Tag Archives: femme fatales

Apr 24 2017

Marvel Gallery: Medusa by Diamond Select

What started as a humble line of indie comic statues, called Femme Fatales, has grown into quite the Marvel and DC branded juggernaut. Indeed, Diamond Select has been churning out these Marvel and DC Gallery statues at a remarkably brisk rate while expanding to include the dudes as well. At the same time, they seem to have a handle on balancing the compromise between budget and quality. I’ve amassed quite a few of the DC Animated Series and I’ve had few complaints. And if that wasn’t enough good news, DST is clearly willing to start taking risks with some character choices. And that brings us to one of the most recent Marvel Gallery releases: Medusa, matriarch of the Inhumans!

Now, granted, Medusa is far from an unknown in the Marvel Universe, but this line has mostly been about A-Listers, so including her is a welcome and unexpected treat. The statue comes in the same style window box we’ve been seeing ever since the first Femme Fatale statue hit the comic shops, although the decos are now branded to match the characters inside. You get windows on the front, side and top panels to let in plenty of light. Medusa’s box also has the added bonus of being crazy heavy. For what are roughly nine-inch scale PVC statues, these don’t tend to have a lot of heft to them, but as we’ll soon see, Medusa’s hair adds a lot of weight to this piece. The statue comes secured between two clear plastic trays, the box is totally collector friendly, and there’s no assembly required.

Out of her box, the Inhuman goddess is a remarkably striking piece.  She dons her black costume, which features a high gloss finish and a very low cut front that runs all the way down to her belt. The skin revealed by her exposed front is tinted black to suggest she’s got some kind of body stocking to protect her Inhuman goodies. She has a pair of matte black, ribbed boots, which come up past her knees and feature some rather interesting heel designs. The costume also features hold arched fixtures on her shoulders, gold wrist bracelets, a red jewel just below her naval, and a pearl belt and necklace. I just love what they did with this costume, and the little contrasts from matte to gloss and bits of gold, white, and red offer some nice diversity to what could have been a bit of a boring outfit. It also helps that the quality of paint and its application on this piece are top notch, right down to the red nail polish on her finger tips.

Of course, I can’t go far in this review without talking about her legendary copious coif. Medusa’s red hair cascades down her back and pools up below her feet to form a very creative base. The hair features sculpted texture and some subtle variations in color. I really dig how they designed this piece and the way the hair suspends her with her feet in mid air. There’s so much to love with this statue!

And I’m happy to report that the portrait is every bit as good as everything from the neck down. She’s got a beautiful portrait and the paint used for her lips, pupil-less eyes, and vibrant eye shadow is crisp and perfect.

Normally I wait for a deal when picking up these statues, because they tend to get deeply discounted by retailers after they’ve been on the market for a couple of weeks. In this case, however, I really wanted to show my support for Diamond’s willingness to go with some less obvious character selection. To that end, I pre-ordered both Medusa and Jewel (aka Jessica Jones) at full price, which amounted to about $45 each. I’ll get around to reviewing Jewel eventually, but as far as Medusa goes, I couldn’t be happier with this purchase. Everything about this statue makes it feel like something far more premium than a budget statue and I could confidently place her among some of my $100 DC Cover Girls or Marvel Premier pieces and she could easily hold her own in terms of paint and overall quality.

Jan 20 2017

Femme Fatales (DC Animated Series): Zatanna by Diamond Select

What’s this? Two DC Fridays in a row? I’m actually getting back on track! Today I’m checking out another one of Diamond Select’s DC Animated Statues. And yes, I know that these aren’t being released under the Femme Fatales moniker any longer, but in the interest of preserving my personal cataloging system, I’m going to keep calling them that. Or in this case, maybe I should call it, SELATAF EMMEF!!!

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Because it’s Zatanna! Boy, I can’t even tell you how long I’ve been waiting for this release. It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of DC’s buxom spell-slinger and if there’s Zatanna merch out there, then I tend to buy it. And Bruce Timm’s Zatanna? All the better! She comes in the same style window box we’ve been seeing all along with this line of 9-inch scale PVC Statues, now branded as the DC Animated Gallery series. Although I was surprised at just how much wider this box is than any previous releases, in order to accommodate Zatanna’s stance. You get windows all around to let in plenty of light offering a great look at the figure in the box. Inside, the statue comes encased between two plastic trays and there’s no assembly required, so let’s open her up and get her out!

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Ah, isn’t she just lovely! Zatanna stands atop the stage in her abbreviated magician’s black tuxedo jacket with purple lapels, purple short-shorts, and a lavender corset, looking like she just stepped off the screen of Batman: The Animated Series. She’s also amazing her audience by holding aloft the bat that she just pulled out of her hat. The sculptor did a wonderful job capturing all her curves and supplying her with a pair of legs that just won’t quit. This is indeed the Bruce Timm animated style converted flawlessly to the third dimension. Of course, as I always mention when look at this line, these more simplistic animated sculpts require solid paint work to back them up, so how did we do here?

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Well, the quality of paint in this line has very rarely been terrible, but it hasn’t always been as tight as it could be. When you’re dealing with budget statues, it just goes with the territory, but that can be a nerve-wracking situation when you have to buy these online and sight unseen like I do. If there was one character in this line I really wanted to be perfect, it was this one, and I’m happy to say, Zatanna is pretty close to it. Mine has some very minor rubbing on the surface of the back of her hair, but apart from that the paint here is very sharp, the white is clean, and the skin tone is smooth. In fact, I’d say that the paint here is rivaled only by my Talia Al Ghul as the best in this collection.

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The portrait is also superb. Zatanna is offering her best, beaming smile and again, the paint on her facial features is just about flawless. I love this look for the character so much, especially after being less than thrilled enduring the many years of her New 52 make-over.

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The bat and the top hat are both simple sculpts, but great additions to the statues composition. The simple eyes and smiley face they painted on the bat are just adorable.

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I’ll confess the base here threw me for a bit, but then I realized that the shells in the front are supposed to be stage lights and the bubbles in the back are just theatrical effects. If you look really closely, you can see the seams for the trap door she’s standing on with the gray hinges on the back and the handle on the front. They probably could have designed this to be a little more obvious, but once I put two and two together, I’m fine with what they did here.

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I was apprehensive about picking this one up, because I think my expectations were running higher than this budget line could possibly produce. But now that she’s in hand, I’m so very happy to say that Zatanna turned out to be everything I wanted her to be. Indeed, I think the quality on this piece rivals some of DST’s own Premium Collection statues, which are much more limited and tend to run about two or three times the retail price. To say that I’m satisfied with what I got here for forty bucks would be quite the understatement. This line has always been decent, but here’s an example of it flat out amazing me.

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!

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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…

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

Sep 12 2016

Marvel Gallery: Spider-Gwen (SDCC Exclusive) by Diamond Select

What’s this? Marvel Monday without Marvel Legends? Yeah, since I’m between waves of Legends, I’m taking the opportunity to look at something different before engaging on a month-and-a-half long expedition into the Civil War Giant Man Wave. Marvel Gallery is DST’s extension of the Femme Fatales line of PVC statues and while all of the Marvel editions so far have been ladies, they will be including some dudes in both this line and their DC Animated series, hence the change in name. Today I’m checking out the SDCC Exclusive Edition of Spider-Gwen, which features an unmasked head.

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I really like the packaging for these statues. The boxes are fairly small and feature windows on the front, sides, and top to allow you to get a good look at the piece before you buy it. That is assuming, you’re lucky enough to have a comic shop in your area that sells them! And despite all the windows, the boxes are still quite sturdy. The Femme Fatale boxes have mostly been rather dark and bland, but these Marvel ones are bright and colorful. I especially like the printed insert. Everything is collector friendly, although Gwen here requires one bit of assembly. With over a dozen of these statues in my collection, this is the first time I’ve come across that, but all you have to do is attach her left arm, which is quick and easy to do.

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There is an SDCC Exclusive logo printed on the front of the box as well as “Unmasked Edition” lettered under the main window. Previous exclusives in this line have only been denoted by a piece of tape on the flap. You still get that here, with the limitation number printed on it. Mine is 2,847 of 3,000. Here’s where I point out that putting a number limitation on the tape that secures the flap of the box is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard of, even if there is a flap on the bottom to go in through. Also, not putting a limitation on the statue itself sucks. Just saying, DST. If you’re going to limit your runs of these at least have someone write it on the bottom of the statue with a Sharpie.

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Once you get Ms. Stacey’s arm plugged in she’s all set to go and looking pretty damn nice. The pose features Gwen sticking to a wall via her right hand and the soles of her feet with her left arm stretched out and her hand getting ready to thwip out a web. I like this pose a lot and the paint and sculpted detail on the wall itself is very well done. You get a lot of texturing in the bricks and a goblin-style gargoyle head that looks to be glaring specifically at Gwen. A little bit of ivy here and there adds to the character of the setting. It’s nice to see DST learned their lesson. A little while back, they solicited a Star Trek statue of Seven of Nine in the Femme Fatales series with a sculpted plastic wall behind her and in the final release that was changed to cardboard. Even now, if you go to order that statue through most e-tailers, they’ll show the deceptive picture of the plastic backdrop.

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Gwen’s costume is recreated here mostly with paint, but all the paint lines are part of the sculpt as well, which is always nice to see. Some of the paint lines could have been sharper, but the black and white areas are clean. I was worried about the consistency of the white on this piece, but with the exception of a few visible brush strokes, the white is bright and vibrant. The black has a scuff mark here and there, but nothing major. The red web patterned areas under her arms and inside her hood look great, and her ballet-style slippers are painted blue. The designer even made sure that the left arm connects where there was a seam in the costume, so as to match it to the other arm.

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That brings us to the portrait, which is the only difference between this exclusive and the regular retail release. Here we get Gwen unmasked and I have to say they did a nice job on the sculpt and the paint. As much as I enjoy the Captain Marvel statue they did a few months back, there was something a little off about Carol’s face. Here, I think they nailed Gwen Stacey quite nicely. The skin tone is clean and the paint for the green eyes and red lipstick is precise. Even her familiar hair style and headband are recreated wonderfully here. I do wish they had sculpted the exclusive with the hood down, but I still like what we got.

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The base consists of a plain black disk, which supports the wall. With all the weight of the figure on the wall, I am a little concerned that over the course of time the statue may begin to lean forward a bit. Then again, I could be worrying about nothing. I may rig up a hook on the back of my shelf or wall where I display her to take up some of that weight just to be sure.

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Spider-Gwen seems to be the new go-to girl when it comes to marketing and as a fan of the comic and character, I’m glad to see it. I’m really happy with the way this piece turned out and I’m glad I went for this exclusive version. Gwen set me back about $45 shipped, which isn’t that much more than these statues usually cost. In fact, it can still be snapped up at a number of online retailers for around that price. Whether or not I’m going to double dip and pick up the regular masked release remains to be seen. I’ve actually already got Spider-Gwen from DST’s Marvel Premier Collection on pre-order, so I may just stick with one version of this release.

Jun 21 2016

Marvel Gallery: Captain Marvel Statue by Diamond Select

I know, Marvel Monday was yesterday, but Mondays are going to be tied up with Legends figures for a long while now, so the Marvel goodness will be spilling out into other days now and then. Today I’m looking at Diamond’s first Marvel Gallery statue, which is, for all intents and purposes, a Femme Fatales statue by another name as she fits in at the exact same 9-inch scale and sits at the same price point. It’s my understanding that DST changed the name of the Marvel series because they will be incorporating dudes into this line. Fair enough!

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Despite the name change, the box is right in line with what we’ve been seeing out of DST’s Femme Fatales statues. You get the same four panels of windows to show off the statue inside and a deco that is personalized for the character. If anything this box feels just ever so slightly more premium with some nicer coloring and a spiffy satin finish to the art. The statue comes between two clear plastic trays and there’s no assembly required. She’s ready to go right out of the box.

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This statue looked amazing in the promo pics and I’m happy to say all that goodness transferred to the final product. In hand, the statue looks quite striking for such a relatively low end piece. I’m especially fond of the pose they went with here that has Carol levitating, one knee bent and her arms gently out to her sides. It’s a very graceful look and while far from an action pose, it still manages to convey a little bit of energy and majesty to a gal who has become one of my favorite modern Marvel characters.

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There’s a fair amount of sculpting involved in the costume. In fact, none of the detail is conveyed by paint alone. Instead, you get some great details like the brass buttons running up the sides of her boots and gloves, the sash tied around her waist and secured with a medallion, and especially the starburst symbol on her chest. Even her gloves have subtle stitching lines running throughout. Add all those little flourishes to her beautiful curves, and you’ve got quite an eye catching display piece. Carol proves that you don’t have to show a lot of skin to be a drop-dead sexy superhero. She’s class!

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The paint quality in the Femme Fatales line has been overall solid, but I’ve seen it falter every now and then, mostly on a couple of the DC Animated pieces. I’m happy to say, the paint is quite good on Carol’s costume. The shades of red and blue are vivid and smooth and contrast beautifully with the bright gold paint. There’s really no slop to speak of and the lines are clean thanks in part to the way they are integrated into the sculpt.

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Did I mention she has a nice bum? She has a very nice bum. The figure does feature some seaming from where it was assembled. You can see these in the shoulders and again around the right leg where it meets the aforementioned very nice bum. We don’t tend to see these in a lot of higher end pieces, so they may prove to be distracting for some. Considering the low price point here, I don’t mind them much here, especially since it mainly looks like the sort of cuts you would get in action figure articulation.

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The portrait sculpt is excellent. I’m particularly pleased with the way the hair came out. It’s wonderfully detailed and has a little bit of glitter in the paint that makes for a rather interesting effect. That having been said, the eye makeup is a bit much for me. The look to the eyes leans a little more toward the Dexter Soy art than it does the David Lopez run, but it doesn’t quite match either exactly. That having been said, I think what I’m seeing is more an artistic choice than a comment about the quality of the paint. I think she looks absolutely fantastic when viewed from straight on, but there’s something a little off when she’s in profile.

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The base is a jagged burst of energy with a gradient orange and red paint that gives it a rather brilliant and almost luminescent effect. In the right lighting it almost looks like it’s glowing. It does a nice job supporting the figure and I like that her lower foot is still suspended just slightly above it to give her that levitating effect.

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I’ve been a champion and collector of DST’s Femme Fatales line long before it started dipping into the mainstream comics, and I’ll happily categorize Captain Marvel as another win for this line. Or, if you want to get technical, a very nice debut for the Marvel Gallery line. I was looking forward to getting this one ever since she was first solicited and so I had her pre-ordered at the MSRP of $40, which is actually just a wee bit less expensive than what the DC Animated statues are being released at. On the other hand, if Marvel Gallery is anything like Femme Fatales, e-tailers seem to be rather competitive when pricing these statues, so shopping around for a deal may be worthwhile. Captain Marvel has already been follwed by Jane Foster Thor, which I’m still on the fence over because I’m not enamored with the sculpt. On the other hand, Spider-Gwen should be out next month, and I’ve already got both the regular and SDCC versions of her on pre-order!

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!

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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…

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

Nov 6 2015

Femme Fatales “DC Animated Series:” Supergirl (SDCC Exclusive) by Diamond Select

If you haven’t heard, Bruce Timm’s art styling is now being featured in a new off-shoot of Diamond’s Femme Fatales statue line. Last Friday, I checked out Supergirl, the inaugural release based on the character design from Superman: The Animated Series. Today we’re taking a second look at Supergirl, only this time it’s the SDCC 2015 Exclusive, which is based on the Justice League Unlimited Series and limited to 2,000 pieces. And it seems only fitting to give Supergirl some extra attention, as her new TV Series is off and running and I’m actually digging it quite a lot!

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The statue comes in the same type of window box as the regular retail release with generously sized windows on the front, top and sides. All of these let you get a great look at the statue to check out the paint, although with Exclusives like this, you don’t always have the luxury of being choosy.
The box deco is now blue and the front features the Femme Fatales logo as well as the logos for Comic Con 2015 and Justice League Unlimited. There’s also a sticker on the window declaring this an AFX Retail Exclusive. You also get a piece of tape on the top flap with the limitation number. Mine is #140/#2000. I’m not a big fan of putting that sort of thing on the tape, but fortunately you can just cut the regular tape on the bottom flap to get this gal out. Obviously, this is a repaint of the regular release, but I was surprised to find that there’s a fair amount of new sculpting as well. Let’s take a look at the reworked parts first.

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Starting from the bottom and working up… the boots are brand new with no laces and the jagged tops with yellow borders. The skirt is slightly longer with a pleated bottom and the dip in the front along with the yellow border. Finally, the entire head has been reworked. The hair is a new style with the clip gone, her ears covered, and some of her golden locks falling over the front of her right shoulder. The eyes are painted with pale blue pupils, to match the JLU look. The re-sculpting is all well done and does a beautiful job transforming the statue into the more traditional and somewhat more mature JLU look.

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There are minimal changes to the top. She now has long sleeves and no gloves. The rest is more or less the same with a nice fresh coat of blue paint for the shirt and the S-Shield remaining unchanged. It’s worth noting that while the paint is overall solid on this piece, it’s not quite up to the regular release’s standards. There’s some slop around the wrists and a few minor scratches here and there. The cape appears identical to the previous release and the overall skin tone is painted with more of a tanned complexion.

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The pose is still identical to the regular release, which is a good thing, because I think it looks great. The base, which was a bit of a studder step for me last time is repainted to look like an arctic scene. The paint is very rough, probably intentionally so to make it look more distant. I actually like it better than the regular release’s base, but only marginally so. It’s also worth noting that there is no statement of limitation anywhere on the statue, only the box.

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Obviously I liked the regular statue enough to pony up for this one, and I’m mighty glad I did. She cost me $50, which is really not bad for an SDCC Exclusive Statue these days and it feels like DST went above and beyond for this release. Case in point, their Femme Fatales Cassie Hack statue also got an SDCC 2015 Exclusive, but it’s strictly a repaint and that’s often the case with these things. Sometimes variants will include minor changes to the base or a swap out accessory, but in this case we got a lot of solid new sculpting and I think it paid off for the statue big time. So far, I’m digging this line a lot and next up will be Poison Ivy, which will probably turn up here next week on DC Friday.