Wonder Woman

It's so wild to think back and realise that DC Comics didn't release a single superhero movie at all between Dark Knight Rises in 2012 and Wonder Woman in 2017. After Wonder Woman came out earlier this summer and was excellent, fans were clamouring for some good toys based on the property. Mattel, as usual, found new ways to do things poorly; their movie series of toys included two versions of the titular character but neither in her iconic garb, the costume she wears during the big finale of the film, instead wearing two scene specific costumes that, while both interesting in their own way, were no substitute for the proper Wonder Woman costume. After release, this was somewhat corrected; today's review covers the exclusive that was released alongside the main series, reusing parts of the previous BvS Wonder Woman sculpt with a new and improved Gal Godot headsculpt, and new accessories. Wonder Woman stands 6¼" tall, fitting her in scale nicely with the other figures from the Wonder Woman line, and with the previous figures from the DC Extended Universe (which should honestly be renamed to "the Wonder Woman Cinematic Universe" and have Patty Jenkins direct all subsequent entries to avoid embarrassment). For the most this is a great sculpt, with a good body and a great recreation of the film costume. The only issue is that the head sculpt, while a good render of Gal Godot, is too small. It is just slightly off; for some reason her head is just a little too small for the body, and that's strange. It doesn't appear this way from every angle, but essentially Mattel have pulled a Mattel and found a way to ruin what is otherwise a perfect figure. The paint apps are very strong here; the costume is well painted with the broad basics covered, and minor shading used to bring out effects. This might have been executed better with more detail, but considering how this series has been previously, it's quite good. Articulation is strong; Wonder Woman has joints at the neck, shoulders, biceps, elbows, wrists, waist, hips, thighs, knees and ankles, which allows for a good array of poses and play. It's not quite up to the level of Mezco's superb "One:12 Collective" figures, as we'll be surely be pointing out as soon as Mezco produces/ships them [oooh, foreshadowing! --ed.], but for the cost, this can't be beaten - despite being a TЯU exclusive, she doesn't cost any extra at the store. For some, the main draw of this figure (beyond getting a plain Diana in her iconic costume) will be the accessories; Wonder Woman features her iconic sword and lasso of truth, identical to the previous releases, then her terrific shield, a first for this series. It's a great accessory that she can hold to defend herself, like in the terrific "No Man's Land" sequence of the film. She also has an extra accessory specifically for the Ares build-a-deity: his huge shield. This big honkin thing has a diameter of 3" - it dwarfs her in size and she looks silly wielding it. It is, like the swords that came with Menalippe, clearly for Ares, but makes a nice bonus here for those picking her up. In general I'm opposed to exclusives, due to the issues with acquiring them and the limitations on release and the inflated cost and generally how they make collecting less fun, but none of these complaints apply to this figure; it was mostly readily available and at a good price. It just shouldn't have been an exclusive period. How many little girls wanted to get a normal toy of their new favorite character but couldn't because Mattel hasn't met an idea they couldn't do wrong? Regardless, this is a great toy to usher in the age of the Wonder Woman Cinematic Universe, the correction to the lousy dumbass DC crap movietimes. -- 10/01/17

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