Review of Batgirl, Harley Quinn, Wonder Woman
Femme Fatales Animated Statues

Introduction

Diamond Select is doing a wide variety of lower cost busts and statues these days, hitting up a bunch of different licenses. One such is called "Femme Fatales", and is a series of PVC statues of both female heroes and villains from everything from DC and Marvel to Star Trek The Next Generation.  The scale is about 1/9th (with the figure about 8" tall not including the base), and the price point is a very nice $40 - $45 each.

While the series is hitting a broad range of licenses and styles, I'm sticking with the animated releases only.  I picked up the first in the animated style - Supergirl - and reviewed her rather harshly several months ago.  I've since bought a number of others, and thought I'd revisit the line. I'll check out Wonder Woman, Batgirl and Harley Quinn tonight, all in the animated style, and all running around that $40 price tag.

Packaging - ***
The packages are growing on me as the line moves forward. If you're a MIBer, they do allow you to keep the statue inside, and yet show it off on the shelf pretty well.  The graphics are basic, but the color combinations work, and it's all completely collector friendly.

The cardboard itself could still be a little thicker and sturdier, but that's my only nit with the current design.

Sculpting - Batgirl ***1/2; Wonder Woman, Harley ***
In evaluating the sculpt on the animated style statues, it's critical to keep that animated nature in mind. The designs didn't have a bunch of surface detail or texturing, and areas like hair or clothing were largely smooth and featureless. These statues mimic that, and too much detail would have gone against the basic aesthetic of the shows.

That's not to say there's no detail or definition at all. Edges are cut around areas like the mask and cowl, the various symbols, and key places like the division between red and black on Harley's costume.

Of these three, Batgirl is my easy winner. I love the pose, and I think they captured her youthful enthusiasm in the expression and stance.

On the opposite end is Wonder Woman. This is a tough one, because I really do like the overall impression. But when I pulled her out of the box, I noticed two nits right away. First, like Supergirl, she has a weird backward lean to her pose on the base. In person, it appears as though she's almost ready to fall over, and it's off putting from any side angle view.  She also needs to do something with that right hand. With the palm turned slightly forward and the fingers curled, it looks like it should be holding something. Those aren't WW's only flaws, unfortunately.  When I lined her up with the other statues, it was obvious that she's on the small side compared to the other ladies. She should have a little more height and bulk to her in this scale, and I included a group shot at the end to illustrate.

I love Harley's pose.  She's standing on the Batsignal holding a can of spray paint, having tagged the glass with the word 'stinks' below the bat symbol, along with little lines above indicating a smell. She didn't just paint it on there either, but did it backwards, so that the word will look correct in the night sky when the signal is illuminated. That's quite creative, and her overall stance and expression match the attitude. She's a little taller than the others thanks to the larger base, coming in at about 10" from the bottom of the base to the top of her head.

I almost went another half star for Harley, putting her at the same level as Batgirl, but the more I looked at her face, the more I was creeped out. She should have a look of gleeful, even playful, criminality. Instead, she looks Damian level evil. I'm not sure if it's the narrow eyes, the way the top corners of the mask are slightly flattened downward (making the mask straighter across the face), or the flat upper lip on the wide smile...but something is making her look more evil than the Joker himself, and that's not quite right.

Paint - ***
All three of these have very solid paint jobs, particularly considering the low price point.

Batgirl was my favorite again, with a pretty consistent costume color, and very clean work on the mask, mouth and symbol.  There's a little slop on the belt, and a small smudge on one eye, but again, considering the price (these are just $40!), I'm quite impressed.  I wish we got this good of work regularly on statues in the $70 - $100 range.

Harley is quite good as well, with only some minor issues around the mask and the edges of the pom-poms on the costume. While you can find issues in macro photos, in hand they look quite clean, and much better than even action figures in this same ball park.

Wonder Woman was the only one to exhibit a major nit, and that was with the stars on her costume. Clearly they were done using a mask, and the mask wasn't properly aligned.

While this is still the one area that DST could improve with this line, considering the low cost, I'll be satisfied if they can simply maintain this level of quality.

Articulation - Bupkis
Just in case you got confused, these are statues. No joints here, and they come permanently attached to the bases and anything they are holding.

Value - ***1/2
Collector themed action figures are now $20 - $30 each, usually in the 6 - 7" range.  Statues in the 7 - 9" range generally run $70 - $100.  With these coming in at just $40 each, you're getting an extremely good value. The sculpt and paint work tends to vary based on character, but overall you're getting well above what you're paying for.

I upped the value slightly from when I reviewed Super girl, because the overall quality seems to be improving on the line as they move forward.

Things to Watch Out For -
If you're picking them out at the local comic shop, you'll want to check the paint work carefully to ensure you're getting the best possible. However, these three were pretty consistent in quality, so ordering sight unseen should be a pretty safe bet.

Overall - Wonder Woman, Harley ***; Batgirl ***1/2
These are not high end collectibles.  With a lower price point, they are giving collectors on a budget a chance to own some great looking statues in a large scale and consistent format. And in that market, they are a success.

The line is a bit all over the place right now, and I'll be sticking with just the animated style releases to have some consistency.  They already have a Batman in this same scale up for pre-order, although obviously he isn't under the 'Femme Fatales' banner, and I'm hoping we see them do additional villains and heroes from the 90's superhero cartoons.

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***1/2
Sculpting - Batgirl ***1/2; Harley, Wonder Woman ***
Paint - ***
Articulation - Bupkis
Value - ***1/2
Overall - Batgirl ***1/2; Wonder Woman, Harley ***

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- Entertainment Earth has them for around $40 each.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
I've covered one other Femme Fatales - the animated Supergirl.

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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