
If you collect for a long period of time, there comes a point when you have "enough." I've said before that I have enough Batmen at this point that unless they look drastically different, I don't need more. It's true for a lot of characters. And that's why I so enjoyed DC Bombshells.
At the same time Funko was doing the DC Bombshells Mystery Minis, Cryptozoic
(they of Cryptkins) had a line called Lil Bombshells. There were "full size" (aka "seven-ish inches") vinyl figures, as well as smaller "blind-reveal" versions sold in metal tins. While there was a lot of overlap with the Mystery Minis, so we'll take a look at ones who were actually new.
The only new character in Series 1 was The Flash. She was in the comic, technically, but just barely: she'd be shown in a single panel taking care of things in Central City or whatever, but even at the end of the story Catwoman admits "the one we call The Flash never chose to make herself known to us" - she was just a blur in the background, not a team player. It's implied that she's meant to be Dawn Allen, rather than Jesse Quick (like the statue's box claimed) or a genderbent Barry Allen, but that's only an inference and not a certainty. (In the story's postscript, Flash is shown to have a daughter in the future, and that daughter is Jenni Ogntas/XS, who is Barry and Iris's granddaughter in the normal continuity; thus, Barry's daughter, Dawn.)
It makes sense Flash wouldn't have time for overt heroics, because she's got a day job. Artist Ant Lucia designed her to be a roller-diner waitress, because what goes better with speedy service? Unfortunately, the Lil Bombshell makes the same mistake the comics made and misses the joke in the design: in the art (and the full-size statue), she's got her roller skates slung casually over her shoulder, not wearing them; she's got the Speed Force, so why would skates do her any good? Everyone else puts her in them, though. She wears her shirt knotted right in the center of her chest, and the Flash logo is on her sleeve. Since she's a waitress she's wearing a short apron, and her curly hair is tucked into a kerchief so it doesn't get blown all over by the wind. She's winking, and carrying a milkshake on a tray - mint, from the looks of it, with a pink straw.
After Series 1 sold out, Cryptozoic hurried to put the figures out again.
But in order to not annoy the fans who had the originals, they took a page from The Loyal Subjects playbook and did variant paintschemes. "Series 1.5" had the same 10 characters, but changed their colors. They were nice enough, and were still true to the characters, but the variant Flash could almost count as a new character.
Regular Flash wears a red uniform and has blonde hair; the repaint just trades those, giving her a yellow uniform and red hair. Now, "Flash" plus "red hair" usually equals "Wally West," but "Flash" plus "yellow costume" also equals Professor Zoom. You reverse Flash's colors, you get a Reverse Flash, even in Bombshells! Even the polka dots on her scarf and her lightning bolt earrings get swapped over! Plus, this time her milkshake is strawberry, with a green straw.
Lil Bombshells are slightly taller than Mystery Minis, and in a different style, so it's not like you could integrate the figures. But since Mystery Minis didn't make a Flash, she at least won't have direct competition.
