Tag: mattel

Catwoman Barbie – Batman

And now for a Barbie that I can appreciate! Never did see one as a kid that I’d ever want, but at 32 I find the purrfect Barbie for me:

Hm. I really could’ve straightened out that mask a bit more, couldn’t I?

Anyways, onto the figure – I think the fusion of Catwoman and Barbie works well here – it definitely looks like an even mix of both. I love the fact the clothes have been made to look like leather, and she has just enough touches to sell itself as being Catwoman. A large part of that is the mask, but she has cat claws on her gloves, and the quintessential whip. She has a utility belt thing going on, which apparently marks this as being based on Catwoman from the 2004 movie… which I haven’t watched. Hm. I should probably get on that. Anyway, moving on…

Left:

The seams have been sewn so the stitching is inwards, so everything looks nice and neat from this side. Her claws have been tipped with silver, which has been nicely done. Her neck does look a bit odd from the side though. 

Right:

Here we can see a small zipper, which is a nice attention to detail. I do rather like the fluffy upper to her gloves, and the high heels poking out from the bottom of her trousers. 

Back:

Here we can see some things that weren’t finished off too well – several of teh back joints are uneven, which is a bit of a shame. Also a bit of excess fabric at uppermost join. Her hair is very nice though, and the backs of her trousers look good, even if the belt doesn’t quite line up… 

Overall, I’m glad I bought this Barbie, and I think it makes an excellent first choice :P. Not sure if it’d appeal to a Barbie fan, as her outfit does somewhat limit her articulation, though all the joints are there. For me, I’m using this as a display piece, so I’m not bothered by knees being hampered by her trousers. I may have to get a doll stand for her though, as she’s not standing on her own with those small feet. 

Minecraft Chest Series Blind Boxes

Found these at Poundland, so I picked up the 6 that they had.

The first two, zombie, and zombie on fire:

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Originally these retailed for £3. You only get one of these per box, so I think £3 is a LOT to pay for such a tiny figure (they’re around 2cm in height). £1 is still…. kind of a bit. At least they’re painted OK. 

Sides:

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Fire zombie has more to look at, by virtue of the fire. Sleeves aren’t painted too straight on him though. The normal zombie has pretty blobby paint. though the textured areas are nice. 

Back:

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Hm. Yeah. Distinctly average. 

Alex and Steve:

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These two are more interesting than the zombies, but you can see the seeming cheapness of the plastic, with the patterns on Steve’s armour. There is a bit of overpaint here and there, but no too noticeable.

Sides:

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I like the design of Steve’s shield, but it is poorly painted. Alex seems to have had a hard life, and there’s a number of paint scratches in her hair. Pickaxe has a number of paint flaws, but at least they’ve done the head in a proper gold. 

Back:

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Here you can see where the plastic was poured into the mould. Not much hiding Paint on Alex is much neater back here. /sigh. 

And finally, Blaze and Snow Golem:

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Brown paint missed on the Golem. Blaze paint is also a bit messy. The transparent bit on the Blaze is kind of a nice touch. 

Sides:

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Snow Golem looks fine, but the red paint on the Blaze is a bit of a mess. The paint is mostly where it should be, but with the groove going all away around the edge of the Blaze, it makes it look like the paint didn’t quite come up to the edge it should do. 

Back:

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Again, clear mould marks from where the moulds were filled. Paint is neat back here though. 

Even at £1, I wouldn’t particularly recommend these. Definitely not for £3! Would’ve liked to see some of the more interesting picks from this collection, but overall, the quality and size doesn’t justify a premium price for these figures. Unless you’re hardcore into Minecraft and really want these, I wouldn’t particularly recommend them.

Whilst I was at Poundland, I also bought this minecart:

The print quality of these vary, so I’d recommend inspecting it in the packet, if you care. Some of them are not printed straight at all. I’ve decided to leave this one in the packet, so not sure of the quality of the wheels etc. 

If we look at the back:

… we can see that they’ve released the same minecart, in various different packaging. Collect them all? Nah, think I’ll pass on that. I don’t think I really need more than one of these tbh…

Hal Jordan – Test Pilot – Mattel

Saw this figure loose at a collectable figure store. Wasn’t sure who it was, until I did a bunch of research. 

Turns out it’s Hal Jordan as a test pilot:

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The figure isn’t in pristine condition, but he was cheap, and I liked his spacesuit outfit. The helmet “glass” is a neat-looking shimmering blue. 

Left:

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His clothes are moulded well for a cheap figure, and the paint is surprisingly not messy. Here you can also see the translucency of his helmet. The colouring is basic, but I think that was a good choice, to avoid colouring mistakes.

Back:

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Backpack looks OK, but it might’ve been nice to have it not in a block colour. It’s not really a collectable figure, so it’ll do. Sculpt works fine imo. 

Without the helmet:

Not much detail in the face – quite reminiscent of much older figures. I don’t think there’s enough detail there to match it up with any particular drawing/actor. With him without his helmet on, it’s clear his crotch is the colour of his top half. Would’ve been nice if his crotch was made to match his pants, not his top. 

Back:

Some creasing on his jacket, which is nice to see. Stops him from being totally plain back here, when they could’ve easily gone for a flat sculpt, what with the backpack accessory. Hair also has a good patterning to it. 

Overall, I like this figure. In some places it’s pretty basic, but his clothes have had a decent amount of attention put into the sculpt. His hands have been curled in a way which makes him look like he should have an accessory – and the pictures that I found on the internet seem to imply he didn’t come with one. Would’ve been nice to have a tiny lantern, or a more neutral hand pose. Overall, I’m happy with this random pickup. 

Alexa Bliss – WWE Elite Series

Normally I wouldn’t consider buying a wrestling figure, but upon seeing this one, and it being on sale, I decided to get it:

At first, I thought it was a cross-dressing bloke. On further research, she’s female, and they did a bit of a poor job with the head sculpt. Sorry Alexa :(. So that was probably why she’s on sale, oops. Her head is squarer than it should be, which was the source of my confusion. I was mostly attracted to this figure, due to the bright colours, though. 

Another thing my research dug up is the belt and the bits on her hands should be shiny – I find it odd they didn’t use silver paint on these, especially as they’ve used silver elsewhere on the figure. 

Also the sculpt – it seems they went for customising the body and the face, but the arms and legs are probably generic sculpts. 

I love the hair, outfit and boots on this figure, but the arms seem kind of generic and don’t really fit. They’ve done her makeup, so that’s a nice touch. 

Left:

One pink pom-pom comin’ up! Here we can see the blend of the dye in her hair – the blend job is so-so. Some of a seam showing on her hip.

Right:

Rather disappointed they didn’t put her hand jewellery in silver. Think it would’ve looked much better, but it’s not very delicate, so not true-to-life. And a blue pom-pom! Dye blend in her hair seems better on this side. 

Back:

Here you can see how the paint in the hair differs on the two sides. Her top straps are nice and shiny – this is definitely one of the selling pints of this figure. Here you can see that the top of her boots is a separate part – this helps with articulation. The poofy bits on her back aren’t terribly accurate to real life, but OK for a cheap figure. Not really finding this “elite” series to really be elite, which is likely why they’ve hit the bargain bin. 

And one last thing on articulation:

Her waist has plenty of it! 

I think this figure is a fine one as a cheap one for the kids, if you get it cheap. It’s not hugely accurate to her real look imo, so I don’t see her much as a collector’s item. I paid £10 for her, so she was definitely on the cheaper side of things, though I think the regular price was £20 or something, which is just too much imo. She did come with a base, but it is a cheap piece of rubbish and I wouldn’t recommend it. 

If a quality articulated figure manufacturer made her, I’d definitely buy it though – love this outfit, and I don’t think the figure does it justice. But it’s OK for a tenner and not knowing who she was prior…