Sunday, August 10, 2014

DC Collectibles: Huntress and Power Girl

Catwoman was from a gift pack but these two female characters get their own set. Are they the standard for future female figures?



Comic Accurate Likeness: As the Worlds' Finest logo with their names on it suggests this two pack is based on the comic of the same title. Which means this is the Earth 2 Power Girl and Helena Wayne/Huntress. I'll get more detailed about their faces below but rest assured that even if these were based on a particular artist style that's not present anymore. The costumes are based on the series even if PG is sporting her more fan pleasing second costume which is a redo of her infamous "boob window" attire. I want to take off points because of the faces but seeing as this isn't an artist specific line it's not something I can gripe about as much as I would in that case. However it makes them hard to fit in with the other more neutral new 52 figures which I'll still deduct for. RATING: 8


 

Sculpting: Huntress is done by Jack Mathews who and Power Girl by Phil Ramirez. The sculpting is good although the faces are off (more below) it's still the same sculpts being used as the promos. I do think the ladies are a little too tall but mostly Helena who looks bigger than PG and is about the same scale as Capullos' Batman. I do wish Huntress felt studier as the figures' arms feel fragile and even a glance at the shoulders will give this impression. PG definitely has a different body type which is obvious with the attention given to her form. Thankfully both of these are less posed than Catwoman in the sculpt. Their more natural looking in that respect although I keep thinking PG is off in another way as her torso and pelvis look tiny compared to her legs. Not horrible but I just wish Huntress didn't look and feel like the arms will break by falling off the shelf. RATING: 7
Promo Shot

Paint Job: If you never realized how much the paint affected the sculpt before this is the perfect example. Neither of these look like the prototypes and as a result come out looking far too much like anime. This throws the whole look off and makes me worry about future releases. I heard that Earth 2 Wonder Woman had a bad paint job but this has me hesitating about pre-ordering more figures. Do I really want figures to look like this? Nothing else seems amiss with the painting just the faces. It's still enough to make me grade this harshly.  RATING: 4 

Articulation: I do think some parts are too thin making for flimsier arms for Helena to the point I'm afraid to move them too much. I've been more cautious since Green Arrows' knee broke with DCC but I never had to worry when moving Catwomans' arms around since the movement wasn't stiff and the figure didn't feel frail. PG wasn't nearly as hard to move except for one arm swivel and didn't feel like breakage was possible from just turning most joints. I'm just leery about moving the one swivel. Like Catwoman/GA neither Huntress or PG have wrist motion which feels odd although their arms have articulation halfway between the hands and elbows. Thankfully Huntress has two open grips while Power Girl only has one. I'll always feel that the bat characters need more articulation but in Huntress' case I'm not sure if that would be possible. Well actually I know it IS since retail figures can do it, just not sure if DCC could. Yes there's some breaking on occasion with retail although I never experienced it myself. But something has to change if DCC has problems in an area retail is able to do pretty well. Even the Capullo line doesn't seem to want to risk this on female figures. Still for these two it's okay articulation, I'm just not thrilled with Huntress. RATING: 6




Accessories: Just the crossbow for Huntress. I feel that there should at least be a spare head as Helena Wayne though. The crossbow it's self is small and fits into the hand pretty well. It would have been nice to have more but I can understand it being hard to think of anything else to pack in. RATING: 8

Comparison to other figures: It's really remarkable to think of the difference between Mattel, DC Direct and DCC. I can move the first two without worrying their snap into pieces. The scale from the different lines aren't always consistent but I wish there was more effort in DCC. The Teen Titans should be shorter, some females should be tall like PG/Big Barda while others should be smaller. I got the impression DCC wanted to impress collectors with comic accurate figures but their not quite there yet. RATING: 7


Overall: I bought these even though I dislike Worlds' Finest because I liked the old Power Girl and Huntress. If these looked like their earlier promo shot it would have helped greatly. Nevertheless they suffer from some stiff joints that may break no matter how careful you move them. The paint job isn't great and while some may like anime it's not the reason these were were preordered. I'm not too thrilled with these and may sell them along with Superboy.

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