It’s hard to believe that it’s been about five years since I last featured a DC Designer Series statue here on FFZ. I used to fall for this line hard, especially where characters like Catwoman and Wonder Woman were concerned. But I only have room for so many statues so I’ve been trying to be a lot more picky. And yet every once and a while a sale turns up and today’s piece was just an offer that I couldn’t refuse. So let’s have a look at the DC Designer Catwoman by Stanley Artgerm.

Selina comes in a fully enclosed box and if you’ve picked up any of the DC Collectible statues in the past, you should know what to expect here. It’s a sizeable box, but despite being sixth-scale, Catwoman is crouched, so it may not be as big a box as you might expect. Styrofoam protects the resin statue and it comes in three pieces: The figure, the kitty cat, and the base. Assembly is easy peasy, with metal rods connecting the figure and kitty to the base, but a word of caution, the connection is a bit loose, so be careful when transporting the statue by the base as things can get a little wobbly. I am a huge fan of Stanley Lau’s work and I probably have a near complete run of his time doing the DC Cover Girls statues, many of which have been featured here in the past.

And here she is set up and ready for display and I really dig this piece a lot. This is a very animated-style Catwoman and I’ll admit I was a little hesitant because of the design choice to go with some cell-shading type paintwork, and I’ll come back to that in a tick. First off, I love the pose. Selina is down on one knee as if she just landed from a high leap. She wields her whip in one hand and her stolen prize, a pricey necklace in the other. Her catsuit leaves little to the imagination when it comes to the curves of her body. And despite all that, what almost steals the show for me is the way the kitty cat is fixated on the tail of her coiled whip, as if tracking it’s movement. The composition here is just killer with the staged pose and suggested kinetic energy giving up the best of both worlds.

And oh what a smirk! I love the crooked smile she gives as she holds up her treasure. There’s definitely some Bruce Timm influences in there, especially in the shape of the mask and design of the hood. Her almond eyes are perfectly painted as she no doubt taunts Batman with her latest illicit score. Selina has always been a dreamy kitty for me and this statue is no exception!

I mentioned the paint style and cell shading in figures and statues is not usually my cup of tea. Indeed, I recently backed out of pre-ordering McFarlane’s new animated Batman figures because of it. Thankfully, it’s not overdone here and I actually quite like most of it. There’s some gray washed onto the boot to suggest a glean, and some darker shadows on the gray to give it that comic panel look. I think the shading on the belt’s discs is especially well done. I’m not entirely sold on the gray swatch on her mask, but everything about the paint has been growing on me. Aside from all that, the paint quality and precision is very well executed.

The detail in the whip is very nice with a sculpted braid and an arrowhead style point. It’s almost poetic in the way it curves around her body, suspended in mid air. And once again, I have to just say how much in love I am with that cat’s expression. Maybe it’s because I’ve seen that look in my own cat’s eyes as something catches their interest. The base itself is a simple black disc with a cat face cut deeply into it with an orange outline and green eyes. It’s all stylish and understated and I dig that a lot. Production on this one was limited to 5000 pieces, if you can call that a limitation. Each one is hand numbered under the base. Mine is #2730 which figures because I waited so long to get her.

This piece originally retailed for around $170 and while I was smitten with it at the time of the original pre-orders, my willpower held. Of course, that willpower gave way when it was later offered for around $75 and I caved in. Honestly, I’m surprised it took that long since I’m an easy mark when it comes to Catwoman. This one is still available at several retailers at deep discount and I’m very glad I finally picked her up. She looks great with some of the other recent Catwoman pieces in my collection. And while I do love this one a lot, she doesn’t quite bump the Joelle Jones Cover Girls statue, pictured above on the right, as my current favorite.