Review of Catwoman - Batman Returns
Quarter Scale Action Figure

Introduction

One area where the industry has made tremendous strides over the last 5 or 6 years is in the number of great female action figures on the market. And it wasn't consumers whining about it last year when they felt there weren't enough Rey's on the shelf - it's actually been changing gradually over several years, and we're miles beyond where we were even ten years ago.

One category that's still pretty short is the quarter scale market. If other scales are making such improvements, why are there so few 18" female action figures out there? I believe it's because there's still so few action movies where there is a female lead, and for the most part, the quarter scale market is a 'one and done' license proposition. It's unusual for a company to go deep enough into a license in this scale to get to the secondary characters, where the ladies still too often only reside.

NECA, as they often do, is breaking tradition and going deeper with the Burton Batman license than I suspect most people expected. After producing a Batman, they went on to do two versions of the Penguin...and finally, Catwoman. If they're up for producing a Shreck, I'm up for buying one!

Catwoman has just started shipping and will run you around $105 from most retailers.

Packaging - ***
The box is smaller than I expected, but everything is neatly packed within. It's not collector friendly by any stretch of the imagination, and you'll need to have wire cutters handy when you free her from the plastic prison. But the 'frosted' plastic window, complete with claw marks, looks terrific and shows off the most critical aspect of the figure inside - both head sculpts.

Sculpting - ****
Catwoman comes wearing the damaged cowl, but they've included a second head sculpt from a bit earlier in the film, and they varied the expressions as well.

Both are excellent Pfeiffer portraits. The large eyes and tiny nose, the shape of the lips, even the shape of the jawline and face are just about dead on. While the head might look a little large, it's not - she appeared to have a slightly large head in the movie, thanks to the form fitting and very tight costume. The same can be said of the arms, which seem a bit too thin here, but were fairly thin in the film too - that leather was mighty tight.

The damaged version has her mouth open, eyes squinted, and eyebrows lowered, with a look that says she's pissed off, no doubt about it. It also has loose strands of hair escaping from various spots on the ruptured cowl, and with a little hair product, you can get these to look pretty realistic.

The undamaged cowl has a more serene, thoughtful expression, perfect for posing with Batman. The suit itself is damaged though, clearly based on the later half of the film, so the neater head sculpt isn't quite as good of a match overall.

The figure stands about 16 1/2" tall, and has appropriate proportions for Pfeiffer. Other areas like the boots, or the claw-like hands, sport excellent sculpts as well.

Paint - ***
I do wish the paint work was *slightly* better. It would have taken this to an unbelievable level, and I'm betting we see some amazing repaints on this figure by various talented customizers out there.

The paint isn't awful - don't get me wrong. The skin tone is great, and the colors, like the lips and eyes, are vibrant and sharp. Edges aren't always clean though, and there's some bleed between the eyes and the heavy eyeliner. The eyes themselves are a bit flat and lifeless, and I'm not a huge fan of the painted catch lights.

The black suit is very consistent, and the stitches that are painted (some are not - more about that in the Outfit section) look good. Again, the skin tone in the exposed areas matches the face pretty well, and some of the other tiny details, like long nails or the laces on the boots, look great.

Articulation - ***1/2
Most quarter scale figures, at least those that are more traditional action figures, are usually less articulated than their smaller counterparts. That's not the case with Catwoman.

She starts out with an excellent ball jointed neck. It allows for plenty of tilt and lean in any direction, and the heads swap easily.

The shoulders are rotating hinge joints, but less articulated than most. These are what we used to call 'NECA' shoulders, because they made it popular with smaller figures. The hinge is more hidden - and more restricted - than the standard design.

The elbows are also rotating hinge joints. along with the rotating hinge wrists, they allow for a ton of realistic arm poses. The hands swap easily as well.

The torso appears to have both a cut waist and an ab crunch, or it could simply be an ab crunch hidden under the corset.  The separate plastic corset restricts it quite a bit, but you can get a little movement out of the upper body.

The rotating hinge hips work much better than I expected, with less restriction created by the design. She can take and maintain shallow and deep poses, and the ratchet design means she can hold those poses long term.

The knees are double pin hinge joints, and the rocker/pin ankles have a good range of movement as well. They are a little loose, but she was able to stand without any real issues.

Accessories - ***1/2
As I mentioned earlier, there's a second, less damaged portrait, and the two swap easily. There is also an extra set of hands. She comes wearing a tight grip right for the whip handle, as well as a posed left.  You can swap in a wider grip right to hold the stun gun, or a splayed left. These also swap easily, even with the claws.

She has to have her whip of course, and this one is a rather unique design. The handle has a traditional braided look, but the whip itself is just a long piece of straight cloth. This allows them to run a sturdy wire the entire length, and it makes the whip extremely posable.

She also has her kitty cat stun gun, which can be attached to the top of her left boot or held in the intended hand.

Finally, there's a small, black, round base. This has a foot peg which can be used with either foot. It's small enough to be less obvious, yet it will ensure she stays upright in most situations.

Outfit - ***1/2
Normally, I don't have an Outfit category with a plastic quarter scale figure. However, there's a very important feature that's worth pointing out.

While most of the stitches are sculpted and painted, some are actual thread.  There's the cloth thread ends on the loose stitches, which isn't too surprising. But some of the larger frayed stitches, like the one on her thigh, are actually thread through and through - no sculpting there at all! I'm pretty impressed by the tiny detail work that was required to pull this off.

The corset is a separate piece as well, and fits pretty good considering everything is plastic, and therefore less pliable.

Fun Factor - ***
With plenty of articulation and some great accessories, you should have plenty of fun posing and re-posing this figure. Add in a Batman and a Penguin, and you'll be in Bat-heaven.

Value - ***
NECA has maintained a pretty consistent price in this scale for years, and it's pretty impressive that they can still produce a figure of this quality with this many extras for around a hundred bucks.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not a thing. The blades on the fingers are soft enough to handle easily, but not easy to damage or break. The head and hands swap without any issue. And the overall construction and quality are top notch.

Overall - ***1/2
This Catwoman is the nicest of the Burton Batman 1/4 scale figures that NECA has done.  She hits on almost every cylinder, although I do wish the paint work was slightly better. It's a minor nit though, and I'd put her up there with the recent Deadpool for overall quality and fun.

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

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- Entertainment Earth has a terrific price at just $93, plus free shipping!

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
As you can see from these photos, NECA has done a couple other Batman Returns 1/4 scale figures, including the Mayoral Penguin, the regular Penguin, and Batman himself.

Other figures from the Burton movies include the terrific Tweeterhead Catwoman statue, the NECA video game Batman, the Hot Toys Batman, the Hot Toys Joker, including the 'mime' version, and the Sideshow Premium Format Batman statue.

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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