Review of Wonder Woman, Steve Trevor
Multiverse Action Figures

Introduction

DC has had some rough times at the local cinemaplex, at least in recent years. Superman fans have not been pleased with their modern version of Big Blue, and films like Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad have been beaten up pretty badly by the critics. While the first was much better in the extended version and the latter was thin on plot, I think both got more hate than they deserved.

One of the high points of BvS was Wonder Woman.  Yes, fans bitched incessantly about the casting choice of Gal Gadot, but on screen she was perfect. Thanks to her, both haters and fans alike are still holding out hope that the new Wonder Woman movie will fulfill their desire for a truly great new DC film.

Mattel is doing toys of course, in a variety of styles and scales. Like BvS, there will be an assortment of Multiverse figures, and these have already started to hit some stores.  There are just four figures in the first wave - cloaked Wonder Woman, Diana of Themyscira (before she gets the superhero duds), Steve Trevor, and Queen Hippolyta. Get all four and you get the Collect and Connect parts for...it's a spoiler, so don't read any further if you don't want to know ANYTHING about the upcoming movie...the villain Ares.

I'm checking out the cloaked version tonight, along with Chris Pine's Trevor. These will retail for around $20 each, and are just now popping up.  There's also a Toys R Us exclusive that will be uncloaked, and that should be hitting soon as well.

Packaging - ***
Nothing new here, but the same collector friendly nature we've seen so far.  However, they did use a few rubber bands this time, and I'm not thrilled with the bend in the swords caused by the design of the plastic trays.  They are trying to save money as well, going with tri-logo packaging everywhere, and it makes the package very, very busy.

But they still have the CnC explained on the back, the rest of the figures in the wave listed, and which figure has which CnC part, all big pluses.

Sculpting - Wonder Woman **1/2; Trevor ***1/2
This line is considered 1/12th, and like most lines in that scale currently, the figures are actually about 6 1/2" tall. This is in line with other series like Marvel Legends, or Mezco's One:12 Collective. Both Diana and Steve are at that same height.

Diana has some issues here, but it's a little difficult to separate some of them from the paint. For example, I'm not sure if the face is off sculpt-wise, or it's merely impossible to see past the slightly walleyed look that the weak paint is giving her. Detail work on the costume is quite good though, and overall she's an improvement over her BvS release. They've softened the features a bit, including the eyebrows and the nose, and it goes a long way to getting a more attractive portrait. This is pretty much the same superhero costume we got with the earlier Multiverse release, but the detailing is quite nice.

In fact, I would have gone another half star here if not for that damn cloak. I'm not liking the execution on this one at all. The smooth hood blends in with the hair but not with the cloak, giving her this weird helmet head appearance. The thick cloak is not removable, the hood even less so, and it pretty much ruins the figure for me.

Trevor doesn't suffer from that issue. His portrait is actually quite good, and I can tell it's Pine immediately.  They captured the shape of the head, the lips, and the eyes to get an accurate portrayal. There's plenty of detail work on the body as well, with lots of different textures to indicate different types of cloth. I'm pretty impressed by this one, and it's the best human Multiverse figure so far.

Paint - Wonder Woman ***; Trevor ***1/2
The paint work seems to be improving on the Multiverse figures, and that's always a good thing.

Wonder Woman still has a way to go, though, to get great scores. The eyebrows and lips are very clean, but the eyes have a flat, walleyed look that I think is largely due to the paint work, not the sculpt.

Her costume details are good, although quite similar to the release for the first movie. The cloak is still a problem, since the black color is identical to the hair and simply blends in, rather than standing out as a separate item. It's even worse in hand than in photos, where the small scale works against it.

Trevor does better here, with clean work on the eyes, eyebrows, and hair. Costume details are good, although there's still the occasional sloppy line or missed mark.

Articulation - Wonder Woman **; Trevor ***
Trevor definitely outdoes poor Diana in this category.

It's that damn cloak of course. The long, thick material pretty much restricts any deep stances, any leg poses, any torso or neck movement. You can still get some arm movement - some - but overall, the cloak turns a highly articulated figure (she has plenty of joints, including a ball neck, rotating hinge shoulders, cut waist, hinge hips, cut thighs, pin knees, pin ankles, rotating hinge wrists, and rotating hinge elbows) into a statue.

Trevor has the same style of articulation, without the restrictive cloak. His outer coat can get in the way a bit with the ball torso and hinge hips, but the shorter length makes it a less problematic garment.

One specific thing I noticed on both figures is the deep range of movement on the pin ankles. The foot can travel both forward and back much further than usual, a good sign for the line.

Accessories - ***
Both figures come with multiple CnC parts. That's necessary of course, since there's only 4 figures and 9 CnC pieces - head, torso, pelvis, two arms, two legs, and a sword.

Steve has the head, torso, and sword for Ares, while Wonder Woman includes one arm and one leg. When I review the final two figures next week, I'll include a review of Ares as well.

Wonder Woman also has her sword, which slips neatly into the loop on the left side of her rigging. On the right side, hidden by the cloak, is her lasso, but this doesn't appear to be removable, at least not intentionally.

Trevor comes with one additional accessory as well - a shotgun. It's undersized, with a very basic sculpt and paint job, but he can hold it in a variety of poses including two handed.

Fun Factor - **1/2
The limited articulation and shortage of accessories make these less fun, even if they are a general improvement in overall quality over past Multiverse releases.

Value - **1/2
The current going rate for most 6 1/2" mass market figures is $20, and these fit right in with that pricing model. Regular readers know that a **1/2 here is an average value, and has no positive or negative effect on my overall - you're getting what you're paying for.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not a thing.

Overall - Wonder Woman **1/2; Steve Trevor ***
The Multiverse figures have not all been bad, but generally their best work has been reserved for non-human characters, and comic book designs.  The movie themed figures based on real people? Not so great. This was particularly true with Batman v Superman, where they did atrocious work on characters like Lex Luthor.

All four of these figures - review on the other two coming soon - are a real improvement over previous releases.  The Trevor likeness is quite good for this scale, and the softened features on Diana improve that figure as well.  While they aren't perfect, they are certainly a step in the right direction.

Wonder Woman fairs poorer because of the cloak and hood.  I'm hopeful that this portrait on the uncloaked figure - the Toys R Us exclusive - will be the winner of the bunch.

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

Where to Buy 
Your best bet is the local stores, where you can pick these up for around $20.  I found mine first at Meijers, but Toys R Us and Target should have them soon, and Toys R Us will have an exclusive uncloaked version of Wonder Woman.

Related Links -
This isn't the first Multiverse Wonder Woman, and you can check out my comparison review of her with the movie based version.

If you're a fan of the character in general, you should check out the ArtFX version, as well as the DC Bombshells version, the first Cover Girls release, the second Cover Girls version, the Bishoujo release, and the Armored Cover Girls version.

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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