Tuesday, April 8, 2025

Action Figure Review: Power Girl (Power Girl: Reborn) from DC Multiverse by McFarlane Toys

 

   While Todd McFarlane is now known for his infamous interview a few years back where he talked about the difficulty of selling female figures at mainstream retail and how little boys just don't want female figures, he sure has been filling out the DC Multiverse roster with some incredible women as of late. Today I'm checking out Power Girl, one of the most powerful women (no pun intended) in the DC Universe. I mean, c'mon; she's cousins with Superman (though from Earth-2) and a fellow Kryptonian. You know she's an A-list talent. She's also the counterpart of Supergirl from Earth-2 (she's Kara Zor-L/ Kara Zor-El, Karen Starr, or Dr. Paige Stetler). Power Girl is part of the McFarlane Collector Edition series which is where McFarlane Toys has been putting more of the collector focused characters as of late. Ready for a great classic take on Power Girl? Then join me after the break...



The Facts:

Height: 7 1/2 inches

Articulation: Double swivel hinged ankles, double hinged knees, swivel/hinge hips, balljointed waist, swivel/hinge shoulders w/ ballsockets, bicep swivels, double hinged elbows, double swivel/ hinge wrists, and a barbell jointed neck.
 
Accessories: 4 swappable hands, pauldron, Streaky the Supercat, collector card, and card display stand.
 
Non-Scalper Price: $30 dollars







The Positives:

* Power Girl has had quite a few outfits over the years, but this one is kind of an amalgam of her most well known looks: White one-piece outfit, blue gloves, and boots, and, yes, the window right on the front of her chest. Rather than her cape having a small gold medallion holding it on, this take on PG has more of a pauldron on her left shoulder while the cape is permanently attached to the figure underneath the neck piece. If there's reuse here, I'm not seeing it. McFarlane has altered the articulation a bit here to improve the overall look of the figure, so there's no mid-torso joint. The waist joint is very well hidden and the rest of her torso is one solid piece. The paint work is bright and bold with much of the color being due to piece molded in the right colors of plastic, such as her gloves and boots: They are separate pieces molded in blue.




* This is the classic look for Power Girl and I like it. I do like when Power Girl is portrayed as a fun character, too (like in the Harley Quinn comic series or in the mid 2000s Batman/ Superman series), but usually she is a more mature and serious character than Supergirl. Yes, even though they're the same person, just from different Earths, PG is at least a decade or more older. She looks fairly serious here, though just perhaps just a bit amused at the antics of some villain she's about to bring down. The paintwork is pretty nice, especially on her eyes. She's got the classic PG hairdo, too, and it looks fantastic. 





* The shoulder pauldron is a separate, removable piece. It's a bit tricky to get off (you have to pop off PG's head) but it does allow you to swap up her look a bit or, if you're really crafty, customize her to capture your favorite Power Girl outfit that uses this style.









* Her short cape is made from soft goods. It's a thicker, double layered cape with a wired edge, allowing you to pose it in action poses. It's quite nice!










* I really like the design of her boots. They give her a bit of extra height (she's tall- about 7 and a 1/2 inches) and they look great with gold buckles and some piping detail on the sides. 





* Power Girl might be missing a few joints (she doesn't have a mid-torso jopint not toe hinges), but everything else on her is just fine. Most of the joints have a great range of motion and nothing really interferes with them. She's quite fun to pose and feels incredibly durable and sturdy. Many of the joints are well hidden, too. Sure, her knees and elbows are obvious, but her thigh and waist joints are nicely hidden under the outfit. It looks pretty good, too.  






* Power Girl comes with a selection of three pairs of hands: Some fists, some pistol grips, and some open handed gestures. I'm guessing the pistol grips were included either because they were part of the mold or because they kind of work for a beckoning gesture. I do wish she has a pointing hand for doing the "My eyes are up here" pose.






* Power Girl comes with Streaky the Supercat as a companion. That's an interesting choice, as Streaky is Supergirl's pet, but it's a cool inclusion nonetheless. He's not a Kryptonian but he does have Kryptonian powers due to exposure to a form of Kryptonite. He's a solid slug figure with lightning bolts on his sides and a little cape. How cute!






* I really like the little cloth cape. It's pretty cute and definitely makes for a fun accessory.












* Check out that cute face! I'm a dog person, but I can still appreciate Streaky. I also love the little "S" logo cape clip/ ID tag.






*  As is pretty standard with the line, a collectible card is included. 


* You also get a disc stand to keep Power Girl standing on your shelf. The McFarlane Collector Edition stands get a silver DC logo to differentiate them from the unwashed masses of those standard figures.




The Negatives:



* My only negative with the figure is the weird way McFarlane handled the neckline. Power Girl's neck area is a separate piece that fits over her torso. It's not flush, though, and looks quite odd. The cape is attached to the figure here, but the cape really could have been attached to the pauldron piece. It was an odd choice and while the pauldron piece mostly covers it, it would have looked better with the cape as a separate piece attached to the pauldron. 







   Overall, I'm quite happy with how Power Girl turned out. She's a Great and and a 1/2 figure with a good sculpt and solid articulation, and including Streaky the Supercat was a fun choice. I'm quite happy with how she turned out. I'm quite bummed that Mattel is getting back the DC license as I've largely been quite happy with McFarlane's releases and I don't really expect Mattel to rival what we're seeing currently. Heck, I'm not expecting Mattel to rival the character selection of the DC Universe Classics  and DC Comics Multiverse days. McFarlane has really been hitting it for me lately, and getting an excellent figure like this makes me dread the end of this line. I'm really hoping McFarlane still keeps the management of the DC Direct brand so we can still get some more Multiverse scaled figures, even if their are fewer releases.


I'm kind of surprised, but this is the first figure of Power Girl/ Karen Starr that I've reviewed. This is also the first figure of Streaky the Supercat I've reviewed, too. For more DC Multiverse reviews check out the following:
Harley Quinn (The Suicide Squad)
Hugo Strange (Batman: Transference)
















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6 comments:

  1. CarniviusApril 9, 2025 at 3:04 AM

    Oh I'm looking forward to Mattel's figures even if it just means no more ugly pin-holes.

    And yeah I've really not liked the way McFarlane's been attaching neck/collar and capes lately. The current Superman figures where the neck looks like skin being worn over the top of the costume/cape is kinda gross.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Barbecue17April 23, 2025 at 8:51 PM

      They do attach them in odd ways often.

      I'm just not sure what to expect with Mattel these days. I like Masterverse but Mattel's style looks very toyish, which works fine for MOTU but I'm not sure what it will do with DC again. DCUC was a great line whose articulation hasn't held up terribly well, but many of the figures (especially the BAFs) are still quite nice.

      I've just been so invested in DC Direct/ DC Collectibles' stuff over the years and I love how McFarlane's scaled nicely with most of their lines. If they keep the figures the same size as Masterverse, I think they'll still scale well with McFarlane's and I'll be interested in adding new figures to my collection.

      I don't think Mattel will get very deep these days like they did in the past with DC. I'd like to be wrong, but I expect things to heavily revolve around the movie lineups and main characters. I'll always take new versions of Batman villains and allies, but I just don't expect to get the crazy and obscure characters McFarlane sometimes put out.

      Delete
  2. Joe PantsApril 12, 2025 at 10:03 AM

    Maybe it's just me, but her face reminds me of Missi Pyle, specifically how she looked in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, as Violet Beauregarde's mom.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Barbecue17April 23, 2025 at 8:52 PM

      I can see it a little bit. I think it's the hair.

      Delete
  3. CarniviusApril 14, 2025 at 2:29 AM

    Todd's interview never made much sense to me anyways. For one thing as a kid I DID want the women too because they were usually fun characters themselves, but also even to complete the teams. But also most people who buy modern action figures like McFarlane's are adult men, many of whom quite like buying figures of rather attractive female characters anyways.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Barbecue17April 23, 2025 at 8:56 PM

      I agree with you. I wanted a full team, not just one or two random guys. I can absolutely understand that Todd wanted to make sure that Batman, Superman, and big robot guys were always on the shelves for parents, kids, and people buying gifts for boys. That makes sense and I agree that masculine heroes and monsters always will sell through. To be honest, I think that since the line has come out he has done a pretty good job of getting women in the line, especially over the last year or two. The only thing that still boggles my mind is that the classic Wonder Woman was so limited. Why? She should have had a rerelease already, even if the packaging were different or the paintjob slightly altered.

      If he gets me a comic Harley Quinn (or 10), a comic based Poison Ivy, Zatanna, Black Canary, and a rerelease of Wonder Woman, I'll be pretty happy.

      Delete

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