Tag Archives: dc direct

Nov 8 2024

Cover Girls of the DC Universe (J. Scott Campbell) Zatanna by McFarlane/DC Direct

The DC Cover Girls line of statues has been around a long time now with different series showcasing different artist interpretation of some of comic’s greatest female heroes and villains. Hell, I reviewed my first purchase from this series here almost 12 years ago! The line went from DC Collectibles to DC Direct and now McFarlane has taken up the torch, although they still seem to be using the DC Direct name for whatever reasons. Also, the current series is showcasing one of my favorite comic artists of all time, J. Scott Campbell, and boy is ever about damn time! DC’s Mistress of Mysticism, Zatanna, is the third release in this series, with Catwoman and Wonder Woman preceding her, and Supergirl now up for preorder.

The packaging is pretty standard stuff, featuring a fully enclosed box with some shots of the statue and some artwork ghosted behind it. The box does state the limitation and you also get your piece’s individual number on the box as well. The statue comes nestled between two Styrofoam bricks for protection and there’s a little assembly required. Just peg Zatanna’s foot into the base and tab her wand into her hands and she is ready for her curtain call!

Of the three JSC statues so far, Zatanna comes the closest to a classic museum pose, but it suits her so perfectly. Catwoman was playfully readying her whip, Wonder Woman was deflecting a bullet, but Zatanna stands with her hands folded and resting on her cane/wand as if waiting for the magic show to begin. Feet apart, back arched, and head cocked, it’s a pose that conveys a sense of high confidence and professional showmanship.

Zatanna’s costume represents my favorite look for the character. She’s got her black one piece with yellow and white corset over it and black tuxedo coat and tails over that. There’s a little sculpted ruffling to the middle of the corset while the low cut top shows ample cleavage, no doubt to distract from any slight of hand. The shoulders flare up stylishly, the lapels are painted blue, and she had a red carnation on the right lapel. The snappy tails of the coat hang down to the backs of her knees. She has a pair of shiny black heels and while her legs aren’t clad in actual fishnets, the skin is painted in a darker color to denote that she is wearing stockings. The paint lines on this piece are very sharp and the yellow, blue, red, and white all add some nice contrast to the black.

The head sculpt is very nice, even if I do think she got an unnecessary extra helping of eyebrows. The expression in the eyes is absolutely priceless. They’ve got a slightly sleepy quality to them, which also works as confidence bordering on boredom. It’s as if she’s sizing up an adversary and thinking,
“You’ve got to be kidding. You have no chance against my mystical arts.” I think there’s a tad less of Campbell’s style in this one, although it’s definitely there in the distinctive nose. The paint is immaculate, especially in the eyes and mascara and her bold lipstick. They seem to have toned down the shading around the eyes as seen on the box, and I think that was a great idea. The hair is beautifully sculpted and frames her face perfectly and it’s all capped off with the regal black top hat with blue band to match her coat’s lapels.

The base is designed to match the previous statues. It’s a circular raised platform in black with a gray stripe around the beveled edges. It’s simple and distinguished but the addition of the Zatanna logo gives it a kick of personality. These pieces are limited and hand numbered on the bottom of the base, and I have no idea where they are drawing the limitations for each. Catwoman started at 920, Wonder Woman went to 945, and now Zatanna shoots up to 1580. Back in the day, most Cover Girls were at a limitation of 5200, whereas these seem more random. Either way, mine is #509, which is lower than my Wonder Woman but higher than my Catwoman.

Over the years, some of my Cover Girls have left my collection, but I maintain a solid dozen or so on display at any one time. Needless to say I’m happy to see the line continue and it really seems to be in good hands with McFarlane. And naturally, I’m doubly happy to see my main man, J. Scott Campbell, finally get his turn at these ladies. I’ll confess that Catwoman was not a rock-solid start for this run, but she was still pretty good and both Wonder Woman and Zatanna more than make up for that somewhat shaky start. These retail at around $139.99, which feels right in line with what they’ve been going for in the past. Supergirl is next up on the roster, and as you can imagine, I already have her preordered.

Aug 2 2024

Cover Girls of the DC Universe (J. Scott Campbell) Wonder Woman by McFarlane/DC Direct

The DC Cover Girls line has been going on for quite a while. I reviewed my first statue from this series over ten years ago! The line was mostly produced by DC Collectibles, but when McFarlane took over the license they began releasing some here and there in partnership with DC Direct. I’m not going to pretend to know how the licensing works and who’s actually producing these now, but Both McFarlane’s and DC Direct’s names appear on the box. Recently, McFarlane announced a trio of these ladies inspired by the art of J. Scott Campbell, so you know I was instantly on board! They’ve already released Catwoman, Zatanna is coming soon, and today we’re checking out Wonder Woman.

The mostly white box is similar to what we saw last time, and has remained more or less the same throughout the series run. You get some shots of the statue, a notation of the artist, and the size is roughly the same as the Catwoman statue, with both ladies measuring about 10-inches tall. That puts these a bit taller than the older DC Collectibles offerings. Inside the box, the statue comes encased in two Styrofoam trays and you get a collector card. Assembly requires attaching her right arm at the bicep band via a magnet, and plugging her right foot into the base, which was an easy fit. Let’s get her out of the box and all set up!

Oh yeah, that’s the stuff! As we saw with Catwoman, the composition is a little bit of museum pose with a hint of action. Wonder Woman stands with a slight lean to her right hip and a turn to her left ankle. Her coiled golden lasso is held firm in her right hand, while her left arm is drawn up to effortlessly deflect a projectile headed right for her face. Her one-piece outfit has a very modern vibe from the golden belt up, and things get a little more traditional below, with some abbreviated skirt flaps hanging down front and back.

All the details of the outfit are incorporated as part of the sculpt, which helps make for some clean paint lines. The red part of her corset has panel lining and is painted with a rich, glossy red, while framed top and bottom with the same quality of gold paint. All this conspires to produce a beautiful new-car-style finish to this part of the costume. The high-heeled boots are painted in red matte with some dark shading, white stripes running up the center from toe to top, and gold bands around the top edges. You get two shades of blue around her pelvic region with a darker blue making up the panties and a paler shade for the skirt pieces. And, of course, both are speckled with white stars. Her arm bracers are painted in silver and gold, and her bicep ring is gold. These pieces have a duller metallic finish than the corset, but still look nice. Finally, the skin tone is very warm and even with some pink added to the knees and elbows. All in all, the sculpted detail and colors here are very well done, especially for a statue in this price range.

The portrait is quite lovely and does a solid job evoking the JSC style. Diana is sporting some dreamy, heavy eyelids, a narrow and sharp nose, and her lips are slightly parted, revealing a flash of white teeth. The painted facial features are clean, particularly the eye liner and pupils. The flowing hair has some blue shading to evoke that classic comic book panel coloring, and I really dig the way it bunches up to her right, swirling in a flurry of defensive action. The portrait is rounded out by her gold tiara with a central red star.

The coiled lasso also contorts a bit from her defensive maneuver, with one end curling up into the air. The paint on mystical rope looks good, but I would have liked to have seen a little bit of sculpted detail to the braid. What we got gives it a bit of a simple, animated look, which is fine, but a bit at odds with the detail in her corset. Still, not bad!

The bullet defecting on her wrist bracer is done with a bit of translucent plastic colored in red and orange. It’s not spectacular, but it gets the job done. It would have been cool to have an actual bullet sculpted in there, or perhaps being deflected away.

The base is a raised black disk with beveled edges and a gold stripe. The face has a Wonder Woman logo flanked by stars. I like the way this is stylized and it adds some nice flavor to the base, much in the same way they did with Catwoman’s. On the flipside you get the hand numbered limitation underneath. Mine is 590 out of 945. The limitation is a lot smaller on these than it was in the old days, when 5200 was the magic number.

Like Catwoman, Wonder Woman retails at $139 which, if you count for inflation, is probably pretty close to what the older Cover Girls sold for. I included a shot of her with the Stanley Artgerm Lau piece from 2016. I still enjoy to display that one and it’s fun to see how the series has evolved over nearly a decade. As for the new ones, well, I really like both of these JSC efforts, with Wonder Woman edging out Catwoman as the favorite of the two. From a design standpoint, I think there was just more to work with than this one, and the final release came a lot closer to what was solicited. They do look nice paired together, but I have Catwoman displayed with some other Catwoman pieces and Diana here will be going to my Wonder Woman display. Still, I’m excited to see how the trio will look when Zatanna joins up!

Mar 15 2024

Cover Girls of the DC Universe (J. Scott Campbell) Catwoman by McFarlane/DC Direct

It’s safe to say that I’ve been a long time collector of the DC Cover Girls line of statues. I’ve reviewed over 20 of them here on FFZ over the past ten years or so and while some have since left my collection, I still have quite a few and always have a shelf with a dozen or so of these lovely ladies on rotation. And naturally, Selina Kyle has turned up as a DC Cover Girl more than once! Indeed, this line has been around long enough to be rebranded from DC Direct to DC Collectibles, and now back to DC Direct and licensed to McFarlane Toys. Likewise, the series has showcased different artists over the years from Joelle Jones to Stanley Lau and while I have loved each and every one of those, it’s about time my main man, J. Scott Campbell got his turn, with Catwoman here in the lead and both Wonder Woman and Zatanna coming up next.

One thing that hasn’t changed much over the years is the packaging. Catwoman comes in a fully enclosed box with a clean white and black deco and some pictures of the statue front and back. This line hasn’t always been the best about showcasing the artist front and center, but here we get Mr. Campbell’s name right on the front. The statue measures about 10-inches tall, cast in resin, and comes encased between two styrofoam bricks. And I gotta say I have never had this much trouble getting the styrofoam out of the box before. I literally had to open it from both ends and push it through and even then it was crazy tight. So weird! Anyway, Catwoman comes out of the box with her whip in her hands. All you have to do is plug her foot post into the base and there’s a peg to help anchor the whip as well. So let’s let this cat out of the bag…

Selina presents herself somewhere between a museum pose and a little cheesecake tease. One leg is drawn up at the knee, resting the toe of her left boot on the ground. Her arms bent at the elbows and holding up her whip across her at neck level, as if inviting you to play. She dons a very classic blueish-purple bodysuit that is oh, so very tight and I’m going to say straightaway the curves on display here are this statue’s greatest win. The contours of Selina’s body are so lovingly sculpted here that the sheer simplicity of her suit works in the figure’s favor. The only real detail is on the zipper that tracks all the way down from her neck and stops just above her kitty’s lair with a large silver pull resting at the top. Otherwise, you do get some very subtle and sparing wrinkles, and just a hint of her underlying muscle definition. I dig this sculpt and composition a lot, especially the way it lets her curves do all the talking.

The paint would be simple if not for the pearlescent finish to the suit and the slight wash. In bright light it looks warm and even, almost like a second skin, but give her a turn and you can see some of the underlying sparkles come to life. You also get some high gloss black for her short gloves and low cut boots and a hint of bright purple for the boot linings. A lick of silver rounds things out below the neck.

The portrait is… well, it isn’t what we were promised in the solicitation photos. Not even close. And yes, that’s disappointing. That’s not to say I don’t like it, but there were clearly some major revisions done between pre-order and arrival, and that’s surprising considering how fast the turnaround on this statue was. The biggest change is the mouth, which was better sculpted and painted in the initial images. What we got shows too much teeth, and by that I mean just white paint with no real detail. Close up, it lets the statue down, but isn’t so bad when viewed with the statue on the shelf. The rest of the portrait’s paint turned out more basic, but I think it works for a comic or animated look. The lines are sharp there’s some nice gradient work in the skin tone, and I like the gloss finish used for the mask. It’s not the best rendering of J. Scott Campbell’s style in my collection, but it’s far from the worst.

The whip is cast in a soft, pliable black plastic with a glossy sheen. I like the way it coils up on the base, spilling over the side a bit. The peg that anchors it to the base doesn’t fit very tightly so it’s likely to pop out when handling the statue, but it works well enough when on display. You get a little texture to the grip at the end of the whip and there’s a sculpted loop hanging off of it.

The base is a clean and classy raised black disk with a Catwoman logo in purple and gold, and a purple ring striping the side of the platform. The underside of the base has the hand numbered limitation. The statue is limited to a production run of 920 with mine being 484. That’s a huge reduction from the old line, where these pieces were usually given 5000 to 5200 runs. Although, I’m not sure what the significance of the rather specific 920 is.

Finally, you also get a collector card with the statue and this is basically the same sort of thing Todd throws in with his DC Multiverse figures. Note, the stand is not included. I borrowed that from one of the figures for display here. Although, if they can throw that in with a $30 figure, it makes me wonder why they can’t do it with a $130 limited edition statue. Either way, the card is a forgettable bonus, and I would have much rather they included a numbered limitation card like Diamond does with their Premier Edition Statues and Busts, which fall in at about the same price range.

I really like this piece a lot, but I don’t remember there being this much disparity between the solicitation photos and the actual product back when DC Direct/Collectibles were their own thing. So, I’m definitely going to call out McFarlane on that point. I understand that final products rarely make for perfect matches to what is initially shown, but in this case the mouth got a complete redesign, and that’s a sticking point for me. Truth be told, I would have still happily purchased this piece if McFarlane had just shown what we were actually getting. And with how quick the turn around here was, I have to believe the statue was already well into production when it was solicited. Either way, I’m thrilled to have a J Scott Campbell Catwoman in my Cover Girls collection and I’m looking forward to seeing Wonder Woman next!

Oct 27 2023

DC Essentials: DCeased Supergirl and Batgirl by DC Direct

Well I said I might work in another comic based Halloween review before we hit the big day and here we are. This one is really out of left field, because I stopped collecting DC Direct figures back when the DC Icons line went out. But… I saw these pop up on sale a while back and I tossed them into my cart with some other stuff. They arrived, I cursed myself for buying stuff just because its cheap, and they got put in a closet at which point I promptly forgot about them. Until now! Suffice it to say, these are the only two figures from this line in my collection.

Wow is this a blast from the past! I was always a fan of the DC Direct packaging and the way it showed off the figures. In this case you got a partially white window box with top and bottom bands color coded to the character, so purple for Batgirl and blue for Supergirl. Sure, there’s a lot of wasted space in that packaging and there are no accessories or extras for either figure. But I think this presentation had such a clean and premium feel about. The photos on the side panels also made these look really nice on the shelf. I never read the DCeased comic, but then again I never read all of Marvel’s Zombies either. The whole concept appeals to me a lot more as action figures than it does as a story line for a comic. Let’s start with Supergirl!

This is a nice looking figure, but in case you can’t tell, this is just the regular Supergirl figure with a bit of bloody paint added to the body and a new head sculpt. It’s a little more interesting for me, since I never owned the regular release, but I think this would be a hard sell at full retail if I had owned the original. The costume is mostly painted on, with the only unique sculpting found in the skirt, cape, and feet. The colors are nice and vibrant, but the red paint on the upper thighs doesn’t match the red plastic used for the lower legs. The pleated skirt looks good and doesn’t hinder the hip movement too badly. In addition to some splotches of bloody paint there’s some dirt added to the back of the cape.

But hey, that new head sculpt sure is nice! Kara has a really vicious expression with exposed teeth and milky dead eyes. There are some deep gashes on her face which look appropriately gnarly and blood everywhere. It’s a really unsettling look on the character, since I attribute her to being so pure and kindhearted. Very well done.

Articulation on the figure is pretty good. The arms have rotating hinges in the shoulders, swivels in the biceps, double hinges in the elbows, and ball joints in the wrists. The hips are ball jointed, the knees are double hinged, there are swivels in the thighs, and you get hinges and lateral rockers in the ankles. There’s a ball joint under the chest and another in the neck. I’d say the lack of extra hands is really conspicuous, but I guess the graspy hands are good enough for Zombie posing. On to Batgirl!

Obviously this is the Burnside Batgirl, which is a design I’m rather fond of, even if I didn’t care much for the comic. Unlike Supergirl, this figure has a lot of unique sculpting all over. I dig the way the tunic ends just above her hips, and the way the cape folds over the front of her shoulders and has sculpted gold buttons holding it in place. The bat symbol is sculpted, the wrist bracers are sculpted, and the boots have some great detail in the laces. She also has a belt sculpted from a separate piece that’s worn by the figure. The black and purple looks nice with all the yellow tossed in. I love this costume and the figure pulls it off well. Like Supergirl, all the zombification in the body is just done with bloody paint splatters, but man I do really love the bloody fingers!

Once again, the new head sculpt is quality stuff and possibly even more disturbing than Kara’s. Here we get an open bloody mouth with some nice use of gloss to make it extra gross. There are some deep cuts on her face, her hair is sprouting through a hole in the top of the cowl, and her eyes have yellowed irises giving Babs a perfect cracked-out undead look. The paint on the cowl could have been a little cleaner as there’s quite a bit of black slop on here ear, but there’s so much going on with this portrait, it isn’t overtly obvious to me.

Articulation here is identical to what we saw with Kara and that’s a good thing because both figures are loads of fun to play with.

These are both very nice figures on their own, but DCD definitely took the cheap way out here. The new head sculpts are excellent and the blood splatter is well done, but it would have been nice to see some re-sculpting done to the costumes. Even if I had been collecting this line at the time, there’s no way I would have paid retail to get these undead variants. And to be perfectly honest, the only reason I bought these on clearance at $11 each was because I thought they would scale better with McFarlane’s DC Multiverse line, but they are way too small for that. As it is, these will be relegated to a DC-related figure Tote… dead and buried.

Jun 3 2016

Blackest Night (Series 2): Indigo by DC Direct

It’s another DC Friday and today I’m digging all the way back to DC Direct’s Blackest Night series with a look at Indigo. I bought this one a few months back when I was re-reading the collected trades of Green Lantern to get all caught up for ReBirth and realized that Inroque was a character that I didn’t have in my collection. Like a lot of Lanterns, she didn’t get a DC Universe Classics release and so I had to make do with DC Direct. These DC Direct figures tend to be hit or miss for me, so let’s see what we’ve got…

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Ahh, the bad old days of the sealed clamshell. They’re OK if you want to cover your walls in MOC figures, but they don’t do me any favors. In this case, the packaging is also pretty wasteful, but I think they did that to accommodate some of the larger characters. Anyway, it’s attractive enough and shows the other figures on the back of the insert. Using a sticker on the outside of the bubble wasn’t a great call, as it tends to peel at the edges. Try to drum up a little empathy for me as I go find my razor and hack my way into this package.

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Generally speaking, I felt the sculpts were the high points of most of the later DC Direct figures and Indigo here reflects that. This figure captures her unnaturally lithe alien form quite nicely. Every part of her costume is part of the sculpt, from her soft plastic loin cloth to her short top. The arm wrappings even have some loose strands coming off to make them a little more convincing. It’s all very nice and very faithful to the character.

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If there’s one place that DC Direct has often let me down, it’s the paint, but that’s not really the case with Indigo. The whites and flesh tones, which have a habit of looking dirty and rubbed actually look quite good here. Her skin looks nice and even and the white paint used on the wrappings is clean and evenly applied. The metallic blue and silver used for her outfit makes for a striking contrast against the matte of her skin. Lastly, her blue tattoos are crisp and straight. I really don’t have a lot of complaints here.

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And yes, I’m even very fond of the portrait. The alien shape of the face looks spot on, and I dig the way they did her tendril-like hair cascading neatly down the back and spilling onto her shoulders. Her narrow black eyes look characteristically creepy under those sweeping eyebrows, the little touch of makeup over the eyes is a great touch, and the small pursed mouth is perfect.

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Articulation has never been DC Direct’s strong point and so I don’t expect much in that area. What we get here includes ball joints in the shoulders and neck, hinges in the knees and ankles, and a “V” crotch in the hips, which allows for limited forward movement, but a fair deal of backward movement. At this late point in DC Direct’s game, I can’t imagine anyone was buying these figures and expecting a great deal of pose-ability. You can do some different things with her arms, but the legs are pretty limited.

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Indigo comes with two accessories: Her staff and a figure stand. The staff is nicely done and includes a transparent blue crystal in the head. She can hold it very firmly in her left hand.

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The stand is a blue transparent disk with the Indigo Tribe emblem outlined in white. And that brings me to one weird thing about Indigo and that’s the fact that her left leg is so notably shorter than her right. You may have noticed that all my pictures have her standing with one leg in front of the other. That’s because if I peg her into the base with her feet together, her left foot just levitates above the stand. I’m not sure if that’s just an issue with my figure or all of them, but it’s an odd oversight.

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DC Direct’s Indigo turned out to be a pleasant surprise. And that’s a good thing because the character hasn’t been made available in any of the other DC lines. While these are generally not intended to scale with Mattel’s DC Universe Classics figures, I find that the alien Lanterns will display well enough with the DCUC figures. I was able to pick her up for $20 shipped, which was about what the original MSRP would have been. The Blackest Night series tends to be all over the place, with some selling well below the original retail, and others quite a lot more, so I’ll consider myself lucky.

Jun 23 2015

Ame-Comi Heroine-Series: Supergirl (v.2) by DC Direct

A couple of weeks ago I picked up my first Ame-Comi statue and I was pretty impressed, so when the opportunity to get a second one for really cheap availed itself I jumped right on board. Supergirl was an especially nice pick up because the Bishoujo Supergirl statue has become a bit too pricey for me to go back for and so the character has no representation on my “over sexualized anime statue shelf.” We can’t have that! This time I’ll spare you the long winded Bishoujo vs. Ame-Comi diatribe and get right to the goods. Let’s start with the packaging.

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Here’s the packaging and it’s all kinds of beat up. The seller was looking to unload it cheap because the box took a hit to the top corner and messed up the plastic. The statue was unharmed and while I would probably not have picked up a Bishoujo with a box in this shape, I’m still testing the waters of this line, so I was more than willing to make the compromise in order to save a little cash. Anyway, the package is the same style of window box that we saw with Mera. It’s got some nice shots of the statue and an extended back with a J-hook so it can hang on a peg or sit on a shelf. Let’s bust her open.

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The composition is pretty creative in that it has Supergirl admiring herself in a detached sideview mirror of a car. I’d like to think that she found it following in the wake of the  holocaust, but if we’re dealing with that universe, I suppose it’s just as likely she tore it off some poor citizen’s car to check her make up with.

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Her pose is pure cheesecake. She’s got her hip tossed to the right with her hand resting on it and the other holding up the mirror. Her costume features a pleated skirt, which goes slightly transparent as you get to the bottom of it. You also get the iconic S-shield and a pretty cool yellow collar with what looks like Kryptonian writing on it. The top of the outfit has cut outs on the sides and some yellow piping along with a short cape that blows off to the left. The ensemble is finished off with a pair of red boots with more yellow piping. The designer actually put a lot more detail and love into the costume then I’m used to seeing and I applaud them for that.

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And, because this is an anime-style statue, you get a heaping dose of cleavage in the front and a panty shot from behind, because… fan service!

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It’s only in the portrait where this statue stumbles for me. What’s frustrating is that I can’t quite put my finger on why. It’s like someone described what anime style was to the artist and he did his best to reproduce it and the result is a sort of western-eastern hybrid. I don’t hate it, but something just looks off about it. Ironically, I get a similar feel off of the recent She-Hulk Bishoujo statue, which, even with twenty-something pieces in my collection, is the first comic-inspired statue in that line that I am passing on. The hair is a little chunky, but it has a decent wind-blown look to it. The yellow paint, however, is laid on a bit thick and the paint for the eyes could have been a lot neater.

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The mirror is well done with a reflective adhesive on it so you can actually see her reflection in it. Unfortunately, she isn’t actually looking directly at it. There’s actually some articulation to be had here via cuts in the shoulders. They offer a little variety, but nothing too crazy.

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The base is a simple, black plastic oval with the “Ame-Comi Heroine-Series” logo printed on it in blue. The figure attaches to the base using pegs. It’s a snug and serviceable fit, but I had no problems getting her attached.

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Supergirl is a decent statue, but I didn’t fall head over heels for her like I did the Mera statue. I like what they did here and honestly from the neck down it’s a total winner. Had the portrait had that more traditional anime look to it, I could have bumped this piece from good to great, but as it is, I’m sure I can find a spot for her at the back of one of my shelves. Hey, at just under thirty bucks shipped, I can’t complain.

May 19 2015

Ame-Comi Heroine-Series: Mera by DC Direct

I’m a Bishoujo guy. I say that in the way someone might say, I’m a Coca-Cola guy as opposed to Pepsi, because deep down inside I’d like to think that the same style of Coke vs. Pepsi rivalry is being fought among the comic book statue collecting market between the rabid and diametrically opposed supporters of Koto’s Bishoujo and DC Direct’s Ame-Comi. One day, I’d like to sit my grandson on me knee and tell him all about those glorious days when Kotobukiya and DC Direct slugged it out and scorched the Earth over dominating the statue market of overly-sexualized anime-style female comic book characters. Yeah, that’s probably not going to happen, but my point here is that I’ve rarely ever given DCD’s Ame-Comi line a second glance. Somehow it seemed suspicious. Koto’s Bishoujo statues are the real thing because they’re from Japan and designed from art by Shunya Yamashita, whereas Ame-Comi is like a Western imposter line. Then again, Ame-Comi is the one that actually has a comic book to justify its existence and DCD pulled in the big guns for some of these pieces, like the one I’m looking at today, which was sculpted by the great John St. John. And so, here I go, jumping in to see how the other half lives. Let’s check out Ame-Comi Mera! Also, apologies in advance to all you non-Bishoujo collectors because I’m going to probably be doing a lot of comparisons where they aren’t necessarily warrented. What can I say, I’m coming at this piece as a Bish collector and that’s the filter in which I’m seeing it.

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The box is pretty typical of what we’ve been seeing in the later years of DC Direct and the current DC Collectibles branding. There isn’t a date on this one, but I’m sure it’s one of the most recent releases, probably from right before DCD changed over to DCC. You get a big window box that shows off the statue quite well, mainly because there isn’t any plastic wrap to obscure it like you get with the Bishoujo pieces. I’m not saying that’s necessarily a good thing, as that plastic is there to prevent paint rubbing, but in this case, its absense doesn’t seem to have hurt the statue. The box is collector friendly and the only thing holding the three pieces into the tray re some twisty-ties.

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The back of the box extends to form a card with a J-cutout to hang this on a peg if need be, but it’s a pretty big and heavy box for that sort of thing. You get a mix of artwork and shots of the statue and a little blurb about Mera on the back. So why was it that Mera got me to break down and go to the Dark Side of Ame-Comi? Mainly because I saw this gal in the comic shop and she called out to me and because Koto hasn’t given Mera the Bishoujo treatment yet. Although with the way they’ve been cranking them out lady, I have to imagine she may not be far behind.

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Straightaway, let me say that I adore this statue. I fell in love with it as soon as I saw her in the box on the comic shop counter, apparently waiting to be put away. I’m not sure whether it’s the composition or the coloring or just the style that I love the most, but maybe it’s just all three. The pose has her supported on a mermaid tail, or what actually looks like is the husk of a mermaid tail with her bare legs breaking out of it. Is it a real tail or just a wildly impractical costume? Who knows? I’m not trying to read too much into the logistics of what’s happening here, and that’s probably for the better. The tail on the base gives her a levitating effect with her legs off the ground and one kicking up more behind her, as if she’s bounding through water across the ocean floor. She’s got her trident in her right hand held down at her side and her left hand trailing behind her. It’s a superb pose, which straddles the line between action and just mugging for the camera, and it’s all the better because it works when displayed from multiple angles.

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The outfit is really something special too, even taking into account for the possible body horror aspect that’s going on between her fish tail and real legs. The fish scales are intricately textured and the shimmery green paint is damn pleasing on the eyes. I really dig how elaborate her headdress is, along with the matching choker collar, and the way the transparent shell pieces rise up from her shoulders. The paint is overall excellent, particulalry on her eyes, lips, and even the green nail polish on her fingers and toes.

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Mera shows a fair amount of skin, but I don’t get the same feeling of intentional and overt sexuality here as I do with the Bishoujo statues. Yeah, she’s got some killer legs and she’s showing off her midriff and a little cleavage, but what’s here feels slightly more innocent and natural. Maybe that’s just me. I think it may have a little something to do with the proportions, which strike me as more ‘toon than anime. I think a lot of that also comes off in the portrait. It’s more rounded and the eyes again, strike me as conveying more Disney Princess rather than anime tentacle bait.

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In addition to the figure itself, you also get the trident and the base. The trident is a nicely sculpted piece that simply goes right into her hand. I was a little nervous getting it in there, since you have to pull the fingers apart a bit, but it went in with out any problems and she holds it quite well. You can even tweak it a little depending on where you want her to grasp it.

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The stand is a simple black oval base with the tail portion pegging into it. It features a nicely engineered system of balance that makes it look like the statue shouldn’t be as stable as it is when standing on the shelf. The base is printed with “Ame-Comi Heroine Series” although the mermaid tail does obscure most of the lettering.

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Based on a little research, the market on these Ame-Comis seem to be a lot more erratic than the Bishoujo pieces. A lot of Koto’s ladies shoot up in price, some hover around their original MSRP, but very few ever sink below that making them a fairly safe investment. While I’ve yet to see an Ame-Comi reach the heights of a Bishoujo Emma Frost or Rogue, some of these seem to have doubled in price, while a few others are available for deep discounts. This one was already sold at the comic shop I saw it at when I went back for her, but she later popped up on a clearance sale at on online retailer for $38, which is certainly not bad. She’s a fantastic piece and I do believe I’m smitten enough with her to pick up another statue and see if my new found admiration of this line can hold.

Jun 20 2013

Crisis on Infinite Earths: Psycho Pirate by DC Direct

Pushing forward on my effort to fill in some of the missing characters from my DCUC shelves, I delve once again into the DCD offerings with Psycho Pirate. Seriously, how the hell is it possible that DC Universe Classics went twenty waves without giving us Psycho Pirate? Well, I guess you could say that about a lot of DC characters. This poor guy has been hanging on a peg at my local comic shop for ages, and since guilt over buying some comics online forced me to spend some money there, I decided to liberate him and give him a good home. It feels like a Pub Night, so let’s see if I can run through this pretty quickly.

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Before going to sealed clamshells, DCD delivered their figures on cards and bubbles. I like this better because I can just rip the bugger open, although I’ll concede that I miss the heady hit of plastic fumes from the clamshells. The package is utilitarian at best, although I enjoy the way many of the DCD series used to use the figure stand in lieu of putting the title of the series on the package. It’s an economy of cleverness… or a cleverness of economy… it’s one of those things. Anyway, the package gives you a good idea of what you’re getting. Sadly, there is no included effect part of Psycho Pirate’s head being caved in by the rage of Black Adam. Oh wait, that’s Infinite Crisis.

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DCD did a fine job with the sculpt. They really nailed the portrait. Roger looks pissed and his fingers are clutched in anger. He’s kind of lean and scrawny and the details in his costume are all part of the sculpt, rather than just paint. The cape looks great, complete with the high cowl.

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The paint on this guy is crap. The borders between the red and black are little sloppy. There’s also black smudging on the red and there’s a black gluey mess on his right shoulder that transferred from the cape lining. I do like that they bothered to use glossy paint for the boots and the interior of the cape and the mask tampos on his chest look good. It’s amazing how far DCD has come.

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Psycho Pirate’s articulation is competent enough. You get ball joints in the neck and shoulders. The arms feature hinged elbows and swivels in the wrists. There’s a T-crotch, hinges in the knees, and swivels at the top of the boots. There’s no torso articulation. It’s certainly not DCUC standards, but at least you can do a couple things with him. He can even sit down!

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The accessories include the Medusa Mask, which fits pretty nicely over the figure’s face and the figure stand. The features the Crisis on Infinite Earths logo. It’s a nice stand, but since he’s going on my DCUC shelf, I’ll probably make due without it.

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Psycho Pirate’s an ok figure. The sculpt is fine, the articulation is passable, but I’ve found the quality of the paintwork has been a problem with many of the Crisis on Infinite Earth figures and this guy is no exception. Nonetheless, he was only ten bucks and he makes for a decent place holder on my shelf until Mattel decides to do this guy better, possibly through Club Infinite Earths.

Jun 19 2013

Blackest Night: Red Lantern Mera by DC Direct

I warned y’all that I was backfilling my DCUC shelves and would have a number of older DC figures to feature, but not all of them are going to actually be DCUC figures. I’m at the point where I’m willing to concede that it’ll be a while before Mattel gets around to doing certain characters (if ever) and so I’m willing to incorporate some more of the DC Direct figures onto my DCUC shelves. Today we’re looking at Red Lantern Mera from the Blackest Night, Series Seven. I’ll confess, I didn’t have a burning need to have her on my shelves, but I picked up my last bunch of comic TPBs from Amazon and I’ve been feeling a little guilty about not supporting the local comic shop. So, I took a trip the day before yesterday and picked up a couple of the DCD figures he’s had on the shelves for a long while. Today, we’ll check out Mera and tomorrow we’ll look at the other one.

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There’s the packaged shot… mine is pretty bent, but I care not! Soon, it will be ravaged by scissors! The package is the usual DCD affair with a sealed clamshell and a printed insert. The presentation is nice enough and the back panel shows the other figures in the series and little bio blurbs for all of them. Obviously, this isn’t collector friendly packaging, but it does give you a nice hit of plastic fumes when you open it.

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Wow, she’s gorgeous. I mean, I’m no newcomer to DCD’s sculpts. I have a bunch of their figures, but still… Wow! Of course, I don’t mean gorgeous in the traditional sense. She’s got demon eyes and she’s clearly preparing to barf napalm right into my face, but this is really nice sculpting for a figure in this scale. Where to begin? Let’s start with the portrait: A masterful blend of beauty and evil. Beavil? Whatever you call it, I love what they did with her. Beside the great expression and free tickets to the boob show, the wild, blown hair looks fantastic and I really dig the way her briny shoulder armor frames her face. The tiara appears to be sculpted from a separate piece and sports a gorgeous metallic red paint job. Spendid!

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Mera is clad in skintight red scale armor, with every tiny little scale lovingly recreated. It not only looks amazing, but it gives the figure a wonderful texture when you handle it. She has red withered fins on her calves and more briny armor bits protruding from her arms and her cuffs. The outfit is topped off with a Red Lantern disc attached just under her chest. It’s a simple enough costume design, but the sculpted scales and the gorgeous red metallic finish make it appear to be so much more.

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Articulation? Uh oh… here’s where the barnacle crumbles. It’s DC Direct, so you know things are going to be limited. In this case, you get ball joints in the shoulders, swivels in the hips, and hinges in the knees and elbows. Is the neck ball jointed? It seems to be, but my figure’s head won’t move, and I’m not forcing it. It seems like there isn’t much room to move with the sculpted hair anyway.  Swivels in the biceps and/or wrists would have helped a lot, especially for posing her with her trident. And speaking of her trident…

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Accessories! Mera comes with a cool assortment of goodies. The trident is a nice and simple piece, and she also comes with her Red Lantern battery. And Dex-Starr! She comes with the most hate-filled cat in the universe. He’s a completely static piece and smaller than the one that came in the Green Lantern Classics 3-pack and he’s sculpted specifically to be propped up against a figure’s leg. On the other hand, the sculpt is superb. From his crazy ass expression to the little pads on his feet, the guys at DCD went all out on him, and It’s much appreciated. Mera also comes with a Red Lantern disc stand.

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Compromise! Why does everything have to be a compromise? If only we could get this level of sculpting and paintwork on a figure with the DCUC level of articulation, it would start raining puppies and lollipops, and all would be right with the world. Sadly, that’s not likely to happen. So, she may not be well articulated… Mera is still a fantastic display piece, and while she’s just a smidge too tall (she’s a wee bit taller than my Signature Series Atrocitus), she still makes a nice compliment to my Red Lantern ranks. Tomorrow we’ll check out a character that is long overdue for the Mattel lines…  Psycho Pirate!

Dec 9 2012

Watchmen Series 1: Modern Nite Owl by DC Direct

Ok, so I had originally planned on being back yesterday with a look at Modern Nite Owl, but I got a little tripped up for time, (surprisingly enough alcohol wasn’t involved) so Watchmen Week is spilling out into one more day. I was probably going to just take today off anyway, so everything worked out for the best. So let’s press on. The Doomsday Clock is just about up and I really want to put this week to bed…

Here’s our last look at DC Direct’s brilliant Watchmen packaging. Brilliant or not, after a week of the same packaging, I’ve got nothing else to say. Which is good, because I also completely forgot to take a picture of the boxed figure before taking out the trash (this time, alcohol was involved). Nonetheless, if you’re hankering to see one more boxed Watchmen figure, you’ll get your wish at the end of today’s feature.


In the film, Nite Owl’s character design went in a similar direction to Ozymandias. The costume favors some level of realism over dynamic design and in the end you get something pretty simple and serviceable not unlike a modern Batman motif only with owls (What? A guy can dress like a bat, but not an owl?).That’s not a criticism, mind you, the new outfit design worked really well on screen and as it turns out DC Direct crafted it into one great looking figure.

The tiny scale patterned texture on the suit really makes Nite Owl stand out and it’s rather reminiscent of chain mail armor. It’s also easily my favorite thing about this figure. The sculpted striping and reinforced portions of the suit’s design give him a decidedly Art Deco vibe. The cowl is layered on the figure as a separate piece of plastic and meshes with the pliable, soft plastic cape very nicely. The head sculpt is as solid as it gets, with excellent detailing on the hood and what you can see of the face offers an appropriately stoic expression. The impressive sculpt is rounded out with some exceptionally nice paintwork with a two-tone coppery finish that really ties the whole figure together. For a guy in an owl themed suit, this figure turned out pretty majestic looking and even downright artistic.

Nite Owl’s articulation offers the best we can expect from this line. The neck and shoulders are ball jointed, the arms feature hinged elbows and swivels in the wrists. The legs have a standard “T” at the hips and hinges in the knees. It’s also worth noting that his crescent boomerang is removable from the belt (it just pegs in) although DCD didn’t have the foresight to put a peg hole in his palm, so he really can’t hold it all that well. Bummer!


Had DC Direct decided to phone this guy in, Nite Owl could have turned out looking mighty bland. Instead they went above and beyond with some beautiful, detailed texturing in the sculpt, great looking paint, and solid articulation. I think I recall saying the same thing about Dr. Manhattan, but it rings true here as well. He’s certainly one of my favorite figures in the line and that’s saying a lot. If you discount the inconsistent articulation, DCD’s line of Watchmen figures is an all-around fantastic set. They display wonderfully on my shelf and the extra variant figures are a really nice bonus.

And yes, folks, I realize that I did leave one figure out this week: The exclusive variant of The Comedian. Since I already featured the regular version of Comedian a while back, in that incredibly lazy link at the beginning of the week, I didn’t really see the need to revisit the whole figure just for the sake of the younger, unmasked variant head, but just to be complete, I’ll leave you with a shot of that figure in package.


Phew… that was a long week and it’s time for me to hit snooze on the Doomsday Clock and go back to bed. I have a couple more themed weeks planned for December, but next week is just going to be a little bit of everything as I try to clear out some of the things still kicking around on my receivings pile.

I’ll see y’all tomorrow with a little Lego action…