Review of Harley Quinn Prisoner Outfit
Suicide Squad sixth scale action figure

Introduction

Suicide Squad had a lot of characters cavorting on screen, but none garnered quite the attention of the lovely Harley Quinn. Fans were divided on the new look, but not about the fantastic job Hot Toys did with their first release based on the character. The second release is the 'prisoner' outfit, and while you might think that would be it, you'd be wrong - they have the third 'dancing' version already up for pre-order.

This figure was a standard release, with no exclusives or convention specials. Retail price was around $220, depending on the retailer of course.

Packaging - ***1/2
The Suicide Squad packaging is all the same - attracitve outer slip cover over a box with a unique center opening flap. It worked fantastic with the Tux Joker...here, it's nice, but not quite as interesting, thanks to the general prison theme. It's still quite attractive, but they seem to be stretching the concept to make the theme and style mesh.

It's all collector friendly of course, and the outer slip cover can make a nice backdrop on the shelf.

Sculpting - ****
Hot Toys has done a lot of pretty female portraits, but I think this one just might take the cake. It helps that Margot Robbie is a beautiful (and tremendously talented - have you seen I, Tonya?) actress on which to base the sculpt, but there's something about the shape and design of the eyes that really sells this one.

It's very accurate, and I'd recognize Robbie immediately from the eyes, nose, lips, and jawline, ignoring the obvious hair style. It's also extremely realistic, with just the right amount of skin texture in this scale to give her that life-like pop. Add in some incredibly fine detailing in the complex hair, and you have a portrait that can be easily mistaken for the real deal with a quick glance.

Hot Toys has played around a bit with the expression on the three figures they are releasing (so far). The first regular release had an extremely dynamic expression, a real risk with any portrait. They nailed it though, and it will get my vote for Best Female Figure 11 - 17" in a couple weeks when the Poppies voting begins.

This time they went a little less extreme, but still with a lot of life-like emotion. The sly look in her eyes is matched with a knowing smile, creating a seductive yet dangerous appeal.

One area that Hot Toys has been experimenting on and getting better every time is the thin, soft extra strands of hair. Here we see a set framing her face, and the point where they connect to the main sculpt is extremely well hidden and blended. They are finding ways to make sculpted hair even more realistic!

Without any shoes or boots, Harley comes in just a bit over 11" tall.

Paint - ****
I do have one nit with the paint work this time, but I ended up going the full four stars anyway. The overall impression of the paint work is just so overwhelmingly good, that my one nit couldn't stand against the tide.

The lips are perfect, with a deep red color and super clean lines. The heart tattoo is slightly faded, and the 'rotten' tattoo is clearly a little newer. The eyes, lashes, and eye make up are outstanding, with only a little bleed into the eyes. The skin tone is even and consistent and matches up between the face and neck. Even the hairline is subtle in the transition from one color to another, blending in beautifully.

Which brings me to my one whine. Blonde hair is tough to get, but I thought they did a marvelous job on the blonde color with the first release. This one seems to be shifting a little too much toward gold. It's a really minor issue though, so much so that there was no way I was going to reduce the score because of it. The other bright colors in the hair look amazing, and really make this figure stand out on the shelf.

Articulation - **1/2
You won't have to worry about loose joints on this figure - the ratchet style shoulders were almost immovable at first, and every other joint was tight and strong.

The neck is a little restricted, with only the jawline joint available. To keep the neck attractive, they dumped the torso joint, creating a smoother line and more appealing overall look, but it does mean less tilt and lean movement than with some Hot Toys releases.

As I said, the ratchet shoulders click into place with enough force, but it will take some work. The elbows and wrists allow for decent arm poses, and the knees and hips have a good range of movement as well.

However, the torso is a bit less mobile than I'd like, particularly when trying to lean the upper body forward. That would be very useful for sitting poses, and would offset the huge problem this figure has in this category - no ankles.

Yep, there's no ankle joint at all. I suppose they thought this was like the neck, where smooth lower legs would improve the appearance...but you can't see the ankles in most poses in the orange prison uniform. The lack of ankles makes posing much, much more difficult, and really reduces the number of potential stances.

Here's the weird part - they did the same thing with the 'prisoner' Joker and it worked great. Of course, you could clearly see his ankles in any pose, making the decision more sensible, but the figure itself was still very poseable. I think they could have overcome the lack of ankles here with better hips and certainly a better half torso joint, but limitations there exacerbated the lack of ankle joints.

Accessories - ***
She's a little light in this department, although to be fair, there's not a lot more they could sensibly provide.

She has four extra hands to go with the two relaxed hands she comes wearing: a right to grip the tea cup, a left to hold the book, a medium grip right, and a gun grip (or finger pointing) right. These swap easily, and there's a couple extra pegs in case.

To make these hands useful, she has the corresponding accessories. The tea cup is full, and can rest on its matching saucer. The book is a one piece sculpt and is opened to a page within, complete with printing on both sides. She also has a very nicely done cel phone, which seems a smidge undersized, but looks great otherwise.

To add a little pizzazz to her prison uniform, she has a pair of fuzzy pink slippers. These come in handy, giving a little boost to the heels and making it a little easier to convince her to maintain basic stances.

She'll need somewhere to rest in her cell, and they've provided a sculpted mattress. Similar to other recent releases, she has a cardboard backdrop as well, with appropriate graphics. I'm not a huge fan of these backdrops, since they are really too narrow to make great display pieces, but some folks will like them more than I.

Finally, there's the Suicide Squad display base, with a crotch support. Nothing unique here - we've seen it with the other SS releases - but the base does have a prison floor color and design.

Outfit - ***
A common theme with this figure, once you get past the head sculpt, is 'basic'. That was true with the accessories, and it's true with the outfit.

She has a white t-shirt, orange outer shirt, and orange pants. Orange is the new black, don't you know.  The costume is well tailored and made, but it's about as simple as you can get.

Fun Factor - **1/2
While she's beautiful, she's a lot less fun, thanks to the restrictive articulation and handful of accessories. This is one of those figures where you'll find one pose that speaks to you, and that's the pose she'll be in 10 years from now.

Value - *1/2
At $220, you're paying average high end market price for a figure that's lacking in several categories. The costume is quite basic, there aren't many accessories, and the articulation leaves something to be designed. This figure is at least $40 over priced, but because Hot Toys always charges about the same for their figures right now, you end up paying a premium for something like this.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not a thing. This is a sturdy figure with sturdy accessories - under normal conditions, you won't have any issues.

If you do decided to remove the head for some reason, you will want to watch out for those thin strands of hair when you pop it back on. If they get caught in the neck, you can damage them.

Overall - ***
The simplicity of this figure, combined with its high cost, are going to keep it off my list of favorites. But it does have a couple key important features: the less extreme head sculpt might work better for some collectors, even with the original costume; you can't have prisoner Joker without a prisoner Harley to keep him company.

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***1/2
Sculpting - ****
Paint - ****
Articulation - **1/2
Accessories - ***
Outfit - ***
Fun Factor - **1/2
Value - *1/2
Overall - ***

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- Sideshow has her for $220 too.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
Of course you'll want to check out their regular release Harley based on her look in Suicide Squad, as well as Will Smith's Deadshot. Hot Toys also did three versions of the Joker, including the Purple Coat Joker, the Tuxedo Joker, and the Straight Jacket Joker.

And if you really love the Suicide Squad Harley, but don't have the money or space for this scale, check out the One:12 Collective version from Mezco.

You should also hit the Search Reviews page, in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.

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