn’t get a little confusing when placed in context with the base, but I’ll get back to that in a bit.

ffsupg6

ffsupg7

As for the outfit, Kara sports her white cut-off top, blue skirt, red boots, and short cape. The S-Shield on her top is sculpted on as well as painted, which is nice because the animated style of this piece doesn’t call for a lot of intricately sculpted details, and that’s where the paint becomes so critically important.

ffsupg8

ffsupg9

Happily the quality of paint holds up very well. The statue makes use of bright, vibrant colors to emphasize the look of the animated series. Everything looks very clean, and while I was afraid of visible brush strokes on the white top or yellow hair, there are none to be found. the eyes are straight and the lips and eye brows are tidy. There’s a stray stroke here and there along some of the lines, but overall what’s here is solid work.

ffsupg12

If there’s a fly in the ointment here, I’d say it’s the base, which is an odd bit of work. It’s obviously meant to look like the landscape far below, but having the sculpted mountain top and just a blue patch of paint on the otherwise featureless oval base isn’t terribly convincing. She could have also used some height over it, say maybe an inch of clear rod propping her up, because it still kind of looks like she’s standing on it and not hovering far above it. In no way does this ruin what is an otherwise beautiful piece, but I defintely would have preferred just a blank disc for a base.

ffsupg11

ffsupg13

ffsupg14

Supergirl falls right in line with the $40 price point on all the Femme Fatale releases. In the past I’ve been able to get some really good deals on these pieces, particuarly the non-licensed ones, but I’ve dropped pre-orders on all the DC Animated releases, so in this case I paid full price. I’m far more interested in supporting this line rather than shopping around for deals. And I’m even more pumped for these statues now that I have this inaugural release in hand. Poison Ivy is the next release in the series, but before I get to her, I’ll be checking out the SDCC version of the Supergirl statue next Friday.