Sydney Savage

An Australian woman who's into leather and bullwhips? We shall title this review "50 Shades of G'day"! Sydney Savage, a striking, sassy and vivacious component of the Danger Girls, originates fittingly from the picturesque and lively continent of Australia. Though often reprimanded for her wild and unorthodox procedures, Sydney more often than not justifies her lawless techniques. Of all the Danger Girls, Syndey takes the most advantage of her good looks, deploying her curvaceous form to distract and defeat the girls' primarily male antagonists. Though the Danger Girls have immediate access to radically advanced combat weapons, Sydney frequently warms up to her trusty leather bullwhip. When in need of a weapon with longer range, Sydney lofts her custom Beretta FS17 9mm pistol and Steyr-AUG automatic rifle. Sydney's also qualified with the M24 Sniper Weapon System - a rifle system which boasts an impressive 1000 meter range. Though it's not really a book known for its deeply nuanced characters, Danger Girl has basically done nothing with Sydney Savage - she was an established, confident member of the team when we first met her, and she's been an established, confident member of the team ever since. Abbey Chase was the focus character and the new member of the team, so she got to grow and change, but Syd had to be the constant, steady one against which that change could be measured. Despite what people think, J. Scott Campbell doesn't draw all his women with the same face - I mean, he's not Greg Land or something. Syd's face is sculpted with that unmistakable Campbell style, but it's an entrely different shape from Abbey's - straighter nose, narrower chin, wider eyes... the difference is subtle, but the uncredited Andrew Frank caught it in his sculpt. Sydney's costume is no more fleshed-out than her character is - well, it's definitely "fleshed out" in one specific area, but that's not what we're talking about. She's just wearing a typical spy catsuit that hasn't been zipped all the way up, like a more sexualized Emma Peel or Vanessa Kensington (remember: '90s comic). She's got an impossibly narrow waist, and numerous tiny wrinkles. Her catsuit is painted a dark blue, rather than true black, so we can still make out the details. There are also some lighter highlights painted on. Her skin stands out very well against her dark suit and hair, and they even remembered the freckle on her breast. The figure has articulation, but it might as well not: this toy came out in 1999, before McToys got to the heart of their "plastic statues" phase, but they were well down that path. She moves at the neck, waist, shoulders, wrists and hips, and all of those are plain swivels. She's got a contrapposto stance, with one foot raised, but still balances decently; however, you're never really going to get a good "whipping" pose out of her. Naturally, she includes her bullwhip - in fact, there was a variant based around that! The whip was molded from dark grey plastic, then painted with either brown or silvery-gray over top. The brown looks more natural, but the gray isn't terrible. We can't say whether one version is more rare than the other, or even which one came out first. I somehow ended up with both versions, and I have no idea how. There's a hook on her belt where the whip can be stored. Syd comes with a large display base depicting a completely normal Australian scene: there's a bit of sand, three wooden posts, and a crocodile chomping a large wooden plank. I think she's in line at McDonald's. The pylons are done nicely, and have a real twine rope wrappped around them. Plants sprout at their bases, and a large snake coils its way around one of them. The croc is only half a creature, suggesting it's coming out of the water, and the wood is splintering in its jaws. The dock or (whatever it is) has sculpted spots for the DG logo and Sydney's name, and just in case this scene wasn't already Strayan enough, there's a little brown koala perched on top of one of the posts. Strewth! All this is missing is a boomerang and some chazzwazzers! Sydney Savage may be the least developed Danger Girl character (in some respects), but how many chances are you going to get to own a McFarlane-sculpted girl in a sexy spy suit? Especially one with this fun display base beneath her! -- 02/11/16

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