BOB SHARE

I originally didnt intend to get the Kimono Girl.  The Rangerlord wanted her but not me.

I had stumbled upon boxes of series 4 late in the game and already the minifigs I thought were going to be rare were sold out.  At least according to the friendly salesperson at the specialty Lego store I was in.  So I couldnt get the Musketeer, nor the Mad Crazy (politically correct) Scientist.  And I couldnt find her either for the Rangerlord.

But I snapped her up the moment Rangerlord and I chanced upon her at Toys R Us/  She was, after all, a sought after figure in the initial boxes that came into stores locally.  RL already found himself one, of course.  For the girls (aka his daughters). ;)

Of course, I too couldnt resist. It would go well with my Ninja and Samurai from the previous waves, he said.  We influence each other too much.

Like: The extra paint detail of flowers in her hair.  Shes also got a nifty new fan and a brand new white colored complexion for her face, complete with painted lips.  Her hands are white to match.  She also fits very nicely with the Samurai and the Ninja.  Fans of the whole feudal Japanese feel now have a complete mini set of three figures. Yay!
Dislike: That she doesnt have legs.  I know, I know, how can she, since shes wearing a voluminous dress, right?  I guess its just the action figure collector is me--the more moving parts the better.  Thats not to say she doesnt look like shes wearing a dress and looking feudally gorgeous, because thats exactly what she s doing!
Minifig Rating: 7.5/10 - She gets a lower rating than The Frankestein Monster and Benicio del Toro the Werewolf because shes a girl slightly less articulated than I would like.  Not that Lego Minifigs can pose like Revoltechs.  But at least they can sit, stand on one leg, or look like theyre walking if they have legs.  The Kimono Girl cant but that just means she cant really fall over either.  Who needs that stand?  Not her, certainly.  But the fact is this: shes got excellent paint and such refreshing dress and skin colors not always seen in Lego minifigs.  Im just a little biased because I like me my articulation. ;)

A wise ranger(lord) once told me that Legos had a lot less girl minifigs than guy minifigs.  And this is something you wouldnt notice unless youre a big-ass girl minifig perv you have daughters who are also crazy about Legos, as the Rangers are. The good thing?  Hes made me aware of it.  The greater thing though, is that hes just added a third child and third girl to his family on the 29th of last month, just ten days after my boy came along.  Yes, I know, hes too weak-kneed to produce male offsrping but let me be the first to say on Chase Variant: Congratulations, Rangerlord, on baby Amber!  Because of you, Female Minifigs will always remind me of you and your girls! ;)

Heres to more females in Lego!

I just realized that of the 17 DC Universe figures that I own, 9 are good guys, 8 are baddies, 9 of them are DC Superheroes figures, leaving only 8 from the latest DCUC line; 3 are Supermen, 1 is a Collect n Connect (Kalibak), and only 1, yes ONE, is female.

Poor Black Skirt variant DCSH Supergirl. And she isnt even from the DC Universe Classics line!

What can I say? I like the guy Super Heroes better? Perhaps. Subconsciously. Maybe part of me still looks up to them as role models. Or it could be the female character toys are more popular and thus harder to find. Lots of horny dudes out there. Heh. ;)

So of the unopened DCUC stuff I had lying around (Come on! I dont have that much time to open everything I buy immediately! ;P), I decided to bring out the ladies!


Fancy a spank? Or would you rather be tied up and forced to tell the truth?

Im guessing both?

Well Hawkgirl and Wonder Woman would hand out both of these and a major ass whoopin just for thinking bad thoughts.

Action figure-wise, these two are probably two of the more popular main female characters from the DCUC line. Most probably because its Wonder Woman--and well, who doesnt love Wonder Woman--and Hawkgirl because of her inclusion as one of the original Magnificent Seven in the Justice League Animated series. And who doesnt love her character there? Kudos to Bruce Timm and co. (especially with Maria Canals who is the voice behind Hawkgirl) for fleshing out such wonderful characters. Im sure for most thats where Hawkgirl was truly introduced for the first time. It sure was for me.

Looking at Hawkgirl brings back the best moments of her from the JL/JLU Animated series, where she proves to be the toughest nut of the bunch of Super Heroes. And Wonder Woman aint no slouch either. And as far as these two figures go, you can a lot has been done to ensure that they turned out looking good.

The one thing that makes this pair extra worth it is their accessories.

Wonder Woman comes with a battle axe and a large round shield, while her Lasso of Truth is attached to her belt. Now thats not detachable so though its one less accessory, its still nice that they went to the trouble to make it a separate piece and not moulded or painted on.

Speaking of going the extra mile, its worthy to note that WWs gold eagle on her chest, the red star on her circlet--even the line on her boots, are all molded and then painted. Oh and even the stars on her shield are molded on. Wow.















Hawkgirl is rather more impressive in the equipment department. Shes got her signature Nth metal mace, a short sword, and a long spear. As if thats not enough, they gave her huge extendable wings that have each and every feather molded, painted, and then washed. And thats like a whole nother accessory/vehicle. Crazy!

Shes also got the yellow bird feet lines on her boots molded on, as well as the Hawk insignia on her belt. Oh and her weapons are just delightful. Painted a silver, theyve been washed dull and sculpted with nicks and cuts on them. Heck, even the leather grips are molded on and painted. Yowza!

But sadly, there are some problems with the molds.

Firstly, Wonder Womans right forearm is bent. But this isnt a huge problem, she just looks double-jointed when she holds her arm out. In certain poses it looks even better, especially when shes got her big ol axe cocked back and ready for a mighty swing to smite her foes.

Second, Hawkgirls face paint job is a little sloppy, missing spots on her nose and with slight fuzzy lines on her earrings. Her lips also have a smudge on her left side.

Both these girls also have problems with their belts, which restrict their waist swivel so severely they more or less lose that point of articulation. Both of their heads also lose their range of motion because of their long hair. Side to side is a struggle and up/down is out of the question. Hawkgirl also loses her torso hinge because of the wings attached to her back--the hinge that allows here wings to flap is rather longish, so it get in the way of her trying to stick her chest out.

No such poseability problems with the Princess of Themiscyra. And as far as her face goes, its gorgeously done.



Both these girls have poor grip in their left hands. Thankfully, Wonder Womans shield has a clip which fits firmly above her left arm bracer (below would be too loose). But her right grip is a little loose for the axe.

Hawgirls left hand is more important because of the weapons she comes with. And sadly, the spear is too heavy for her loose left hand to grip on to.

But I am nonetheless really delighted with these 2 figures. Its no wonder they are hard to find and valued above lots of others. As Ive said before, the accessories make the toy fun, and the fun makes the figure!


Ratings!

Aesthetics: Wonder Woman 9.7, Hawkgirl 9.5 - They got everything on Wonder Woman right, especially her face where it was a real surprise not to find any paint mistakes. Her hair is well sculpted and they gave her well sculpted and detailed accessories, and I aint talking about her earrings. The Lasso of Truth, which is made out of nylon? thread? some sort of tough string? is also a very nice touch.

Hawkgirl falls just short of WW because of the poor paint job on the face and mask. Her hair is excellent though, and it goes without saying the wings are awesome.

Poseability: Wonder Woman 9.0, Hawkgirl 8.5 - Well, the girls fall short of the mark here because Hawkgirl loses her waist swivel and ab crunch, while Wonder Woman loses her waist swivel because of the tooling on her belt.

Hawkgirl for all her winged glory, is also not a well-balanced figure because of her wings. Its pretty tough to try and make her do anything else other than stand straight up when her wings are open. But the plus side is that they can be used for additional support in certain poses.



Also Hawkgirl cant do the fully unfurled angel wings pose without looking awkward. It wouldve been nice if they couldve given her a third section to bridge the gap for when her wings are fully up.

Fun: Wonder Woman 9.2, Hawkgirl 9.7 - Gotta give it to the Thanagarian chick cop here. The wings, the mace, the sword, the spear--with a figure stand shes just unstoppable. Wonder Womans great too! I had the most fun playing around and adjusting her shield for these shots. But its just that her axe keeps falling off. Shes be a load more fun if her Lasso could come into play. ;)















Value: Wonder Woman 9.3, Hawkgirl 9.3 - I got Wonder Woman for S$25 (about US$17) and Hawkgirl for the retail price of s$35 (about US$23-24). I had waited to get them both hoping that their prices would drop. It did for Wonder Woman, but not for Hawkgirl. And I can say that both are well worth their prices. If not for their accessories, then for the extra tooling and sculpting done on them. Pity about the torso articulation though. Having those wouldve definitely made them almost perfect.















Overall: Wonder Woman 9.3, Hawkgirl 9.3 - Whaddaya know? Girl Power has yielded some matching scores! ;)

I had hours of fun just posing these two ladies, then I had more fun posing them in combat. Also, Ive just tripled my DC Universe female population and I cant wait till they DCUC comes out with some villainesses in abundant supply. (*Cough* *Harley Quinn* *Cough*) If no fmale baddies are forthcoming, then Im hoping the Girl Power Ive just unleashed here results in my getting Power Girl from Walmart exclusive Wave 10. That made no sense whatsoever. Ha! :P

Thats what comes to mind for me first thing--shes part of the Superman "family" but doesnt wear the big red S.  Instead shes got, well, literally nothing for a chest emblem.  Ok, not nothing...but rather two whole lots of nothing. :P

I had to get this figure loose on Ebay where not surprisingly, shes the most popular figure in Wave 10, more popular than even the sensationally accessory-laden clown prince of crime, the Joker.  Thats based solely on price, where PG was the most expensive of the three Wave 10 figures I got (the other was Man-Bat).



I have to confess: the first thing I did when I got this figure was to compare her torso with the rest of the female figures I had from the line like Wonder Woman and Hawk Girl.  And its no surprise that Power Girls is a new sculpt which is bigger in two specific areas. Yup.  Perhaps the extra cost in molding a new chest prevented other nicer add-ons?
But despite being disappointed at the lack of accessories (other than the Imperiex C&C, which Im kinda meh/blah about, mainly due to the size of the complete figure), Ive been pleasantly surprised by the overall integrity of the figures joints, especially the new thigh/hip swivel/hinges.  It could be just that the fig I got was nice and tight but Id like to think Mattel has improved on the quality of the line, especially since theyve hiked prices.  Still, tight joints mean tight poses, and thats where Power Girl shines.



Like: The face sculpt, viewed head-on.  Unfortunately beside looking all dolled up and pretty, shes barely got an expression from this angle, though her eyes have been painted nice and sharp and blue. :)


Dislike: The face sculpt, when viewed from the side. Its a little flat for my liking. Whats worse is that she also looks she has no neck, giving her a little bit of a constipated expression.


Like: The sculpted folds in the boots, cape.  They also did a good job with her, um..."emblem."

Like: That her arms are nice and muscular without being to beefy.  We definitely dont want PG looking like a female body builder although Ive read in some places that some fans think she should look that way. Not me.

Like: Her new leg joints, which dont have the hinge cut on the outside of her hips.  She looks more natural when posed in wider stances compared to the older heroine figures.

Dislike: That her left knee piece doesnt match her left thigh, giving the thigh swivel a really mismatched look.  As a result, my Power Girl looks like shes got a bow-leg.  Luckily I can hide it when posing her.  But its obvious enough that youll notice it if you look.  Some QC please, Mattel?

Dislike: That she has some blue paint marks on her thighs that I strongly believe rubbed off from her gloves during shipping.  After all,m I did get her loose. (And she flew halfway round the world to Singapore from the US.)  But those should come off with a little bit of alcohol.  If youre getting her in package, there should be no problem here.

RATINGS

Aesthetics: 9/10 - Power Girl looks great, make no mistake about it.  From the sharply painted facial features to the details in the sculpt and the seamless hip joints. Theyve done a great job, especially with how plain PGs costume is.  Its just too bad her face isnt a nicely done as Wonder Womans or even Big Bardas.  Ya win some, ya lose some, I guess.

Poseability: 9/10 - PG shines here not because shes more poseable than the standard DCUC female, but because her legs look nice and seamless in poses.  With the new hip joints, she doesnt have weird joints cuts in her hips.  Also, with thinner limbs than the males, her joints are nice and tight so she can hold her poses without falling over.  Thats always good.  Oh and get this--shes got extra boot-top swivels. Nice.

The downside though is that she, like all of the new figures after Wave 8, have lost their ball-joint ability in their heads.  Pity, because a flying character like PG could use it.  It also doesn;t help that her ab crunch is partially blocked by the piece used to attach her cape to her back.

Fun: 9.5/10 - I think its always fun when you get a great female character in a male dominated line like DCUC.  Well, actually most action figures are male anyway.  Thats all the more reason to get the females right.  Its also great to have a character like Power Girl because shes not a main main character, but she is vital to lots of storylines.  Take Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, for instance.  They needed her, er...assets in order to persuade the 13 year-old Toyman to find a solution to the Kryptonite asteroid about-to-crash-into-Earth dilemma. Heh. ;P

Value: 8.5/10 - Great as she is, PGs a little shy in the value for money department because she doesnt come with any accessories.  What would come with PG, you ask?  Well thats a tough one.  Alternate hands? Since both of hers are fists...Removable cape?  That would be nice, but not absolutely necessary.  But since when did an accessory have to be necessary to be included? :)

Overall: 9/10 - Shes a highly sought after Walmart Exclusive, which makes her price high at the online stores and Ebay.  But do not fret, for shes slated to be released in a future wave as a "Worlds Greatest Hero" figure with a stand.  Get her then, cuz her price should be lower and theyll probably have worked out QC issues (hopefully.)  Shell also come with a stand! Woot! ;)