Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Action Figure Review: Holiday Harley Quinn from DC Designer Series: Amanda Conner by DC Collectibles

 You'll never believe it! Today I'm looking at a DC Collectibles action figure release that has actually made it to store shelves! Starting last summer DC Collectibles seems to have been on a roll to cancel as many of their solicited action figure releases as possible. They cancelled some Arkham Knight releases, a bunch of Icons, pretty much their entire DC Films line, and now it seems like they might be looking to cancel some of the Bombshells action figures. DC Collectibles either seems to be wanting to get out of the action figures game or they're completely hung up on preorders. What they didn't cancel were the four figures in the Amanda Conner branded subset of the DC Designer Series that feature her interpretations of Harley Quinn from the character's eponymous comic series. I reviewed the first two figures earlier this year shortly after they were released, but I only just received the two figures from the second wave, so I'm a bit behind. Let's start with Holiday Harley Quinn, featuring Harley Quinn. Harley is wearing a sexy Santa Claus like outfit, jingle bells, and has gifts wrapped with red and green paper, yet she still gets the generic moniker of "Holiday Harley Quinn." What holiday I wonder? Of course, Harley Quinn is Jewish, but she seems to love to celebrate anything fun all the same.  Plus, this figure is based off of the cover of the New 52 Harley Quinn Holiday Special #1, so the name makes sense in that respect, too. Let's check this one out a bit more closely after the break...



 The Facts:

Height: 7 inches

Articulation: Hinged ankles, double hinged knees, balljointed hips, swivel/hinge shoulders, hinged elbows, swivel/hinge wrists, and a swivel neck.

Accessories: Gift wrapped mallet and a gift wrapped bomb.

Sculpted by: Paul Harding

Non-Scalper Price: $24-$28 dollars
 The Positives:

* Like the previous figures, this figure's articulation is a bit odd. There are definitely more joints here than on many DC figures in the Designer Series, but they're not all that useful. The double hinged knees are great, but the limited ankles and the restricted hip joints make them pretty useless. Furthermore, the neck joint really seems like it's just a swivel joint. Still, you can get a few cool poses out of her, so it's not all bad.


* Ho! Ho Ho! What have we got here? It's Harley Quinn dressed up in a Harley-themed Santa Claus suit. Or is it a Santa- themed Harley suit? Ahh, who cares? It's a pretty funny outfit and it should absolutely be displayed along the older DC Direct Joker from the Long Halloween line that came with a Santa Claus hat. The sculpt is pretty nice on this one. Not as good as the other figures in the line (probably due to this being a less interesting outfit than a spacesuit or superhero costume) but it works.

* The headsculpt, however, is excellent. It captures the style of Conner's artwork extremely well and just has a fun, playful vibe to it. Plus, the hair and the hat look excellent. Top all of that with some very well executed paintwork and you've got a Harley portrait that pretty much sells this figure all by itself.


* The paintwork is very clean, particularly when you're talking about white and red mixed with shiny black. Not only is the separation between the two halves of the costume clean but even the little diamonds scattered about look impressive.
 * Harley's accessories are pretty impressive. First up is a gift wrapped bomb. Either that or a bowling ball with a fuse. The work sculpting the strands of wrapping paper is quite nice and definitely sells the effect; the gift wrap print isn't just painted on. There's also a bow and an actual fabric fuse for the bomb. It's a pretty funny gift and I'm sure you'll definitely find a way to fit it into your DC Comics collection even if you don't keep it with Harley.

* The second gift included here is a wrapped mallet. The wrapping paper effect is pulled off nicely here as well, only this time the paper is covered by little stars. Oh, and there's a little noisemaker piece inside the head of the mallet. When you swing the mallet through the air it makes a little bit of a "honking" sound. It doesn't work all that well, but it's fun and doesn't really affect the aesthetics of the mallet. 
 The Negatives:

* OK, there are definitely some weak parts of this figure. First, Harley just cannot stand up and it's not because she's had too much eggnog. The heels on her high heeled boots just don't seem high enough, meaning she tumbles back quite easily. Fortunately, a stand would fix that, right?

* Nope. The stand is pretty useless here. Not only is the peg very loose (mine tends to fall out) but it also doesn't go up high enough into Harley's foot, meaning the stand does next to nothing. You're going to have to lean her up against something or use a Kaiser styled stand to keep her upright on display.

* If you look at Harley's elbow you make you're seeing glare but that is actually paint that peeled off he elbow when moving it the first time. Many of the joints were stuck and this one suffered some damage out of the box.
  Holiday Harley Quinn is an impressive looking figure with some incredible accessories. Unfortunately, she also has a really tough time standing up. It's partially due to her design and partially due to her stand being inadequate, but it all adds up to meaning you'll have to prop her up against something to keep her on display. The Amanda Conner subset of the DC Designer Series is one of the best looking lines DC Collectibles has released, but it's also one of the more problematic lines they've put out in recent memory. Harley is a Good figure, but make sure you know what you're getting into. If you're just looking for a good Harley Quinn figure, there are much better options available.





I've reviewed plenty of Harley Quinn toys over at the Harley Quinndex, so go over there and check them out! If you're looking for more DC Designer Series figures, check out the others I've reviewed:

Amanda Conner Series
Spacesuit Harley Quinn
Traditional Harley Quinn
Ant Lucia Series
Bombshells Batwoman
Bombshells Harley Quinn
Bombshells Poison Ivy 
Bombshells Wonder Woman
Darwyn Cooke Series
Catwoman 
Harley Quinn
Greg Capullo Series
Batgirl
Catwoman
Commissioner Gordon
GCPD Batman
The Joker 
Mr. Freeze
Red Hood
The Riddler
Zero Year: Survival Batman

2 comments:

  1. I love the site, and its creative juxtaposition of elements! Thanks for sharing...

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    1. I'm glad to! Thank you for your kind compliments! Knowing that people enjoy this stuff keeps me going.

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